Chapter 441 (2/2)

“Would we go with our parents? Duh, we went by ourselves.”

“No way, how can you go by yourselves?”

“In my perspective, you don’t make any sense. How can we go by ourselves? We just go by ourselves. You know how to buy train tickets, right?”

“Am I a kid? Of course I do.”

“And you know that our country is surrounded by the sea on three sides?”

“Of course.”

“Then what’s the problem? You just decide on a date, buy the tickets, and go to the sea.”

“T-that’s a little.”

Just what was this guy thinking? Daemyung had turned red up to his ears. Maybe he was shooting an e.r.o.t.i.c movie all by himself in his head, even though he acted so pure on the surface?

“Your parents must be worried, you shouldn’t do that.”

...What e.r.o.t.i.c movie. He was too pure-minded that Maru wanted to dye it a little red.

“Hey, you should really think about how Jiyoon feels. She’s at the age where she wants to play around.”

“Y-you really think so?”

Maru smiled and shook his head. What was he supposed to do about this natural treasure of a couple?

“Maru.”

“Yeah?”

“T-the cinema should be a pretty moderate course for a date, right?”

“That’s textbook dating. It’s a bit old-fashioned, but it’s not bad as the first course on a date. If the movie is to her tastes, then there’s no better choice either.”

“Really? Then what about after that? No, wait, where did you go with your girlfriend recently?”

Maru, who was looking for the textbook for the 4th period, raised his head slightly. He smiled bitterly towards Daemyung, whose eyes were shining.

“I haven’t met her in a while.”

“Really? Why?”

“What do you mean why? Because we’re both busy.”

“You can’t meet if you’re busy?”

What an obvious question. Maru laughed before taking out the textbook and putting it on his desk. They weren’t kids, if they knew about each other’s circ.u.mstances, they should just be considerate of each other.

“But she might want to meet you?”

“I told her that I wanted to meet her, but she said no. Looks like she has her own circ.u.mstances to deal with.”

“So?”

“What do you mean ‘so’?”

Daemyung stared at Maru. Maru looked back into his eyes.

“Hey, hey. Korean teacher is coming.”

Dojin, who had been in the bathroom, came in as he shouted. The kids that were reading comic books all hid them inside their desks and bags. Daemyung also turned around to look at the front. Dowook, who had been lying down, sat up as well.

The chaotic classroom became neat and quiet in an instant, and following that, the teacher came in. The teacher, who carried with him a rod made of bamboo, stood in front of the lecture desk and started the class after telling them to endure for just an hour.

Maru watched Daemyung’s back for a while before turning his gaze to the textbook. What did Daemyung want to say just now?

He was curious, but that curiosity soon dissipated.

“It’s important to find out the intentions of the novelist. So memorize from here to here for now. Okay?”

The Korean teacher’s loud voice echoed in the classroom.

* * *

12:45 p.m. The students all stuck one foot out of their desks. The Korean teacher, who always finished the class after erasing the board, erased the final period from the board.

“Kids. You’ll only be harming yourselves if you fall over while running. You should take it slow. It’s not like you’re possessed by hungry ghosts or something.”

“Teach, can you finish the class early since we went through all the materials?”

“It’s the wish of a lifetime!”

The students spoke as they looked at the clock. Today’s lunch had fried chicken on the menu. If they were late, they would only be given fried crumbs, so they were trying to hurry. As Maru also thought that meals should always be delicious, he also put one foot out of his desk. Rather than going there calmly and eating dregs, he might as well run there like mad and eat chicken legs.

“Good. I’ll give you a question, so the column that gets it right will get to go first. It’s easy so you’ll have to raise your hands fast. What are the four tragedies of Shakesp….”

“Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth!”

Maru had never seen Daemyung move so quickly until now. Daemyung pushed the desk and raised his hand full of battle spirit and immediately uttered the titles of four books. The Korean teacher, who looked at Daemyung in a daze, laughed loudly once before telling their column to go.

“Oh yeah!”

“Nice, Daemyung!”

Daemyung smiled and waved his hand above his head. Maru could see a glimpse of a boxer that gained the title of champion. When they heard the teacher saying that they could go, they held their breaths and opened the back door. The corridor was filled with silence. They went to the next class over and peeked through the window. Everyone looked at them with envious gazes.

“You should always go to Park Daemyung when it comes to food.”

“Of course. Let’s go fellas. Let’s get them fried chicken!”

They rushed across the corridor with lights in their eyes. Daemyung was treated as the captain and he got to go first. Maru smiled and followed them.

[1] An Korean way of calling autumn. While Korean people know it as a saying originating from China, the original Chinese saying has a different first character (out of four).

[2] An academic year starts (and therefore, ends) in March, which is Spring.

[3] Referring to Pocky (Pepero in Korea). They made 11/11 “pepero day” so it became common to send others pepero on that day. Somehow this marketing was hugely popular, and some people (especially kids) know 11/11 as ‘pepero day’ still to this day.

[4] Word used here is the same as ‘wuxia’.