Chapter 45 (1/2)
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“…”
“You know, to be honest, you look freaking cold. Ham Donnie became such a straight shooter when she was half-awake and then she just went back to sleep like nothing happened, which made all of us crack up. After that, the kids began to say you’re a human A/C.”
Yoo Chun Young’s face at that moment was devoid of any facial expressions. His eyes were wide opened as if they knocked him down with a feather. Eun Jiho continued speaking with a smirk. It was still a funny situation to remember when everyone was springing at Yoo Chun Young to escape the heat.
As if he also thought the same, Kwon Eun Hyung’s smile never ceased too. Then the two boys exchanged glances and burst out a peal of loud laughter again.
That summer, Yoo Chun Young had to spend an arduous time suffering from how the boys would stretch out their hands around him so they could escape the scorching heat.
It was quite a mystery how the kids turned out to be that audacious when they usually found it difficult to get along with Yoo Chun Young. Now he understood that it was never a wonderful feeling.
Yoo Chun Young, however, heaved a deep sigh instead of going off the deep end. This aroused the two laughing men’s’ curiosity.
Soon Kwon Eun Hyung flung the question on everyone’s mind, “What’s that sigh all about? That ain’t something you’d usually do.”
“That makes me even more concerned.”
“Who? Ham Donnie?”
Eun Jiho, who sat beside him, asked with a guess, but Yoo Chun Young just heaved a long sigh. He then switched his hands to rest his chin on his other palm as he heaved another deep sigh. As he dropped his gaze onto the floor, a faint voice escaped his mouth.
“Would Ham Donnie be okay alone?”
“Why not? She seems to be silly sometimes, but doesn’t she get along with people pretty well? Maybe at lunchtime, we would definitely see her hanging around with other friends.”
“Yeah, Yoo Chun Young. No worries. We should be more concerned about these two folks.”
Eun Jiho then turned his head to point at the two people he was referring to: Woo Jooin, who sat beside him reciting an old poem, and Ban Yeo Ryung, who laid her head on the desk, stamping her feet again.
Then he continued, “These weirdos, I swear. I’m wondering if they could even have lunch at the cafeteria later.”
“If they refuse, we should carry them on our backs. No problem!”
Kwon Eun Hyung replied with a puzzled smile. There was something odd in what Eun Jiho said once he started looking at these two, so Yoo Chun Young drew another sigh.
In the meantime, unlike Yoo Chun Young’s concerns, there was something opposite going on in Class 1-8.
* * *
“I’m Ham Donnie from J… Ji… Ji Jon Middle School. Nice to meet you all.”
What the hell…!
As soon as I introduced myself in front of the class, I buried my face into my hands. It was because of the things I imagined when I was a freshman in middle school; those were the times when I was unaware of what would happen in my future and the scenes I had imagined back then came across my mind…
“Which middle school are you from?”
“Ji.. Ji Jon Middle School.”
“Bahahaha! J… Ji… Ji Jon!! She says Ji Jon Middle School haha!’
I never thought this imagination of mine would come true. As I plopped down onto my seat, I heaved a long sigh, waiting for other kids to react.
Everyone knew how it went. There would soon be a burst of laughter or eyes of sympathies circulating around me… However, I opened my eyes like a twinkle. Strangely, the expected reaction did not happen but a moment of silence kept on instead.
When I looked around the classroom, everyone seemed to have a dumbstruck face similar to mine. This part was the same as what I imagined so far; however, what came out from their mouths was beyond my expectations, and that made me cough. Hack!
“Ji Jon Middle School? Where Hanul Group and Balhae Group’s heirs went? You went to that school…?”
“What about the Four Heavenly Kings from there? Holy cow, unbelievable she went to the same school as them…”