51 Chapter 51 - Myself, Others, and My Friend 1 (1/2)
Translated by: ShawnSuh
Edited by: SootyOwl
Seeing Juho showing no response, Seo Kwang whispered, ”What's with them? They were doing fine yesterday. It was almost like one couldn't live without the other. Did something happen?”
”I don't know.”
”There's no way you don't. Come on, fess up.”
Sadly, Juho really didn't. He saw a river flowing between Sun Hwa and Bom. It was the distance between them. Bom was sitting anxiously, examining Sun Hwa's face, while Sun Hwa didn't even look in Bom's direction.
He observed the two from time to time.
*
As usual, Sun Hwa was getting ready for class. She sat in her seat and opened up her textbook. Like those of diligent students, its pages were filled with her notes. She believed that grades brought a certain image to a student. A student who had good grades would be seen as an exemplary student. On top of that, if she were to pay even the slightest attention to her looks, she'd become untouchable. Such a position actually existed within the boundaries of school, and Sun Hwa had always worked hard to keep herself in that spot.
”Hey, is she reading a comic book?
”Seems like she is. What is she doing in the corner though?”
”Eh, let her be. Who knows?”
The students in the class whispered jeeringly. Quietly, Sun Hwa looked behind her. In the corner, there was a girl with a slightly messy appearance and a comic book in her hand.
'That's it,' she thought.
A student with a bad image was always treated poorly by her peers. There was a big contrast from the time Sun Hwa had brought her comic books to school. They had joked around while taking turns to read them together then.
Others may have poked fun at her for having a childish taste, but nobody looked at her loathingly. That was how much impact an image had on a female student. An image was made to be seen by others. After all, people weren't made to live in solitude. They had to live being mindful of how they appeared to the eyes of others, always.
”Hey, Sun Hwa, someone's looking for you,” said one of the girls who had been slandering the girl with the comic book up to a moment ago.
When she looked into the hallway, she saw Juho standing outside. She got up at once, feeling unpleasant being in that environment.
Juho took her to the school yard. Apparently, he wanted to say something to her.
”What do you want?” she asked grumpily as she sat down on a wooden bench outside.
There were several benches in a small space under a tree in the schoolyard, and Juho sat on the innermost seat. In his hand, there were two beverages he had bought from the cafeteria.
”I wanted to say something really quick.”
”Is this a confession?”
”Haha!”
”Are you laughing at me!?”
She sat next to him and took a beverage from his hand. She seemed certain that it was for her, and since she had guessed right, he didn't say anything.
”I didn't fight with Bom.”
With those words, she chugged her beverage. He looked at her and said, ”I read your paper.”
”Pfff!”
She spewed the beverage in her mouth out like a fountain. Fortunately, she hadn't been looking in Juho's direction, so there were no casualties. Instead, she left a dark stain on the ground.
Before he had time to go look for tissues, she asked with a flustered voice while wiping her mouth with her hand,”Wh-what did you say you read?”
”Your paper. I found it in the science room. I couldn't help it.”
”Who do you think you are? Seo Kwang? Are you a print addict too? Do you read whatever you find?”
”Sorry, I was too curious.”
'How are you so confident?' she looked at him in disbelief. It was a good thing that she didn't seem infuriated.
”I apologize,” he added.
”Well, it's not… Sigh,” she sighed. ”I'm not exactly in a place to be saying things like this to you.”
”What do you mean?”
”Nothing.”
Surprisingly, she wasn't as angry as he had been expecting. If anything, she seemed more anxious.
”How was it?” she asked for his evaluation.
'Is she worried about how others are evaluating her skill?' he thought. It hadn't been anything special, but he chose his words carefully.
”I enjoyed it. It was fun, wild, and it didn't beat around the bush.”
”Yeah?”
”Yep.”
Despite an answer that resembled a compliment, she remained anxious. 'Why is she still anxious?' he wondered. Soon, he reached the answer. ”Did somebody tell you that you're bad at writing?”
”Huh?”
'I knew it.' It was apparent. 'How did he know?' she thought as she looked at him. From a writer's perspective, it was a simple answer.
”Who? Was it Mr.Moon?”
”No.” She fiddled with the empty can in her hand. It was hard to see her face because of her hair, but she continued with a calm voice, ”In middle school, I used to love to write.”
”What about comic books?”
”I wasn't into them back then.”
'Seo Kwang would've jumped with joy. Who would've thought she had been into literature at one point?'
”When I finished a story for the first time, I showed it to my friends. I was so satisfied with how it had turned out. In my eyes, it was better than any book I'd ever read.”
”But?”
Her head dropped lower.
”They laughed at me.”
”Hm.”
”I was so offended. I felt really, really awful. But you know what? I laughed with them. 'Hahaha. Right? It's funny right?' like that.”
It must have left a dent in her pride. That was what it was like to be evaluated by others. There was cruelty to one's evaluation of herself not being in line with others' evaluation of her.
”That was the first time I'd experienced something like that. I did well in school and my looks weren't half bad either, so I didn't have to worry about being laughed at.”