Volume 1 - CH 11

“I’m going to be at school every day from today.”

“Are you going to do the night self-study too?”

“Yeah.”

Dae-han held a workbook in his hand. To be honest, I’ve never seen Lim Dae-han carry a bag to school with him. Even today, he wasn’t carrying a bag, but I noticed he had a workbook with him. It’s a huge improvement.

“This.”

Lim Dae-han reached into his pocket for a drink and held it out. It was a drink that came in a square pack. I hesitated to take the drink. He never gets tired of doing it. He refused to accept anything when I tried to buy him something. When I tried not to accept the drink, he looked at me with wide-eyed and irritated eyes, so I had no choice but to accept it.

And it went on its way naturally. Dae-han would surprise me by tapping me on the shoulder. “Argh!” I exclaimed. I screamed and leaned forward as if I were going to fall. Fortunately, Dae-han grabbed my bag strap and helped me stand up straight.

“Why are you so weak?”

It wasn’t because I’m weak; it was because Dae-han is strong.

When I arrived at school, my classmates gave me and Dae-han strange looks. When I noticed their stares, they pretended not to notice and turned away. Rumors began to spread. There were rumors that Dae-han was bullying me.

When you think about it, it was somewhat plausible. Even though I was far away from Dae-han, we began to always be together at a certain point. We ate lunch together, ate dinner together, and sometimes studied together during the night self study.

When Lim Dae-han touched my shoulder or grabbed my wrist under the guise of static electricity, I couldn’t help but grumble. Even if I told him to stop, he just stared at me.

… Was he simply trying to annoy me?

Lately, I’ve been thinking about this.

Lim Dae-han’s seat is at the far end of the window. And I’m in the middle of the second division. This was the position I had been sticking to since the beginning of the semester. Our homeroom teacher was not the type of person who was relaxed or enthusiastic enough to set a seat for students once a month or once a week.

The number of times we change seats in a semester is up to our homeroom teacher’s discretion, so our class has been the same since the beginning of the semester due to the teacher’s boredom. As a result of that, students were free to switch seats at any time.

As soon as I entered the classroom, Lim Dae-han left his seat and approached me.

“You’re here.”

Lim Dae-han said to my deskmate while I was chatting with him.

“Hyun-il-ah.”

My deskmate’s name wasn’t Hyun-il, but Seok-il. Park Seok-il.

“Let’s change seats with me.”

“… Until when?”

Contrary to how my deskmate used to speak to me, he responded cautiously. Lim Dae-han closed his eyes slowly and then opened them. The look on his eyes wasn’t boring but rather sexy… I didn’t know what to say. But, he’s still only 18 years old!

“Can’t you just hold on to the change forever? Ki Young-hyun is helping me in my studies.”

“Oh, I don’t want to…”

My deskmate clearly enjoyed sitting next to me. He simply said no to Dae-han. He didn’t seem to want to change it at all, even if he could do so for an hour or two during palm time. As expected, Seok-il. He was quite a guy.

“You can make good eye contact with the teacher if you are in the back. That is a good location.”

A persuation.

“Please change seats.”

Lim Dae-han said in a tone that did not seem like a request at all. If he said he doesn’t want to one more time, I thought I’d say something.

“Do you want to change with me?”

From behind, a voice of savior could be heard. Lim Dae-han cocked his head and turned to face the source of the voice. My deskmate’s backseat. So, Jung Ji-pil’s friend suggested Lim Dae-han.

“Hey!”

Jung Ji-pil shouted.

“No, I dont want to.”

Dae-han also thought the same.

Jung Ji-pil trembled.

“If you change seats, I will tell the teacher.”

“Ji-pil, don’t talk to me.”

Lim Dae-han was obviously joking, but Jung Ji-pil clenched his fists on the desk and trembled. I’m not sure why he was putting on a Dae-han like this when he can’t even win.

Then, all of a sudden, I realized something.

Except for me, Lim Dae-han addressed everyone by their first name. “Ki Young-hyun, Ki Young-hyun,” he would call me by my full name every day. Meanwhile, Jung Ji-pil is Ji-pil, and Park Seok-il is Hyun-il. Of course, it was unfortunate that he mispronounced Seok-il’s name.

“Then let’s do this.”

Lim Dae-han advised those who wanted to change seats and those who wanted to stay in their seats.

“You go to my seat, and you take his seat. Because I want to sit with Ki Young-hyun.”

“…”

“You don’t want to go to the end anyway. Isn’t this enough? Why? You don’t like this either?”

Lim Dae-han’s expression got worse. In fact, it seemed to be a lot easier for Dae-han. My deskmate sat grumpily for a long time and eventually nodded. This was because Lim Dae-han told my partner, “Don’t look at me with that expression.”

Eventually, the seat swap went as planned. They quickly changed seats before the teacher arrived. The teacher who came in to do the ordinance frowned between his eyebrows while looking at the changed classroom. I was going to say something for a while, but I left without saying anything because it was a position change made because of me.

I glanced behind me. Seok-il, my former deskmate, still didn’t look good. I wrote a note on a notepad and handed it to Dae-han.

[Don’t talk like that to the others…] 

He pretended not to see it.

[Don’t do it, reallyㅠㅠ. Not you, but I’ll get cursed at ㅠㅠ]

I said it nicely, but it still made me feel bad. Lim Dae-han responded with his chin on his hand.

“What do you want me to do?”

He said in a low voice. I forgot for a moment. Even though he was a bully and a punk, Lim Dae-han has always been a little soft to me, but not to the others. 

I got caught in the middle for no apparent reason. Lim Dae-han tapped the back of my hand with his finger as he looked down at me with his chin on his hand. ‘Don’t do it,’ I murmured.

“…”

I could feel Dae-han staring at me, but I didn’t make eye contact. I took a notebook from my desk drawer. Lim Dae-han soon got up from his seat and left the classroom. I heard the door close but didn’t turn around.

There was a broadcast saying that English listening would start soon. English listening was played at school for 20 minutes. The workbook was purchased by the person who wanted it, and the person who did not wish to purchase it studied or wrote down the sentences from the broadcast alone. I belonged to the latter group.

To be honest, Lim Dae-han was originally that kind of guy. I also tend to speak softer to guys I don’t know. Normally I wouldn’t even care. But why did I feel so sad?

‘Hey, Ki Young-hyun.’

‘Ki Young-hyun.’

I remembered Dae-han’s voice calling to me. I eventually curled my lips and smiled. My mind is at its disposal. I don’t like it when Dae-han treats my friends carelessly, but being too nice to them is also a bit… Is it like this originally? My eyes were tense for no apparent reason. I shook my head and decided to concentrate on English sentences. To be honest, I couldn’t concentrate.

After English listening, Lim Dae-han appeared while waiting for the first period to end. There were snacks and drinks on his hands. I expected it to go into my mouth right away in the morning, but Dae-han put it away.

“I’m sorry for asking you to change seats.”

“…”

Park Seok-il, who had a grumpy expression on his face, looked up at Lim Dae-han.

“Eat this and don’t be mad.”

Lim Dae-han used food to persuade peoples. Not to mention Park Seok-il, who immediately relaxed his expression after receiving a large plastic bottled drink and sweets. Then, even thinking about it, I found it amusing, “Oh, yes. You are welcome to sit.” Park Seok-il’s voice toned down. Lim Dae-han lowered his mouth corners and turned his head back to his current seat. I reached out to Park Seok-il.

“Give me some.”

“Hey, it’s mine.”

When I heard a sound like teeth grinding, I tilted my head to the side, and Jung Ji-pil was staring fiercely at Lim Dae-han. I don’t know why he’s doing this.

I turned my head forward again after receiving the two cookies. Lim Dae-han was rummaging through the desk drawer. I held out one of the cookie to Dae-han. It doesn’t make sense when you think about it. It was bought by Dae-han, but I feel obligated to be generous to him. Lim Dae-han smiled with his eyes as he looked at the tip of my finger.

‘Did I do well?’

He asked with a mouth shape, but I couldn’t answer. I cleared my mind of all the confusion I had just experienced. Things like how Dae-han treats my friend. Now it was just strange that Dae-han listened to me. Perhaps he brought drinks and sweets to Park Seok-il because he felt sorry for him.

I felt myself becoming emotional. I pressed my lips together and tilted my head to look at Dae-han. I was going to say something to him, but I don’t know what to say. I made up a sentence in my mind. Thank you for being nice to my friends, or let’s go to the cafeteria together in the future.

Lim Dae-han diligently rummaged through the desk drawer, as opposed to me, who kept biting my lips. He wanted to take out a textbook because there was only a workbook and a sharp pencil on his desk, but he only took out a ddakji made of paper.

“Ki Young-hyun.”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t have any textbooks. We should buy it together.”

My chance was snatched away.