CBR 8

‘This is something that didn’t happen in the past.’

A leave of absence was something that had happened, but even after taking his leave of absence, Jaewon re-enrolled in his original high school, attended until the end, and graduated. Transferring, and mid-semester transferring at that, was something that had never happened. At the point where real events and untrue events were mixed together, he didn’t know which side to align himself with.

“To think the reason for your leave of absence… was to nurse your grandmother. You must have gone through a lot.”

“…”

The homeroom teacher looked at Jaewon with sympathy, as if she had found something unusual in his student record. He lowered his head to hide his nonchalant expression. Unsolicited sympathy from others induced fatigue, and the feeling of forgotten emotions coming back to life was unpleasant.

“By the way, I heard you never missed first place in the whole school at your previous school?”

“Ah, yes.”

“I have high expectations for you. Please do well.”

Tapping his shoulder, the homeroom teacher’s eyes were filled with trust. Jaewon responded with a formal smile and stepped out of the faculty room with her. As they climbed the stairs and walked down the hallway, the students’ curious gazes were thrown at them. Looking at the back of the homeroom teacher walking ahead, Jaewon became lost in thought.

‘I’m first place in the whole school even inside a novel.’

He felt uncomfortable with the inconsistent historical accuracy, but soon shook his head. Now was not the time to reminisce about his life’s footprints. How to utilize the title of first place in the whole school at this present point was the key issue.

While he was absorbed in thought, the homeroom teacher entered a classroom. Jaewon stopped at the threshold and raised his head to check the classroom door sign. 2―3. Class 3 of Grade 2.

“Now, now, attention.”

Slagging the lectern with the attendance sheet, the homeroom teacher brought order to the chaotic atmosphere in the classroom. The loudly chattering students closed their mouths one by one.

“Today, I’m going to introduce a new friend who transferred to our class. Everyone, let’s be quiet.”

At the mention of a transfer student, the classroom began to stir. Feeling the gazes focusing on him standing by the doorway, Jaewon adjusted his posture mysteriously. At the homeroom teacher’s call, he crossed the threshold, approached, and stood next to the lectern.

“Hello. My name is Bae Jaewon. I look forward to getting along with you.”

When he finished his greeting, the students welcomed him with applause. The male students clapped their hands with dull faces, while the female students glanced at Jaewon and whispered among themselves.

“Oh, right. Jaewon took a leave of absence due to personal circumstances, so he’s twenty years old. You need to show proper respect to an adult.”

“Puhaha.”

“Ah, teacher~ Showing proper respect to an adult is too much.”

The homeroom teacher narrowed her eyes, looked around the classroom, and pointed to an empty seat.

“As for your seat, you can go and sit at the desk in the very back.”

Jaewon narrowed the space between his brows. It was a thoroughly inefficient seat for slacking off. However, since that was the only empty seat, there was no room for choice. As he walked toward the seat in resignation, a student suddenly raised his hand and spoke.

“Teacher. That’s the seat next to Kim Dojun.”

The face of the student raising an objection was filled with worry. The expressions of the others were not much different. Anxiety, fear, concern. Though it was a brief moment, the influence of the student named Kim Dojun could be known.

‘One more stock of interest added.’

There was no such thing as a main character who spent school life quietly and diligently. However, a hasty judgment was forbidden; Jaewon decided to determine whether to invest after seeing his face.

“Well, that works out great. Jaewon, go sit down.”

The homeroom teacher spoke through grit teeth, as if she had a personal grudge against Kim Dojun. When she added, “I feel like I’ve aged ten years in a single day because of him,” the classroom turned into a sea of laughter. After making a few more jokes, she left a message telling them to quietly prepare for class when the preliminary bell rang, and departed. The classroom grew noisy again.

Sitting in his seat, Jaewon looked around his surroundings, searching for a person who looked like they would talk a lot. The basis of market research was information gathering, and for that, he had to find an informant first.

‘Kind, talkative, highly curious so as to know every single rumor, crazy about explaining things, and possessing an overbearing, nosy personality.’

The desired candidate profile was distinct. In particular, the more they blabbered, the better. Jaewon lay back long in his chair, crossed his arms, and crossed his legs. While solemnly watching the students each chiming in with a word, a male student approached him.

“Hello, Hyung. I’m the vice president, and the teacher told me to take care of you. Ah, of course, even if the teacher hadn’t said so, I was going to take care of you. Do you have textbooks? If not, I’ll go borrow them from another class. There’s a kid named Kim Donghoon in Class 5 who is nice, so he lends them out easily. I’ll introduce him to you later.”

“…”

“Ah, by the way, my name is Ma Chayun.”

‘Passed.’

Having selected a talented person without wasting time, Jaewon nodded his head with satisfaction. The fact that he babbled about things he hadn’t even been asked was what he liked most. Ma Chayun borrowed textbooks from the neighboring class between the preliminary bell and the first period, informed him of the personal details, personalities, and points to be careful of regarding all subject teachers, and then returned to his seat.

“Alright, quiet. Class is starting.”

Class time was 50 minutes, and recess was a mere 10 minutes. At the end of every period, Jaewon withered noticeably. Having made the school shine by securing a college free pass during his active days and active as a tutoring master after entering college, he was a high school curriculum specialist. Listening to content he already fully knew over several hours made him feel like a cow chewing the cud. He felt anew that he was in hell.

Under the charge of being a student

In the prison called school

Locked in a cell called classroom…

By the time he came to his senses, he was writing a poem. Startled by the words he had written without realizing it in the margin of his textbook, Jaewon quickly shut the book.

‘If I stay like this, I’ll go crazy.’

Sensing the gravity of the situation, he devised a solution. If he had a seatmate, he could kill time productively by fostering friendship through notes, but as the fourth period was coming to an end, the seat next to him remained completely empty. Feeling disappointed, Jaewon soon focused on drafting a promotional text to be used for a private tutoring recruitment flyer.

Before he knew it, lunch time came, and silence hung over the classroom from which the students had evaporated. Ma Chayun approached Jaewon, who was immersed in revising his promotional text, and spoke to him sociably.

“Hyung, let’s go eat. I’ll show you where the cafeteria is.”

“Sure.”

Jaewon followed him with expectations. The cafeteria where all grade levels gathered was no different than a giant market. It was a place truly perfect for property viewing.

“A place called school is originally a hotbed of cafeteria corruption. This school is no exception either, so you might be a bit surprised at first. Thinking, ‘So food can taste like this.’ I opened my eyes to the fifth taste after coming to this school. The Monday menu is particularly terrible, so we call it Bloody Monday.”

“…”

“By the way, is there anything in particular you’re curious about?”

Jaewon, who had been carefully observing the passing students, asked promptly.

“Who is the most handsome guy in this school?”

“That’s a bold first question.”

Ma Chayun opened his eyes round in surprise. He asked additionally, “Are you trying to have a face-off or something?”, but when Jaewon ignored him, he began his answer.

“Our school is famous for having a great pool, you see. Handsome guys aren’t just one or two. First off, Kang Yuchan from Class 6, who is in charge of cuteness in our grade, then the pronoun of chicness, Kim Seungbin from Class 8, and Park Gyujin, a philanthropist limited to women…”

He felt like he had turned on a home shopping channel, but Jaewon listened attentively. At the news that handsome guys weren’t just one or two, his head ached. That meant his search range broadened by that much.

“…But the best, as expected, is Kim Dojun.”

“Kim Dojun?”

“Yes. Your seatmate, Hyung. It’s just a pity you couldn’t see him today because he was absent. If you see his face, you’ll just acknowledge it right away. Ah, this guy must have been handsome since he was a fertilized egg.”

If he was handsome to that extent, the probability of him being the main character would rise exponentially. Feeling a surge of goodwill toward his seatmate, Jaewon perked up his ears even more.

“You can get served food here. Here, a tray.”

“What about you.”

Ma Chayun, who was handing over the food tray, was empty-handed himself. When Jaewon found it puzzling, he pushed up his glasses with his middle finger, and his eyes behind the lenses shone sharply.

“Ah, I eat a packed lunch. Actually, I’m supposed to eat with the Geum-Jeung-Mo members, but I spoke to them about my situation and dropped out today because I have to take care of you specially, Hyung.”

Ma Chayun pointed to the luggage carrier he had been dragging around all along. Thinking he had after-school travel plans, to think it was a lunchbox bag. Jaewon received a fresh shock.

“Geum-Jeung-Mo?”