The day after eating and playing around before falling asleep. Kang Sihyun, who woke up earlier than usual, habitually rubbed his eyes and found something black in his palm. Wondering, he checked and saw the writing he had left for himself.
'Grading score'
With the simple five characters written, he groped beside his head and grabbed his phone. Kang Sihyun, after confirming the grading scores he had transferred to his phone the night before, memorized dozens of numbers before finally going to the bathroom for a shower.
After the warm water touched his skin, he realized that he was tense. Even though he seemed to be showering with warmer water than usual, his heart kept chilling and his breathing became unstable. Kang Sihyun, who had to take deep breaths several times even while showering, finally relaxed his shoulders that hadn't loosened until he checked the report attached to the central entrance after arriving at school. A sigh of relief somewhere close to relief escapes through his lips.
The rankings remained the same as the grading results.
He was in first place, Haemin was in second, and Seowoo was in third. Geonwoo, who had previously barely made it due to his scores, also achieved half the class thanks to the effect of the study group.
Nothing had changed since the grading.
There were no twists either.
Just in case, he took out his phone and compared the scores again, but it was the same. As there was still no change, Kang Sihyun, feeling strangely drained, let out a small laugh and raised his elbow over Haemin's jaw and dry shoulders.
"Did you want to be first that badly? You're happy as a clam."
"It's not like that."
"What do you mean? You studied like a ghost haunting you for not being first."
Is that a congratulations?
Although it would have been hard for others to distinguish whether it was sarcasm or praise, Kang Sihyun, who knew Haemin quite well, understood that it was a clumsy compliment. He himself was aiming for first place, so it was regrettable that he couldn't say it properly because he slipped.
As he offered consolation, Haemin, with an impressed expression, said that he would aim for first place next time, so Kang Sihyun stopped comforting him. His shoulders felt heavy as Haemin put weight on his arms. As his body leaned crookedly under the weight, Seowoo approached and lowered Haemin's arm.
"Sihyun seems heavy."
He said in a calm tone and smiled happily at Kang Sihyun.
"Congratulations on first place, Sihyun."
"You must feel a little disappointed."
"Hmm?"
"You worked hard too."
"Ah...."
Seowoo, who tilted his head in disappointment at the words of regret, sighed. Then he raised the corners of his mouth. His expression showed no regrets about his scores, contrary to his worries.
"I didn't have much ambition anyway. I just had to do it safely."
Is being third safe?
Those who worked hard but received scores below third place might have cried. Kang Sihyun, who didn't want to hurt the other kids who were looking at the scores by spitting out his concerns, pointed out Seowoo, who had participated diligently in the study group.
"You say you don't have ambition, but you worked hard in the study group."
"That's because of something other than the test."
"Something else?"
Seowoo responded with a smile in lieu of an answer. Down, who appeared behind him seemingly out of nowhere, glanced at Kang Sihyun and asked what they were up to since the morning, then checked his report card. Having received similar grades as last time, he seemed to ponder for a moment before nodding and turning back. Kang Sihyun, observing their straightforward yet fleeting departure, glanced back at his own group of friends.
"Shall we go too?"
"What about Geonwoo and Haewoon?"
"Baek Geonwoo overslept, so Kang Haewoon is waking him up."
Upon mentioning the message received from Haewoon before leaving the room, Seowoo nodded as if understanding.
"It's hard to wake Geonwoo up if he's overslept."
"Why?"
"He just doesn't wake up. Even though he usually wakes up easily when his name is called, he sleeps deeply when he oversleeps. He doesn't wake up even when shaken."
The voice detailing the experience was filled with the air of someone who had gone through it several times. Not waking up even when shaken. It was the complete opposite of Haru, who would wake up at the slightest disturbance. As Kang Sihyun glanced around, wondering where Haru had gone, he noticed Haru belatedly entering his field of vision, holding the rank report where "Ban Haru" was written. His rank had significantly improved from last time, and his face was filled with pride.
"Haru hyung."
As Kang Sihyun called out quietly, Haru, who had been looking at his scores, turned his head and looked straight in Kang Sihyun's direction. Although the kids were buzzing around, it seemed like his hearing was sharp.
Haru approached Kang Sihyun, who gestured to him, with a slightly uplifted expression.
"You've improved a lot."
"Yes. You did well on the test."
"Yeah."
Nodding, he smiled lightly. It was gratifying to see him attributing everything to Kang Sihyun. After patting his head in appreciation, he headed towards the classroom. He must have taken the test and checked his rank. Now all that was left was to get permission to go out on the weekend and accompany Haewoon to the karaoke room he had been longing for.
"Good morning!"
Maybe I should get some earplugs.
As Kang Sihyun heard Haewoon's loud greeting just a minute before the morning assembly started, he hesitated briefly. Then he realized that it wasn't a matter of not being heard even with earplugs and discarded his hesitation.
Surely, going out was meant to be a reward for the time spent studying and suffering during the end-of-month evaluation, but somehow, even that felt like another task.
***
"Is everyone out?"
Kang Sihyun, who had checked the A-class students wearing casual clothes as they had agreed to meet at the gate, asked as a formality. Taking in a deep breath upon hearing that Haewoon was already out, he swallowed hard. Today required more tension than usual because not only were the boys going out together, but Jihye and Down were also joining them. If they usually encountered a lot of female students, today there was a possibility of encountering groups of boys or older men.
Wondering if Geonwoo looked pale because he was feeling unwell, Kang Sihyun asked if he was okay. After realizing that he seemed to have misunderstood, Geonwoo nodded and changed his steps. Kang Sihyun's strides, which had been somewhat determined, returned to their usual state when he didn't wake up even after 30 minutes of going out.
Although he had gone out to take pictures before, this was the first time they were out with all eight of them, so he was curious about what they would do. Surprisingly, there was nothing particularly special. They simply wandered around the shopping district as usual and tasted street food. The only somewhat special thing was when Down said he wanted to play pocketball.
As Kang Sihyun chuckled in confusion, saying he didn't know what pocketball was, the next destination became the billiards hall with Haemin's suggestion that they might as well play billiards. As Kang Sihyun hesitated briefly at the entrance to the billiards hall, which he had only seen in novels, he eventually stepped inside.
Since it was his first time playing billiards, he stood still with the cue in his hand until Haemin, who called himself a billiards expert, attached himself to Kang Sihyun, saying he would teach him. However, he soon gave up, putting on a stern expression when Kang Sihyun couldn't even get the posture right. Kang Sihyun glanced at Haemin's back, who gave up without properly explaining the rules or guiding him, with blurry eyes.
No matter how you looked at it, he didn't seem to have the ability to teach someone.
As he became the disciple who his teacher gave up on without a proper answer, and stood there awkwardly again, Seowoo, who laughed softly, approached Kang Sihyun and gently explained the rules in a calm tone, allowing Kang Sihyun to finally learn the rules of billiards properly.
Similarly, Geonu and Haewoon stuck together for their first time playing billiards, while Down and Hamin engaged in a fierce betting game between themselves. Towards the end, Jihye also joined them, and judging by the fact that Hamin was the one who bought drinks for everyone after leaving the billiards hall, it seemed like he was the one who lost the bet.
"You're trying billiards for the first time?"
"I guess I have a talent for it."
"...It's not just a simple talent."
Hamin said with a frown. Seihyun, realizing that Hamin, who claimed to be an expert, was beaten by Jihye, a beginner, teased him.
Then, when they finally entered the karaoke room that Haewoon had been eagerly anticipating, Sihyun once again realized that what he should be worried about was not a confrontation with students from other schools or rude older men, but Haewoon's singing.
Honestly, it was a mind-boggling moment.
"Do not ever bring out the 'no' in the karaoke room."
Hamin said with an annoyed expression, tapping his ears with his palm as if blood was about to gush out. At his words, Haewoon pursed his lips as if it wasn't that bad. Seeing the mischievous Haewoon clinging to Jihye, who was the kindest among the A-class students, asking how it was, Sihyun still felt like his ears were ringing.
Thank goodness they had booked the karaoke room in advance with Hamin. If there were other customers, they might have been protested against and kicked out, then posted on internet communities with posts like 'Karaoke Crazy Loud Guy'.
Just imagining it sent shivers down his spine. Haewoon's continuous questions made Jihye smile awkwardly and look away for no reason. Sihyun, seeing Jihye's tearful efforts, glanced back at the karaoke room he had just escaped from with a slightly melancholic expression. Although Jihye desperately tried to change the subject, everyone except Haewoon, who was still persistently asking, could see through Jihye's true feelings.
She must have wanted to say it wasn't that great.
Undoubtedly, the time spent with Haewoon and at the karaoke room was the most excruciating moment for Sihyun since he was born. If someone asked whether they wanted to listen to a siren song or Haewoon's singing, they would undoubtedly choose the former without hesitation.
After a long time of holding onto Jihye and attempting to hear praises, Haewoon, who turned out to be more stubborn than expected, gave up on his plans and returned to grumbling mode. Then, when Jihye mentioned that the exams were over, and there were no academic schedules for a while, he, who hadn't forgotten his role as the source of information, spoke up.
"There's going to be a sports competition in early November, right?"
"A sports competition?"
"Yeah. I saw it in the academic schedule at the beginning of the semester. It's around the 1st, right?"
Haewoon said cheerfully, and Jihye agreed that it would be fun. Watching the two innocent souls, whose minds seemed to be like a flower garden, Sihyun shook his head in disbelief.
Even though they spent six months at the Supreme High School, they still didn't seem to realize what kind of place this school was.
There's no way this crazy school would conduct a sports competition normally.
Sihyun became convinced as he looked at the sports competition schedule he received a week later.
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