Chapter 8
Maybe it was because I barely slept four hours after staying up late the night before watching a movie with my aunt and getting beaten up. Maybe it was because I took the first subway and bus in the morning.
‘I’m sleepy…’
It was summer, and no matter how sleepy I was, I’d endure it during class and then fall asleep during recess. But today, I couldn’t fight my constantly closing eyes. In the end, I fell asleep on my desk during first period.
I thought I should get up as soon as I felt sleepy, but when I glanced around, I realized it was getting dark.
‘Oh my, it’s evening already?’
Summer tried to get up quickly, thinking that evening had arrived. But for some reason, her body felt incredibly heavy. It felt as if something heavy was weighing down her entire being.
‘scissors…?’
When I couldn’t see ahead and couldn’t move my body, I was convinced that I was being held by scissors.
Summer, who had never been caught in a scissors trap before, was flustered, but she remembered the saying that in times like these, you should at least move your fingers, and tried to move them.
Perhaps it wasn’t enough to wake up her heavy body, as a small “Eww!” came out of Summer’s mouth.
While I was thinking that the scissors were really harsh, I felt my body gradually becoming lighter and my vision becoming brighter.
“Hehe. Did you sleep well? Oh, that’s really funny.”
Haein tried to hold it in, but she couldn’t stop herself from getting upset, so she laughed and said.
Summer, who still hadn’t grasped the situation, blinked and was surprised to see a pile of jackets piled up on her body.
“What is this?”
“The kids came up to me one by one because I was sleeping. And when they tried to wake me up, I gently pressed down on them with my hand.”
“Oh, really! These!”
“He did it first.”
Haein hurriedly pointed with her finger at Hyeonho, who was pretending not to know anything and was just reading a book.
“Ah, Choi Hyun-ho!”
“what.”
“Oh, I can’t live because of you, really.”
“I’m going to buy a hammer.”
“Ah!”
Hyunho stared at Yeoreum, who was grumbling, and stuck out his tongue, pretending to be clueless. Yeoreum, who had glared at Hyunho, picked up her fallen jacket.
As I was about to return it to its original owner, I noticed Taeyoung leaning against the chair and sleeping despite the commotion.
“You sleep so well in that position.”
Summer smiled meaningfully, hugged Taeyoung’s jacket, and approached him. Haein’s voice came from behind her, “Anyway, that one, that one.”
Just as she was about to hand the jacket to Taeyoung, Yeoreum’s wrist was grabbed.
“What are you doing?”
Taeyoung, who had kept his eyes closed until then, slowly opened them. Then he looked up at Yeoreum, who was slightly flustered.
From behind, Hyunho looked at Yeoreum’s wrist that was caught and Taeyoung’s hand that was caught, and his expression hardened.
“No, I just thought that if I slept like that, my throat wouldn’t hurt….”
Yeoreum, who had been speaking flustered, soon received a text message and handed the jacket she was holding to Taeyoung. After checking the message, Yeoreum turned to Haein, completely excited.
“Wow, awesome! I got it! Wait a minute for the interview!”
“Broadcasting club? Oh, congratulations. When is the interview?”
“tomorrow!”
“What about the announcement?”
“I’ll let you know before the end of the night tomorrow.”
“If you pass, do you want to go to the chicken restaurant in the market tomorrow? I heard the chicken gizzard there is really delicious.”
“Really? Let’s go, let’s go.”
“Oh! But they close at 9… I won’t be able to eat there after the party ends…”
“Then shall we go to the palm tree?”
“Oh. Is that so? Are you okay? What if you get scolded by your sister?”
“You can go when the palm tree closes.”
“Then at dinner time….”
The two of them stuck together and planned how they could escape from school without being caught.
And so, lunchtime arrived.
Yeoreum, who had been busy with lunch and the cafeteria, ran into Taeyoung and Gyeol in the hallway on her way back to class after brushing her teeth. They chatted for a while, enjoying the trivial details, but Gyeol left first, saying he had to go get the textbook he’d lent to the next class.
So, after the wedding, only Taeyoung and Yeoreum were left in the hallway.
“Don’t your neck hurt when you sleep like that? It’s uncomfortable even when you sleep face down on the desk.”
“You’re the class president, so you shouldn’t sleep face down.”
“That kid shouldn’t be sleeping at all. He’s the class president after all.”
“You sleep too tonight.”
“I’m not the class president.”
“I’ve never lost an argument with you.”
“I don’t live thinking about winning, but I’ve never lost.”
At the end of summer, Taeyoung fixed his gaze and smiled.
Just as Yeoreum was about to say that it was time to go, a soft voice was heard from behind her.
“What are you doing?”
It was Hyunho. Yeoreum looked around, wondering what was going on, but Hyunho only focused his gaze on Taeyoung.
Then, after glancing at Summer, he fixed his gaze on Taeyoung again and said, “Hey, I have something to ask you about English,” and took him away.
The remaining summer suddenly felt bad for Hyunho, who was not talking to her and was acting upset.
I wondered, “Did I do something wrong?” but no matter how much I thought about it, there was nothing. I’d been too busy sleeping all morning, and it was just entering the afternoon.
An unfamiliar face suddenly spoke to Yeoreum, who was pouting in frustration.
“Same class as Hyunho?”
“yes yes….”
Judging by their name tags, they were seniors. Judging by the way Hyunho had greeted them, they must have been older members of the band. Yeoreum answered awkwardly, unsure of what to do.
As a senior, it was difficult to go first, and it was impossible to stay there forever. At that time,
“Midsummer…. What a pretty name.”
Among them, a senior with bronzed skin and a melancholic look spoke softly, as if he were talking to himself or to Yeoreum. He then looked at Yeoreum and said, “See you later,” before turning back to his friends.
Summer thought it was time and hurried her steps, not hearing the senior’s words, “You’re pretty.”
Summer was all I could think about: ‘What else is there to do? I don’t know. I should probably prepare for an interview or something.’
That evening, palm tree time.
Summer was so preoccupied with Hyunho. Boram’s words, “Do you like me?” came to mind. No, it was Hyunho’s fault, always the one who, when suddenly in a bad mood like today, wouldn’t talk to me, only glance at me.
It was only natural that I was concerned about Hyunho’s change in attitude, which was visible only to me. Regardless of my own feelings.
Summer quickly wrote [Are you upset? Why are you upset?] on the last page of her notebook and slid it onto Hyunho’s desk.
Hyunho glanced at her and handed her a note that said, “I’m not upset.” Yeoreum quickly wrote, “But why are you upset?” and Hyunho wrote curtly, “I wasn’t like that.”
Summer, who couldn’t hide her disappointment, ended up
“Look, even now!”
She whispered. It was unusually quiet today, so Yeoreum’s voice was audible to a few of the children around her.
Hyunho, who was also flustered, put his index finger to his lips as if telling me to be quiet.
“Study.”
“Why are you upset? You have to tell me so I can understand.”
Hyunho, clinging to Yeoreum, lightly tapped her head with a sharpie, trying to lighten her mood. “I said I wasn’t offended,” he said with a faint smile. Only then did Yeoreum smile back.
“Okay. I’ll work hard.”
Yeoreum, who saw that Hyunho’s mood had improved, smiled pleasantly.
The next day, about ten people were waiting in front of the broadcasting studio for interviews. Yeoreum, who was waiting outside, bit her lip when she heard they would interview three people at a time.
Even though I’d already done a mock interview with my sister the day before, my mind felt completely clear. I took out a few peppermint candies I’d brought with me and handed them out to my interview friends.
Eating candy seemed to ease my nerves a little. My friends had just given me milk and candy as gifts to encourage me to do well in my interview, and I was glad I brought them.
Ten minutes later, Summer’s name was called, and she followed her senior up to the broadcasting room.
I thought I would see the broadcasting room right when I opened the door, but it felt like an attic from the stairs.
After the greetings, a brief interview followed, including questions about motivation and self-introduction. Yeoreum was a bit nervous, but she remained composed and continued speaking.
“Shall we test your voice?”
Among the five seniors, the one who was the most reserved and had a scary appearance was Noh Seong-wook.
He was also the one who made me even more nervous by staring at the already stiff summer.
“We don’t have many people in the broadcasting department, so there’s a lot of work to do with the machines and broadcasting. Okay, just read this as it is.”
Instead of the scary Seong-wook, Yeon-hee spoke kindly.
One by one, they read the given text in front of the turned-off microphone, and the last one was Summer.
“Let’s finish the test by summer,” Seongwook said in a low voice.
“…Your voice is nice.”
At those words, Yeoreum straightened her shoulders, as if her spirits were rising. Leaving the broadcasting room after the interview, Yeoreum smiled brightly at Hyunho, whom she had just met.
