.
Just as I’d thought, a small voice came over from behind me.
“Why did you think that way? If I knew that you’d had those thoughts, I might have stopped by at your house with some stuff.”
Finally turning my head to look at him, I whispered, “Like parents? With some fried chicken in your hands?”
“Why not?” I can say, ‘Please take care of her. Donnie seems to have quite a difficult time these days. Is there anyone harassing her?” Shrugging, Eun Hyung joked at me with a straight face.
I giggled and turned my head back to the front as I was afraid that the teacher would catch us chitchatting in the middle of the class. A calm and low voice then resonated around my ears.
“When we go inside somewhere, we always look for six seats like a habit. Even now as well.”
Resting my chin on my palm, I just pulled the corners of my lips upwards at his remark. As if someone was tickling me with a feather, my chest seemed itchy that I was about to burst into laughter if things went wrong.
At that moment, Yeo Ryung threw a folded message in front of me. I quickly opened it.
[Ah, there was some big news, so we planned to tease you that we had talked about it while you weren’t with us, but I’m sorry things went this way.]
Turning myself in her direction, I looked at her and shook my head to say that I was fine.
Did she just say sorry since things had turned out this way? Come on, it was my fault bringing up some gloomy stories in the first place; besides, it was something that happened in the past.
However, Ban Yeo Ryung seemed to have felt guilty that I had those thoughts in mind before she even knew.
The reason why she had no idea about myself having such thoughts was that I simply didn’t tell her about them, but why was she always trying to be responsible for the things that weren’t even on her hands?
Feeling pathetic about her, I quickly wrote a note and handed it to her.
[I am really okay. Anyway, what’s the big news?]
Her response returned soon.
[Ask the person beside you.]
That was when I switched my gaze to Yoo Chun Young. Taking a closer look, he was writing and erasing something at the corner of his textbook. ‘What is he doing?’ Wondering that way, I stared at him blankly then poked him in the arm.
Since he turned abruptly to look in my direction, my heart almost dropped. After a moment of hesitation, I wrote down something on the corner of the textbook.
[I heard you have some big news! What is it?]
As if he had never hesitated just now, Yoo Chun Young scribbled a response briskly on the paper just like his up-front character. Watching him writing down the message, I soon opened my eyes wide.
I almost got up from my seat half-way and shouted, “A TV drama?!” then turned my head while doing a double-take. The math teacher, whom I only saw just a couple of times ever since I became a sophomore in this school, was indeed looking at me with the most generous face that I had ever seen.
He uttered kindly, “Donnie.”
“Yes, sir,” I replied.
“You know what I’m trying to say, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
With that response, I took my textbook and quietly went to the back of the classroom. Heaving a deep sigh, I thought, ‘It’s been two years since we’re taking the class together in the same classroom, but why can’t I sit down on my seat…?’
After a while, Yoon Jung In, who laughed deadly at me while saying, ‘Geez, I’ve offered my seat to you!’ grabbed his textbook and quietly stood beside me.
We then took the rest of the class in silence.
Once the class was over, the teacher left the classroom. As soon as I found him stepping outside to the hallway, I covered my mouth with my hand then walked toward Yoo Chun Young.
“Wow, unbelievable, Yoo Chun Young!”
While I kept hitting his arm and just saying, ‘That’s insane, that’s insane,’ Yoo Chun Young stepped back with a grimace. Perhaps, he didn’t feel good since I kept dropping the word, ‘insane,’ while slapping his arm.
But what else I could say when only the words ‘unbelievable’ and ‘insane’ just slipped out of my mouth?
Did he say a TV drama? I shook my head.
At that moment, Jooin, laughing at us, suddenly raised his head and said, “That’s true, mama. The TV drama that Chun Young is shooting right now, Nara noona is also one of the casts.”
“What? You mean the actress, Lee Nara?” I asked back with my eyes widened.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Jooin’s cousin, actress Lee Nara, whose real name was Woo Rinara, was one of the nation’s most popular actresses. Her beautiful appearance and stable acting ability had made her Korea’s number one sweetheart.
If she was playing the lead role in the show, the scale of the drama would be somewhat another level…
Showing a swiveling smile, Jooin added, “Yoo Chun Young is playing the friend of Nara noona’s little brother. He says that his character portrays a guy living next door since they were young.”
I replied with an exclamation, “Wow, that means Yoo Chun Young is also taking a supporting position in that drama.”
“He doesn’t appear in the show that many times but seems to have some critical existence since he’s playing the ebullient toy boy character.”
There was a moment of silence after Jooin’s remark. When I lifted my head and glanced around, Ban Yeo Ryung and Eun Hyung, who would have already known this information, were smiling enigmatically.
Diverting my eyes onto Yoo Chun Young, I asked, “Ebullient Yoo Chun Young?”
He then tossed a question with a sulky face.
“Why?”
“I mean… isn’t it the same as describing Eun Jiho as low key and humble…?”
As I dropped those words like a murmur, Eun Hyung burst out giggling and lowered his head.
‘Come on, I’m not joking, but for real…’ I said to myself. Folding my fingers one by one, I mumbled, “Lazy Eun Hyung, weak Ban Yeo Ryung, straight face Jooin…”
“How many are you attacking at once?”
Regardless of Eun Jiho asking me that way in bewilderment, I just folded the rest of my fingers and concluded my words.
“… And quiet Yoon Jung In.”
“Hey, why am I there out of the blue?”
HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL!! Being so surprised, I turned back to look behind me and asked, “Were you hearing all that?”
“Uh, yeah, sorry, but it was too quiet to miss it,” replied Yoon Jung In. He then pointed his finger at somewhere.
Turning my head toward the direction of his fingertip, I found everyone directing their eyes on me. That was when I stopped talking and quickly covered my mouth.
Yikes, since I talked so loudly about Yoo Chun Young starring in a TV drama during class time, everyone’s attention would be indeed given to me. Although I didn’t exactly specify who it was, there was no one else except Yoo Chun Young who was close to a celebrity among us.
Quickly looking at Yoo Chun Young, I dropped a question concernedly.
“Is it okay if others know about this?”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s already on the news.”
“Phew, thank goodness.”
“And the drama website will be opened too.”
‘Then it won’t be a problem,’ speaking that way, I heaved a sigh of relief. Checking the time, I realized that the break was gonna end soon.
Although we were moving from class to class for Math and English, kids from other classes occupying the space too long would cause inconvenience to others.
After checking the time, Ban Yeo Ryung and the Four Heavenly King also seemed to have had the same thought as me. Getting up from their seats, they began to clean up after themselves.
As they took their textbooks and headed to the backdoor, I asked them, “When do you have time?”
They came to a sudden stop at my question. Feeling embarrassed at their attention on me, I scratched the back of my head.
“I mean… we didn’t get to see each other on the day after the mock exam was over…”
Tilting his head, Eun Hyung uttered with a refreshing grin, “Today is good for me.”
As soon as he replied that way, the same answers returned simultaneously. ‘I’m fine too,’ ‘Yeah, why not today?’
Feeling more embarrassed at their kind response, I tossed another question.
“Then should we hang out today?”
“Cool!” Responding without hesitation, the kids then went outside to the hallway.
Watching the view of their backs for a moment, I soon sat down on my seat again.
Putting the math textbook back into the drawer, I took out the book for the next class and raised my head. The Kim twins had returned to their seats before I even knew.
While I said hi, Kim Hye Hill spoke out of the blue, “I shortly saw you guys sitting together during the class time.”
“Huh?” I tilted my head in wonder.
Looking at me, she smiled with her chin on her palm. She continued, “But the air around you guys were somewhat very chill. You know the overall vibe felt so intimate…”
“Uh, really?” asking that way, I scratched the back of my nape. Actually, I, who was inside them, didn’t seem to feel it that much.
Since we were in the same classroom after a few years, I felt awkward somehow and kept hand-fanning in a fluster. Just like a person who joined a party while stealing someone else’s invitation card, I didn’t know where to look at.
However, in the twins’ eyes, even that might have viewed differently.
