After eating at the cafeteria, they headed to the school field for a light walk.
The sky had already turned dark as evening settled in.
Jinkyung rubbed her arms, shivering. "It's getting so cold I can't even walk around the playground after eating."
Seolhyo nodded, sipping from her straw. "Let's just stay in the classroom starting tomorrow. I don't want to freeze out here."
Irina suddenly perked up. "Do you think Mijin's blind date is going well?"
Jinkyung turned to her. "Huh? Mijin went on a blind date?"
Irina glanced at her, still sipping. "Yeah, 3-on-3 with Samisang High. She seemed pretty excited."
Jisung smirked. "Lmao, those guys are doomed. RIP."
Seolhyo shot him a side glance. "Why? Mijin's pretty, right?"
Daegyu, with a papico stick in his mouth, shrugged. "…Everyone's beautiful in their own way. It'd be a miracle if she doesn't fight with someone."
Seojin chuckled. "Mijin's a feisty one."
Suwon nodded while holding his drink. "She's terrifying when she gets mad…"
Park Dong smirked. "Scary when mad? Maybe not as bad as Irina."
"Ehh~ are you teasing me?" Irina said. "I'm actually pretty calm when I get mad."
Jisung pointed at Jinkyung. "The truly scary one is Kim Jinkyung. If you piss her off, it's game over."
Jinkyung glanced at him. "Why me…?"
Jisung deadpanned. "Why, she says…"
Park Dong laughed, shaking his head. "Our whole group just has terrible personalities. You guys should just take over Sangji High already."
Seolhyo glanced at them. "Does that include me too?"
The boys turned to her with blank faces, like they couldn't believe she even asked.
"What are you talking about?" Park Dong said, smirking. "You're the leader the biggest menace. HAHAHA. You should be humble in moderation!"
Jisung burst out laughing. "If you overdo it, you're just annoying, punk! HAHAHA!"
Irina laughed. "HAHAHA, why are you guys picking on Seolhyo?"
Suwon pointed. "You're laughing too!"
Seolhyo turned and saw Seojin laughing as well.
Her eyes narrowed.
She jabbed her elbow into his ribs.
"They're picking on me, and instead of saying something to defend me, you're joining them?!"
Seojin laughed, wiping a tear from his eye. "Don't worry… you're pretty cute when you're angry~"
She blushed slightly, then huffed and turned to the others, glaring.
"There's nothing wrong with me, you bastards!"
She smacked each of them.
Park Dong winced but kept laughing. "See? See?!"
Meanwhile, in the teacher's office…
Park Mijin was kneeling on the floor, both arms raised above her head in shabby form
The teacher stood in front of her, arms crossed, eyes stern.
"Hold your arms properly!"
Mijin lowered her gaze, muttering quietly, "…I am…"
Morning sunlight poured through the classroom windows, scattering over the desks in soft gold.
Won Suji gazed out the window, her hands resting on her desk, looking distant.
There's something that's been bothering me…
something I've been keeping in my heart for a while.
And as time goes on, it's been growing bigger and bigger.
-
In the hallway, someone leaned against the classroom door.
"Hey guys, is there someone named Won Suji here?"
The girls near the door perked up.
"Hi, Kang Hyuk~"
"Yeah, she's here~"
Kang Hyuk waved at them with a smile. "The art teacher wants to see her in the teacher's office!"
"Suji~"
Suji turned her head, one arm resting on the back of her chair. "Huh?"
"The teacher's looking for you."
"Ooohh, Suji, what did you do?"
"You're in trouble now, haha!"
"I-I didn't do anything…" Suji said quickly, standing up and hurrying out of the room.
-
A few minutes later, in the teacher's office
The art teacher leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, staring intensely at the two students in front of her.
Suwon and Suji.
"If you two are serious about this," she said, leaning slightly forward, "how about starting at a cram school this winter break?"
A faint, almost mischievous smile tugged at her lips.
"At the latest, you should start in your second year. I'll talk to your homeroom teachers about letting you attend a cram school instead of night study."
Suji fidgeted with her fingers, glancing at the boy beside her through her glasses, her face faintly flushed.
The thing that's been bothering me…
Suwon spoke up. "Cram school… do you mean, like… a comic art class?"
It's him…
"Right," the teacher replied. "You both like comics, and you definitely both have talent. But just look at Bundang or Seoul there are tons of talented kids. And all of them go to private classes. If you want to compete, you'll have to start going too."
"Ahh…" Suwon nodded slowly.
Suji kept glancing at him, her friends' voices echoing in her mind.
'You've gotta get closer quickly!'
'Where you are now won't cut it!'
'You need to approach him more boldly!'
Suwon, completely oblivious, scratched his head. "I'll go, as long as I can skip night study. I've kind of wanted to try it too…"
The teacher turned to Suji, who had been silent the entire time.
"What about you, Suji?"
Suji jolted. "Huh? Ah!! Me too! I want to go too!"
The teacher nodded, satisfied. "Good. Think it over some more. It'd be a shame to let your talent go to waste."
Both of them bowed in unison.
"Yes, thank you," Suwon said.
They walked out of the teacher's office together.
As they made their way down the hallway side by side, the late morning light stretched across the floor between them.
For a moment, the only sound Suji could hear was their footsteps.
Then Suwon spoke, breaking the silence.
"The art teacher's nicer than I thought… though her face looks kind of scary. Hehe."
Suji let out a small laugh. "Haha… yeah, she does."
Her steps slowed slightly.
I feel like…
I should say something…
She glanced at his back, walking just a step behind him.
But what should I even say…
we're not even that close.
Suwon spoke again, turning slightly toward her. "What exactly do they teach at those comic art classes? Like line work, anatomy, stuff like that?"
Suji nodded, her voice soft. "Ah… yeah. Composition and layout too… that kind of thing."
They kept walking as they talked.
"Have you ever gone to one?" he asked.
"Yeah… briefly, back in middle school…"
Suwon shook his head. "Ah, so you can't go now because of night study. I heard some classes get exemptions. That's kind of unfair."
"Yeah… really…"
"Taking those classes would probably help a lot. Even when I read anatomy books, I don't really get what they're saying."
Suji grew a little more comfortable, raising one finger as she explained, "Ah… in high school-level classes, they do croquis too, so you can study anatomy in a more fun way. You even take turns modeling…"
Suwon tilted his head. "Croquis?"
Suji nodded and explained, "It's a quick way of sketching to capture the human body's form and structure in a short amount of time."
Suwon chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, I don't even really know what that is. HAHA. I just draw randomly."
Suji giggled softly behind her hand. "O-Oh, really? Hehe…"
They reached the corner leading downstairs.
Suwon went ahead first, with Suji following behind.
Silence settled again. Aside from comics, they didn't really know what else to talk about.
Suji watched his back as they walked.
He's surprisingly easy to talk to…
He's really different from me…
Suddenly, Suwon stopped and turned to her.
"Still… I'm glad I found someone to talk about comics with. I never really got to talk about that with my other friends. I mean, I talk to Seojin sometimes, but he's always distracted by his girlfriend."
He sighed lightly, then smiled brightly at her.
"Let's stay close from now on!"
Suji's heart skipped a beat as she looked down at him.
"S-Sure!"
Suwon chuckled, putting his hands in his pockets as he continued walking downstairs, completely unaware of the color rising on Suji's cheeks.
Suji stood frozen for a moment, flustered.
She snapped out of it when she saw him already heading down and quickly followed behind, trying to hide the small smile tugging at her lips.