‘I stand there, bewildered at what I’ve just heard.’

“Wait…So you’re saying that we won?”

“Yes.” Ha-eun nods her head.

“But…the presenter…I thought he said that Team Panther won.”

“Yeah but then the spectators found that they had one of the students who was using a phone and another who had an ear-piece so they got disqualified and we were made the winners instead.”

‘I didn’t know what to say nor did I know if I should be happy or sad.’

“Jin-Su.”

‘I glance up from the concrete.’

“You did a brilliant job on the Maths and Science questions. I was surprised that you knew so much that I was grateful that you were on the team.”

“You were?”

“Of course. It doesn’t matter if you made a pass. It matters that you tried and you took part. You shouldn’t be ashamed but delighted. You haven’t been ignored but sighted.”

‘Somehow somewhere in my body, my red, pulsing organ was feeling lighter in weight and the pituitary gland somewhere around my brain was making me smile uncontrollably…as if today I achieved something great. I probably have…I’ve made people happy for the first time that I’ve been alive.’

“Are you willing to come back to school with me?” Ha-eun inquired.

“Yes. I am.”

“Then let’s get inside before we get really sick.”

‘I remember nodding with the smile still fixated on my face, thinking about what I was going to write in my diary and if I had, miraculously, made a friend.’

Thank you for reading ‘Everyday Life with Jin-Su.’ This is your author, Park Yeon Mi.