Kim Hajun

I wasn’t late to school anymore. I actually came really early every day. As early as the student council president, in fact.

Jisu Seonbae and I had somehow made it a thing to start going to school together. It began with me finding out he lived so close to me. After he came over to my apartment building to pick me up for our date on Saturday, I naturally came over to his on Monday morning to do the same. Then, he returned the favor on Tuesday. And here I was on Wednesday.

“I’m glad your late problem is all fixed now,” Jisu Seonbae said as we walked together toward the school gates.

“It couldn’t have been done without you.” I checked to see that no one was behind us. Barely any students came to school this early anyway. I leaned my lips just a breath away from his ear. Even before saying anything, I caught him shivering ever so slightly. Smirking, I whispered, “Thank you, Mr. Boyfriend.”

I immediately pulled myself back to witness the embarrassment spreading over his face. Cute.

“Y-You shouldn’t say stuff like that here…!”

I shrugged innocently. “I couldn’t help myself, seonbae. Honestly, you make it pretty hard for me to keep my mouth shut.”

Jisu Seonbae froze right in front of the school gates. Also checking that no one was around, he whispered, “If you really can’t help yourself… how about coming over to my place after school?”

“What?” Now I was the one taken aback. “T-Today?”

“Well, we don’t have yaja today. I’ll be free for once.”

“Okay!” I ran past the gates way ahead of him, unable to control my excitement. Waving goodbye, I shouted, “See you then, seonbae!”

He gave me a small wave back, his face still as bright red as the morning sun. “Yeah, see you…”

. . .

“You’re really weird these days,” Hyunwoo said, coming to my seat the moment morning homeroom was over.

“Weird?” I replied. “You’re going to have to be more specific than that.”

“I mean, the fact that you haven’t been late once since Thursday is one thing. But how have you been managing to come to school earlier than me every day? Just what exactly did the student council president do to you?”

The kiss. Movies. Morning commutes together.

Boyfriend.

“Nothing. He didn’t do anything to me.”

Hyunwoo looked at me in disbelief. “Seriously, dude, Jisu Seonbae has always given me the creeps. The ones who appear nice are usually the scariest, I tell you!”

I looked off at his desk a few seats away from mine. “And that must be why you’re not afraid of Jiwoo Seonbae in the slightest.”

“Jiwoo Noonim is the exception.” He smiled like any hopeless one-sided lover. He seriously was a lost cause. “She’s nice on the inside and out.”

So is Jisu Seonbae, I wanted to say. If only I could start the argument without garnering any suspicion…

Instead, I asked, “When are you going to finally have the balls to ask her out, then?”

“Hey, I’m getting to it! We have club activities from fifth to seventh period today, don’t we? That’ll be my chance.”

“Sure.” Now I was the one in disbelief.

“Alright, so I can’t make any promises. But I can assure you that I’m getting closer and closer to her.”

“Closer and closer, huh?”

That got me thinking. Besides riding the subway together in the morning, there hadn’t been much progress between Jisu Seonbae and me at all. Our date on Saturday ended with the movies because he had to go help out at his parents’ restaurant. We had no chance of seeing each other at school either. The first-years and second-years occupied completely different floors. It wasn’t like I could just casually walk up to his classroom without receiving any strange looks. Plus, after school was out of the question too since Jisu Seonbae refused to miss even a single day of yaja.

But there was no yaja today. We didn’t have it on days with club activities. I’d be able to spend time with him after school for a change. He even invited me to his house.

I felt a sudden blush crawl up my cheeks, to which I rested my face on my hands to keep Hyunwoo from noticing. He was too attentive to detail for his own good. He even knew whenever Jiwoo Seonbae changed her shampoo, sometimes being able to tell what brand it was.

I had to keep everything about Jisu Seonbae and me to myself. For now, at least. I didn’t feel particularly good about keeping secrets from my friend, but I had to play it safe. My boyfriend would want me to.

. . .

For some odd reason, I thought it’d be fun to pick the English newspaper committee as my club during the first semester. Initially, I got lured into it by the female seonbaes. They guaranteed me a place in the club even before the application process and interview just because they liked my face. It seemed wrong to be accepted into an English club on the basis of something completely unrelated to English. But since no other clubs really caught my eye, I took it.

And look where it got me…

I had a deadline for a full-page report on the newly renovated library that I didn’t even care about. As if three hours of writing wasn’t bad enough, I had to work while being stuck in the same classroom as my ex-girlfriend.

If I had known two weeks of barely dating would result in months of awkwardness, I would have rejected her on the spot. To be honest, I already forgot her name a long time ago. Although she was also a first-year like me, her classroom was on the other end of the hallway from mine. There was no reason for us to see each other anymore. Minus club activities, of course. But even within the clubroom, we pretended the other didn’t exist.

Tightly gripping my pen over this damn half-written report, I quietly swore to myself that I’d get the hell out of this club next year. I didn’t care where I ended up.

Maybe I should join the student council…

As soon as the ten-minute break started after fifth period, I stepped out of the classroom to get some fresh air. Although I was walking aimlessly, I somehow found myself on the uppermost floor.

“Hajun! What’re you doing here?” Hyunwoo asked, stepping out of the student council room.

I peeked inside, which brought upon a certain memory I wouldn’t dare to elaborate on with my friend around. But just like then, Jisu Seonbae was at his usual seat. He briefly stared at me, though he kept his face neutral while speaking to another student. Right now, we were just seonbae and hubae. Nothing more, nothing less.

(*Hubae: underclassman/junior, opposite of ‘seonbae’)

I turned away from him to wave at Hyunwoo. “Hey—”

Hyunwoo pulled me over to an open window in the hallway and took a deep breath. “We just got done with a needlessly long meeting, and boy is it stuffy in there!”

“I can say the same for my club.”

“You mean the English newspaper committee with all the pretty seonbaes? I thought you wanted to join.”

“Well, I did at first.” I made an exaggerated shocked face. “But they want me to write actual reports in English!”

Hyunwoo mirrored my expression. “The horror!”

“Yeah, I’m getting the hell out of there next year.”

“Haha, good call. Do you have any other clubs you want to join, then?”

I shrugged. “Anywhere that appreciates my good looks.”

“Oh, fuck off. You should try doing something that actually interests you for once.”

Something that actually interests me… I thought about it. The only thing that came to mind was Jisu Seonbae. Doing my boyfriend—

“What about the student council?” I quickly said.

“Seriously? You?”

“What? You never know. Maybe I’ll even run for student council president next year.”

Hyunwoo burst out laughing like I’d just made the funniest joke in the world. So much for getting support from my best friend. However, his face immediately turned rigid at the sight of someone behind me.

“Are you interested in the student council?” Jiwoo Seonbae asked. Her eyes widened in surprise when I turned around to face her. “Hey, you were here last week, right?”

“Hello,” I said with a slight bow. “Yes, I came to see Jisu Seonbae.”

“Ah, yeah.” She gave me a smile, though it seemed more out of courtesy as it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Anyway, I didn’t know you were friends with my lackey.”

“Lackey?” I repeated.

She reached up to ruffle Hyunwoo’s head as if he were her dog. “Him.”

“Noonim, I thought you said you weren’t going to call me that anymore!” Hyunwoo protested, but it was clear he was enjoying this. His face was too obvious.

“I said I wouldn’t if you stopped acting like one, lackey. Also, I don’t think I gave you permission to leave your seat.”

“Oh, right! My apologies, noonim!”

She shook her head with a sigh before grabbing Hyunwoo by the ear. “Come along, then.”

Although it looked pretty painful to be dragged by the ear, Hyunwoo grinned like an idiot. “I’ll see you later, Hajun!”

I also shook my head at him.

Jiwoo Seonbae didn’t close the student council room on her way in. Before heading back down to my clubroom, I took one last peek at Jisu Seonbae. As if he got my telepathic signal, he looked at me too, a little longer this time than he had earlier. Knowing no one was paying attention to him, he sent me a small smile.

I smiled back, hoping he would get my next signal as well.

Just wait until after school.