Just A Friend

#10

Nam Seonwoo stared at the preliminary grading sheet on the homeroom teacher’s desk. As expected, the mock exam he had taken a week ago was a disaster.

“Oh my… This is serious,” the homeroom teacher clicked his tongue, looking at the grade sheet filled with ‘3’s. Of course, a 3rd grade wasn’t that serious, but it was different for a student who was expected to easily get into Korea University.

But Nam Seonwoo felt wronged. It was nearly a miracle to get a 3rd grade with a stiff brain in just a few days. While his experience as a teacher helped him tackle some problems, memorizing all that content wasn’t easy.

“You seem to have been losing focus lately. Is it because of that incident with your cousin?”

“No, it’s just that I was lacking.”

In these situations, it was better to grovel than to make excuses. He didn’t understand why he should apologize to the homeroom teacher for getting bad grades, but anyway. As he bowed his head with a remorseful expression, the homeroom teacher patted his shoulder.

“Let’s do well on the final exams without mistakes. If your school grades are stable, you can comfortably apply for early admission. You know that without me telling you, right?”

“Yes.”

He could get into his alma mater as long as he didn’t completely mess up the college entrance exam. He had managed to get in even when he wasted time on unrequited love, so he didn’t think he would fail.

“Good. Go to the classroom and call Park Gyuhyeon. And make sure Jihan doesn’t skip cleaning duty.”

As if Kang Jihan looked like someone who would skip… Despite his sarcastic inner thoughts, Nam Seonwoo smiled warmly and left the staff room.

‘Nam Seonwoo and Kang Jihan will be in charge of classroom cleaning until the summer vacation.’ That was the homeroom teacher’s punishment for the two of them using the leave permit without permission. It was a rather cute punishment compared to what he had expected. It seemed the homeroom teacher had taken Kang Jihan’s circumstances into consideration.

The classroom after the end-of-day meeting was chaos itself. Some guys were hanging around laughing despite not staying for night study, some were gathered on desks playing games, and others were running around throwing things. It was giving him a headache. Nam Seonwoo tapped the blackboard with a broom.

“We need to clean, so get out!”

As expected, it was of no use. But he was experienced in handling students.

“If you’re still here after 5 seconds, I’ll assume you want to clean and give you each a broom.”

There were booing sounds, but Nam Seonwoo ignored them and started counting loudly. Some ran out as if escaping, but others pretended not to hear. As he was wondering how to drive them out, he heard the sound of desks and chairs being moved. Not just one, but several desks and chairs were pushed at once, drowning out the noise in the classroom.

“Move.”

It seemed the room had quieted down more because of the person who made that sound rather than the noise itself. At Kang Jihan’s annoyed expression, those who remained quietly stood up. Some even helped push the desks and chairs along with Kang Jihan.

‘Boys will be boys.’

Nam Seonwoo first approached the windows to get rid of the overwhelming smell filling the classroom. But he noticed something unfamiliar on his desk.

The paper, folded three times, seemed to have been torn from a notebook. There was nothing written on the outside, but it didn’t look like trash, so he unfolded it.

“Nam Seonwoo’s strength: He is kind.”

“…”

It was a Manito letter. Though it’s questionable if it could be called a letter with just that content written abruptly.

Unlike the teacher’s intention to praise the other person’s strengths, the compliment pointed out by Nam Seonwoo’s Manito was just that. Aside from the lack of sincerity, he couldn’t help but laugh at the handwriting. Moreover, this person didn’t even try to hide their identity, writing a rather personal number below the strength. The familiar arrangement of numbers was Kang Jihan’s contact information.

It overlapped with the note Kang Jihan had left on the day he woke up in the hospital. He must have thought Nam Seonwoo had the wrong number since he didn’t contact him that day. Hence, he left his number again as if telling him to save it.

‘Wait a minute. Then…’

Was it Kang Jihan who had cleaned the blackboard then?

Recalling how he had been sprawled out sleeping, he wanted to hide in a mouse hole right away. He had slept through not just one, but several periods, how pathetic must he have looked? And then he had the nerve to tell Kang Jihan that ‘he only sleeps during class’…

If it were the previous Nam Seonwoo, he would have found the whole world beautiful at the fact that Kang Jihan was his Manito, but now he just felt ashamed. Still holding the note, he glanced back to see Kang Jihan sweeping the floor. Due to the short broom, he was almost bending over. Their eyes met for a moment, and Nam Seonwoo blurted out a complaint.

“You call this a compliment letter?”

“Why?”

“Hey. What’s with ‘He is kind’? ‘He is kind.’ Even an elementary school student would have a better vocabulary than you.”

“I think it’s better than what you wrote.”

Kang Jihan took something out of his pocket. It was a yellow post-it note. The familiar post-it was larger than usual, one that he often borrowed from Park Gyuhyeon. Kang Jihan read the post-it with an expressionless face.

“‘Jihan hyung’s strengths are too numerous to count, but firstly, your physique is incredible. What kind of exercise do you do? Secondly, your face is fucking gorgeous’… Should I read more?”

Park Gyuhyeon, that crazy bastard, really…

Nam Seonwoo bit his trembling lips hard. Just as he managed to put on a calm smile, the ill-mannered Park Gyuhyeon burst in through the front door.

“What, cleaning? But Nam Seonwoo, why are you slacking off?”

He had a sausage from the school store in his mouth. Glaring at the oblivious Park Gyuhyeon who was mumbling, Nam Seonwoo replied,

“My Manito said he’d do it for me, so I’m staying put.”

“Manito? Who’s your Manito…”

Since Kang Jihan was the only one in the classroom, Park Gyuhyeon’s gaze naturally fell on him, and then on the note in his hand. Park Gyuhyeon, startled, dropped the sausage from his mouth.

“…”

“S-Sorry. I’ll clean it up.”

Park Gyuhyeon hurriedly went to get a mop. Having managed to get both a sweeper and a mopper in one go, Nam Seonwoo approached the blackboard. While part of his intention was to escape from Kang Jihan, he also had a duty as the class president.

After writing the date with white chalk, he wrote ‘Night Study Attendance’ in large letters. As he turned around to take out the night study list left by the homeroom teacher, he saw Kang Jihan standing right behind the teacher’s desk. Having approached at some point, Kang Jihan was staring intently at the blackboard.

Keeping his gaze fixed, he spoke.

“Isn’t today the deadline?”

“For what?”

“The letter.”

It seemed Nam Seonwoo wasn’t the only one with a thick skin. Nam Seonwoo laughed as if to say ‘what are you talking about?’

“I wrote it, didn’t I? It’s in your hand right now.”

Kang Jihan, who had been looking at the blackboard, lowered his eyes back to the note. Their gazes met again.

“Did you write the letter with your toes?”

“…Yeah. Manitos are supposed to keep their identity secret, you know.”

“Your toes write pretty well.”

Recalling Park Gyuhyeon’s messy handwriting, Nam Seonwoo nodded vaguely. As he continued to pretend to be the Manito until the end, Kang Jihan chuckled. It was more of a cheerful laugh rather than a sneer.

“When are you going to write it? You said you’re the Manito.”

…Wait, if he knows I’m not his Manito, why is he going on about the letter? Nam Seonwoo, while taking out a file from the teacher’s desk, boldly confessed the truth.

“I’m not your Manito, you know? Go and clean.”

“Then,”

Kang Jihan glanced down at the file labeled ‘Night Study List’.

“Was it a lie that you’d help me study?”

“No, that…”

“You told me to stay for night study. Was that a lie too?”

“…”

Finally, Nam Seonwoo let out a sigh of defeat.

“It’s not a lie, so just finish cleaning. You clean the window frames too. …What? You said you’re my Manito. Shouldn’t you at least clean the window frames?”

Kang Jihan picked up a rag without a word and left the classroom. Park Gyuhyeon, who had been lingering at the doorway, cautiously entered and said,

“Hey, what’s going on? When did you get so close with Kang Jihan?”

“We’re not close. He’s just my Manito.”

“The way you treat each other, it’s not like a Manito but more like a couple.”

I can’t believe he’s going along with this. Park Gyuhyeon glanced at the corridor curiously.

“By the way, they say it’s going to rain this evening. Do you have an umbrella?”

At those words, Nam Seonwoo looked out the window. The sky was too blue for it to be raining.

“I didn’t bring one. Lend me yours.”

“Then what about me? You want me to get soaked?”

Park Gyuhyeon chewed on his sausage while mopping. Nam Seonwoo watched as the floor Kang Jihan had swept was covered with water, and only spoke when Park Gyuhyeon finished mopping.

“Oh right. The homeroom teacher called for you.”

“Oh, shit, Lord.”

Park Gyuhyeon hurriedly put on his school uniform shirt that he had taken off, and rushed out still holding the mop. He must have immediately realized it was about his grades.

In the quiet classroom, Nam Seonwoo flipped through the file. The class roster was reprinted and inserted at the back whenever there were changes. His hand stopped at the very last page.

There were quite a few changes in the list printed with today’s date. Although it was before the final exams, it seemed some students were tired after finishing the June mock exam.

“These brats, skipping out.”

As he was scanning the now-familiar names, he discovered a newly added name.

“…What’s this?”

Kang Jihan. As soon as he saw those three characters, he couldn’t help but laugh. Nam Seonwoo covered his mouth and muttered,

“Why is he so obedient?”

He didn’t expect him to sign up for night study so promptly. Was that why he was cleaning so leisurely earlier? Nam Seonwoo looked at Kang Jihan’s seat. The bag that used to disappear with the end-of-day meeting was now hanging boldly on his desk.