Just A Friend

#11

The classroom, with its window frames thoroughly cleaned, was exceptionally tidy for once.

Nam Seonwoo sat contentedly at his seat by the window. Even the muggy summer air had become cool in the late afternoon. There was still no sign of rain.

Students who had been enjoying their evening free time started to trickle in. Soon, the voice of the evening study supervisor echoed in the hallway, telling class presidents to start checking attendance. Today’s supervisor seemed to be the head of student affairs.

Now that the urgent matter of the mock exam was dealt with, it was time to prepare for the final exams in two weeks. Being a boys’ high school in the general track, there shouldn’t be much difficulty in maintaining good grades, but these boys had malleable brains. They couldn’t let their guard down.

The Nam Seonwoo of the past had diligently taken detailed notes. Thanks to that, exam preparation seemed easy. After neatly organizing the schedule until the final exams, he felt like he had already finished today’s studying. So glancing back was really just a natural thing to do.

‘…I knew he’d be like that.’

Kang Jihan was sitting blankly with his textbook open. With both hands in his pockets and his back slouched against the chair, he looked utterly delinquent. Yet, seeing him staring at the textbook made Nam Seonwoo smile slightly, which he consciously suppressed.

Since he had told Kang Jihan to do evening study, he thought he should at least tell him what to study first.

As he stood up with a notebook, Park Gyuhyeon turned his head like a meerkat. His eyes suggested ordering chicken. He seemed to be taking advantage of the lax supervision on days when the head of student affairs was in charge, but Nam Seonwoo ignored him and approached Kang Jihan’s desk.

He tapped twice on the clean textbook, and Kang Jihan looked up. Nam Seonwoo mouthed ‘follow me’ and left the classroom first, followed by the sound of a desk being pushed back.

The corridor was dead silent. The head of student affairs was snoring at the main entrance with his feet on the desk. Perhaps because it was the end of the semester, even the teachers seemed to have loosened up.

They quietly crossed the main entrance to the opposite corridor. Nam Seonwoo could tell Kang Jihan was following by his slow footsteps. Opening the steel door at the end of the corridor revealed a skyway leading to the annex building.

Only after entering the dark annex did Kang Jihan ask, “Where are we going?”

“You asked me to teach you, right?”

They couldn’t make noise in the study classroom, and the annex was suitable for finding an empty room.

Nam Seonwoo hesitated briefly at the stairs before him. One floor up were the computer room and auditorium. They weren’t suitable for studying, but he was reluctant to use the special room as it reminded him of spending time there with Kang Jihan before. Of course, there was no reason to hesitate, but…

“Are we studying here?”

The sudden interjection scattered his thoughts of the past. Shaking his head vigorously, Nam Seonwoo climbed the stairs. The computer room should be fine since it had desks and a blackboard. The rhythmic footsteps followed behind him again.

The annex was newly built. This meant the classrooms had door locks instead of crude padlocks. After fiddling with the keypad, trying to remember the code, a clear beep sounded, and the door opened.

Nam Seonwoo carefully drew the curtains to prevent light from escaping. Turning on just one ceiling light at the far end created a cozy study room atmosphere. Kang Jihan stood still at the doorway, seemingly amazed at Nam Seonwoo’s efficient actions.

“What are you doing? Come in. Close the door so we don’t get caught.”

As the door closed behind Kang Jihan, the annex became dark again.

Kang Jihan sat down, pulling over the chair next to him, and placed his textbook on the desk. It was Korean again. Even a quick glance showed it was in the same condition as when he received it at the start of the semester. But instead of nagging, Nam Seonwoo folded the pages to mark the exam range first. Then he started underlining with a highlighter.

“For now, you just need to memorize for the school exams, so focus on memorizing what I highlight. The rest won’t be on the college entrance exam, so ignore it.”

While Nam Seonwoo underlined and starred through dozens of pages, Kang Jihan quietly followed the neat fingertip with his gaze.

The highlighter drew straight lines without the slightest error. When the pen paused briefly, Kang Jihan’s gaze shifted upward. His eyes, carefully selecting sentences, were more serious than ever. When deliberating took longer, the hand holding the pen would press against his cheek.

“Don’t try to cram everything from the beginning when memorizing. First, read through it once. Okay, during tonight’s study session, read this twice.”

“…All of this?”

“What do you mean ‘all of this’? You can read Hangul, can’t you?”

Nam Seonwoo frowned as if to say not to ask obvious questions. Kang Jihan closed his mouth, having nothing to say.

“Besides, you can’t get into college with just school grades anyway, you idiot.”

“…”

“Well. You think I’m annoying? I’m saying you don’t need to obsess over memorizing the textbook. We’re done with the textbook, now look here.”

Nam Seonwoo ripped a page from the notebook he brought and picked up a pen. Kang Jihan’s current grade level, days left until the college entrance exam, weekly schedules and goals… He continued with an overview of approaches for Korean, Math, and English, sounding just like a counselor at a cram school.

Nam Seonwoo’s so-called ‘Kang Jihan college admission project’ continued without any break. When Kang Jihan yawned or looked elsewhere as if bored, Nam Seonwoo would give him a pathetic look. Then he would nag, saying, “Where else could you hear such valuable tips?” Completely fed up, Kang Jihan occasionally nitpicked at Nam Seonwoo’s words.

“How can I do that?”

“Why can’t you? Have you tried?”

“Have you tried it then?”

“Yes, I have. That’s why you should shut up and listen.”

Kang Jihan’s face clouded with dissatisfaction as he closed his mouth again. But soon he quieted down, due to Nam Seonwoo’s attitude that seemed more sincere than even Kang Jihan himself.

“Okay, that’s it. Simple, right?”

“…”

“Alright. Buy these two practice exam books.”

Nam Seonwoo closed the notebook with a satisfied smile. He hadn’t planned to go this far, but once he started, his professional habits kicked in and he lost track of time, focusing intensely.

Of course, this would be impossible for ordinary kids, but Kang Jihan could do it. Kang Jihan was smart. Not just smart, but exceptionally so. Nam Seonwoo vividly remembered getting goosebumps and thinking, “Was this bastard really a genius?” when Kang Jihan scored higher than him on the college entrance exam.

“By the way, what time is it now?”

There wasn’t a single clock in the computer room. Having left his phone behind, Nam Seonwoo asked Kang Jihan, who shook his head, indicating he was in the same situation.

It felt like about an hour had passed. Even though it was the head of student affairs, they might be unlucky and he could do a classroom round, so they needed to head back soon.

It was when they went down one floor and opened the door leading to the skyway to the main building. With a clunk, the doorknob wouldn’t turn.

“…Huh?”

Kang Jihan reached from behind to turn the doorknob, but it still wouldn’t budge. The main building visible through the side window was dark. …How much time had passed? Nam Seonwoo had an ominous feeling. While Kang Jihan was trying to open the door, Nam Seonwoo went down to the first floor of the annex. The glass entrance door was chained shut. From the outside.

“No way, this is crazy…”

He glanced at the security office next to the annex entrance, but it was dark too. In other words, they were completely locked in the school.

He stood in front of the entrance for a few minutes, watching for anyone passing by outside, but to no avail. He heard Kang Jihan coming down. Seeming to have grasped the situation, Kang Jihan pointed at the annex door and asked,

“Can’t you open this door? Like before?”

“Do you think I’m some kind of magician?”

This damn school. How is it that there’s not a single adult here doing their job properly? If they worked like this fifteen years from now, they’d be bombarded with complaints… Feeling resentful of the times, Nam Seonwoo turned to look at Kang Jihan. His parents were still on an overseas business trip, and he had no cell phone. The only one who might worry about a son not coming home was Kang Jihan’s mother.

Seeming to catch the meaning of his gaze, Kang Jihan said,

“She’s not home today.”

“Hah…”

Nam Seonwoo crouched down on the floor like a deflated balloon. Well, Kang Jihan’s house was often empty. His mother was a famous shaman. He had heard she was always busy with on-site work in various places. That’s why Kang Jihan was able to do delivery work.

By the way, if she’s back to working on-site…

“I guess she’s gotten much better.”

There was no response to his muttered words. But he didn’t feel ignored. It was a silence that felt like Kang Jihan was nodding in agreement.

Although their last hope had disappeared, it wasn’t like they would die from spending one night here, and the power wasn’t completely cut off. It meant it was already well past 10 PM, so the security guard would arrive for work in a few hours.

He looked up at Kang Jihan. Unlike earlier when he was yawning arrogantly, there was no trace of sleepiness on his face now. Nam Seonwoo felt the same. Being locked in school had actually woken him up completely, and he even found the situation quite amusing. His quick-thinking mind recalled a secret about the computer room.

“Kang Jihan.”

He had heard from Park Gyuhyeon that there were a few computers with games installed. It might just be a simple ball-bouncing game, but in their current situation of being locked in school, it would be more fun than anything else.

Nam Seonwoo grinned and asked,

“Do you play games?”