Paper Friendship Chapter 24

We walked on in silence again. The traffic light turned red, and I stopped for a moment to think carefully.

I understand why Choi Juoon feels angry. He studied incredibly hard during the vacation. I saw it all right next to him. That’s probably why it’s even more disappointing. As you go higher up in rankings, every single question becomes that much more important….

But you don’t have to be that depressed right now. You’ll do well, won’t you? No, you will absolutely do well. I can guarantee that 100 percent, and I’ll tell you that with conviction.

I grabbed Choi Juoon by the shoulders and met his eyes.

“Choi Juoon, you’re going to do well. You have me.”

Since I’m dragging down the average, at least one person has been surpassed. That was the implication. But I’m not entirely sure what meaning Choi Juoon took from it at the time. I saw Choi Juoon’s pupils tremble slightly. We made eye contact for a moment, then Choi Juoon turned his head away first.

“….”

An awkward silence drifted between us. Choi Juoon still didn’t say anything. Was it because the day was nice that I got too sentimental? I scratched my head for no reason. I could hear the sound of children playing in the playground at the elementary school. For some reason, my heart felt at ease. The atmosphere around us was calm. It was just when the light turned green and we were about to walk forward.

“Thank you.”

Choi Juoon said.

“….”

At that moment, I genuinely felt every goosebump I would ever have in my entire life rise at once.

Between friends, what kind of… that kind of thing…. Has Choi Juoon gotten drunk on the weather? Ah, no? Am I overreacting too much? As I stood there in such bewilderment that I couldn’t move my feet, Choi Juoon laughed brightly and grabbed my arm first. Choi Juoon didn’t look embarrassed or anything like I did. He seemed like his mood had cleared up a bit. Seeing that, I also grabbed Choi Juoon’s arm, smiled slightly, and said.

“If you’re thankful, you pay for my Suneung exam application fee.”

“I should do that.”

We crossed the traffic light together, and we walked while still maintaining a quiet state. It was when I was looking up at the sky.

“Lee Juun.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to make a lot of money.”

At those words, I turned to look at Choi Juoon. Choi Juoon wasn’t looking at me, but ahead. His voice and his demeanor felt serious. When I was just staring at him without being able to say anything, Choi Juoon also turned to look at me and said.

“You haven’t forgotten about living together, have you?”

“Huh?”

“…You didn’t happen to forget, did you?”

“No? No, no… I remember. Living together. Yeah….”

Honestly, I don’t remember it at all…. but since Choi Juoon’s face, which had finally cleared up, started to frown again, I blurted it out hurriedly. Wanting to change the subject, I continued.

“Then let’s live in a place where we can see the ocean.”

“The ocean?”

“Yeah, I want to wake up in the morning looking at the ocean.”

“Hmm….”

“Choi Juoon, you know I’m extravagant, right? You have to earn a lot of money.”

“I’ll give you the ocean.”

“What?”

At that moment, Choi Juoon stopped in his tracks. Because of that, I stopped my footsteps as well.

“I said I’ll give you the ocean.”

“…Ah.”

“Why are you laughing?”

“It’s funny.”

I’ll pluck the stars for you, I’ll pluck the moon for you…. It felt like sayings like that, so I laughed. Choi Juoon didn’t laugh at first, but since I kept laughing, he laughed too. We walked while shoving each other and playing with our hands, then gradually became quiet.

However, it wasn’t the same awkward silence as before. It was a natural stillness. Looking at the sky, the sunset was as beautiful as anything that might come out of a nature documentary. I suddenly looked at Choi Juoon. Maybe it’s because the sunset is nice, but Choi Juoon’s face reflected in the sunset looked soft.

Later, I carefully opened my bag and handed the report card to its original owner.

“Ah, so that was yours.”

Choi Juoon said, widening his eyes slightly. It seemed like he figured it out without me needing to explain separately. I was worried that Choi Juoon might get a little sensitive about the fact that I had seen his report card, but perhaps because his mood had completely cleared, that didn’t happen. Choi Juoon took it and continued dryly.

“I feel sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“Then, you don’t need to look at yours?”

Just as I was about to open my mouth to say it was okay, I felt a sneeze coming on, so I covered my mouth and turned my head slightly. Then, Choi Juoon said in a serious voice.

“Grade 5 is fine too.”

I was so surprised I stopped mid-sneeze. I widened my eyes for a moment, looked at Choi Juoon, and thought. Huh? What are you talking about? I’m usually Grade 4. I even have some Grade 1s….

“Hey…. I can get Grade 3 if I do well.”

“…Grade 5 is fine too.”

“No, I’m really not Grade 5.”

“Alright, alright. Grade 4 is fine too.”

…What is this feeling? I looked at Choi Juoon, who was putting the report card into his bag, and thought. I guess Choi Juoon thinks Grade 5 and Grade 4 are the same. No, but they’re so different…! Just like how Grade 1 and Grade 2 are different, Grade 5 and Grade 4 are also a huge difference.

“No, it’s not that. I don’t have my report card right now. I don’t get Grade 5 very often. I can’t even show you anywhere. It’s for real…!”

“Alright, a Grade 4 who rose from Grade 5 to Grade 4.”

Obviously! I wanted to retort, but I saw Choi Juoon’s smiling face and just kept my mouth shut. Perhaps because the sunset was nice, my heart must have softened too. Still, I got my revenge. By pushing Choi Juoon’s face with my hand once. Watching Choi Juoon, who was smiling even though he had been pushed, I made a vow to definitely explain the difference between Grade 5 and Grade 4 someday!

Time passed really quickly. As the Suneung exams approached, I studied hard.

─That’s a lie. I didn’t study. As time went on, my concentration plummeted significantly. I managed to study, barely, day by day. I didn’t time my study sessions so I don’t know for sure, but in terms of feel, it seemed like I studied less than in the first semester.

But this wasn’t just me; many of the kids didn’t focus more just because the day of the exam was getting closer. Rather, the majority were the ones who became lax and dragged their feet, saying they wished it would end quickly. The kids who focused until the very end could truly be counted on one hand.

Can’t they just let us take the exam early for the students who have given up on studying? Instead, as a gesture that we won’t leak the exam questions, we can keep our masks on until it’s over….

Around me, the number of kids who were accepted via rolling admissions increased. I was envious of their acceptance, but more than anything, I was even more envious of the fact that it was over. Of course, half of them still had to meet the minimum requirements…. but still, because a period or a comma, something had been marked, that was what I was most envious of.

You might call me crazy, but I met with Joo Sunhye often as well. I met her before the day Joo Sunhye went to her interview, and I met her after, too. As it got towards the latter half, I think I met her even more often. Ah, I have something to say regarding Joo Sunhye…. I will talk about that later.

I applied to five universities in Seoul and one in another region. Almost all of them had minimum requirements, but I was confident I could meet those. My goal was to go to a university within Seoul regardless of the major, and my heart felt lighter thinking that I could see the end.

Choi Juoon didn’t go to the flight attendant academy starting in the second semester. Also, the school was paying special attention to Choi Juoon. To the extent of how much they cared, they said it was possible to get a recommendation letter that only one person could receive from the school.

However, in conclusion, someone else got the recommendation. From what I heard, the school suggested that he consider preparing for the aviation field after going to university, but Choi Juoon refused and applied to two programs in the aviation field as well.

I didn’t have a single interview, but Choi Juoon went to see a lot of interviews. At first, I cheered him on while looking at his face, but because Choi Juoon became very busy, I cheered him on only through messages. There were times when we went to the study room together, but as time went on, there were more and more times I went to the study room alone.

Ah, to continue the story about Joo Sunhye I mentioned earlier, Joo Sunhye applied to all six of her programs in the aviation field. Just like Choi Juoon, she went to see many interviews. The more I met Joo Sunhye, the more I thought about… breaking up. Even though I was always by her side in the future that Joo Sunhye talked about, I wasn’t.

I like Joo Sunhye. But separate from that, we didn’t fit well together. It’s fun when we’re together, but… it was very slightly tiring. I was planning to say let’s break up after the Suneung exams were over.