Runway Chapter 11

However, the voice was quite familiar. Only then did I turn my head. Jeong Hyeonwoo greeted the guys who had arrived first and then came over to my side.

“Why did you come so early?”

He asked. I shook my head.

“Just because.”

When I replied, Jeong Hyeonwoo pulled over my desk partner’s chair and sat down next to me. Our gazes locked.

It was clearly Jeong Hyeonwoo who had spoken first, but the embarrassment was mine to bear. We stared into each other’s eyes quite intently for a long while.

In the end, I was the one who lowered my gaze first. I looked at Jeong Hyeonwoo’s wrinkle-free, perfectly pressed dress shirt. I also scanned his navy school vest.

“Here, you got something on you.”

Jeong Hyeonwoo reached out his hand. The destination was the shoulder area of the vest I was wearing. Before I could even shrink my shoulder back, I was caught. He applied pressure with his fingers and rubbed the vest.

“Is it like glue?”

His touch dug into the vest and dress shirt. I didn’t want to think it was strange, but it was a peculiar gesture.

I belatedly brushed off my shoulder. Then I covered the shoulder he had touched with my hand.

“It doesn’t seem to come off.”

Jeong Hyeonwoo didn’t show any sign of embarrassment. How unusual. It’s not like he has a brazen face either.

I looked at Jeong Hyeonwoo for a moment with a curious gaze. It was a brief moment. Jeong Hyeonwoo read even that gaze and touched his own cheek.

“Did I get something on me?”

His voice was quite affectionate. After I said no, I swallowed my lips. There was nothing more to say.

“Seonho.”

When silence lingered, Jeong Hyeonwoo called my name. Hey, Bae Seonho. Lee Wookchan’s voice came to mind again.

The tone itself was different. I’m probably closer to Lee Wookchan’s side.

If I were to call Jeong Hyeonwoo too, I’d probably end up saying, Hey, Jeong Hyeonwoo, or just Jeong Hyeonwoo. Even though it’s something I could consciously correct, it’s not easy.

“Yeah.”

I gave a reply to the call that was so ticklish it gave me goosebumps. Jeong Hyeonwoo touched the desk.

There, a palm-sized timetable was attached. The timetable, located in the very corner of the desk, was something the homeroom teacher had cut out one by one and distributed to all the kids in the class when the second semester started.

Even that, my desk partner had fixed by gluing the corners with adhesive because there was no tape. Jeong Hyeonwoo’s fingertip headed toward Monday, first period.

English.

“From today, we’re going to go together to English class, right? It’s first period.”

I think I understand how Jeong Hyeonwoo, who hadn’t even been transferred for more than a few months, became class president. His affectionate voice carried embrace.

It seemed like anyone could follow his words. In fact, I still couldn’t believe that Jeong Hyeonwoo had said he wanted to be friends with me.

Still….

Perhaps….

I looked at him and slowly nodded.

“Yeah, let’s go together.”

It’s still awkward, but someday it’ll get better, won’t it. It’s only friends, after all.

∞ ∞ ∞

Class president. So, being next to Jeong Hyeonwoo, attention was also drawn to me, who was always outside others’ notice.

Even the English teacher, who always aimed to end class time with a hazy gaze, took one quick look at me, and the guys who chattered next to Jeong Hyeonwoo until the bell rang, to the point of foam forming at their mouths, looked at me and asked, ‘Seonho, you were in this class?’

It was only natural that the guys were puzzled. It had been about a month and two weeks since the second semester started, but I had only come to class once or twice and had never properly attended English class.

I didn’t answer. Instead, Jeong Hyeonwoo answered for me, saying, ‘Seonho is in this class. From now on, he’s going to sit with me.’

I felt uncomfortable with the guys’ suddenly sidelong glances, so I just flopped down. And only when class time came could I lift my head.

Following the teacher’s voice reading the sentences, my gaze also headed to the workbook. The advanced class didn’t use textbooks.

Class was conducted with the CSAT preparation workbook that third-years use. I’m glad I bought this at least.

I followed the teacher’s gaze and read along with my pencil. On the white paper, curly letters, and below them, long black lines.

The line that continued precariously along my gaze stopped before the next paragraph began.

What the teacher said was obvious. Underline the next sentence, explain the grammar, and memorize this part as a whole since it’s an idiom anyway.

And about once every 20 minutes, the teacher says: You probably already know all this so it’ll be boring, but we still have to have class. Those sleeping, lift your heads. From the next paragraph, I’m going to have you read it yourselves.

I glanced at Jeong Hyeonwoo’s workbook. Jeong Hyeonwoo had prepared red, blue, and even a highlighter, and continued taking notes.

While I was quietly watching him, our eyes met. Jeong Hyeonwoo curved his eyes prettily.

Then he slyly hugged his workbook to his chest and hid it.

“I won’t copy it.”

It wasn’t that I felt bad, but because I felt embarrassed, I whispered quietly. Jeong Hyeonwoo shook his head.

“It’s not that I hid it because you’d copy it. Because it’s embarrassing.”

“There’s a lot to be embarrassed about.”

“True.”

Just as I was about to move my gaze back to the blackboard, the teacher was looking at me. Someone with a lot to be pricked by, I slyly lowered my gaze.

“Bae Seonho, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Read the next paragraph.”

I’m fucked. I tightly pursed my lips.

Beside me, Jeong Hyeonwoo giggled. Irritation rose for no reason, so I nudged his forearm with my elbow.

“Ah, that hurts.”

Jeong Hyeonwoo flopped down, exaggerating. I grabbed the edge of the workbook and lifted the book.

I let out a deep sigh. I began reading the sentences with clumsy pronunciation.

∞ ∞ ∞

The hallway after a moving class was noisy. While returning to the original classroom, kids in the same class laughed and chatted, or exchanged conversation with kids from other classes they had gotten close to during the moving class.

With voices that had just passed through voice-breaking, their rough chatter was honestly unpleasant to listen to.

Without a word, I took my phone out of my pocket. There was a text from Lee Wookchan.

「You out?」

「Where」

「You idiot」

「Did you die or something lol」

Having been cursed at out of nowhere, bitterness lingered in my mouth. I pushed the workbook into my arms to send a reply.

Holding the phone with both hands, I tapped the keypad.

「Why are you cursing at me.」

「I attended class today.」

“Friend?”

Jeong Hyeonwoo asked. I didn’t feel the need to explain, so I hid the phone screen inside my palm.

Was it simply because I thought of it as privacy, or because I didn’t want to show text messages plastered with curses?

I checked his expression, wondering if Jeong Hyeonwoo might have seen.

Jeong Hyeonwoo was looking into my eyes with an expressionless face. To meet my eyes, Jeong Hyeonwoo slightly bent his shoulders.

So he’s tall too. Actually, my height is just average, but surrounded by guys who are all as tall as beanpoles, I suddenly became smaller and more shrunken.

It seems Jeong Hyeonwoo intends to keep meeting my eyes until I answer. I wet my lips with my tongue.

“Yeah. We’ve been playing together since we were young.”

“He curses a lot.”

He must have seen the messages Lee Wookchan sent. He didn’t even pretend not to have seen.

What a funny guy. Keeping the furrow between his brows, I met his eyes.

“Seonho, you don’t curse.”

“I do too.”

“Try it.”

“Shut up.”

It was a curse I said with a straight face, but Jeong Hyeonwoo burst out laughing. His laughter was ticklish.

It was like a blanket with a good texture. But because I was irritated, I said nothing. Because it felt like he was ignoring me. The inside of my palm was ticklish.

“If I send you a text, will you reply?”

“Probably. Yeah.”

What do you mean probably. From today, I was certain to be mindful of my phone. Since Jeong Hyeonwoo said that, I’d end up wondering if a text might come.

Jeong Hyeonwoo placed his hand on the back of my neck. His warm hand wrapped around my neck. Before I could even twist my body, I froze completely.

“Then from today, I should send you texts.”

The hand that had wrapped my neck brushed past as if it had never done so. He said it as if it were nothing.

I touched the spot where Jeong Hyeonwoo had touched with my hand. Jeong Hyeonwoo walked a couple steps ahead. When I stood still, he stopped in place again. Before I knew it, he turned his head toward me. He beckoned lightly.

“Hurry up, Seonho.”