"He looked cute."
"Really? Does he have blue eyes like Pel?"
"It's a bit blurry, but I think it's because I'm wearing contact lenses."
As expected, that kid was always on everyone's lips. It felt like everyone was talking about the transfer student, and his conversation could be heard everywhere: in the hallways, classrooms, and even the storage room.
"Pel, have you heard the rumors?"
Seokjin asked Pel as he took out his gym supplies from the storage room. At Seokjin's question, Pel, who was searching for a baseball in the storage room, stopped and looked at Seokjin.
"France?"
(france?)
"Yeah. A French girl transferred to our class."
"I guess our class has the fewest people?"
Seokjin asked in a surprised tone at Pel's question.
"Do you know how classes are divided?"
"Huh? Korea divides it differently from the US?"
Seokjin chuckled at Pel's question, which seemed to show he knew absolutely nothing. "She's the most innocent, yet strangest kid I've ever seen," he thought.
"It's better not to know. By the way, I heard that the new transfer student got into our class through constant nagging. It doesn't feel good, so I think it'd be best to be careful."
"You'll know when you see it for yourself. I don't want you to be prejudiced and judge hastily, so I'll take care of it myself."
At Seokjin's words, Fel's expression hardened as he left the warehouse. Seokjin let out a short sigh as he watched Fel walk away. Ah, that's not right. I was just... worried as a friend. Seokjin licked his lips briefly and followed Fel out of the warehouse, carrying an armful of timers he found among the scattered items. Then, the moment the door closed, Seokjin made a troubled expression at the key that fell.
"I can't pick it up..."
Seokjin muttered softly, "I'll give it to you later," and climbed the stairs to the third floor of the main building. He thought to himself, "If I just leave this here, come back right away, and lock the door, everything will be fine."
Seven. Hi, bonjour, hello
Fel, heading to the classroom, called Taehyung's name.
"Hey, Kim Taehyung. Today you-."
"Hey, wait a minute."
But Taehyung, who was busy preparing to go out to the playground with his classmates to play soccer, didn't have enough time to answer Pel's call. He quickly took off his shirt, changed into a T-shirt, and even grabbed a soccer ball before calling Pel again.
"What were you trying to say?"
"No, just play soccer hard and come back."
But by then, Pell's resolve had already been broken.
"Yeah, well... take care with Kim Seokjin."
Taehyung and his friends, seemingly unconcerned with Pel's actions, swarmed the playground. Pel, who had been quietly staring at the back of Taehyung's head, clenched his fist. The timing was awful.
***
"Kim Seokjin~ I heard you went to Kim Taehyung's house yesterday."
A boy with dark skin and a stocky build playfully wrapped his arms around Seokjin's neck.
"Oh, is it Junhyeok?"
"Yeah, you punk. How come you haven't contacted me since we switched classes?"
"You're talking about games or basketball."
When Seokjin waved his hand in the air as if he was annoyed, Junhyeok grabbed Seokjin's hand and said.
"You need to work out. Look at this, your skin is so pale. What kind of flour is that?"
"What does skin have to do with exercise?"
When Seokjin lightly grabbed Junhyeok's head with his hand as if he was dumbfounded, Junhyeok covered his head with his hand and pretended to be in pain.
"Wow, is my head broken? It looks like half of my skull is broken."
"You piece of shit, get out of here."
Seokjin, who had slapped Junhyuk's back with his fist and chased him away, walked peacefully down the hallway again. Now, all he had to do was hand in his science and math reading reports to the teachers... and since I just needed to earn a few more volunteer hours, I should ask the teachers a few questions. And again. As Seokjin strolled down the hallway, his thoughts completely preoccupied with his student record book, something small bumped into him.
"Oh, sorry..."
"Huh...!"
Thinking he only bumped into her lightly, he apologized and tried to walk away, but a wet voice pierced his ear, causing Seokjin to look down in surprise. Then, he saw a small girl who seemed to have fallen backwards, clutching her ankle.
"Sorry, I was thinking of something else..."
"Did you hurt your ankle? Are you okay?"
Seokjin panicked and tried to comfort the girl, but the little girl held onto her ankles and wouldn't stop crying. Haa... Seokjin sighed softly and took off his outerwear, covered the girl's legs, and then lifted her up.
"...I'll take you to the infirmary."
***
"Sorry, I surprised you."
"I hurt my ankle too and was so shocked that I cried."
A petite girl, about 155cm tall and with curly black hair, introduced herself as "Yvonne David." Even while sobbing and having a runny nose, she smiled brightly and expressed her gratitude.
"I think it's the person who transferred."
Seokjin asked, wrapping a bandage around Yvonne's ankle. It was a formality to avoid awkwardness, but Yvonne seemed overly pleased.
"Yeah! I really liked Korea, so I wanted to study there. That's why I studied Korean really hard."
"What is your name?"
"I'm Kim Seok-jin, a first-year student in class 1."
Seokjin, who had already finished securing the bandage with tape, bowed politely and left the infirmary. Left alone in the infirmary, Ibond pouted and grumbled.
"Just a little longer..."
***
"It's annoying, so let's just form groups with our partners. Any objections? If there are, let's talk to the principal."
"Ugh, what the hell is that, teacher!" A chorus of angry voices erupted from all over the classroom. To raise an objection through the principal? Shouldn't it be the other way around? As expected, the Korean teacher was clearly a total idiot with no regard for the sensibilities of the Korean language.
"hmm."
Seokjin, Pel's classmate, seemed equally dissatisfied with the teacher's one-sided announcement. Judging by Pel's sidelong glance, Seokjin's face already took on a gloomy expression. Sensing Seokjin's state, Pel spoke first.
"I will work hard to avoid harm to you."
"uh?"
"I'm not good at meticulously researching materials and stuff like that. If you just research the materials and give me some direction, I can do a good PPT and presentation."
"...sorry."
"What are you sorry about? When you've finished researching all the materials, send them to me by email. I'll also email them to you once I've finished writing the presentation materials and script."
Fel spoke as he hurriedly packed his bag, and Seokjin, who had been listening to Fel's story blankly, burst into laughter. Fel looked at Seokjin with a strange expression, but Seokjin didn't stop laughing. Fel didn't hate that laughter, so he laughed along. He thought that Seokjin's voice, which he could hear from the side, sounded just like a xylophone.
"Pel, do you know something really weird?"
"Is that a curse?"
"No, I like weird things."
Swept up in the radiant atmosphere, Seokjin blurted out the words without realizing it. The words he'd always thought about. "I like it because it's strange. I like it because it's strange. It's strange...."
"Crazy... I'll go to the teacher's office, the teacher's office!"
Seokjin covered his mouth with his large hand, tripped over a chair, and spilled his books as he headed toward the back door. Pel, however, may have thought it was a display of affection between friends, unaware.
***
"Pel."
Seokjin appeared in the classroom after the ceremony and called Pel over.
"Do you have time today?"
"If you have time, let's study together."
"What about the group project?"
"Oh, that's not urgent, I can do it during the vacation."
"Um..., okay. Where should we do it?"
***
"Please give me an iced Americano and a strawberry smoothie."
Seokjin spoke without taking his eyes off the menu written simply on the black board. This floor of the cafe was the space where Seokjin's favorite volume of noise was created. And surprisingly, Seokjin had a harder time concentrating in the library.
While Seokjin briefly stepped out to order, a familiar school uniform appeared before Pell's eyes. Judging by the name tag, it was a pure white first-year student. Perhaps this child...
"hi?"
"Class 3?"
"Huh? You know me?"
"Just... roughly."
"Good. Actually, I have a favor to ask of you."
"What is it?"
A boy who seemed to be in class 3 grabbed Pell's hands and pleaded with him as he asked back.
"I know a third-year senior."
"But that senior really wanted me to include you in this group blind date..."
"He's a little scary, but he's definitely not a bad person...! If you don't like him, you don't have to have an after party..."
The boy she'd never seen before, whining like a puppy needing to poop, looked quite troubled in Pel's eyes. She'd heard that Korea was a country of politeness, with a clear distinction between superiors and inferiors. Well, seeing as they even used formal speech... she understood why the man standing before her was clutching her hand like it was her lifeline. More than anything, she was so easily able to empathize with his terrified face,
"I'll do it."
I screamed.