Early July, even finals were over.
All that remained for the middle schoolers until summer vacation was to play.
The students watched movies each class had brought on USB drives, connecting them to the TV during class, while the teachers called them up one by one to let them check their written-answer scores on the finals.
Our class was no different.
I was watching the movie when I went to the front to check my written-answer score for math.
When I stood in front of the math teacher, she showed me my written-answer test paper.
Every answer on the paper was circled.
The teacher smiled and said to me,
“Dohee, you got a perfect score again?”
I smiled and gave a fake modest answer.
“I was lucky~”
These days, fake modest lines come out without even passing through my brain.
Maybe I really have become a humble person?
“Oh, come on~ You worked hard for it.”
“Haha, yes~”
“Goodness, Dohee, you’re pretty and good at studying too. Your mother must be so proud.”
“No, not at all~”
“That’s enough humility. Now sign and go back to your seat.”
“Yes~”
I signed the confirmation section on the written-answer sheet and returned to my seat.
As long as there were no issues with the remaining written-answer scores for history and science, I’d have perfect scores on this final too.
Nice.
So nice~
I went back to my seat and watched the movie, and the film that had been playing since morning ended.
Once it was over, the class president went up to the TV, pulled up the movie list he’d brought, and asked the class,
“What do you guys want to watch?”
The kids in class answered one by one.
“Hey, let’s watch 007.”
“Ah, not that. Twilight.”
“I heard Fast & Furious is fun.”
The kids each gave their opinions, and in the end.
“Then we’re watching Gonjiam?”
What got chosen was a horror movie.
Ah.
I put in my wireless earbuds, lay face down on my desk, and started looking at my phone under the desk.
As I was messing with my phone, my current seatmate, Bang Taehyeok, nudged me.
I took out one earbud for a moment, turned my head to look at Bang Taehyeok, and said,
“What.”
Bang Taehyeok said,
“Why are you suddenly looking at your phone?”
“Just because.”
“Could it be you can’t watch horror movies?”
“No.”
Even though I said no, Bang Taehyeok said loudly,
“Guys, Lee Dohee says she can’t watch horror movies~ Let’s watch something else.”
The eyes of the whole class gathered on me.
What the hell, Mr. Sweet Guy?
Under the burdensome stares of the kids, I had no choice but to say,
“No, I wanted to watch it too. Let’s just watch...”
Haa...
With no other choice, I lifted my head and began watching the movie.
The movie began with people going to experience something scary.
No, why would you go to an abandoned psychiatric hospital for a horror experience?
Why do horror movies always have people going to places they’re told not to go and causing a whole mess?
As they entered the abandoned hospital, eerie background music started playing.
At the music deliberately stirring up fear, my body shrank without me realizing it.
“Boo!”
“Aaaah! F—”
Bang Taehyeok, who was next to me, startled me and then laughed.
Fuck, I almost swore out loud.
“See? You can’t watch horror movies~”
“Ah, don’t do that.”
I could clearly see every single action of his was mixed with ulterior motives, so he was damn annoying.
If it hadn’t been for this bastard in the first place, I wouldn’t even be watching it.
After they entered the hospital, all sorts of scenes meant to induce fear came out, and I kept screaming inside my head.
A ghost suddenly popped out.
“Kyaaah!”
In the end, I screamed out loud.
Ah, fuck, that scared me.
Why is this so scary?
Thankfully, it seemed I wasn’t the only one startled by the ghost’s appearance; everyone in class screamed, boys and girls alike.
But this bastard Bang Taehyeok in the seat beside me must not have watched the movie at all and just watched me instead.
Otherwise, there was no way he could’ve seen that just now and still laughed.
Bang Taehyeok said,
“See~ You can’t watch it~”
Ah, I seriously want to hit him.
“Fine, I can’t watch it. Got a problem with that?”
I gave up, put my earbud back in, lay face down on my desk, and turned on my phone.
Then I played music.
If I didn’t hurry up and forget the ghost circling around in my head, it felt like it would come out in my dreams tonight and ruin my sleep.
Bang Taehyeok didn’t give up and started teasing me.
“Lee Dohee is a scaredy-cat~”
Bark all you want for a hundred days. As if I’ll respond.
When I didn’t move at all and only looked at my phone, Bang Taehyeok took out his phone and started filming me with the camera.
“Lee Dohee looking at her phone because she can’t watch horror movies~”
“Haa... Delete that photo.”
“Don’t wanna. I’m gonna tease you with this for the rest of my life.”
Haa...
Trying so hard to get my attention.
I should just stop engaging with him.
.
.
.
Lunchtime.
I headed to the cafeteria with Sohee and Sujin to eat lunch.
What was today’s lunch menu? It was Wednesday.
I looked at the girls and said,
“Anyone know today’s lunch menu?”
Sohee answered,
“Today it’s jeyuk-bokkeum, egg soup, kimchi, and pudding!”
“As expected of Wednesday. I believed in you.”
I entered the cafeteria and stood in line.
When it was my turn, I got rice on my tray, and when it was time to get jeyuk-bokkeum, I held out my tray to the cafeteria lady and said with a grin,
“Ma’am, please put lots of jeyuk on top of my rice~”
The lady piled it on until it was overflowing, then smiled and said to me,
“Dohee, you only act cute when it’s a side dish you like. I swear, you’re impossible.”
“Hah, thank you~”
Jeyuk is worth it.
No matter where you eat it outside, you just can’t get the taste of this school cafeteria jeyuk or army jeyuk, you know?
After getting my lunch and sitting down, I started mixing the jeyuk with my rice and eating.
While we were eating, Sujin looked at me and said,
“But Dohee, is it okay for you to eat like that?”
“What wouldn’t be okay about it?”
“Doesn’t your company tell you to diet?”
“Tsk, where on me is there even weight to lose? Even if there is, I’m in my growing years anyway.”
But... now that I think about it, maybe I have been eating a lot lately under the excuse of being in my growing years...
Still, it can’t be helped.
The doctor said you need to eat lots of protein for breast growth.
I saw it on YouTube.
///
Bang Taehyeok had a crush on Lee Dohee.
In fact, it wasn’t only Bang Taehyeok; most of the boys in the class liked Lee Dohee.
Dohee was already famous at school, to the point that even kids from other classes and other grades would sneak over during breaks just to look at her.
In Bang Taehyeok’s opinion, starting from her looks, Dohee was on a completely different level from any girl he had ever seen.
Her skin was fairer than girls who wore makeup, even though she didn’t wear any herself.
To simply say her features were distinct didn’t do them justice; they were clear but not too strong, with soft, feminine lines to her face.
Even if you examined each feature one by one, you could tell she was beautiful.
Her figure, perhaps because she repeatedly exercised and practiced, went beyond having pretty lines and felt beautiful.
Naturally, any male student couldn’t help falling for her at first sight.
Because of that, starting from the entrance ceremony, rumors about Dohee gradually spread, and she was treated like a celebrity in school based on her looks alone.
But Dohee wasn’t only good-looking; she had many talents.
When she had an interview with the band club, rumors began spreading from kids who had gone to the same elementary school as her.
First, the rumor that she was an idol trainee.
Second, the rumor that she had never gotten a single question wrong on a test throughout elementary school.
And third, the rumor that she had won grand prize at piano competitions countless times.
At first, people thought the kids from the same elementary school as Dohee were lying because they were fanatically fond of her.
But on midterm day, when Dohee scored perfect marks on every test, the rumors gained credibility, and little by little, the rumors from before were all revealed to be true.
Dohee had already been treated like a semi-celebrity at school for her looks alone, but when the rumor spread through school that Dohee was actually an idol trainee, she became treated as something beyond a celebrity.
To the point that every student in school, regardless of gender, came by to look at her at least once.
To be honest, it made sense.
If a kid like that didn’t become a celebrity, then who would?
It felt like she was already a child living in a different world.
That alone had made him give up on Dohee.
And despite being a boy, he was jealous of Dohee.
He realized that a boy could feel jealousy toward a girl.
But when Bang Taehyeok became Dohee’s seatmate, the negative feelings he had toward her disappeared with one smiling sentence from her: “Let’s get along.”
From watching her as her seatmate, Dohee had a kind personality too.
Though she did put up walls with others and had a blunt way of speaking, she didn’t swear like other kids did.
And he had thought she might be spoiled or stubborn from growing up receiving only love, but instead, she acted maturely and quietly took care of the other kids without making it obvious.
At the same time, when he saw her playing with Sohee, she seemed to have a lot of mischief in her too.
The more he watched Dohee like that, the more his already huge feelings seemed to grow even larger.
Now, at night, when he thought of Dohee, tears would come to his eyes without him realizing it, and he would softly call Dohee’s name and let out a sigh.
Then he would smile at the thought of seeing Dohee at school the next day, fantasize about being with her, and fall asleep.
Even with feelings that large, Bang Taehyeok didn’t have the courage to confess to Dohee.
Countless kids had already confessed, but Dohee would usually just say “thank you” and turn them down.
He was afraid that if he confessed like the other kids for no reason and ended up not even being able to talk to her, so the best he could do was press his feelings down and joke around with Dohee.
That was why, even today, when he joked around with Dohee and talked to her, he was happy at every single thing she said.
When he startled Lee Dohee and subtly touched her, the feeling couldn’t even be expressed as happiness.
His heart felt like it would burst at how cute she was, mature yet unable to watch horror movies.
And lastly, when he took her picture under the excuse of teasing her... he would truly treasure that photo for the rest of his life.
.
.
.
Ah, is someone talking about me? My ears are itching like crazy.
After finishing practice, I came home, washed up, turned off the lights, and lay down in bed.
As I lay in bed recalling today’s practice, the horror movie I’d watched in the morning suddenly came to mind.
Ah, why am I suddenly remembering the ghost’s face...
I picked up my phone, opened YouTube, and played a funny variety show loudly.
But the louder the variety show got, the less I could forget the ghost’s face from the horror movie that morning.
Ah...
I got out of bed and went into Doa’s room.
“Doa, are you asleep?”
Doa said,
“No? Why, unnie?”
“Should we sleep together today? For some reason, I feel like hugging Doa today.”
“No, I don’t want to. You make it uncomfortable, unnie.”
I said in a pitiful voice,
“Then I’ll just hold your hand while I sleep... okay?”
Doa sighed, then patted the bed and said,
“Phew... Fine. Come here.”
“Yes~”
It’s not like I was scared or anything. It was just because if I had a ghost dream for no reason and lost sleep, it might affect tomorrow’s practice.