The Best of Tomorrow

Chapter 6

While wandering around in the new building, I couldn’t find second year’s class and went into the old building instead. After searching the first floor, I went up to the second floor and that was where I found Seon-jae’s classroom.

Second floor, 7th class.

It was worth studying about Seon-jae. I could find information about him from Wikipedia. There were too many desks in the classroom. As I went through the desk one after another, a chair with a beige knitted sweater on it caught my eye.

Hahh, I remember that sweater!

Some of the students who had completed their work passed the hallway. Without wanting to get noticed, I squatted down and walked to the desk where the sweater was hanging on its chair. The textbook on the desk had a name written on it in an earthworm like handwriting.

The handwriting was so bad that I almost read it as ‘Ryu Seon-gae’.

Seon-jae, you are really bad at writing…

Is that why you draw pictures of flowers or stars when you sign?!

The hallway on the second floor became noisy as if the students who finished lunch were coming up.

I took out the folded paper from my pocket and put it in Sunjae’s desk drawer.

It was a letter about the mishap of taking cold medicine and sleeping pills together. I also wrote a few words on the viciousness of the 66 Entertainment CEO.

Students started to enter Seon-jae’s classroom.

Oh no-

I lay down on the floor, not wanting to get noticed by the students. I crawled towards the front door.

I’m like a soldier, just without a military cap and gun!

I opened the front door and left the classroom quickly.

Dusting off the gym suit, I headed for the vacant space behind the auditorium where I had left my bag. This time, it wasn’t an electric pole in front of the school gate, it wasn’t a street light, it wasn’t a wall, it was his desk drawer where I had left my letter…

Seon-jae will see it… and when I thought about it, I couldn’t help but smile.

Finally, there was hope.

My biggest goal is to prevent Seon-jae from joining as the fifth member of Potato pancakes, so I had to give him the solutions first as I might return back to the present today. Who knows? I had to give him clues, all so that he wouldn’t die due for absurd reasons.

I wrote it many times, no matter how sick you are, you must not take sleeping pills and cold medicine together. The moment I stepped into the vacant space with a smile, my pupils shook like an earthquake. Some students were gathering to smoke and they looked bad. Not the kind you can afford to get involved with.

And there, my eyes fell on a blonde guy… Why… was he carrying my bag?

“Huh?”

As someone looked at me and made a noise, the faces with cigarettes in their mouths turned their heads at the same time.

I looked at a distant mountain without making eye contact with anyone.

As I thought about just running away, I stopped in my tracks.

My school uniform is in the bag! What do I do now?

“Are you here to smoke?”

What? I don’t even like the smell of mosquito repellents in the summer.

I warily glanced at the guys in the vacant space.

The guy who was smoking with his shoulders leaning against the wall, looked back at me.

I clenched my clammy hands together.

The guy carrying my bag was standing in the middle of the road, and next to him was a tall guy squatting down and flicking off cigarette ash from his palm.

My heart was pounding. I was so scared at this sight.

It’s scary.

Subconsciously, I kept walking backwards. Perhaps this is the place where delinquents hang out and come to smoke.

Ah, I went the wrong way…

Taking one step, two steps back, I turned around and ran. The place where I stopped running was in front of the cafeteria. After having their meal, the students were walking out.

Wouldn’t they go away if they smoked all the cigarettes? I wondered.

So, I thought I would go back after 5 to 10 minutes.

I just hope the guy left my bag there…

While standing in front of the cafeteria and looking at the auditorium, someone halted in front of me. A shadow loomed over my head. When I raised my eyes, I saw a familiar face.

My mouth dropped wide open and my eyes grew round.

It was Seon-jae.

He was squeezing the bottom part of his carton, to see if yogurt came out.

“Hey, Ryu Sun-jae, come here.”

I looked back at the voice calling Seon-jae. I could see Baek Hyuk, who came out of the cafeteria. He had probably completed his lunch later than Seon-jae.

Oh god.

“Huh?”

I made eye contact with Baek Hyuk. The hand holding his yogurt carton came up. His index finger stretched out and pointed at me.

“You!”

Seon-jae looked back at Baek Hyuk.

And Seon-jae, who noticed that Baek Hyuk was staring at me, shifted his gaze.

No!

I am wearing Ryu Seon-jae’s gym uniform.

Seon-jae’s name was written on my back.

I have to hide my back.

I sneaked back and stuck myself to the wall.

I knelt down, hurriedly untied the tight shoelaces and started to make the knot slowly, making a butterfly shaped knot with the two strings. The darkness that I felt around me was maybe because of my imagination, it seemed like a dark shadow was around me.

I tied the shoelaces and tweaked the knots, then glanced over my head. Baek In-hyuk, who was holding a yogurt carton, was looking down at me.

Oh, no.

I tried to leave as naturally as possible, but Seon-jae’s gaze continued to follow me. Seon-jae must have seen through, the material of the fabric was not that common.

This is bad, what should I do?

All I could think of at this moment, was to run as far as possible.

But then, Baek In-hyun took the yogurt from Seon-jae, and opened his mouth, “I think it was her last time…”

“Huh… that time? The girl who wet my vest with her tears and runny nose?”

“Hmm… She was definitely wearing a different school’s uniform.”

Baek-hyuk, standing next to Seon-jae, nodded.

“I know.”

Should I run now?

I couldn’t even turn my head to the side.

I had to stay still, pretending I can’t hear anything, pretending not to know that it’s my story!

“What did she say again? ‘Seon-jae, carry me’?”

“What? What carry? You’re just talking sh*t.”

“What was it? I know she said something like that. I’m sure of it.”

“Dunno.”

“You know it, you just pretend to not know.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Ah! I remember now. That’s right, she wanted you to give her a piggyback ride.”

Should I be ashamed?

“You have to give me a piggyback ride!” Baek-hyuk curled up his nose and said in a girly tone, high pitched voice.

“Come on.”

Seon-jae rolled his eyes and moved back. The shadow above me reduced a bit.

“Hey, let’s ask if she’s transferred here.”

“Come quickly.”

Baek Hyuk dropped his curiosity on Seon-jae’s words and didn’t ask anything about my gym clothes.

“Ha, finally.”

Only

A sigh came out of my parted lips. It was as if the stress on my shoulders had been lifted off. I had the bad luck to meet Seon-jae just after getting away from those delinquents. As a fan it’s great, but as someone who’s running away, this only brings me trouble.

I unfolded my knees and got up.

Time to go get my bag.

“…Ah.”

My body froze before I even got to step towards the vacant area, behind the auditorium. Seon-jae and Baek-hyuk stood a few meters ahead, staring right at me. As if they were waiting for me to get up. Seon-jae had a yogurt pop in his mouth, and Baek-hyuk’s arms were folded. It was similar to a pose undercover investigators would make. They, who had seen my face, turned away without hesitation.

Something abnormal was happening. Incidents seemed to be taking place in a strange manner.

I stared blankly at the backs of those two, who kept moving away.