Chapter 169 – Third Grade Is Over (2)
November.
As if the festive atmosphere until last month was a lie, Jinsugyo has now become completely in a study mood, and the frequency of dozing off or talking during class has significantly decreased.
As the days got colder, the number of boys playing soccer on the playground seemed to have decreased significantly compared to before.
It was right before the college entrance exam, and everyone was taking precautions because there would be an uproar if someone got hurt while playing soccer. Like a sergeant in his final years.
In this college entrance exam hell, the only ones who had some time to spare were Eun-ji, whose entrance exam to the physical education college was confirmed, and Yuri, who passed the Seoul National University entrance exam with perfect grades and only had to pass the minimum cut for the college entrance exam.
And… Plus maybe me too.
I couldn’t go to college because I didn’t have money, and when I tried to get a normal job, there was no way any company would accept me because I was a hard-core criminal who was investigated by the police for assault and even had a record of being imprisoned in a juvenile detention center until last year.
The only thing a person like this can do is part-time work, service, or delivery work.
If it hadn’t been for the weird fame he gained from the Jinsu-je stage video and the video of him kneeling silently saying he was making atonement and getting beat up by the victims, he would have been in hard mode after graduating.
‘Broadcasting… Broadcasting…’
A direction I hadn’t even thought about.
After listening to Yumin’s advice, I thought about it ever since and whether it was really okay to do it, and if so, what I would do.
Since I don’t have enough money, I can’t buy big equipment from the beginning, so should I do something like Yumin’s usual Instagram live?
Or sometimes, there is an amateur team that sets up guitars and electric pianos and performs on the street in the main street in front of the station. I don’t know how to play the guitar, so should I try that first?
But I’m not professional enough to do that…
“Ha… You look like a dog.”
If I had at least lived like a human, I could have just studied normally and applied to a normal company, but I was very annoyed by this situation where I was held back by a past that I did not commit.
Still… I have to live, so I guess I have no choice but to find a way within this.
As I was thinking about how to live in the future, I stopped trying to come to a conclusion that did not come immediately and opened the problem book for a moment.
Even though I’m not sure what I’m going to do in the future, I can’t just get an 8th or 9th grade on the CSAT.
I wrapped my head and started studying, even though I wasn’t the type to do well.
#####
Last weekend before the CSAT.
Me, Yuri, Eunji, and Suyeon rented a quadruple room at a study café and gathered there to study together.
Of course, Eunji had nothing to do with the college entrance exam, so she just read the comic books she brought from somewhere, and the only ones studying were me, Yuri, and Suyeon.
“Ugh~ I’m tired. I hope the CSAT ends quickly…”
While I was in the middle of studying, Yuri, who surprisingly never says things are difficult while studying, was the first to lose concentration and started stretching out, saying like a normal high school senior that she wanted to finish the college entrance exam.
“Why? Because I’m nervous?”
“No, that’s not it… It’s just that this atmosphere itself is suffocating. I don’t really like this kind of thing.”
“Really? That’s surprising. Since you’ve always been studying, I thought you wouldn’t care much about the atmosphere.”
“It’s not like I don’t pay attention at all, right? Actually, it’s not wrong to say that I don’t really care…”
Yuri fixed his eyes on me, stared at me, and said something.
“It’s because of you.”
“Me? Why me? I didn’t do anything strange.”
“When I was studying, I didn’t think much of it, but after experiencing all kinds of things because of you, studying isn’t the same anymore. I keep thinking about other things, and during that time, I just want to go to the arcade or Kono… It’s really all about you. It’s because you made me like this.”
In short, she corrupted herself, who only knew about studying.
I smiled very satisfied and placed my hand on Yuri’s thigh and rubbed it.
“Did you just think of the arcade or Kono? Didn’t you think of this?”
As my hand went deeper and deeper into her thigh, Yuri slapped the back of my hand while her face blushed.
“No. It’s prohibited until the college entrance exam is over. What if I get really weird and can’t pass the minimum cut? Don’t do it. I’m barely holding it in right now…”
“Hmm?”
“Oh, anyway, no! I’m going to refrain from even touching anyone until the college entrance exam is over!”
“It’s a shame… Okay. Instead, after the college entrance exam is over…”
Yuri must have imagined something at that moment, her face blushing, and her legs crossed.
“I really told you not to make me imagine…”
“Can you two please be quiet for a little while?”
Surprisingly, it was Sooyeon who interrupted our conversation.
Normally, Suyeon and I would do something different and Yuri would tackle us, but now our positions are reversed.
After Su-yeon started preparing for the college entrance exam… Or perhaps even after the People Theater documentary aired, Su-yeon became unusually sensitive and picky.
I’m not the type of person to be harsh with others just because I have to study, but even if I try to ask them why, I’m so sensitive that I can’t even ask for fear of making them feel worse.
“I’m sorry, did I talk too much? Yuri, let’s study again first.”
“For whom… Haha, no. Okay, I have to study. Sorry.”
Even though there was no reason to study, Eunji, who had been reading comics at the study café, just glanced at us, and no one said anything else after that.
For a long time, I just wanted to hear the sound of a pen or pencil rolling over a piece of paper.
“Haaaaa…”
Su-yeon, who was nervously scratching her head as if something wasn’t working out, sighed and put down her pen.
“I can’t do it, really.”
“…?”
“Why, Suyeon. What’s wrong?”
“Ha… I’m at my limit now. I can’t live with the stress.”
“If it’s too hard, get some air for a moment. Or close your eyes for a bit.”
“Sungjin senior.”
Instead of answering what I said, Suyeon called me.
“Huh?”
“I want to live with my senior after the college entrance exam.”
“Puhwal akyak”
Then she announced a bombshell, and Eunji, who was quietly reading a comic book, spit out the drink she was drinking.
#####
The whole story that Soo-yeon heard was as follows.
After she skipped a grade to be with me in the second semester, her parents thought that their wandering daughter had made up her mind to study again, and she started to teach Sooyeon again like before. 〉
Unlike Soo-yeon, whose only goal was to earn half her monthly salary, her parents teased and pecked at her like they did in middle school and made a fuss about her having to go to Seoul National University.
When her family problems began to surface again, Soo-yeon was so stressed out that she did not even invite her parents to her dinner party.
Su-yeon said that her parents were repeating what they said to her when she was in middle school: “Don’t waste your time on nonsense like other stupid kids, but use that time to study.” Br〉
Because of that tone, she was forced to study abroad, lost all of her friends, and was like a seizure button for Su-yeon, who was depressed for a year and stayed in school.
Nevertheless, she just endured it, but after the last People Theater documentary aired, her family was completely turned upside down.
– What are you talking about in that documentary?
– Just study quietly, right, boyfriend? When you go to college, you automatically get a boyfriend, but I don’t have anything to do, so I haven’t even graduated yet, and I’m crazy about men!
– My airway is not blocked at all. What? Do you have multiple girlfriends? Would you say that’s something to brag about? No matter where you meet him, he’s such a cool bastard!
– Are you conscious or not? How much time is left before the college entrance exam? Don’t you waste your time on festivals and other nonsense like everyone else? Now, you’re so crazy about men that you can’t even tell the difference. Are you sane? Break up immediately tomorrow!
Su-yeon, whose patience had reached its limit, screamed, threw things on the floor, jumped up and started fighting.
And her parents also did not give in to her opinion and threatened her by telling her that they would disown her if she did not get a 1st grade in all subjects in this year’s college entrance exam.
Since there was nothing else she could do right away, Su-yeon continued to study in a hurry and didn’t show it on the outside, but eventually the stress that grew day by day exploded.
After revealing her truth, Su-yeon sat down next to me and complained.
“Senior, I can’t live any longer. As soon as the college entrance exam is over, I’ll pack my bags and leave home. Let me live at your house, okay? I’ll pay half the rent, too.”
“But you know that our house is small. If you live in a normal house and come to a place like that, it would be suffocating…”
“There is no place more suffocating than the corner of our house. Senpai, it can’t be done, right? Huh? I don’t want to live in that damn house one more day. I didn’t want to see that, so I intentionally threw away all my studies and just lived there, but it feels like I’m going back to studying for a while. Look at what Mom and Dad are doing. It’s called prison.”
Su-yeon just wanted to be with me, but now she was trapped in a prison called home. Her stress was pushed to the limit because of meaningless and purposeless studies.
What I can do for her is…
“Ugh… It was so sudden that I’m a little embarrassed too… But if you’re really confident that you won’t regret coming… I understand.”
At the same time Su-yeon had a smile on her face, Yuri and Eun-ji were scared and jumped up.
“Hey! What if I encourage you to run away from home!”
“You two are really going to live together?! Right after the college entrance exam?”
“If Su-yeon’s house is as she said… Isn’t it more unfortunate for Su-yeon to be at home? I don’t mean to say this or that about other people’s family affairs, but she herself is under such stress. I want to do what I can. “
In general, it wasn’t a very good solution, but if Suyeon said it, her parents weren’t the type of people for whom general solutions would work.
“Really? You really said you knew? Did you just say that out of your senior’s mouth? Promise!”
“But is it okay? You said that if you really leave home, you will be disowned, so then your future life and tuition will be…”
“That can be solved with a scholarship!”
She just didn’t want to study because she didn’t have motivation. It’s not that she was smart, but because she was Su-yeon, she confidently announced her ambition that she could go to school for free by receiving a scholarship.
“Then I want to live together!”
“Me too! I’ve already decided on a college degree, so shouldn’t we just start living together from today?”
“Wait, wait, wait! Even so, this is not a house that can accommodate four people. Guys, calm down for a moment!”
I quickly calmed down the jealous Yuri and Eunji, but they also did not give up on their intention to live with me.
So in an instant, I made a promise to Suyeon that I would live together with Suyeon after the college entrance exam, and then with Yuri and Eunji in the near future, and the college entrance exam day came in the blink of an eye.
