Chapter 112

Chapter 112: Chapter 112
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We were still in the middle of the class, but the teacher was nowhere to be found. Instead, the person who stood in front of the podium was our class president, Yoon Jung In. I scratched the back of my head in wonder.
“Is it already lunchtime?”
Yi Ruda opened her lips to reply, but someone cast a loud response ahead of her. The straightforward and playful tone was from Yoon Jung In.
“Hey, Ham Donnie. Had a good sleep? Pay for your stay. I might charge you bills.”
When he said those words to me like that, the kids around us burst into laughter. Geez, I showed a subtle frown but soon changed it into a smile.
I replied with a wink, “Hmm… how about paying the bills with my sleeping face?”
“…”
“Shin Suh Hyun, what do you think about her remark?”
I heard Yoo Jung In’s subdued voice piercing through the sudden silence. As I turned my head back to look at Shin Suh Hyun, he was sending me a serious look through his glaring eyes.
Before I could say that I was just joking, he opened his lips. His calm voice broke the silence.
“Even a sane person turns like that when they’re hanging out with you.”
“Bahaha, Shin Suh Hyun! You’re so straightforward.”
“Wow, Shin Suh Hyun, what a gangster!”
“Cool, Suh Hyun oppa!”
Kids in the classroom blew whistles and laughed while tapping their desks. Even Kim Hye Hill and Kim Hye Woo, who rarely emitted uproarious laughter, held their desks tight to repress their bursting smiles. In front of the laughers, Yoon Jung In expressed his gloominess in his facial expression.
He then said, “Hey, would you all stop laughing?”
“Bahaha, ahahaha!”
“It hurts me, too, you know?!”
When the laughter kept on regardless of his protestations, he pouted then flung the class diary down onto the podium.
“Gosh, I’m not doing the class conference anymore,” he said on his way back to his seat.
Kids exclaimed as he strode toward my direction. ‘Yoo Jung In oppa, you’re so cool! You are a true leader! Yoon Jung In! Yoon Jung In!’ Through their teasing noises, I stared at him pulling his chair to take a seat right across me.
Yoon Jung In, however, took his butt out of the chair to stand up again. He had a grin on his face, which looked funny that it made others burst into laughter. I also exchanged laughs with Yi Ruda, who sat beside me.
After going through a series of processes, Yoon Jung In finally returned to the podium. He then took out white chalk and tapped it on the board. Long streaks of dazzling sunlight shed on his knuckles.
“So, let’s start the conference for the class competition talent show. Any ideas?”
The silence prevailed on the space for a moment, but soon, kids poured out what they had in mind. The casual atmosphere provoked the kids to shout out their thoughts without raising their hands to wait for their turn.
“How about Ring Ding Dong?”
“Oh, Ring Ding Dong. Yeah, that’s a good one.”
Yoon Jung In scribbled ‘Ring Ding Dong’ on the board. He then looked back at us. Someone else shared his opinion.
“Heartbeat!”
“Isn’t the human pyramid choreography kind of difficult? Did anyone here ever tried dancing in middle school?”
“Oh, yeah. Anyone who took part in talent shows in middle school, please stand up.”
The noisiness of the class skyrocketed once again. At that moment, Yoon Jung In showed a stern look on his face, which rarely happened. A few kids seemed to notice the weird atmosphere, which made them cease their immature squabbles and diverted their focus back on the topic at hand in front of the class.
Yoon Jung In asked, “Hey, do you know what kind of final boss we have to beat in this thing?”
“Who is it?”
“Oh, hold on. I know who it is.”
“Yeah,” Yoon Jung In gave a heavy nod and heaved a sigh with downcast eyes. He then opened his eyes wide and said, “It’s Class 1-1.”
“…”
“Even if the Four Heavenly Kings and Ban Yeo Ryung were each in different classes, it would be such a competitive challenge, but how could we even have a chance against them if they’re all in the same class? Isn’t it insane?”
A cold silence hung in the air which felt suffocating.
‘What the…’ My shoulders trembled for a moment. The sunlight pouring through the window also flipped into a chilly blue gradient. I slowly looked around. All the kids in the classroom murmured with gloomy faces.
“Geez, Class 1-1 can easily win just by Ban Yeo Ryung standing on the stage doing nothing…”
“The Four Heavenly Kings could easily beat us by just existing, what more if they would stand on stage.”
‘This is being too pessimistic…’ It was then when something came across my mind. As I suddenly raised my hand, Yoon Jung In glanced at me.
“Hey, but…”
“Yeah,” Yoon Jung In nodded.
“Are you sure the Four Heavenly Kings and Ban Yeo Ryung will go up the stage? As far as I know, they won’t take part in this since they hate that kind of stuff.”
“…!”
The kids then gave strange gazes at me. ‘What’s going on…?’ As I trembled, those who were sitting on their seats thronged into me and surrounded my seat. It was Yoon Jung In who took the lead. Before I could ask about the overall situation, Yoon Jung In shouted out loud.
“Oh, yeah! You’re from Ji Jon Middle School, right?”
“Did you forget that?”
While I asked in perplexity, a boy standing beside him pushed me for a prompt response.
“Dude, come on! Did the Four Heavenly Kings and Ban Yeo Ryung ever stand on the stage?”
“Um… hold on.”
Feeling puzzled, I rolled my eyes and counted what was on my head with my fingers. The kids surrounding me were so densely packed that my sight darkened since they pretty much blocked the sunlight off my skin.
“During our senior year, Ban Yeo Ryung went on stage to perform the dance duo ‘Trouble Maker’ with Yoo Chun Young.”
“Trouble Maker? Wow, that seems unbeatable!”
“Oh, and there was once a challenge that called all the class presidents to come up to the stage. At that time, Eun Hyung showed his shuffle dance to the song ‘I Got My Eyes on You.’ His killer moves won the first place.”
“Wow… is there anything else?”
“Other than those… no.”
“What about this time? Wait, aren’t the other classes also discussing what they would do in the talent show right now?”
Yoon Jung In, who fell into deep thought with his arms crossed, nodded to the immediate question. He then opened his mouth.
“Correct. All of them are having a class conference.”
“Then call them to ask what they’ll do on the stage.”
“Would they tell me about it…?”
“Better than doing nothing.”
“Come on!”
The kids encouraged me to call. ‘Hold on,’ feeling confused, I stopped pressing the button then glanced at the girl who asked me the boys’ number before.
I told her I just knew their numbers; however, after wondering what to do, I finally entered Eun Jiho’s number and pressed the call button.
If I spoke with Yeo Ryung, the Four Heavenly Kings would intervene in our conversation; besides, Eun Jiho had a good sense of thinking when it comes to grasping the overall situation.
The kids nervously watched me taking the phone while a logo that indicated the words ‘calling’ flashed on the screen. They watched in wonder as I placed my phone onto my ear. Within a few seconds, a voice came through the phone.
“What the…”
“Hello? Is this Eun Jiho? Hi, I’m Ham Donnie, who went to the same middle school as you.”
‘Act like we don’t know each other that well,’ as I embodied this message in my words, a moment of silence prevailed over the phone. I carefully waited for his response.
As I raised my eyes to look aside, Yi Ruda showed a mysterious gaze at me. I did not understand why her blue eyes showed a sign of wonder and sympathy for me. After quite a while, I heard a reply.
“O… k… what’s up?”
His cold and calm voice, which revealed a distance between us, was what I expected from Eun Jiho. As his voice rang in the air, I heard someone murmuring, ‘Wow, what a cool voice.’ Eun Jiho spoke in a tone that I never heard after our sophomore year in middle school since our group had already grown closer. It surprised me a little, but soon, I continued what I wanted to say.
“Um… are you guys also taking part in the talent show for Class 1-1?”
“You guys…?”
“I mean anyone in the Four Heavenly Kings and Yeo Ryung?”
“Uh-huh.”
Before I could express my gratitude, the call ended out of the blue. Feeling a little weird, I dropped my gaze at the screen that had a ‘call ended’ sign flashing onto it. Meanwhile, a conversation went on beside me.
“OMG, did you hear his voice? Doesn’t it sound so amazing?”
“Very true. He sounded like a cold-hearted, sexy metrosexual…”
“Such a straightforward guy!”
“Hey, that’s not the point for now. Not only the fabulous Eun Jiho, but at least one of the Four Heavenly Kings and Ban Yeo Ryung will be on stage for the talent show! Geez, this is getting serious!”
When Yoon Jung In said like that in perplexity, the two girls stopped talking then stomped around while holding each other’s hand.
“Oh, gosh! That means we can see them dance!”
“Hey, we’re gonna lose; don’t you understand?!” When Yoon Jung In asked while looking disconcerted, a boy from aside replied apathetically.
“Dude, we already lost. Let’s just relax and have fun.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea! Yeah, it’s good just to let it go. What’s the point of winning first place, anyway? All we’ll get is just a few snacks and some beverages.”
“Are you sure…?”
Yoon Jung In, who asked back, soon became chilled out. It looked as though he gave up already. Well, even I thought we stood no chance of winning the talent show. I recalled the performance of Ban Yeo Ryung and Yoo Chun Young last year.