41. Hanon Seventy-Nine
Saturday after a week.
Me, Incheol, and even the author… .
The three of them gathered at Pizza Hot to celebrate Youngmi’s birthday.
In-cheol, who came out with a lot of mousse on his hair, is quietly eating pizza.
Yeong-mi’s mother said to In-cheol.
“By the way, is In-cheol really reticent today?”
Incheol opened his mouth with a bewildered expression.
“yes? Oh yes, that’s not it… Hungry, now, pizza, I mean, really… I am hungry.”
“You mean you are very hungry? Yes, eat it.”
Yeong-mi’s mother looked around us and said,
“Ajumma has work to do at home, so I’ll go. The card was entrusted to Youngmi, so if you guys want to eat something else, make it comfortable and eat it.”
“yes! I will enjoy this food!”
There was an awkward atmosphere between In-cheol and Ji-eun, but fortunately, Ji-eun doesn’t seem to dislike In-cheol.
If you don’t like it, you should have come out today.
30 minutes later.
The reason Incheol was silent a while ago… .
Maybe it was because I was really hungry.
“Really this—a chubby wild boar has entered the restaurant. So everyone ran away, and there was a complete mess, and a wild boar smashed into a table and it banged! And I fell… .”
Ji-eun urged In-cheol with a curious expression.
“therefore! So what happened?”
“The food was just pouring out of there, and the wild boar just ate it, and that’s what Jin–ja spicy stir-fried zucchini! You have that red roast.”
We nodded, and Incheol continued the story with exaggerated gestures.
“After eating well for such a long time, the wild boar just stopped in an instant. Then, after shaking his body once, he lifted his head, and the expression on his face… .”
Incheol stretched out his hands and put them on both of his cheeks and pushed them forward, creating a funny expression.
“Pu ha ha ha—!”
After eating and leaving Pizza Hot, Incheol headed northwest to drive the author home, and Yeongmi and I started walking towards the apartment complex.
“Are you preparing for the science high school exam?”
Youngmi sighed in response to my question.
“No, I’m studying alone, so it’s not much fun.”
“… .”
“Jungho, will you come to my house and study with me from tomorrow?”
I feel like I want to do that from today, but… I will be branded a traitor on In-cheol again.
Hmm… Then, how about working on the computer with In-cheol in the morning and studying with Young-mi in the afternoon?
By the way, if you want to stay at Youngmi’s house in the afternoon… It is true that Young-mi’s father is concerned.
It’s not that my uncle is just noticing me, but I can’t help but be a little concerned as he keeps going back and forth between the bedroom and the kitchen.
“If I study with you… I don’t think your father would like it very much. Besides, I’m not even taking a science high school exam.”
Youngmi smiled and said.
“My dad is going on a business trip for a week starting on Monday.”
“business trip? What’s going on?”
Youngmi shrugged her shoulders and said.
“It sounds like the company is preparing for a new business.”
Last year, Youngmi’s father was promoted to vice president at the company, and I’ve heard that the company has grown in size since then.
The IMF foreign exchange crisis, which people often talked about in the past, came to mind.
Since I came back to Korea after the 2000s, I can’t remember exactly when the foreign exchange crisis was.
Collecting fragmentary information here and there, they are only estimating that it was between 1996 and 1998.
The company that Young-American’s father works for runs a factory that exports sporting goods to foreign countries.
Maybe it’s been a while since I’ve had to contact Team Leader Kim Jung-soo.
I asked Youngmi.
“Perhaps… Do you know what kind of business you are preparing?”
“Well, exporting sneakers?”
* * *
after 7 months.
Monday, March 3, 1997.
Today is the high school entrance ceremony.
Early in the morning I got on the bus with Incheol, and the bus was full of passengers.
As the bus departed, I spoke to Incheol with a grumbling tone of voice.
“Do we now have to go to school by bus like this every day?”
Incheol replied with a bright expression.
“why? Riding the bus is fun.”
“OMG… Are you serious?”
“sure! And at 15 minutes, it doesn’t take that long.”
“Hey, Southwest South High School is a 15-minute walk from our apartment.”
In-cheol said with an expression as if hearing it for the first time.
“really? You mean the school was that close?”
“OMG… All the kids in my neighborhood are assigned to Southwest South High, how do they not know that? I had no interest in getting a high school placement.”
Incheol said with a smirk.
“It’s not that I’m not interested, I knew I was going to be assigned to Northwest High School. What… You don’t even need to know the location of other people’s schools, do you?”
read at noblemtl.com
Northwest High School.
As I entered the school gate, I looked around the children, but I did not see a familiar face.
It means that among the southwest students I attended, not many children were assigned to Northwest High School.
In-cheol and I checked the class assignment sheet on the bulletin board in front of the school gate, and after a while, In-cheol said.
“I am in the fifth grade of the first year. Jung-ho, how old are you?”
“Oh my! I’m in 5th grade too! Oh yeah!”
I was worried because there were no children from Southwest Middle School, but I am fortunate to be in the same class as Incheol.
I told Incheol.
“I think the entrance ceremony is about to start on the playground. Let’s go too.”
“Hold on a second.”
In-cheol was still checking the class assignment table with names clearly listed.
After a while, Incheol frowned and said.
“uh… ! Is this a bit strange?”
“what?”
“All of my classmates have weird names!”
“What do you mean?”
“My classmates… They all have only male names!”
“ah… ! okay? So, it looks like it’s both male and female.”
At my words, Incheol’s eyes widened.
“really? Does that make sense?”
“There is nothing that makes no sense.”
“Then why did you make the school coed?”
“haha–! well.”
After the brief entrance ceremony, we entered the classroom and were given a pile of textbooks.
While the homeroom teacher was away for a while, the classroom was filled with the sounds of children talking.
At first the children were awkward with each other, but now they were talking loudly.
Since it was high school, I expected something very different, but this is not much different from middle school.
If there’s one difference… .
Compared to middle school, the inside of the classroom was twice as noisy.
Perhaps because there were no female students, the children’s voices seemed to have doubled.
However, the expression on the face of Incheol sitting next to him is not good.
When I got on the bus in the morning, I was just grinning about what was good, but now it looks like something is full of dissatisfaction.
I said, tapping Incheol’s arm.
“hey! Choi In-cheol!”
“Yes… ? why?
“What are you thinking, you’re so engrossed?”
“Oh, nothing.”
“Isn’t it nothing?”
I smiled and continued.
“You have this written on your face right now. I’m serious, like this… . What’s going on?”
“no. It really is nothing.”
I know In-cheol, but In-cheol’s face right now.
this is something
However, in fact, there was no reason for In-cheol to suddenly become serious.
We met at the bus stop today, and we’ve been together ever since, and even went to the bathroom together… In the meantime, there was nothing that made In-cheol with such a serious expression on his face.
After a while, the homeroom teacher entered the classroom, and the classroom became quiet again.
The teacher gave me some messages, and the first day of the entrance ceremony ended just like that.
The interim class leader designated by the teacher got up from his seat irritably and opened his mouth with an awkward voice.
“attention! salute!”
“Good-bye!”
In-cheol hurriedly grabbed his bag and said to me.
“Jeong-ho, I will be in front of the school gate, so I’ll see you there. I have an urgent business, so I’ll go first.”
“Are you going to the bathroom?”
In-cheol didn’t listen to me and ran out of the classroom in a flash.
in front of the school gate.
In-cheol, who left the classroom as if running away, was talking with Ji-eun.
boy! You came out quickly to meet Ji-eun.
However, it seems that the author was also assigned to the Northwest High School.
Well, the author’s house is in the northwest dong.
Ji-eun and In-cheol were in the same class for three years in middle school, and now they are assigned to the same place until high school… .
Can this really be called a relationship?
I greeted Ji-eun briefly, and Ji-eun continued what she was saying to In-cheol.
“Because it was so crazy! After the entrance ceremony on the playground was over, I went into the school building, but I didn’t have a class to go to.”
Incheol asked with a serious expression.
“therefore? So what did you do?”
“What… I went to the principal’s office. So, I get textbooks in the school office and talk to the grade head teacher, do you know what the head teacher said?”
Incheol and I shook our heads.
“I was assigned to a boys class. Isn’t it really crazy?”
I said.
“Hey, does that make sense?”
“I know yeah! No, my name is a pretty name, right?”
In-cheol nodded violently, and Ji-eun continued.
“Jui! It’s a pretty name that exudes intelligent and subtle elegance, but to assign me to a male class… It’s a disappointment from the first day of admission. Black!”
So, the first day of high school has passed, and a week has passed.
At the closing time, the homeroom teacher handed out home letters.
It was a family correspondence stating that the Gangseo Yangcheon Office of Education came down to a new guideline, and as a result, men and women will be combined.
A new class will be formed from next Monday, and it was about asking for the cooperation of parents so that the students do not experience confusion.
When the ceremony was over and I went out of the classroom to the hallway, I heard stories from all over the hallway that the 38th parallel had now collapsed.
38 line.
Our school is an elongated, straight building.
There are a total of 10 classes for each grade level, arranged in order from Class 1 to Class 10 along a straight-line building.
Classes 1 to 5 are male students, and classes 6 to 10 are female classes.
So, we called the boundary line between classes 5 and 6 the 38th parallel, and surprisingly, no students crossed the 38th parallel.
In particular, there was a school central staircase at the 38th parallel, which was only used by teachers, so male and female students were really perfectly separated by the 38th parallel.
But there are always exceptions.
Mischievous boys often took their friends’ belongings and tossed them across the 38th parallel at the girls’ class, which forced the owner of the belongings to cross the 38th parallel with a red face to retrieve his belongings.
The moment they crossed the 38th parallel, the children around them shouted ‘Woo!’ and shouted.
When I was in class 5, I was so childish, but to be honest… I was often able to see a very interesting sight, but now when the men and women are combined, this fun disappears.
A week later.
also i was right
When men and women were combined, the noise level in the classroom was reduced by half again.
The bell rang announcing the class time for the third period, and I opened the cover of my math textbook.
＜1 – 5 Chae Jeong-ho>
I put an X above the ‘5’ and put a ‘2’ below it.
After a while, the math teacher, the head of the grade, entered the classroom, and the teacher pointed to the back seat to the classroom and said,
“There in the back seat! Kim Ji-eun and Choi In-cheol! Local broadcasting should be turned off now.”
* * *
Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Hacker Investigation Unit.
Kim Jeong-soo said.
“Detective Park!”
“yes! manager.”
“There is an official document case from the Gangseo Yangcheon Office of Education. How is the pursuit of the suspect going?”