College Entrance Exam Cheer, 3
But who is he? He looks like a celebrity.
After a moment’s thought, she reinstalled the SNS app she had deleted while preparing for the CSAT, then searched for CSAT cheer and fish-shaped bread.
One sighting after another kept going up. Not only the two she’d seen earlier, but reports from other people too.
Idol Travel? Ah. So it’s an idol survival program.
She thought she’d heard classmates in her room talking about Idol Travel and something or other before. Back then she’d been too busy studying to pay attention, but...
Should I check it out...?
She scrolled a little farther and found a floating article link. It had only been uploaded a short while ago, but the view count was already high.
“Huh? Live long? What kind of cheer is that? Isn’t it supposed to be ‘Good luck on the CSAT’?”
Reading the article, she learned that Idol Travel winner Gal Neoul had encouraged students in a rather unusual way.
He had tossed out a blessing one might normally reserve for elders at a holiday gathering, and sent snack food trucks to the test sites with his prize money.
[The team formed by the winning members was named Jjokbit. Jjokbit is racing toward its debut showcase on November 25.]
That line appeared at the end, but perhaps because they hadn’t debuted yet, the group name seemed less famous than the program itself.
Wait. They sent forty trucks?
Apparently they were short on fish-shaped bread trucks, so they mixed in tteokbokki, takoyaki, churros, and spicy fried chicken trucks to offer a variety of snacks.
She went into MTube to watch the CSAT cheer video the article mentioned. On the official MTube channel for Jjokbit there were only two videos: one for choosing the leader and one for the CSAT cheer.
There must have been quite a lot of people waiting for them, because there were only two videos but a surprisingly large number of subscribers.
When she played the CSAT video, the face she’d seen earlier appeared, along with the other Jjokbit members from the SNS sightings.
[Gal Neoul: Please come back after the exam and tell us how it went. Leave a comment.]
[Gal Neoul: I’ll be waiting.]
Was “I’ll be waiting” always such a warm thing to say?
She looked around the empty house. The window was small and faced north, so little sunlight came in; the place felt quiet and lonely. But perhaps because her stomach was full, she no longer felt quite so despondent.
The comments under the video were packed with post-exam reactions people had left behind.
It went to hell, lol T_T
I’m still checking my answers, but I think I did better than I was worried I would.. which is a relief.
I’m a repeat test-taker. Time to go for a third try, haha.
It’s finally over! I feel so light! I’m going to an amusement park and then to the hair salon!
My friends are saying the CSAT is over so we should go have fun with student discounts, but I’m too anxious to enjoy myself. There’s still the university application process, and I don’t think I made it into the safe range for the school I want. Even when I try to rest and do nothing, I feel guilty. Like... do I really deserve to be doing this?
So I’m not the only one feeling anxious.
Reading comments like that, where people admitted to their worries, was somehow comforting. Just knowing there were others feeling something similar sent a wave of relief through her. So I wasn’t the only one falling apart.
And beneath those comments, she could see people leaving warm replies one after another. Some shared their own experiences.
┗ You finished the exam, so of course you should rest well and go have fun with your friends! There’s absolutely no reason to feel guilty!
Eat well, sleep well, and praise yourself for doing your best no matter what the result is. Play games, watch dramas! I recommend making a list of everything you wanted to do but couldn’t, then doing them one by one~
┗ I got into university after my third try, and now I’m a office worker. Back then I used to think taking a break or meeting friends was a waste of time, and I’d feel guilty about it. Looking back, there was no need.
You have to rest properly if you want the strength to keep going to the next stage. If you want to jump high, you have to bend your knees to create the rebound, right? I hope you won’t beat yourself up and will think of this as the time to bend your knees so you can grow, move forward, and leap again.
┗ I work in an industry completely unrelated to my major. The experience of going to university wasn’t useless, exactly, but it wasn’t all that important either. Since I was going to do something else anyway, I kind of wonder why I struggled so hard.
Not getting into university won’t ruin your life, and getting into a good university doesn’t automatically make you happy either. Nobody knows how a person’s life will turn out, so just live with a clear mind.
┗ This is so true. Worry yourself sick and you’ll end up ill. Staying healthy without stress is the best thing.
┗ My parents forced me to apply to med school, but I bombed the CSAT and got rejected everywhere. They treated me like a useless child and I felt like a loser. I refused to retake the exam, applied lower, and ended up sending in an application for a totally random video editing major.
It turned out to suit me surprisingly well, so I worked hard and even got a scholarship. After graduating I got a job right away, met my husband there, and got married. The three of us are living happily with our five-year-old son.
If I had gotten into med school, I never would have met my husband or my son, and I don’t even want to imagine that. I love my life now too much.
┗ I really hope a lot of students learn that university isn’t a measure of success or the final result, but simply part of the process of growing up.
Reading the replies made her feel astonishingly calm. The comments included CSAT reactions and words of encouragement, but also sightings of Gal Neoul and the members, along with replies from people who had come over after reading the article.
Holy crap, I had no idea “I’ll be waiting” meant he was literally waiting in front of the test center;
This is the first idol I’ve seen who sends snack trucks to students with his own prize money..
I’m jealous of the lucky ones. I ate the tteokbokki without even realizing it was something Neoul sent, and only found out when I got home T_T If I’d known sooner, I would’ve taken a proof shot..! They should have put “Gal Neoul is treating you” in huge letters on the banner!!!
┗ lol same here T_T I had takoyaki.
Gal Neoul is insane. He made me wish I weren’t a test taker.
I went to pick up my little brother and saw Gal Neoul there. He was giving students who had just finished their exams words of encouragement and saying they did well. He is such an older-brother type. I’m older than him, but still, total older-brother vibes.
It’s me, the repeat test-taker who got fish cake from Neoul! I wanted to brag about it! (so proud)
┗ Wait, he really came in person to the test center?
┗ Yes! He came with Yuri and handed out fish-shaped bread and fish cake!
┗ Is he still there?
┗ No! He said he’d only come out for an hour during practice and left.
I’ve never really been into male idols, but Gal Neoul sunbaenim and Baek Yuri sunbaenim are amazing. Both of them sing really well, too.
┗ Huhhhh they sang for you too?
┗ Yes.
They sang for them...?
She briefly regretted not lingering near the test center a little longer instead of coming straight home. His speaking voice had been lovely enough already, but now she was curious about what his singing voice sounded like.
After changing into comfortable clothes, she lay down on the sofa and searched for Idol Travel videos.
At first she watched short clips, then edited compilations, and later she even went into FLu’s OTT platform, Pluing, and started binge-watching from episode 1.
“Episodes 1 through 5 are 100 minutes? Why are they so long?”
But once she actually watched them, they didn’t feel long at all. The 100 minutes flew by like ten.
The next morning.
By the time she came to her senses after staying up all night, she was already thoroughly, helplessly into it.
I thought Logan would make it too! What a shame! But I’m glad the seven all debuted! Ah. It would’ve been perfect with eight, including Logan...!
As she watched, she fell head over heels for the charm of the seven Jjokbit members plus Logan, but since there was no way to turn back Logan’s elimination, she put her disappointment aside and celebrated the survival of the seven.
The CSAT examinee had evolved into a full-fledged all-fan of Jjokbit!
After finishing the broadcast, she immediately followed Jjokbit’s official SNS accounts. Then she tapped a heart on the spoiler post Baek Yuri had uploaded.
She had been checking MTube to see if there was anything else to watch when a new video appeared on Jjokbit’s channel.
Library...?
Was their debut concept going to be honor students...?
The CSAT examinee played the video right away.
A blue midday sky was visible between white window frames, with a thin featherlike cloud drifting across it.
A suncatcher hanging by the window swayed, chiming softly. It was designed with an acrylic panel shaped like a humpback whale, from which blue-and-white mother-of-pearl ornaments and crystal pieces hung down in clusters.
Then someone’s lips appeared in an extreme close-up. Closed lips, a jawline, and a shirt collar filled the screen.
Black hair stirred in the breeze, then calm, half-lidded eyes and thick brows came into view one after another.
Beautiful.
Before she had even had time to register who she was looking at, the first impression that came to her was simply that: beautiful.
Then the three letters of the name Gal Neoul filled the frame on an ID badge.
And at last the camera pulled back. Gal Neoul was shown asleep with his face on a desk, all alone. He wore a school uniform, his hair tied back in a half-up style.
Because the chair was low, one leg was bent up awkwardly while the other stretched straight out.
11:59. The clock that had been nothing but background suddenly zoomed in. As it moved from 11:59 to 12, the classroom wall clock’s hand ticked forward.
Gal Neoul appeared on screen again. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he sat up, then noticed a can of drink placed on the desk and stared at it quietly.
It hadn’t been there when he had been shown sleeping a moment earlier. On the sticky note attached to the can, a short message was written along with someone’s phone number.
Let’s be friends! 010-XXXX-XXXX
Neoul peeled off the sticky note and looked at it, then gave a faint smile. It was the kind of smile that said he had been waiting for this exact moment. A smile full of finally.
He dialed the number right away.
Beeeeep... beeeep... click.
The screen once again showed a close-up of Neoul’s lips.
“Hello—”
His brief song and the clear piano notes ended, and white letters appeared on the black screen.
Prologue
Meet Me at the Library
20XX.11.20 Pre-release
Then, with a rough scratching sound like chalk dragged across a blackboard, a blue chalk-textured line swept over the words and wrote the group name across the screen.
Jjokbit
***