7
## Chapter 7
### The Boy Who Was Sleeping Beside Me?
Snooze...
At some point in the past...
I'd heard someone describe Goyoung Arts High School.
"It truly feels like a place where culture itself is born."
Now that I was entering Goyoung Arts High School not as a transfer exam applicant but as an official student...
I finally understood what they had meant.
The first thing you saw after passing through the entrance was a massive building called Blossom Hall.
It was used by the Dance and Acting Departments for practical classes.
The first floor contained a theater where students held performances, while the upper floors were filled with rehearsal
rooms.
I couldn't hear the sounds from outside.
But through the glass walls, I could see students passionately practicing and attending lessons.
Beyond that stood the Music Hall used by the Music Department.
The faint melody drifting from afar gently brushed against my ears.
If I wasn't mistaken...
It was Franz Liszt's Transcendental Étude No. 4, Mazeppa.
Whoever was playing it handled the difficult piece beautifully.
Behind that building was the Art Hall.
Paintings, sculptures, and installation art created by students were displayed there, making it feel like a small
exhibition.
I'd heard that whenever it snowed, it became a tradition for the Art Department students to roll giant snowballs and
sculpt them into elaborate works.
Everywhere I looked...
There was art.
Whenever I listened...
There was music.
It truly deserved to be called Korea's greatest arts high school.
No wonder first-time visitors were overwhelmed.
“No matter how many times I come here, it's incredible.”
“Seriously. I almost feel like someone like me doesn't belong here.”
Perhaps because of that...
My parents became nervous every time they visited.
“Don't you think the atmosphere is wonderful?”
As for me...
I simply found everything interesting.
“No, the atmosphere is wonderful. It's just... everything feels so elegant.”
I understood how they felt.
Every building and facility looked luxurious and was meticulously maintained.
“Come on, don't worry so much. At the end of the day, it's still just a school.”
Looking at it another way...
Goyoung Arts High School was still just a high school.
There was nothing to be intimidated by.
“Besides, your son is a Goyoung Arts High School student now. You'll have to get used to it.”
“Was our son always this brave? Lately he seems so calm... or maybe just bold.”
“I know, right? He used to be such a mama's boy. He'd cry whenever he was separated from his mom.”
My parents looked at me as they spoke.
“...That never happened.”
“What do you mean it didn't? You have two witnesses right here. Do you know how timid you used to be? You couldn't even
ride a two-wheeled bicycle by yourself until middle school.”
“Ahem! Honey, that's enough. It just means our Yunseong has grown into a fine young man. This father won't say another
word.”
It wasn't that I was protecting my pride.
I genuinely couldn't remember.
Crying because I was separated from Mom...
Or not being able to ride a bicycle until middle school.
“Haha... I'm sure you're both right.”
I smiled bitterly.
To my parents, those memories were only a few years old.
Naturally, they remembered them clearly.
But to me...
They were over two hundred years in the past.
Memories from childhood had gradually faded away.
Perhaps that was why Goyoung Arts High School itself failed to move me.
Not because it lacked greatness...
But because I had already been worn down by time.
“Anyway, son, do your best today!”
“That's right! Good luck! Don't let anyone intimidate you! You're the son of Jeong Juntae and Lee Sukhee!”
“Why would I be intimidated? I'll get going.”
Perhaps they were worried about their son suddenly transferring into Korea's greatest arts high school.
Despite my repeated insistence that it wasn't necessary...
They had insisted on bringing me to school on my first day.
“Dear... should we grab some sundae soup on the way back?”
“Hehe. Sounds good.”
...Then again.
Maybe that had been their real objective all along.
As I walked away...
I could faintly hear their voices behind me.
I entered the building that housed the faculty office.
As I climbed the stairs, I noticed countless small picture frames lining the walls.
Inside them were poems...
Along with carefully selected excerpts from novels.
“They must be works written by the Creative Writing students.”
They were probably the department's finest pieces.
But to me...
They simply looked adorable.
After passing the displays, I arrived at the faculty office.
“Are you today's transfer student?”
A young female teacher greeted me warmly.
When I nodded,
she smiled brightly.
“It's nice to meet you. I'm Jeong Hyeonji, the homeroom teacher for Class 1-6—the first-year Creative Writing students.”
I'd heard that Goyoung Arts High School divided classes according to department.
Classes 1 and 2 belonged to Music.
Class 3 was Art.
Class 4 was Dance.
Class 5 was Acting.
And Class 6 belonged to Creative Writing.
“I'm looking forward to working with you. Could you sit here for a moment? Another transfer student is coming today as
well.”
“All right.”
So they accepted two transfer students.
I wondered who the other one was.
As I took a sip of the water the teacher had handed me...
“The boy who was sleeping beside me?”
A familiar voice suddenly reached my ears.
When I turned around...
I saw a face I'd met only a few days earlier.
It was Lee Jueun,
the girl who had been sitting beside me during the transfer exam.
“Jueun, you're here. Introduce yourselves. You'll be classmates for the next two years.”
The homeroom teacher smiled.
For the first time since arriving at Goyoung Arts High School...
I was genuinely surprised.
'I never imagined Lee Jueun would pass too.'
Across all the countless lives I'd lived,
I'd never had any connection with Lee Jueun.
I only knew her because she was the only daughter of director Lee Seokhyo and actress Cha Miju.
Anyone working in the cultural industry would know her name.
But I'd never once heard that she'd attended Goyoung Arts High School.
So naturally,
I'd assumed she'd failed the transfer exam.
“...Wow.”
She seemed to be thinking exactly the same thing.
Her expression clearly asked,
'Why is he here?'
“You...”
She looked as though she wanted to ask me something.
“Yunseong, Jueun! Let's head to the classroom. I need to introduce both of you to your classmates.”
The homeroom teacher approached and led us out.
As we walked toward the classroom...
I felt someone's gaze burning into me.
When I looked beside me,
Lee Jueun was staring at me the entire time.
So intensely that I almost wondered if there was something on my face.
“Jueun.”
The teacher glanced back and called her name.
“Yes?”
“No matter how handsome Yunseong is, don't you think staring that much is a little excessive?”
“H-Huh?”
Lee Jueun's eyes widened in disbelief.
“N-No! That's not why I was looking...”
“Why not? He really is handsome. Even I was surprised when I first saw him. I actually wondered why someone who looked
like he belonged in the Acting Department was here instead.”
In the past,
compliments like that always made me uncomfortable.
No matter how many times I heard them,
I could never get used to them.
But after hearing them tens...
Hundreds...
Thousands...
Tens of thousands of times...
I finally became numb.
“I am pretty handsome.”
As a result,
I could casually stroke my own face and shamelessly say something like that.
“Oh? Yunseong, you were much better before you opened your mouth. Hoho.”
The teacher laughed.
...I hadn't expected that response.
“Well, we're here.”
Anyway...
A brand-new turning point in my life was about to begin.
---
Slide—
As the classroom door opened,
the lively chatter inside Class 1-6 instantly fell silent.
Homeroom teacher Jeong Hyeonji stepped inside.
Standing behind the podium,
she looked at her students.
“Good morning, everyone. As I mentioned yesterday, we have two new transfer students joining our class today.”
Outside the classroom,
Lee Jueun's heart pounded violently.
She had thought she'd finally calmed down.
But now that school life was actually beginning,
her mind had gone blank again.
“What are you doing? Come in.”
If Yunseong hadn't quietly spoken from behind her...
She probably wouldn't even have noticed the applause.
Or the teacher beckoning her inside.
The two of them entered the classroom together.
“All right. Jueun, why don't you introduce yourself first?”
“O-Okay.”
Standing stiffly before the class,
Lee Jueun looked around at everyone's faces.
“H-Hello. My name is Lee Jueun. I like visiting cafés and eating good food...”
To be honest...
The atmosphere wasn't exactly welcoming.
To them,
she was simply a stranger who had suddenly appeared.
Most of them were observing her cautiously.
'Well...
this is Goyoung Arts High School.'
Every year,
students transferred out or dropped out because they couldn't keep up.
To these students,
new transfer students weren't particularly unusual.
If anything...
'They're mysterious new rivals.'
Some students even whispered among themselves.
“Isn't that her? Lee Seokhyo and Cha Miju's daughter?”
“Yeah. Everyone's been talking about it. Not just a silver spoon—a diamond spoon.”
“Oh... then she must be an amazing writer.”
Hearing those whispers...
Lee Jueun froze even more.
The moment her parents' names came up,
an enormous pressure settled over her.
“...Please take care of me.”
With that,
she stepped away from the podium,
keeping her head lowered.
'Lee Jueun...
You can't lose confidence on the very first day!'
Regret flooded her.
She'd heard it countless times already.
Goyoung Arts High School was a battlefield fought through art.
She knew better than anyone that the students wouldn't welcome a transfer student with open arms.
Yet she'd still been intimidated from the very beginning.
She felt pathetic.
“It looks like Jueun's just nervous because it's her first time meeting everyone.”
Jeong Hyeonji gently comforted her.
'I never expected even Jueun to be this nervous.'
She'd assumed that a girl raised by such famous parents would adapt easily.
But apparently,
the awkwardness of being a transfer student...
And the overwhelming reputation of Goyoung Arts High School...
Were greater burdens than she'd imagined.
After all,
both transfer students probably felt like outsiders rolling into an already established world.
'If even Jueun is this nervous...
then Yunseong must be feeling even more pressure.'
Turning back to the class,
Jeong Hyeonji smiled.
“Our transfer students seem pretty nervous, so let's make this more like an interview.”
It was a slightly childish approach.
But it was also a good way to ease the tension.
She turned toward Yunseong.
“All right, Yunseong. Could you give everyone a short introduction?”
Standing before the podium,
Yunseong gave a polite bow.
“Hello. My name is Jeong Yunseong.”
“You don't have to be nervous. Just answer honestly.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Good. So, Yunseong... what do you like?”
“I like football.”
“Oh? I didn't expect that. Do you have a favorite team?”
“Tot...”
“No.”
He started to answer...
Then quietly sighed.
Jeong Hyeonji assumed he was simply nervous.
So she continued in an even gentler voice.
“I see. Then what are you good at? Any special talent?”
However...
“My talent is writing.”
The voice that came from Yunseong wasn't nervous at all.
It was full of confidence.
“That's why I came to Goyoung Arts High School.”
“I heard this is where Korea's best young writers gather.”
His words caused a small stir throughout the classroom.
Among students who took immense pride in their writing...
The new transfer student had just boldly declared,
"I'm good at writing."
Yet Yunseong seemed completely oblivious to the atmosphere.
“Oh, and one more thing.”
“Could someone tell me where the school store is? It's been a while since I've had a Bulg Burger and a Picnic juice.”
“I can't seem to find it.”
He added the remark as casually as if nothing had happened.
“Anyway...
I look forward to getting along with everyone.”
---
A little later.
Inside the Creative Writing Department office...
“...”
Department Head Chae Unggi worked busily.
The sound of his keyboard echoed nonstop.
Yet every few moments,
he glanced at his phone.
More precisely...
He kept checking the time.
“Department Head, why do you keep looking at the clock?”
The office assistant asked curiously.
“Are you waiting for something?”
Chae Unggi rubbed the back of his neck.
“Ah... it's nothing.”
“The first-year Creative Writing class has two transfer students today, right?”
“Yes.”
“I just can't stop wondering how they're doing.”
“They'll come over for their practical writing classes this afternoon, but today time feels unusually slow.”
Transfer students had become a familiar sight at Goyoung Arts High School.
But...
These two were different.
“Oh, right. One of them is someone special, isn't she? I heard she's Lee Seokhyo and Cha Miju's daughter.”
The assistant was right.
Her name was Lee Jueun.
There were plenty of wealthy students at Goyoung Arts High School.
But it had been a long time since someone from such an influential family in the cultural world had enrolled.
'Besides...
Lee Jueun herself already has an impressive record.'
She had won numerous essay and fiction competitions throughout elementary and middle school.
Even before transferring,
she had already placed in both school and national writing contests.
'Though she narrowly failed the regular entrance examination.'
Still...
Famous parents didn't automatically mean extraordinary talent.
Based solely on the writing she'd submitted during the entrance exam,
Lee Jueun hadn't stood out much.
'To be honest,
she surprised me this time.'
Of course,
the unusual exam topic had caused most applicants to perform poorly.
Even so...
Lee Jueun had shown noticeable improvement.
She'd begun expressing her own imagination much more boldly.
'I'm looking forward to seeing how she develops from here.'
That was why she'd been accepted.
He believed she could someday leave her mark on Korea's literary world.
'And the other one...'
That student was someone he looked forward to seeing...
Both in the present...
And in the future.
“I don't know much about the other transfer student.”
“No. Unlike Lee Jueun, he's not well known.”
His parents worked day labor jobs.
He'd never won any writing competitions.
He hadn't even come from an ordinary family.
His circumstances had been difficult.
'But his talent is undeniable.'
His poem had completely outclassed everyone else's during the transfer exam.
Granted,
they'd only seen one poem.
But producing something with that level of depth from such a difficult topic...
Was challenging even for professional writers.
'More importantly...
he knows how to tell his own story through literature.'
Still...
Talent alone wasn't enough to survive at Goyoung Arts High School.
“I hope these transfer students adapt well.”
“I'd hate to see another student drop out like last time.”
The office assistant sighed.
There had been students who passed the transfer exam,
only to leave because they couldn't adjust to life at the school.
The pressure of attending Goyoung Arts High School...
Combined with its brutally demanding practical classes...
Was far harsher than most people imagined.
'The biggest problem is that transfer students rarely blend in with the existing students.'
Even surviving at Goyoung Arts High School was a competition.
The current students had already endured it.
The transfer students were experiencing it for the first time.
Whether they could endure it...
And adapt successfully...
Would determine everything.
'So there's only one thing I can do.'
'Help them adjust.'
Chae Unggi stood up.
“Assistant, I'll be back in a moment.”
Leaving the office,
he quietly headed toward the academic building.
He wanted to take a quick look and see how the two transfer students were doing.
'Class 1-6... here it is.'
From inside,
he could hear the Korean language teacher giving a lesson.
Class was already underway.
Peeking through the classroom window,
he observed the students.
'Let's see... Lee Jueun looks pretty nervous.'
'But she's working hard.'
She was diligently taking notes while following the textbook.
She looked exactly like a well-raised model student.
Her face was slightly pale,
but her nervousness seemed manageable.
'And Jeong Yunseong is sitting right beside her... Hm?'
Then...
The moment he saw Yunseong...
“These two...
Has he adapted well...
Or not at all?”
The words slipped out on their own.
On his very first day after transferring...
Jeong Yunseong was fast asleep during class.