Sticky Note Conversation
Ding-dong-dang-dong.
At last, the first-period warning bell rang.
The guys who'd swarmed my desk scattered back to their seats the moment they heard it, shouting, "Ah, damn—tell us later, hyung-nim!!"
Just as the classroom settled back into calm—
Creak.
The back door opened with extreme caution.
"·············."
It was Han Yeoreum—the same girl who'd bolted out of here moments earlier at a speed that could give Usain Bolt a run for his money.
She approached my desk with her back bent low, inching forward like a spy infiltrating enemy territory. Anyone could see how ridiculously conspicuous the pose was, but she alone seemed completely unaware of it.
Scritch.
Practically crawling into her seat, Han Yeoreum immediately collapsed face-down onto her desk. She buried her face in both arms and didn't move a muscle, as if her soul had simply checked out.
She's been through a lot.
Well, a whole pack of guys had come charging in first thing in the morning to dump greetings on her. For someone with maxed-out social anxiety, it must have felt like starring in a disaster movie.
Soon the first-period teacher walked in, and class began. But Han Yeoreum stayed frozen with her forehead planted on the desk. Left like this, she was going to spend the entire period that way.
"Hoo."
I let out a sigh, pulled a sticky note and a ballpoint pen from my bag, and scribbled a quick message.
Scritch.
Keeping out of the teacher's line of sight, I slid the sticky note over onto Han Yeoreum's desk.
Flinch!
She carefully turned just her head between her arms to peek my way, then spotted the yellow sticky note sitting on her desk. She blinked as she read it.
You alive?
Han Yeoreum stared quietly down at the note, then fumbled a mechanical pencil out of her pencil case.
Scritch-scritch.
I could see her hand trembling slightly as she wrote.
Scritch.
The sticky note slid back onto my desk.
I-I almost died······. T_T
The handwriting was incredibly round and cute—the content, though, reeked of pure misery. I fought back a laugh and picked up my pen again.
The guys were pretty clueless about how hard they came on. Sorry. I'll apologize for them.
The moment the note reached her, Han Yeoreum shook her head and hurriedly wrote a reply.
N-No! Why are you apologizing! I'm the one who ran away like an idiot······.
I'll give you that one. Thought you were Usain Bolt.
Ugh······. T_T
Ugh, she says.
When she was running for her life, her face looked like the world was ending—but over sticky notes, her emotions came out surprisingly rich. I pulled the note back toward me and wrote again.
Still, the fact that you said hi first this morning was pretty impressive.
Scritch-scritch.
Han Yeoreum's hand froze mid-stroke as she read that one. I could feel her lift her head just a fraction from the desk to glance my way.
Scritch.
After a little while, the note slid back over.
······Really?
Yeah. Kinda moved me, honestly.
Th-Thank goodness······. This morning I practiced so hard inside my head so I wouldn't run away······.
But you still ran away in the end.
Uuuugh······. That's because the whole class suddenly piled on! I didn't run away from you!
Oh.
So she could make excuses, too. Talking through sticky notes clearly put her way more at ease than speaking out loud. No pupil-quake, no little eek! sounds. More than anything, the way she just freely wrote out whatever she wanted to say was pretty cute.
Alright, got it. Looking forward to tomorrow, then. Miss Inssa Han Yeoreum.
The moment the note crossed over, Han Yeoreum stared daggers into the sticky note. Then her face went bright red all over again, like it was about to explode.
Scritch-scritch-scritch!
This time the pencil was loud.
I-Inssa?! Don't tease me!
I'm not teasing. This morning you muttered "I am Inssa Han Yeoreum" under your breath. I heard the whole thing.
HUH?!
Han Yeoreum's mouth fell wide open, mechanical pencil still in hand. Then she clapped both hands over her face and fully collapsed onto the desk—not out of fear this time, but one hundred percent pure embarrassment.
Heh.
I finally couldn't hold it in and let out a small laugh.
Scritch.
From the fingertips of the girl still face-planted on her desk, one last sticky note slid over.
······Keep it a secret. Please······. T_T
The handwriting was way more crooked than before. Resting my chin on my hand, I wrote my reply with all the leisure in the world.
Depends on how tomorrow morning's greeting goes.
When Han Yeoreum checked the note, her shoulders slumped. Somehow, though, the sight of her didn't look unhappy. If anything, the tips of her ears—visible between her folded arms—were flushed a rather pleasant shade of red.
Huh. Sticky-note conversations are actually pretty good.
Until the class bell rang, the two of us chattered nonstop through yellow sticky notes without a single spoken word. And the little squirrel doodle drawn tiny in the corner of one note? That, I decided, would stay a secret only I knew.
The next morning.
Han Yeoreum had come to school earlier than ever and was already sitting at her desk. Both hands were neatly folded on her knees as she repeated her breathing exercises.
Hoo, haa. Hoo, haa.
I can do this. Just smile and say "good morning?" One word is all it takes.
The contents of the last yellow sticky note Taekyeong had sent yesterday still floated in front of her eyes.
Depends on how tomorrow morning's greeting goes.
That is really, truly not okay······!
Yeoreum's whole body gave a little shiver. If she failed to greet him properly today and Ryu Taekyeong spilled that enormous secret—
"Yo, did you guys ever hear Han Yeoreum muttering to herself? She said she was Inssa Han Yeoreum! Hahahaha!"
"Whoa, so she acts all icy on the outside but was having fantasies like that? Insane."
Just imagining it made her vision go dark and her breath catch in her throat. Year two of high school—the quiet, peaceful daily life she'd carefully built was one weird title away from shattering into pieces: Inssa Wannabe.
She had to stop that social death at all costs. Looking a guy straight in the eyes and saying hello would be a hundred times better.
Right. I can do this! We talked so much through sticky notes yesterday. Taekyeong isn't a bad guy!
Yeoreum glanced down at the bundle of yellow sticky notes and the mechanical pencil she'd set in the corner of her desk—her last line of defense, just in case her voice refused to come out again. But today, she was going to greet him with actual words. She clenched her fists tight.
Creak.
Right then, she heard the back door of the classroom open.
Flinch!
Yeoreum's shoulders jerked up on pure reflex. Familiar footsteps were getting closer and closer.
Ryu Taekyeong.
He's here, he's here! Han Yeoreum, smile! Smile naturally!
She yanked the corners of her mouth up so hard her facial muscles nearly spasmed. Then, slowly—very slowly—she turned her head.
Their eyes met.
Taekyeong blinked like he was a little surprised, then gave a short huff of a smile as he walked over. He'd only meant to say hello, but to Yeoreum it landed as: Alright, let's see how you greet me today.
N-Now!
Yeoreum parted her lips.
"G-Good morn······."
"Oh! Han Yeoreum, morning!"
Crash-bang-thud!
What on earth—
The classroom's back door nearly tore off its hinges as a black swarm of male students poured in.
"Hey! Sorry we came on so strong yesterday!"
"Yeah, we're not bad guys!"
The boys who'd filed in right on Taekyeong's heels shoved their faces forward and cheerfully offered their greetings.
"························."
In an instant, Yeoreum's mouth froze solid in the shape of an ah.
Beep! Beep! Multiple unknown male humans detected! Encirclement formation complete! Danger level: MAXIMUM!!
The smile she'd worked so hard to force trembled violently and then nose-dived. Her mind went blank white; her vision started to spin.
I have to run. Nari, Nariii······!
Yeoreum's legs shook, ready to kick the chair back and bolt for the bathroom any second. But—
Scritch.
Standing with his back to the group, Taekyeong glanced down at Yeoreum. Then he gave a little chin-jerk and raised one eyebrow.
He'd only meant to cover for her. To Yeoreum, though, it somehow sounded like this:
Gonna run away again? Then I can't guarantee that secret.
Hah.
No!
If she ran, Inssa Han Yeoreum would be exposed to the entire world. Anything but that—absolutely anything but that!
A terror of humiliation that outstripped even her survival instinct seized control of her. Yeoreum's eyes blazed.
Snap!
She snatched up the mechanical pencil she'd left on her desk.
Scritch-scritch-scritch-scritch!!!
At terrifying speed, she began scrawling something across a yellow sticky note.
"Huh? What's Han Yeoreum doing······?"
One of the guys said. Taekyeong looked down at her in equal confusion—and in that moment,
Riiip!
Yeoreum tore the sticky note free with force. Then she shot up out of her seat.
"······Huh?"
Slap!!!
She smacked the sticky note dead center onto Taekyeong's forehead with a thoroughly satisfying thwack.
"························."
"························."
The guys' jaws dropped.
Taekyeong, with a sticky note stuck to his forehead. And Han Yeoreum, the one who'd just full-force slapped it there. Not just the two of them—even the guys who'd been about to say hello from behind Taekyeong froze solid for a second.
Written on the sticky note was simply:
Hello!!
Thud. Whump!
Mission complete, Yeoreum immediately sank back into her seat, wrapped both arms around her head, and face-planted onto the desk.
Aaaaaaaahhh!! I've lost my mind! What did I just doooo!!!
Face-down, Yeoreum trembled all over. Her ears had gone scarlet all the way down to the nape of her neck. This was a full-scale disaster. Tears of pure shame pricked at her eyes.
Mom······. I just want to transfer schools······.
And then—
Peel.
Taekyeong pulled the sticky note off his forehead. He looked at the writing for a quiet moment, then gave a short huff of a laugh and folded the note into his uniform pocket.
Not long after—
"Hyung-nim!! What the heck did it say!!"
"Yeah, spill it already, Ryu Taekyeong!!"
"Ah, no idea. And the bell's about to ring, guys."
With that, he shoved the boys back.
"Whoa, dude, he's insanely strong!!"
"That's cheap, Ryu Taekyeong!! We have a right to know too!!"
But eventually the teacher walked in, and that was the end of it. Taekyeong pulled a sticky note from his bag.
Scritch-scritch.
He wrote a short reply with his ballpoint pen, then set it lightly down beside the elbow of Yeoreum—who was still fused to her desk as one being.
Flinch.
The second the note touched her, her shoulder gave a little shiver. Then, very carefully, she peeked just her eyes out between her arms to check it.
Greeting received loud and clear. Super effective. Secret stays secret—deal.
Uuuugh······.
Yeoreum buried her face again. She'd protected the secret—but overcoming this particular brand of humiliation was clearly going to take a very long time.