You Don't Listen to Rock (3)
"White team wins!!"
"Woooaaah!!"
"Are you out of your mind?!"
"We won!!"
The final event of Day One — the relay race — ended with a White team victory. The final score was 500 to 650, a nail-biter where the White team claimed the overall win by the slimmest of margins. At any other middle school, that would've been the signal to shout "Good work, everyone!" and head off on separate paths. But…
"Teams that have finished cleaning up will wait in the classroom and then move to the gym hall!"
Hwaryeon Middle School's little encore. The Hwaryeon Stage was still left.
— — —
"Once you're on stage and ready, just tap the microphone three times."
"Yes, I understand."
"If anything goes wrong, there are staff members waiting right offstage — just give us a signal and we'll handle it right away."
Hwaryeon Middle School, Gym Hall. Backstage. Yujin was giving the next performers a quick rundown in the waiting area, which could easily fit twenty people.
— Yuseol, are you guys ready?
"Yeah. No problem."
While communicating with the broadcast team via phone, I confirmed the stage setup. Then—
— Yuseol, want to go to my place and practice?
"Even if I say I don't want to, you're still gonna do it."
"Because watching the kids perform makes my heart race so hard I can't take it…!"
Yujin was bouncing her feet up and down in her seat, raising her voice. I'd put a chair right next to her just to make sure nothing went wrong on stage.
"Ah, if I could, I'd want to do three songs — no, four."
"Where's my heart in all of that?"
"Aigoo~. We're childhood friends, so it's heart to heart."
"Sure. I really hope you do it with someone else."
"I will — and I will — you stupid Yuseol~."
"…There are kids around. Cut it out."
"There are kids around, cut it out~."
As expected, Yujin kept the jokes coming. Eventually I had to get up from my seat, leaning back to get some distance.
— Wooooaaah!!
Right on cue, cheers erupted from outside. The performing team took the stage, greeted the audience, and made their way off. Two hosts filled the gap.
"We'll get ready."
"Have fun out there~. Fighting~!"
Yujin and I called the final team at the same time. True to their billing as the highlight team, their outfits were absolutely eye-catching.
"Great job, everyone. You can head back now."
The last team took the stage, and Vice Principal Kwon followed them in. With that, Yujin and I were off the clock.
The second-years had already finished the closing ceremony and gone home. The student council just needed to report to the office and then head out, but…
"I have a date in ten minutes! Ten minutes, wait for me!"
Yujin blurted out that one line and sprinted toward the main building. Ten minutes wasn't exactly a long time, so I decided to wait on the bench near the school gate. Like always, I put in my earphones and opened my music app. Normally I'd play my commute playlist, but since tomorrow was the performance, I listened to the pieces I'd be playing.
A cool breeze blew in. I was unconsciously air-guitaring to practice, and when I glanced toward the sports field, I could see first-years in their PE uniforms trickling out from beyond the hill one by one.
"…Why isn't she coming?"
Trying to shake off the awkwardness, I laced my fingers together and stretched my arms overhead. I was checking my phone for a good new song when—
"Hm?"
"Ah, hello."
A girl I didn't recognize was standing in front of me. Two others were hovering a little behind her, clearly her friends. She was wearing a PE uniform, so she was definitely a first-year.
"Are you the student council president, senior?"
"…Yeah. I am the student council president, but…"
"Kyaaa~!"
"Seriously, you're crazy!"
"…Could you guys be quiet!"
I'd only said one sentence and her friends were losing it. With a reaction like that, there was no way I couldn't tell she was starstruck.
"…S-senior. Would you maybe… give me your social media ID?"
"Wow, you actually did it!"
"Kyaaa!! I'm so embarrassed!"
The girl blushed and held out her phone. Her friends were going wild behind her, and people nearby were watching the scene.
Normally, I'd just hand over the account and laugh it off. But…
"Sorry, but I don't have a social media ID."
A guy who doesn't have social media in this day and age. That's me.
"…Huh?"
"I don't have a social media ID."
"……Huh?"
No matter how many times I said it, the girl's expression didn't change. Instead, her face was transforming at a pace measurable in seconds. And not in a good way.
"…Am I that unappealing to you?"
Finally, the girl's face crumpled and she started to well up. Actually, she'd done her makeup pretty rough, so why was she so fragile inside?
"No, that's not what I mean — I really don't have one. Look at this."
I quickly turned on my phone screen to prove my innocence.
"Oh, no…! You didn't have to show me that!"
"…Oh, right."
"Anyway, seniors like you probably don't even have social media IDs on your screens because of people like me!"
"That's not what I— I really don't have one, I swear…"
"It's fine! There's no way a girl like me would be friends with a senior anyway…!"
Why don't kids these days ever listen? Of course, I was included in "these days," but at the very least I pretend to listen.
"I'm gonna die."
People nearby started fidgeting awkwardly. At this rate, within a few hours there'd be requests for me to clarify my social media situation on every platform.
While I was trying to smooth things over with the girl as much as possible…
— Yuseol, you hit on another girl again.
Yujin cut through the crowd and walked over with her usual grace. The first-years seemed to recognize her, because they immediately whispered her name.
"…That's not what happened."
"No no. I know all your tricks, eye-kid. You were probably sitting on that bench, looking all innocent, staring up at the sky."
"……I was just zoning out."
"Okay~. Seol Yujin, you're guilty. Boop boop."
Yujin laughed and tapped my head twice with her fist. Normally I'd give her a look like "what are you doing," but…
"What's your friend's name?"
"…Haerin."
"I'm Yujin. Nice to meet you~."
Yujin pulled out a tissue from her echo bag and handed it to the girl. Haerin — the girl — took the tissue with a trembling hand.
"T-thank you."
"I've known that kid for five years already. I kept telling her to make an account, and she absolutely refused. Her stubbornness is no joke."
"…Really?"
"Really. So every time I post a story, I tag her as 'ajae' like this. Look."
"What? Do you actually post stuff like that?"
"Ajae, please be quiet for a moment."
Yujin cut me off and started chatting with Haerin. At first it was just the two of them talking, then Haerin's friend joined in, and before I knew it all four of us were huddled together whispering.
"…Why are you laughing?"
"Look. See?"
"…Yeah. Yeah, that's definitely it."
What the heck are you two talking about?
"We said hello and you pretended not to know us, right?"
"Yes! Thank you, senior!"
"You worked hard today~."
After about five minutes of girl talk, Haerin and her friends bowed to Yujin and headed off. Yujin waved enthusiastically to see them off.
…I completely forgot about that.
"Phew~. Seriously, Yuseol — if I didn't exist, what would you have done?"
With the first-years mostly gone, Yujin was stretching and taking small steps forward. I followed behind with my earphones still around my neck.
"Stop flirting, you playboy. I can't keep covering for you every time."
"…Because I was just sitting still, though?"
"Wow. You asked a freshman for their social media account and then say you were just sitting still? That's deceitful."
"In the end, it wasn't me who got friendly — it was you."
"Giving someone your social media ID doesn't make you friends. This was all about who was trying to help who."
…No comeback.
"…Thanks."
I couldn't find a good excuse, so I just gave a plain thank-you. Yujin glanced at me sidelong and let out a soft laugh with a shallow sigh.
"Last warning. Stop hitting on girls."
With nothing else to say, I just nodded.
— — —
"…So done with early mornings…."
The next day. 7 AM. Day Two of the sports festival. The curtain automatically slid open with the alarm, and I burrowed under the covers the instant sunlight hit, curling up like a bug. I was planning to do the universal pre-school ritual of "Five more minutes, Mom…" on the way to school.
Actually, I'd set my alarm five minutes early specifically to enjoy this event. That's how essential oversleeping is to school life—
"Eye-kid, I'm coming in!!"
CRASH! The door flew open with a sharp bang. I figured she was joking about being my morning alarm yesterday, but apparently not.
When exactly did you wake up?!
"…Yeah, yeah. I'll get up in a bit…."
"No? If you don't get up right now, I might jump on the bed."
"If you do something that violent, it'll mess up the hands that need to play drums and guitar—?!"
"Too late!"
The instant I poked my head out, Yujin launched herself into the air. Having done this a million times, she wouldn't give me a single chance to dodge, and the damage was purely psychological. But—
"Get up, sleepyhead! Do you know how much we have to do today?!"
"It's 7 AM, how am I a sleepyhead…?! Get down…! It's ticklish…!"
"Side-attack!!"
"Kyaaaaaah!"
This is why childhood friends are a problem. She knows my weak points way too well.
— — —
"Why do you look so off on such a nice day?"
"…Are you serious?"
"Keep your mouth shut. You're distracting me while I'm painting."
"…You're the one who asked."
"Mm."
Student Council Room. Yujin, seated across from me, was holding a face-painting pen up to her face. Back when I was her age, I only had watercolors, but these days the kits come with dedicated stickers and pens — real luxury.
"Done~. This finishes it."
Only when the satisfying texture had become familiar did the painting end. I opened my eyes to find Yujin holding her phone out in front of me.
"…You really are good at this."
"Great! So people will stop asking me where I buy all those cosmetics all over the place!"
That was a separate issue from her painting skill, but I let it slide.
"By the way, Yuseol. That PE shirt is cute. You're like a total cool guy."
Yujin giggled and stuck out her thumb. The shirt I was wearing was a white tee with "Cool Guy" in lettering across the chest. This one shirt cost as much as two decent PE uniforms, but we split the cost because of its "future value" or whatever, so we each chipped in a little. That's why the shorts were just regular PE gear. At least the gray training pants kept things from looking too bland.
"We should've done matching ones like that too."
Yujin stretched her arms out and flapped them. The pink track jacket she was wearing was the kind of eye-catching outfit you'd only ever wear once. Today.
"Yeah. What a waste of money."
"Ugh. Why'd you buy a 'cool guy' shirt? Get a 'hot guy' shirt instead."
"If caring about the environment makes me a 'hot guy,' then sure."
"Just watch. Even if you can't pull it off, you'll wear it at least ten times."
Yujin, burning with competitive spirit over pointless things. I was already looking forward to it.
"Let's head out. They're probably looking for us outside."
"The main character usually shows up late, you know."
"Don't say weird stuff."
I helped Yujin tidy up the face-painting pens and stickers. After locking the student council room, we walked briskly out of the building and down the hill.
As we came into view, the sports field was already teeming with second-years. Since the gathering point was the field rather than the classrooms, it was only natural.
"See you later~. Looking forward to the soccer match?"
"I'm not expecting cheering, so please keep it normal."
"I'll call your name until my throat gives out."
"…You're supposed to sing, not just shout names, though?"
We pushed through the noisy crowd and joined our classmates. Since we were Class 3, Class 4 (the White team) was lined up right next to us, and there was Haneul — the guy with the unmistakable Rabco-material energy — over there.
…Why does that orange prisoner uniform look so good on him?
"You two went off to be lovey-dovey again?"
"3824, who gave you the right to speak?"
"It's fine, you can confess your secret before you die."
Haneul grinned slyly and shrugged his shoulders. As always, he was teasing us relentlessly about our relationship, but the answer coming back was always the same: nope.
"Did you two make a promise to be together forever?"
"Nope."
"Can I post this on social media?"
"Nope."
"Okay. Screen-shot."
"…?"
Bonk. I'd forgotten that everyone had their phones out today because it was the sports festival.
"Alright, everyone focus."
"We're about to start, so line up."
I was about to unleash a torrent of curses at the timing, but the teachers appeared. I glared at the guy with everything I had, did a perfect lip-sync, and tried to pressure him — but the jerk didn't even glance my way.
"I hope everyone has a fun and safe time. That is all."
The usual opening speech flew by in a flash. The students cheered at Principal Gu's short and sharp remarks, and then two broadcast club members appeared with the megaphone.
Since the second-years were the ones competing, today's hosts were first-years. They had scripts, but the ad-libs they mixed in were definitely a mark of being cool.
"So at this point, we can't help but ask — are you ready to hear everyone's determination to win?"
"As it so happens, the Blue-White battle this time has been split between Student Council President Senior and Vice President Senior~."
Yeah, that line was definitely not in the script.
"With all this buildup, are you really not coming out?"
"Seniors~! Please come out~!"
The two underclassmen called us with loud voices. With the energy so high, the entire second-year crowd was chanting our names, making it impossible not to show up.
"Ryu Haneul is so handsome!!"
"Date meeee!!"
Haneul, who went up first, smiled sweetly and played along with the cheering. True to his Rabco-material nature, he was way too used to this. It was infuriating.
"Seol Yujin, cute~!"
"Look over here and smile~!"
Why am I being treated like a kid?
"Okay, please come to the front."
As the two underclassmen said, Haneul and I stood side by side in front of the megaphone.
"So, which senior wants to go first?"
"Seniors, say 'we shall prevail'!"
"I'll go first."
Haneul handed the mic over to the girl underclassman. He turned to face the crowd in the sports field, and the cheering erupted again.
"Shh."
With a wink, he made a gesture, and everyone instinctively shut their mouths.
Bonk. This guy was definitely Rabco-material.
Swish.
"You've always wanted to compete with me, but in the end… it turned out like this."
Haneul turned his body fully toward me. He was about to say something, closing the distance by one step—
"I'll show you the difference in class today."
He ruffled my hair while calling me a kid. Childish. Seriously childish.
"Puwpuwpuwpuwiiii!"
"Hey hey!! Don't rub it in with the height thing, I'm jealous!!"
"Kids, scram!"
But despite my feelings, the response was scorching. Of course, the Blue team was shouting on my behalf too, raising their voices to protect me—
"Yujin's still growing, you know?!"
"Yujin's adorable, okay?!"
…That hurt more.