<Hubris>
-06-
“Ha Yeonjae?”
Lee Jinsol tilted her head as she stood by the windows facing the field.
She had decided to go to school early because it was exam season. When she looked out the window, she saw someone carrying cleaning supplies. She looked closer and saw it was the school celebrity Ha Yeonjae.
“What’s he doing this early?”
Everyone knew what time Ha Yeonjae came to school. He usually arrived exactly half an hour before school began and had never arrived earlier or later than that. To see that person carrying cleaning supplies at this time made her curious.
She came early to study, but she left her bag in the classroom and headed out to the field. Jinsol had always been a curious person.
She saw Ha Yeonjae head into the gym, but when she went into the gym she didn’t see anyone. Did he leave in the few minutes it had taken her to come down? Jinsol was about to head out to the field when she heard a rustling sound from a corner.
When she headed towards the sound, she saw a door labeled “Storage Room”. There was a storage room in the gym? Central High’s gym was so massive that she never even knew there was a door here.
When she opened the door slightly, she saw Ha Yeonjae sweeping the floor. Ha Yeonjae seemed to jump at her voice.
She was quick at reading the situation and could tell that Ha Yeonjae found her uncomfortable. But for her, it was too difficult a task for her to ignore her curiosity.
If she had known this was how things were going to turn out, she would have just gone back to class. Jinsol wanted to cry.
“What do I do…..”
She had just tried to take out the soccer ball from the ball cage, just as Ha Yeonjae had told her. But she couldn’t reach the bottom of the cage and was struggling to get the ball out.
Then, she saw the vaulting horses* in the room. Jinsol dragged the vaulting horses next to the cage. There was a small bit of space between each vaulting horse, so she thought that she could step on those spaces and take out the soccer ball.
She shouldn’t have done that.
The five stacked horses were so worn out and fragile that when she pushed it slightly, they immediately fell apart. The impact was so strong that the plastic boxes holding the other balls toppled to the floor. Jinsol picked up all the balls she could, but they continued to roll all around the gym.
She felt a chill run up her spine and turned to see Ha Yeonjae standing at the door.
“All of it. Pick it up. Until I’m done mopping.”
Ha Yeonjae’s voice was cold.
She definitely understood why he was angry. She had said she would help, but had only increased the amount of work that had to be done. If Ha Yeonjae was a typical student, they would have cursed at her and kicked her out. But Ha Yeonjae wasn’t like that.
Jinsol didn’t think it was because Ha Yeonjae had a good personality. She could read the resignation in his eyes. It looked like he thought that he wouldn’t be able to make her leave.
She was the one that caused the problem, but his attitude made her confused. Why was he so resigned towards someone he didn’t even know? But curiosity aside, she had to fix the problem she caused.
She ran around to pick up the balls. But no matter how much she ran around, she couldn’t finish cleaning up the mess before Ha Yeonjae finished mopping. Moreover, she was so small that she couldn’t hold more than a few balls at a time–and even those were prone to falling. She kept tripping or kicking the balls on the floor too.
And the smile on Ha Yeonjae’s face disappeared completely.
–
What the hell kind of situation is this?
“Sorry! I’m sorry! Sorry!”
“Pick them all up right now.”
“Sorry! Sorry!”
Did I finally lose my mind from illness? I’m seeing things…wait. Was that Ha Yeonjae’s voice that I heard?
Nana just stood there and blinked. He had never seen Ha Yeonjae so pissed off before. Ha Yeonjae was nice to everyone and never showed his dislike towards anybody.
Were they picking up balls or playing with them? There was a small girl running around the gym covered in sweat. And whenever the girl kicked a ball or dropped one, he responded irritatedly in a cold voice.
“What are you doing?”
Nana’s voice rang through the gym. Yeonjae looked panicked as he stared at Nana and the girl, surprised, dropped all the tennis balls in her arms. Ha Yeonjae glared at the girl when he saw this.
“S…sorry…. Haha….”
The girl laughed awkwardly, glanced at Nana, and continued to pick up the balls on the floor. The girl’s shirt was covered in dust and dirt from carrying the dirty balls. He could see Yeonjae sighing deeply.
It was Nana’s turn to approach Ha Yeonjae first because he had seen him first, but Yeonjae stalked towards him.
“Playing ball games?”
“If you think this is playing around, you must have some great rose-tinted glasses.”
Yeonjae responded with a smile, but Nana could tell Ha Yeonjae was really pissed off right now.
“I don’t know about rose-tinted glasses, but this isn’t such a bad sight to see. It looks like I’m watching an uncle playing games with his niece.”
“I told you that I’m a beloved only child.”
How many times do I have to hear that? Was it because he was angry? Those black eyes looking staring back at him felt livelier than before. Those eyes that he had seen every day seemed to be different. Was it because of her?
“A friend?”
Maybe it was because it was surprising. Unlike the usual, Nana asked a question.
“You said she looked like my niece.”
“Not everything is as it seems.”
Like how you looked like you were going to give me the world, but threw me away instead.
“And even if she looks like an elementary student, she’s wearing our uniform.”
“Um… You’ve been saying that I look like your niece or like an elementary student…”
Jinsol, who had been listening to the conversation, quietly mumbled to herself. Nana thought she kept talking, but he didn’t listen and opened the storage room door.It didn’t matter whether or not Ha Yeonjae and that random girl were playing around. His head throbbed. Nana wanted to lay down first.
But that wasn’t going to happen.
“Ha Yeonjae.”
“Ha…..”
Yeonjae rested his head on his palm and sighed, glaring slightly at the girl.
Okay, I get the situation. You tried to clean this place in secret, and the girl tried to help but messed up instead.
Anger ripped through Nana’s veins. He roughly grabbed Yeonjae’s shirt collar. Yeonjae’s face looked despondent from failure unlike himself.
“Is studying getting too boring? What, are you reading fairy tales nowadays? Were you enlightened after reading The Snail Bride**? Motherfucker, who asked you to clean this place up?”
Nana was ready to pummel that mouth of his if Yeonjae tried to make excuses. But as if he had read Nana’s mind, Yeonjae kept his mouth closed and looked down at him.
Yeah, of course you have nothing to say. Because everything usually goes your way. You’re probably really shocked by these turn of events.
Nana clenched the fist holding onto Yeonjae’s collar and shoved him away. He headed into the storage room and took out a single book. It was a poetry collection. His mother had left the book, so he couldn’t leave it behind.
He glared at the girl who was fidgeting nervously and went to the gym door. There were a few more books inside, but he would never set foot in that room again.
His head hurt. He could feel heat radiating behind his eyes, as if he was going to have a fever. He put his hand in his pocket and clenched the handkerchief in his pocket tightly. It felt like Ha Yeonjae’s scent radiated from his hand and into his nose. He clenched his fist tighter.
–
Lee Jinsol really wanted to cry.
She had seen Jin Nana and Ha Yeonjae together, but she had never seen them exchange words before.
Jin Nana had gotten angry after opening the storage room door. She could tell that Ha Yeonjae was cleaning up the room because of Jin Nana. Why was that? Why was he cleaning up for Jin Nana? Why were they so angry about it? And why am I here?
Jinsol was confused and shocked. Ha Yeonjae was angry at Jinsol, while Jin Nana was angry at Ha Yeonjae. When Jin Nana had grabbed Ha Yeonjae by the collar, the air was so cold that she thought she was going to witness a murder. She didn’t know what to do and just panicked.
Jinsol kept her tears at bay. She regretted becoming interested in Ha Yeonjae. This damn curiosity was the problem. She could only breathe properly after Jin Nana had left the gym.
She assumed that Ha Yeonjae would follow after Jin Nana. No, she wished he followed so she could go back to class.
There were still balls rolling around in the gym, but P.E was self-study during testing season. She could always come back during lunch to clean up with her friends. She was having a hard time cleaning by herself, but things would definitely be easier with her friends. Ha Yeonjae seemed to be cleaning for Jin Nana, and because he got caught, there was no immediate need.
Should I ask?
“Um….”
“Just pick up the balls.”
“Okay….”
Ha Yeonjae’s tone was curt and his back looked murderous. Jinsol just continued to clean up. Something about his back looked pitiful.
Ha Yeonjae picked up the basketball near his foot. When he stood straight, he could see the girl hopping around like a rabbit to pick everything up.
He looked at the ball in his hand and Lee Jinsol. He scrunched his eyebrows slightly as if thoughtful, then sighed and threw the ball into the metal cage. The basketball flew gracefully into the cage. The girl’s eyes grew wide as she clapped.
“I’ll pick up the balls and throw them in, so take them out and put them in the proper boxes.”
“Uh…”
“What.”
“I…the balls in the cage…I can’t take them out… My arms won’t reach….”
The girl nervously tapped her toes on the gym floor as she stammered. Ha Yeonjae looked at the girl, then threw the ball on the floor. He briefly considered learning how to properly curse.
–
**The Snail Bride
–