.  It was still class time but the teacher was missing. Instead, the person who stood in front of the podium was our class president, Yoon Jung In. I scratched the back of my head with a question.

  “Is it already lunchtime?”


  Yi Ruda opened her lips to reply but someone cast a loud response ahead of her. The straightforward and playful tone was from Yoon Jung In.

  “Hey, Ham Donnie. Had a good sleep? Pay for your stay. I might charge you bills.”


  When he said to me like that, kids around us burst into laughter. Geez, I frowned my face a little but soon had a smile.

  I replied with a wink, “Hmm…… how about paying the bills with my sleeping face?”


  “.……”


  “Shin Suh Hyun, what do you think about her remark?”


  I heard Yoo Jung In’s subdued voice piercing through the sudden silence. As I turned my head back to look at Shin Suh Hyun, he was sending me a serious look through his glaring eyes.

  Before I was about to say that I was just joking, he opened his lips. His calm voice broke the silence.

  “Even a sane person turns like that when hanging out with you.”


  “Bahaha, Shin Suh Hyun! You’re so straightforward.”


  “Wow, Shin Suh Hyun, what a gangster!”


  “Cool, Suh Hyun oppa!”


  Kids in the classroom blew whistles and laughed while tapping their desks. Even Kim Hye Hill and Kim Hye Woo, those who rarely emitted uproarious laughter, held their desks tight to repress their bursting smiles. In front of the laughers, Yoon Jung In had a gloomy face.

  He then said, “Hey, would you stop laughing?”


  “Bahaha, ahahaha!”


  “It hurts me?!”


  When the laughter kept on regardless of his remark, he pouted his lips then flung the class diary down on the podium.

  “Gosh, I’m not doing the class conference,” he said on his way back to his seat.

  Kids exclaimed as he strode toward my direction. ‘Yoo Jung In oppa, you’re so cool! You are a true leader! Yoon Jung In! Yoon Jung In!’ Through the teasing noises, I stared at him pulling his chair to take a seat right across me.

  Yoon Jung In, however, took his butt out of the chair to stand up again. He had a grin on his face, which looked funny that it made others burst into laughter. I also exchanged laughs with Yi Ruda, who sat next to me.

  After going through a series of processes, Yoon Jung In finally came back to the podium. He then took out white chalk and tapped on the board. Dazzling sunlight shed long on his knuckles.

  “So, let’s start the conference for the class competition talent show. Any ideas?”


  The silence prevailed the space for a moment but soon kids poured out what they had in mind. The casual atmosphere provoked the kids to just shout out their thoughts without raising their hands for a turn.

  “How about Ring Ding Dong?”


  “Oh, Ring Ding Dong. Nice.”


  Yoon Jung In scribbled ‘Ring Ding Dong’ on the board. He then looked back at us. Someone else shared his opinion.

  “Heartbeat!”


  “Isn’t the human pyramid choreography kind of difficult? Anyone who tried that dance in middle school?”


  “Oh, yeah. Anyone who participated in talent shows in middle school, please come out.”


  The class became noisy again. At that moment, Yoon Jung In looked serious, which rarely happened. A few kids seemed to notice the weird atmosphere, which made them quit their talks and look back in front.

  Yoon Jung In asked, “Hey, do you know who the final boss we have to beat is?”


  “Who is it?”


  “Oh, hold on. I know who it is.”


  “Yeah,” Yoon Jung In gave a heavy nod and exhaled slowly with downcast eyes. He then opened his eyes wide and said, “It’s Class 1-1.”


  “.……”


  “Even if the Four Heavenly Kings and Ban Yeo Ryung were each in different classes, it would be such a competitive challenge but how could they all be in the same class? Isn’t it insane?”


  A cold silence hung in the air which felt like suffocating.

  ‘What the……’ My shoulders trembled for a moment. The sunlight pouring through the window also turned out to be chilly somehow. I slowly looked around me. All the kids in the classroom murmured with gloomy faces.

  “Geez, Class 1-1 can easily win just by Ban Yeo Ryung standing on the stage doing nothing……”


  “They can simply beat us all by the existence of the Four Heavenly Kings on stage.”


  ‘This is being too pessimistic……’ It was then when something came across my mind. As I suddenly raised my hand, Yoon Jung In gave a glance at me.

  “Hey, but.”


  “Yeah,” Yoon Jung In nodded.

  “Are you sure the Four Heavenly Kings and Ban Yeo Ryung are going up the stage? As far as I know, they won’t participate since they hate that kind of stuff.”


  “.……!”


  The kids then had a strange gaze at me. ‘What’s going on……?’ As I trembled, those who were sitting on their seats thronged into me and surrounded my seat. It was Yoon Jung In who took the lead. Before I was about to ask about the overall situation, Yoon Jung In shouted out loud.

  “Oh, yeah! You’re from Ji Jon Middle School, right?”


  “Did you forget that?”


  While I asked in perplexity, a boy standing next pushed me for a prompt response.

  “Dude, come on! Did the Four Heavenly Kings and Ban Yeo Ryung ever be on the stage?”


  “Um…… hold on.”


  Feeling puzzled, I rolled my eyes and counted with my fingers. The kids surrounded me so densely that my sight felt dark from the blocked sunlight.

  “During our senior year, Ban Yeo Ryung was on the stage to perform the dance duo ‘Trouble Maker’ with Yoo Chun Young.”


  “Trouble Maker? Wow, that seems unbeatable!”


  “Oh, and when there was once a challenge that called all the class presidents to come up to the stage, Eun Hyung showed his shuffle dance to the song ‘I Got My Eyes on You.’ His killer moves won the 1st place.”


  “Wow…… is there anything else?”


  “Other than those…… no.”


  “What about this time? Wait, aren’t the other classes also discussing what to do in the talent show right now?”


  Yoon Jung In, who fell into deep thought with crossed arms, nodded to the sudden question. He then opened his mouth.

  “Correct. All of them are having a class conference.”


  “Then call them to ask what they’re gonna do on the stage.”


  “Would they tell me about it……?”


  “Better than doing nothing.”


  “Come on!”


  The kids encouraged me to give a call. ‘Hold on,’ feeling confused, I stopped pressing the button then glanced at the girl who asked me the boys’ number before.

  I told her that I just knew their numbers; however, after wondering what to do, I finally entered Eun Jiho’s number and pressed the call button.

  If I spoke with Yeo Ryung, the Four Heavenly Kings would intervene in our conversation; besides, Eun Jiho had a good sense of grasping the overall situation.

  The kids nervously watched me taking the phone with the sign of ‘calling’ on the screen to my ear. Within a few seconds, a voice came through the phone.

  [What the……]

  “Hello? Is it Eun Jiho? Hi, I’m Ham Donnie who went to the same middle school as you.”


  ‘Act like we don’t know each other that well,’ as I embodied this message in my words, a moment of silence prevailed over the phone. I carefully waited for his response.

  As I raised my eyes to look aside, Yi Ruda had a mysterious gaze at me. I had no idea why her blue eyes showed a sign of wonder and sympathy for me. After quite a while, I heard a reply.

  [O……k…… what’s up?]

  His cold and calm voice, which revealed a distance between us, was what I expected for Eun Jiho. As his voice rang the air, I heard someone murmuring, ‘Wow, what a cool voice.’ Eun Jiho spoke in a tone that I never heard after our sophomore year in middle school as I became close to him. It surprised me a little but soon I continued my words.

  “Um…… are you guys also participating in the talent show for Class 1-1?”


  [You guys……?]

  “Are there anyone in the Four Heavenly Kings and Yeo Ryung?”


  [Uh-huh.]

  Before I was about to say, ‘thank you,’ the call ended out of the blue. Feeling a little weird, I dropped my gaze at the screen that had a ‘call ended’ sign. In the meanwhile, a conversation went on beside me.

  “Omg, did you hear his voice? Isn’t it so amazing?”


  “Very true. He sounded like a cold-hearted, sexy metrosexual……”


  “Such a straightforward guy!”


  “Hey, that’s not the point for now. Not only the fabulous Eun Jiho but also at least one from the Four Heavenly Kings and Ban Yeo Ryung will be on stage for the talent show! Geez, this is getting serious!”


  When Yoon Jung In said like that in perplexity, the two girls stopped talking then stomped around while holding each other’s hand.

  “Oh, gosh! That means we can see them dance!”


  “Hey, we’re gonna lose?!” As Yoon Jung In asked while looking disconcerted, a boy from aside replied apathetically.

  “Dude, we already lost. Let’s just relax and have fun.”


  “Oh, that’s a good idea! Yeah, it’s good to just let it go. What’s the point of winning the 1st place? All we’ll get is just a few snacks and some beverages.”


  “Are you sure……?”


  Yoon Jung In, who asked back, soon became chilled out. It looked as though he gave up. Well, even I thought that we stood no chance against winning the talent show. I recalled the performance of Ban Yeo Ryung and Yoo Chun Young last year.