Eighteen’s Bed Novel Completed - Chapter 63

The crooked lines were truly clumsy. But it didn’t matter. I had written something. Now, if I just turned the OMR card over and wrote the subjective answers… If only. An unfamiliar hand reached into my desk. The kid in the back row, seeing me not immediately turn over the OMR card, carefully asked.

“Didn’t you finish marking?”

“…”

I just needed to write three subjective questions. My heart sank to the floor at the sight of the empty back of the answer sheet. Writing any more would be cheating. The rules, set since I was eight, choked me. How much would I lose if all the subjective questions were marked wrong? The points were significant. How many points exactly?

“Oh no, what do we do? The subjective answers are blank?”

Other kids were already holding their test papers and comparing answers, but our row stopped abruptly in front of me. Several gazes turned towards me.

“What’s going on?”

“Kang Jun couldn’t fill in all the subjective answers.”

A small whisper was heard.

My mind, which had been sold to the empty answer sheet, suddenly snapped back. Trying to fill in the answer sheet here and now would be insane. Especially when I couldn’t afford to give anyone anything to hold against me. Especially when Go Yohan wasn’t on my side, being disliked like this would be the end.

Right. It would be okay to get a few wrong in math. The average was low, so the impact wouldn’t be too great. It would be okay. Yes. It’s fine. I can make up for it. I comforted myself.

And with a forced smile, I handed over the OMR card.

“No, it’s fine. Take it.”

My chest was suffocating, but I knew this was my best option. I even thought it was a wise choice.

After handing over the card and putting down the computer pen, my hand was drenched in sweat. I wiped the sweat on my uniform and looked around. Several classmates were looking at me with various gazes. Most of them were pitiful. Their faces made me feel a sudden surge of emotion.

Why are you looking at me with those faces? Even if I get that many wrong, it won’t have much of an impact.

…It really won’t have much of an impact, right?

It absolutely had to be. I believed what I wanted to believe. I quietly clenched my mouth. Still, up to that point, it was okay. Not bad. Who knew what my math score would be. My grades might drop a little, but I thought I’d at least finish within the top 5 of the entire school. I was content with that, but…

“Oh? Jun didn’t finish writing his answers?”

The damn PE teacher shouted loudly, looking at my name on the answer sheet. At his words, I stupidly straightened up and looked at the PE teacher.

“Yes?”

“Bring your test paper here.”

“…Why?”

“Why? Why is the Japanese ship ‘Why’? Just bring it here without another word.”

The PE teacher, always loud, always spoke in a half-threatening tone. He often exaggerated his actions to assert the dignity of his often-ignored subject. His threats were quite effective. The shouting of a large adult tends to make people feel weak.

Knowing that being scolded by the PE teacher, whose voice was only mindlessly loud, would only cause stress, I hesitantly picked up my test paper and brought it to the teacher’s desk.

The PE teacher snatched the test paper from my hand, immediately looked at the back, and said:

“27, -1. 394, 0. What? You wrote all the answers?”

“…”

“You bastard, if you couldn’t write them, you should have said so. Do you know how much of a blow it is to the class average if someone like you’s grades drop sharply? Do you know your homeroom teacher might have to write a letter of apology?”

Then he pulled a ballpoint pen out of his pocket.

“Teacher?”

“It’s fine. Go back. Let’s see… 27… -1… 394… 0…”

“Teacher, wait, I’m fine. I deliberately didn’t write the answers because I ran out of time.”

“What? Hey. Look at what this kid is saying. If you solved the answers, why didn’t you write them on the answer sheet? Are you crazy? I’ll let it slide this time, but be careful during the Suneung.”

The PE teacher wrote on the answer sheet with one hand and pointed at my arm with the other.

“And don’t break your arm again.”

I felt the glares from the back of the classroom. Clearly, the entire class was watching.

Damn it, the worst-case scenario automatically came to mind. What if they talked behind my back after class? What if the kids in class found something to hold against me? What if I was disliked because of this? My frightened gaze unconsciously went to Go Yohan. It wasn’t hard to find him, always sitting arrogantly in the back of the classroom.

“…”

Damn it, I took a sharp breath and quickly turned my gaze to the window. Go Yohan was looking at me.

He was unwrapping a chocolate bar. I foolishly stared at the empty sky, feeling his gaze fully, and my fingertips twitched. Was it my imagination? Go Yohan seemed to be sneering.

No. No, I can’t fall into the trap. I can’t give him an excuse.

An alarm blared in my head. I hastily turned around and called the PE teacher.

“No! Teacher, please don’t write the answers. I’m really fine.”

“Oh, so much talk. Are you perhaps worried about what the kids will think? Hey. Everyone, look. You see Jun’s injured arm, right? Think of it as a handicap and everyone understands, okay?”

Sometimes there are adults like this who won’t listen to requests. Before I could do anything, the PE teacher shoved my answer sheet into the envelope full of other students’ answer sheets. He even left me with these words:

“Honestly, if it were any other kid, they wouldn’t get a drop. Huh?”

His arrogant swagger left the classroom. I stood there blankly, resentfully watching his gait. It was all over. Filled with despair, I returned to my seat, looked at the seats behind the teacher’s desk, and met thirty pairs of eyes staring at me.

“…”

For a moment, I didn’t know what to do and just crumpled my uniform pants.

The classmates seemed to have returned to their own conversations, but a few glanced back at me. They were definitely talking about me. Sure enough, a slightly louder kid spoke.

“Wow. Kang Jun got five more minutes to solve.”

“Hey. I can hear you.”

“If he gets first place in the whole school again, we should protest.”

Playful words were exchanged in front of me. They were having a good laugh at my expense. This time, even I couldn’t say anything. I just replied with an awkward smile.

“No way, I probably didn’t get them all right.”

“Oh come on… Wait, 27, -1, 394, 0? What did you say for the last question?”

“…I said 2.”

“Me too.”

“Then isn’t it wrong?”

Someone’s teasing voice was heard. Then I made eye contact with Go Yohan again.

Damn it. I worried, just in case, but Go Yohan turned his head away as if he had lost interest again. It was blatant disregard. That, in itself, was tormenting. Relief and disappointment mixed together.

Still, at this point, I thought this incident would end as a mere happening.

First, Go Yohan didn’t seem to care much, and the rumor didn’t spread throughout the entire grade. A few kids in Class 2 seemed to know, but after a few days, everyone seemed to have forgotten the incident.

Until I heard that I had indeed taken first place in the entire school again this time.

Apparently, math was the most difficult subject in this exam. Moreover, the first and second place in the entire school were decided by a mere 2-point difference in math. Ha Minwoo, who was previously third in the school, had studied desperately but couldn’t beat Kang Jun because he wrote 2 for the last subjective question. And Ahn Jisoo, who was previously second in the school and had been a little complacent, got third place because he wrote 21 for the second subjective question, which was worth 4 points. The math teacher boasted about it.

“Kang Jun from Class 1 was the only student who understood my intention in creating the problem. Kids, let’s try harder.”

Those words were poison to me. The poisoned seed grew and gave me the terrible fruit of May.

If at that moment Go Yohan had said, “Well, that can happen,” as usual, nothing would have happened to me. I firmly believe that. However, Go Yohan’s gaze was on his phone, not me. His lips curved as he looked at the screen. I clearly witnessed it. My gaze fled from Go Yohan. Instinctively, I looked at my feet.

Something big was happening. Misfortune was coming.

Something was going terribly wrong.

I tore open a paper box and took out a digestive pill. My chronic indigestion flared up again. It was definitely stress-induced. I pounded my chest with my fist and gulped down water.

“Cough, cough… choke.”

It had been about two weeks since I had eaten school lunch properly. Today, too, I settled for bread for lunch. The bread sold at the convenience store was usually dry and tasteless. All cheap factory bread is like that. Even though I knew that, the only reason I had been eating lunch at the convenience store for two weeks straight was Go Yohan.

After the midterms, Go Yohan didn’t even pretend to wait for me anymore.

“…”

I swallowed the dry bread silently. It felt like my throat was blocked.

Go Yohan’s change of heart was this cold. The relationship between Go Yohan and me instantly reverted to a state worse than in our first year. His thin, melancholic eyes no longer met mine, and he didn’t even make uncomfortably suggestive jokes.

The reason for the change was clear. I had been abandoned. Just as Han Junwoo had abandoned me.

Therefore, I couldn’t ask. What happened after I left, if his brother said anything, if he suffered any disadvantages. As soon as I thought of the last words, I slapped my forehead with my palm.

“Worry about what you should worry about, you idiot.”

Just worry about your own life, Kang Jun.

This happened today after the second period.

A kid I had met a few times at the same cram school talked to me. I remembered this kid simply as Oh Yeonjun. Class rank 8, that’s it. He wasn’t a particularly remarkable guy. We didn’t even talk in our second year, and in our third year, being in the same class, we only occasionally greeted each other at the cram school.

“You’ve been really quiet lately?”

At this point, this question couldn’t help but feel unpleasant. Were we close enough to ask such things? And what on earth was this guy’s intention in saying that to me? I didn’t think I was overreacting. Everything felt sensitive. However, despite my vexed feelings, I had to tell a kind-looking lie to make at least one person my ally.

“It’s senior year now. I can’t rest because I’m worried about my grades.”

It was meant as a joke, but Oh Yeonjun seemed to have taken it seriously. All study bugs are like that. I understood, being a so-called study bug myself. He made a serious face and nodded.

“That’s true. You’ll be a bit freer in the second semester, though.”

“Because internal grades won’t be included?”

“Yeah. Oh, how was your March mock exam?”

“Me? Just… reasonably okay.”

“Really? Then Korea University possible?”

“Barely possible if you only count the scores.”

“Wow, wow. Wow. Kang Jun, you’re so lucky.”

“No. I have to see the situation then. Competition rate is important, and luck is important too…”

“Still, that means you’re within the acceptance range. With my grades, even a lower department is tough.”

Oh Yeonjun looked gloomy and sad, then suddenly continued.

“Is it true that the March mock exam score is the Suneung score?”

What should I have said to this? I just said what I thought Oh Yeonjun wanted to hear.

“No. There’s a senior at our cram school. I heard his Suneung score was higher than his March mock exam score.”

“Really? Ah, I guess so? No way grades wouldn’t go up at all in a few months, right?”