Can Shiyeon really get up alone?
Unlike the anxiety that had quietly crept in last night, the sound of dishes clattering in the kitchen could be heard even before the alarm went off.
Being light-sleeping, I opened my eyes immediately at that sound and reached for my smartphone to check the time while stretching out.
A beam of light that brilliantly covered my sight like shining a flashlight.
Even while squinting one eye shut, I opened the other wide to check the time.
It was 7:06.
Considering the brief moment of hesitation right after the sound, it seemed that Shiyeon had set the alarm for around 7.
In contrast to Shiyeon, thinking about my school time walking there makes it clear that waking up 30 minutes earlier is sufficient.
Still, since I was already awake and the light was shining on me, my mind was gradually clearing up.
I could have stayed in bed for another 20 minutes, but there was no reason not to get up.
“Yawn….”
With a long yawn, I dragged my messy long hair out of the room.
I hadn’t had a haircut in quite some time, and my hair was now down to my waist.
I should go get a haircut on my way home from school.
What were the regulations for girls’ hairstyles again?
“The smell of eggs….”
Glimpsing at Shiyeon sitting at the table, I realized today’s breakfast was soy sauce egg rice.
It seemed she fried the eggs without even turning on the hood, as the smell of eggs filled the house.
I hadn’t thought much about what to eat for breakfast, but that was decided just now.
Each of us went about our activities without a word.
As she cracked an egg into the small frying pan that still had some heat, Shiyeon, having finished her meal, set her empty bowl in the sink.
After frying all the eggs and sitting at the table, Shiyeon headed to the bathroom.
The key to soy sauce egg rice is to mix in just the right amount of soy sauce and sesame oil until it’s moist.
After finishing this simple breakfast that only uses one bowl, I started washing the dishes left in the sink, which were just a spatula and two bowls.
By the time I finished washing dishes and it was time for me to use the bathroom, Shiyeon was already heading to the front door to go to school.
Our actions intertwined but didn’t overlap.
After all, since we are students, we have to go to school.
Steps dressed in the same clothes, heading to the same school from the same distance at the same time.
After arriving at school, hanging my bag next to the desk, I fiddled with my smartphone when a familiar face approached and nonchalantly spoke.
“Dungmaha-”
“What the hell is that?”
Using some nonsensical abbreviation, Seonhyuk came up to me.
Those three incomprehensible letters seemed like they were an abbreviation for something, but I didn’t know what it meant, so I ended up asking.
“Dungjaengi Mari haireu tteutt… cough!”
“Shut the hell up, do you want to keep making crap memes?”
Hearing about five letters, my fist lunged forward, punching Seonhyuk’s stomach.
This guy who earns beatings from the morning looks like a human version of Gomtaengi, so I had no reservations about hitting him.
Perhaps still lacking, he bent his upper body after getting hit in the belly but quickly raised his head to tease me again.
“Ah, why! It’s true!”
“Yeah, it’s true, you’re getting seriously beaten.”
“Ack! Ack!”
Grabbing the well-exposed back that was bent over with both palms, I continued delivering strikes with proficient knee kicks.
Since it was just playful banter among students, I didn’t hit hard, but there was more than enough strength in it for it to hurt.
After receiving about three consecutive knee kicks, Seonhyuk thrashed around trying to escape my grip on his back and ended up shedding his outer coat like shedding skin.
Leaving his thick coat behind in my hands.
I hung it over the back of my chair.
Let’s see if he can come back to get it on his own.
The weather in March transitions from winter to spring.
That means it’s still cold enough to need an outer coat.
Even after Taehyun and Dongha arrived, he didn’t come to my spot for fear of getting hit more….
Even while the three of us were messing around with our smartphones, he stayed away.
This strange standoff continued until third period, during history class which was the school’s official nap time.
Listening to the history teacher’s voice, peaceful and serene like a lifeless pond, my vision, like other students, gradually narrowed down.
While dozing off, the teacher asked the guy who was wearing just his school jacket, unlike everyone else who had their coats on.
“Hey Seonhyuk, aren’t you cold?”
“Ah, no, no… I’m fine.”
Struggling to keep his eyes barely open, Seonhyuk shot me a glance.
He was too embarrassed to say he was robbed of his padded jacket by a girl, but he pretended to have the pride to endure by saying he wasn’t cold.
After fourth period ended, finally lunchtime arrived, and his outerwear still remained in my hands.
I guessed he intended to take a chance when we went to the cafeteria, but I wasn’t so naive to be tricked that easily.
Except for one guy who kept a distance behind us, we three gathered to chat during lunch.
“What’s for lunch today?”
“Pork cutlet and dumpling soup.”
“Oh, that sounds delicious.”
Dongha immediately replied with enthusiasm when asked what was for lunch.
Indeed, the performance of the casual menu board was reliable.
After hearing the menu through Dongha’s mouth, Taehyun chimed in, saying it sounded delicious.
At that moment… the sound of light footsteps came from behind, and Seonhyuk snatched the padded jacket out of my hands.
He strapped it on like a treasure he had retrieved, chuckling as he made weird faces up front pretending to tease me.
“Why is that brat like that?”
“He was teasing me by calling me dungjaengi, and now he’s acting like that after losing his padding.”
“Such a loser….”
Perhaps finding it pitiful, Taehyun and Dongha shook their heads after listening to the short story.
No matter how ridiculous he was, I felt it was a shame to make him eat alone, so we let the conversation flow into nothingness and took a seat at the long cafeteria table.
While we were eating the basic sides of kimchi and stir-fried fish cake for a while….
“Hey, didn’t you say you exercise?”
Out of nowhere, Dongha asked a question.
Nodding along while delivering a dull response.
“Uh? Yeah.”
“So, you don’t diet?”
“I don’t control my diet, why?”
“Fried food is said to be an enemy of exercise….”
Two chopsticks were quietly approaching my tray while making a ticking sound.
I knew it was a playful action, but shouldn’t one know that it’s terrible to do such to someone who has been saving their tasty sides until the end?
Frowning, I swatted away the approaching chopsticks as if fencing and said.
“Put those chopsticks away, or I’ll die.”
“Too bad.”
Finishing all the basic sides, I threw the white rice into the dumpling soup all at once.
I turned it into a soup dish and picked up the pork cutlet, which I had saved for the last bite, took a big bite.
Since it was produced in bulk, I couldn’t expect an extraordinary taste, but there was a unique charm to cafeteria food.
The thin pork cutlet was where sogginess and crispiness coexisted.
If eaten as is, it felt like cardboard that was deep-fried, but with some sauce, it was bearable.
After completing what was a satisfying meal in the cafeteria, as we were heading back to the classroom, Dongha raised a question.
“Taehyun, are you going to the PC room after school today?”
“Should I? Mary, do you want to go too?”
The name PC room, hearing it for the first time in a while…
I had heard it occasionally during elementary school, but there was never a friend who suggested going together, and I had a computer at home, so there was no need to go.
If there was a reason to go, it would be when I needed to use a printer?
If not, it would be for some game event like ‘Complete XX hours for a reward’?
Even that was mostly solved with money, so it had already been several years since I set foot in a PC room.
“Hmmm….”
In a situation where I was left with a choice of whether to go or not due to Taehyun’s suggestion.
“Does this guy even have anything to do in a PC room?”
While I was pondering, Seonhyuk, who had been walking casually next to me, muttered.
Did he hold onto the illusion that girls don’t play computer games? Seonhyuk was spouting nonsense despite having become close with them over mobile games.
In disbelief, I frowned and answered his question.
“I play computer games too, you know?”
“What do you play? Water Balloon? Running Girl?”
Now it sounded like he was outright throwing in games designed for kids or running games that are mostly for girls.
Sure, the games he mentioned might have a larger female player base, but… how long ago were those games actually released?
Of course, some might play them, but as a gamer, I sighed at the incomprehensible game selection he provided.
“Why go to a PC room for that?”
“Then you’re going too?”
“Yeah, I’m going.”
It felt like I had been dragged in somehow, but it was decided that I would also go to the PC room.
Since Shiyeon seemed to be able to cook alone now, just going out for a bit shouldn’t be an issue.
The PC room was quite different from my last memory.
The dark lighting, the smell of cigarettes wafting through, regardless of whether it was the smoking or non-smoking area.
Man in white tank tops next to the ashtrays, scratching their bellies over the irrelevant partitions.
However, were these PC rooms trying for years to shed that image?….
With bright lights that didn’t seem dark at all, the unpleasant smell of cigarettes was now replaced by the stimulating smells of ramen and other foods filling the place.
It was only three hours since I last ate, but the smells were making me hungry again.
It seems that these days, PC rooms are earning money by selling food instead of charging for computer time.
Anyway, since I was at the PC room, I signed up and charged my time.
Once I sat down and turned on the computer, there were folders lined up classified by genre.
“Do you know this game?”
“Huh?”
Taehyun opened the game folder, showing me the icon labeled V.
The game’s name was definitely Vigilante.
I remembered hearing that it was a popular FPS game among middle and high schoolers these days.
Most importantly, it was developed by the same company that made the AOS genre game I played… if there was any interest in gaming at all, it would be strange not to have heard of it.
Of course, I hadn’t played it, but I just knew it.
“I just know it.”
“Wanna try it together?”
“I’ve never played it before?”
“It’s okay, there’s a tutorial.”
After learning the basic controls, I was immediately thrown into real combat.
Each round was characterized by the light competition typical of online multiplayer games.
As usual, I had to prove my parents existed.
And once again, I had lost the non-existent parents in the chat.
