Chapter 5 – Part 2
The corners of my lips rose up into a smile, in surprise.
I swiftly opened the door to McDonald’s, only to run out speedily, after seeing someone very familiar.
Seon-jae was seated inside.
<em>Damn, why is Ryu Seon-jae here?!</em>
I bit my lip in anxiety, and hid behind the ss door. Without wasting much time, I threw the hood over my head, and rang the seller’s number.
<strong>Ring, ring…</strong>
<strong>Ring, ring…</strong>
The ringing stopped the moment Seon-jae answered the phone, his slightly muscr arms supporting his chin as he sat therezily. He was constantly munching on the crispy french fries.
<em>No way!</em>
I could hear his voice over the call.
<em>Oh my God…</em>
Seon-jae’s head shifted in my direction, forcing me to dart behind the wall, crouching as low as possible while bending my knees.
— Hello?
Seon-jae called out. I remained silent for a moment.
After a few seconds passed, I deepened my voice and spoke in a rough manner; “I have arrived. What are you wearing?”
— I’m wearing a school uniform, with a beige colored knitted sweater.
I craned my neck forward and nced at Seon-jae.
He wore a pair grey-colored school uniform pants, white shirt, tie, and a beige round neck sweater.
<em>Oh, sh*t.</em>
It really is Seon-jae. But he is still in highschool, second year.
<em>He doesn’t have P.E, right? Why would he sell gym clothes?</em>
“Yes, get the things ready. I’ll being in now.”
<em>Tuk.</em>
I hung up the call, pulling the cord of the hood as much as I could and covering what was visible of my mouth with my sleeve.
Huuu…
I exhaled deeply, warm breath getting reflected back, and stepped inside McDonald’s. Lowering my gaze, I sat right across Seon-jae. Before he could say anything, I hastily ced 10,000 won on the table. Seon-jae looked at me as if he was confused by my fairly fast move. I held out my pale palm, silently asking for the uniform, averting my eyes.
“Oh, here you go. Did you see the picture?”
Seon-jae handed over the bag that was next to him.
I grabbed and took the bag from him.
“Cool, thank you.”
I exited McDonald’s and ran as fast as I could. I sprinted for a long, long time, scared that Seon-jae woulde after me anytime. When I got under the bridge, I stopped running and shakily took off my hood.
I was out of breath, huffing for air.
“Ah… I’m so tired.” My cheeks felt warm after all this exertion.
I took out my gym clothes from my shopping bag as I was catching my breath, my other hand holding my side. After I could finally take in some sweet air, I held onto the shoulders of the winter uniform and stretched them out.
The front side was in a good condition, so I turned to check the other side.
My eyes that were scanning the back of the uniform, halted right at the center.
Ryu Seo-jae’s name was written with a marker.
It was obviously second-hand.
They were so clearly written on the back, the font size was especially big.
Seon-jae, you should sell this for 1,000 won!!
You have no conscience!
Before putting the clothes back inside the bag, I sniffed it.
It smelled like lc. I felt like a pervert, so I put them away inside the bag again.
In the reviews of the fan autograph sessions, I often saw articles saying, ‘Seonjae smells good.’
However, for those very reviews, I had a question, ‘How to get his autograph?’ There weren’t many replies to this since Potato Pancakes fans were hellbent and insisted to not get his autograph.
I couldn’t stop smiling. It smelled really good. I can’t believe I am smelling his uniform right now.
I tried to stop smiling, but my mouth was no longer under my control.
Maybe I should leave ament on that article that Seon-jae smells good when I go back to the present?
I took out the powder I had from a friend and brushed it on my lips.
I made my face look as pale as possible and wore my lens inside out. Then, I immediately went to the homeroom teacher.
“Teacher, I am feeling very sick…”
As I shed tears endlessly with my eyes, my homeroom teacher believed my excuse of being sick.
<em>Did my act of being sick actually work?</em>
The teacher gave me an early leave admit.
I walked out of the teacher’s office, blinking my sore eyes rapidly, holding the early leave admit in hand. In a hurry, I ran to the ssroom, took out my eye lenses, grabbed my bag and left school.
Then, I went to the bathroom of the Jaesu Academy, which was near my school. I quickly changed into the gym uniform from Jagam school, which I’d bought after paying 10,000 won to Seon-jae.
I got on the bus with my school uniform crumpled up in a bag.
My eyes were still sore, the redness not fading away. Tears kept flowing and I wiped them with the back of my hand as I looked out of the window. It’s already been a week since I’d started living in the past.
First of all, I‘m doing such ridiculous things to change the future because I have Seon-jae here. But when Ie to think about “How long will I stay here?” I felt stumped, at a loss of words.
<span> Only
<em>Thump.</em> I leaned on the window, resting my head on it.
It was good to see Seonjae before his debut, but the situation that couldn’t be exined, was confusing. I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing.
I was absent-minded. I wanted to organize my thoughts, my ns, but there was nothing to be sorted out.
— This stop is Jagam high school. The next stop is Jagam intersection.
As I heard this, my eyes fluttered wide open. I got up and pressed the bell.
I don’t know when I will be back. So when I am here, I have to diligently inform Seon-jae about the dangers of taking drugs.
I hid my bag in a rear car in an empty lot behind the auditorium, so that I wouldn’t get caught if I carried my bag. There are so many students in the school.
They don’t even know the faces of all students, so will I get caught?
I covered my face with my sleeves and started walking through the hallway.
Only a few students were in the ssroom because it was lunch time.