“Cla.s.s prez~ Do you have another pair of tongs?”
“Yeah. I’ll bring it to you.”
Seung-ho went to the place where the tools were stacked and handed a large pair of tongs to the friend.
Right now, all 400 students of Nople High School were out in the gymnasium, standing with their respective cla.s.ses, roasting the various sh.e.l.lfish they’d picked up and eating them.
Among them, the cla.s.s with the highest stack of food by far was the 7th cla.s.s. Due to Park Han-seung’s active role, they had been able to dig up an incredible amount of sh.e.l.lfish.
“Kids, since Han-seung worked the hardest today, let’s all give him a round of applause!”
At Vice-President Ha-eun’s words, the students cheered and clapped.
“Wooah!”
“You were cool!”
“Stamina monster, Park Han-seung!”
Just a couple days ago the 7th cla.s.s students had distanced themselves from Park Han-seung because they’d thought him frightening, but since he’d sung in the bus yesterday and his active role in the mudflats today, the distance between him and them seemed to have closed noticeably.
“Hahaha. It’s nothing.”
Han-seung bashfully scratched his head and flipped sh.e.l.ls. Seung-ho was also clapping and cheering from afar.
Although Seung-ho, as cla.s.s president, was supposed to initiate the applause for Han-seung, he had a hard time stepping up and so was grateful that Ha-eun had done it instead.
“Cla.s.s presidents, come take the meat!”
“Yes, sir~”
Seung-ho answered as he ran towards the teachers. Those who arrived first would wait the least.
Thankfully, he arrived second and stood in line. Starting from the foremost kid, the students each started receiving 5 kg of pork belly on a tray.
Even though technically it was 5 kg, the meat was stacked like a mountain. It was obviously the dinner that had been prepared in case the students hadn’t been able to dig up much sh.e.l.lfish.
With a proud heart that the others would be thrilled, Seung-ho happily went back with the tray.
“Guys! The meat is here!”
“Woooooaaaah!”
As Seung-ho raised the tray and waved it, the kids cheered.
The three scarlet-coloured layers of meat made for a lovely appearance. On top of that, the meat had been sliced in the shape of a hive, so it seemed even more appetising.
“Let’s move the sh.e.l.lfish to one side.”
At Ha-eun’s words, the male students moved the sh.e.l.lfish, which had been spread across two grills, onto one side. Sang-wook took the tray from Seung-ho and began cooking the meat.
The sizzling sound of the meat being grilled over the red-hot coals was more than enough to tantalise the 7th seventh graders’ noses.
“Cla.s.s president, what are we doing after dinner?”
Seung-hee approached him naturally and asked him. Her name was similar to Seung-ho: Choi Seung-hee. It seemed as if it was his first time talking to Seung-hee.
“I think we’re doing a courage test or something.”
“What? Courage test?”
“Yeah. Today, the natural science majors are doing the courage test while the liberal arts students party in the a.s.sembly hall, and tomorrow they’ll switch.”
“We aren’t going further up the mountain, are we?”
“I haven’t heard the details, either.”
“I’m doomed.”
With a devastated expression, Seung-hee hunched her shoulders and went back to her friends.
Seung-ho was worried as well. To be honest, Seung-ho himself had a lot of fears; thus, he was making sure he wouldn’t be humiliated by getting scared.
“Guys, they’re all cooked!”
Sang-wook and Sang-hyup brought the cooked meat to the table and cut them into bite-sized pieces. The meat appeared to be glossy and filled with l.u.s.ter.
It seemed as if putting Seung-ho’s worries aside and eating was first on the list.
As he put the pork belly, which had been drained of its grease and dipped in ssamjang, in his mouth, the smoky flavour of the grill filled it.
“Woah, it’s so good!”
“Sang-wook and Sang-hyup grilled the meat really well, didn’t they?”
The females gave a thumbs-up and complimented the aforementioned kids. As the students each had a bite, those friends had been too busy grilling the meat to eat.
Seung-ho made four lettuce wraps on a large plate. Before the meat cooled down, he approached the grills and put one each in the mouths of Sang-wook and Sang-hyup, who were grilling the meat, and Dong-hyun and Jun-hyung, who were grilling the sh.e.l.l-fish.
The grillers gave him a thumbs-up of deliciousness. Watching the scene, the female students of the 7th cla.s.s admired Seung-ho’s personality once again.
“Gah, look at him taking care of the kids. Not only is he handsome, but he’s considerate as well.”
“Agreed. We picked the right cla.s.s president for sure.”
“Cla.s.s pres~ You should also eat!”
Hearing someone call him, Seung-ho answered with a loud “Yeah!” and went back to the kids.
“Cla.s.s pres, have a bite.”
“What?”
Hee-yun abruptly shoved a wrap at Seung-ho’s mouth. Fl.u.s.tered, Seung-ho glanced around, but Hee-yun urged him on.
“Hurry up and eat. My arm hurts.”
“O-okay.”
Embarra.s.sed, Seung-ho’s face blushed a bright red, but he opened his mouth widely and put the wrap in his mouth. Hee-yun smiled proudly.
“I-it’s delicious.”
Even before he could taste the flavour, Seung-ho murmured while he chewed. Just then, a sarcastic voice came from one side, loud as if they meant for anyone to hear.
“Whew, what a.s.ses. They themselves should eat.”
The gazes of the students focused on where the sound had come from. Choi Seul-hwa was cracking open sh.e.l.ls with a dissatisfied expression.
“And why are these so hard to open?!”
Seul-hwa took her anger out on the blameless sh.e.l.ls and threw them before walking back to the lodge. The mood chilled in an instant.
Due to the cold atmosphere, no one was speaking and they were all blankly staring at Seul-hwa’s retreating figure when someone spoke with a thick voice.
“That crazy b*tch.”
It was Park Han-seung. The others had been wary that they would have been hara.s.sed if they went after Seul-hwa and so had kept quiet, so it felt as if Park Han-seung had satisfyingly itched a frustrating area.
“Don’t mind the weird girl; we should eat the delicious food ourselves.”
Han-seung had been cracking open a sh.e.l.l as he talked, but he must have put too much strength in his hands because the sh.e.l.l flew out of his hands and off the table onto the ground.
“d.a.m.n it.”
All the kids burst out laughing at the sight.
“Han-seung’s really funny.”
“I know, right? He’s very kind and gentle.”
Due to the sh.e.l.l that Han-seung had dropped, 7th cla.s.s’s mood turned bright again and they could start eating happily again.
-----
“Teacher, then are the guys going with the guys and the girls with the girls?”
“No?”
At one student’s question, Teacher Ryu Han-shin answered nonchalantly.
“Hey, what fun is it if the same genders go together? Of course, you guys are going in girl-guy pairs.”
“Woahhh!”
It was as expected of Teacher Ryu Han-shin. Any other teacher would have tried his or her darndest to keep the males and females apart, going as far to force the issue, but it was as expected of a new-generation teacher.
“I was originally going to go by your numbers, but I think there would be a lot of complaints. Right?”
“Yes, sir~”
“So I thought we could draw lots.”
“Woooaaah!”
The homeroom teacher, as expected of a young instructor, had guessed the students’ thoughts correctly. The teacher placed two containers that contained paper on the table.
“Guys pick a number from this side, girls from that side, and matching numbers will go through the courage test as a pair.”
“Yes, sir~”
“After you pick a number, don’t show it to anyone but yourself; after all 40 of you pick a number, we’ll reveal the results. Whoever tells their number beforehand will go up with me.”
“Boooo~”
“Come out, whoever just booed.”
The cafeteria became quiet in an instant. After mixing up the contents of the containers, the teacher gestured to the students.
“Now, a boy and a girl, starting from the front, should come up and pick a number.”
As soon as the teacher finished speaking, the students stood up and started moving up to the table to take a piece of paper.
“Don’t you dare tell anyone. Don’t even signal with your hands. That way there’s more thrill to this.”
Seung-ho had been checking if there were any stragglers and so was sitting at the very back. Consequently, the last remaining piece of paper ended up being his number.
‘Please don’t let it be Choi Seul-hwa.’
He’d said all those foul words yesterday; if they ended up being paired up and going up the mountain together, there was no doubt something disastrous would happen. He wanted to avoid that at all costs.
‘Number 7.’
It was the lucky number seven as well as the number that Seung-ho liked the best. When he’d risen to 3rd year, he’d been happy to be in the 7th cla.s.s, but he’d also lucked out with the number 7 this time.
‘I have a good feeling about this.’
Teacher Ryu Han-shin grinned and banged on the table loud enough to make a thundering sound. A couple female students let out a startled ‘Oh my G.o.d’ and turned to look at the teacher.
“Now, raise your hand if you’re a number 1!”
Sang-wook and Hee-yun raised their hands. Hee-yun’s pupils shook when they lighted upon Sang-wook.
“Look! Hee-yun’s pupils are shaking, aren’t they?”
“She’s stuck with Sang-wook. Hahahaha.”
“Hey, what’s so wrong about me?”
As Sang-wook’s voice grew louder the more he defended himself, the homeroom teacher banged on the table again.
“Quiet! You can talk after we’re done. Can’t you even wait that long? Next is number 2!”
People started pairing up in order. Finally, it was Seung-ho’s turn.
“Number 7!”
When Seung-ho raised his hand first, the female students started murmuring amongst themselves.
“Hey, who’s number 7?”
“Change with me.”
“I’ll buy it for 10,000 won. Really.”
“I’m so jealous.”
“My partner’s an octopus.”
Hee-yun’s words of having an octopus for a partner reached even Seung-ho’s ears. Having also heard the words, Sang-wook stood up in a fit of rage.
“Hey, how am I an octopus?”
Teacher Ryu Han-shin knocked on the table again and quieted the students down.
“Stop being so noisy. Who’s number 7?”
Just then, a small hand extended upwards from a far corner.
“M-me.”