The Best of Tomorrow

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.

Damn, why is Ryu Seon-jae here?!

I bit my lip in anxiety, and hid behind the glass door. Without wasting much time, I threw the hood over my head, and rang the seller’s number.

Ring, ring…

Ring, ring…

The ringing stopped the moment Seon-jae answered the phone, his slightly muscular arms supporting his chin as he sat there lazily. He was constantly munching on the crispy french fries.

No way!

I could hear his voice over the call.

Oh my God…

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 glanced at Seon-jae.

He wore a pair grey-colored school uniform pants, white shirt, tie, and a beige round neck sweater.

Oh, sh*t.

It really is Seon-jae. But he is still in highschool, second year.

He doesn’t have P.E, right? Why would he sell gym clothes?

“Yes, get the things ready. I’ll be coming in now.”

Tuk.

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 placed 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 would come 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 lilac. 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 a comment 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.

Did my act of being sick actually work?

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 classroom, 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 I come to think about “How long will I stay here?” I felt stumped, at a loss of words.

Only

Thump. 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 explained, was confusing. I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing.

I was absent-minded. I wanted to organize my thoughts, my plans, 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 classroom because it was lunch time.