The Road to Glory

A necktie choked his neck and a school uniform clung to his body.The shirt wasn’t small but the texture didn’t feel good. The headphones on his head blaring a cheerful melody were the only comfort.“Haeil, are you okay?”A teacher who had told him the address of his home yesterday kindly asked as soon as he arrived at school. He pointed toward the classroom, signaling him to go in. He didn’t know what classes were scheduled for today so that was good.“Hey, why’d you miss academy yesterday Roh Haeil?”As soon as he entered the classroom, kids sitting in seats or leaning against them waved at him. He guessed that was his spot and set his bag down on the floor.“I was sick.”“Sick my ass. You were totally fine, how shameless.”“Traitor. If you’re going to miss, tell us. We had that mock exam yesterday didn’t we?”Roh Haeil seemed to have decent friend relationships.And seemed to get along well enough at school.How about him? Halo stopped himself from recalling old memories.The homeroom teacher came in with the bell. Halo was staring blankly at the blackboard when his headphones got called out. With the music fading away, irritation rose up.His legs were restless.“Anyone absent? …Jang Jinsoo is late again?”Halo looked around hearing the familiar name.The only completely empty seat.It didn’t seem to be his first or second time being late since the teacher checked attendance and signaled the kids to be quiet.The kids mechanically opened their textbooks.The impression that these brats with unfurrowed brows live really diligently.And the uniform motions made Halo feel oddly left out.How to put it.It was like watching a black-and-white film.Workers at a factory wearing the same clothes, moving in sync with the same expressions.Then suddenly, riding the conveyor belt, a product comes out but it’s a person instead. A singer in jeans and his group.“Oh.”Following the flow of consciousness, Halo let out an exclamation.That would be fun.So what song would they sing?Halo glanced around tapping his desk lightly with his fingers.The quiet atmosphere, students wearing the same uniform.The teacher was writing something on the blackboard and then looked back when there was a sound, before focusing on the blackboard again.It seemed like there were definite rules there.The kids exchanged looks while making little noises. They wouldn’t realize he was making music.The click-clack of ballpoint pens.Pencils sweep across the paper, and erasers vigorously rub. When struggling, tap the desk with fingers, and someone heaves a sigh or groan.The ballpoints and fingers become drums, the erasers bass. Top it with a quiet keyboard and electric guitar accompaniment.Suddenly the phone rang and the teacher looked back building tension. The beat and rhythm come together forming a melody.And for the ending-Snap.Halo, forgetting he was at school, made a finger snap.“!”At that moment Halo returned from his fantasy and all the gazes in the classroom turned to him.Since there was no other noise in the classroom besides writing on the board, the friction sound was especially loud.Luckily Halo was used to that kind of gaze.“Haeil, do you have a question?”“No.”Halo smiled casually then took out a notebook from the drawer. Appearing at ease externally but his hand hurriedly drew music staff lines.The teacher thought he was a bit strange today compared to normal, but with final exams coming up soon he didn’t call him out.“Anyone have a question then?”“Teacher, me. On page 180-”#Schools were similar everywhere.As time passed, the souls drained out of the people.Seeing those zombie-like eyes, how much he wanted to run out of there.If he didn’t have some curiosity about Roh Haeil’s life, he really would have left.What was fortunate was the subtle individualism ingrained in this foreign country.As long as he didn’t make noise, they didn’t care what he did and even let him sleep without waking him up.He could skip school without drawing attention.Halo stopped spinning his pen with his fingers.He examined the music sheet he had finished in 30 minutes. Something was unsatisfactory. It lacked a provocative, stimulating taste.While staring at the music sheet with arms crossed, he unknowingly fell asleep. With the final exams drawing nearer, the model student Roh Haeil wasn’t awakened by teachers. Seeing his pale complexion yesterday might have contributed.“Ugh.”His whole body was stiff and his arms were numb.When he got up, an hour and a half had passed and it was lunchtime. The room seemed empty since everyone had gone to eat lunch probably. When those guys hit his back and asked if he wanted to go eat, he guessed that it must be about lunch.After stretching, Halo turned his head and his eyes met Jang Jinsoo’s.“What the.”He was startled to see someone there when no one had been.Definitely, no one was there earlier.“You’re awake?”Jang Jinsoo wearing the school uniform jacket style over a black tee seemed happy to see him get up. Like he had been waiting for him to wake up.“Um- are you okay?”Jang Jinsoo opened the conversation shyly.“What?”“Yesterday, I mean, nothing happened right?”A cautious and worried face.‘Nothing happened?’ Halo thought over the intention behind the question before belatedly recalling how he had unnecessarily helped out yesterday.“Oh. Nothing happened.”Seeing Halo casually deny it, Jang Jinsoo was flustered. That Ajumma’s temper definitely seemed outrageous yesterday, and yet nothing happened?His face didn’t seem like he was lying but just in case, Jang Jinsoo asked.“Then the guitar?”“Guitar?”Was it confiscated by that ajumma after all?Halo lightly shrugged his shoulders.“Of course, I left it. How could I carry that around? It’s too heavy.”“R-right.”With that composed face, Jang Jinsoo found himself lost for words.Damn, nothing really happened?Was I just overreacting?His personality doesn’t seem like he’d lie.Feeling foolish and regretful for his unnecessary meddling.“Well, whatever.”“?”Having nothing more to ask and embarrassed, Jang Jinsoo hurried out of the classroom.“What the.”Halo waiting for the main point was dumbfounded.Is that all he waited until now to ask?What a guy with nothing to do.Just then students walked in opening the classroom door.He didn’t know their names but there were A, B, and C who sat next to and behind Halo. They talked among themselves and then seemed bothered as they plopped down in front of Halo.They had similar builds and hairstyles making them hard to distinguish.Seeing Jang Jinsoo bolt from the classroom, they turned curious faces toward Halo.“Isn’t that Jang Jinsoo?”“Looks like him.”“Hey Roh Haeil, you close with Jang Jinsoo?”“Why?”The kids said it like it was obvious.“He’s a gangster.”“Gangster?”Seeing his bewildered face, the annoyed kids settled down heavily in front of him.“He skips school whenever he wants and smokes too.”“He hangs out with high schoolers and has a bad reputation.”“The teachers hate him too.”“Hmm-”Listening to what they were saying, it sounded like they were talking about a gang.‘Jang Jinsoo is in a gang?’To Halo’s eyes, Jang Jinsoo looked like he would collapse if punched once. With that weak personality, he would obediently return a gun if given one. Didn’t seem like he did drugs either.“If he’s a gangster why is he wearing his uniform properly?”“That guy?”No tie and shirt untucked but to Halo he looked decently dressed.The gangsters he knew usually didn’t wear their uniforms at all.“And is it true he smokes?”Didn’t seem like it to me.At his words, the kids defensively justified themselves.“There’s always a cigarette smell when he walks by.”“That’s nothing.”If there was just a smoker nearby the smell could be intense.“And the teachers and our parents warn us not to get too friendly with him…”“Is that so? Well, I don’t listen to my mom from the beginning.”“Huh? You too?”“Nah I’m just joking.”When one laughed the other brats followed.He didn’t know why they were laughing but kids tended to laugh even if a leaf fell.After laughing for a while, A said.“But Roh Haeil, your mom would hate it the most if you hung out with Jang Jinsoo.”“Whatever.”Halo brushed it off shrugging.Turned out to be just some groundless rumor after all.He didn’t completely trust what the kids said from the start anyway.Getting tired of accommodating the kids’ level, Halo quietly got up from his seat.“I’m gonna go to the nurse’s office for a bit.”“Why are you going there?”“Because I’m sick.”He was sore all over from sleeping face down on the desk for two hours. Recalling someone’s words about resting in the nurse’s office, his mind snapped to attention. He should have gone earlier if there was a place to rest.“You’re sick?”“Uh-huh.”Clearly, not looking hurt at all, the kids absentmindedly asked. Halo paid them no mind and left the classroom.The school was noisier than ever with the lunch period starting. Halo walked in the opposite direction of the kids dashing down the hall. He was planning to go look for the nurse’s office since he didn’t know where it was.It’d be nice if no one was there. He wanted to enjoy some alone time. That was why he brought his headphones too.“Finally found it.”He located the nurse’s office before lunch ended.After going down from the 5th floor to the 2nd floor, Halo opened the door labeled Nurse’s Office.No teacher inside but luckily the door opened.Sitting on the bed in the very back room, Halo looked for his phone.Was this where he stopped hearing it?His short legs dangled in the air.Halo crossed his arms and closed his eyes.And was about to listen to music when a familiar nape caught his eye outside the window.The nape on the old pagoda bench undoubtedly belonged to Jang Jinsoo, the gangster Roh Haeil’s friends talked about.He was drinking a red juice smaller than his palm, holding a piece of bread in one hand. Crouching and eating bread alone, he looked awfully shabby.If he was a gangster then Halo was a mafia.He found it unbelievable again.Halo burst into empty laughter and closed his eyes. Soon enchanting music engulfed him.#“Hey, you do drugs?”Pfft-!Roh Haeil, who bolted out of school faster than anyone once it ended, asked Jang Jinsoo hurrying ahead of him.He didn’t seem to be in a gang but figured he might do drugs.At that, Jang Jinsoo spewed the red juice he was drinking at lunch into the air. It was labeled Pignic with an apple on it.

(+)