In front of the Middle School gate.
I gently grabbed the edge of my uniform and stepped inside the gate. The sight of the red brick walls, the metal signboard beside the main entrance, and the spacious playground came into view.
For a moment, I stood in front of the gate, taking in the scenery of the school.
“I never thought the day would come when I’d step foot here again wearing this red uniform.”
Students in the same colored uniforms and newcomers, presumably freshmen, passed through the gate. Among them were some wearing sky-blue gym clothes with slippers.
A few were carrying their slippers in their indoor shoe bags instead of wearing them.
Boys had their uniform pants shortened by 6.5 cm to look stylish, while girls wore their skirts short and tight, catching my attention.
“Even in the 2020s, students wear their uniforms shorter and tighter, but it’s a rite of passage everyone goes through.”
Even adults who tell students not to smoke when they’re students drank and smoked back in the day. It’s strange to think I’ve returned to those days.
Memories I should have left behind bubble up to the surface.
“But...”
Then, a red warning sound echoed in my head.
“What class was I in?”
Passing the back gate, I stopped in front of a flowerbed. Standing here after more than twenty years!!
I couldn’t recall which homeroom I belonged to in 3rd grade.
“Ha... Even if I want to check at the teachers’ office, I can’t even remember the teacher’s name.”
If I’d known this, I should have asked Taeho in advance.
“Huh? Wait a minute. That’s right. What am I thinking? There was a seating assignment.”
After not attending school for a long time, I completely lost track.
I had forgotten about the class assignment sheet.
I searched inside the bag I’d never opened after waking up.
“Knowing my personality, I must have tucked it away somewhere here.”
At the time, I had the habit of putting things in one spot and sealing them away until I remembered, without taking them out.
Textbooks were kept in the locker, so there was no need to carry them separately.
[Class Assignment Sheet.]
“Of course. Here it is. I’m hopeless.”
I opened a small pocket attached to my bag and found the assignment sheet there.
I felt strongly confirmed as myself.
“Let’s see, which class am I supposed to go to?”
[3rd Grade, Class 7]
“Okay, now I remember.”
Looking at the contents of the assignment sheet, a memory I’d forgotten came back to me.
Class 7.5.
That was my nickname at the time.
Why?
After parting ways with the friends I’d been close to in 1st and 2nd grade, I couldn’t really settle in my 3rd-grade homeroom and kept to myself.
Most of the friends I wanted to be close with were in another class.
As a result, I had no close friends in Class 7 and got along mostly with kids from Class 8.
That’s how I got the nickname 7.5.
It wasn’t meant to be flattering.
Most people didn’t like me being in another class.
“That’s true. I even stole friends’ side dishes.”
Who would like it if you slyly stole from the lunchboxes of those easy to mess with?
Especially when you don’t even share.
“Not this life. I’ll help out but won’t cause trouble. And I’ll get along well with my classmates. With Class 8 kids, I’ll keep it casual.”
The second life’s direction was set.
“Hey, Yoo Seunghyun!”
Just as I was about to change into slippers at the main entrance, an unforgettable voice reached my ears.
Kim Taeho.
How could I forget that voice?
His voice was the same even now as an adult.
My heart raced.
More than wearing the uniform again, seeing Taeho from the past again was more joyful.
He was the only friend who flew all the way from the edge of Seoul to Ansan the day I lost my little brother, staying by my side for three days.
He silently stayed by me and carried the casket for my brother. Even for close friends, spending three days together like that was no easy feat. I’m truly grateful.
“Long time no see, Kim Taeho.”
Kim Taeho from middle school was good at sports and also quite skilled at drawing. I remembered lunchtime when we passed around a comic notebook. Sunlight pouring down the hallway, kids gathering to admire Taeho’s drawn characters.
I waved my hands from side to side at Taeho as he ran toward me with a mischievous face.
“Hey, you bastard! Didn’t you contact me all vacation long?!”
Taeho, barely 170 cm tall, came charging at me. His eyes full of anger.
Quite intense for a greeting to a friend who had been out of contact throughout spring break.
He grabbed my collar and shook me roughly.
“Ugh, hey, hey. Wait! I’m really suffocating!”
I could have broken free by force, but I let my neck rest in his arms.
The moment was too exciting and pleasant.
“You bastard, you almost high-fived the King of the Underworld just now!”
A true friend is someone you can meet after years without awkwardness.
That phrase perfectly fit Taeho, this welcoming guy.
Welcome back, sixteen-year-old Kim Taeho.
Let’s stick together until the end this time.
I’ll take responsibility for your future.
“...Ah, right. Starting 3rd grade, boys and girls were in the same class.”
The moment I stepped into Class 7 in 3rd grade, my whole body stiffened.
Sitting by the window was a girl who was very familiar and stirred feelings of longing.
Her name was Kim Yua, a girl who was quite tall for a middle schooler.
She was my first love.
Her short hair suited her pale skin perfectly. I had fallen for her at first sight and couldn’t even look her in the eyes properly.
But this time around...
“Hi.”
It was different.
A 3rd grader with the mind of a man in his mid-thirties was brazen and confident.
Shyness fades with age.
I approached Yua and greeted her lightly.
“Huh? Uh, yeah.”
She seemed quite flustered.
That look was just adorable.
“I’m Yoo Seunghyun. And you?”
I knew her name, but I had to ask.
If I called her by her name without being told, she’d probably think I was weird.
“I’m... Kim Yua.”
“You’re really pretty. The moment you walked into the classroom, I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”
I wasn’t sure if that was the right way to say it, but I wanted to say things I couldn’t in my past life.
Words I was too shy to say back then.
“...Huh?”
“Well, yeah. Let’s be friends.”
Whether she saw me as a guy or just a friend didn’t matter.
Being able to say what I couldn’t before, honestly and without hesitation, that alone meant something to me.
“Uh...”
“Can I sit next to you?”
Though we’d be separated by seat assignments later, I decided to sit beside her and get close until then.
“Not saying no means it’s okay to sit next to you, right?”
Knowing her personality, she wouldn’t say no outright, so I took that as permission and settled in the seat beside her.
“I’m really such a rascal. Hehe.”
The fun middle school days, here we go.
Clack.
The classroom door opened, breaking the awkward atmosphere, and the gym teacher, Choi Ilkwon, stepped in.
The teacher who told us to wash our hair after applying lots of gel.
A strict yet playful teacher stood at the front desk.
‘There are many good things about returning to this time.’
Living the days I missed so much was very good and enjoyable.
I watched Yua and the other kids who looked uncomfortable and listened to Choi Ilkwon’s introduction.
“I’m Choi Ilkwon, your homeroom teacher for the coming year. I’m also your gym teacher, so please take care of me.”
Following his introduction, other teachers who would be in charge of the 3rd-grade students came in one by one, introducing themselves and helping everyone adjust.
During that time, I talked a lot with Yua, and before I knew it, we had become very close.
“Wow, our houses are close.”
Yua’s house and mine faced each other across a narrow alley.
Less than a minute on foot.
Yua was quite surprised to realize we lived so near.
“I’m surprised too. Your house is right in front of the back gate. Plus, there’s a convenience store right next door. It’s like a dream.”
Actually, I already knew where Yua lived but pretended not to, acting innocent.
I wondered carefully if I could win a Best Actor award for this performance.
“I wish it were far.”
But Yua seemed to think differently.
“Why? Because you can’t walk to school with friends?”
“Yeah. My dad said it can’t be too far, so we moved here. Probably, when I go to high school, I’ll move closer to there, like I did in elementary and kindergarten.”
Despair clouded Yua’s face.
She looked like she’d lost the world.
I understood that feeling.
I myself felt the same way back in middle school.
I envied those who rode the bus together.
Those who went together grew closer and shared stories I didn’t know about.
“Being pretty is a sin. It’s because you’re so pretty. Why do you have to worry your parents so much?”
She really was a pretty girl.
At 173 cm tall with fair skin and a cute face, her proportions were excellent, making her stand out wherever she went.
That was why the class took the longest to get close to her.
“Hey, don’t you feel embarrassed when you say that?”
Because I kept calling her pretty, Yua asked with a flushed face.
“When you see babies, don’t you call them cute? It’s the same. Hey, if someone’s pretty, say so. How else should I say it? If you tell me, I’ll call you that.”
With a grin like that, it’s hard to spit back.
“You’re weird.”
“You’re the one who made me weird.”
“Cheep.”
“Rainbow reflection.”
I raised my palm and cast a deflect spell.
My eyes locked straight on Yua’s face.
“Ugh!!”
She clenched her fists, trembling with complaints plastered all over her face.
“Go inside. I’m going home now, too.”
It’s best for a meeting to be fun and leave a bit of longing.
“Let’s eat tteokbokki. My treat.”
Just then, the awkwardness vanished, and she suggested we eat tteokbokki together.
“Hmm, tteokbokki?”
Now that I think about it, I’d never had such a moment with Yua.
It wasn’t a bad proposal.
“Okay, you buy the tteokbokki. I’ll get the drinks.”
I had resolved not to live a life of taking and stealing but to give and share.
I turned my steps toward the convenience store snack shop.
That was the outcome of our first meeting.
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