Chapter 3: Lunch Talk

During math class, Chanhee was unbothered at all and spent most of his time sleeping. Our Math teacher, Mr. Kim Inseong, had to wake him up several times but the results were still the same. He said, "Kang Chanhee, you can't be sleeping in my class."

He groaned, "Let me sleep. I'm not even disturbing you."

Well... he does have a point but it was still quite unacceptable to see him sleeping in class most of the time. At the end of math class, Mr. Kim would give us practice papers to do. Everyone did the practice paper except Chanhee who obviously looked very lost because he did not understand a single thing in the worksheet that was given to him.

"Kang Chanhee, may I see you in my office?" Mr. Kim said after math class was finished. I watched as Chanhee made a 'tsk' sound before getting up from his chair.

As soon as Chanhee left, the girls gathered together and the queen bee, Yeji said, "Hey, the new boy looks so handsome though."

"I know right! Ah, if only I can just confess to him," said Christine. Julia rolled her eyes, "Bitch, you only just know him for a day..."

"I know! But come on, he looks so hot like that. Tie loosened, shirt unbuttoned. Wow~" Christine smiled widely.

I was not part of the conversation, but I felt something in my heart which I have never noticed before. Unknowingly, I was even biting my lower lip while clenching onto my pencil. When Chanhee came back, the girls quickly dispersed themselves. Some of them were even purposefully retying their hair, as though Chanhee would notice them but he was clearly uninterested.

The moment he sat back down on his chair, he just went to sleep again. I thought to myself, What does he even do the previous night that he keeps sleeping in class...?

Shortly, it was lunch break and everyone was excited to leave the classroom so that they could meet up with their friends from other classes. Christine went to him and asked, "Hey Chanhee. Can I have my lunch with you?"

"Go away. I'm not interested in you," Chanhee was not even looking at her, yet he was being straightforward to the point, Christine did not know what to do with the sudden answer given by him. She ran away quickly before her tears rolled down out of embarrassment. I was stunned by his bluntness, to be honest. Considering that Christine is one of the popular girls in school, it was probably the first time ever she got turned down. It was no wonder she would feel hurt.

Everyone has already gone off for their lunch break, leaving only Chanhee and me alone in the classroom. He was already asleep again on his desk, and I wondered why he did not eat anything. Taking out a packet of sandwich from my bag, I placed it gently on his desk.

I did not know what I was doing, but I did not want him to starve himself like that. I pretended to do my work when he woke up from his nap, surprised to see a packet of sandwich on his desk. He looked at me and asked, "Did you give me this?"

I mumbled, "Your stomach was grumbling... so..." He fell silent and looked away quickly, "...thanks..."

He took the sandwich to his hands and ate it like a hungry wolf. Strangely, my lips curled up to a smile at the sight of him eating. This is unusual... I never really smile at anything. It has been a long time since I smiled, I actually thought I forgot how to do that.

He asked, "...why did you save me yesterday? You looked like you were in a hurry last night..."

I mumbled, "It might sound a little ridiculous... but... I was thinking of ending my life yesterday when I saw that you got beaten up... I did not know why either but I just went to save you..."

"...End your life?" He looked at me. I forced a smile, "Mhm. Well, I thought that I am better off dead since everyone hates me. Everyone in school calls me a worm... it's like a sin to be smart... Sure, I get good grades every time and am in the Top 3... But... I was having enough... so I thought that... hey, maybe if I'm dead, everyone would be happy and just move on."

He frowned, "That's bullshit. It's not going to change anything if you just choose to die. Not everyone hates you. Or at least... I don't hate you at all."