Chapter 255

A moment of silence passed.

In the sunny hallway, a teenager stood still, like the heroine of a play who had taken the spotlight alone on stage.

Without even a moment to ponder what the broadcast meant, Choi Mi-kyung grabbed her cheeks like in Munch’s masterpiece.

“Nooooooo-!”

A scream.

It was a sound worthy of a true cry of despair.

Jin-hyeok tried to guess the meaning behind the teenager Choi Mi-kyung’s performance, which brought Munch’s masterpiece to life in augmented reality.

‘Oh no…’

After all that effort, to win by default.

Choi Mi-kyung must be so devastated she wants to cry right now.

‘I’m speechless, but Mi-kyung must be even more so.’

Jin-hyeok’s childhood friend was sprawled on the floor, writing a manifesto, his back and knees in terrible shape. Even now, the faint smell of medicated patches stings his nose.

But Jin-hyeok wasn’t the only one feeling devastated.

Kim Eun-jung, who usually isn’t loud, let out a shriek.

“It’s invalid! Reveal the mastermind!”

Eun-jung, that seems a bit off the mark…

A sense of justice isn’t very contagious.

That’s why it’s hard to act on it.

So, even just applauding a just action takes great courage.

Fear, on the other hand, is highly contagious.

Because fantasies combined with sensations control the body, ignoring the brain.

Madness…

“Who’s the lone rascal? Come out!”

Spreads very quickly.

It’s more accurate to say it’s an inherent nature rather than something that spreads.

Born with it, but hiding it makes it even more explosive, like a dam bursting.

“Do it again, do it again!”

“Abolish the constitution! Down with dictatorship!”

“It’s the organizers’ trickery!”

“Direct election-, what’s that-. Do it!”

They looked more like protesters with sashes than election campaigners.

Shin Woo-sung suddenly loosened his tie and wrapped it around his forehead, and Kim Eun-jung looked ready to erase the candidate’s name from her sash and write protest slogans.

“Hey, guys. Stop it-.”

This is so embarrassing.

Jin-hyeok’s anxious voice was quickly drowned out.

“Yay! It’s a demo!”

“Let’s go-!”

The guys who had been peeking out from the classroom into the hallway came pouring out.

Ordinary high school students wouldn’t miss out on such exciting fun. They start eraser-eating games when an eraser falls from a desk, and if a ping-pong ball appears, they play ping-pong with slippers.

‘Is the school really the problem…’

I thought only my close friends were weird, but all the students are out of their minds.

If we want the juniors to graduate normally, we need to separate them quickly.

‘But it looks fun.’

Embarrassment aside, I could vaguely understand the psychology of friends dreaming of their own rebellion.

Even Choi Tae-yang, when he was in high school, would randomly wrestle with a ginkgo tree near his house.

Yeah, at this age, ordinary students let their brains marinate in hormones and half-abandon their egos.

“Wow-, running alone is a first, a first.”

“Wow-, I was curious what kind of lunatic would run against Jin-hyeok, but thankfully our school has no shortage of lunatics-.”

“It’s normal not to run if you’re sane.”

“Now our school should aim for the Olympics- ah-, I want to be president too-? Is this how it works-.”

“Is Jin-hyeik going to be president forever?”

It’s not just because I’ve learned to live among these lunatics.

The flaring nostrils and the smirking lips tell the tale. Even I have the makings of a lunatic.

“Give students the right to vote-!”

Buzz buzz-. Chirp chirp-.

When the unexpected event turned into a strange game, someone started singing during a lull in the noise.

“Looove and meeeaning toooo- without leaving a name-.”

You lunatics!

“Hey, what’s the next lyric?”

“Step back-.”

“Who cares-.”

“Looove and meeeaning toooo- without leaving a name-.”

“Looove and meeeaning toooo- without leaving a name-.”

The student council election ended in vain.

Love was something each person took care of themselves, and Son Jin-hyeok left behind honor and a name.

“Bald principal, come out!”

Eun-jung, that’s not it…

Jin-hyeok, who had been watching his noisy friends with a dumbfounded expression, quietly slipped back into the classroom.

Well, as long as the goal of winning was achieved, that’s enough.

Let my friends have fun. I’m the president.

***

Some people think that an athlete confirmed for the Olympics will only focus on training, but that’s a huge misconception.

For an athlete, recovery is as important as training, and for Jin-hyeok, being Yoo Jin’s older brother is more precious than his identity as an athlete.

“Oppa-? You don’t have to exercise, right?”

“Yeah. I’ll just make a boat with Seol-chan oppa.”

“Are you going to Gubongsan to exercise?”

“Yeah. I’ll make a boat with Seol-chan oppa and then go.”

“Will you take me on the horse today too?”

“Yeah. Of course.”

The reason Yoo Jin is like this isn’t because she’s worried her oppa might slack off on exercise.

She’s urging him to hurry up and make the boat.

‘I know all about it, kid.’

Is there anything easier to understand than a child’s inner thoughts?

It’s all reflected in their eyes and expressions, even a fool could read a child’s face.

If someone can’t read a child’s expression, Jin-hyeok thinks they must be deliberately avoiding it. Even the clueless Son Jin-hyeok can tell.

That aside.

Things got strangely twisted.

“This log isn’t good-. It’s splitting.”

“Yeah…”

The 2×2, 2×4, and 4×4 logs in the warehouse were unsuitable for making a boat. To be precise, they didn’t fit the method Jo Seol-chan was pursuing. They were too short, only usable for temporary shaping.

Thud- thud-.

The sound of a hammer hitting wood resonated across the lawn on the weekend.

“Hehe-, heheradiyeo-. Good jobaaa-. Eogiya- diyeoocha-.”

Yoo Jin swayed her head left and right to the rhythm of the hammer.

Thud-! Thud-! Thud-!

One side was convex, the other concave, fitting the male and female joints together and hammering them. Not too hard, just enough to let the hammer’s weight do the work.

“Jin-hyeok, is that part a bit stiff?”

“As long as the female part doesn’t break, it’s fine, right?”

“Right? Just-. The stiffer, the better-.”

If it looks like assembling a hanok pillar on the ground, it might be a stretch.

After fitting the joints, they removed the temporary frame made of logs.

‘What kind of suffering is this?’

I never thought making a boat would be easy.

But I thought at least the frame could be made quickly by hammering nails into wood, but Jo Seol-chan showed unexpected determination.

“Make it like this to make it sturdy-.”

Jo Seol-chan, who finished school early because there was no night self-study, borrowed a book on boat-making from the town library, and when Jin-hyeok saw it, he almost fainted.

「Research on Panokseon」

You lunatic.

Why make a boat covered in synthetic resin and all sorts of chemicals like that?

But it’s a jerk move to criticize a friend who’s putting in so much effort and sweating with joy. Jo Seol-chan took charge of boat-making, so I cooperated.

Cutting a pine tree as thick as a leg from the mountain with a saw, peeling the bark with a sickle, chopping off the branches with an axe, and dragging it to make a boat. Of course, Jin-hyeok, being strong, took charge of transportation.

But there’s a limit to sticking to traditional methods.

Thud-! Thud-!

Jo Seol-chan swung the adze with all his might.

“Carve again?”

“Gotta carve-.”

Not even using a jigsaw or an electric drill, he shaped it with an adze, chisel, and gouge, and drilled holes with a hand drill where needed. Jo Seol-chan didn’t allow even a millimeter of error.

“Uhuh-. It doesn’t fit. Again-.”

Thud-thud-thud-!

Every time the clear sound of the adze hitting wood echoed, Jin-hyeok cleared his mind as if meditating.

‘I didn’t know I liked digital, automatic, stuff like that.’

Jin-hyeok grew to dislike manual work. Maybe he always did.

Not that he doesn’t understand a man’s analog sensibilities, but Jo Seol-chan takes it too far.

Jang Jin-nam and Joo Shin-young, who showed curiosity and offered to help, quickly dropped out and are now just watching from afar, drinking tea.

Yoo Jae-woon also found it interesting and picked up a hammer once, but his back hurt, so he slowly backed out.

The cunning Moon Seok-il went out to exercise the dogs and hasn’t shown his face. He’s probably drinking tea at Jo Il-hun’s house or watching cows at Kim Chun-sik’s house.

“Now, that side needs a groove and a wooden peg.”

“I’ll carve the wooden peg.”

“Eee-, right.”

A wooden peg, also called a wooden nail, is thick on one end and thin on the other, used to tighten wood joints. It’s the wedge when you say to drive a wedge.

“Now, what should I do-.”

Jo Seol-chan, like an old blacksmith, looked around the scene, no, the work site with his hands behind his back.

When two people with different tendencies work together, someone has to completely let go of their own thoughts for harmony.

Having collaborated a lot, Jin-hyeok decided to suppress any dissatisfaction or curiosity since he had entrusted Jo Seol-chan with the lead. Son Jin-hyeok naturally dislikes conflict.

Thanks to that, there was no unnecessary friction during the work.

“Jin-hyeok, use that wood-. I made a male part and almost cut it-.”

“Okay.”

No matter how close friends are, when doing such hard work with no visible results, arguments are bound to happen, but since Jin-hyeok kept his mouth shut, the workspace was peaceful.

The wooden pegs were made from pine trees that failed during processing, cut to the length Jo Seol-chan wanted, and gradually thinned from palm thickness. Of course, this wasn’t easy either.

‘I’ve carved a top with a sickle.’

I’ve made tops and sled runners for Yoo Jin, but making wedges is a first. Making wedge-shaped wooden parts was no easy task.

“Jin-hyeok, the one you’re carving now seems a bit short.”

“Really?”

At Jo Seol-chan’s remark, Jin-hyeok put down the adze without a word.

And measured the length of the wooden peg he was working on with a ruler.

“Seol-chan is right, it’s short.”

“Jin-hyeok, throw that away and make a new one.”

“Eee-. Okay.”

Again, without a word, he started reworking.

Even a snake with two heads will fight and die.

If a leader is decided, you have to follow.

“Whew-. Let’s take a break. This is quite a tough job.”

You made the job big, man.

And Jin-hyeok is doing all the hard work. Jo Seol-chan mostly uses his mouth.

“Need to get more wood.”

“Again?”

“Once the frame is done, we’ll cover it with planks.”

“Planks? Are we short on planks?”

“The ones in the warehouse are useless-. They’re too short.”

“So?”

Jin-hyeok’s eyes widened.

This guy is planning something again.

“Cut thick pine trees and plane them-.”

Why not just open a sawmill? Muttering, Jin-hyeok got up and grabbed a saw.

Sigh-, if the leader is decided, you have to follow.

That’s how ordinary people collaborate.

“Oppas, fighting!”

Only Yoo Jin, who was excitedly eating crackers with mixed coffee, was thrilled.

Two weeks into boat-making, Yoo Jin stroked the still unfinished boat frame, showing affection.

“Huh? Time flies-. Let’s get the wood next time and stop here today-. Time to exercise.”

“Okay. After exercise, let’s prepare for Seol-chan’s midterms.”

“Right, right.”

We hardly work on weekdays.

Jo Seol-chan, who came home early, only sanded the wood grain. He said it was necessary to evenly apply the finish. It’s like painting.

Splitting weekend time between boat-making, exercise, and studying.

The completion of the boat Yoo Jin wanted seemed far off.

‘At least the duration matches that of a Panokseon.’

Thankfully, he didn’t suggest making a turtle ship.

It’s not that there’s no dissatisfaction, but at least Mong-chong, like an executive, didn’t make strange orders…

“Jin-hyeok, if we just make a wooden boat and cover it, it’ll look great-.”

“I’ll die, really.”

“Ah, it was just a suggestion-.”

Sometimes, you need to replace the leader.

That’s what ordinary people do.

***

The first student council meeting was held.

Traditionally, former student council executives, current executives, and class presidents and vice presidents all attended.

Jin-hyeok, as the chair, led the meeting, and Kim Eun-jung took minutes as the secretary.

The class president of 1st grade, Class 1, raised his hand.

“I propose to abolish the guidance department as promised.”

It was a formal request, but it was a statement demanding the fulfillment of a promise.

Encouraged by the proposal, students freely expressed their opinions.

“Students controlling students is outdated. I second the proposal.”

“The guidance department’s nickname is the police. There’s no good reputation.”

“It’s oppressive and violent, making students scared and dissatisfied. I second the proposal.”

Then, a former executive stood up, his face red.

A 3rd grader who had been the guidance department head after graduating from the old town.

“Hey! It’s not arbitrary control! The guidance department was created by the former student council and given authority by the school! If using legitimately delegated power according to school rules is violence, then isn’t democracy itself violence?”

“Informal speech is inappropriate.”

Choi Mi-kyung, who had been closely watching the situation, pointed out his attitude with determination.

“Last year, as a class president attending meetings, seniors spoke informally, cursed, and pressured. It must have been worse in the past. Can decisions really be democratic in such an atmosphere? The school can’t be free from criticism of dividing and neglecting power.”

“Hey! Are you ignoring seniors because you trust your oppa?”

Choi Mi-kyung, who had been suppressing her temper and speaking logically, flushed red at the baseless provocation.

Then, Kim Eun-jung, who had been quietly taking notes, put down her pen.

“Chair, hold on-.”

Kim Eun-jung raised her hand lightly towards Jin-hyeok.

Jin-hyeok nodded at Kim Eun-jung. As the secretary responsible for taking minutes, she had the right to request a recess at any time.

With the floor, Kim Eun-jung stood up and placed both hands on the desk.

“I hope everyone can speak as logically as possible. What we need to pass on to our juniors isn’t just a clean school or uniforms. A mature discussion culture is the most meaningful legacy we can leave as seniors. In that sense, I believe the minutes, which record facts as they are, are just as important.”

Jin-hyeok’s face, which had remained expressionless even when Choi Mi-kyung was attacked, turned dumbfounded.

‘Did Eun-jung have this side to her?’

A woman’s transformation is innocent, but this is a bit… Too perfect a crime?

Kim Eun-jung might have a zipper on her back. Opening it might reveal an alien.

“The vice president presented a hypothesis based on the high-handed attitude shown by seniors during meetings. Such thought processes can be good learning material for juniors. Raising baseless conspiracy theories in response to a valid issue is nothing but a low emotional fight.”

“Opinions can differ-.”

The guidance department head tried to argue, but it was no use against the awakened Kim Eun-jung.

“Packaging wrongs as differences is also an attitude we should avoid.”

Gulp-.

From 1st to 3rd graders, everyone held their breath and listened.

Kim Eun-jung’s uniquely restrained tone and eloquent speech captivated the meeting. Her moderately high-pitched voice, whatever. Jo Seol-chan would squirm like a mollusk just hearing Kim Eun-jung’s voice from afar.

“I also ask other attendees. We have a choice. In less than a year, will we repeat old habits, or leave even one thing to learn from? Doing nothing is also following the past, but, ah, I digress. Sorry. As a student council executive and a student of this school, I ask you to show mature and exemplary behavior.”

Jin-hyeok quelled the anger ignited by the guidance department head.

If necessary, he was ready to break a desk.

Seeing someone point fingers at Choi Mi-kyung.

Is being a senior, being one year older, such an important power?

Then let’s settle the hierarchy with strength.

At this age of hot blood, there’s no more effective power than violence.

‘I almost overdid it. Thanks, Eun-jung.’

*

After the meeting, Jin-hyeok tapped Kim Eun-jung on the back of her head.

Even if he tried to hit her back or arm, the height difference was too great.

“What was that earlier?”

“What was what?”

As if she hadn’t said anything smart, Kim Eun-jung returned to her sleepy chick expression.

“Don’t know why I’m asking? Wow-. I thought it wasn’t Eun-jung.”

Choi Mi-kyung made a fuss.

“The position makes the person.”

Kim Eun-jung shrugged nonchalantly.

Then she pointed at Jin-hyeok walking beside her with her index finger.

“Mi-kyung, look at this guy. Even if he poops, people will applaud. What do you think would happen if ordinary people like us did that?”

“They’d make fun of us for pooping.”

“That’s it.”

“What’s that…?”

Choi Mi-kyung tried to ask more, but Kim Eun-jung quickly turned and slipped into the bathroom.

‘Does she mean she doesn’t poop during meetings because she poops a lot normally?’

Blinking, Choi Mi-kyung hurried into the bathroom.

Ugh-.

A faint groaning sound leaked