Transmigrated as the Side Top used as an Emotional Trash Can - Chapter 8.1
I coordinated my electives with Kim Jihwan and secured the seat beside him.
As we took classes together, I teased Kim Jihwan whenever he doodled instead of paying attention, and I also brought the class materials for him because he sometimes forgot not only his folder but even his books and showed up with nothing but himself. Before long, I began seriously nagging him about his studies.
“Jihwan-ah- Even so, you forgot your pencil case today too? How are you going to take notes?”
“…Lend me something.”
“Of course I’ll give you one! But a student going around without a pen is like a soldier going to war without a gun-!”
“…Shit, are you an old man or what…. Fine…. I just have to carry one around….”
Kim Jihwan grumbled sulkily. It seemed he was slowly beginning to worry about his future and his studies too.
“I know I can’t keep going like this… Haa, shit, I don’t know.”
Seeing Kim Jihwan scratch the back of his head because he wanted to do well but didn’t know how made me feel oddly proud. If he had the motivation and understood what he was doing wrong, then he was already halfway there.
“How about giving yourself a short-term goal or finding a rival?”
At my words, Kim Jihwan raised his head and looked at me.
“What exactly am I supposed to do?”
Since it was the beginning of the semester and club information posters and application forms were being handed out everywhere, I took them from my desk drawer and showed them to Kim Jihwan.
“Here, you could join something like the TOEIC Club or the Essay Club. It says beginners are welcome, so they’ll teach you step by step once you join.”
“Wow, that looks boring as fuck.”
“There’s also a Mathematical Inquiry/Advanced Physics Club.”
“…The TOEIC Club. I’ll join the TOEIC Club.”
Kim Jihwan chose the TOEIC Club as though he were choosing the lesser of two evils. So he would rather study humanities than science. Well, it would be difficult for someone who had never studied to suddenly start tackling mathematics.
“Baek Hanrim, what are you applying for?”
When Kim Jihwan asked, I pulled out the poster I had set aside.
“The Swimming Club?”
It was a poster for the Swimming Club.
It featured a crude, pixelated image of a swimming pool that looked as though it had been clumsily edited on a phone, along with national athletes from various countries giving thumbs-ups.
“You gave me so much fucking shit about studying….”
“I want to take it easy and have some fun until the end of freshman year.”
“Why only until freshman year?”
I answered Kim Jihwan’s question by telling him I would need to prepare for college admissions.
“Still, that’s unexpected. Swimming?”
“I need to prepare for the sea part of land, sea, and air combat.”
“What are you talking about? Are you going to war by yourself?”
“Try fighting zombies. It’ll make you want to prepare for everything.”
At my answer, Kim Jihwan told me not to worry because I was a lunatic, so even if I fell into the water, my mouth would keep me afloat just fine.
“Saint B-!”
Smack-!
On the first day when only the freshmen had gathered for the Swimming Club entrance test.
The moment I changed into my swimsuit in the locker room and came out, someone mercilessly smacked me across the back.
“Ooh, Saint B’s back turns red right away.”
It was a guy from my middle school whom I used to greet in passing.
“His back looks like a piece of baekseolgi rice cake, so now it looks like someone put salted pollack roe on top.”
(Baekseolgi – a rice cake made of rice flour dough; usually eaten on special occasions like the 100th day celebration of a baby)
“I wanna try toooo!”
“Aagh! Ugh!”
The guys I recognized and several kids who seemed to be their friends came over and began smacking my back for no reason. Honestly, it would have been stranger if high school boys needed a reason to mess around. My mistake was standing out.
“Hey, move! You have to splash water on him to make it more satisfying!”
Splash-!
“Aagh! Gurgle!”
One guy even splashed water on me and focused his attacks so the smacks would land better. Thanks to him, I swallowed plenty of water and got a little worked up.
“Come here… You, come here…!”
“Eek-!”
I grabbed the first guy I could reach and dove into the pool with him in a mutual-destruction tactic. That set everyone off, and soon they were all jumping into the water, splashing each other, shoving heads underwater, tripping one another, and causing complete chaos.
“Wait, is your name actually Saint? Or is that a nickname?”
“What is it? Is he hairless?”
The underwater wrestling match, which had been an indiscriminate brawl only moments ago, instantly fell silent. Several pairs of irises gleamed as they turned toward my swimsuit.
“I’m hiding it because I don’t want you guys to feel inferior. Think you can handle it? Hm?”
Instead, I boldly thrust my crotch forward and grinned. The boys burst into laughter all at once and shouted things like ‘Alpha Male Baek Hanrim,’ ‘The Man with Three Legs,’ and ‘That Pine Tree on Namsan’ until the instructor’s furious yell brought the commotion to an end.
The high school I had entered had almost no presence in competitive swimming, so if someone looked capable of merely staying afloat, they would fish him out, shove an application form into his hands, and tell him to bring back his parents’ consent. Since I was a former Marine, I was treated as one of the aces among them, and they even took down my number separately.
“Ah- So you’re Saint B because you’re Saint Baek-.”
“Namu Ami Big-Dick Gwanse-eum Saint B.”
“I saw it in the shower, and it really is national treasure-class.”
To tell them to stop, I caught the guy who had been sexually harassing me the most in a headlock and repeatedly pressed his head down with my chin. As I did, I saw a familiar pretty face strolling past in front of me.
“Oh!”
My body reacted first, practically on the level of a spinal reflex. When I called out, all the Swimming Club guys turned to look at Kim Jihwan as though wondering who he was.
“Wow, he looks like some kind of idol.”
“What, Saint B? You know him?”
“Yeah, he’s my baby. I’m leaving first!”
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