High Teen Society

Chapter 19: Gwanglim Academy

Never would I have imagined I would need to go back to Hanami Girls' High School another day. But I did. When Monday rolled around, I asked Youngbae to drop me off very early outside Gwanglim's gate instead of the parking lot and waited for Haneul to pick me up.

Jungwon was already inside. We were to be brought to the Evolve Seoul Branch to get our make-ups fixed and our fake uniforms put on. Why Jay's mom's assistant was so willing to help him out with his shenanigans, I will never understand.

Next thing we knew, we were back inside those giant, rose-tinted glass doors, the small heels beneath our feet clacking against the concrete.

"What do you think Song is thinking, now that we're gone for another day?" I asked Jungwon.

"I reckon it won't be too long until she starts contacting our parents to find out what's really going on." Jungwon answered calmly. "So we'd better be productive today. And by productive I mean we should be out of here."

"Restroom." I said. "I'll be quick again."

My mind wandered over to Saturday as I entered the lavender-scented room. Sunghoon won the competition, another gold medal added to his collection. But he didn't seem very happy. Granted, he didn't seem sad either. He was just in a completely solemn mood, dripping wet as he stood in the middle of the podium.

When we ate lunch after the fact, however, he was back to his old, witty and conceited self again, which I was very glad about. The last thing I wanted was for Park Sunghoon to change for the worse because of me. Just then, my thoughts were completely razed over by the sound I'd heard as I studied myself in the mirror.

I had heard the same sound last week after the Physical Education class, not thinking much of it as vomiting isn't some rare phenomenon. But to hear the same sound in the same place, as though it was routine.....

The girl must've not heard me coming in because after she finished throwing up, I heard the toilet flush and the cubicle lock clicking open.

And out came Kim Garam.

I blinked at her, surprised. She was certainly not the person I expected to step out of that cubicle door. "Are you okay?"

Garam took one look at me and decided she was going to pretend she didn't hear what I said. She grabbed a tissue from the box sitting on top of the sink and quickly passed by me to run out of the door.

"Two things," I whispered to Jungwon on the way to class. "It's either one of two things. She's with child or she's bulimic."

"Or she's got a really delicate digestive system." Jungwon replied.

"That, too." 

The first class, Social Studies, went by smoothly. I couldn't help but compare the old lady's teaching style to Mr. Kwon, who I missed dearly. The class right after, however, proved to be quite troublesome. It was already problematic finding out that the girls in Hanami had a Home Economics subject, where they were taught how to cook and sew and clean. This was not a part of our curriculum in Gwanglim. 

Our Home Economics teacher had set up a dirty room for us to clean. Haerin slipped on a puddle of water and hit her head on the tiled floors, earning a concussion. Jungwon volunteered to take her to the infirmary. 

During recess, we decided it was time to ask for Wonyoung's help. We split up with our friends and sat Wonyoung down at one of the empty tables in the cafeteria.

"Here's the plan." Jungwon began. "It's honestly not that complicated, we'll go the same route as Ni-ki and the others back in Gwanglim. I will have to pretend to be fighting with you specifically, since you're quite an important figure in this school, attracting more attention from the students and the school staff alike. Sunoo will knock on Director Min's door, ask for his help, and sneak inside when he rushes out."