The Hideout I Need

Chapter 13: What do you wanna be when you grow up?

Hyeong-jun sat at the chair in the convenience store, a big packet of kimbap in front of him. The packet was open, so he could snack on it a little before Tae-young came back with some drinks for the both of them.

He sat looking through the gallery of his camera roll. Picture after picture he kept smiling looking at its contents. Pictures of Tae-young from when they went exploring some of the alleys in their neighborhood they never had been down. Lots of pretty graffiti. Pictures of Tae-young shooting a basketball in the park at night. Pictures of Tae-young sitting on the swing from when they were at the playground, just sitting and talking about life.

He put down the camera and lifted the piece of paper that had been lying in front of him. He let out a smile as he wrote down the words on the paper. Photographer.

The entire class had received their career forms today. You know, the ones where you basically write what you wanna be when you grow up, and you gotta try finding universities that can support that dream.

Mr. Lee stood in front of the entire class that morning, looking tired as usual. He handed out the papers to the kids in the front and made them pass the forms all the way to the back of the class.

"Do you guys even realize how close to the end of our first semester you are?" he let out a chuckle.

Most of the boys in class let out some happy sounds. It would be fair to say that all of them were excited about the holidays. The final year of high school isn't exactly easy, with the finals and all.

"And since your second semester starts soon, you guys can look at these over the summer~!" Mr. Lee let out a fake enthusiastic smile, holding up the paper as if it was the actual words of God. He dropped the cheesy smile and went back into serious mode, "I'm giving these out early, just so you know. You guys only need to deliver them in October, so I'm giving you plenty of time. Therefore I expect everyone to have it done by then."

He looked directly over at Jung-mo who had a very playful smirk on his face to tease Mr. Lee.

The papers finally reached the back row, so Hyeong-jun and Tae-young had a quick glance at the questionnaire. Hyeong-jun had a huge smile on his face; he loved questionnaires like this. It wasn't even like he had any doubts about what to write on there. What do you want to do after school? Be a photographer, of course. Hyeong-jun smiled widely as he put the paper in his backpack, ready to write down his answers whenever he needed to.

However, Tae-young's face looked as though it was full of concern. He held out the form in front of him, carefully reading every single word on it. His mouth fell a little open and he realized. What the hell did he want to do after school?

Mr. Lee did a little slap on his table, "Anyways that's all I have to say today. Dismissed. Be nice to your teachers and stuff!" he said as he walked out of the classroom.

"Yes, sir!" The whole class answered back. Well, all but Tae-young.

Tae-young was sat still, his gaze locked on the paper he was holding. He started feeling anxious as he realized he had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. And he sure as hell didn't want to end up working for his father. Oh god, what if he ends up having to work for his father?

His spiraling thoughts were interrupted by Hyeong-jun tapping his arm, "You OK? You better get your math books, Ms. Kim is gonna be here soon."

Tae-young put on a little smile and nodded. He folded the paper and put it away in his backpack.

The rest of the school day was pretty regular. Boring, but nothing new there. After school, Tae-young went straight to one academy until around 6 PM and then immediately over to a second academy afterward. Hyeong-jun took an extra shift at the convenience store so he was in charge of closing up. At around 11-or-so PM, Tae-young messaged Hyeong-jun asking if he could come over by the store and finally eat some dinner. Hyeong-jun said of course.