Semantic Error

“We have to go, right?”

It was only when Jaeyoung, who was talking to the professor, suddenly asked him that when he came to his senses. They greeted the professor and left the classroom. Sangwoo rapidly changed his clothes in the restroom and handed the costume and wig to Jaeyoung.

Something unexpected happened in the next classroom. There was no navy backpack in the usual seat. Sangwoo looked at Jaeyoung in surprise, but he just frowned and took out his cellphone. Jaeyoung looked down at Sangwoo, who had abruptly sat down, and called someone. The phone volume was high, so whatever the other person said was audible.

– Yeah, Hyungnim!

“Hey, you bastard, are you kidding me? Didn’t I tell you to just do it for two weeks?”

– Ah, you’re being unfair. You didn’t even give me your bag yesterday.

“Didn’t I give it to you?”

– It wasn’t in the locker or in the practice room, so I just thought I didn’t have to do it again.

Jaeyoung remained silent for a while and then covered his eyes with his hand as if he had thought of something.

“Right… I didn’t bring it with me cause I got drunk the day before yesterday. Fuck, I guess someone took it.”

– Can’t I stop doing it now? It may seem like nothing to you, hyung, but it’s a bit troublesome. Really. It’s not like you’re going to use the seat, hyung. You’re not even going to take that class.

“Whatever, dude. Bye!”

– Hyuuuuung, are you mad? Oh yeah, come to the department room during lunch later. Choi Ji said she wants to see you, hyung. Let’s have some sweet and sour pork delivered…

The laughter mixed in the voices continued until Jaeyoung hung up. He was called hyung wherever he went. Sangwoo thought that he heard ‘hyung, hyung’ at the end of every sentence. Jaeyoung put his cellphone back in his pocket, and his lips showed a ridiculous smile.

“I can’t even bother you today.”

Only then did Sangwoo recall that he was being harassed.

“Sangwoo.”

Sangwoo looked up at Jaeyoung while remaining seated. Jaeyoung smiled and said: “I really don’t get this class cause it’s like an alien language. And I almost burst into laughter several times because the professor looks like Pororo. You can take this class on your own in comfort from now on.4”

He gently stepped back and even explained the reason in detail. Sangwoo nodded without saying a word.

“Are you getting lunch at the school cafeteria again today?”

He nodded his head again.

“If I say I’ll treat you to something else instead, you’ll probably say no.”

He nodded again.

“Ok. Enjoy your meal,” Jaeyoung said and put a canned coffee on Sangwoo’s desk.

Sangwoo was caught off guard when Jaeyoung touched the back of his head again. The light touch quickly disappeared, so it took some time for him to notice it. When he opened his mouth to scold him, Jaeyoung had already walked to the back door. Sangwoo was a bit mad at him for always touching his back. He would definitely tell him next time. Don’t touch him cause it’s very unpleasant.

Class had already started by the time Sangwoo had groaned about not having an object for his anger. The professor looked like a penguin that day.5

He thought that he’d be able to concentrate since he got his seat back, but the same symptoms occurred as during the ‘Algorithms’ class last time. ‘Engineering Mathematics 2’ was a subject that Sangwoo studied outside of school, so he was following along well with it, but nothing registered as his head was empty. The class was over by the time he came to his senses.

Sangwoo ate by himself in a stifled mood.6 What was the problem? What was the problem? What the hell was the problem? It was rooted in Jaeyoung’s harassment. The problem was that he always sat next to him and interrupted class in multiple ways. However, he didn’t bother Sangwoo anymore. Why wasn’t his life proceeding smoothly when the cause of the problem was gone, then?

When he checked his cellphone during lunch, there was a message.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Freeloader3: (Image) good job

11:03

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

His thumb was hesitating above the reply button. Sangwoo didn’t have anything to say, so he put the device in his bag. He walked around campus twice because he was so distracted.

Nothing changed even after he arrived at the library. He was increasingly feeling unwell and frustrated. It even turned into anger, but there was nothing he could do about it. Fever seemed to break out inside. However, nothing like this had ever happened to him before, so he didn’t know who the object was, why it was like that, or how to solve it.

“You didn’t go home?”

Originally, Sangwoo had been thinking about packing up and going home around that time. However, all such thoughts disappeared the moment he heard Jaeyoung’s voice.

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Jaeyoung took out the notebook he had “bought” from him when Sangwoo had accused him of stealing it during a previous encounter. He opened Sangwoo’s pencil case and grabbed a pen as if it were nothing. Then he slightly leaned back on his chair, crossed his legs, put the notebook on his knee, flipped open a page, and began to scribble.

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Footnotes:

4. Pororo is an animated TV-show featuring an anthropomorphic penguin.

5. The professor looked like a penguin to Sangwoo that day since Jaeyoung told Sangwoo that the professor looks like Pororo.

6.  In the raws the term ‘stifled’ (답답하다) was used to describe how Sangwoo felt in the absence of Jaeyoung’s continued harassment. Used in this way, stifled can convey a sense of being frustrated and emotionally suffocated or constricted, as if someone had a metaphorical burden in their hearts or on their minds. This idea is a bit difficult to express using just one or two words in English.