NOVPUBFriday morning, May 14th.
The area around Eun-Gwang High School was filled with stands showcasing products aimed at taking advantage of Teacher's Day.
Aside from carnations, there were hardly any gifts specifically for teachers; most of the products were either party supplies or food items.
'I don’t think any of the kids in our class are buying gifts.'
There might be some personal gifts, but most would be handmade.
For example, Min Green’s wild carnation painting was one such gift.
Last year, Min Green’s wild carnation painting was called a replica of a masterpiece by Master Min, causing quite a stir, and it seemed that she had painted another one this year.
The art club and the Eastern painting club were eagerly awaiting the release of the carnation series.
The value of the artwork was so high that it couldn’t be given to Teacher Ham Geun-hyeong, and it would be displayed in the classroom instead, meaning that many artists who visited the school would likely come by to see it for the time being.
'Even the attention-seeking ones said they would bring gifts. They’ll probably make something too.'
Guseulbi and Ong Gil-dong detested pre-made items.
Especially when it came to wearable items, they preferred them not to be easily purchased by others so that they wouldn’t be too noticeable.
Given their personalities and their good craftsmanship, they’d probably make something from scratch.
'At least they don’t care about food, so that’s a relief.'
Though these attention-seeking kids had peculiar tastes, they weren’t picky when it came to food.
They’d gratefully eat whatever the class made or bought, and would even bring snacks from regular stores without complaints.
Though they had missed the meeting about Teacher’s Day preparations, they likely didn’t voice any opinions about the cakes or pastries purchased from MITRON, but they’d probably enjoy them.
"Looks like the quantity purchased has increased compared to last year. It seems like more kids are coming to school."
"Yes! It’s doubled from last time."
In front of MITRON’s cashier, Patissier Ryu Jang handed over the reserved items and spoke, with regular customer Sa Wol-seum responding brightly.
It wasn’t unusual for students to come by on Teacher’s Day, but it was surprising that Ryu Jang still remembered after a year.
'Ryu Jang must have been watching our class for a long time, remembering it like that.'
'Ryu Jang must be quite busy, but did he come out specifically to match the time we reserved?'
Ryu Jang wasn’t usually behind the counter, so it didn’t seem like a coincidence.
Though, I couldn’t have a proper conversation since there were other customers around.
"See you again."
Isn’t it usually ‘Please come again’?
Sa Wol-seum didn’t think anything odd, but to me, it sounded a bit strange.
Though, according to Ryu Jang’s words, we would indeed see each other again.
Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, there was an explosion sound on the way to school.
I wasn’t surprised since I had heard that sound all week.
Looking up, I saw fireworks shaped like carnations bursting in the sky.
I didn’t need to think deeply about it to know that the culprits were the Gold Chan-Wang Chan gang.
'In the rehearsal, we only heard explosions, so this is what they’ve prepared.'
The Gold Chan-Wang Chan gang had been quite upset when the Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl air show they had prepared for April Fool's Day was interrupted.
Though they had failed to overpower the broadcast club, the sight of Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl in the sky had been spectacular.
It had looked impressive, but Gold Chan-Wang Chan wasn’t satisfied.
So, it seemed they had prepared an even more powerful and extravagant air show for Teacher’s Day.
As Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl began walking between carnations in the sky, the students on their way to school were astounded.
The explosion of an ability bomb in the shape of a carnation was already an extraordinary sight, but seeing Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl walking in the sky made it impossible not to be amazed.
'Gold Chan-Wang Chan really prepared something great. It seems even more advanced than the April Fool's show.'
The walking looked natural, and the way Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl waved while looking down at the students was impressive.
As I filmed the sky with my device, I couldn’t help but keep admiring it.
Soon, Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl stopped walking in the sky.
It seemed like they were about to add the sound effects they hadn’t included last time and perform a full air show.
As I anticipated that, something nagged at me.
'Would the first-year class 0, who have a rivalry with the Gold Chan-Wang Chan gang, just watch this?'
The moment I thought that, something unexpected happened.
Snap!
Various hologram projection devices installed all over Eun-Gwang High activated simultaneously.
They were devices that usually projected school maps, announcements, and promotional materials when you approached, but someone seemed to have forcibly controlled them.
Dozens of holograms appeared suddenly, all displaying the same image.
I wondered if this too was part of the Gold Chan-Wang Chan gang’s plan, but it didn’t seem like it.
"Hey, what’s that? We didn’t do that, right?"
"Turn off those holograms! Our Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl teacher isn’t getting enough attention!"
The third-year class 0 seniors, who had been looking up at the sky, hurriedly moved, but the projection devices’ controls were locked, and they couldn’t turn them off.
After a few dozen seconds had passed since the holograms appeared, a loud sound resonated from the hologram on the dark stage.
Ziiing! It was the sound of a pick sliding over an electric guitar string.
After a long pick portamento, a powerful voice rang out.
It was bright and intense, as if the voice itself were glowing.
It sounded like a voice I had heard before.
'I’ve never heard this song, but the voice sounds familiar.'
Boom!
When I guessed the voice’s owner, the lights on the stage in the hologram came on.
A band appeared under the lights.
At the center of the band, composed of two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer, and a keyboardist, the rhythm guitarist and vocalist was singing.
When the face of the vocalist, who appeared to be in his early twenties, was close-up, gasps came from all around.
"Look at his face, he’s really handsome..."
"So handsome, it’s almost infuriating."
"Who is he? Is he from our school?"
"Uh... I know him!"
"Me too."
Students on their way to school murmured the answer I had expected.
"First-year class 0 homeroom teacher, Cheongwon!"
The hologram displayed a college-age Cheongwon.
It seemed to be footage from a school festival, but I didn’t know how they had filmed it. The image and sound quality were incredibly clear.
Thanks to that, the image and voice of Cheongwon from his early adulthood were transmitted perfectly.
Wow!
When the song ended, cheers erupted from all around.
Students who had stopped walking on their way to school stared at the hologram, and after the performance ended, they were eager to cheer for it, as it was such a cool stage.
Even Gold Chan-Wang Chan, who had been looking for faults, just trembled and couldn’t say anything.
I had always thought that music was for culture and socializing, but Cheongwon’s singing made me want to listen more.
When the video ended, a bright-faced junior appeared on the hologram.
It was Eun Seo-ho.
Following Eun Seo-ho, the voice of Eun Yi-ho was heard.
Starting with them, the relay of first-year class 0 students bragging about their homeroom teacher continued.
Among them was Yoon Yeolang, who, judging by his expression and words, seemed to respect Cheongwon quite a bit, though not as much as the Dragon King.
"Hey, the coolest is Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl teacher!"
"Yeah!"
"Even if your homeroom teacher sings well, he can’t beat our Ze Gahl teacher."
When the Gold Chan-Wang Chan gang shouted loudly, Eun Seo-ho responded with a gentle smile.
I had thought it was a pre-recorded video, but it seemed like it was live.
Eun Seo-ho gave a polite answer, but it sounded like a remark a winner would say to a loser.
The sight of Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl walking through carnations in the sky was indeed impressive.
However, the impact left by the college-age Cheongwon’s band performance was overwhelming.
'But why are they competing with their homeroom teachers on Teacher’s Day?'
I had that question, but they were serious.
As the situation seemed to be slipping away, Gold Chan-Wang Chan made a bold decision.
".....In that case, let’s bring out our secret weapon."
"It’s a video of Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl teacher reciting a poem he wrote when he was in high school!"
Wait, there’s such a video!?
I wanted to see that too.
Since Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl hadn’t been able to write poetry after getting involved with the Namgung group, it would definitely be rare footage.
After giving instructions, Gold Chan-Wang Chan caused a hologram of young Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl to appear in the sky.
Since they hadn’t prepared it in advance, they couldn’t project it as three-dimensional like Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl walking in the sky, but the large screen showing high school Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl reading his own poem was fresh and impressive.
'So Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl wrote this poem.'
Listening to Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl’s lyrical poem, a warm feeling spread through me.
His kind, straightforward nature and transparent sensitivity were embedded in the elegant words of the poem.
The poetry reading video wasn’t as flashy as Cheongwon’s performance video.
However, the sight of the high school student with kind eyes reciting his heartfelt poem was enough to make Gold Chan-Wang Chan declare him "the coolest."
In the end, the competition was unresolved, so they played another video.
Though they had tried to create a serious competition, in the end, it turned into an unintentional joint performance by Cheongwon and Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl.
'There are a lot of videos I didn’t expect from Hong Gyu-bin. This worked out well.'
I decided to give the video of Cheongwon to Han Yi and the video of Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl to Hong Gyu-bin.
So, the students who were caught in the middle watched these rare videos until just before class started.
"Would it have been better if our class had found some old footage of Teacher Ham Geun-hyeong to brag about?"
After arriving at second-year class 0’s classroom, Sa Wol-seum, who had watched first-year class 0 and third-year class 0’s homeroom teacher bragging, asked.
If they gathered Teacher Ham Geun-hyeong’s achievements, it would certainly stand up to Cheongwon or Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl.
However, personally, I opposed it.
'Teacher Ham Geun-hyeong looked much more intimidating when he was younger. He was less popular than Cheongwon or Ze Gahl-Jae-Gahl.'
When Teacher Ham Geun-hyeong was young, his rough appearance was too noticeable.
There were rumors that his ID photo looked like a criminal wanted poster.
Because of that, most of his younger photos were taken in profile or from behind, often obscured by bows or shadows.
"We don’t need to brag about it; the teacher is a good person anyway!"
"As Lena said, it would be better to spend time quietly, just like the graduated seniors did."
At Mok Woo-ram’s words, something caught my attention.
Was he referring to Woo Gi-hwan’s gang, the graduated seniors?
Kim Yu-ri answered.
"Oh, I saw a post on the general board. Tomorrow, there will be a live broadcast of the match between Woo Gi-hwan senior and Im Yeon-hwa teacher."
Those guys didn’t give up even after graduation...
But could this really be called "spending time quietly"?
"As compared to other class 0s, our class is pretty normal."
"......Is it really normal?"
"Of course. Compared to the Teacher’s Day events I’ve seen so far, this one is relatively tame."
Han Yi seemed to be questioning whether the event our class had prepared was really normal.
Though his so-called close friends probably thought it was normal.
And when the day’s schedule ended, and it was time for the closing ceremony.
Our class, as planned, kidnapped Teacher Ham Geun-hyeong.
