Soul fire

"You don't have to read the book to the end. Read only as much as you can read. If there is a sentence that made an impression on you, you can quote it and put your reflections under it, or write your thoughts on what you had read."

The young man kindly added. Jaegyeom glared at him with an expression of absurdity. He came here to use his body and was told to use his head. He had been looking at textbooks all day, and now he wanted him to read again? He'd rather clean! Jaegyeom made a disapproving face and scratched his neck, annoyed.

The young man who gave the assignment out of the blue went back to his desk. Sitting cross-legged in his chair, he lifted a mug with a ribbon on it and silently drank the cooled mixed coffee. Then he fixed his gaze on the monitor attached to the computer.

The library became quiet. The only sounds one could hear were the clicking of a young man's mouse and the occasional rustling of students reading books as they turned the pages.

"..."

Jaegyeom, who was standing in the doorway, reluctantly walked in.

As the young man said, the inside of the library was clean. Countless books were placed precisely in their proper places, and not a single piece of toilet paper was rolling around on the clean floor. Judging from Jaegyeom's eyes, it seemed there was nothing else left to do.

He had to choose a book to read first. Jaegyeom stood in front of the bookshelf and skimmed through the titles and reached out.

There was no way that he, who had no interest in reading, had anything like a book he wanted to read. The white was paper, and the black was writing. He just grabbed the first book he could find.

After choosing the thinnest book possible, Jaegyeom headed to the reading table and then the seat where a notebook and ballpoint pen were placed and slipped out of a chair. As soon as he sat down in the chair, he let out an audible sigh. The sigh was filled with remorse, and the kids reading books glanced at Jaegyeom. Yoon Taehee laughed silently while pretending to rest his chin on his hand.

Jaegyeom straightened his back and opened the book at a right angle, his posture was like that of a scholar. He turned the page with a clear gaze.

"Hmm..."

After 10 minutes, Jaegyeom laid the book down. His posture was stilli upright.

After 20 minutes, Jaegyeom rested his chin on his hand. When reading a book, your posture should be comfortable after all.

After 30 minutes, Jaegyeom laid his face on his desk. One side of his cheek was pressed. You can understand the contents more deeply when you are at eye level with the book after all.

An hour later, Jaegyeom laid on his arm and fell asleep.

***

The students who had been sitting and reading books eventually left the library one by one. At some point, the last remaining student also stood up. As they pushed in the chair, a squeaking, uncomfortable grinding sound resounded. Then Jaegyeom, who had been sleeping with his mouth open, suddenly opened his eyes.

"Uh, uh... s- sorry. Did I wake you up?"

He opened his eyes and stared at the student carrying the bag.

Under his icy gaze, the student flinched and unconsciously whispered an apology. The student looked puzzled even after momentarily apologizing. 'D- Did I do something wrong..?' There's no reason to apologize for waking someone sleeping in the library, was there? His expression was so stern that he apologized

spontaneously.

Jaegyeom, who had been eyeing the student, raised his upper body and spoke in a very small voice, just in case anyone was listening.

"I didn't sleep?"

"Huh?"

"I said I didn't sleep."

"Ah, uh..."

"I didn't sleep."

The student nodded, bewildered. What a weird guy...' The student grabbed his bag and hurried out of the library. Jaegyeom, who was watching the library door close, glanced sideways at the desk. The young man was still staring at the monitor with his posture unchanged. He seemed to be absorbed in something as he was working. Eyeing the young man, Jaegyeom cleared his throat silently.

He belatedly opened the notebook, picking up a ballpoint pen and writing in the white space.

After scribbling seriously while glancing at the contents of the book from time to time, he put down his ballpoint pen at one point. He closed the cover of the notebook he had unfolded as well as the book he was reading. He went to the shelf from which he took out the book and put it back where it was. After tidying up, Jaegyeom took the notebook and headed to the desk where the young man was sitting.

"I'm done."

The young man glanced up from his monitor at Jaegyeom.

Murmuring "wait a moment," softly, he turned his eyes back to the monitor. Then he stretched out one of his arms towards Jaegyeom.

As Jaegyeom stood there dumbfounded, the young man wiggled his outstretched hand. He seemed to be asking for the notebook.

Jaegyeom passed the notebook to his empty hand. The young man finally took his eyes off the monitor. He had been sitting close to the desk but then pushed back his wheeled chair, leaning comfortably on his back. He looked much more relaxed than before.

"Did you actually read the whole book?"

The young man's eyes were relaxed.

"No. I didn't finish it."

"Then why did it take so long?"

Jaegyeom fidgeted with his hand and replied in an apathetic tone.

"Because I read slowly."

"Is that so?"

The young man smiled lightly and buried himself deeper into his chair.

"Then, let's see how well you wrote."

As soon as he opened the notebook enthusiastically, the young man narrowed his eyes. Staring at the writing on the paper, he turned to the next page. He checked the back page, and he came right back. A crooked smile crept across the young man's lips. The young man lowered the notebook he had lifted to face level and stared at Jaegyeom.

".. "

The expression of the young man looking at Jaegyeom wordlessly was profound.

"This is a book report?"

"You said I could write it however I like."

Jaegyeom nodded as though he was questioning if there was something wrong. Yoon Taehee lifted the notebook close to his face once again with a serious look. First of all, the boy had terrible handwriting. The scrawled writing was literally freakish, and very messy. But the biggest problem was the content, not the handwriting.

Year 2 Class 3 Number 34

Kim Jaegyeom

Potato rice cake is a traditional rice cake from Gangwon-do

with a unique chewy texture

It is made with soy bean or red bean paste or boiled soybeans that are put inside

Reflection: I like honey rice cake better than potato rice cake

Yoon Taehee closed the notebook without hesitation.

"..."

Their gazes collided in midair. He said the quantity and format was free, but wasn't this too free? It's a failing grade... When he asked him to quote a passage that left an impression, I didn't expect him to copy the sentence introducing potato rice cakes. Yoon Taehee, who had been silent, asked in a serious tone.

"Is this content from the book?"

"Yes."

"What is the title of the book?"

"Finding the Taste of the Eight provinces of Korea."

"Who is the writer?"

"I don't know them."

"No, I mean..."

Well of course, that's true. Yoon Taehee was speechless and shut his mouth. He lowered his head and rubbed his eyebrows. He rested his chin on his arm and stared at Jaegyeom.

The boy with a rather youthful face seemed to have never written such a common book report. Anyway, the report was just an excuse.

What Yoon Taehee really wanted wasn't just a book report.

"Good."

The young man, lost in thought for a moment, raised his eyes.

"The part about the potato rice cake left an impression on you."

"Yes."

"And you like honey rice cake more than potato rice cake."

"Yes."

The young man nodded his head.

"You have a clear subjectivity. That's good to see."

"Hm, yes."

"Honest and concise impressions, I'm very impressed."

Jaegyeom scratched his cheek without saying a word. In fact, he didn't even read it. Wanting to go home quickly, he opened it to any page and wrote down what he saw. But it didn't look too bad to the librarian. He was about to be annoyed as it seemed like he was going to be long-winded like before.

However, the librarian gave a plain compliment. At first, he got angry because he was asked to write a report out of nowhere, but he felt a bit embarrassed after receiving such praise. Was it really worthy of praise? Jaegyeom, who was embarrassed, lowered his

eyes.

"Have you tried potato rice cakes?"

The young man asked quietly.

"Yes."

"I have never eaten one. How is it?"

After thinking for a while, Jaegyeom opened his mouth.

"It tastes better filled with red bean paste rather than soybean."

"Is that so? Do you not like soybeans?"

"No. That's not it."

"I don't like soybeans."

-All right.

-Yeah haha .

The young man frowned slightly. Jaegyeom asked without knowing.

"Why?"

"It doesn't taste good."

Jaegyeom nodded and murmured.

"It's because you're not hungry enough."

The young man sitting with his legs crossed silently shook his legs.

〃

After a while, he got up from his seat. Then, just like when he took out his band-aid and notebook, he slid open the desk drawer. Again, he took out something and approached Jaegyeom, who was standing there.

The young man who came closer looked down at Jaegyeom.

"Give me your hand."

Jaegyeom raised the corners of his eyes and gave a wary look. What was he going to do again this time? Seeing Jaegyeom's expression, the young man smiled slightly. What he took out of the drawer was a piece of paper with round stickers attached to it. He took off a blue sticker and put it on the back of Jaegyeom's hand

Jaegyeom belatedly winced and looked at the back of his hand.

"What's this?"

"A compliment sticker."

Jaegyeom, who had been looking down at the sticker for a while, faintly frowned.

"Good job."

The young man said playfully. Jaegyeom asked with a dubious face.

"The book report?"

"The book report was also good."

What "also"? Was there anything else to compliment besides the book report? Jaegyeom looked up at the young man with a puzzled expression. He was about to ask what he was talking about, but the young man lightly waved his hand one step ahead.

"Goodbye, then, see you tomorrow."

Jaegyeom's hand twitched for a moment. He almost waved back without realizing it. Jaegyeom impulsively nodded. He picked up the bag he had put on the floor and slowly turned around and opened the library door.

The door closed with a thud from behind.

Jaegyeom stood still for a while with his back to the library door.

After school hours, the hallway was as quiet as the library. The sunset passed through the window in the hallway. The wilting scarlet rays of sunlight fell on his feet.

Something felt a little strange?

He couldn't put a finger on it, but something was strange.

When he was bothered with his approach, he acted indifferently, and when he avoided him by pretending not to know, he would talk appropriately. The questions that made Jaegyeom's evaluation uncomfortable also disappeared. All of the conversations were a few trivial, nonsensical words exchanged with each other. But it made him feel quite comfortable. In fact, he thought he was sulky because he didn't want to be friends, but it wasn't like that.

"Tomorrow..."

Jaegyeom mulled over the words with a vague expression. Then, he looked down at the blue compliment sticker on the back of his hand. The tactile feeling of the sticker sticking to the skin made his heart restless.