Tomorrow’s #1: Lovely Runner

Chapter 5

I came to Jagam High School as soon as school got out. Evening self-study had begun, so it was quiet.

I looked around, then pulled out a notebook and a permanent marker. I squatted, put my notebook on my knees, and began writing.

—Don’t take cold medicine and sleeping pills together.

—66 Entertainment is doomed.

—Cold medicine + sleeping pills + Potato Pancakes = NO.

I ripped the pages and taped them to utility poles, streetlights, and the school fence. If I can’t tell him about what’s going to happen in the future, I can just tell him objective truths, the sorts of things that anyone can look up and tell others.

I had tried speaking what would happen in the future at home, but it was impossible. When I wrote it down, the writing disappeared, and when I tried saying it out loud, a noise would suddenly erupt from somewhere else. It was so strange. Every time I went into the bathroom to shout, “Ryu Sunjae died from combining the wrong medications!” I ended up choking on my own saliva, and the shower suddenly turned on at the same time. This was scarier than the fact that I had gone back in time. It felt like there were rules to time travel and that the rules were watching me.

After posting the three pieces of paper, I hesitated and then put one more up.

—I hope Ryu Sunjae and Baek Inhyuk stop being friends.

“What’s this?” said a familiar voice from behind me as I taped the corners of the paper.

“Ack!” I thought I was going to have a heart attack! I was so surprised that my body twitched.

I slowly turned my head and saw Inhyuk’s narrow eyes staring at the paper, with one limp corner that hadn’t been taped yet. I ripped it down and crumpled it up, then he reached out and walked toward me. “Give it here. I saw my name.” Inhyuk stepped closer and closer as I backed away.

I guess it’s not the best thing to read about oneself… What should I do? I racked my brain. I saw Sunjae standing behind Inhyuk, expressionless.

This paper must disappear. I shoved the crumpled paper in my mouth and chewed on it.

Inhyuk’s mouth gaped open in shock. “Ew. All right, I won’t read it. Spit it out. Please don’t swallow that.”

Why should I believe you? I thought. Inhyuk was pointing at my mouth as I chewed away at the paper, covering his own in disbelief. I could feel the wet paper stick to the roof of my mouth. I want to spit it out. My face naturally fell.

No one was around just a moment ago, but Sunjae and Inhyuk had appeared out of nowhere and come up behind me. I was so surprised yesterday that I wasn’t thinking straight, but I was speechless seeing them in front of me.

According to the information that their agency released, Sunjae was 184cm tall, while Inhyuk was 186cm. They seemed to have reached their adult height in high school, because I had to look up to see their faces. Sunjae had dark brown hair, and Inhyuk’s hair was light brown. In addition, Sunjae looked more like a puppy, while Inhyuk had sharper facial features like a cat, but they were both handsome. Looking at their faces up close like this made me feel so small, both mentally and physically.

Sunjae was still expressionless as he stared at me with his hands in his pocket. He was always smiling on camera, so I couldn’t believe he could look so cold. It surprised me a little.

He turned to Inhyuk. “Let’s go,” he said.

“Our names were on that paper! Do you know what it said?”

Sunjae ignored Inhyuk and turned to leave. I stared at him as he walked away. I can’t let him leave like this. Who knows when I might return to the future?

“He’s usually nice, but he’s quite cold today,” said Inhyuk. With a mischievous smile, he leaned close to me and whispered, “Your first impression was kind of shocking. You suddenly ran up to him, hugged him, and cried.”

I still had paper in my mouth, so I stared at him with my mouth closed. He then suddenly pushed a thumbs-up in front of my face. I looked down at his round and long thumb.

“Your paper-eating performance was awesome as well,” he said. “But Sunjae didn’t seem impressed, so step it up.” Inhyuk smiled and walked away.

I went to the trash can in front of the streetlight and spit out everything. I wiped my mouth with my hand and watched as they walked away. Sunjae’s hair fluttered in the wind. I felt strange, seeing him in high school—not to mention alive.

Whoa, this is amazing… I suddenly came back to my senses and shook my head. Pull yourself together, Sol. You only have one mission. Save your number one!

I clenched my fist and lifted it to the sky.

□ ■ □

I put on a pair of stretched sweats and the t-shirt that our class made for our school athletics meet, then I sat in front of my computer. I went to O-Bay and looked up “tracksuit.”

I’d written several posters about mixing sleeping pills and cold medicine, then put them up near Jagam High School’s gate. Unfortunately, they had constantly been ripped down and were gone whenever I went to check them. It seemed that Sunjae hadn’t seen them at all.

I needed another plan. I had to first sneak into his school, but getting my hands on a Jagam High school uniform was a stretch.

[Jagam High School tracksuit for sale. Winter version. In-person transaction only. Price: 10,000 won.]

I found a post from someone selling their tracksuit. Judging from how there weren’t any comments yet, it seemed like it hadn’t been claimed. I sent a message to the seller’s phone number right away.

[Hello. I’d like to buy the Jagam High School tracksuit.]

[Sure. Do you need the winter or summer tracksuit?]

[Winter. Can I buy it tomorrow?]

[Yes. I’m a student, so would you mind if we met up at 6 P. M. at the fast food place at Jagam intersection?]

[Sounds good.]

[Great. Send me a message tomorrow.]

I placed my phone on my desk. This is so easy, I thought, smiling.

□ ■ □

I pushed the door of the fast food restaurant open and rushed back out from shock. Sunjae was in there.

What the heck? What’s he doing here? I pulled my hood over my head and hid behind the glass door, then I called the seller’s number.

Ring, ring.

Sunjae was resting his chin on his hand, eating french fries. The ringing stopped as soon as he answered his phone.

No way… It was Sunjae’s voice speaking over the phone. “Oh my god…” I whispered.

Sunjae looked in my direction. I ducked and squatted as low as I could.

“Hello?”

Sunjae spoke again when I didn’t answer. I coughed and put on a deep voice.

“I’m here. What are you wearing?” I asked.

“My school uniform. I’m wearing a beige knit vest.”

I peeked over at him. He was wearing gray uniform pants, a shirt, a tie, and a beige round-neck sweater vest.

Aw, sh*t. It’s really Sunjae, I thought. But you’re still in tenth grade. Aren’t you going to take gym classes? Why are you selling your tracksuit?

“Yes. Have it ready. I’m coming in right now,” I said and hung up. I yanked the drawstrings on my hoodie as much as possible and covered my mouth with my sleeve.

I took a deep breath and walked into the restaurant. Lowering my eyes, I sat across from Sunjae. Before he could say anything, I put a 10,000 won bill on the table.

It looked like he was surprised by how quickly the transaction was going, so he stared at me. I averted my eyes, put out my hand, and shook it as if demanding he give me the tracksuit.

“Ah, right. Here you are. You saw the picture, right?” Sunjae asked as he pushed a bag sitting next to him toward me.

I snatched it and bowed. “Thank you for the quick transaction,” I said before sprinting out of there.

I ran for a while, just in case Sunjae chased after me. I only came to a stop when I arrived under the pedestrian bridge. I took off my hood, out of breath.

“Damn, that was hard.” I grabbed my sides, caught my breath, and took the tracksuit from the bag.

I grabbed the jacket’s shoulders and held it up. The front looked great. Then I flipped it over. As I scanned the back, my eyes stopped at the center. Sunjae’s name was written in permanent marker. It was clearly second-hand.

I mean, it has someone’s name written on it, and the letters are quite big as well… Sunjae, you should’ve sold this for 1,000 won. I guess you have no conscience.

As I folded the tracksuit back up, I pulled it to my nose and inhaled. It smelled like lilacs.

I felt weird and flinched a little. I’d read fan posts saying how wonderful Sunjae smelled at fan-signing events, but posts like that always got hate comments like: “You got Sunjae’s autograph? Don’t you go around saying you’re Potato Pancakes’ fan.” So there weren’t very many of them.

My lips spread into a smile. The tracksuit smelled heavenly. My smile got bigger.

I can’t believe I’m secretly sniffing a tracksuit and enjoying it. I tried to be more composed, but I couldn’t help but grin. When I return to the future—well, the present—I’m going to comment on posts about Sunjae smelling good and agree with them!

□ ■ □

I borrowed some face powder from my friend and slathered it on my lips. I made my face as pale as possible, put my contact lenses on inside-out, and went straight to my homeroom teacher.

“Ugh, I feel so sick,” I whined.

When tears streamed down from my reddened eyes, she believed me. It seemed like my Oscar-worthy performance worked. She let me go home rather than making me come back to school after visiting the hospital for a check-up.

I blinked my throbbing eyes, got my permission slip, and stepped out of the teacher’s lounge. Then I ran to my classroom, took out my contact lenses, got my bag, and dashed out of school. Finally, I went into the bathroom of a nearby cram school and changed into the 10,000-won tracksuit I bought from Sunjae.

I shoved my uniform into my backpack and got on the bus. My eyes were still red and stung. The tears kept brimming in them, so I wiped them and looked out the window.

It’s been a week since I traveled back in time. Most importantly, Sunjae is here, so I’m doing all sorts of ridiculous things to change the future. But how long do I have to stay? Out of frustration, I banged my head against the window. I was happy to see Sunjae before he debuted, but I felt confused about being in such an absurd situation.

I’m not sure if things are going well. I leaned against the window and zoned out. I wanted to organize my thoughts but failed.

“This stop is Jagam High School. The next stop is Jagam Intersection…”

My eyes suddenly widened. I lifted my head and pressed the stop button. I don’t know when I will go back, so I have to do my best to teach Sunjae about combining medications, I thought.