Golden Time

Suhyuk could barely take his eyes off the price of the bike. He looked at his smartphone and the bicycle alternately. Was there such an expensive bike? It is well over 10 million won.

Suhyuk once again recalled the man in the emergency room. Without him these things are incomprehensible. And the woman that paid his full tuition for three years, she must also be associated with that man.

As he was still not so sure, Suhyuk placed the bicycle at the railing on the opposite side. Kindly enough, a note was attached to the lock of the bike. It was the password. After putting the bicycle against the railing, he went into the house.

Then he went out with his study material to go to the private academy.

‘Can I just ride it?’

He shook his head. He wanted to wait one more day, and if no one came up to claim it, then he decided he would use it. If nobody claims it, that must be a gift from the man. That bike was more expensive than his three years’ tuition fee. That was a burden to him.

‘Can I just accept these two things without a blink or any qualm?

After looking at it quietly, Suhyuk turned back and headed for the academy. When he came back to his house, the bicycle was still there, as expected.

“Now, how should I explain to my father about the bike?” The bike he got from his father disappeared and in its place there was an expensive one; more expensive than a used car.

‘Can I tell him I received it as a gift, as well as the full payment of tuition fee? Also, can I tell him I examined someone who was sick and diagnosed her with dementia? If I told him about all this, things would become complicated.’ His parents would feel very burdened and worry about it very much.

So, Suhyuk made up another excuse, such as “someone’s car hit his bike, so the car owner bought a new one.” He was able to make it up without difficulty. The bike looked a little expensive, but his father could not guess how much it was. A little later his mother came, and then his father returned from work.

Both of them asked the same question.

“What’s the bike in front of the door doing?”

Suhyuk told them what he had in mind already.

“It looks better.”

He could pull the wool over their eyes about the bike. Now he had to make up an excuse for the tuition fees. He did not think it over long, and decided what to do about it quickly. He would save the tuition fees from his parents and later he could use the money very valuably. Certainly he would give the money back to his parents.

“Huhh…” With a long, deep breath, Suhyuk cleared up his complicated thoughts.

It’s only one week away until the midterm exam. He sat down and opened his workbooks. It was the first exam he would take in high school. His goal was to be the first in the class. He decided he could not be defeated by a psychopathic jerk like the Lee Suhyuk of the past. ‘I will get at least 20th in the school.’ The sound of him using a sharp pencil and thumbing through the pages of books quietly echoed around the room.

…………………………..

The next day, Suhyup delivered newspapers without fail.

The performance of the bike was well beyond his expectation. When he pedalled his feet a few times, it just rode very well. With some exaggeration, it rode so well as if it could race with a car. Damn good. While he was delivering papers, Suhyuk did not stop studying. He continued to memorize the words in his notebook. Memorizing them over and over, and he arrived at the school before he could realise it.

“You’ll see this question in the exam.”

The students giggled at the math teacher’s remarks like that, because those kinds of questions tipped off in advance would not appear in the exams. But Suhyuk was different from those who laughed it away. Shining his eyes, he really focused on the teacher’s remarks not to miss even a single word.

“I can’t be beaten this time.” said Lee Suhyuk. He would rather die than being defeated by the Suhyuk of the past.

A week went by quickly, and the exam day came at last. The students moved their desks into a single line. Desk arrangement was the homeroom teacher’s idea to prevent their cheating. Exam time was approaching and students’ muttering came out here and there in the classroom.

“As for your OMR[1] card, do not mark your answer in the wrong line. If you’re caught cheating, your score will be zero. Now, distribute the exam sheets to the students in the back.”

The test started.

And the 50 minutes of test time was too short. Of course, some of the students felt the exam time was boring and long while some rested their heads on the desk after finishing in just 20 minutes.

Suhyuk stayed alert though. After solving all the problems, he double checked if he marked the reply correctly.

A bell rang.

“I ruined the first test.”

“I think I marked the replies wrong from the the middle.”

Some of the students about to cry grumbled about their poor performance, and others quickly got ready for the next test. Suhyuk belonged to the latter group.

The second test was math. Math was a very important subject that could be reflected in the scholastic aptitude test for college entrance. He looked at the math formulas quietly. His goal was to get the full score. He could not miss even one math question.

Finishing all the exams, Suhyuk passed out of the classroom to return home.

With a brief breath in and out, Suhyuk blew away whatever tension he had in his mind. The problems were complicated and complex. It was not an easy test. Suhyuk’s feet stepped on the bicycle pedal.

‘I have confidence I did well.’

Suhyuk rode the bike, feeling the wind all over his body. The week-long testing period was over quickly, and in no time, the outcomes of students’ tests were posted on the wall behind the classroom. They gathered noisily to check their outcomes.

Suhyuk sat in his seat and looked at it quietly. How did his outcome come out? When the students gathered at the test score board scattered away, Suhyuk moved there to confirm his test score.

Some of the students talked to him,

“Lee Suhyuk, you were a smart student!”

“Were you a nerd?”

Their voices allowed him to guess the outcome of his tests to some extent. Suhyuk was able to confirm his test scores soon. First in his class, and 20th in the whole school. Suhyuk knitted his brows a bit. Actually he expected his score to be a little higher, but it turned out he was exactly 20th.

‘I would get at least 10th place in the final exam.’

Firmly making up his mind, he returned to his seat without any regret.

“Congratulations for your 1st place!”

Suhyuk nodded gently at his classmate’s remarks.

“Thank you.”

Then a guy came to him.

“I want to speak with Suhyuk. Can you move away for awhile?” He spoke to a student sitting next to Suhyuk.

“Oh, yes.”

He went away quickly as if he were frightened. He could have been. It was Kim Dongsu who came to see Suhyuk. He was sort of a bonehead in his class. ‘What’s going on?’ When Suhyuk turned around, Dongsu laughed lightly.