7MoH 1.2
by SpringlilaWincrest High School’s schedule was divided into A-day on odd-numbered days and B-day on even-numbered days. Today was an A-day, and the last period was Honors English Composition.
The “Honors” prefix in front of the subject name meant that while it wasn’t as difficult as AP, it covered more advanced content than regular courses. It was designed to naturally lead into AP courses afterward.
When the counselor recommended this course to Jeong-in, he was overwhelmed with emotion. Just seven years ago, he couldn’t even properly join conversations because of countless unknown slang and vocabulary, and now it felt like a miracle that he was taking advanced classes in English, their native language.
After gathering the necessary handouts and textbooks for today, Jeong-in closed his locker and turned the dial. His heart began to beat a little faster. This semester, he ended up taking Honors English Composition with Chase Prescott, who was in the same grade.
Just as he was about to head to the classroom, he heard a female voice calling his name.
“Jay!”
Jeong-in’s head turned toward the sound.
The first thing that caught his eye was glossy red hair. Like the miracle of Moses, students in the hallway parted on both sides, making way for her.
Walking with her chin slightly raised as if people’s goodwill was entirely natural was Vivian Sinclair, the captain of the junior cheerleading team. She was also the protagonist who created the rare case of being crowned Queen at the Spring Dance last year as a sophomore. Of course, the King at that time was Chase Prescott.
Her father was known as the founder of the franchise restaurant “Goldenfield Grill,” and there were rumors that the franchise had surpassed the number of Cheesecake Factory locations and was now chasing after Olive Garden.
Wearing what was clearly an expensive, uniquely designed dress with a blazer over it, Vivian approached with confident steps like she was walking on a runway. Her grayish-green eyes were full of confidence, and as always, her followers were positioned on both sides.
Why would someone like her call me? Did she know of my existence? Or did she want me to do her math homework for her?
Jeong-in blinked behind his glasses, pointing at himself in confusion. But Vivian passed by him without interest, slightly furrowing her brow as if she had seen garbage on the road.
That displeased expression didn’t last long. As if she had become a different person, she smiled brightly as she approached Chase Prescott who was standing there.
“Chase, why didn’t you answer your phone?”
Jeong-in’s face turned bright red from embarrassment. Only then did he realize that Vivian Sinclair wasn’t calling him. The person she was looking for wasn’t “Jay” but “Chase.”
Leaning against the wall and chatting with fellow players, Chase Prescott slightly raised his chin to greet her.
As if returning a temporarily occupied spot, Brian Cole and Darius Thompson stepped back. Confidently taking that place, she naturally placed both hands on Chase Prescott’s shoulders. Then, standing on her tiptoes, she lightly kissed his cheek and rubbed away the lipstick mark with her thumb.
“I waited thinking you would come pick me up.”
Like in a nursery rhyme, Chase Prescott had one name but three or four nicknames.
Vivian seemed to call him “Chase,” while the football team players called him “Press” or “C.A.P.” His initials, C.A.P., coincidentally were also the abbreviation for “Captain.” Teachers referred to him as “Golden Boy” or “King Prescott,” probably because he was crowned King at last year’s Spring Dance.
“Thompson, what happened with Ms. Kalinski?”
“Why Thompson? Is there something going on between him and Ms. Kalinski?”
“She said if he gets another D, she’ll remove him from the regular team.”
“Oh no, that’s terrible. Thompson probably had all his brain cells killed from getting tackled too hard.”
“Want to try getting tackled yourself?”
When Darius Thompson, with his large build, shoved with his shoulder, the cocky Max Schneider lost his balance and stumbled backward. Jeong-in, who had been trying to sneak past them by sticking close to the wall, was caught in the unexpected trouble.
From the football player’s unexpected tackle, Jeong-in lost his balance and staggered. He crashed into the lockers with a clatter, and the rebound sent him tumbling to the floor. Items spilled out from his open bag.
Jeong-in first pushed up his fallen glasses, then began gathering the scattered items from the floor. There had been those who hit him intentionally before, so this kind of accident was nothing.
That’s when he saw a pair of snow-white sneakers in front of him.
Chase Prescott himself was bending down to help pick up the fallen items. His large hand came down almost covering Jeong-in’s hand that was just picking up a red notebook. The moment Chase’s fingertips touched the knuckles of his hand, Jeong-in flinched at the feeling like a static electricity spark.
“Are you okay?”
The low, deep voice gently wrapped around his ear and lingered like an aftereffect. It was a voice as soft as velvet.
Chase stood up first and extended his hand toward Jeong-in.
“Here, those ignorant chimpanzees were rude.”
“…I’m, I’m fine.”
Jeong-in got up on his own while moving awkwardly. Chase simply shrugged as he withdrew his outstretched hand.
Not wanting to attract people’s attention, Jeong-in passed by him with his head half-lowered. Behind him, he heard Chase’s voice scolding his group.
“Behave yourselves. Someone could have gotten hurt.”
Jeong-in’s hand gripped his bag strap tightly and his lips pressed together firmly.
Someone. Well, yes, I am someone.
To Chase Prescott, Jay Lim would be just that insignificant. A passerby. Though he knew this was natural, he couldn’t help feeling bitter.
Everyone knows him, but he doesn’t know everyone.
Justin said he had attended the same elementary school with him, but so far Chase had called him by name only twice, and even then once as Jacob and once as Jasper. What hurt his pride even more was that both Jacob and Jasper were cooler names than his own.
* * *
“The person who used wordplay best was Shakespeare. In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio says the line, ‘Tomorrow you shall find me a grave man,’ where the word ‘grave’ has a double meaning. One means ‘serious,’ and the other literally means the ‘grave’ where he will be buried after death.”
Today’s lesson topic was rhetorical techniques in literature.
Jeong-in was listening intently to the class. It seemed like Ms. Davis, who taught Honors English Composition, subtly disliked him. He still couldn’t forget what she had said when he went to protest his A- grade in the Basic English Literature course.
“Many Asian students have passed through my class. They’re all diligent and smart, but they’re also stubborn about being right. You did well following instructions, but your essay was too formulaic. I was going to give you a B+, but considering your diligent attitude, I gave you a higher grade.”
The idea that Asians were good at following instructions but lacked creativity was one of the common racist prejudices held by Westerners.
However, Jeong-in couldn’t be certain whether this thought stemmed from his own insecurity and was merely a victim mentality.
Of course, inwardly he thought Ms. Davis was a racist, but he decided not to cause any trouble. He was afraid of facing even greater disadvantages.
“For example… yes, look at those two people. They’re wearing clothes with the same phrase on them, right?”
She pointed at Chase and Jeong-in, who was sitting diagonally behind him.
[This is how we roll]
Coincidentally, both of their t-shirts had the same phrase written on them.
The difference was that Chase’s t-shirt had a skateboard with a famous luxury brand logo printed on it, while Jeong-in’s t-shirt showed a physics principle of a circle rolling down the top of a right triangle.
“‘Roll’ literally means ‘to roll,’ but it can also mean ‘lifestyle’ or ‘attitude.'”
Giggling laughter filled the classroom. Josh Turner and Vince Lowden, who had stood up to check Jeong-in’s clothes, sneered.
“Nice shirt, nerd. Did you buy it from Walmart’s discount rack?”
“Josh, are you disrespecting Walmart? Even they don’t sell nerdy stuff like that.”
The two were notorious troublemakers at school. They drove around in modified cars, leaving dust trails, and during class, they would sleep as they pleased or, on the rare occasions they were awake, wouldn’t hesitate to make sexual harassment comments toward teachers and disrupt the class. The funny thing was that they would suddenly become docile in front of male teachers with large builds, as if they had never behaved badly.
Usually, Jeong-in wasn’t much affected by such idiots’ words. If it weren’t for Chase Prescott glancing back at him, he would have been fine this time too.
“It looks cool. Don’t worry about it.”
“……”
Jeong-in bit his lip firmly. There was only one thing he wanted from Chase Prescott.
I don’t want unnecessary attention by being associated with you. Please just ignore my predicament.
“You think that looks cool? Prescott, is your judgment clouded?”
The troublemakers seemed encouraged that Chase had responded to their comments and raised their voices.
“Hey, nerd. What’s that drawing on your shirt?”
Jeong-in knew from long experience that this type of person would become even more agitated if ignored, claiming disrespect. They weren’t worth giving excessive emotional energy, and it was better to answer adequately and be done with it.
“It’s a physics formula about the balance of forces in the rolling motion of a circle descending an inclined plane.”
“What?”
Jeong-in added with a short sigh,
“…It’s a spaceship from Star Wars.”
“That’s more like it.”
At that moment, he saw Chase’s shoulders slightly quiver. He thought he heard him let out a small chuckle.
He felt his face getting hot. It seemed clear that Chase was laughing at him. He might even be pitying him for being mocked by such losers.
As soon as the class ended, Jeong-in fled the classroom and headed toward the stairs at the end of the hallway.
Stopping at the middle landing, he rummaged through his bag and pulled out a thin checkered shirt. Just as he was about to put the shirt on over his t-shirt, he ran into Chase coming down the stairs. Jeong-in’s face flushed with embarrassment at the unexpected encounter.
A low, slightly husky voice that strangely lingered dropped from above his head.
“Hi.”
His gaze landed on the t-shirt Jeong-in was wearing. Flustered, Jeong-in bunched up the shirt in his grip and took a step back. Chase, who was about to pass by, paused as if he had forgotten something.
“About earlier, I wasn’t mocking you. I really think it’s cool. Where did you get it?”
“…O-Our club made it. The Mathlete Society, it’s a math club… Want one?”
Chase seemed a bit surprised by the unexpected offer and pondered for a moment before shaking his head lightly and smiling.
“No, thanks. I don’t think it would suit me well.”
Looking at Chase’s politely declining face, Jeong-in felt the urge to jump out the window. He couldn’t stand how pathetic he felt.
What do you mean, ‘want one’? He just said it as a courtesy, and I got all excited!
“Okay, then,” Jeong-in nodded vigorously and was about to escape when Chase stepped forward and reached out his hand toward Jeong-in.
“Wait a moment.”
A large hand that could cover Jeong-in’s entire face and more moved closer. That hand was aimed at the area around Jeong-in’s neck. Though it hadn’t even touched him, he had the illusion of feeling the warm body temperature.
His hand pulled out Jeong-in’s shirt collar that had folded inward. The moment his knuckles brushed against the nape of Jeong-in’s neck, it was as if all his nerves concentrated there, sending an electric sensation spreading outward, making Jeong-in’s shoulders twitch.
“There, that’s better.”
After personally fixing his appearance, he casually patted Jeong-in’s shoulder.
“See you around.”
Even after he had gone down the stairs, Jeong-in couldn’t move for a long time.
That crazy… sinful man.
That kind of kindness without sincerity was Chase Prescott’s original sin.
When was it? There was a girl whom Chase Prescott had casually complimented, saying her headband was pretty.
From the next day, that girl came to school wearing the same headband every day and lingered in front of Chase Prescott. Until Vivian Sinclair openly ridiculed her as pathetic, making her the laughingstock of the school.
Jeong-in fiddled with his own shoulder. Chase Prescott’s hand was so big that it completely covered one shoulder. With those hands large enough to securely hold a rugby ball, he would have touched girls. Very private parts, sensually.
Jeong-in shook his head to dispel the inappropriate thoughts that had unconsciously surfaced and headed toward the math club room.
“Yo, Jay-boy! Why is your face so red?”
Asked Rajesh Kumar, an Indian-American and the president of the Mathlete Society. Jeong-in instinctively placed the back of his hand against his cheek. Judging by how cool his hand felt, his face must have really been flushed.
“It’s nothing.”
Jeong-in brushed it off and walked over to sit beside Justin, who had arrived earlier.
The Mathlete Society, the only math club in the school, was a small club with only seven members when everyone gathered, and it had the distinction of being the club with the highest ratio of people of color at Wincrest High School.
Looking at all the gathered members, Justin grumbled.
“I wish our club had female members too.”
Another peculiarity of the Mathlete Society was that, excluding sports teams, it was the only club whose entire membership consisted solely of males.
“Now, let’s not forget our goal. We aim to win the state math competition.”
Rajesh said as he held up handouts and looked around at the club members.
“These are problems that were used as practice problems last year. Starting today, let’s solve one problem each day.”
Active extracurricular activities and records of awards in major competitions were essential for college admission. Jeong-in and the other club members each received the problem sheets distributed by Rajesh and began to focus on solving them.
[Problem: In each cereal box produced by Company A, one toy is randomly selected from n different types of toys. How many boxes must one purchase to collect all types of toys?]
It was a problem known as the “coupon collector’s problem,” which he had solved before. Jeong-in, who finished first, put down his pencil and turned his gaze out the window.
The club room was located at the end of the building, offering a wide panoramic view. Directly below was the parking lot, and beyond that, the school’s field was visible at a glance.
The field where the football team usually practiced was empty. This was because it was the inactive period after the regular season had ended. He had heard that they were still doing off-season training these days, but most of it was taking place indoors, focusing on strength conditioning.
With a somewhat empty feeling, Jeong-in turned his head and noticed a red notebook inside his open bag. He took out the notebook and quietly opened the cover. The page he had looked at most often opened by itself.
Why do we hate Chase Prescott?