Chapter 2

Dumb Dumb

바보야

The day after meeting Joohyun at the bus stop, Kang Seulgi sat in one of those uncomfortable wooden armchairs, nervously fumbling with her pen. Her gaze darted from one corner of the classroom to another, eventually landing on the girl with brown hair sitting on her right. Seulgi quickly looked away again and began scratching her head. Down on her desk were cheap photocopies of potential exam content, and an answer sheet for marking answers.

The longer Seulgi stared at the characters on those papers, the more they start to look like a foreign language. What do they all mean? Who knows? But more importantly, who cares? I know I studied hard yesterday, but this! I didn’t study for this particular set of questions!

“Psst, Wendy. Son Wendy. Wendy Son,” Seulgi whispered to grab the girl’s attention.

Without saying anything, the girl beside her—named Wendy Son—jerked her head to Seulgi’s direction, making her fringe swish to the side.

“Wendy, I need help—”

Wendy waved her hand sideways while making a scrunched-up expression on her very animated face. Her big, round eyes looked fiery; her puckered lips looked too uptight. Shut up, that was what it meant. She then turned away from Seulgi and continued reading through her own set of photocopied exam questions.

Seulgi turned away from her classmate Wendy and quietly cursed to herself. She bit her lip hard, brought her face closer to the exam paper, and reread it again. All the effort of squeezing out content from her throbbing head was totally useless. Why is it that no matter how hard I study for this thing, I am still so dumb?

Kang Seulgi, the “happy-go-lucky bubbly baby bear” that Joohyun had described was in fact, not as happy-go-lucky as she seemed to be. For one thing, she had never been the class genius. Although that never bothered her back then, as a senior in high school, it bothered her now more than ever. What if she never passes her college entrance exams at the end of the year? What if she never gets into college? What if she becomes a big failure all her life? Will she just live in the streets and beg for food? Should she just work as a waitress in some restaurant somewhere forever? 

No, no, no, no, no… Her grades needed to go climb up a mountain starting this year, and it felt like that mountain was more insurmountable than Mount Everest. If a practice exam was already crushing her soul, what will the real thing do to her? Destruction, death, chaos… No, she did not want to think about it, yet those thoughts kept lingering beside her like a dead ancestor with unfinished business.

“Time is up! Please hand over your answer sheets,” the teacher finally said. Seulgi quickly just checked random answers and handed her paper as soon as she saw the teacher standing right by her spot. The man eyeballed Seulgi past his reading glasses and grimaced before snatching the answer sheet from her. “Class is dismissed.”

Seulgi ungracefully sprawled down on her armchair and childishly flailed her arms before holding her aching head again. She groaned and whined until she felt someone lightly tap her head.

“Seulgi, stop. Let’s go,” said the sharp voice of someone standing by her right. Seulgi looked up and frowned at her friend Wendy before lazily grabbing her beige backpack. Wendy helped the bear up and said in her very concise matter of speaking, “You can’t—I repeat —you CANNOT—ask people for help during a quiz or any other type of exam! What if you get caught? What if I get caught? You will fail that way, and I will fail that way! That is a big no-no!”

“Whatever…,” Seulgi muttered. “You’re lucky. You’re the smart one.”

Seulgi’s best friend, Wendy Son, was the class genius, an exchange student from Canada. Seulgi’s family became Wendy’s host family (as part of the student exchange program) during their freshman year. They basically lived together and had a very close sister-like relationship. They leaned on each other for a lot of things and always stuck by each other’s side like inseparable Siamese twins. Wendy knew Seulgi’s childish tendencies, clumsy awkwardness, and even Seulgi’s subconscious fears. If anyone knew Kang Seulgi, it was definitely Wendy Son.

The moment the two of them stepped out of the classroom, a fellow taller than either of them had her arms swung over their necks, gave them both a playful chokehold and exclaimed, “There you are, you two losers!”

“Ack!” Seulgi yelped in discomfort. She did not try to fight the arm choking her neck though. Seulgi has always been passive, even when she gets angry, frustrated, or irked sometimes. She may try to fight—maybe once in a blue moon—but she never could give it her all. This was Seulgi—a harmless soul. Her best-friend Wendy even described her as being “too soft.” She thinks Seulgi could get into a lot of trouble for never standing up for herself. Nevertheless, being “too soft” was her charm though. That charm made her lovable. That was why she never had enemies, except maybe her older brother.

“Ow, Soo-Young, cut it out!” Wendy squirmed until the taller girl finally let the two of them go.

“Soo-Young, how come your classes always end so early?” Seulgi asked, the taller girl’s arm still hanging loosely on her shoulders.

“I’m just luckier than either of you,” the tall girl, referred by Seulgi and Wendy as “Soo-Young,” proudly proclaimed with a toss of her bob-cut hair. Seulgi grimaced and Wendy just rolled her eyes.

Park Soo-Young, one of Seulgi’s very few friends, lived next door to Seulgi’s house and went to the same high school, but was two years younger. Tall and pretty with cute short hair and bangs, Soo-Young seemed innocent at first glance.

However, Seulgi and Wendy would never describe her as a sweet innocent angel—the opposite, in fact. Although younger, she was a “spunky brat”—as the two would say. With little regard for the Korean “sunbae culture” (wherein respect for seniors is a must), Soo-Young treated her two senior unnies as if they were just the same age as her. The two older girls cannot go up against her—literally because of her height—and sometimes, they even kind of feared her, because she can be brutally honest with her words. She only did so to feel closer to them, because she absolutely adored them, although she enjoyed being a prick to them. 

While walking down the hall, a geeky-looking young man holding a notebook and a pencil went up to the three girls, fixed his round glasses and said, “Good afternoon, Seulgi Sunbaenim, Wendy Sunbaenim, our class is conducting a survey on—”

Soo-Young, who was actually in the same class as that boy, impatiently sighed and rudely interrupted, “Go away. Nobody cares.”

The boy shut his mouth and walked away dejectedly, making Seulgi and Wendy feel bad for the guy. Seulgi frowned, mumbling, “Poor kid…,” yet at the same time wondered how in the world Soo-Young had the guts to be so direct like that.

Meanwhile, Wendy, who had moral values implanted in her system, faced Soo-Young and said, “Yeah, nobody cares, but you could have been a little nicer—just a little nicer!” 

“He didn’t have to bother you with that stupid crap,” Soo-Young said with a nonchalant drawl.

“But that’s not very nice is it?!” And so this is how they often start to bicker...

After school, the triad would usually hang out at Seulgi’s house whenever they weren’t busy. Today, Seulgi was supposed to attend Math hakwon (after-school academy, similar to tutoring or specialized classes) but with the insistence of Soo-Young, she decided to ditch hakwon for the day and bake cookies at her house.

The three of them lived in a peaceful neighborhood in Ansan, just by the outskirts of Seoul. Seulgi pretty much lived here with her parents and her older brother all her life. Her parents both work long hours in Seoul, so she ended up spending a lot of time alone with her annoying brother, even though she did not want to.

But then, a few years ago, Wendy came to live with them through the student exchange program. At around the same time, Soo-Young moved into the house next door. Then just months ago, her older brother enlisted for the military. This made Seulgi very happy. It was like the heavens finally answered her prayer of replacing her crazy brother with sisters. Although truth be told, sometimes, she did miss her brother and their little arguments, but she has convinced herself that she was happier this way.
 

The moment the triad stepped in the house, Soo-Young immediately ran to lie down on the sofa of Seulgi’s living room. Her parents were also not home yet at this hour, so she preferred to stay with her two unnies. “Ah, this sofa is the best. Way better than the one in our house.”

“You barely even live in your house. You’re always here at our place,” Wendy said as she neatly placed all their shoes in the shoe cabinet by the door.

“Yeah well, I love Seulgi Unnie’s house. I love hanging out with you both.”

“You should move in with us then! You can sleep on the sofa!” Wendy said as a joke.

Suddenly, Soo-Young’s phone received a message. “Parents said I need to take out the frozen chicken from the fridge for dinner. I’ll probably leave a little later.”

Seulgi who had been idly standing with her backpack still on her back, glanced at Soo-Young’s lazy figure on the couch. “This is so wrong. I need to go to Math hakwon today.”

“Sheesh, stop being wishy-washy. You already agreed to have cookies with us,” Soo-Young said without taking her eyes off of her phone screen.

That practice exam earlier ruined her confidence. Studying, or not studying—is there really a difference? I’m too tired. I don’t want to go, she wanted to say. I don’t want to think about the exams. I don’t want to think about my future. But... I have to... 

“You should rest, Seulgi,” Wendy told her as she took Seulgi’s backpack off her back for her. “You’re probably tired.” Seulgi sat down by Soo-Young’s foot on the sofa, just dumbfounded at Wendy’s telepathic powers. It was like this Canadian sister from another mother always knew what she was thinking.

“So, I guess you’re not going today…,” Soo-Young muttered and continued fumbling with her phone. “Well, more loafing around and watching TV with me. Have you seen the newest episode of—”

Suddenly, Seulgi let out a childish yell and flailed her arms and legs in frustration. “How am I supposed to do well if I don’t study?!”

“Jeez, how old are you? Don’t throw a tantrum, you big baby,” Soo-Young chaffed.

“Hey, hey, if you truly want to go, nobody is stopping you,” retorted Wendy.

Seulgi took a deep breath and exhaled as she leaned back and sunk down on the couch before answering. “I know. I was just frustrated with myself, that’s all. I really, really want to do well in my college entrance exams at the end of the year. I really do. But I don’t know what to do. I’m so bad at everything!”

Soo-Young sat up and said, “You’re the one who’s literally good at singing, dancing, drawing, sports, and being cute, and you dare say you’re bad at everything? Unnie, you’re literally good at everything! Well, except maybe studying but everyone's gotta have a weakness."

Wendy then pushed Soo-Young’s long legs to the side so she could sit between the two on the sofa. “You can do it, Seulgi. I believe in you. Think of it this way. If your brother can get into university, you can do it too!”

Seulgi just chuckled at Wendy’s little pep talk. Yeah, my brother’s pretty dumb, but he got into a top university, she thought.

Something else popped up in her head. “Cheer up. I think you can do well.” The kind, pretty unnie she met at the bus stop said that to her yesterday. What was her name again? Bae Joohyun, was it? She was very nice.

Seulgi could not help but remember her. She remembered how Joohyun Unnie was easily scared of thunder. She remembered how beautiful Joohyun’s pale face was and how her big, pretty eyes resembled dark pearls. She remembered how fun it was to run under the rain with her and how wet her jacket was afterwards. And best of all, she remembered how Joohyun treated her to a frappe and how she spoke in an adorable accent. Joohyun even explained to her a thing or two about that one lesson she didn’t understand—which unfortunately did not show up in today’s mock exam. 

“Cheer up. I think you can do well,” Joohyun Unnie said. She was so sweet. I wonder if I’ll ever meet her again?

To lighten up the drab atmosphere she caused, Seulgi then sat up and crossed her legs on the sofa and said, “Oh yeah, yesterday, I had a really interesting trip to the library.”

“You said you broke my umbrella.”

“Yeah, well, that happened,” Seulgi coyly said, “But in the middle of that, I met this really nice unnie. She wasn't very tall, but when I got a good look at her face, she was so pretty! Her pale face, her bunny-like endearing eyes... Suddenly, there was lightning and thunder and she got so startled, she literally jumped up and made a very funny sounding squeal. She seemed easily startled, she reminded me of you, Soo-Young.”

Soo-Young frowned. Even with that tough attitude, she had her own weaknesses too.

Seulgi continued the story of her and Joohyun running to the library and studying there together. Throughout her whole tale, she probably mentioned how sweet and pretty Joohyun was more than ten times. Apparently, Joohyun had left a big impression on Seulgi just by buying her a drink and studying with her. The bear loved food and nice people; she truly did. “She was so pretty and so nice. I wish I would only meet upperclassmen like her when I get into university.”

“Yeah right. If you get into university,” Soo-Young went at it again, earning herself another glare from Wendy. “Er… which of course, wouldn’t be a problem if you study well.”
“She also told me I looked like a baby bear. It was really out of nowhere,” Seulgi continued.

“A baby bear?” Wendy and Soo-Young said simultaneously. After a few giggles, Soo-Young said, “Well, now that you mention it, you do look like a bear!”

“OMG,” Wendy exclaimed, suddenly cupping her friend’s gentle countenance with her hands. “She does, doesn’t she! Look at how her ears stick out, and her sweet face!”

Seulgi sat there dumbfounded again. “Do I really…?”

The rest of the afternoon was spent just randomly talking and watching mindless television. A little later, a sweet aroma wafted through the entire house. Wendy whipped up a batch of freshly-baked, homemade chocolate-chip cookies. The Canadian loved to bake, and the other two loved to eat. Seulgi especially brightened up every time she had a bite of Wendy’s sweet goodies. Food always made Seulgi happy, and Wendy’s cookies gave her extra happiness. She usually enjoyed watching Wendy do her magic as much as she enjoyed eating the magic. They were soft; they were decadent; they were a delight. Seulgi and Soo-Young highly recommended having “Queen of Baking, Wendy Son” (a nickname made in reference to a well-known Korean drama series) open up her own bakery someday, which wasn’t a bad idea.

“I don’t know if bears like cookies, but I made them bear-shaped!” Baker Wendy proudly exclaimed as she presented the cookies to the two girls.

Soo-Young just laughed and said, “We’re going to be eating Seulgi Cookies.”

“I should have left out the part about being called a ‘baby bear’ earlier,” Seulgi mumbled.

As they ate, Soo-Young changed the topic and said, “Oh yeah, Wendy Unnie, you mentioned the other day that you wanted to work part-time for extra pocket money, right? My cou—”

“Oh yeah, actually, you guys,” Wendy said, totally cutting off Soo-Young. “I saw this bakery downtown the other day, and they’re hiring part-time on weekends and are accepting high school students. Should I try or nah?”

“Well, you’re pretty good at baking, so I don’t think they’d have a good reason not to hire you,” Seulgi said after drinking a bit of soy milk.

Although Soo-Young was interrupted earlier, she went along with the conversation anyway. “I think it’ll be cool. You should give us discounts when you get hired.”
“You literally live off Seulgi’s house for free, and you eat my cookies for free, Soo-Young,” Wendy said side-eyeing Soo-Young again. “Believe me, you don’t need any more discounts.”

“I was just kidding, sheesh. But truthfully speaking, I think you should give it a try. You gotta have experience with the business if you plan on setting up your own bakery someday.”

“Right? Yeah, I should probably go inquire about it this weekend.” Baker Queen Wendy’s smile went from ear to ear, “I hope I get the job!”

“Anyway,” Soo-Young said, getting back to what she wanted to tell Wendy earlier, “My little cousin—you all know Yeri, right? I’ve mentioned before that she is moving to London with her family in the summer. Well, her mom is wondering if you could teach her English—just conversations and phrases and stuff—before she leaves. Nothing too hard for you, right?”

Wendy stopped chewing on her cookies; her eyes grew twice as wide. “Yeri? That annoying kid?! But...”

“Oh, come on, she’s not that annoying,” Seulgi said with an amused chuckle. “I can’t believe she’ll be leaving though. You’ll miss her, won’t you Wendy?”

“I probably will miss her, but isn’t teaching her, um, I don’t know, a terrible idea?” Wendy said, unafraid to voice out her discomfort.

“They’re paying you,” Soo-Young said as she nonchalantly dusted off the crumbs on her hands. “You can do it any time you’re free. Think about it.”

While the other two were talking about the English lessons, taps were soon heard from outside. It was raining again. As Seulgi sipped on the soy milk Wendy prepared with the cookies, her thoughts began to drift to Joohyun again. It was about this same hour yesterday that she saw Joohyun standing all alone without an umbrella. Did she bring an umbrella this time? Is she safe indoors right now? I sure hope she is.

“I should probably go home,” Soo-Young said, interrupting Seulgi’s train of thought. Soo-Young walked over to Seulgi’s front door and grabbed the long blue umbrella Seulgi had with her yesterday. “Can I borrow this?”

“Oh, no, that’s broken,” Seulgi said. “It’s the one I used yesterday. It’s stuck and won’t open up at all.”

Without saying anything, Soo-Young examined the umbrella with a skeptical look on her face. After finding the button that releases the umbrella open, she easily pressed it, and the umbrella automatically opened with a loud swish. Her eyes grew twice its size in shock before looking back at Seulgi. “You said it was broken!”

Seulgi, who was just as surprised as Soo-Young was, had her jaw hanging. “I-I… Y-yesterday I—”

Wendy faced Seulgi and shook her head. “You didn’t press the button, didn’t you?”

“I thought you had to put it up by doing this—,” Seulgi explained by making pulling motions in the air.

Wendy and Soo-Young began laughing. The poor, naïve little bear could not comprehend the embarrassment she was in. She honestly thought the umbrella was broken all this time!

“No, you dummy,” Wendy laughed and grabbed the umbrella from Soo-Young to show Seulgi how the thing works. “You push the blue button and it swings upward on its own!”

Realizing her own failure, Seulgi messed up her hair in embarrassment and cried, “I am such an idiot!”