Chapter 51: The True teacher of our time, Part 3

A few hours later, it was lunchtime.

After silently listening to Park Geun-soo’s explanation about high school life, Hayoon went to the cafeteria alone to eat lunch.

She didn’t have time to make friends and chat, and the lunchtimes for the second and first years were slightly different.

She ate a delicious sweet and savory Hashed beef with Rice, rinsed her mouth with mouthwash she bought along with some pantyhose at the convenience store on the way to the bus stop.

Then, she headed to the agreed-upon location, the stand on the outskirts of the playground.

“Here.”

“Uh… This is really our school…?”

There, Choi Arin and Do Jin-ho were waiting.

“So, let’s continue our conversation from earlier. You said to create a club.”

Do Jin-ho looked dazed, wondering what was going on, and Choi Arin advised that they should explain it properly again.

And Min Hayoon.

“Let’s eat while we talk. Let’s eat.”

“Uh, that…”

“You get hungrier if you eat on an empty stomach. So I just didn’t eat. Let’s eat now?”

“Uh, am I getting some too?”

“You’d be disappointed if you didn’t get any, right?”

“Th, that’s true… I’ll eat it well.”

Choi Arin tore open the Anyak snack she had brought and the three of them shared it.

She wondered if sharing this one snack would be enough, but the feeling of sharing is important.

When else would they get to share Anyak like this?

Anyway.

“First of all, I’m serious about creating a club. I don’t want to waste time on useless things during club time, and free clubs get money, right? Activity funds.”

“Activity funds?”

“Is there such a thing?”

“They usually give it, right? If we get about 100,000 won, we can use that for a meal.”

The important thing now is to secure a free club first.

Usually, school clubs take up two hours once a month, and during that time, she could easily draw a simple rough sketch.

Moreover, clubs that go outside can take up to four hours, so a free club is essential to save time.

“But don’t we need an advisor teacher for that?”

“We need an advisor for the club, right? Every year, there are people in our department who say they’re going to make a game among themselves, but they can’t find a suitable advisor teacher, so the club gets disbanded.”

“That’s, that’s true…”

The problem is who to get as an advisor teacher.

Teachers who are willing to start a club often already have their own clubs, so it’s not easy to find someone who will allow the creation of a club and doesn’t manage another club.

It’s also questionable whether they will even allow the creation of a club during the COVID-19 season.

“It seems like we need to be good at picking a teacher like picking a random item…”

“That’s what I’m saying. I think most teachers will say that we can’t create a club, so just join a regular club…”

“Still, let’s at least try. Since we’re making a game, I think we should look for computer science teachers first, right?”

“Our department?”

“Yes, wouldn’t they be the most lenient?”

“Sigh, okay. Let’s go find them.”

The probability is low, but what can they do?

If they join a regular club and unfortunately end up in a club like ‘hiking’ or ‘visiting libraries in Seoul’, they will have to waste three or four hours every month.

The three of them started to move to protect those three or four hour.

#

It was good that they started to move with strongly, but as expected, results didn’t come immediately.

They went to all the computer science teachers…

“Hey, kid. You’re going to graduate in a few months, why are you trying to involve 1st and 2nd graders in this? What will happen to them when you graduate next year?”

They were rejected for a much more valid reason than they expected.

Certainly, if a 3rd-year student is involved in a club created in mid-May, the remaining members will be in an awkward position when he graduates next February.

“We have one more condition now?”

“Ah, damn… Sorry. I’m the old one here…”

Do Jin-ho felt like he was ruining things because of himself and apologized even though he didn’t need to, and Min Hayoon also closed her eyes tightly because her plans seemed to be going awry.

“First of all, is it correct that the minimum number of members for a free club is three?”

“Uh, that’s what they said.”

“If we recruit additional members, we can probably create a club even with Do sunbae here. But the problem is…”

“The problem is?”

“I don’t want to.”

If they recruit additional members, they can somehow create a club.

However, Hayoon was against it.

Except for Choi Arin and Do Jin-ho, who were already proven members, she didn’t want to accept any additional members.

“Honestly, you know that there aren’t many people our age who can properly carry out this kind of project. We’re already doing it, so at least we’ll see this one through to the end…”

Can a newcomer adapt to our atmosphere and contribute something meaningful to a project that is already more than halfway through?

That’s what Min Hayoon was saying.

There’s a high probability that an additional member will ruin the atmosphere, so they should find a teacher who will approve the 3-member system.

Even if they decide to recruit additional members because they have no other choice, that person needs to have something that shines besides Min Hayoon’s illustrations, Choi Arin’s animation, or Do Jin-ho’s programming.

“Even if we think about additional members later, where do we find a teacher who will approve the 3-member system…?”

“Let’s go to the Condi department this time. Unnie, you know some Condi department teachers, right?”

“Well… I’ve taken almost all the classes in the department, so I know them roughly. I’ll lead the way. Let’s go.”

Hayoon’s point was something that both Arin and Jin-ho agreed with, and from here on, they went around looking for Condi department teachers under Choi Ah-rin’s leadership.

However…

-Ding, ding ding, ding ding ding, ding, ding ding, ding ding ding.

Before long, the preliminary bell rang, signaling the end of lunchtime.

“Let’s stop here for now. We have to go to class, and there are still teachers we haven’t met yet.”

“Okay, have a good class, and if you want Anyak, come find me again.”

“Are you storing them in your locker…?”

“Not in my locker, I bought a box because it was delicious and kept it at home. I have three more in my bag. Do you want more?”

“I’ll come visit if I think of it.”

Arin said to come if she wanted a snack and went up to the 2nd-year classroom…

“I’ll go to the homeroom teacher during break time later. I’m sorry. I feel like I’m messing up the club because of me.”

Do Jin-ho apologized again.

The teachers refused, citing the COVID-19 issue and the fact that it wasn’t the club creation period yet, and also mentioned that Do Jin-ho was a 3rd year, but…

It must have been uncomfortable for Jin-ho to hear.

“It’s okay. Honestly, the people who cut us off because sunbae is a 3rd year are the same people who would have cut us off saying, ‘What free club in the time to learn the basics?’ even if you weren’t here.”

“Is that how it works…”

“Anyway, it’s not your fault, sunbae.”

“Thanks, even if it’s just lip service…”

Do Jin-ho scratched the back of his head awkwardly and returned to the 3rd-year classroom, and Min Hayoon also returned to the 1st-year classroom to prepare for class.

Whether it was because the class schedule was short due to COVID-19 or because it was a Meister high school that pushed the kids hard.

From the afternoon, they immediately went into class.

‘Ah, damn it, Korean, English, and math…?’

As she suffered through classes she didn’t even want to look at, the homeroom period came.

“Kwak Seok-min!”

“Y, yes? Me?”

“Who else would I be talking to? Who told you to sleep in class? The English teacher told me everything. Got it?”

“I, I’m sorry!”

Kwak Seok-min, who seemed to have been chosen as the class punching bag, was getting scolded again…

Park Geun-soo said that regular classes would start tomorrow, and textbooks would be distributed during the morning assembly, so they should come early.

And after that, Park Geun-soo, who had been giving a lot of theoretical advice, declared the end of the homeroom period.

“Everyone stand up. Attention, bow.”

Min Hayoon was thinking of meeting Arin and Jin-ho to discuss some countermeasures.

If they couldn’t find an advisor teacher, how about closing their eyes and skipping the club altogether?

She was thinking of having that kind of conversation, but…

“Min Hayoon.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. Come to the teachers’ office. What is a freshman doing, going around the teachers’ office as soon as she enters?”

It seemed that the story of Min Hayoon looking for an advisor teacher had spread.

So she followed Park Geun-soo to the teachers’ office.

“Explain.”

“Yes?”

“Explain clearly what you’ve been doing. I don’t intend to judge based on what I’ve heard.”

“I’m working on developing a game. I’m working with two seniors from our school, and since we started the project before I entered, I want to see it through to the end…”

“And you were trying to create a club for that?”

“Yes, I heard that we needed an advisor teacher, so I was looking for someone who had the time.”

First, she briefed him on what had happened as he wanted.

She didn’t think it was wrong, so she was confident, and she had to persuade Park Geun-soo to be the advisor if necessary.

She told him about the team’s current situation as it was, come what may.

“Oh…”

For some reason, Park Geun-soo’s reaction was one of admiration.

“You have a lot of guts, don’t you? Can you explain in more detail? Huh?”

It seemed that this narrow-minded old man had become interested.