Jo Euishin’s birthday is November 1st.
That was on the coming Sunday.
Except for Hwangho and Kim Yuri, all the other kids looked surprised as if it was their first time hearing about this fact.
Most of them didn’t know about Jo Euishin’s birthday.
“When did you know about Euishin’s birthday? I should’ve asked him that before too.”
“When you enter a new contact in your device, if you don’t specify a nickname or a display name, the person’s default name appears. I happened to see it while I was looking through my contacts. He was listed as ‘jo2god111’.”
“Hahaha… that’s an ID easy to memorize.”
Jo Euishin always used the ID ‘jo2god111’.
From his name, he used the English romanized spelling of “Jo”
“Eui” sounds like the number “2” in Korean.
And “shin” was replaced by its English translation, god.
As Mok Wooram said, it was quite a childish ID.
If Song Daesok were here, he would’ve judged Jo Euishin’s ID with a very acrimonious expression.
“So the ‘111’ part is his birthday?”
“Yep. I asked him about it and he said it was his birthday.”
“I wouldn’t have imagined that it was his birthday just from those three numbers. Don’t people usually write it like 0111 or 1101?”
“I was also confused if it was January 11th or November 1st, but turns out it’s November.”
With the topic of Jo Euishin’s birthday, everyone in the class began to talk about throwing a party and gift ideas.
Kim Yuri, who recently had trouble controlling her light skill.
Hwangho, who was losing interest in everything.
Kwon Lena and Saeum of April, both of them having been caught up in the Hwanmong Auction.
Maeng Hyodon, who was trapped in a fight club after being sold.
Min Geurin and Song Daesok, who both had difficulty overcoming their trauma.
Mok Wooram, who was being chased by the Oath of the Three Knights.
In addition, although Hani was unaware of it, Jo Euishin once helped her when the service group that went after Eungwang Light Nursery/Orphanage threatened her.
All the kids from Class Zero would not have been there if it weren’t for Jo Euishin.
Consciously or unconsciously, everyone was happy for Jo Euishin’s birthday.
“The vice president bought me a cake on my birthday. I’ll buy him one this time.”
“Oh, I received a birthday present too.”
“You too?”
Starting from Maeng Hyodon, testimonies of being gifted something by Jo Euishin began to emerge from the kids.
There are six students whose birthday has passed since March 2nd, the start of the school year.
Born on March 27th, Kim Yuri.
May 21st, Saeum of April.
July 13th, Maeng Hyodon.
August 26th, Min Geurin.
September 23rd, Mok Wooram.
And Hwangho, whose birthday is listed as October 3rd.
The kids from Class Zero discovered that Jo Euishin had given them something on their birthdays.
Kim Yuri, who also keeps in mind her classmates’ birthdays, seemed to already guessed that Jo Euishin had done such a thing, but the other children were clueless.
“Euishin has celebrated all the birthdays of our classmates so far…”
“I didn’t even know some of you guys’ birthdays. How did he know it? Oh, I heard that he saw my birthday in an art magazine that I interviewed with before.”
“There was a time when we were talking about birthdays. I think he remembered it and gave me a gift.”
Jo Euishin knew the birthdays of the major characters from PMH.
To avoid being suspicious, he asked the others about their birthdays by starting a conversation about it.
Of course, there were a few exceptions.
“Hahaha, I think he found out about my birthday a little later. He greeted me a few days after my birthday.”
“He must’ve not known about Wooram’s birthday since he attended school in the second semester.”
“Wait, your birthday has passed already? When?”
“It was last September. It’s been a while.”
Jo Euishin couldn’t find personal information on Mok Wooram since he didn’t appear on PMH.
He greeted him a bit late, but Jo Euishin greeted all the other kids on their birthdays anyway.
The kids from Class Zero naturally talked about throwing a party for their classmate, friend, and benefactor, Jo Euishin.
“I knew Euishin was taking care of us all. But Euishin’s birthday is only a few days away, why didn’t I know about it? We need to start preparing now!”
“Vice president’s birthday is on Sunday, but I’m in big trouble. I don’t think I have enough money to buy him a present. I’ll work extra hard on my part-time job until Sunday.”
“…Wooram-ah, did you spend your money on something useless again? Buy your present with me! Until then, never spend your money on anything!”
“Alright, then I won’t spend my money until you tell me to, Lena.”
“Ah… should I start drawing a portrait? No, I have a painting I want to give him. Would it be too much if I gave another one for his birthday?”
“Should I buy him something to eat? Vice president likes things with oranges in them.”
“By the way, what about the party? I think I want to throw a surprise party if possible.”
All of them had an opinion about what gifts to buy and how to throw the party, but it was hardly organized.
It’s their first time organizing a birthday party during the semester since most of them just greet each other a happy birthday usually.
In Hwangho’s case, Jo Euishin was called to the mansion to celebrate the birthday of the tigers, but that was much different from a birthday party with classmates.
‘Hmm, Jo Euishin’s birthday party… I was going to have him celebrate with the Tiger Clan, but I think having two parties is okay. Jo Euishin cherishes the Class Zero children anyway so it’s not a bad idea.’
It occurred to Hwangho that Jo Euishin was scheduled to meet with Sung Gukeon on the weekend.
He doesn’t know what for, but considering Sung Gukeon’s personality if he discovers that their appointment is on Jo Euishin’s birthday and that his classmates are planning to throw him a party, he will immediately reschedule it.
‘…I don’t feel very good.’
Hwangho was silently watching the class kids.
He only opened his mouth when someone would talk to him, but he continued to feel uncomfortable.
There were several reasons for it.
The biggest reason was that Jo Euishin continues to ignore his messages.
The second was that the death anniversary of Jo Euishin’s family’s death and his own birthday were too close.
‘I can’t believe there’s only a week difference between the day he lost all his family and his birthday. Then how did he spend his birthday on the year he lost his family?’
Hwangho imagined how his benefactor, who was merely a middle school student, would’ve spent his birthday that year.
He pressed his temples as the thought gave him a rush of headache.
He wants nothing more than to celebrate the benefactor’s birthday in a different mood this year, but his head hurts more since he doesn’t think Jo Euishin would cooperate.
Hwangho had one more reason for his discomfort.
‘…The more I think about it, the less I like it.’
Having a birthday party itself wasn’t bad.
The problem was the meaning of the day of his birthday.
October 31st, the eve of November first when Halloween is celebrated.
Halloween comes from the words “hallow”, which means saint, and “even” which means the eve of a festival.
In short, Halloween means “Eve of All Saints’ Day”
On November 1st, the nameless saints, whose feast days weren’t specified, are to be celebrated.
* * *
It was before the final exam for the first semester.
I visited Hongcheon with Min Geurin and Song Daesok to meet the painter Hong Kyungbok.
In Hongcheon, Professor Ham Geunhyung and Sung Gukeon, who went there for a business trip, met.
Sung Gukeon was wary of his assistant homeroom teacher, and Professor Ham Geunhyung took such a student for granted.
Professor Ham Geunhyung tried to leave in consideration of Sung Gukeon, but the latter stopped him.
— Why are you going? You don’t know what an old troublemaker student of yours would do to your young students.
— Isn’t it a problem that I’m here?
— You’re a good person, professor. I respect you as a player. However, Professor, you’re…
Sung Gukeon looked at Ham Geunhyung, and then at me and Sung Siwan.
Sung Gukeon affirmed.
— You’ve changed, professor.
— I’m sorry. I misunderstood you.
It’s not easy to clear things long buried or to change one’s mind.
Even more so if one confronts a figure from his teenage years that he has deep-rooted prejudice against in his head.
But Sung Gukeon was different.
He knew how to accept change and acknowledge misunderstandings and ignorance, and he apologized.
“I see. So something like that happened…”
Kim Shinrok seemed to be imagining him and his old student sharing a conversation.
He repeatedly opened and closed his mouth, hesitating about what to say.
“…Did they talk about anything else? How did that kid and Professor Ham Geunhyung feel after they made up?”
Sung Gukeon predicted that people of royal lineage would invade Eungwang High, the place in Korea with the highest level of intelligence.
However, although Sung Gukeon is an alumnus of the school and a lawmaker, his influence was still limited.
— We need your help. Still, I’ll give you time to think about it since it’s a dangerous job.
— You too, professor.
An act that couldn’t have occurred without faith.
‘I wish I could tell him, but I can’t say anything more without Sung Gukeon’s permission.’
I left out that part and gave a brief account of their normal interactions.
Kim Shinrok listened to the irrelevant stories.
“…Can I ask you one more thing, Jo Euishin-gun?”
“Please go ahead.”
Kim Shinrok glanced at me once and at Yong Jegun once.
That glance let me know what he’d ask.
“From what this dragon said, you seemed to have asked Yeom Bangyeol-ssi for something, Jo Euishin-gun. May I ask what it is?”
Yong Jegun directly mentioned my request in front of Kim Shinrok.
After that, he mentioned Sung Gukeon’s name which wavered Kim Shinrok’s mind.
It was natural for him to become curious.
‘I don’t want to reveal it as much as possible though…’
If I tell him, he might get in the way.
He could report it to the tigers and they’d try to block me.
Especially Eunho.
They also know already that I was injured, so that makes it all the more likely that they’d stop me.
“…”
Yong Jegun’s face looked like he was itching.
I’m not sure if Yong Jegun wants to stop me like the tigers do, or maybe he’d do the exact opposite.
But if I don’t speak now, it’s clear that Yong Jegun would take matters into his own hand.
After much thought, I decided to say it.
“Most of the top professional player teams are targeting otherworlds. In the case of the Red Lion Team, their area of activity is mostly in Asia, but I heard that Yeom Bangyeol-ssi bought a private jet in preparation for his son’s overseas studies.”
Soon after Yeom Junyeol decided to study abroad, the Red Lion team bought a private jet.
It was for the purpose of visiting Yeom Junyeol whenever he pleased.
“I asked him to take me and Sung Gukeon on the Red Lion Team’s private jet.
