Chapter 5

0005 / 0419 ———————————————-

1-3. Bully?

By the next morning, Kang Chan had looked up how to use public transportation to get to school and spent time figuring out which third-year class he needed to go to.

Honestly, it was a new life.

And it was the wealthy family he had longed for so much.

Kang Chan had thought about studying properly for once, but he gave up in less than an hour. What on earth was he supposed to understand? The most baffling subjects were English and math. Not only were there sentences that had no practical use in real life, but also the math that seemed to be only for specialists.

‘Does this guy not even have books?’

The timetable was stuck on the desk, but he couldn’t understand why there were so few books. It took him a while to realize that what he initially thought were self-study books were actually textbooks.

That's how he greeted the morning.

After finishing breakfast early, when Kang Dae-kyung offered to drive him, Kang Chan immediately nodded. It was more uncomfortable to adapt to public transportation in the morning than to go together.

The car was in the underground parking lot.

Amid the awkwardness, Kang Dae-kyung skillfully drove out of the parking lot and merged onto the road.

As Kang Chan was looking out the passenger window at the morning scenery, a question came unexpectedly.

“Are you my son?”

No matter what, it's good that you're alive. When I saw the diary and the text messages from yesterday, I could understand why you changed so much. But I wish you would quickly return to your old self. I sometimes want to see you smile.”

‘Can I be this person’s son?’

Kang Chan couldn’t answer.

“I couldn’t be prouder when you took the call and solved the problem yesterday. I used to say that people who brag about their kids were shallow, but it looks like I’ll be one of them today.”

Kang Chan smiled for the first time. If he had been born to such people, it would have been great.

“Is that it?”

Kang Dae-kyung didn’t mind his lack of response and dropped him off in front of the school.

“I’ll see you in the evening.”

“Sure. Don’t get hurt.”

Just before Kang Chan closed the door, he noticed that Kang Dae-kyung’s eyes were red, as if his emotions had risen.

Heh.

That was all.

Kang Chan had nothing to say, and Kang Dae-kyung had already said what he wanted to say.

When he got out of the car, the main gate was right above him.

Students were crowding through the large open gate, and when Kang Chan appeared, their reactions varied.

Some quickly moved out of the way, some glanced at him, and some openly stared.

There was a commonality, though: none of them met his gaze.

Regardless.

Kang Chan entered the school gate with his bag slung over his right shoulder.

First, he saw the teacher who had been smoking familiarly yesterday. The teacher, holding a long disciplinary stick and glaring fiercely at the students, immediately noticed Kang Chan as he entered.

“Put your bag on properly and come in.”

Heh.

All the students were rolling their eyes and watching the two of them.

However, Kang Chan passed by the teacher without stopping.

Without averting his gaze until his head passed the teacher’s shoulder.

“I’ll let it slide this time.”

“Thanks.”

The teacher smiled similarly.

‘I should at least remember his name.’

It was satisfying.

Except for his age, which was a bit of a concern.

***

Class 3-2.

The reaction when Kang Chan entered the classroom was not much different from that in the hallway. The students, who had been making a fuss, suddenly shut up and cautiously moved to their seats, observing Kang Chan without meeting his gaze.

Looking around the classroom, Kang Chan realized there were fewer students than expected. However, he couldn’t figure out where his seat was, so he sighed deeply.

‘What can I do?’

“Hey. Where’s my seat?”

“Huh? Oh! Over there. Over there.”

Kang Chan went to the spot the boy at the door pointed to and sat down. It was the second row from the front and the second row from the left.

‘A perfect spot to get targeted. No place to avoid the gaze.’

As he muttered in dissatisfaction, a strange tension spread through the classroom. Instinctively turning around, Kang Chan’s eyes met those of Lee Ho-jun, who was entering the door.

He was startled, but Lee Ho-jun clearly showed that he wouldn’t back down and sat in the middle of the back row.

‘He’s like that when provoked.’

Kang Chan saw in Lee Ho-jun’s eyes the desire to seize an opportunity.

He wanted to show it.

He wanted the other kids to know that he hadn’t lost to him.

It was a silly thought.

‘He might attack during class to save face.’

He himself had done that in the past.

But Kang Chan shook his head and dispelled the bad thoughts.

They’re just kids.

What’s the point of making a fuss with a kid?

“Hey! Kang Chan!”

Kang Chan sighed briefly and turned his head back.

“Come to the rooftop at lunch.”

It was Lee Ho-jun.

Gritting his teeth, Lee Ho-jun didn’t avert his gaze.

His left cheek was bruised, and there were wounds on his lips and around his eyes.

“Got it. If you have people to bring, bring them all at once to avoid the hassle.”

The kid was somewhat cute for not being able to answer.

***

Class was truly a time of endurance.

Four hours of lessons followed the roll call by a teacher he didn’t know, and the atmosphere was so tense that even the sound of breathing was cautious. The teachers were no different.

Kang Chan wasn’t sentimental. He was just ignorant.

Listening to incomprehensible words one after another made him feel as if bugs were crawling out of his ears.

Why is the atmosphere during break so solemn?

Ding dong.

Finally, it was lunchtime.

Kiiii!

Lee Ho-jun roughly got up from his seat, opened the classroom door violently, and disappeared.

‘I’m hungry.’

The smell of soup, curry, and other side dishes tempted Kang Chan, but keeping his promise came first.

Just as Kang Chan was about to stand up,

“Chan.”

A girl sitting in the first row, fourth seat from the left, called him.

Big eyes, a fringe that covered her forehead like a failed attempt to mimic Snow White, hair that reached her shoulders, a fairly straight nose, wow! Watermelons? Stacked up?

“I heard this morning. The popular bullies are here too. Scary uncles are waiting outside.”

Kang Chan quickly raised his gaze to look at the girl.

She seemed to have mustered her courage. Her expression was a mix of a little righteousness and sympathy, which was exactly that.

‘Grow up well.’

If only her style was a bit better…

“Are you not going?”

“What happens next?”

It was then that Kang Chan noticed the name tag on the watermelon.

Kim Mi-yeong.

Is this the girl who was involved with the photos?

“You can avoid it, can’t you?”

All the other students were watching.

“What if they chase you?”

“Then tell the teacher.”

Kang Chan took a deep breath.

“Did you know I didn’t take any photos?”

Kang Chan noticed the other students tensing up instantly.

“While I was quiet and being a fool, no one helped me, and now you’re pretending to care?”

Kim Mi-yeong’s eyes welled up with tears.

Kang Chan slowly turned his body and left the classroom.

They’re just kids.

But some of their actions were truly cruel.

‘Right. This is because I didn’t finish things properly.’

Kang Chan decided to quit school today.

Heh.

He planned to quickly visit the rooftop and then go eat a pork cutlet.

‘Let’s go to France. Start over there.’

It was bothersome to feel a bit of affection for someone else’s parents, and thinking about his subordinates who died without knowing why, he felt uneasy for not cleaning up after the job.

‘If I’m going to send you back, send me back to the past.’

Of course, with the premise that Kang Dae-kyung and Yoo Hye-suk are his parents.

When Kang Chan went up to the rooftop, a few rowdy boys and girls who looked like they had just finished their shifts at a bar followed him.

Kang Chan stopped halfway up the stairs.

Then he turned around.

The girl in front had shortened her skirt so much that her underwear was almost visible as she climbed the stairs.

“Go down.”

Kang Chan saw a girl who could eat people with her words for the first time.

“Ah, fuck! Who are you to tell me?”

Before the words to go down hit the ground, the girl swallowed them whole. There are many such girls in France too. They have guts and carry steel rings on their knuckles.

Kang Chan went down two steps towards the girl.

The black lines around her eyes were so thick that it looked like they were inserted separately.

“Why? Give it a try?”

Squeak.

The boys at the bottom of the stairs caught the girl. She fainted as intended.

“Get lost. Before I kill you.”

Seeing the girl, Kang Chan decided to finish things as if he were dealing with enemies, not students or kids.

These are not kids.

They are monsters in the guise of kids.

Adults have at least some sense, but these kids have none.

As his eyes glinted, the kids on the stairs hesitated and went down.

Kang Chan, treating them the same as in France, gave them international treatment without discriminating against them as locals.

Kang Chan watched the kids go down and then walked towards the rooftop.

‘I’ll finish them off completely.’

It’s a school he’s going to quit anyway.

He decided that it would be better to sweep away such kids.

He grabbed the handle of the rooftop door and pushed it open hard. He didn’t want his vision to be blocked by the sudden brightness, and he didn’t want to grapple with someone who might attack him.

‘Stupid guys.’

About ten people were squatting, legs crossed, smoking cigarettes.

Perhaps because they were confident, they didn’t even try to ambush him.

Kang Chan closed the door after going up to the rooftop.

“You’re doing well!”

‘That guy is the leader.’

The guy, who looked like he was in his thirties, slowly approached Kang Chan. As he threw away the cigarette he was smoking, the kids all stood up and approached him.

Kang Chan’s heart sank when he saw the weapons held by three of them.

A machete, a steel pipe, and a wooden plank with nails.

It was hard to believe that such people were in school.

“Looks like you’ve grown a bit of guts since you fell last time. Let’s see how you handle falling off the parking lot side today. Your head will explode with a bang.”

Kang Chan took a deep breath.

“Was it because of you guys that I fell last time?”

“Fucker. You were begging for your life, and you ran away, didn’t you? You didn’t even hit me once. Isn’t that guy completely crazy?”

Kang Chan glanced at Lee Ho-jun.

He had a face full of anticipation.

“Good. I’ve been so frustrated lately because I can’t collect debts.”

The guy Kang Chan thought was the leader slowly approached him.

He was a perceptive guy. That posture is something you