Chapter 8

0008 / 0419 ———————————————-

1-4. You've never been hit properly, have you?

Gang Chan suddenly remembered something he was curious about and turned his head.

“Am I dead?”

“You got a splendid stab through the neck. Blood spurted out quite satisfactorily.”

“Damn! What about you?”

Seok Gang-ho burst out with a bitter laugh.

“It feels like I got a good hit on the head, but I’m not sure. I just felt a burning sensation on my forehead, and when I woke up, my wife was comforting me, asking if I had a nightmare.”

“Lucky, huh?”

“To celebrate being alive, I gave her a good round.”

Gang Chan chuckled and turned his gaze forward again.

The car was passing through a rather old apartment complex.

“What about the others?”

“I was right after the leader.”

Seok Gang-ho parked the car in front of the innermost apartment in the complex.

“Here?”

“With my teacher’s salary, I can’t afford anything better. This is quite expensive in Gangnam.”

That’s none of my concern. Gang Chan got out of the car, his mouth dry.

Seok Gang-ho’s home was on the third floor.

He walked up the old corridor and the slightly uneven stairs to the right apartment, 302.

“Is your wife not home?”

Click, click.

It was locked.

Seok Gang-ho inserted one of the keys from his car keychain into the doorknob and turned it.

Even in the middle of the day, the house was dark.

To the right of the entrance was a room, to the right wall was the kitchen, and inside the living room with a sofa and TV were three more rooms.

Seok Gang-ho didn’t even tell Gang Chan to sit down; he abruptly opened the innermost room and came out with a shabby tracksuit and a cotton T-shirt.

“This is the bathroom. Clean the blood and change your clothes.”

Gang Chan threw off his school uniform and, in his underwear, headed to the bathroom.

The sink, bathtub, and toilet were all yellowed.

Gang Chan turned the faucet attached to the sink and first washed his hands, then carefully wiped the blood from his waist.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a deep wound; the cut was open, and the blood had already clotted.

“This can be left as it is.”

Next, he shook his blood-soaked right hand in the water, unfolded the towel, and carefully wiped his left hand.

“Tsk!”

Suddenly, his anger flared up. There was a guy swinging a knife in front of the school.

“Bastard!”

Should I have just let him die?

“Why are you saying that?”

Seok Gang-ho, hearing his curses, asked loudly.

“Not you!”

Creak.

“What did you say?”

Seok Gang-ho’s head suddenly appeared, leaning on the doorknob.

“It’s just that I got angry looking at my hand.”

“I thought you were fighting with the sink.”

Gang Chan’s expression suddenly darkened.

I didn’t want to fight, and I didn’t call for trouble.

It was the same before I died, and it’s the same now.

But does that mean I’m just a fighter?

Suddenly, uncontrollable anger surged up.

Seok Gang-ho swallowed hard, his eyes tense.

“Alright.”

“Yes.”

“Watch your words.”

“I understand.”

Even after he finished speaking, Gang Chan’s eyes didn’t soften, so Seok Gang-ho looked down.

“Close the door.”

Creak.

The door slowly closed, and the sound stretched out.

“Huff.”

Gang Chan lifted his head and looked at the mirror.

It’s not my fault that I was born to a father who beats me when he drinks and a mother who always gets beaten.

“Did I choose to be born?”

Gang Chan bit his teeth at the mirror.

Now, his eyes and expression were perfectly those of the past Gang Chan.

Even after being reborn, it’s the same.

I jumped off the roof.

What more do you want me to do?

Just buy bread, bring money, and run errands for cigarettes, and then die?

“Damn! What do you want me to do!”

In the mirror, Gang Chan, with his eyes wide open and lips tightly pressed, glared at him.

“Huff!”

I don’t know.

I was always hungry.

I really wanted to eat a pork cutlet, but I didn’t want to ask for it or beg for it.

I swear, I’ve never taken anything from others.

Instead, I’ve never let anyone who ignored me go unpunished.

Being born to such parents and being ignored by my father was enough.

“Tsk.”

Gang Chan inhaled deeply, trying to clear his mind. It was a habit that helped him feel better when he was upset.

When he came out, Seok Gang-ho was waiting with coffee. Gang Chan, who had put on his clothes, sat at the table with four chairs and took a sip of the coffee in the rather rustic mug.

It’s sweet.

Instant coffee is really sweet.

“Is there no bleeding?”

“Stop rolling your eyes and sit down. Let’s have some coffee and go. Oh! Soak your school uniform in water.”

“I understand.”

“Soak it in cold water.”

“Ah, right! I’ve bled a lot before.”

If you soak it in hot water, the blood will clot and won’t come out. It’s basically ruined.

Gang Chan looked at his left hand, which was white and stiff.

“Do you have a needle and thread at home?”

“Don’t be so reckless; let’s go to the hospital.”

“No?”

“Let’s go to the hospital! Ah!”

Seok Gang-ho gulped down the hot coffee in one go and writhed, pretending to be a crocodile.

A silly laugh burst out.

Maybe it’s the same as in Africa?

Gang Chan left Seok Gang-ho’s apartment after drinking half of the coffee.

***

After Seok Gang-ho, who was admiring his home, left, Gang Chan sat on a bench in one corner of the apartment complex.

His left hand was wrapped in bandages, and though not visible, a long gauze was stuck to the wound on his waist.

Seok Gang-ho, calculating as a regular patient, promised to refund the medical expenses if Gang Chan brought his insurance number the next day, showing his thoroughness and frugality.

Daeyeol seemed somewhat happy.

He had a special attachment to a kid who grew up lonely like him.

Is it because his wife is nice?

While Gang Chan was resting his arm on his thigh and looking at the bandages on his left hand, Kim Mi-yeong appeared with a bag on her shoulder.

“Chan!”

Turning his head, he saw Kim Mi-yeong standing there.

“Oh my! What do we do!”

“What do you mean?”

“Your hand! What do we do? Are you badly hurt? Did you have surgery? Did you not need surgery?”

Kim Mi-yeong, who had been speaking without taking a breath, lowered her head to look at the bandages, which was annoying.

“Go inside.”

I don’t feel like talking to a kid.

While she was hunched over, the top of her chest was clearly visible to Gang Chan. Her bra was also pushed forward, giving him a clear view.

Gang Chan straightened his back and looked annoyed.

I admit she’s not a kid. At least not in the chest department.

“I have some time before tutoring.”

Kim Mi-yeong sat down a little away from him, only touching the edge of the bench.

She must have gone to a cram school and is also doing tutoring.

Is she that much of a go-getter?

“I’m sorry. I knew you didn’t take pictures, but I couldn’t say anything. But the more I said that, the more the kids focused on my chest! I really didn’t like it. I’m sorry.”

Gang Chan forced himself to look away and turned his head.

“I don’t know who it was. I was sure no one was there when I changed into my PE uniform. After you fell from the roof and went to the hospital, I couldn’t do anything for a while.”

“Alright.”

Kim Mi-yeong, with her hands between her thighs, remained motionless.

“Seeing Eun-sil get hit was really scary.”

She said this with her head still lowered.

I wish she would straighten up a bit.

“If hitting me will make you feel better, go ahead.”

Kim Mi-yeong suddenly turned to face Gang Chan, still with her hands between her thighs and her head lowered.

She bit her lip tightly, and her eyes were trembling.

My gaze kept...

“Tsk. I feel better now, so stop and go.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Then will you go to school with me from tomorrow?”

Did we do that before?

“Alright.”

“Okay, then. See you here tomorrow.”

Gang Chan nodded, and Kim Mi-yeong quickly got up and ran off. If her hairstyle wasn’t so awkward, she would have looked much better.

Gang Chan sat for a while longer but didn’t want to pick up his broken thoughts, so he got up.

When he pressed the number and entered, Yu Hye-suk came out, surprised.

In shabby tracksuit pants, a cotton T-shirt, and bandages on his hand.

“I got hurt while exercising. I went to a teacher’s house to change clothes and then to the hospital.”

“Where? How bad? Are you okay? Is there no problem?”

She seemed genuinely concerned.

But her overly worried and annoying demeanor was frustrating.

Gang Chan frowned, and Yu Hye-suk couldn’t continue.

“I’m fine.”

Yu Hye-suk is also a victim.

She lost her good son and now has to be nice to a bad one.

Gang Chan suppressed his annoyance, feeling he owed something to the body’s owner.

“Dinner?”

Yu Hye-suk’s eyes reddened, looking disappointed.

“I haven’t eaten.”

“Then rest for a bit. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

“Okay.”

Gang Chan went into his room and flopped onto the bed.

***

When he suddenly woke up, the room was already dark.

Maybe because of the injection when they stitched his hand, he slept deeper than expected, but he felt much better.

“So you couldn’t talk, huh?”

Gang Dae-kyung’s voice came from outside.

“Chan must hate me.”

“What are you saying? He’s just more sensitive after the accident.”

“No, the way he looks at me is completely different. He must think this is all my fault.”

Yu Hye-suk was crying.

“Stop it! I’ll scold him later.”

“No, don’t.”

Yu Hye-suk’s sniffles were loud.

“I’m satisfied that he came back. Even if he glares at me... even if he resents me, I’m satisfied. Sob.”

Her voice came again, a bit calmer.

“Honey, if Chan hadn’t woken up then, I wouldn’t have been able to live. So I’m trying to let go of my greed. No matter how well Sung-hee’s son does, he can’t even match Chan’s little toe.”

Gang Dae-kyung comforted her, saying, “Even if that’s true, he’s better than a little toe.”

“I’ll talk to Chan tomorrow.”

“Don’t. If you make him hate you more, it will be harder.”

“Alright. I understand.”

Gang Chan was hungry but couldn’t go out.

He lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

They are completely different from his past parents.

Despite suddenly getting a rotten son, they are determined not to be greedy.

If I had been born to these two from the beginning, what would have happened? They probably wanted a child, but not one like this.

“What do you want me to do?”

He was asking the body’s owner.

“What do you want me to do?”

The ceiling gave no answer.

Gang Chan felt very confused about the new life he had received.

***

It was morning.

Thanks to the injection, he didn’t have much trouble sleeping.

He was used to sleeping in the field, so he had never suffered from insomnia.

His habit of waking up early remained.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Chan, are you awake?”

“Yes.”

When Gang Chan opened the door and came out, Yu Hye-suk looked at him cautiously, like a guilty person.

“Let’s eat.”

Yu Hye-suk, as if to say “I’ll be careful,” hurried to the kitchen.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, I slept well.”

“Your hand? I heard it’s not badly hurt?”

Gang Dae-kyung was trying to hide his worried look.

“I got hurt while exercising. It will take about a month to heal.”

“You had a close call. Let’s eat quickly.”

“Okay.”

The three of them started eating.

“The teacher gave you clothes, right?”

“Yes.”

“Shouldn’t you thank him?”

“Leave it. It’s fine.”

Gang Dae-kyung, who had said he would scold him, was also trying not to upset Gang Chan.

Breakfast was over without much trouble.

“Let’s go. I’ll drive you.”

“I’m going with Kim Mi-yeong.”

Yu Hye-suk’s eyes lifted, but she pretended to be calm.

“Do you have any plans for the weekend?”

Gang Chan, realizing it was Friday, wondered what he meant.

“On Sunday morning, Mom...”

“Hey! I told you not to!”

Unlike Gang Chan, Yu Hye-suk sharply retorted, and Gang Dae-kyung, clearing his throat, picked up his suit jacket.

“Have a good day.”

Gang Dae-kyung nodded and left, and Gang Chan went into his room to put on the spare school uniform.

He remembered he had left his bag.

‘Seok Gang-ho will bring it.’

“I’ll be back.”

“Okay. Be careful.”

She was trying to be affectionate.

But it was harder than fighting ten men with machetes, so Gang Chan decided to practice more before trying.

When he came out of the apartment, Kim Mi-yeong was kicking the ground and smiling.

‘Heartless girl.’

She must have an empty chest.

When Gang Chan nodded, Kim Mi-yeong ran over.

“How’s your hand?”

Gang Chan lifted his left hand and walked without a word.

As they left the apartment complex, the bus stop was right in front.

There were quite a few students there, probably because of the time.

But as Gang Chan arrived, they cautiously stepped back one by one.

No one met his gaze.

Just as Gang Chan was about to clear his throat, a bus arrived, and the students moved.

Creak. Squeak.

The door opened, and the students boarded the bus.

Since the same school students were on the bus and Kim Mi-yeong was also getting on, it was clearly a bus going to school.

Gang Chan confidently got on the bus but then realized he had no money.

“Don’t students use a card?”

Card? What card?

As Gang Chan stared blankly at the driver, Kim Mi-yeong quickly came over.

“Why?”

Seeing his expression, she said, “Uncle, I’ll tap it again,” and held out her small wallet.

Beep.

What a relief. If he had gone alone, he would have been embarrassed.

Gang Chan followed Kim Mi-yeong to the back.

There were many students, but strangely, the aisle was clear.

When Gang Chan stood in the middle of the back, the unpleasant-looking guys in the last row jumped up in surprise.

“Sir, please sit here.”

What is this?

The students were pretending not to see, but they were glancing at him.

Kim Mi-yeong also looked at Gang Chan with surprise.

“Stop it and just