Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Self-Respect
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"If you're going out, you should change your clothes first, right?"
I said this to Seo Jae-kyeom, who was wearing a gray hoodie that made his already broad shoulders look even wider.
"It's 31 degrees outside right now."
If he went out in that, he'd sweat like he was taking a shower.
It's not for nothing that every time I come over, he gulps down ice water like crazy.
"So you're coming with me, then?"
Seo Jae-kyeom gave a curt reply and dashed into his room with a thud.
The door flew wide open, revealing the inside. He'd pulled out every piece of clothing and strewn it all over the bed and desk. Good lord. Clean your room.
"Don't leave without me! I'm serious, don't go!"
"Yeah, okay..."
But Seo Jae-kyeom.
I usually don't say this to people who buy books as a hobby...
Do we really need to add more stuff to that messy room...?
Maybe he should just organize what he's already got.
"You're really going out in that?"
"Why? Does it look weird?"
"No... it's not weird or anything."
But it'll be hot.
Seo Jae-kyeom seemed to be dressing up more stylishly with each passing day as we headed down the stairs.
As usual, we were about to greet the housekeeper and leave when I spotted Seo Jae-kyeom's mom sitting at the dining table.
"Hello..."
I gave an awkward greeting.
Maybe because I knew her situation, but she seemed especially prickly. Or not prickly, exactly... more like full of irritation?
Seo Jae-kyeom's mom, who had been snipping at a bouquet spread out on the wide table, turned to him and asked,
"Where are you going?"
"The bookstore."
"In this weather?"
"Does reading books depend on the weather?"
"It's not like you need to read it right now. Why don't you start with the books you've dumped in your room?"
With a single sentence, she shut down Seo Jae-kyeom, who shrugged proudly about his reading habits, then turned her attention to me.
"Da-hye, how do you get home? It's so hot out."
"I walk."
"In this weather? It takes forever just to get from here to the main road."
"True, but I don't have a single ten-won coin right now."
It was meant to be a joke, but Seo Jae-kyeom's mom furrowed her brow.
"Girl, you'll never be treated like royalty anywhere if you act like that. How can you advertise that you're broke?"
"Ah..."
It was just a joke.
"Don't try to appeal to people with that stuff. Kids these days hate it—they think it's tacky. The era of cheering for someone who clawed their way up from poverty is over."
"......"
"People now prefer princesses who were pampered from birth. Like Ji-su."
"Y-yes..."
Ouch. Ouch.
I said I didn't have a dime, and now I'm getting pummeled like this.
'Did my words sound like I was hinting for bus fare to Seo Jae-kyeom's mom?'
As I stood there awkwardly, lips sealed, Seo Jae-kyeom raised his voice beside me.
"Mom!"
"Eek, scary. He's been taking your side like that lately, Da-hye. What's gotten into him?"
"Hahaha..."
Even Seo Jae-kyeom must think his mom's words were too much...
Why does she always act like this whenever we meet?
What am I supposed to do about our family being poor?
Yeah, sure, should I go rob a rich house? If I ever start robbing rich houses, yours will be first! I know exactly where everything is—watch out!
"I'm the one who begged Da-hye to do tutoring with me, so what does that make me if you keep saying stuff like this?"
"You're saying you begged her when she's doing it for free? She should be the one begging you."
"......"
This was excruciating.
At this point, maybe Seo Jae-kyeom's mom just didn't like that I was tutoring with him.
Should I say I'm quitting right now?
"Da-hye, you're not going to get upset over what I said and stop tutoring, right?"
"Haha..."
Man, I have no idea how I even got out of that house.
As I slipped on my shoes and glanced back, Seo Jae-kyeom's mom had set down the flower shears and was fiddling with her phone, like she was waiting for a message.
"Ma'am."
"Yes?"
"Aren't you going out today?"
"Where would I go? It's so hot outside."
"...Okay. Have a good day."
"Alright. Take care."
Being poor doesn't mean you have no shame.
Poor people feel just as mortified and their faces flush just the same when they have to do something humiliating.
They just act like it's no big deal because they have no choice.
Preserving your pride costs money, too.
Back before my regression, at 29. All my peers were employed, but I was still jobless. That gut-wrenching feeling at gatherings when they'd obliquely ask, 'Should we cover this?'—pretending not to hear. You can't understand unless you've been there.
The misery that jolts you awake at night.
That's why I'm studying now.
To never go through that twice.
"...Da-hye, sorry... I really..."
"......"
"...Kang Da-hye, you okay?"
"Seo Jae-kyeom."
On the way down to the bus stop.
I looked up at Seo Jae-kyeom, who was fidgeting and pacing circles beside me.
"Sorry, I... From now on, I'll make sure you don't run into my mom. How about we do tutoring outside instead?"
I stared at Seo Jae-kyeom, sweat pouring off him, then spoke.
"I read this in a non-fiction passage yesterday."
Korean high schooler trait: Accumulating trivia from Korean language non-fiction passages.
"They divided subjects into two groups and had them buy something and pay for it."
One group met a friendly clerk, the other an unfriendly one.
And both got overpaid change due to the clerk's mistake—more than they were owed.
"The result? A huge number of people who met the unfriendly clerk knew the change was wrong but pocketed it anyway. The friendly group did the opposite."
I emphasized this to Seo Jae-kyeom, who stared at me wide-eyed, confused why I was bringing it up.
"You don't even need an experiment for that. There's a proverb: 'One kind word repays a debt of a thousand nyang.'"
Knowing she'd been scammed out of billions by that Shakespeare-obsessed shaman, would I close my eyes to it because I hated how she spoke to me? Or would I do my best to save her?
If I chose the former, I wouldn't have to do anything special to hurt her—just pretend I didn't know.
Helping her, on the other hand, would be pointless hassle.
"Honestly, I get it. I totally understand those people who wouldn't give it back."
But.
"I've made up my mind. No leaving regrets behind."
After going through the trouble of regressing, if I ignored this just because of a bad mood, I'd despise myself ten or twenty years from now.
I don't want to live with that kind of identity.
I looked at Seo Jae-kyeom, resolve firm.
"So this isn't for the clerk—it's for me."
No matter what she does, I won't waver. I'll hold my ground and do what I can.
A choice for my self-respect.
I'm broke, not lacking dignity.
"So let's go down and get some ice cream first. It's hot."
I fanned my face with the workbook I was holding.
Ah, so hot.
"We'll keep doing tutoring at your place like always."
I have things to do.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Alright.
I've decided what to do next.
But here's the problem again.
What can I actually do?
An 18-year-old high schooler with no money or connections?
If I were an adult, I could hop in Seo Jae-kyeom's mom's car right now, head to that shaman's place, and heck, make her strip or whatever.
But me?
Setting aside that I don't even have a license, there are a ton of obstacles.
Even if I went alone to check out the vibe, would that shaman even see me? A high schooler?
How should I handle this?
Does anyone know someone?
"I wish it were something I could solve by memorizing three billion vocab words."
I'm good at studying, but that doesn't mean I'm good at scheming.
I'm just good at studying, okay? I'm not Zhuge Liang.
I drummed my fingers on the table, deep in thought.
Until today—the next tutoring session—I'd done my own research on the male-disguised shaman woman, but came up empty.
The sunlight pouring through the full-length window was so blinding it hurt my eyes.
As I grimaced, thinking scammers should just melt in the sun,
"Hey, Da-hye."
The student teacher, whose presence I hadn't even noticed, suddenly poked his head in.
Eek! I jolted back in surprise.
He glanced at the doodly sketch I'd drawn on my notebook, then at my chin-propped face, and asked,
"Da-hye, got something on your mind?"
...Come to think of it, isn't this guy a Korean literature major?