Ch 224
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 224
The preliminary grading results and the actual grades were all the same, but one subject—English—had a different score.
I was sure there were no mistakes on the test paper, but the grade was 96 points.
Did I make a mistake when marking the OMR sheet?
I had plenty of time and checked twice.
It was probably my mistake, but I felt I needed to confirm it, so I headed to the faculty office.
I arrived at the faculty office, but the English teacher wasn't at their desk.
The grade correction period still had plenty of time left, but I wanted to check quickly...
I asked the language teacher sitting at the next desk, and they said the English teacher had stepped out for a phone call.
They said the teacher had just left, so it seemed like it would take some time. I was about to come back later when I heard a familiar name in the teachers' conversation.
"The victim student's name was Chan-seong, wasn't it? The poor kid."
"That's right. They say 'Money talks, poverty walks.' But how could someone commit such an act and still shamelessly remain at school?"
"The perpetrator Lee Ji-sung's father is the president of Hwasin Electronics. They probably covered it up with money."
"Huh? From what I heard from Teacher Choi, they didn't take any money."
"Really?"
"Yes. The victim student beat him up badly in the preliminary rounds of the martial arts tournament. They settled it on the condition that they wouldn't make an issue of that incident."
"When I saw him in class last time, he was completely fine. That's too much. Is getting beaten up a little the same as lying in a vegetative state for two years?"
The teachers all know about it too.
Well, rumors have already spread among the students, so there's no way the teachers wouldn't know.
"That's what I'm saying. I heard he couldn't even remember anything from before."
"That's not what I heard. I heard that his memory came back because of this incident."
Wait, his memory came back?
"Excuse me, teacher."
"Oh? It's Ji-an."
"I overheard what you were saying just now. Is it true?"
"Well... that's..."
"We already know about what happened between Chan-seong and Ji-sung. The rumors have already spread."
"Oh, I see. Then if you know, why..."
"Not about that incident, but about what you just said about Chan-seong's memory coming back."
"Ah, that's what I heard from Teacher Choi."
Chan-seong's memory came back...
But why didn't he say anything to me?
Even though his memory came back, is he still more interested in Eunseo than me?
Well, even if his memory came back, it doesn't mean his original memories disappeared.
Still, I can't give up.
***
[Eunseo, I won't be able to do supplementary lessons today. Something came up. I'll make up for what we missed today after the festival.]
I sent a message to Eunseo and headed back to the small auditorium.
Sigh... This is really shitty.
I wanted to have supplementary lessons with Eunseo and go on a date with Se-jin.
I really didn't want to do this, but everyone in the class pushed me forward, so I ended up taking on the lead role that wasn't in my destiny.
"Chan-seong, you're here early. Should we practice just our scenes together before the others arrive?"
Seong Ji-an approached with a bright smile, but what on earth is she thinking?
I rejected her so harshly last time.
She recommended me saying that magic class students are smart so they'd memorize lines quickly, but honestly, that's just an excuse.
Acting isn't just about memorizing lines well, and she herself said earlier that Nam Ji-hyeon couldn't act, so she wouldn't work.
This recommendation definitely had some personal feelings mixed in, but I don't understand it.
Seong Ji-an doesn't openly show hostility toward me like Nam Ji-hyeon does, and she even protected me, but we definitely haven't become close friends again.
She always kept an appropriate distance in class and didn't talk much with me during student council activities either.
She definitely seemed to be putting up walls and avoiding me, so what wind has blown now?
"I haven't memorized the entire script yet, so I think I need to memorize more."
"If you haven't memorized it all, just look at the script while we do it. It'll be faster to memorize while actually doing it."
"I... I guess so."
I practiced some dialogue with her, and then the others came and we had group practice.
The props team all went back.
Honestly, memorizing lines isn't difficult.
As for acting, well, I've never worked as an actor, but I've lived long enough that I should be better than these kids.
Standing in front of people isn't as burdensome as it used to be either.
What I'm most worried about are Luciel and Se-jin.
Luciel might not come since I already told her I wouldn't be acting directly, but Se-jin said she would come.
She'll think I lied.
Of course, I didn't lie from the beginning, and this happened due to circumstances, so I can explain that, but this script that Nam Ji-hyeon wrote has a kissing scene between the male and female leads.
Of course, we don't actually do it, we just pretend to do it, but...
Come to think of it, Eunseo won't be participating in the martial arts tournament, so she'll have time to come watch.
Haha... I'm really completely screwed.
Drama practice continued until 6 PM.
"Let's stop here for today."
"For someone who said he didn't want to do it, Chan-seong, you were pretty good."
"I was looking at the script the whole time..."
"That's right. I think it'll be fine once you memorize the lines."
...These guys are making fun of someone right now.
Ugh, whatever.
I was about to go eat dinner and think about how to explain to Se-jin and the others when Seong Ji-an approached.
"Chan-seong, are you free for dinner?"
Why is she really acting like this?
"Why?"
"You did well today, but I think it would be good to practice a bit more. Should we eat dinner together and practice just the two of us a little more?"
Just the two of us? And eating together too... This is really strange.
"I think we've practiced enough. We decided to practice together tomorrow too."
"Still, I think it would be good to practice for about an hour more. The festival is this Monday."
After thinking for a moment, I agreed.
It seems like she still has some lingering feelings, so I think I need to clearly settle this again.
We went to the restaurant together for dinner and returned to the auditorium.
We ate dinner with all the kids who had drama practice, but Nam Ji-hyeon stared at me with a displeased expression throughout the meal, so I ate quickly and got up from the table.
She seems to be acting like that because I got the lead role, but I didn't want to do it either—I ended up doing it because I was recommended.
If she's so annoyed by it, I wanted to tell her to do it herself, but I held back because other kids were there.
I finished eating first and went to the small auditorium to wait while looking at the script, and soon Seong Ji-an arrived.
I could see she was carrying a black plastic bag, so it seemed like she stopped by the convenience store after eating.
"Did you wait long? Ji-hyeon wanted to stop by the convenience store, so I bought yours too, Chan-seong."
She took out ice cream from the bag and offered it to me, but I declined.
"Seong Ji-an, you're acting strange today. You usually kept your distance, but why are you acting like this today?"
"What did I..."
"Suddenly recommending me as the lead, asking to eat together. Why are you doing this?"
"..."
Ji-an didn't expect me to speak so directly, so she didn't say anything.
A moment of silence passed, and she was the first to speak.
"...Chan-seong, do you still like Eunseo?"
I should say yes, right? I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do about it.
This isn't the first time anyway.
Besides, the real Min Chan-seong is still in a vegetative state.
Whether Seong Ji-an ends up liking Do-hyun or not, I don't care anymore.
However, Min Chan-seong died in the original story.
Of course, that happened because the school stopped supporting treatment costs and discontinued life support, and I plan to continue supporting life support, but there's no guarantee that he'll wake up.
I hoped she would stop caring about him and give up, but... it's unfortunate.
"I heard your memory came back, so I thought it might be different from last time. I thought there might be a possibility for me..."
Huh? How did she know this?
Did she hear it from Choi Seo-ra?
That Seo-ra, I asked her not to tell the kids that my memory came back when I settled the case last time.
Her mouth is really too loose.
"I'm sorry. I don't have feelings for you."
"...Let's just practice tomorrow."
Seong Ji-an left as she was.
I saw tears welling up in her eyes, but this is the best I can do.
After all, I don't have much time left living as Min Chan-seong.
***
"You became the protagonist, teacher?"
"Didn't you say you were in charge of prop production last time?"
"The student who was the lead role's grandfather passed away, so I'm doing it as a substitute."
"I was going to skip the play, but if you're the protagonist, teacher, I definitely have to go watch."
"I want to go too. It should be fine to just go and watch."
As expected, both Luciel and Se-jin seem to be looking forward to it.
"Alright. It should be fine to just watch without doing anything else. It's good that you're coming, but since this is based on Romeo and Juliet, there are some scenes that are a bit..."
"What kind of scenes?"
"What, is there a bed scene?"
Oh my... Luciel, that girl, a bed scene.
"What bed scene? Do you think the school would let students perform such obscene content even if it's a play?"
"I guess not?"
"Then what is it?"
"Since the genre is romance, there's a bit of physical contact..."
At first, I thought about hiding it, but it's better to take the beating first.
If I hide it and get caught later, it might become a bigger problem.
"Oh, why are you worrying about something like that?"
"Right. It's not like you actually like each other, it's acting, right?"
What? Both of them seem to be taking it more coolly than I thought.
I was worried for nothing.
"Right? Even if there's physical contact, it's nothing big. Just holding hands a few times and a kissing scene at the end?"
"A kiss?"
"Kiss?"
Ugh... They weren't taking it coolly after all?
Both of them look like lasers are about to shoot from their eyes.
"A kissing scene, are you seriously saying that right now?"
"You clearly said earlier that the school wouldn't allow obscene content!"
"That's for things like bed scenes, and kissing isn't that... We don't actually do it, we just pretend to do it."
"That's obvious... No, why would you, teacher, do such a thing..."
"You said you'd quit student life this year, right? Just quit a little earlier."
"Well... if I don't do it, there's no one else to do it. The kids worked hard preparing, so it would be a bit much to scrap it like this."
"Who's your partner?"
"Ji-an, the one who went to Ares Guild with us before."
"Seong Ji-an? She's the girl who likes you, teacher."
Our Se-jin has a really good memory.
Both of them scolded me terribly with displeased expressions, but they didn't oppose it to the end.
It's fortunate, but there's still one mountain left.
I need to tell Eunseo too, and I'm really going crazy.
***
"Welcome. Are you here for travel?"
"That's right."
The immigration office staff asked in English, but I answered in Korean while handing over my passport.
The immigration office staff looked somewhat surprised.
"Oh, you can speak Korean?"
"My daughter is studying abroad in Korea, so I learned a little. I came to Korea to see my daughter this time too."
"Ah, I see. I hope you have a pleasant trip."
"Thank you."
I smiled back at the staff member who returned my passport with a smile, got my passport back, collected my luggage, and left the departure hall.
I was about to take a taxi immediately, but I saw a familiar face.
"Jace, I told you I didn't need to be picked up."
"This is Guilt's first time in Korea, isn't it? Besides, you came a long way, so of course I should escort you."
"You've been terribly disobedient since the old days. Just like that guy."
"Well, you're actually happy about it but still nagging. I brought a car, so let's move first."
I followed him to the parking lot and got in the car.
"You must be tired, right? I booked a hotel in downtown Seoul."
"Thank you. The Hunter School festival is tomorrow, right? How are the preparations going?"
"All preliminary preparations are finished. Six people including me will go in on the first day, four people on the second day, and everyone will participate together on the last day."
"Everyone? I clearly said that not many people would be needed on the last day, so those who wanted to could drop out..."
"Well, old man... Everyone has already made up their minds. If they were going to drop out at the end, they wouldn't have come to Korea in the first place."
"Still..."
"Stop talking nonsense and prepare well for the dinner appointment tomorrow evening. You have to pretend to be my grandfather."
"Grandfather?"
"You're too old to call you father, old man."
"What? You little..."
I was about to give him a smack on the head but held back because he was driving.
"Come to think of it, you said the boss came to see you last time. Are they still opposing it?"
"It's fine. The discussion ended well."
Although this was something I prepared personally, if the boss had opposed it to the end, I wouldn't have been able to even attempt it.
Fortunately, after long persuasion, I got a promise that even if they wouldn't help, they wouldn't interfere.