Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator : M.N 1391
Chapter: 11
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Director Go, thoroughly annoyed, slapped the diary shut.
It was clearly written with the intent that someone would read it.
Yet at the same time, it struck him as strange. Over the past two years in the juvenile detention center, Kyung-wan hadn’t changed much at all, his attitude when he entered and when he left was practically the same. Other kids showed signs of inner change even after just a few months, but not Kyung-wan.
After briefly worrying about the boy’s future, Director Go decided to stop caring altogether. Their connection ended here.
All he could do was hope the boy would walk a smoother path ahead.
= = = = =
After completing the necessary administrative procedures and receiving back his belongings, though there wasn’t much to call belongings, Kyung-wan left the center and met the man waiting for him.
It was a low-level social worker assigned to escort minors without guardians to youth shelters.
The place he took Kyung-wan to was called Happy Home.
That was the name of the protective facility Kyung-wan would now enter. But it didn’t seem all that happy.
“Don’t cause trouble.”
The director of Happy Home was extremely businesslike. It was obvious he was trying not to form emotional ties with the kids.
“Yes.”
Kyung-wan nodded without resistance. He wasn’t interested in unnecessary attention either.
“This is Lee Kyung-wan, the new arrival. Get along with him.”
At the director’s introduction, a boy who looked the oldest among the others walked up to Kyung-wan.
“I’m Lee Chul. Let’s get along.”
“Yeah.”
Kyung-wan nodded, and ended up sharing a room with this high schooler named Lee Chul.
There wasn’t anything particularly different just because it was a shelter.
People lived, liked, hated, got annoyed, loved, just like anywhere else. Birds of a feather flock together. Kids with similar wounds found it easier to connect.
If you watched the kids closely, you could guess the director’s management policy.
Under the broad idea that everyone should take care of their own affairs, Lee Chul, borrowing the director’s authority, was managing the kids.
Within that structure, the kids had divided into small groups, watching out for each other.
The divisions were based on gender, school grade, which school they attended, or common interests like studying.
Humans are naturally drawn to those like themselves.
In that environment, Kyung-wan chose to be an outsider.
It wasn’t that there weren’t kids his age, but there was no way they’d welcome an intruder like him.
And frankly, he didn’t care.
Lee Chul nagged him to try and be more sociable, but Kyung-wan simply replied:
“Kids trying to live a serious life and someone like me trying to coast through, can’t mix.”
Kids without guardians matured quickly.
Having guessed how harsh the world would be for someone like them, most came to realize that living earnestly was the only way.
Naturally, their mindset was completely different from someone like Kyung-wan, who was just living as if possessed.
Hearing that, Lee Chul shut his mouth.
He didn’t like it, but he also had no intention of interfering any further.
How to live was each person’s decision.
Lee Chul already found his own life burdensome enough to care about Kyung-wan’s.
Still, as the facility’s eldest, and knowing that he’d also be in trouble if incidents occurred, he gave a warning.
“Don’t cause problems with anyone here.”
“I’ll follow the rules. But I can’t promise to get close with anyone.”
“As long as you don’t cross the line, it’s fine.”
Seeing that Kyung-wan seemed to understand, Lee Chul nodded in slight relief.
That didn’t mean Kyung-wan had no complaints about the facility.
“The side dishes are pathetic.”
A few sausages, some greens, a bit of kimchi, and watery soup, that was all. The food at the juvenile center might’ve been better.
When Kyung-wan muttered his complaint, the girl on food duty glared at him sharply.
“Then don’t eat.”
Faced with her rough tone, Kyung-wan shook his head and replied.
“Can’t skip meals.”
Then he confidently took his tray and walked off.
The girl glared at his back as he walked away.
Even without saying it, Kyung-wan could guess what her look meant.
What a piece of work.
Kyung-wan didn’t attend school.
Instead, he registered with an online alternative school to study for the GED.
It was a program the director recommended, and Kyung-wan understood that everything had its pros and cons.
It seemed the director was trying to cut costs on uniforms and tailoring hand-me-downs.
So Kyung-wan nodded for the sake of smooth facility life.
Still, he couldn’t help but think, if he’d gone to school, maybe the meals would’ve been better.
“I’m off.”
“Take care.”
Wearing his school uniform and slinging his backpack, Lee Chul headed off to school.
Kyung-wan, who had chosen not to attend, rolled around on his bed for a while, but soon gave in to boredom and wandered outside.
With most of the kids at school, the facility was quiet and lonely.
But Kyung-wan liked the loneliness.
Wandering around and exploring the empty spaces, he ran into the director just as he was heading out.
“What are you doing here?”
“Taking a walk.”
Well, since he wasn’t in school, that made sense.
“How’s your GED prep going?”
“I’ll do it… reasonably well?”
Hearing that, the director’s eyes narrowed.
“Do you know why I suggested the GED to you?”
Kyung-wan shook his head.
“You don’t have much. All you’ve got is youth, and you need to sacrifice that to build a stable foundation. Get that GED as soon as possible, then get a job and save up for college.”
To some, that might have been a harsh truth.
But from Kyung-wan’s cynical perspective, it just sounded like the director didn’t want to spend money sending him to high school, yet couldn’t very well let a kid in a shelter graduate middle school and go out into the world with just an ID card.
Still, rather than argue, Kyung-wan just nodded.
“Yes. But weren’t you busy?”
“…Remember what I said.”
“Yes.”
He was always good at giving the right answers.
Once the director was out of sight, Kyung-wan erased his words from memory and continued exploring this unfamiliar place.
The laundry room, kitchen, bathroom, study room, spaces meant for people but now empty, felt comforting to him.
If he liked places without people so much, then wouldn’t he love nature?
Hell no.
Nature was never kind to humans, if anything, it was hostile.
The most suitable environment for humans was one modified by humans for human comfort.
“Stop it!”
A sharp girl’s voice echoed faintly in Kyung-wan’s ears.
So some kids didn’t go to school?
Parentless brats refusing to attend school, their future was obvious.
Kyung-wan clicked his tongue and turned in the opposite direction.
But then he heard a boy’s voice.
“Why are you playing hard to get? You like it too.”
“Screw off! I said stop!”
Kyung-wan’s feet changed course toward the commotion.
Better to stop it before it got out of hand and caused trouble for everyone.
If authorities came sniffing around, the food might get even worse.
He followed the voices and ended up near the girls’ dorm showers.
There, he saw a boy pinning a girl against the wall, grabbing her wrist, clearly harassing her.
“Hey. You, little sex offender. Over here.”
“Ah, fuck.”
The boy, whose face looked far from childlike, scowled at Kyung-wan.
Then, after a moment of hesitation, he made a suggestion.
“Wanna join in?”
Kyung-wan smiled and asked,
“Join what?”
“You know what I mean.”
Kyung-wan glanced at the girl, her face flushed red as she clutched her skirt, and then turned back to the boy with the punchable face.
“Didn’t they teach you in school that this kind of thing is bad?”
“Whatever. She’s just a slut who sells her body anyway. What’s wrong with having a taste?”
“Hahaha.”
Kyung-wan laughed.
Misunderstanding the smile, the boy continued.
“I mean… if you want to go first, I’ll let you.”
Kyung-wan couldn’t hold back his laughter.
“Pfft! Do your mommy and daddy know you’re doing this kind of shit?”
That made the boy’s face twist into something no kid should wear.
Seemed Kyung-wan had struck a nerve.
“Motherfucker! I was being nice ‘cause you’re older by a year, but now you’re getting cocky!”
There wasn’t much size difference between the two despite the one-year age gap.
“You’re just another parentless piece of trash!”
The boy tried to hurl a low blow right back, but it had zero effect.
In fact, Kyung-wan just smiled again, that unsettling, gleeful grin that made others uncomfortable.
“Not gonna swing?”
“Fuck!”
The boy lunged, but then abruptly swerved and ran off.
Kyung-wan didn’t even glance at the girl as he left.
Not because he was trying to act like some cool, aloof guy.
He just didn’t want to get further involved. That was his limit.
But the incident didn’t end there.
After dinner, Kyung-wan went out for a walk, bored out of his mind.
His body felt stiff, though he had no desire to move.
As he grumbled to himself that his lazy mindset was being betrayed by a too-diligent body, he heard a scream.
“Ah! Ah!”
Thud, thud, like a blanket being slapped hard.
Kyung-wan clicked his tongue.
Maybe the detention center was better.
Just because there weren’t adults around, things had already gone to shit.
Wanting a peaceful life at the shelter, Kyung-wan crept toward the noise to figure out whether this was just a normal occurrence or the start of a headache that might drag him in.
And there he saw something unexpected.
“I told you not to hang out with those assholes!”
Whack! Whack!
“Ah! Ah!”
The facility’s eldest, Lee Chul, was holding a club as thick as an egg and spanking someone’s butt.
“Jung-go.”
Calling the boy’s name as he brought down the club, Lee Chul’s voice was full of regret.
As the boy, clutching his backside, turned toward him, Kyung-wan realized it was the same rape-aspiring brat from earlier that morning.
Lee Chul spoke to him in a pained voice.
“Live like them and your life’s over.”
“...It’s already over, isn’t it?”
“Jung-go!”
Lee Chul’s voice rose.
That was when Jung-go noticed Kyung-wan peeking around the corner.
Sensing the shift in his gaze, Lee Chul turned and made eye contact with Kyung-wan.
Kyung-wan waved and said,
“I didn’t see anything.”
Then walked off without a care.
Apparently, it wasn’t a major incident.
But he couldn’t avoid running into Lee Chul again, after all, they shared a room.
“Thanks.”
Lee Chul suddenly said.
Kyung-wan had a feeling what he meant but played dumb anyway.
“For what?”
“For stopping that kid from doing something bad.”
“From the look of him, he’ll probably pull that shit again sometime.”