Chapter 46
Chapter 46
What was that sound? A sense of unease settled in my heart.
“Ah, never mind that. Anyway, just wait up for now. I’ll be there soon, so don’t set off the bomb prematurely. I’ll handle that myself.”
It seemed the call was about to end. Lee Jun appeared. Jae-gyu, who was just tucking his phone into his waistband, frowned when he saw Lee Jun, then spotted Bom standing behind him.
“Bom? Why are you two together…?”
Lee Jun blocked Jae-gyu as he tried to approach. The tension between the two men was rising again. Bom felt utterly drained.
She wasn’t ready to face Jae-gyu yet, and the situation, with Lee Jun now involved, felt overwhelming. Bom hugged the paper shopping bag tightly and backed away.
“Uh, I’m busy, so I’ll get going. I have a lot to buy.”
She babbled incoherently and hastily left the spot. Running back to the sports field, Bom tried to calm her pounding heart.
“Ha, what is happening?”
She didn’t know what kind of argument the two men would get into next, but something else bothered her more. The content of the call had been quite chilling. The talk of ‘exploding’ and ‘dying’ was chilling in itself, and Jae-gyu’s voice had sounded serious.
‘Should I just go home? They said I could leave early today, didn’t they?’
Disturbed, Bom decided to return to the faculty office. It seemed better to pack her bag and go home. But that wasn’t to be.
“Teacher Bom. Surely you’re not, ahem, leaving already, are you?”
Vice Principal Seok Gwan-su had called out to Bom, who was heading towards the main building’s entrance.
“Were you planning to go in? Ahem.”
“No. I was going to… watch a bit more before going in.”
In the past, she would have just nodded and gone inside, but this year, she didn’t want to do that. It was also because she knew the Vice Principal had come out at dawn to inflate balloons by himself and decorate the school gate.
“Let’s go to the Parent-Teacher booth together. They say it’s opening now.”
Of all places! She didn’t want to go. She knew Jae-gyu was working there, and now she’d run into him again.
“…I heard that’s the snack booth. How about somewhere else?”
“Snacks. Perfect, I was getting hungry. Let’s go quickly.”
“Okay…”
She had no choice but to follow the Vice Principal.
The Parent-Teacher booth was near the school gate. Under a large zelkova tree, several parent committee members were bustling about in a large tent.
Seeing only three parent committee members preparing, it seemed Jae-gyu was still talking with Lee Jun. What on earth were they talking about that he still hadn’t arrived?
Vice Principal Seok Gwan-su approached the head of the parent committee and offered a handshake.
“Wow, you’re working so hard!”
“Oh my! Look who it is. Vice Principal, you’ve arrived?”
Up close, she saw three large deep fryers and one slush machine. She was surprised by how professional it looked. It was amazing to think where they’d rented them from.
‘The kids will definitely love this. What are they selling?’
The menu was written in large letters with a marker on thick colored paper.
Garaetteok Skewer 500 won
Fanta Slush 500 won
Since it was an event set up for the students, the prices were very cheap. As if sensing it was about to begin, teachers and students started gathering one by one.
The head of the parent committee, wearing a headscarf, muttered in front of the preheated oil.
“Why isn’t Han-gyeol’s Uncle here yet?”
“He said something or other, then hung up. Well, I couldn’t hear him well!”
“He’ll be here soon, I guess. Should we start without him?”
“Let’s do it. Everyone’s already gathered like this, how long are we supposed to make them wait?”
“Let’s fry them up first!”
Next to her, another parent opened an icebox. A milky cloud of dry ice vapor rose, revealing it was full of frozen garaetteok.
“Good heavens! Ji-hee’s mom, you only froze the garaetteok like this? What are we going to do if they’re not skewered?”
“It’s fine! We can just put them in those paper cups we brought!”
“Then they’re not skewers, are they?”
“We can fry them and then skewer them!”
“Can we do that?”
While they bickered among themselves, more students flocked to the booth. The head of the parent committee, who had finished preparing the sauce, declared they shouldn’t wait any longer.
“Alright, students. We’re frying them now!”
She plopped the garaetteok into the bubbling hot oil.
With over fifty students gathered, she just threw them in as quickly as possible. While the rice cakes were frying, they started taking orders. Since it was a little after lunchtime, their popularity soared.
It was then, amidst the excited murmurs of anticipation…
“Hey there! What are you doing right now!”
Jae-gyu, who had been slowly approaching from a distance with Lee Jun, shouted towards the booth.
“Come quickly, Han-gyeol’s Uncle!”
Jae-gyu yelled repeatedly from afar as he ran over.
“Ugh, I told you not to put those in!”
Simultaneously with his shout, a sudden roar erupted.
Boom!
One garaetteok shot up from inside the deep fryer. Soaked in hot oil, the garaetteok was as threatening as a bomb.
“Aargh! What is this!”
The faces of the parent committee members, who had barely dodged the garaetteok, turned ashen.
“R-run!”
It was because they belatedly remembered the dozen or so garaetteok they had already put in. People stumbled back behind the booth in confusion.
Boom!
Only after another explosion did the parent committee members hastily evacuate. The garaetteok began to explode in succession.
Boom!
Boom-boom!
BOOM!
With a time delay, the garaetteok started bouncing out. Screams erupted from all directions.
“Aaaargh!”
“It’s a rice cake grenade! Take cover!”
Students, including Bom, who were frozen by the unexpected situation, were exposed to danger in that state.
Even though they knew they had to escape, the rice cake bombs exploding everywhere held their feet captive. If they got hit by one of those…
‘I’d get a burn.’
Even knowing, she was stunned. Then, someone wrapped their arms around Bom and turned her around. In the man’s cool, deeply scented embrace, Bom heard another voice.
“Everyone, get out of the way!”
Jae-gyu’s voice came from the direction of the booth. He had run into the Parent-Teacher booth, where rice cakes were exploding in real-time. Bom let out a thin scream.
“Jae-gyu? It’s dangerous! Get out!”
She struggled to break free from the man’s embrace, but he held her tightly and wouldn’t let go.
“Let go of me!”
“Stay still.”
“Choi Yi-jun…?”
Only then did she realize it was Lee Jun holding her. Bom managed to turn her head and look at the booth.
The rice cakes were still bouncing and flying everywhere in the air. Jae-gyu, who had entered the fray, lifted his long leg and, with a CRASH!, knocked the deep fryer over outwards.
With Jae-gyu’s appearance, the situation was resolved in an instant. All the oil drained from the overturned fryer, and the rice cakes scattered helplessly across the floor.
“Good heavens…”
Everyone was speechless. It had been a dizzying moment where many could have easily suffered burns.
“…”
Amidst the frozen crowd, someone shouted loudly.
“That man saved the students!”
At that shout, someone else agreed, chiming in. A few more praises followed, and eventually, applause began to erupt.
“Awesome! Han-gyeol’s Uncle!”
“He’s a total hero, a hero!”
Amidst the deafening cheers, Bom alone was serious. Bom punched Lee Jun’s chest.
“Let me go!”
Since it was no longer dangerous, Lee Jun obediently released Bom. Bom ran with all her might towards the booth.
Running closer, Bom’s mind went blank when she saw Jae-gyu’s body. On the exposed parts of Jae-gyu’s short-sleeved T-shirt, there were marks where he had been hit by the oil-heated rice cakes.
His neck and forearms were clearly red and swollen. With his body in such a state, Jae-gyu was tidying up the messy area. He was meticulously checking if anything dangerous remained.
“Oh no…”
Standing silently behind Jae-gyu and watching him, a hot surge welled up inside her.
It pained her that he wasn’t thinking of his own body right now, doing all that. And the way he had rushed in when no one else dared was incredibly cool.
His selfless act was seared into her mind.
“Jae-gyu.”
“Oh, Bom. Are you hurt anywhere?”
Thanks to Jae-gyu, no one was hurt. Bom barely managed to speak, holding back her tears.
“Leave that as it is and talk to me.”
“Huh?”
“Talk to me.”
“You mean right now?”
“Yes, quickly.”
Bom stepped out of the booth and shouted towards Vice Principal Seok Gwan-su.
“Vice Principal! Could everyone please help clean up here!”
The Vice Principal was the one who had quickly clutched his head and fled at the sound of the explosion.
Just as he was relieved that the incident had concluded without major casualties, he dramatically made a circle above his head in response to Bom’s words.
Bom led the way, and Jae-gyu followed behind. As people began tidying up the booth, the surroundings became bustling, so they didn’t attract much attention.
However, a few people watched curiously as the two of them exited the school gate. Among them was Lee Jun’s piercing gaze.
But Bom didn’t care. Something else was important right now. After leaving the school gate, Bom took out her phone and searched for nearby hospitals.
<Shinsu-eup O-Surgical Clinic>
She kept making typos. Perhaps because she was in a hurry, her hands were trembling, and her vision was blurry.
Jae-gyu, who had been staring intently at Bom’s phone screen, muttered.
“Ah, you’re going to the hospital. Bom, I’m fine. If I put some spit on it, it’ll heal. It doesn’t hurt.”
How could this be an ‘okay’ injury? Bom checked the hospital list on the map and estimated the distance. There was a surgical clinic not far away.
“This one’s the best. It’s only a ten-minute walk. Uh, follow me.”
As she turned to leave, her wrist was caught. Jae-gyu pointed to a truck in front of the school gate.
“Then let’s take this. You’re crying too much, it won’t do.”
“Huh…?”
Bom wiped her eyes with her hand and was surprised. Tears had welled up in them without her even realizing it.