Chapter 48
Chapter 48
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: I Caused Trouble
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Early in the semester, his friends were afraid of Jin-hyuk. It was because of his consistently expressionless and taciturn personality.
However, since Jin-hyuk didn't swear like other kids his age, or bully his friends like the tough guys who threw their weight around, their fear shifted to just a slight awkwardness rather than outright dread.
"Teacher, Beom-seok says he's not feeling well. He seems to have a fever too."
"Uh, uh? R-Really? Alright, then. Sh-Should I write you an early dismissal slip?"
His proactive way of stepping up for friends who were sick or had family matters also helped change their perceptions.
Of course, there were guys who looked at Jin-hyuk unfavorably. They dismissed his rumored exploits from early in the semester as exaggerations and saw him as a rival they could crush anytime.
'Hey, is that the bastard from back then?'
'Can't you tell just by looking, you idiot?'
'Damn, I wanna smash him!'
In a world full of people, it was only natural. To believers, heroic tales were sacred, but to skeptics who hadn't witnessed them, they were just boasts.
And the seniors were no exception.
Among them were probably some former wrestling club members who had been half-heartedly scolded and now ground their teeth in resentment.
It was one day after lunch, while helping Shin Woo-sung and Lee Seung-hoon with their studies.
The study bug Chae Gyu-ho had also joined in, receiving tutoring from Jin-hyuk.
A kid from the next class named Park Yong-seok approached hesitantly.
"Hey, Chae Gyu-ho, Hyung Seong-dong wants to see you."
"Huh? M-Me? Wh-Why?"
"Dunno, man."
Jin-hyuk was there, so Park Yong-seok didn't scowl or curse, but his attitude carried that signature cockiness and prickliness.
Jin-hyuk glanced sideways at Chae Gyu-ho and Park Yong-seok as they left the classroom, then stood up from his seat.
"Let's take a break."
With summer vacation approaching and the weather getting hotter, it was also a measure for his two wrestling club friends who were too scared of Jin-hyuk to even complain about post-meal drowsiness.
'Seong-dong must be Yoon Seong-dong from third year. He's probably the one behind the guys Woo-sung was shaking down for cash.'
He was worried about his desk mate, Chae Gyu-ho.
Chae Gyu-ho was the type who never complained about bullying or troubles at school. Jin-hyuk felt a dirty, unpleasant vibe from the fact that Yoon Seong-dong had summoned his desk mate. It was a warning from his instincts combined with past knowledge.
'The guy who stabbed Woo-sung with a knife.'
It happened the year Jin-hyuk turned thirty-five. Yoon Seong-dong had killed Shin Woo-sung in a bar fight but walked free without charges. Lee Seung-hoon had told him it was thanks to the massive connections mobilized by his yakuza-boss father.
As a third-year who had been held back a year due to violence, Yoon Seong-dong likely ruled over the other third-years like a king. Jin-hyuk had been keeping an eye on him for his friend Shin Woo-sung's sake anyway. He expected the third-year wrestling club members he'd scolded early in the semester to make a move eventually.
Jin-hyuk patted Shin Woo-sung's shoulder.
"I'll check homework tomorrow morning."
"Aaaah— just kill me."
Shin Woo-sung clutched his head and wailed.
Jin-hyuk pretended to glare at him angrily.
"N-No, I mean... spare me."
"You don't have to finish it all. Just understand and solve one problem."
Do it right if you're going to do it. It was something Jin-hyuk had told newbie employee Hong Su-jeong, and his team members who dragged flawed projects past milestones due to deadlines.
Shin Woo-sung nodded reluctantly, his eyes screaming 'Math is hard.'
As Jin-hyuk headed out to find Chae Gyu-ho, Shin Woo-sung's grumbling followed from behind.
"The class rep doesn't even do self-study and lives far away—how does he study so well?"
"Dude, is that what's important right now? Aren't you more curious why the class rep is making us study like this? Woo-sung, you gotta think strategically with that brain of yours, I reckon. Right?"
Lee Seung-hoon was a bit smarter than Shin Woo-sung. That must be why he made it into Taeyang High School and could keep wrestling.
Jin-hyuk's lips curved up involuntarily as he listened to his friends.
'Just memorize the textbooks.'
Naive kids.
Jin-hyuk had practically memorized the standard math textbook and Comprehensive English Prose.
It took longer than before, but since he'd done it once, it wasn't hard.
"I know— as this night flows on—."
"Oh my love— don't leave meee—."
Out in the hallway, most kids were humming the latest hits and flopping around like squid.
Jin-hyuk sighed briefly watching them.
'So old-school. When do the Bulletproof teachers debut?'
Maybe they'd been born already. There was a time he was hooked on the melody and lyrics of "Unspoken Feelings," listening every day.
'I even debated joining ARMY.'
Black Velvet and Red Pink were cool too. Who else was there?
His memory was fuzzy. Strange, since his head was sharp.
'Everything except what I experienced firsthand doesn't come to mind well.'
The history of his own era was hazy too, wasn't it?
But the doubt didn't linger.
He was in a hurry over something important now and had no time for reminiscing.
'Where is he?'
He scanned the school but couldn't spot Chae Gyu-ho easily.
The possible spots were obvious.
No sign of him at the sink, the auxiliary field, or the third-year classroom where Yoon Seong-dong would be. He was heading back to the classroom when...
"Huh? Class rep?"
He ran into Chae Gyu-ho returning to class.
He held a few bills in his hand, his face flushed yet dazed.
Jin-hyuk stopped him.
"What did he want?"
"I dunno."
Chae Gyu-ho just stared blankly at the money in his hand.
After hearing Chae Gyu-ho's explanation of meeting Yoon Seong-dong, Jin-hyuk sighed deeply.
'Some things never change.'
As far as he knew, it was called the "daily interest game."
Delinquent groups would give money to naive students as "friendship fees" with no strings attached. The victims, flustered by the sudden 50,000 or 60,000 won—big money back then—were too stunned to react at first. Then the nightmare began the next day.
They'd demand repayment with interest through threats and violence.
Would young kids fall for that?
The younger and more immature, the more sensitive they are to stimuli and the easier they fall in. Evil acts give stronger thrills than good ones and are easier to imitate.
Back then, Jin-hyuk—who looked poor and miserable to everyone—had stayed far from such delinquents' notice, so he'd never been a victim.
But it didn't take long to recall there had been suicides because of it. Son Jin-hyuk was such an outsider with no friends that he couldn't remember the kid's name, but the incident itself had been huge news.
'What was his name...?'
A Sung classmate whose face he didn't even know.
It had shocked even Jin-hyuk, who watched from afar. Not just because a student died, but because the school and police closed it as a simple suicide.
Chae Gyu-ho mumbled with a still-bewildered expression.
"The hyung said to hang out and just gave it to me as pocket money."
"Anything else?"
"Just 'see you tomorrow' or something."
Jin-hyuk doubted anyone would give money for free, but hoped it wasn't the daily interest game. He considered taking the money from his friend and returning it, but decided against it—it'd look weird. Meddling too much.
'Might need to watch and see.'
That thought included his hope that things would unfold differently from the past. Just like how he watched Hwang Ga-young without grinding his teeth or showing hostility—because they hadn't harmed him yet.
'I'm living in a different world now.'
Jin-hyuk, who had plenty of misanthropy without anyone egging him on, wanted the people around him to enjoy kind, peaceful lives. In this new world.
"If he calls you again tomorrow, tell me first before going. You can do that much, right?"
"Yeah, class rep."
Chae Gyu-ho nodded like a good little brother.
That was the best Jin-hyuk could do.
He held back from telling him not to spend a single won of the money from Yoon Seong-dong.
The kid was smart; he'd figure it out.
He might look spacey, but he'd gotten second in the whole school on the last exam.
After school, he went to the newspaper distribution center.
"Jin-hyuk, today's your last day, huh? Uncle's really gonna miss you."
"Sorry I couldn't stick around longer."
Jin-hyuk bowed deeply as he took his pay envelope.
The distribution manager clapped Jin-hyuk's shoulder hard, full of regret.
"Nah. Come back anytime. Newspaper delivery doesn't pay much anyway."
Excluding Sundays, delivering to over 50 subscribers for a month netted 5,000 won. He'd chosen evening papers due to distance, but morning papers weren't much better. They only paid an extra 1,000 won for the early wake-up.
In his first round, when every penny counted, Jin-hyuk had done morning routes too, but evening papers actually earned more.
Morning collections were handled by the manager or mailed bills, while evening delivery boys collected receipts door-to-door. Places like real estate offices or tea houses would slip kids 5,000 or 10,000 won bills as tips for their effort. Tips could multiply the wage several times.
Jin-hyuk had saved diligently to buy market-brand sneakers, underwear, and clothes. He even opened a savings account at the credit union in the market, which helped him escape the attic later.
Clueless about the world but navigating it shrewdly in his own way.
Anyway, goal achieved—no more newspaper runs.
Jin-hyuk headed to Links Chicken.
He'd eaten market fried chicken, but for his mom who hadn't tried chicken because they lived in the countryside. Market fried chicken was tasty too. But the scraps rural merchants called "retreat chicken" and fried couldn't compare in texture or flavor to real chicken.
He strode in confidently and ordered takeout.
"One bird?"
The pot-bellied uncle, cigarette dangling crookedly, held up one finger.
Let's see: Mom, Dad, me, Yu-jin, General.
"Five birds."
"Whoa—30,000 won."
"No, make it six."
"Heh."
Newspaper pay plus collection tips—plenty of cash. If short, he'd dip into Dad's allowance, but chicken money from a rich kid? Pocket change.
The owner, figuring him for a student teacher on practice from a sports college, was thrilled at the daytime business, asking if it was for a group meal.
Sizzle-crackle.
Jin-hyuk watched the chickens frying, feeling happy.
'Mom will love it.'
She liked market fried chicken, so chicken would blow her away.
Thinking of his family devouring it made his heart flutter and stomach growl.
Gotta get home before it cools.
*
He balanced three chickens per side on the bike handlebars and pedaled.
Balance matters. Why he ordered even numbers.
On roads with little traffic, his bike outpaced scooters.
He covered the usual 40-minute distance in 25 minutes and arrived home.
'Huh? Su-jeong's here?'
Hong Gi-jun's car was parked in the yard.
He rarely visited outside vacation—what happened?
"Oh, our boy’s home early today?"
"Jin-hyuk, come on in—."
Dad and Hong Gi-jun welcomed him from the porch.
Jin-hyuk had found his old boss intimidating, but seeing him lit up his face too.
'Good thing I bought six!'
Very odd reason, as usual.
Watching his family dig into chicken on the porch filled Jin-hyuk with happiness. He didn't forget to pick off meat for Yu-jin and General.
Hong Gi-jun, grease shining on his lips, asked why the sudden treat before dinner even.
"You gonna keep delivering papers through break, Jin-hyuk?"
"No."
I did it to buy chicken. Last day today.
He swallowed the rest. Jin-hyuk's answers were always like this.
Frustrating, but Hong Gi-jun just chuckled it off.
"Uncle went to the countryside today and stopped by."
"Okay."
Got it.
Why mention it unprompted?
Did he think Jin-hyuk found him uncomfortable? Fair enough—Jin-hyuk did feel awkward around Hong Gi-jun.
"You staying over?"
Son Gwang-yeon asked eagerly, gnawing chicken, eyes twinkling.
He looked just like General growling over pork bones.
"Wouldn't wanna inconvenience you, sis-in-law. But gotta finish this chicken Jin-hyuk bought with his own money, right?"
"No inconvenience at all. Stay the night."
"Haha, should I?"
Han Yu-young beamed till her eyes vanished at Hong Gi-jun's eager acceptance.
Still, she hid the cola behind her back out of Yu-jin's reach.
"No, Yu-jin—no cola. That's soy sauce."
"Hehe—no? Soy sauce flavor?"
Yu-jin, not knowing cola yet, lost interest.
Son Gwang-yeon shot up.
Wife's permission granted—time for booze.
A treat only when friends visited; couldn't miss it.
Jin-hyuk held Yu-jin and stayed by his beer-drinking dads.
Mom kept bringing fruit and dry snacks despite no need. Food vanished into Yu-jin and General's bellies as fast as it appeared.
"When's your break start, Jin-hyuk?"
"Last Saturday of July."
"Olympics opening day, huh?"
Already? Jin-hyuk tilted his head.
1992 Barcelona Olympics—where was it again?
Oh, right—Barcelona.
"Gwang-yeon, wanna bet?"
Hong Gi-jun suggested a wager out of nowhere.
Jin-hyuk narrowed his eyes.
'This uncle hates betting.'