Chapter 245: Reverse-4
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 245: Reverse-4
A few days passed after that. Kim Jin-tae still hadn't shown up at school.
That fact was making Kang In-ho anxious.
He needed to at least see the guy's face to threaten or persuade him, but since they weren't meeting at all, he couldn't convey his intentions. He kept sending messages via KakaoTalk, but naturally, they remained unread.
The group’s cohesion had crumbled after a single fight.
Kim Jin-tae had left the group chat, and Kang In-ho himself hadn't written a single line since the possession.
As for Shin Jeong-ah, she was attending school with a vacant expression as if possessed by something, only to vanish like a ghost the moment the final homeroom ended.
With the core members who led the group wavering, the hangers-on—Sung Yoon-ho, Lee Mi-jung, and Jeong A-ra—had quietly slipped out of the group chat and were now sniffing around other social circles.
In the end, it seemed the group had been bound by mutual interests rather than friendship.
Kang In-ho thought as much after witnessing a side of their world he hadn't cared to know.
"Searching for wherever he's hiding would be over the top, too."
Regret followed—perhaps he should have finished things definitively that day.
Hearing the bell signal the end of school, he packed his bag and stepped out into the hallway.
Though the number of students had decreased compared to when he had attended school, the scenery wasn't much different. Children were spending their day in groups of like-minded peers, exchanging emotions.
The boys gathered to go to PC bangs, while the girls huddled together to take sticker photos.
He watched the scene for a long while, his eyes filled with something akin to envy.
"……."
A female student, walking with a gait that didn't match the vibrant scenery reflected in his eyes, moved slowly down the hallway.
It was Shin Jeong-ah.
Since he had treated her coldly in the classroom, she had become noticeably quiet. She still cast glances at him during class, but the frequency was decreasing.
While he felt a sense of guilt for unintentionally resorting to violence, he was inwardly satisfied that she was no longer bothering him.
True to his vow to set things right, he was working hard to settle the uncomfortable atmosphere the previous owner of this body had created.
Recently, he had started talking to several students, including Jung Sang-hoon, and his diligent attitude in class was gradually shifting the negative perception the teachers had of him.
Though a few nagging issues like Kim Jin-tae remained, most things were progressing according to his wishes.
He had succeeded even in the previous dimension ruled by religion, so he felt certain he would achieve results this time as well.
That was the delusion he held.
*
It felt as if her head were filled with thick smog; her vision was blurry, and her ears felt muffled.
She barely remembered how she got to school or how she left.
Shin Jeong-ah had been in this state for a while now.
She had expected a collective backlash—perhaps even a group lynching—as a reaction to how she had acted like she owned the school.
However, her bracing for the coming pain and her tensed body proved unnecessary; there was no direct harm.
At first, she had been relieved. She thought she wouldn't have to go back to being treated the way she was when she sat in the corner of the classroom, doodling in a notebook...
She had breathed a sigh of relief.
But as time passed, she realized she had been thrown into a swamp.
A swamp called indifference. She had been cast right into the middle of it.
No one met her eyes; no one dealt with her.
In-ho, who used to talk to her, treated her like a ghost. Jin-tae didn't show up to school and didn't reply to her messages.
Sung Yoon-ho, Lee Mi-jung, and Jeong A-ra, whom she had been close with, were already hanging out with other kids.
A swamp of solitude created by thorough exclusion.
Having begun to sink slowly into that swamp, she flailed within it.
Throughout the entire day, she rarely opened her mouth to make a sound. She could hardly remember what her own voice sounded like.
Thud, thud. She walked down the street after leaving school.
Where should I go?
That was her main concern lately.
She didn't want to go home to her drunken father and the mother who cursed her. Her money had long since run out. All she could do was walk until the sun went down.
"Ah... I'm dizzy."
It seemed worse lately. Her stomach felt nauseous, and she couldn't keep food down.
So, during lunch, she would buy a carton of milk and a piece of bread from the snack bar and spend her time eating where she used to smoke.
Today, her steps felt exceptionally heavy. It might have been because she saw Kang In-ho on her way out.
She was walking along the colorful sidewalk blocks when it happened.
The exhaust fumes from a massive dump truck passing in the adjacent lane engulfed her, and a sudden surge of nausea hit her instantly.
"Ugh—"
Feeling as if she were about to throw up right there, she hunched over.
Perhaps because she hadn't eaten anything, only thick saliva dripped from her mouth.
After gagging for a long while, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and thought:
Wait... when was the last time I had it?
Counting the days on her fingers, Shin Jeong-ah’s face began to crumble.