episode_0238

***

We sat together in a huddle and said nothing, concentrating on our plates.

It took only a moment for the dish to hit the plate, making a clattering sound.

I picked up my chopsticks and looked at the plate.

Brown rice, stir-fried sausage vegetables, seaweed soup, spinach salad

This is a delicious menu item.

I think I’m lucky to have had a menu like this since my first day at school.

Usually, this is a menu item that can only be eaten on Wednesdays or Thursdays.

“Ah, the dog is not tasty today.”

Sung Yunho stirred sausages with chopsticks.

Is this guy crossing the line?

Sausage and vegetable stir-fry is invincible and divine.

“I should just go to the store and eat some bread.”

Jung A-ra notices Seong Yun-ho, but he pays him no mind and grumbles while hitting the plate with his chopsticks.

Why did you get so much sausage if you were going to complain about it?

It’s as ugly as a five-year-old child complaining about side dishes at the table.

If you keep listening to good music, you get tired of it, but if you keep listening to people whining, an enjoyable meal time becomes a mess.

Even though Seong Yun-ho is making a fuss, no one is actively stopping him.

Kim Jin-tae, who met me, is silently concentrating on his side dish, and Shin Jeong-ah is eating slowly while watching me.

In other words, the only person who can stop Sung Yunho is me.

“If you’re not going to eat it, give it to me.”

“Sorry….”

Seong Yun-ho is shocked and apologizes, probably because he didn’t know I was going to talk to him.

Then, he focused his attention on the food tray. He starts playing with his chopsticks vigorously.

It’s a little quiet now.

I picked up the plump sausage, put it in my mouth, and munched on it.

As the warm temperature exploded, the delicious taste spread throughout my mouth.

Yes, I wanted food like this.

I swallowed my emotions and picked up another side dish with chopsticks.

“Inho, you have chopsticks….”

While I was putting spinach in my mouth, Shin Jeong-ah, who was still, spoke to me.

Her eyes are fixed on my right hand.

“Why?”

I flipped my hand back and forth, but didn’t see anything particularly strange.

“Did you always hold your chopsticks like that?”

Shin Jeong-ah narrowed her eyebrows and leaned forward.

I think I’m reacting like that because it’s different from what the previous person used to hold.

Your observation skills are terrible. I guess I have to do this to become obsessed.

“I don’t know? I don’t remember.”

I said it as if it was no big deal and picked up the sausage again.

As I concentrated on eating, Shin Jeong-ah tilted her head and turned her eyes back to her plate.

While I was eating in a quiet atmosphere, I felt Kim Jin-tae’s gaze on me and I turned my head.

His cheeks were swollen and he was leaning back in his chair, as if he had finished eating.

Then, as if thinking about something, he held a pair of chopsticks tightly and looked at me.

Kim Jin-tae’s eyes met his and mine, and Kim Jin-tae hurriedly turned his head in the other direction, probably surprised that he was caught staring.

…He might actually be angry.

Since he was humiliated like that in front of everyone, it’s natural to hold a grudge.

“Why? Are you going to shoot my head with that?”

I smiled slightly and joked, and in an instant, everyone’s hands stopped playing with chopsticks.

“…….”

Kim Jin-tae couldn’t bear to turn his head in my direction.

“Ah, I enjoyed it.”

I ate the remaining seaweed soup with a spoon and got up.

One by one, people followed me.

We left the cafeteria.

As I watched the students who quickly ate their lunch and went out to the playground to kick a ball, I slowly walked towards the classroom.

“Hey, Kang In-ho.”

Shin Jeong-ah, who had been quietly following me, called me again.

When I looked back, Shin Jeong-ah and other ‘friends’ were looking at me.

“Why?”

For some reason, the direction I’m trying to go seems to be the opposite direction to mine.

“Not unfolded?”

“What?”

“This.”

Shin Jeong-ah brought her index and middle fingers to her mouth and moved them back and forth.

This is the action of smoking a cigarette without any hesitation.

“I’m done.”

Even as I got older, I didn’t open my eyes anymore, so now what?

I spoke somewhat harshly, then turned and headed back to the classroom.

I heard Shin Jeong-ah say something from afar, but I didn’t look back.

***

The back gate of the school connected to the mountain.

It was usually locked, so there were no students passing this way.

Teachers often stop by here to look for potential delinquent students, but Shin Jeong-ah and her friends, who have become experts at avoiding such incidents, are enjoying an after-dinner meal in a safe place.

“I guess it’s strange.”

Seong Yun-ho, who had lowered his tail at In-ho’s words, exhaled cigarette smoke and spoke.

“What?”

Lee Mi-jeong, who was smoking a cigarette next to him, asked.

“Inho. Isn’t something strange today?”

“……”

Seong Yun-ho raised the issue, but no one responded to his words.

“You must have been scolded by your father.”

Some people took Kang In-ho’s change indifferently.

“……”

Kim Jin-tae just stayed silent, smoking a cigarette in the far corner.

“Jeong-ya. Did you hear anything? You are closest to Inho.”

When Lee Mi-jeong asked, Jeong-ah smiled bitterly and shook her head.

Are you close? I?

Shin Jeong-ah asked herself, recalling Kang In-ho’s recent actions of drawing a line against her.

I thought we were close.

No, I had no doubt that it was more than that.

Although Kang In-ho expressed it harshly, he treated her warmly at night.

She didn’t think that the warmth and pleasure at that time were fake.

But suddenly everything cooled down.

Suddenly, he gave up on studying, and the person changed.

“That tutoring bitch….”

These were the words that came out of Shin Jeong-ah’s mouth after a long thought.

“Tutoring?”

Kim Jin-tae, who had remained silent, was the first to react.

At the sound of Kim Jin-tae’s calm voice, Shin Jeong-ah, who had been squatting down, got up and smacked out the cigarette smoke with her hand.

“I told you this last time. There are people who find it annoying.”

Shin Jeong-ah gestured with her chin as if asking if she remembered.

“Uh… that was it.”

It was a request to take care of a completely unrelated person, so I changed the topic and said we would talk about it later.

“That bitch is Inho’s tutor now.”

“But?”

“He must have done something to Inho.”

Shin Jeong-ah’s voice was full of confidence.

“Hey, say something that makes sense. Inho…”

“모르면 아가리 싸물어, 씨발새끼야.”

When Seong Yun-ho intervened, Shin Jeong-ah raised her voice.

Shin Jeong-ah took another drag on her cigarette and approached Kim Jin-tae.

“Anyway, it’s clear that that bitch had some influence on In-ho, right? He also openly said that he would separate Inho…”

“So you find it annoying?”

When Kim Jin-tae asked, Shin Jeong-ah slowly nodded.

“Are you going to help me?”

“Um….”

Kim Jin-tae lowered his head and thought for a moment.

“Why not.”

When the cigarette in Shin Jeong-ah’s hand was half lit, Kim Jin-tae gently touched her swollen cheek with his finger and said.

“Thank you.”

“Oh, but you’re not going to touch anything, are you? Are you going to touch it properly?”

Kim Jin-tae said while looking at Shin Jeong-ah smiling.

“Of course.”

“Then, are you calling people you know?”

Hearing his plain voice, Shin Jeong-ah nodded without any doubt.

“Yes, the more the better.”

It was Shin Jeong-ah’s simple calculation.

“Yes, the more it is, the better.”

Kim Jin-tae grinned while rubbing his swollen cheeks.