episode_0276

***

Starlight fell on the yard along with the sound of insects crying.

Kang In-ho walked slowly through the yard exposed to soft light.

Although it was called a yard, it was a small yard that took less than 30 steps to circle around, and he was circling the small yard in the same direction like a pony at a riding club.

He continued to rub his face. Because she was selling her work, she got punched in the face.

After a short period of violence, Kim Seong-ah went up to her room, saying she was preparing for tomorrow.

In the lonely living room, he still hasn’t been assigned a room of any kind, so he went outside to soothe his agitated mind, and that’s why he’s walking around the yard now.

“Self-suggestion.”

Kim Seong-ah said that the transformation chant was a kind of self-suggestion.

He stopped and sat down on the ground.

The warmth of the cold ground began to spread through his buttocks and throughout his body.

-Grunt, growl.

The sound of grasshoppers still continued.

“…….”

Kang In-ho, sitting cross-legged, observed the inside while breathing steadily.

Look inside yourself slowly and closely.

As I looked at every corner of my body along the blood vessels, I felt ‘something’ pulsating very weakly.

“Hmm….”

Like a test taker facing a difficult problem, he let out a long breath.

I confirmed that something was there, but I couldn’t quite pull it out.

I tried to draw strength using the method I learned from Namgung Soyu, but the point was unwavering.

He kept tinkering with it using all the methods he knew, but without any significant results.

30 minutes later, he got up with a look of confusion on his face, shook his mud-covered butt, and went back into the house.

“What are you doing at night….”

Kim Seong-ah, who was watching him just in case, saw him and lay down on the bed.

“School… I should go….”

She muttered, feeling sleep coming soon.

***

It wasn’t the alarm on her phone that woke her up the next day.

A fragrant smell wafted up from the first floor, shaking her out of her daze.

She woke up with messy hair and half-closed eyes and came down to the first floor in her pajamas.

“You woke up early. I prepared breakfast.”

The identity of the fragrant smell was toast.

The outside of the square bread was toasted to a slightly dark brown color, and butter could be seen spread on top.

Kang In-ho was just putting sliced ham and lettuce on top, and the form looked quite familiar.

Kim Seong-ah accepted the toast spread with ketchup and mayonnaise and took a bite of it by moving her jaw, which did not open easily.

The salty and sweet taste spread in my mouth like a fire in a field.

“Oh….”

My eyelids, which had been struggling to sleep, gained strength.

It was an eye-opening experience.

“It’s delicious.”

It was a brief impression, but Kang In-ho gave a thumbs up for the generous evaluation.

“Do some cooking.”

Originally, he had a career of living alone, and the experience of traveling around the central region and cooking rice was still in his head.

“What time do you start school?”

I asked, handing milk to her as she sat down at the table and ate toast.

“I have to leave in an hour.”

Glancing at the clock in the living room, she answered.

“There is room.”

“Yeah… of course.”

Her mouth, which had been chewing the sandwich, slowed down a bit.

“???”

Kang In-ho saw it but didn’t show it in particular.

He cleaned up the mess from cooking and started washing the dishes.

Kim Seong-ah left the house an hour later, just as she said.

“I need to clean the house.”

After sending her away, he was left home alone and thought.

***

Kim Seong-ah went to school in the middle of the morning study period.

Her school attendance attracted some attention and became a topic of conversation for those who like behind-the-scenes stories.

Kim Seong-ah sat quietly in her seat and solved the workbook, and the students in her class glanced at her.

Kim Seong-ah, with her red hair tied back, mechanically solved the workbook without paying attention to the stares of those around her.

Kim Seong-ah thought of a wild animal trapped in a zoo cage.

Curiosity was expressed in the gaze thrown at her.

After a few minutes of solving the workbook, when the morning self-study period was over, a girl she remembered as the class president approached her.

“I….”

“…….”

Kim Seong-ah’s purple eyes turned to the class president.

The class leader, who fell into those mysterious eyes, hesitated and continued speaking.

“Well, the teacher told me to come.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

She closed the workbook and stood up.

All eyes followed her as she left the classroom.

Curiosity, envy.

Their eyes were as if they were looking at a celebrity.

As she entered the teacher’s office, the homeroom teacher stood up and greeted her.

It looks like something good is happening with a smile on your face.

No, maybe it was just a fake smile to show her.

Seongah Kim had no intention of distinguishing between them.

“It’s been a while since I came.”

“Yes. Sorry.”

When Kim Seong-ah spoke quietly, her homeroom teacher tied her chestnut hair back and answered that it was okay.

Was it because he was in a hurry to get out that he couldn’t get dressed up? Seongah Kim thought to herself.

“No, the teacher is grateful just for coming like this. Would you like to sit down for a moment?”

The teacher pointed to a small chair, and Kim Seong-ah sat down gently on it.

“Now, drink.”

It was banana milk that looked like it had just been taken out of the refrigerator.

“Thank you.”

She took it but didn’t drink it right away.

“…Seong-ah, if things continue like this, you will have to repeat a grade again due to insufficient class days.”

After pausing for a while, the homeroom teacher carefully began speaking.

“Is it confirmed?”

“It’s dangerous. I have a few days to spare, but… no, I guess I can say it as leisure… Anyway.”

“I see.”

Seongah Kim scratched the banana milk with her fingernails.

“I haven’t even gotten to the school I wanted to go to yet.”

“…….”

“When I see Seong-ah come out and study, I don’t think it means she doesn’t have the will. However, you can’t come to school for some reason, right? Huh?”

The homeroom teacher asked as if seeking consent.

Kim Seong-ah did not make any gesture of agreement.

“The teacher said she was worried about Seong-ah… If it’s okay, could you bring an adult to school?”

In that silence, the homeroom teacher placed his hand on her knee and spoke.

“Adult?”

“Your aunt is your guardian now, right?”

My homeroom teacher recalled having a phone call just once at the beginning of the semester.

“Ah, but my aunt is not in a position to come right now.”

“Really? But it’s important… The teacher would like to talk to the guardian.”

“Can I do it over the phone?”

“Because the story is getting longer. Please make a phone call…”

“…….”

Kim Seong-ah could only chew her lips and couldn’t find a suitable answer.

“Um….”

Let it rest for a few minutes. The bell rang, signaling first period.

The teachers in the teacher’s office got up and started going to class.

Her homeroom teacher was no exception.

“I’ll be late for class. Let’s go.”

“Teacher.”

Seongah Kim called out to the teacher who was ahead and caught him.

“Huh?”

“Well… other than my aunt… can’t it be my relative’s older brother? I’m quite old.”

“Relative brother?”

Although it was a haphazard remark, Kim Seong-ah thought it was a groundbreaking idea.