Ch.89Call Me Brother (6)

“You brats, take this milk from Ban Doyoung!”

“Wait, wait… if you say it like that…!”

“Woohoo! It’s Ban Doyoung’s milk!”

“Move aside, I’m first!”

“Ah, see… just as expected.”

“Hey! One milk per person! Take them slowly!”

After the rainy sky had cleared somewhat,

I returned to the classroom with Do Hamin and distributed the milk I had brought to the students.

The peaceful first period self-study time was briefly disrupted by the commotion over Ban Doyoung’s milk,

but soon after class president Ahn Seonggyeong took control, the excitement gradually subsided as students one by one collected their allocated milk.

That day, the milk supply was completely depleted among the male students well before the morning was over.

“Ban Doyoung’s milk… I wonder if drinking it might make us grow, maybe not as big as Doyoung, but at least similar in size…?”

“Give us milk too, hurry!”

“Stop making a fuss and come get it one by one!”

“Ahn Seonggyeong, you can afford to be so relaxed because you’re only slightly smaller than Doyoung! We only have a few years left to grow!”

Of course, the demand for Ban Doyoung’s milk was considerable among the female students as well.

“Phew, being on duty is tough, but being class president seems even harder. Still, hang in there, president!”

“You fucking bitch, this is all because of you!”

Having completed our morning tasks, Hamin and I

finished the first period watching Ahn Seonggyeong getting pushed around by the students.

“Hey, is there any milk left? I was feeling good today and wanted to drink another one.”

“Damn… I thought we could have Jeong-gyu’s milk since he’s absent, but seems like someone had the same idea.”

Right after the first period break began,

the milk box Hamin and I had brought became light enough for Hamin to carry with one hand in the blink of an eye.

The milk box was filled with empty cartons before lunchtime even arrived.

This was a first in the history of Class 1-1.

*Thud*

“Phew… These black-haired beasts… Why don’t they ever listen? Thanks to them, I’m the only one who got scolded by teachers from the other class.”

“Well, your scolding voice was the loudest.”

After the chaotic first period, Ahn Seonggyeong slumped her head on the desk, exhausted.

I leaned against the teacher’s podium and looked down at the worn-out Seonggyeong.

“How difficult it must be for you, Class President Ahn.”

“Shit… whose fault is all this?”

“Sorry, but I did help out Miss Miso by making sure the kids drank their milk, didn’t I?”

Now as before, teachers have headaches because of students who don’t drink their milk.

So today, I specially helped that Ahn Seonggyeong girl score points with Miss Miso.

I personally did what she couldn’t do,

yet despite this, Seonggyeong made no effort to hide her suspicion of my kindness.

“Ban Doyoung, there’s no way you’d do something like that for me without an ulterior motive.”

“Ooh, sharp. As expected of our class’s midterm exam first-place winner.”

“Tsk… so why are you at my desk?”

“Just wondering if you might know why that bastard Lee Jeong-gyu is absent from school.”

Perhaps not expecting Jeong-gyu’s name to come from my lips,

Seonggyeong lifted her head from the desk and gave me a bewildered look.

“You’re curious about why that bastard Lee Jeong-gyu is skipping school? Why would you…?”

“Why? That bastard needs to apologize for how he’s been treating me and Hamin all this time, whether he’s skipping school or dropping out. Do you know anything? I thought you might have picked up something somewhere as the class president, even if others haven’t.”

“…No, I haven’t heard anything. I don’t care what Lee Jeong-gyu is doing or where. I only found out today from Miss Miso that he’s taking time off for personal reasons.”

“Tch, so it’s a bust.”

“If you want to know, you’d better ask Miss Miso directly. I haven’t heard anything about it.”

Unfortunately, I gained nothing from Seonggyeong.

Still, I had thought that as class president, she might know information that other students didn’t.

“Can’t be helped then. I guess I’ll have to visit the faculty office during lunch.”

“Do as you please.”

“Ah, while I’m at it, can I ask you one more thing?”

“What is it now?”

“My mom’s son is currently on leave from the military. He has about 50 days left until discharge.”

“Mom’s son…? You mean your brother?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“What an unnecessarily complicated way to explain… But why bring this up?”

“Just wondering if you might be interested.”

Showing is better than explaining a hundred times.

With that thought, I took out my phone and showed her a recent photo of Solyoung from his high school graduation album.

“…This, this person is your brother? How old is this photo? That’s our school uniform…”

“It was taken when he graduated high school, so about 3 years ago. Ah, of course he’s bald now. But his hair will grow back to this in about 3 months. So, interested?”

“…”

Seonggyeong looked at Solyoung’s face on my phone for a moment,

then closed the screen and handed the phone back to me.

“Huh? What, not interested?”

“Honestly, I was briefly interested when I saw his face, but I quickly changed my mind.”

“Why?”

*Points*

Seonggyeong raised her finger and pointed directly at me.

“…Me?”

“Yeah, because of you I’m not interested.”

“…Haa. Seonggyeong, seriously. Even if your first experience was with a senior who only takes virgins and dumps them, that doesn’t mean you should develop such a perverted taste-“

“I meant I don’t want you as a sister-in-law, you fucking bitch!”

“Tch, so that was it.”

I thought it was fortunate we could throw trash at each other,

but regrettably, my first attempt at “making disliked people do the dishes together” ended in failure.

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.

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Around lunchtime as the rain was beginning to subside,

I visited the first-floor faculty office with Hamin.

“Oh, if it isn’t Ban Doyoung.”

“Did you enjoy your meal, Teacher Lee Hakju?”

“What brings you to the faculty office at this hour? Don’t tell me you’ve caused trouble?”

“Come on, Teacher Hakju. Am I really that much of a troublemaker? That hurts my feelings. I do everything well except for coming to school on time and studying, you know?”

“Haha, you should do well at the most important things, not just everything else. Always so quick with words.”

“Do you know where Miss Miso went?”

“Teacher Yeo Miso? Ah, she’s eating downstairs and was on a call. She should be back soon.”

“Then I guess I’ll steal some office coffee while waiting. Is that okay?”

“You really… Just take one each. Don’t make two sticks per person.”

“Yes, sir.”

“T-Teacher Lee Hakju seems very lenient with you, Doyoung, even though he’s so strict during class…”

“It’s a relationship built through my consistent pattern of tardiness.”

“That’s nothing to be proud of…”

Having adapted to high school life as Ban Doyoung,

I now maintained quite friendly relationships with other teachers at Bulsa High.

Especially with Teacher Lee Hakju, who was in charge of morning inspections,

we had developed enough of a love-hate relationship that we acknowledged each other even without me approaching first.

Seeing the casual conversation between me and Teacher Lee, other teachers began to show interest in me and Hamin, poking their heads out from their desks.

“Ban Doyoung…? Hmm, that face looks familiar. But I don’t teach first-year classes, so I shouldn’t have seen you.”

“Of course it’s familiar, why… she’s the younger sister of Ban Solyoung who attended our school a few years ago.”

“Ah, Ban Solyoung…! Now that you mention it, they look identical. I remember him. He was very popular, being both smart and handsome. Wow… both siblings are just… they really should thank their parents.”

“This Ban Doyoung didn’t inherit her brother’s studying abilities, just his face and annoying traits.”

Even teachers who had no prior acquaintance or interaction with me

had no trouble recognizing Ban Doyoung.

For them, I had the appropriate title of “Ban Solyoung’s younger sister.”

“Yes, yes… I understand. I’ll do my best.”

Just then, Miss Miso entered the faculty office with an unusually serious and solemn expression, talking on the phone.

“Oh… Student Ban Doyoung, Student Do Hamin? What brings you to the faculty office?”

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.

.

“Y-you want to know why Student Lee Jeong-gyu is absent from school…? Both of you?”

“Yes. We think we have a right to know. We have something to settle with him.”

“W-well, of course, but you shouldn’t take any personal revenge…”

“We’re not looking for revenge, we want an apology. If he asked people not to mention his absence, he was probably planning to quit school at the first opportunity. Not even thinking about what he did.”

“…W-well, the teacher has been thinking the same thing, but…”

“Hamin and I have agreed to let everything go if he apologizes directly for what he said to us. Though I’m still angry, Hamin wants it this way. Don’t you think as a teacher, while student privacy is important, it’s also right to properly inform us about what wrongs he committed?”

“…Ugh. S-sometimes I wonder if you’re really 17, Doyoung.”

“Oh, really? I’m still growing, so I’ll get bigger.”

“N-not that!”

Miss Miso clicked her pen repeatedly while considering what to do,

“Alright, there’s nothing wrong with what you’re saying, Doyoung.”

She raised her head toward us, seemingly having made a decision.

“Then could you two stay after class today? We’ll go together after the homeroom period. As it happens, I was planning to meet with Student Lee Jeong-gyu today.”

“Oh, that’s convenient.”

“Ah, I understand, teacher.”

“…Ah, since you mentioned meeting him, Miss Miso, would you be interested in meeting my mom’s son?”

“D-D-Doyoung? What are you suddenly talking about…?”

“I noticed you’re not that much older than him, maybe 3-4 years? He’s returning from leave in two weeks, so if you happen to be ovulating during that time, I could arrange something…”

“G-get out right now! Both of you!”

We were kicked out of the faculty office.