Rehabilitation-3

Yoon Sia, slurping down the salty and spicy broth, seemed to have momentarily forgotten the decorum she should maintain as a tutor.

For the three minutes it took for the hot water to soak into the cup ramen, her large eyes were fixed on the lid, so there was no need to point it out now.

“Oh my, you’re really eating. Really eating. I’d think you hadn’t eaten in three days.”

Watching her busily move her chopsticks and inhale the noodles, I felt a little sorry for her.

Strictly speaking, Yoon Sia was younger than me. It was like watching a younger sibling who had been battered around outside.

Or maybe it was like a new employee who had just joined a company, finishing their first overtime shift and eating ramen at a 24-hour kimbap restaurant.

Ah, the hungry youth…

Feeling sorry and sympathetic, I took out the kimchi I had put in the refrigerator. It was kimchi in a pack I bought from the convenience store.

“Have some kimchi too.”

As I tore open the paper pack and put it on a plate, Yoon Sia’s eyes, which had been buried in the bowl, sparkled.

“You… you’re actually a nice kid, aren’t you?”

Yoon Sia muttered, seemingly moved.

“What did you think of me usually?”

I asked gruffly, but Yoon Sia chewed on the cabbage kimchi and didn’t even pretend to listen to me.

“You’re getting paid for tutoring, but you’re skipping meals?”

I asked, sitting down in front of her again.

“It’s because you’re a student and don’t know. Adults have a lot of expenses.”

“Adults? You’re just a college student who plays around and eats.”

A college student was talking about social life in front of me…

To my retort, Yoon Sia, having satisfied her hunger a little, put down her chopsticks and stared at me intently.

“Inho, college and high school are worlds apart.”

Don’t make a serious face now.

“……..”

“What, what!”

When I stared at her with a dumbfounded expression, she seemed to feel a little embarrassed.

“It’s nothing. If you’re done eating, let’s start the lesson. I’ll take care of the trash, so just leave it on the table.”

It had already been 20 minutes. It would be nice to just forget about the lesson time, but I had to study for a fulfilling school life.

And honestly, now that I’ve taken the pressure off the college entrance exam, studying is a little fun.

“You just sighed, didn’t you?”

Yoon Sia followed me as I climbed the stairs and pressed me.

“No~”

“You’re even lying now?”

Let’s start the lesson. Teacher.

Although she showed a lot of clumsy sides, Yoon Sia returned to her true self after starting the lesson and taught enthusiastically.

I thought she only taught math, but she could teach all of Korean, mathematics, and English.

“Since there’s not enough time to read the entire passage, the most important thing in the reading comprehension section is to grasp the main point. In this case, the more background knowledge you have, the better.”

She seemed to be a good teacher.

“But since you don’t have any background knowledge…”

She didn’t seem to be very good at handling people.

The lesson proceeded in this way.

“Okay, there’s a little time left, do you have any questions? Are you doing your math homework?”

To Yoon Sia’s question, I took out a notebook from the bookshelf and handed it to her.

“Oh… you did it? Okay, it’s not important to get a lot right. If you do your homework steadily like this…”

Her expression froze as she scanned the notebook.

Then she slowly examined the contents of the notebook.

“Huh? You got them all right?”

She looked at me with an unbelievable expression, and I shrugged my shoulders.

I was confident that the image of a student who had changed his mind in just two days and was working hard at studying would look pretty cool.

“You looked at the answer key, didn’t you?”

Yoon Sia narrowed her eyes.

“……”

It seemed that original sin did not disappear easily.

It took quite a long time to convince her that I had done the homework myself.

“You really don’t have to walk me home.”

10 PM. I was walking down the hill with Yoon Sia.

“It’ll take a long time to walk. You might get involved with delinquent kids… These days, kids are scary.”

The streets of the affluent neighborhood were well-lit with streetlights, but there were few people, so I thought it would be a little burdensome to walk down alone.

“…Are you the one to say that?”

I chuckled at Yoon Sia’s dumbfounded voice.

Ah, I’m the delinquent.

Braving the chilly wind, Yoon Sia and I walked down the hill aimlessly.

As we walked down the hill, Yoon Sia and I had trivial conversations.

It was the story of Yoon Sia and me, not math, Korean, and English.

It seemed that Yoon Sia and I had not had any conversation since we started tutoring.

Yoon Sia asked me what she was curious about, and I asked Yoon Sia what I was curious about.

As a convenience store came into view, Yoon Sia looked at me with a serious face.

“Inho.”

“Yes?”

“I’m a little dumbfounded that you’re suddenly being so cooperative. I feel like you’ve become a different person overnight.”

That’s right.

“Yeah… well…”

“It doesn’t make sense to me, and there are many suspicious things, but… can I think that you’ve changed your mind?”

Her upright gaze was directed at me without any distortion.

I didn’t dismiss her honest eyes as a joke and nodded slowly up and down.

“Okay. Thank you.”

Yoon Sia smiled and tapped my shoulder with her palm, as if she liked my answer.

“You’re welcome.”

“No, really, thank you. For changing the tutoring time, for participating so diligently in class… everything.”

Yoon Sia put her hands behind her back and looked at the moon in the sky.

She had a face that was carrying a lot.

How do I know? I know because I had that exact face when I first joined the company.

“Are you having a hard time?”

Suddenly, I blurted out those words without realizing it.

Yoon Sia’s feet stopped.

“Huh?”

Yoon Sia pretended not to hear.

“I said, you must be having a hard time.”

Now that I’ve said it, I decided not to take it back.

“What’s hard for me? I’m a college student who plays around and eats, and I make good money from tutoring.”

Yoon Sia waved her hand.

“You’re tutoring, going to school, and I don’t know what else, but you’re also handling the work that the teacher has given you. That’s a heavy burden for a college student.”

“……..”

Looking at Yoon Sia’s serious face, I think I brought up too deep a story.

“Okay! We’re here! I’m going to buy a hot bar and go up.”

When I clapped my hands to change the atmosphere, Yoon Sia followed me.

“Okay, if I walk a little further, there’s a bus stop…”

Just as I was about to go to the convenience store and Yoon Sia was about to go to the bus stop, I heard someone calling me.

“Inho.”

When I turned my head in the direction of the sound, Shin Jeonga was looking back and forth between me and Yoon Sia.

“Who’s the older sister next to you?”

Shin Jeonga, holding a heavy black plastic bag, came closer to me and asked.