Reverse

A few days passed. Kim Jin-tae still didn’t come to school.

And that fact made Kang In-ho anxious.

He needed to at least see his face to threaten or coax him, but since he couldn’t even meet him, he couldn’t convey his intentions.

He kept sending messages through the phone, but, of course, they weren’t being read.

The group’s solidarity collapsed with a single fight.

Kim Jin-tae left the group chat, and Kang In-ho himself hadn’t written a single word since the possession.

Shin Jeonga, as if possessed by something, came to school with a soulless face and disappeared as soon as the after-school bell rang.

As the core members leading the group faltered, Seong Yun-ho, Lee Mi-jeong, and Jeong Ah-ra, who had been added like garnishes, quietly left the group chat and were now sniffing around other groups.

In the end, it was a group bound by mutual interests, not friendship.

Kang In-ho thought so after seeing a side of their world he didn’t want to know.

“Chasing after him to find where he’s hiding is too much.”

He regretted not finishing things properly that day.

Hearing the bell signaling the end of school, he packed his bag and went out into the hallway.

Although the number of people had decreased compared to when he used to attend school, the scenery of the school wasn’t much different.

Children formed groups with those they got along with, sharing emotions and spending the day.

The boys gathered to go to PC cafes, and the girls gathered to take sticker pictures.

He watched the scene with envious eyes for a long time.

“……..”

A female student, taking steps that didn’t match the vibrant scenery in his eyes, slowly walked down the hallway some distance away.

It was Shin Jeonga.

Since he had treated her coldly in the classroom, Shin Jeonga had become noticeably quieter.

She still sent him glances during class, but the frequency had decreased.

He felt sorry for unintentionally resorting to violence, but he was inwardly satisfied that she wasn’t bothering him anymore.

As he had vowed to correct what was wrong, he was trying hard to alleviate the uncomfortable atmosphere created by the previous body.

Recently, he had started talking to some students, including Jeong Sanghoon, and he was attending classes with a sincere attitude, gradually changing the negative perception that teachers had of him.

Although some things, like Kim Jin-tae, remained a concern, most things were proceeding as he had hoped.

He had succeeded even in the previous dimension dominated by religion, so he thought he would surely achieve results this time as well.

He was mistaken.

His vision was blurry and his ears were muffled, as if his head was filled with smog.

He couldn’t remember how he got to school or how he got home.

Shin Jeonga had been in this state for a while.

She had expected to be subjected to a group lynching as a reaction to her acting up at school as if she were the owner of the world.

However, there was no direct harm, making her tense and curled-up body, prepared for the onslaught of pain, seem pointless.

So, at first, she was relieved.

She didn’t have to go back to being treated like she was when she scribbled in her notebook in the corner of the classroom…

She breathed a sigh of relief.

But as time passed, she realized she had been thrown into a swamp.

A swamp of indifference, into the middle of which she had been thrown.

No one made eye contact with her or interacted with her.

Inho, who used to talk to her, treated her like she didn’t exist, and Jin-tae didn’t come to school or reply to her messages.

Seong Yun-ho, Lee Mi-jeong, and Jeong Ah-ra, who used to be close to her, were now playing with other kids.

A swamp of solitude created by thorough ostracism.

She began to slowly sink into that swamp, flailing around inside.

She rarely opened her mouth to speak throughout the day.

She didn’t even remember what her voice sounded like.

Thump, thump. She left the school and walked down the street.

Where should I go?

That was her main concern these days.

She didn’t want to go home to her drunken father and her mother who cursed her.

She had run out of money a long time ago. All she could do was walk until nightfall.

“Ah… I’m dizzy.”

It seemed to be getting worse lately.

Her stomach churned, and she couldn’t eat well.

So, during lunchtime, she would buy milk and bread from the store and spend time in the place where she used to smoke.

Today, her steps felt particularly heavy.

It might have been because she had seen Kang In-ho on her way home.

She was walking, stepping on the colorful paving stones.

A huge dump truck passing by on the adjacent road spewed exhaust fumes that engulfed her, and she immediately felt nauseous.

-Ugh

Feeling like she was about to throw up, she bent over.

She hadn’t eaten anything, so only sticky saliva flowed from her mouth.

After retching for a while, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and thought.

‘Come to think of it… when was my last period?’

Shin Jeonga, calculating the dates by folding her fingers, made a collapsing face.