Things That Are on My Mind – 2

Monday, early morning.

Kang In-ho, wearing an apron, was busy cooking in the kitchen.

“Haaah….”

He chased away the encroaching sleep with a big yawn.

Judging by his listless appearance and the way he blinked his dry eyes, it seemed he hadn’t woken up naturally early.

“Looks like I slept too late.”

He had been wrestling with the power dormant within him until late at night.

After meditating to the point of being soaked in sweat, he went to bed late and woke up at dawn to make breakfast for Kim Sung-ah.

Though, breakfast was just a simple bacon and cheese sandwich.

Kang In-ho, smelling the aroma of the bacon dancing in the frying pan, recalled his mornings in his original world.

The daily routine of eating food he had packed the day before while preparing for work.

“I miss it.”

It was a distant memory, but it remained in his head as a good one.

He placed the bacon on the bread with a spatula, then added a square cheese slice.

After placing the bread, pre-warmed with butter, on top like a roof, he pressed down gently.

The cheese melted from the residual heat, giving off a delicious aroma.

“Can I… go back?”

He muttered, staring blankly into space as he pressed down on the bread.

He had traveled through dimensions, possessed a new body, and met many people.

At first, his goal was survival,

Then, his goal became doing something meaningful.

But suddenly, he had this thought.

‘How long do I have to keep repeating this?’

It wasn’t that his spirit was broken.

His resolution to [do something meaningful in the possessed dimension] was still valid.

However, separately from that, being exhausted was being exhausted.

He was running a very long race without knowing the destination.

He still had enough strength to run, but he couldn’t deny that the strength was gradually diminishing.

He had no one to lean on as much as Kim Sung-ah, so he felt a little lonely.

He was lonely because he had been dropped off alone in a place where he didn’t know anyone.

“That’s why I can’t refuse so… coldly, maybe.”

He self-diagnosed that was why he couldn’t easily push away people who approached him.

Suddenly, his phone rang. It was the alarm he had set.

“Ah, it’s done.”

Snapping out of his reverie, he quickly raised his head and headed to the second floor.

It was time to wake up the homeowner.

After harshly waking up Kim Sung-ah, who seemed to be one with the bed, and sending her to the bathroom, he returned to the kitchen.

As he was cleaning up the messy kitchen and doing the dishes, Kim Sung-ah came down from the second floor, shaking her damp hair.

“I want to sleep more.”

The moment she sat down on the chair, she uttered those words, and he pointed to the clock in the living room.

“If you eat and go to school, you’ll be pressed for time.”

“Ah… school….”

Kim Sung-ah picked up a sandwich with a face as if the world had ended.

She opened her mouth wide and took a big bite out of one side of the sandwich.

The ketchup smeared on the sandwich stained the corner of her mouth.

“Eat while wiping your mouth.”

Reflexively, he grabbed a tissue and wiped the sauce from her mouth.

Kim Sung-ah silently continued eating, even as she received his somewhat rough touch.

Whether the sandwich suited her taste, a subtle smile, which hadn’t been there before, appeared on her face.

“Inho, can’t I skip school just for today? I slept late yesterday.”

“No. You promised to go to school if you could.”

“But we don’t know when the bad guys will come.”

As Kim Sung-ah whined, Kang In-ho shook his head firmly.

“Let’s go to school for now.”

Seeing that no more nagging would work, she gave up and focused on the sandwich again.

“Penny-pincher.”

Of course, she had a petty side, retaliating with a small curse.

“You chose your guardian. Endure with evil and grit.”

Kang In-ho grinned, baring his teeth.

“Tch….”

“Regret it?”

As he asked casually, Kim Sung-ah thought for a moment, then shook her head vigorously.

“I don’t like going to school, but I’m glad you care about me.”

She shoved the rest of the sandwich into her mouth and went back upstairs.

“…Ah.”

Kang In-ho, who had been watching her back, turned his eyes to the table and exclaimed as if he had realized something.

“She ate mine too. Damn it.”

Grumble, his stomach, which had started working early in the morning, rumbled loudly.

Monday, Kim Sung-ah went to school. No invasion by evil forces.

Tuesday, Kim Sung-ah went to school. There was an invasion during lunchtime, and the situation ended before lunchtime was over.

After the second period, a student greeted her.

Wednesday, Kim Sung-ah went to school. No invasion by evil forces.

After school, students greeted her.

Thursday.

When she attended school for four consecutive days, her homeroom teacher called her aside and praised her endlessly, saying she was admirable.

She had only been consistently coming to school, but when she received praise, Kim Sung-ah smiled bitterly inside.

The morning class began, and she mechanically solved problems in her workbook.

Some problems were correct, and some were wrong.

“Sigh….”

She sighed briefly at the workbook, which was half filled with circles and crosses.

While looking at the explanations and re-solving the wrong problems, several female students approached her.

“Um… Seong-a unnie.”

“Huh?”

“Here, have this.”

A student with her eyes covered by her bangs handed her a strawberry milk.

“Ah… oh, thank you? So… Hye-ji.”

She had a dazed look on her face at the first act of kindness she had received since the school year had changed.

“But I don’t have anything to give… Do you want to go to the cafeteria with me later?”

It was the law to give back if you received something. She felt for the wallet in her pocket.

“Yes, then how about we eat lunch together and come back?”

“Yeah, sure.”

After a brief conversation, the visitors who had come to see her returned to their seats.

It was the beginning of the fourth period.

The class flowed somewhat slowly. Perhaps, the anticipation of lunch made time flow slowly.

Kim Sung-ah kept glancing at the clock, and the minute hand of the clock stopped with a jerk each time she looked, as if playing the game ‘Red Light, Green Light’.

After a long, long time, Kim Sung-ah ended up eating lunch with three students, including a girl named Hye-ji.

Walking along the hallway, she followed them from an ambiguous position, and they included her in the conversation in between, as if being considerate of her.

Kim Sung-ah found such conversations quite interesting.

When they arrived in front of the cafeteria, where a long line had formed, a student named Lee Hye-ji, who had given her the strawberry milk, carefully brought up the topic.

“But Seong-a unnie. Who was the man who came to school last time? I didn’t think he was your father.”

“Ah… a relative. Why?”

“He was so handsome that I remembered him.”

Hye-ji smiled shyly and turned her head, squealing with the two girls who were standing next to her like extras.

Kim Sung-ah didn’t know why they were making such a fuss, but she felt like a brick was being placed on a wall in her heart.

That feeling was

Very heavy,

Very unpleasant.