episode_0010

[Let’s have lunch with me later!]

Kakao Talk arrived with a cute bear emoticon.

“You don’t have to worry that much.”

Even as Yuna said that, a small smile appeared on her lips as if she was in a good mood.

Choi Soo-jin, who lives with her, also attends Seonggwang High School, where she recently transferred. Thanks to this, I was able to not feel lonely even in the awkward atmosphere of the first day of school transfer.

I couldn’t make real friends at my previous high school.

This was because they had a sense of inferiority that they were different from those living in the facility, and because of the strict rules, it was difficult for them to go out to play after school.

Because she was like that, every KakaoTalk message she sent without notice was fresh and enjoyable.

I never thought it would be so reassuring to have people around me who I can feel comfortable with without worrying about anything.

This is also thanks to the person who went through the school transfer process for me.

I felt that this was not the first time I had done something like this, as I was quickly solving quite complex procedures at a glance, as if I was familiar with it.

Lunch hour.

Seonggwang High School was choosing a voluntary lunch system.

This is due to the meal scandal that spread throughout middle and high schools a few months ago.

In order to reduce costs, cheap and poor-quality food ingredients are used. There was an incident where students got food poisoning as a group. As the incident spread widely among the public on the news, distrust toward school meals slowly began to bloom.

Perhaps due to the impact of that incident, there has been an increasing number of schools establishing a system where students can freely choose their meals.

At the back of the school where Sujin and Yuna were, some students were seen eating lunch with boxed lunches or bread bought from the canteen.

“Now that I think about it, you said that the place where the corruption broke out at that time was where Yuna was, right? You were surprised when you first heard that. Was it okay?”

“I…nothing major happened.”

Yuna recalled the memories of that time.

At that time, I had just entered high school.

At first, the school lunch was similar to middle school, but at some point it started to feel strange.

The incident, which started out simply as the meat smelling a little worse, gradually became worse. The number of children eating school meals gradually decreased, and the school even launched a campaign to encourage students to use leftover school meals as a favorite.

Students who are overflowing with complaints and the school that does their best to suppress them.

Even during this war, Yuna continued to use the cafeteria.

The reason is that if I didn’t eat this, I would have to starve for lunch.

At that time, Yuna did not have money to buy meals at the cafeteria like other children.

Even though the bean sprouts had a sour taste and sometimes strange, unidentifiable white objects were floating around in the stew, I held on and ate them.

I also had an upset stomach once a week. Still, I couldn’t complain to the facility.

Because he was the only one attending high school there.

It would be a big problem if other children were unable to go to high school because of this incident.

“Really? thank god. I don’t know how they can become people and feed that to us.”

“That’s right. I didn’t know if it was because I was dull.”

I opened the lid of the lunch box while trying to look away.

It has already passed.

After the incident was exposed, the supplier had to file numerous civil lawsuits and pay a large amount of compensation, and the principal who participated in the corruption was dismissed. I probably won’t have anything to do with them in the future.

“Wow…”

With that in mind, the moment I saw the contents of the lunch box, I couldn’t help but let out an exclamation of admiration.

Since it was something I packed during a busy morning, I thought it would naturally contain leftover side dishes from last night, but that wasn’t the case.

“…When did you make this?”

I picked up the red meat dripping with fat with my chopsticks.

The outside of the meat was shiny and shiny, as if to prove that it was freshly made this morning.

“Isn’t Chaeyeon really amazing?”

“Yes. Really.”

In addition, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of respect as I looked at the four or five side dishes that were nutritionally balanced and pleasing to the eye.

While preparing a meal for 8 people in the morning, I even made separate side dishes for the lunch box.

Of course, you can use the leftovers as a side dish for lunch or dinner, but it’s still awesome.

“Thanks to this lunch box, I look forward to lunch time every time.”

“…But wouldn’t it be too much of a burden on the lady?’

As I watched Sujin begin to enjoy her lunch box with an excited expression, I felt a little uncomfortable.

I wondered if I was giving people who work at cafes in the afternoon trouble that they shouldn’t have to do.

”That is correct.“

Sujin put down the chopsticks she was holding.

A fairly serious answer came back.

I thought that if it was the usual Soojin that Yuna knew, she would just laugh and brush it off as if she was embarrassed, but it was unexpected.

”You definitely can’t get it like this every time.“

”…“

”So, here’s what I thought. This time, I want to make a lunch box here.“

”…Lunch box?“

”Yes. lunch box. To be precise, I want to cook for you. But I’m bad at cooking.“

”Shall I teach you?“

Yuna said to Sujin, who was depressed.

”Really?“

”I can tell you if it’s just regular home cooking.“

”Yes, yes. I can trust your cooking skills. Because the one I made last time was really delicious.“

”Okay, thank you…“

I felt a little embarrassed by such an honest answer.

”Then, let’s go shopping together on the way! I have some pocket money left over.“

Sujin held Yuna’s hand with both hands.

Looking at her like that, Yuna slightly modified her existing perception of Choi Soo-jin.

From a slightly immature but bright and sociable tomboy to a kind child who can sometimes be considerate of others.

If you can feel grateful for even the little things that some people take for granted, you are already a mature adult.

If that person wants to express their gratitude, I want to actively help them. That was Yuna’s current thoughts.

**

bang-!

Due to the force of the man’s arm, the empty cup noodles that had been placed on the desk fell to the bottom of the rainwater.

At the same time, red ramen soup was flowing all over the floor, but the man’s eyes never left the monitor in front of him.

Because he was currently preoccupied with the feast of countless blue numbers that filled the monitor.

”Fuck. Why…“

3 months.

It was the time it took for the face of the man who started trading stocks with confidence to distort into despair.

After numerous failures, only 200,000 won of seed money was left, which was initially prepared.

And even the Ssamjit money was blown away as the medical stocks that had been in trouble just now were reduced to scraps of paper.

”Why? “

The man couldn’t understand.

Why? If I did anything, I just felt relieved?

Horse racing, gambling, stocks, lotto.

As if the goddess of luck had descended on him, he hit the jackpot every day.

Thanks to this, I was able to rise from a life of trash in the gutter to the owner of a decent company.

Drurr.

The cell phone that was lying on the floor vibrated.

”Intake.“

The man who had been screaming just moments ago quickly covered his mouth in fear of someone hearing him.

That is 100% a call to catch him. I couldn’t bring myself to check if it was a police officer or a loan shark.

”…I have to raise money somehow.“

The man was already being cornered.

This is because the meal supply company he ran was embroiled in a corruption controversy and he had to pay huge damages and cancellation fees.

Are those kids going to die from eating that?

Don’t you know that anyway, if you leave it behind, it becomes food waste?

He went to trial and was found guilty, but he showed no remorse.

Even when the news showed students collapsing from food poisoning, I prayed in my heart not to look back. When you die, you have to pay funeral expenses.

In an instant, he went from being the owner of a famous company to a huge debtor and started dabbling in gambling.

The only way to repay that much in a short period of time was the most profitable option.

However, for some reason, the gambling he believed in continued to eat away at all of his meager assets, and when he came to his senses, all that was left was his dwindling seed money and exorbitant private loan debt.

Now even stocks that were thought to be the last bastion are in ruins.

There were only two options left for the man: rot in prison for the rest of his life, or be taken away by loan sharks and experience the internal party firsthand.

The man who was on the verge of hell thought constantly.

What is the difference between the times when we were winning and the current situation where we keep repeating failures?

”…Hayun.“

And then I realized.

”That bitch doesn’t exist. Ah, yes, it’s because of that bitch. A damn bitch who abandoned her ungrateful father who raised her and ran away with her younger brother. Ever since that bastard disappeared, my luck started to get really bad.“

Then there is still a chance.

All I have to do is bring back my daughter who ran away.

Then, the lost luck will come back and the current situation will be resolved quickly.

The man immediately got up from his seat.

A pitch-black abyss was visible in his black eyes, which were bloodshot from enormous stress and insomnia.