episode_0017

After eating dinner with my mom, I left the house with her to sign up for a kickboxing gym.

“Wasn’t it Taekwondo, Boxing, and Judo? Why is it suddenly Kickboxing?”

“My mom told me to only do two, so I combined Taekwondo and Boxing.”

“Then you want to learn kickboxing and judo?”

“That’s right.”

“Why is your son using his good head for strange things?”

“That’s basic.”

“Haha.”

“But Mom doesn’t have a driver’s license?”

“Yes~”

“But why don’t you drive and walk?”

“Jaehoon, just because you have a license doesn’t mean you can drive~”

“Huh? Then how did you get your license?”

“Getting a license and driving are different things.”

I don’t know what’s new about this.

Since I can drive, I couldn’t understand it any more.

“Are you talking about something like a wardrobe license?”

“No. I only learned how to get a license.”

“So. You don’t get a license by driving, right?”

“You only know how to drive to get a license.”

“Then, if your mom drives, is it Mrs. Kim or something? Is your mom Mrs. Ahn?”

“Haha~ That’s right~”

After a long and difficult conversation with my mom, we arrived at the kickboxing gym.

When I opened the door and went in, there was a ring and sandbags hanging outside. It was quiet, perhaps because it was a weekday afternoon.

“Ah! Welcome~”

The kickboxing gym I had imagined was a picture of a skinny instructor with a light shining from his head welcoming me, but the person who actually welcomed me was a young woman who looked to be in her early 20s.

“Hello~ My son wants to learn, so I came here to register.”

“We are a little different from other dojangs like Taekwondo or Kendo, so we don’t have classes just for children. We have a system where you exercise on your own or if you are exercising, the director or I teach you separately.”

My mom looked at me as if asking if it was okay, and I nodded in agreement since there was no children’s section.

“Your son seems to be a good person. I’ll register him.”

“Yes. Would you like to come this way?”

“It’s 70,000 won per month, and 200,000 won for 3 months.”

“Son?”

“I’ll do it for 3 months.”

“Yes. Then it’s 200,000 won. Please fill out the application form here.”

My mother filled out the application form and handed me 200,000 won.

“When are you going to start exercising?”

“Son. Should I tell you myself?”

“I’ll be out starting tomorrow.”

“Okay? Then you can come wearing gym clothes, and since you can exercise barefoot here, just come dressed appropriately.”

“What are the gym hours?”

“We are from 1pm to 10pm?”

“Then I’ll come after school tomorrow.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow! I’ll see you later, Mom.”

“Yes. Thank you for your hard work~”

Kickboxing was just as I had imagined, except for the welcoming people, and after registering for kickboxing, I headed to the judo gym, which was 5 minutes away from the kickboxing gym.

“Welcome~”

“Hello. I’m here to register my son.”

Here, the director was the real director I had imagined. He had a warm impression, a slightly protruding belly, and a huge build.

“Son. How old are you?”

“I’m now eight years old and have entered elementary school.”

“We’re mainly doing it for adults, and they’re still too young.”

“Oh really? Is it hard for kids to learn?”

“It’s not that it’s hard, but it’s because you fall a lot and it puts a lot of impact on your knees because it’s an exercise that uses your knees.”

“Mom!”

“Huh?”

“Director, I’ll come back when I grow a little more.”

“Haha. Really?”

“Yes. If you hurt your knee, you’re in big trouble, right? ”

“That’s right.”

“I’ll definitely come back next time. Thank you.”

“Haha okay. See you next time.”

“Yes. Goodbye.”

I left the judo gym, impressed by the true instructor who prioritized knees over money.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to learn judo?”

“Mom. You shouldn’t hit your knee at this age.”

“Why?”

“This is the age where knees are the most important.”

“Huh? You’re not even my grandfather. Why?”

“Mom, do you wish I didn’t grow tall?”

“Huh? Oh, that’s what you meant? “

“For now, I’ll just go kickboxing.”

So, Yudo quickly gave up on the problem of the risk of the growth plate and started walking home with his mother.

“What kind of sport did you want to learn, Mom?”

“Huh? Exercise?”

“You said you wanted to learn how to exercise before but you didn’t.”

“Mom, did you want to learn boxing?”

“Why? Because it’s cool?”

“It’s cool and I think it’ll taste good too?”

“Huh? What kind of taste is that?”

“You know, hitting that thing hanging from the ceiling with your fist? I really wanted to try that.”

“Then, Mom, do you want to go kickboxing with me?”

“No~ At this age, what.”

“If you wanted to try it, what does age have to do with it?”

“If you learn properly, Dad won’t die~”

“…..”

“Even now, the joke is so bad~ Hehe.”

It was a 20-minute walk from home, but I arrived at the apartment complex while chatting with my mom.

“Ye-eun, it’s almost time to finish. Do you want Jae-hoon to pick you up today?”

“Yeah, why? Mom isn’t going?”

“Mom walked a lot today, so she finished her exercise for today~”

“Okay. I’ll bring it.”

As I headed to the kindergarten, I saw parents picking up their children, and the children started coming out one by one.

As I was quietly waiting for Ye-eun to appear from afar, a child who looked similar to Min-jun approached Ye-eun, greeted her, and then ran to her parents.

“Yeeun-ah!”

“Brother~!”

“Did you have fun today?”

“Yeah!”

“Who was that just now?”

“Min-hoo? The one who said hello and left?”

“It seems like it starts with Min?”

“Huh?”

“No. No. So what did he say?”

“See you tomorrow!”

“Yeeun, what did oppa say was the most important thing?”

“No! Don’t do that?”

“No. No. That’s what you do when someone does something you don’t like.”

“Men and women sitting together?”

“That’s right! Kids these days are so fast and smart that seven is too late, Oppa told me last year. Especially, you can’t be alone with a kid whose name starts with Min, like Jae, right? Got it?”

“Yeah!!”

“My neighbor Minjun was like that when he was in kindergarten. He kept changing girlfriends. You shouldn’t date those kinds of people. Got it?”

“Okay! Got it!!”

“Did anything happen at kindergarten?”

“Yeah! I drew a picture and the teacher read a storybook to me!”

“Fairy tale book?”

“Cinderella and Snow White!”

“Use it. Both are bad.”

“Why? Cinderella said it was okay!”

“Cinderella is better than Snow White. But they both met princes and were happy, right? What did your brother say?”

“There really is no such thing as a prince?”

“Right. And?”

“You should be able to be happy on your own without a prince or something?”

“That’s right. Whose younger sibling is that smart!”

“Hehehe.”

Today, I arrived home after diligently instilling Confucianism in Ye-eun.

“Are your son and daughter here?”

“I’m back!”

“Mom, Ye-eun said there was a kid at kindergarten who felt similar to Min-jun.”

“Huh? Really? What’s your name?”

“Min, what was it? Ye-eun, what was that person’s name just now?”

“Minhoo!!”

“Oh my! The names that start with Min are similar. Ye-eun. You can’t be alone with that friend?”

“Yeah!!”

“I already told you everything. Anyway, I told you so that you know too.”

“Good job son!”

Today, too, our house was faithful to the education of reason.

***

The next morning.

Today too, I woke up slowly and prepared to go to school.

6 years of elementary school, 3 years of middle school, and 3 years of high school – that’s a whole 12 years of education.

The important thing is that even though it is optional, it takes 4 years until college, so a total of 16 years.

I would like to just pass on college, but how can I give up on college when it is the fruit of my efforts in my past life?

And if you give up, you might be sent into exile overseas.

Should I skip high school and take the GED test and then take the CSAT right away?

I don’t know if my family will allow it, but I’ll have to think about it slowly.

“I’ll go and come back.”

“Go and come back safely and make friends!!”

“Yeah.”

Today too, I left the house and took the elevator to school with Minjun’s mom next door shouting in the background.

When I entered the school and opened the door to the classroom, the kids seemed to have become closer to each other and it was much noisier than yesterday.

As I was sitting down, passing by some noisy kids, a girl sitting behind me suddenly started talking to me.

“Hello? Are you Seo Jae-hoon?”

“Yeah. Hi.”

“Remember me?”

“Huh? No. I don’t know?”

“We went to the same kindergarten”

“Oh, sorry. What was your name?”

“Hwang Min-ha. Let’s be friends.”

“Do you like Snow White?”

“Huh? No, I don’t like it. Why?”

“Okay! Let’s be friends!”

Suddenly, I made a friend who wasn’t the same sex as me, but I could go home and talk to my mom.

It feels that way and since I don’t like Snow White either, I think it’s a good pass.

As I was happy to have a friend, my seatmate Shin Yuri, who was a Snow White fan and also suffering from princess syndrome, sat down.

“Hello!”

“Uh.”

“Do you hate me?”

“Yeah. I don’t like it.”

“Why?”

“There is something like that.”

“What is it?”

“Would you like me to tell you how to be friends with you?”

“Yeah. What is it?”

“The friend I saw yesterday is surprisingly cool. He’s good at fighting, studying, and giving his all to his girlfriend. Do you want to date him?”

“Why are you taking out my liver and gallbladder?”

“That’s just what I said. Don’t you want to date a boyfriend? A hot prince charming?”

“What does being friends with that have to do with anything?”

“You’re my best friend, so think about it.”

“What?”

“If you date him, you’re not just friends, you’re friends and your boyfriend’s friends! Don’t you look closer?”

“Let me think about it!”

“Yeah!!”

Does Minjun know? About my efforts to get a girlfriend. Hehe. With this, if Minjun gives his lips to his partner who is in the early stages of princess syndrome, he won’t think about going for my lips.

Because there can’t be even the slightest danger on my lips.

It seemed possible that Minjun could offer his lips instead of me.