episode_0096

The warmest space in the house.

This is my room, where three electric heaters are running 24 hours a day.

Time passed as the three computers spun magnificently, and today was Sister Sea’s middle school graduation ceremony.

I got out of bed feeling the warm air and started getting ready to go out.

But since it was my sister’s graduation, I wore a neat shirt that I had bought in advance and took care of everything to look stylish before leaving the house.

My mother-in-law’s house is 15 seconds away from home.

“Hello.”

“Son-in-law! Are you here? Are you dressed nicely? We’ll be done soon, so can you wait a little?”

“Yes.”

I came to my mother-in-law’s house as she said that since we were going there anyway, let’s go together.

Soon after, my mother-in-law and father-in-law’s preparations were finished and we all left for middle school together.

“I’m going to buy some flowers.”

“Son-in-law. Don’t you usually not buy things like flowers?”

“But it’s my sister’s graduation, so I have to buy it.”

“Better than my husband.”

“Why me? I told you to buy flowers too?”

“What! A gentleman who doesn’t buy flowers on our anniversary.”

I bought it because it was my graduation. I don’t think I’d buy it for an anniversary.

After seeing my mother-in-law, I decided that from now on, I would definitely buy flowers for my sister-in-law on our anniversary.

As we headed to the auditorium where the graduation ceremony was held, there was a large crowd of people. When the students looked around to see where Sae-ah Noona was, they made eye contact with Sae-ah Noona standing in front.

After waving hands and greeting each other, the graduation ceremony begins shortly after, with opening remarks, national anthem, awarding of diplomas, and the unmissable congratulatory address from the principal.

After a long series of congratulatory speeches and a closing ceremony, an hour later the graduation ceremony in the auditorium came to an end and students began to move to their classes.

When I went into my sister’s class with my mother-in-law and father-in-law, it seemed like she was in the same class as my sister Minji.

“Jaehoon is here too? Oh, Sae-ah, he came with his mom?”

“Yes. Hello.”

“We live next door, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.”

“Haha. Yes.”

“Minji’s mom, it’s been a while.”

Huh? My mother-in-law suddenly put her arm around my shoulder.

“It’s been a while, Sae-ah’s mom. You and Jae-hoon seem to be getting along well, don’t you?”

“Of course. He is my son-in-law.”

“I’m fifteen now, what do I need a son-in-law for?”

“You’re all grown up at fifteen.”

“Oh my. Minji, that’s what introduced me to Sae-ah.”

“So Sae-ah is also thankful to Min-ji and is doing well~”

Is this what they call a mind fight, where tension builds up even in trivial conversations?

The heart fight ended awkwardly as the teacher, standing in front of the podium, began to give a brief closing speech for the graduation ceremony that was being held in the class.

One by one, the students began to step forward to receive their diplomas and yearbooks.

When my sister Sae-ah received her diploma, my mother-in-law and I gave her flowers, and she smiled brightly at me.

I looked at my older sister as I returned to my seat with my mother-in-law, thinking that she looked even prettier today, perhaps because she had put on makeup for the graduation ceremony.

The graduation ceremony ended with all the graduating students in the class gathering in front of the blackboard and taking a group photo with their homeroom teacher.

Sister Saea runs to me as soon as it ends.

“Jaehoon!”

“Congratulations on your graduation.”

“Hehehe. Thanks.”

“Daughter, can’t you see Mom and Dad?”

“Yeah. Thanks to mom and dad too.”

The father-in-law came with a camera and took pictures of me and Sae-ah, and then I took some pictures for him and asked other parents to take pictures for us all.

After watching my friends take pictures with me for a while, the photo time seemed to be over and it was finally time to leave school.

As I headed toward the school gate, I saw several students covered in flour and eggs on the playground.

“Son-in-law. A son-in-law shouldn’t do that?”

“Should I do that?”

“Yeah. I forgot.”

“…..”

“Why do you always say that Jaehoon doesn’t have any friends!”

“That’s right! Mom! You said it’s better not to have friends!”

They say a sister-in-law who tries to stop you is more hateful than a mother-in-law who hits you.

The titles were all different, but it was clear that he hated the people who talked back.

We headed to a jajangmyeon restaurant near the school and had jajangmyeon and tangsuyuk, a graduation-style meal.

After an ordinary day at home, Sae-ah’s sister’s graduation day ended like that.

***

A month passed and the opening ceremony approached.

As I opened the door and entered the second grade classroom, I saw eyes looking at me.

There were some kids in my class, and some I didn’t know.

One thing that is certain is that most children avoid eye contact with me.

Just like in the first year, the first opening ceremony ended with the teacher coming in and introducing himself, assigning seats, and handing out textbooks.

The second day arrived and today, I opened the door, went into the classroom, sat down, and class began.

I always performed the same meditation, and the first, second, and third periods ended in that order, and so did the fourth period.

The big problem here is that I have no friends to eat with.

To be honest, I ate alone a lot in my past life and I wasn’t really scared of it, but why did I hesitate to go to the cafeteria?

I never thought my sisters graduating would be such a big deal.

I waited for the line to get shorter, thinking that I might as well go when there were fewer people like last year, and only then was I able to head to the cafeteria.

I received my food on my plate, headed to a randomly empty table, sat down, and started eating.

Is this because it’s the first time in my life that I’ve eaten alone, or is it because I’ve developed a delusion of persecution?

I started to have all sorts of thoughts like, “Isn’t it because they’re talking about me?” as I felt people gossiping around me.

Anyway, since regular meals are important, I ate until the end and headed to the halfway point.

Today I regretted, just a little, not making any friends.

The next day arrived again.

The man has a conscience. I won’t make friends just for the sake of eating.

As I calmed my mind and meditated, lunch time quickly approached.

You may not have any friends, and it’s not a sin to not have them, so there’s no shame in that.

I steeled my resolve and headed to the cafeteria, where I received my food on a tray and sat down at a table that was empty again today.

I picked up a spoon to eat rice.

“Jaehoon!”

When I turned around at the sound of someone calling me, Minjun was approaching me.

“Why?”

“Where were you? You weren’t even in the classroom, so I looked for you for a while. My sister said you don’t have any friends to eat with, so eat with me.”

My affection for Minji grew a little in my heart.

Because she’s like a good older sister.

“Thank you.”

“Hey, what. My sister said she’d introduce me to a pretty sister if I ate with you.”

My favorability towards Minji went up a little bit, and my favorability towards Minjun went down a little bit.

Isn’t he a womanizing bastard?

Anyway, it was a little bit fortunate that I didn’t have to eat alone anymore.

Whatever the reason, thanks to Minjun, who was crazy about women, I was able to avoid eating alone and the boring days passed by the same old way.

Aren’t the most wasted times in the world the times spent at school?

I thought I had adapted a long time ago in elementary school, but maybe the year I spent eating with my new sister was that precious.

As each day passed, school began to become more and more boring.

In the past, there was a boundary between being boring and being boring, but now it feels like I’m breaking through that boundary.

But the biggest problem is that in this day and age, there is no homeschooling and middle school is compulsory education, so it is impossible to skip it in the first place.

In the end, I had no choice but to go to school with difficulty.

As spring turned into summer, the three heaters in my room started to become quite burdensome.

I couldn’t just leave the computer I bought for 25 million won sitting idle, and I felt bad about not earning any bitcoins during that time, but I also felt like I would die from the heat if I kept it on.

The best way to do this was to install an air conditioner in my room, and a battle between the air conditioner and the heater ensued.

Since my mom will pay the electricity bill, I can buy her a nice gift with the money I earn from Bitcoin when I grow up.

In the midst of the ongoing battle between air conditioners and heaters throughout the summer, the most welcome summer vacation of all the vacations we have ever had has arrived.

But the boring school commute period passed by so quickly that summer vacation disappeared like a taste after a few sleeps, and school started again.

As I continued to walk to school, the cool autumn passed and the cold winter approached, and winter vacation came again.

With three electric heaters doing their best, we set out to enjoy a comfortable winter in a warm room.

Thanks to the great patience of the regressor shown by my older sister Sae-ah, who has been sticking close to me lately, I was able to finish my winter vacation without any problems.

Sixteen years old in 2010.

By the time I was in my third year of middle school, I had grown to 175 cm tall.

Now, his face has become so handsome that anyone can see it, and thanks to consistent exercise, his body is in great shape.

Even I thought I was a pretty cool kid, but no one talked to me at school.

Even though I actually spoke to him, I didn’t even think about becoming close to him now.

I actually thought I was more of a loner than a nerd. Well, actually, it didn’t really matter whether I was a loner or a nerd.

When I started school, Ye-eun entered the same school as me as a first-year middle school student.

Although he only had one friend at school, Minjun, he tried to show his older brotherly side to the younger brother he occasionally ran into.

When we met sometimes, I greeted her first and treated her friends kindly as if she were my friend.

When we ran into each other like that, we would say hello and pass each other, and after a month of school, Ye-eun definitely saw me but pretended not to know me.

Yeah, I just thought, I guess he didn’t see it.

From then on, Ye-eun’s behavior continued like that.

Clearly, I didn’t do anything wrong, so I asked Ye-eun at home, but she continued to avoid me without giving me a clear answer.

I thought I was doing well at least for my family.

Something is wrong.