episode_0232

***

Shin Jeong-ah got off the bus and headed to a place where old villas were densely towering.

I saw volume-rate garbage bags scattered here and there, and trash that had somehow been inserted into the mouths of the volume-rate garbage bags.

The person throwing it away had a short patience, so there were personal papers scattered around, and there were traces of people leaving their mark on the street, as if they had had a big drink before the weekend had arrived yet.

Shin Jeong-ah gently pinched her nose with her free hand and frowned.

Although she passes this road every day, she is not used to it.

She thought of the house where Kang In-ho lived and the hill road leading up to it.

A well-maintained, bright, and straight road that doesn’t seem to have any flaws.

It was a bit difficult to climb up, but she thought it would be a hundred times better than walking down these stinking streets.

After going around the complicated alley like an anthill a few times, a dead end appeared.

And at the end of the alley, there were her friends hanging out with her like always.

“Are you here?”

Kim Jin-tae, who was smoking a cigarette, greeted her by spitting on the floor.

Shin Jeong-ah held out a plastic bag in front of her, and Seong Yun-ho, who had been flirting with Jeong A-ra next to her, came over and snatched the bag.

“Oh… I bought a lot. But why did it take so long?”

Sung Yun-ho scolded Shin Jeong-ah.

“What should I do, you idiot?”

Shin Jeong-ah pushed Seong Yun-ho on the shoulder.

“You idiot.”

Kim Jin-tae was upset when he saw Seong Yun-ho being pushed aside by Shin Jeong-ah.

Kim Jin-tae put his hand into the bag Sung Yun-ho was holding.

Rattling. With the sound of glass colliding with glass, a green bottle was taken out of his hand.

“There aren’t many places where the fortress can be breached. So fucking thorough. Fuck.”

After checking the contents, Kim Jin-tae put it back in the bag.

He threw the cigarette he was holding on the floor and led the group forward.

“Where are you going today?”

“Let’s go to the multi-room. My friend wants me to work now.”

Kim Jin-tae left the alley, waving his hand to follow.

And his friends followed suit.

“…….”

Shin Jeong-ah looked at the backs of her friends.

Their shadows, created by the flickering streetlights, spread grotesquely on the floor and walls.

Seeing the shape that seemed to be a mixture of bare winter trees, she slowly moved her feet and followed them.

As she walked along the smelly and dizzy alley, Kang In-ho was still in her head.

***

For Yun Shia, everyday life was like a fierce battlefield.

After organizing my father’s illness, school assignments, and the lessons to be taught to Inho, the day of tutoring has already arrived.

Today too, she got off the bus, clutching her hungry stomach after eating just the right amount of calories.

I don’t even have time to stop by a convenience store and eat something.

This was because I didn’t have enough money in my wallet, and because my shift at the hospital was late, I was 30 minutes late for tutoring.

“Ha-”

Her eyes naturally turned to the night sky.

The moon was unusually bright.

It is a day when I feel particularly weak.

Everything you had planned goes wrong, and when one part of your life starts to get better, another part suddenly starts to run into trouble.

No matter how hard an individual tries or how prepared he or she is,

I feel like I’m floating around, crashing here and there, swept away by a huge wave that I can’t do anything about.

Or it could be passing through a long tunnel.

Like the countless tunnels we passed through on the Yeongdong Expressway, a car named Yoon Si-ah entered a long section of tunnel.

Sparsely. As I pass through the mountains, I see the sunlight outside for a moment, but only for a moment.

A life where you have to enter a long, winding tunnel again and just run forward in the dark.

Yes, I am now in the tunnel.

Yun Shia thought as she walked.

It would be even more unfortunate, and it would be ruined altogether.

Sometimes thoughts that are too scary to even come to mind suddenly pop up in my head.

Why does life leave so little hope for the unfortunate to live?

For no reason, Yoon Sia’s eyes filled with tears.

She walked down the street dragging her old shoes. Even time to indulge in sentimentality was a luxury for her.

I desperately wanted to quickly go to tutoring, finish the class, and then go home and rest.

It was when I was passing a convenience store.

“Teacher.”

When I raised my head at the sound of a familiar voice, I saw a student surrounded by cats in front of a convenience store.

It was Kang In-ho.

A terrible problem child who was suspended from school for bullying his friend.

However, he greeted her with a very different expression and outfit than her evaluation.

“What are you doing?”

When a tired Yoon Shia asked, Kang In-ho smiled awkwardly.

“No, well… I came to buy some dinner…”

In his hand was a half-squeezed chur.

“I was tricked by the convenience store owner. ”

He smiled, shrugging his shoulders.

Clear smile and eyes.

Yun Sia thought.

There was no trace of the emotionless and rude eyes I saw the day we first met.

“I see.”

Yun Sia didn’t have anything else to say, so she answered roughly.

Kang In-ho squeezed the straw in his hand, put it in the cat’s bowl, and then came to her, shaking his hands.

“I guess you had a lot of work today.”

Inho asked as they walked side by side.

Yoon Sia smiled bitterly as she recalled her busy day.

“Teacher, you haven’t eaten, right?”

When we reached the beginning of the hill, Inho asked.

“Yes. Why?”

“I also happened to not eat it. Let’s eat together.”

“Dinner?”

“Yes, dinner. Teacher, I think I would have starved today anyway.”

“Ah, that’s…”

Yoon Si-ah avoided looking at the question that hit the nail on the head.

“In the end, it’s about making a living. You have to eat to gain strength.”

Kang In-ho spoke like an old man as he climbed the hill.

“What, like you.”

Kang In-ho looked very hurt by Yoon Si-ah’s mumbling.

He increased his speed and began to stride.

Yun Shia looked at his back.

His shadow reflected in the streetlight was displayed on the floor like a giant fence.

“Go quickly. I have to eat and go to class.”

Kang In-ho, who looked back at her and smiled coolly, started to lead first.

As she climbed the long hill, Yoon Sia thought.

Ah, this child is a good child by nature….

I’m just not good at making friends…