/

Chapter 5




< Retest, and Winter Vacation. >
#5
Skill Test. And Winter Vacation.
Everyone has their own sore spot. For me, who had been given a new life, revenge was important, but my grandmother was the most precious.
I was angry at the bald eagle who had crossed the line. Still, I gritted my teeth and countered with logic due to the inevitable difference between teacher and student.
“What? Ha! You little brat, really.”
“Are you not confident?”
The homeroom teacher, the snake teacher, fidgeted and alternated his gaze between the bald eagle and me. The other teachers also watched the situation, unsure when it might explode.
“Hey! Kim Muhyeok! Are you serious?”
“Yes, I am confident.”
“Mr. Kim.”
It was not the bald eagle or me, but a heavy, elderly voice that spoke. It was the vice principal.
“Try it. Muhyeok seems confident, but are you not confident, Mr. Kim? If you're not confident, then why did you push the student and insult his grandmother?”
“Vice Principal!”
“Don’t shout. This is the faculty room. It’s not just Mr. Kim’s place. You called Muhyeok to hear his explanation, not to yell at him. If a teacher can’t trust a student, who can they trust? So, should we have a retest? Mr. Kim, you decide.”
“...”
Though he spoke calmly, the person who could be considered the biggest trash in this faculty room was the vice principal. I knew the face behind his mask.
The bald eagle then turned to me with a fierce look.
“Hey, Kim Muhyeok. Let’s try it. Are you really confident? If the scores don’t match, you’ll have to drop out, right?”
“Yes, if the scores are similar, the teacher should apologize sincerely.”
I ended up taking the retest in the faculty room, watched by all the teachers.
The first test paper given to me was English. I chuckled.
In my second life, English... It’s not practical English, but I still have some skills.
I finished all the answers in less than 30 minutes.
Looking up, I saw the teachers’ faces, half surprised and half flustered.
“I’ve finished.”
The English teacher started grading the test paper. After a moment... the English teacher looked at the test paper and me with a disbelieving face. His mouth opened.
“All correct.”
“...”
The teachers’ reactions, alternating between me and the English teacher with disbelieving faces, were not unfamiliar.
“Give me the next subject.”
It took exactly 2 hours to solve four subjects: Math, Korean, and History. And I got full marks in Math and History, even on the questions I had gotten wrong.
“...Really?”
The words from an unknown teacher probably reflected the thoughts of all the teachers in the faculty room.
Kim Muhyeok, the worst troublemaker at Dongseong High School, was the image they had of me.
“Give me the next subject.”
My calm tone made the vice principal step in.
“Enough. This confirms everything, doesn’t it? Isn’t that right, Mr. Kim?”
“...Yes.”
“Apologize now. What are you doing?”
“...”
“If you made a promise, you should keep it, Mr. Kim! Teachers should set an example for students. Isn’t that right?”
The bald eagle’s face turned red like a beet. His mouth opened carefully.
“Muhyeok, I’m sorry. I really misunderstood. I won’t do it again. And mentioning your grandmother was a mistake. I’m sorry.”
I asked him to apologize to my grandmother, but I couldn’t call her, who didn’t even know about this, to receive an apology.
Finally, I sighed deeply and said,
“Teacher, I know I’ve caused a lot of trouble. I know you don’t like me. But I am a student you are responsible for. And my grandmother is my only family. I ask you again, don’t speak rudely about my grandmother.”
“I understand.”
“Can I go now?”
“...Yes, go to the classroom.”
I bowed to all the teachers and left the faculty room.
Fucking... I should feel good, but it felt like shit.
“Phew... I’m so annoyed.”
The memories before my regression and the old events overlapped in my mind, making me feel uncontrollably confused.
“Hey! Muhyeok!”
Turning my head at the call, I saw Myungsoo and Hyunsung running towards me.
“What’s up?”
“It’s resolved.”
“Did the bald eagle cause trouble again? Wait. I’ll go and give him a piece of my mind. Hey! Don’t stop me. Hyunsung, don’t stop me.”
No one was stopping Myungsoo.
“Why are you stopping me?”
“...Let’s go.”
I left Myungsoo behind and walked with Hyunsung.
“Hey! Come with us!”
Myungsoo ran after us.
Returning to the classroom and sitting down, the snake teacher came in a moment later.
“Those called, come out and get your report cards. Don’t forget to get your parents’ signatures.”
“Yes!”
As the snake teacher called out names and distributed the report cards, he hesitated when he called mine.
“Kim Muhyeok.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry for earlier. This time, Muhyeok got first place in the school. Everyone, give him a round of applause!”
“Teacher, it’s not April Fool’s Day, right?”
Myungsoo’s words represented the thoughts of all the students.
But as the snake teacher’s expression didn’t change, everyone started to look at me with confused faces.
“None of you believe it? The teachers didn’t believe it either, so we had a retest. But he got all the questions right, even the ones he had gotten wrong.”
The shock was so great that no one could speak.
“Get your parents’ signatures tomorrow, and those whose grades dropped, be prepared. That’s all! Class president!”
After bowing to the teacher, the class meeting ended. The other kids didn’t approach me, but Myungsoo came right over.
“Hey, is it real?”
“Yeah.”
“...Who are you?”
The other kids were also looking at me curiously. I smacked Myungsoo’s forehead.
“Who else? Your friend, Kim Muhyeok.”
“Right? Is this really my friend Muhyeok? If it were you, would you believe it?”
“I believe it. My friend.”
I picked up my backpack and stood up. As I walked, the kids’ eyes followed me.
“You guys, work hard. If you fall behind a troublemaker like me, what will you do? I’m going.”
“Hey! Come with us.”
Myungsoo quickly grabbed his bag and followed me.
On the way home.
Myungsoo finally nodded after examining the report card from all angles.
“Fucking... I got beaten by a guy like Muhyeok?”
“...”
“Hyunsung. This can’t be. This is a dream. It’s definitely a dream. Why are you not saying anything?”
“...I’ll start studying from tomorrow.”
“Both of you, thank you. Myungsoo, study, and Hyunsung, do sports. Go to college as a special admission. I’ll go to a university in Seoul. From now on, let’s all work hard at school.”
A cool autumn breeze brushed past my face. Myungsoo and Hyunsung’s faces also passed by.
* * *
At that time, in Seoul.
“Did the old man go to Busan and come back?”
“That’s right. Did you hear anything, brother?”
“Did the old man say anything to us? What’s going on... The people we planted around him are silent?”
“Yeah, no one knows except for Mr. Ha?”
“Damn, does the old man have a reason to move to Busan?”
Two men were having a conversation in an office.
At that moment, a young woman entered the room.
“Sir, a guest has arrived.”
“Let them in.”
“Yes.”
A well-built man entered the office. The two men stood up to greet him.
“Oh, Mr. Cheon. It’s been a while. Even the younger Mr. Cheon is here?”
“Mr. Park, please come in.”
“Is Mr. Cheon doing well?”
“Yes, he is fine. Please take a seat.”
The man called Mr. Park sat in the seat of honor, despite the office belonging to Cheon Su-man.
Cheon Su-man and Cheon Su-han also moved to their seats without a word.
“Our boss wants two large ones prepared. Is it possible?”
“Yes, we’ll prepare them cleanly to avoid any problems.”
“Good. Is your father-in-law doing well, younger Mr. Cheon?”
“Yes.”
The two men called Mr. Cheon were the sons of Cheon Tae-san, the old man.
The eldest, Cheon Su-man, was the son-in-law of the eldest daughter of Ilseong Group, one of the top five conglomerates in Korea.
The second son, Cheon Su-han, was married to the youngest daughter of a five-term National Assembly member and lived as a son-in-law.
The man sitting in the seat of honor, Mr. Park, was the aide to Lee Hak-su, a powerful National Assembly member and the president’s confidant.
“If we prepare it well and send it, the boss will repay everything later. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“See you next time.”
After delivering his message, Mr. Park quickly left the office.
The door closed, and the brothers began to criticize Mr. Park.
“Damn, he thinks he’s the old man. He’s so annoying every time I see him.”
“Endure it. We’re doing this to get into the Cheongpung Association. Is it worth complaining? We’ll do it later. Just endure until then.”
“I know, but it’s annoying. Your father-in-law hasn’t even touched the tail of the Cheongpung Association, despite being a five-term National Assembly member.”
“He’s not a founding member. If I knew, I wouldn’t have married her. It was the old man who forced me.”
Cheon Su-man, who had been cursing, narrowed his eyes and said,
“What did the old man go to Busan for? Let’s find out.”
“Yeah, I’ll check too.”
* * *
The grandmother cried when she saw Muhyeok’s report card. After crying for a while, she came close and hugged Muhyeok with her small body.
Though she was very thin, Muhyeok thought she was the most reliable and warm person.
“My child... You’ve worked hard.”
“Haha, I’ll study hard from now on. Just wait for 3 years, grandma.”
“Oh, I have to see you enter college before I die. Yes, I do.”
“Don’t say you’ll die.”
On the TV, the president was making a special announcement.
- I declare war on crimes and violence that destroy the national community and will use all the powers granted by the constitution to eliminate them...
The president, with a stern expression, declared war on crime, known as the '10.13 Special Declaration'.
The war on crime had finally begun.
The joint police and prosecution task force, which launched a large-scale arrest operation against all the leaders of organized crime in Busan, soon arrested Lee Saseong, the leader of the Saseong faction.
“Shit, what’s going on? That brat was right?”
“That’s right. Fortunately, we avoided the storm... But I heard the big brother was caught.”
Park Dongsoo bit his lip with a dark face.
“...For now, don’t cause any trouble and stay low. Absolutely don’t go out drinking.”
“Yes, brother.”
Though it was a high school student’s words, Park Dongsoo, feeling uneasy about the story Muhyeok had told, went to a local area with his five real brothers and went into hiding. They also witnessed the president’s declaration on TV.
That’s how Kim Muhyeok changed the future.
Instead of a future where Park Dongsoo was arrested and Lee Saseong survived, it became a future where Lee Saseong took all the responsibility and was arrested.
* * *
Time passed quickly after that. In another school exam, I took first place again. The teachers no longer raised objections.
Now it was winter vacation.
When I came out of the school, a car was waiting.
The car door opened, and Mr. Ha got out and greeted me.
“Muhyeok, it’s been a while.”
“Yes, Mr. Ha.”
“The chairman is calling you. Since it’s winter vacation, he says you should keep your promise.”
“...Yes, I’ll tell my grandmother and go with her.”
“We’ve already informed her.”
Mr. Ha opened the car door for me.
I got into the back seat.
“It’s a long drive, so if you’re tired, you can sleep. We’ll start now.”
“Yes.”
During the long drive to Seoul, Mr. Ha never spoke first. He only gave brief answers to my occasional questions, without much talk.
Steadfastness and weight.
These were Mr. Ha’s strengths. I remembered the fate of Mr. Ha, who became involved with me due to the old man’s request.
‘This time, I’ll definitely protect you, Mr. Ha.’
Jongno-gu, Pyeongchang-dong.
Pyeongchang-dong, located on the southern slope of Bukhansan, is mostly a development-restricted area. Therefore, it has many single-family homes with more vegetation compared to other areas.
Together with Hanam-dong, it is a neighborhood where many of Korea’s rich people live. This is where the old man’s mansion is located.
I opened the door and entered the house. In the living room, where Mr. Ha led me, the old man was waiting for me.
“Have you arrived?”
“Yes, grandfather.”
I quietly swallowed.
It’s starting now...
< Retest, and Winter Vacation. > End