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Chapter 8.2: You’ve Never Been Beaten To A Pulp, Have You? (2)
As soon as he keyed in the passcode and entered the apartment, Yoo Hye-Sook happily came out to greet him, but she was startled.
She looked at the shabby sweatpants he was wearing and the bandage wrapped around his hand.
“I hurt myself working out, so I went to my teacher’s house to change into a new set of clothes before going to the hospital.”
“Where? How bad was it? Did the doctor say everything’s okay? Is there any problem?”
She was genuinely concerned, but she was overreacting. It was annoying.
As soon as Kang Chan frowned, Yoo Hye-Sook stopped talking.
“They said I’m okay."
Yoo Hye-Sook was a victim as well. She was a victim who had lost her perfectly normal son and had to be nice to a stone-cold man. Kang Chan suppressed his annoyance; he wanted to repay his debt to the owner of his body, even if it was just a small gesture.
“Have you had your dinner?” Perhaps, Yoo Hye-Sook felt hurt by his reaction –– her eyes had turned red as she teared up.
“I haven’t.”
“In that case, go rest first. I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”
“Okay.”
Kang Chan went into his room and plopped onto the bed.
***
When Kang Chan jerked awake from his nap, it was already dark in his room. He had slept more soundly than expected, probably because of the shot they had given him in the hospital when they had stitched up the wound in his palm.
“So you didn’t get to talk to him about it, huh?” Kang Chan heard Kang Dae-Kyung’s voice.
“I think Chan hates me.”
“What makes you say that? He’s probably just a little on edge because of the accident.”
“No, that’s not it. The way he looks at me now is completely different than before. He probably thinks it’s all my fault.”
Yoo Hye-Sook was crying.
“Nonsense! I’ll lecture him later.”
“It’s okay. Don’t do that.”
Kang Chan could hear Yoo Hye-Sook inhaling through her nose loudly.
“Just like what you said, I’m going to just be satisfied with the fact that he survived. Even if he glares at me…or resents me, I’ll be content either way because he’s alive. Sobs.”
Kang Chan heard Yoo Hye-Sook’s voice once again. She seemed to have calmed down a little.
“Honey, if Chan didn’t wake up from his coma back then, I wouldn’t have been able to continue living. So I’m going to stop being greedy, like what you said before. Regardless of how good Seong-Hee’s son is, he cannot even be compared to Chan’s toes.”
“Now, now, dear. Seong-Hee’s son has to be better than toes, right?” Kang Dae-Kyung casually remarked. He started to comfort his wife.
“I’ll talk to Chan tomorrow.”
“I told you not to do that. If he ends up hating me even more, it’ll make things even harder.”
“Alright, alright.”
Kang Chan was hungry, but he couldn’t step out of his room. He lay in bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook were completely different from his parents in his past life. Even though a fucked-up son had appeared in their lives out of the blue, they were determined to let go of their greed.
What would have happened if Kang Chan had been born as their son right from the beginning? They had conceived a son because they wanted a child, but they wouldn’t have wanted a son like him, would they?
“What would you want me to do?” Kang Chan asked the owner of his body.
“What exactly do you want me to do?”
The ceiling didn’t give him a response.
Kang Chan’s new life was very confusing.
***
It was morning.
Kang Chan hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, probably because of the shot he had gotten at the hospital. In truth, he was so used to sleeping on battlefields that he had never had insomnia before. He had the habit of waking up early, and it was still the same now.
Knock knock knock.
“Chan, have you gotten up?”
“Yes.”
As soon as Kang Chan opened the door and left the room, Yoo Hye-Sook trod carefully around him. Like a guilty person.
“Let’s eat.”
With the words ‘I’ll be careful’ written all over her body, Yoo Hye-Sook hurried over to the kitchen.
“Did you sleep well?” Kang Chan asked.
“Oh! Yeah, and you?” Kang Dae-Kyung responded.
“Yes, I had a good night’s rest.”
“How’s your hand? I heard from your mom that you hurt yourself. Was it bad?”
Kang Dae-Kyung was trying his best to hide the worried look in his eyes.
“I hurt myself while working out. The doctor said it will take approximately a month for it to heal.”
“It could’ve been really bad. Let’s dig in.”
“Yes.”
The three of them started eating.
“You said that your teacher lent you some clothes?”
“Yes.”
“Should we pay him a visit as a formality?”
“Just forget about it. It’ll be fine.”
Kang Dae-Kyung said he would lecture him, but it seemed as though he was also trying his best not to get on Kang Chan’s nerves.
They somehow managed to get through breakfast together.
“Let’s go. I’ll give you a ride to school.”
“I’m going to school with Mi-Young.”
Yoo Hye-Sook instantly looked up and tried her best to stay composed.
“You don’t have any plans this weekend, right?”
Kang Chan wondered what it was about. It occurred to him that it was Friday today.
“On Sunday morning, your mom is—”
“Hey! Didn’t I tell you not to say anything!”
Unlike how she spoke to Kang chan, Yoo Hye-Sook snapped at Kang Dae-Kyung. As soon as she did that, Kang Dae-Kyung smacked his lips and grabbed his suit jacket.
“Drive safe.”
As soon as Kang Dae-Kyung nodded and left the house, Kang Chan went into his room. He grabbed his extra uniform and put it on. He then recalled that he had left his bag with Seok Kang-Ho.
‘Seok Kang-Ho will probably bring it to school and pass it to me.’
“I’m leaving now.”
“Okay. Be safe.”
Kang Chan tried to be nice. However, he felt it was more difficult than fighting ten people armed with fillet knives, so he decided to give it another shot after he had practiced more.
When Kang Chan left through the entrance on the first floor of the apartment complex, Kim Mi-Young, who was tapping the ground with her foot, smiled widely at him.
‘No self-respect.’
As soon as Kang Chan nodded, Kim Mi-Young ran over to him.
“How’s your hand?”
Kang Chan raised his left hand and simply walked without saying anything. The bus stop was right in front of the apartment complex. There were quite a number of students there, probably because all the students were going to school at this hour.
However, the moment Kang Chan arrived, the students slowly backed away from him, one step at a time. Everybody was avoiding his gaze—no, nobody was making eye contact with him.
Right when Kang Chan smacked his lips, a bus approached the bus stop and the students flocked toward it.
Screech, screeech.
As soon as the door opened, the students got on the bus. Considering the students and Kim Mi-Young were taking that bus, naturally, it was safe to assume it was heading toward their school. Kang Chan confidently got on the bus, but there was a problem––he didn’t have any money.
“Are you not going to tap your card?” the driver asked.
Card? What card? As soon as Kang Chan looked blankly at the driver and began a staring contest with him, Kim Mi-Young quickly ran over.
“What’s wrong?”
After looking at Kang Chan’s facial expression, she told the driver that she would tap her card a second time. She then placed her small wallet on the card reader at the front.
Beep.
‘Damn. If I had taken the bus alone, I would’ve been humiliated.’
Kang Chan followed Kim Mi-Young to the back of the bus. There were a lot of students on it, but strangely, the aisle was clear of students. Startled, the unpleasant-looking guys in the backseat got up to their feet.
“Please take a seat here, hyung-nim[1].”
‘What did he just say?’
The other students pretended not to notice them, simply looking ahead. Kim Mi-Young was also staring at Kang Chan with a surprised look in her eyes.
“Stop talking nonsense and just sit down.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m only standing because my legs are numb.”
There were six guys crowding around Kang Chan. As soon as they got up from their seats and stood in the bus that was already filled with students, the rest of the students grimly kept their arms close to their bodies and tried their best not to make physical contact with them, albeit with a lot of difficulties.
These bastards love doing this, huh? Why are they going to school then? Wouldn’t it be better for them to just quit school and go to France or become a gangster?
More students boarded the bus at the next stop.
“Ah! Seriously! Students, move to the back of the bus!”
Even though the driver raised his voice out of frustration, the students refused to move past the middle portion of the bus, where the rear door was, because the six guys standing around Kang Chan looked vicious.
Even if Kim Mi-Young hadn’t been awkwardly staring at Kang Chan, the latter would’ve still felt very uncomfortable.
At that moment…
“Ah, fuck! Hurry up and move to the back of the bus.”
Someone in front swore harshly, and three boys that looked as though they had been beaten up came into view after making their way through by pushing the other students. But that was it.
As soon as they made eye contact with Kang Chan, the boys poked their heads out of the window like enlisted soldiers on trains. For all he knew, they may have been waving their hands too. Judging by how they were wearing different school uniforms, Kang Chan knew they weren’t even from the same school.
He smirked because he saw the look of satisfaction on the faces of the six guys standing behind him.
His bus ride to school was very eventful.
1. ’Hyung’ is used by guys to refer to other guys who are older than them, and is also used as a sign of respect, especially among thugs. It is also used by a guy to address his biological older brother. Hyung-nim is a more formal/respectful version. ☜