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Chapter 19: You Don’t Want To? (1)
Kang Chan headed to school after parting ways with Kang Dae-Kyung, walking along the path above the grandstand—the empty field serving as his background—until he arrived at the gymnasium.
Rattle.
The gymnasium.
Kang Chan moved one of the chairs leaning against the wall to the window. He then sat down, took a deep breath, and exhaled heavily. He couldn’t believe he came to school. It was as confusing to him as dying and being reincarnated into someone else’s body.
Even though he had reincarnated, things had been chaotic. On top of that, he had an idiosyncrasy that allowed his wounds to heal very quickly.
‘What exactly do they want from me?’
Kang Chan had never gotten lucky in life.
“Tsk!”
He never liked handouts, preferring to get an explanation as to why people gave him things or asked him to do certain things.
Judging by the time, it was currently the fifth period.
While Kang Chan was staring at the field, the bell rang, marking the end of class.
Moments later…
Rattle.
Seok Kang-Ho seemed to pause for a moment, so Kang Chan walked right up to him.
“Are you insane? What are you doing in school?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.
Kang Chan smiled softly and pointed to the chair.
“I was given the green light to come to school. Even the doctor was surprised by my fast recovery. He said I have an idiosyncrasy that is present in about 0.1% of the world population. Apparently, I was miraculously discharged from the hospital much earlier than expected as well when I fell from the roof in the past.”
Seok Kang-Ho brought a chair over and sat down next to Kang Chan.
“Really?”
“That’s what I’m saying!”
“That sounds about right. You returned to school without any issues after only a month,” Seok Kang-Ho replied.
“It’s great, but it makes me feel kind of uneasy because I don’t really like getting lucky like this.”
Seok Kang-Ho couldn’t seem to sympathize with him.
“Anyway, have there been any issues?” Kang Chan asked.
“There have been strange rumors going around in school, probably because of the students affiliated with the gangsters. Some say you were in a critical situation after being stabbed by a knife. Some say you were dead, and there was also a rumor about someone seeing you get arrested at the police station. I can’t reveal to anyone that I know the full story, can I?”
“Many of them are relieved, aren’t they?”
“Hahahaha, they think they won't be seeing you in school this year.”
He wondered how difficult things would’ve been without Seok Kang-Ho’s help.
“Right, the anti-bullying committee has decided to drop the matter,” Seok Kang-Ho said.
“Why?”
“Lee Ho-Jun said nobody had hit him, and the other students insisted that they fell from the grandstand. But rumors have been going around this morning, so I don’t know if they’ll end up spilling the truth later in the afternoon.”
Kang Chan laughed hollowly.
“Why didn’t you take a day off today?”
“Strangely, I wanted to see you.”
“I don’t like men!” Seok Kang-Ho grumbled while laughing.
“How’s the athletics club doing?” Kang Chan asked.
“There aren’t any problems in particular apart from students badgering me about wanting to join the club.”
“Maybe I should do a lap around the school.”
“Isn’t marking territory your specialty? Take it easy on them. The students with weak hearts would most likely pass out.”
They burst out laughing at the same time.
“We gathered for a bit today, and I laid down some ground rules before dismissing the club members. Since it was right before class, I didn’t see the need to make them break a sweat. Rumors about you have been going around the teachers’ office since the end of the first period as well,” Seok Kang-Ho said.
Kang Chan simply stared at him.
“The teachers probably think you died,” Seok Kang-Ho continued.
“They’re going to be disappointed.”
Seok Kang-Ho laughed distinctively.
“That’s not necessarily the case. Quite a number of teachers are concerned because of the students that are being bullied.” Seok Kang-Ho had a bitter look on his face.
“Please don’t make that face. There’s not much a teacher can do. We now live in a world where you’ll get sued if you hit someone, and if you curse at them, video clips of it can end up circulating online on the day itself. There are even teachers that get beaten up.”
Kang Chan felt as bitter as Seok Kang-Ho.
“Are you going to stay here? I stopped by because it was empty, but I have to go to the teachers’ office.” Seok Kang-Ho said he would be on time for the athletics club, and then made his way to the teachers’ office.
Kang Chan remembered he had to take the medicine the doctor at the hospital had prescribed him. He also remembered the promise he made to the doctor. If he wanted to strengthen his body, he needed to completely recover as soon as possible.
Kang Chan left the gymnasium to get some water. There was a water faucet inside the main building, though there was also the cafeteria and a nearby snack store.
He decided to go to the snack store. He didn’t want to put his mouth anywhere near the water faucet, and he didn’t want to go to the cafeteria since it wasn’t lunchtime yet.
The snack store was located in a temporary building between the field and the back gate. It was quite a distance away from the classrooms, so the students had to sprint all the way there if they wanted to stop by between their classes.
It was Kang Chan’s first time going to that place. Since it was close to the back gate, he decided to take the route that would pass by the teachers’ office.
The surroundings were very quiet. However, despite how peaceful the school was, he could hear noises coming from the narrow space between the building and the wall.
Kang Chan took a peek inside, finding four boys hiding and smoking cigarettes.
‘Shouldn’t they be in class?’
They looked like 10th graders, but one of the students appeared to be even younger.
Kang Chan smirked and cautiously stepped back. Smoking wasn’t something he encouraged, nor was it something to be praised, but he had no intention of interfering with other students’ deviant behaviors.
What could he say to stop them from harming themselves using the pocket money their parents had given them? It was cumbersome. He couldn’t help but shake his head just thinking about telling those boys not to smoke.
Kang Chan dropped by the snack store, bought a bottle of water, then returned to the gymnasium.
Rattle.
Now that the club members had gotten close to one another, he felt that there was no need for him to intervene.
***
As soon as the sixth period ended, noises filled the buildings. The 11th and 12th graders’ classrooms were located in different buildings, and Kang Chan entered the building used by the 11th graders.
The children looked startled. It was as if they had seen a black-cloaked grim reaper carrying a huge scythe.
Smirk.
As soon as Kang Chan went up the stairs and turned to face the hallway, all the students fell silent, shocked.
‘Tsk!’
Their gazes made it seem like they had just seen a zombie, leaving a bad taste in Kang Chan’s mouth.
11th grade, Class 5.
The door was half open.
Slide.
The students stiffened up as though someone had shouted ‘Freeze!’ Cha So-Yeon looked stunned, and Cho Se-Ho, who was slumped over his desk, looked up and blinked at him repeatedly.
Kang Chan walked up to Cha So-Yeon.
“Sunbae-nim?”
“Everything okay?” Kang Chan asked her.
“Yes! Yes!”
“Are you going to the gymnasium after class ends?”
“Yes,” Cha So-Yeon responded.
When Kang Chan smiled and turned around, Cho Se-Ho came to his senses and stood straight.
“Goodbye.” Cha So-Yeon bid him farewell a bit late. Kang Chan raised his right hand in response.
Next up was Moon Ki-Jin, a 10th grader.
‘This isn’t even a battlefield…’
Kang Chan felt like he was proving to everyone he was still alive.
***
There was a guy gauging Kang Chan’s mood, a flustered student, and a 10th grader who looked like they had a hard day at school.
The students entering the gymnasium had all kinds of expressions on their faces. They greeted Kang Chan and looked at him with wonder, while those that were already seated observed him quietly.
Rattle!
When Kang Chan turned his head, he saw Kim Mi-Young standing outside, poking her head in through the doorway. There were tears in her eyes.
“Come in!”
Kim Mi-Young hesitated and entered.
“Are you okay?” She asked.
Kang Chan nodded in response.
“Are you really okay?”
“I really am. I heard there were strange rumors about me?” Kang Chan asked.
“Yeah.”
“I’m fine. Look at me.”
As long as Kang Chan didn’t take off his school uniform, nobody would suspect his injuries were grave.
“Sob.”
Kim Mi-Young started crying out of nowhere in front of all the other students.
“Don’t cry. I’m perfectly fine, so why are you crying?” Kang Chan stood up and comforted Kim Mi-Young.
Don’t tell me I like her as a woman.
But Kim Mi-Young had to have been unbearably anxious for her to cry in a place like this. Kang Chan didn’t want to ruin a young girl’s fantasy in front of the other students, and it felt like he was consoling a younger sister who was afraid of losing her older brother anyway. Nothing more, nothing less.
It would all be over once school vacation had started.
Kim Mi-Young managed to wipe the tears from her face.
“You have to go to hagwon, right?” Kang Chan asked.
Kim Mi-Young shook her head. It wasn’t that she didn’t have hagwon, but that she wasn’t going to attend the class.
“Don’t skip it. Text me after you’re done with your class. I’ll be at home.”
“Really?” Kim MI-Young asked.
They were having a conversation in front of the athletics club members, who were glancing suspiciously at them.
“Go to hagwon. And text me after.”
“Okay.”
Kim Mi-Young seemed to have finally calmed down. She only left the gymnasium after Kang Chan nodded twice.
Shortly after, four more people entered the gymnasium, and finally, Seok Kang-Ho showed up. They arranged the chairs in a circle, and Seok Kang-Ho sat down on an empty chair by the door.
He looked at the members of the club and asked, “Did you bring your workout clothes?”
“Yes,” They answered.
“In that case, the girls will be changing in the counseling office. As for the boys, you may change here. When you’re done, gather at the field.”
“Yes, Mr. Seok.”
The children rushed out of the gymnasium after changing.
“In any case, you’ve achieved celebrity status.” Seok Kang-Ho told Kang Chan.
“Why?”
Seok Kang-Ho looked at him and said in an amused tone, “The school was thrown into commotion after the news about you coming to school started spreading.”
Kang Chan didn’t find that amusing at all.
“Let’s go. I’m going to make the students play a good round of Dakyu.” Seok Kang-Ho got up from his chair, looking happy.
“Hurry up. Let’s play a round of Dakyu!” He told Kang Chan and left the gymnasium immediately after.
“Did that bastard forget I’m injured?” Kang Chan smirked and got up.
All attention was on the athletics club’s members. There were quite a number of students sitting at the grandstand and watching them.
As soon as Kang Chan appeared, all eyes focused on him.
“Tsk!”
Looking at the gazes of these high school students, Kang Chan felt like he was the odd one out. [1]
Kang Chan sat on an empty seat and watched the club members split themselves into two groups before playing Dakyu.
They still looked clumsy. Then again, it was only their first day, so he shouldn’t have high expectations. Additionally, they were running around not knowing why they had to engage in this activity.
One by one, the students that were watching them got up and left. Seok Kang-Ho roughly set the mood and walked over to Kang Chan leisurely before sitting down next to him.
“They’re not going to be able to do this every day,” Seok Kang-Ho said.
When Kang Chan glanced at Seok Kang-Ho, he continued.
“They have to wash up after this, and it’s almost finals. It’ll be hard for them to study properly after running around like this. Doing this twice a week should be enough.”
“It’s up to you,” Kang Chan replied.
Kang Chan shifted his gaze back to the field. Seok Kang-Ho glanced at Kang Chan’s side profile.
“What’s the matter?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.
“France…” Kang Chan slowly turned his head and looked at Seok Kang-Ho.
“It’s okay if you don’t go,” Seok Kang-Ho responded.
Kang Chan smirked. When he looked at the field once again, a 10th grader, Kim Min-Soo, was cheering after knocking over the plastic bottle.
“Minors require parental consent,” Seok Kang-Ho added.
“There’s always a way.”
Seok Kang-Ho smacked his lips loudly.
“My memory of Smithen’s face and others’ have become unclear. One side had to fall on that battlefield anyway, and survival wasn’t guaranteed, so I’ve been wondering if I really have to go there,” Kang Chan said.
“You’re still ultimately going to go there, aren’t you?”
“If I can’t find the man responsible for our deaths, I’ll come back here again.”
“Fat chance. If you take charge and lead your new comrades, the enemy is going to give you another cool nickname. Since you still have the same name, they’ll probably call you ‘God of Blackfield Jr.’”
“Your English has improved a lot, huh?” Kang Chan said in admiration, to which Seok Kang Ho responded, “I am a teacher, after all.”
The sound of students running around and screaming caught their attention.
“The enemy was the one who pulled the trigger, but we need to find out how and why they targeted us. The operation was supposed to begin 30 minutes later, but we heard the radio announcing our departure 25 minutes before that. That meant it was safe at the frontlines. In other words, we got sniped.”
Seok Kang-Ho nodded with a serious look on his face.
“Apart from our unit, all the other soldiers were shot to death, which means they had positioned their snipers according to our numbers. Considering we began the operation 25 minutes earlier, their leader was probably the one that shot us,” Kang Chan said.
“Hmm.”
“What can people do about dying on the battlefield? If they get enraged, they’ll just shoot and slash the enemy like lunatics before dying. But Daye…”
“Yes?”
“It’s a different story when it comes to feeding you, me, or our unit members to the enemy as prey. After seeing the look in Smithen’s eyes, I can’t confidently accept the current life I’m enjoying without repaying my debt to that bastard.”
Seok Kang-Ho exhaled loudly.
“The parents of this body’s owner are truly wonderful, so much so that I don’t want to let them go. Whenever I feel their love for me, I feel sorry and grateful for them. And I start refusing to leave whenever that happens. Thinking about the amount of pain they’d have to go through when they send me off, or if they were to receive a notice that I’ve been killed in action, scares me.”
“Why did you leave out your first love?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.
Kang smirked.
“She’s not my first love. And I’m not the son they know, trust, and love. Frankly, I’m deceiving those good people, which is all the more reason for me to leave. Isn't it too cowardly of me to abandon the people who believed in me for things that aren’t mine to begin with?”
When Cha So-Yeon fell down, the other students ran over and helped her up.
“It’s the first time in my life I've experienced love from others. I hate that it’s not actually meant for me.”
Seok Kang-Ho grunted. He placed his hands on his knee and got up.
“Fucking bastard. You have to find out who he is and cut his head off before coming back.”
“I will.”
Kang Chan got up too.
An hour had passed. The two girls went to the watch room to wash up, and the boys washed off the dirt on their bodies using the water faucet.
Since Kang Chan had received a generous allowance from his parents, he gave them money, and Moon Ki-Jin bought ice pops for the club members to share on the field.
The students’ faces were still flushed. They chatted with one another, looking relieved.
When Seok Kang-Ho warned them that they would be kicked out of the athletics club if their grades were to drop, Cha So-Yeon suggested studying together in the morning when the club members would gather. Seok Kang-Ho readily accepted her suggestion.
It was just the first day, but it seemed like they were already relying on one another. Seok Kang-Ho proposed to have dinner together. Avoiding his gaze, Kang Chan left school.
Six of the students took the bus. It was nice to see them smiling while reeking of sweat.
“Bye.”
After seeing Cha So-Yeon get on the bus, Kang Chan realized he didn’t know which bus to take and that he didn’t have a transportation card.
Kang Chan couldn’t possibly be incapable of buying his own transportation card and finding out which bus to take. However, he simply walked home. Apart from being greeted by high schoolers he didn’t recognize at times, he didn’t feel particularly bad.
He was now used to the apartment.
When Kang Chan opened the front door, he saw Yoo Hye-Sook approaching him, probably because she heard the sound of him keying in the passcode.
“You’re back, dear?”
Kang Chan smiled at her.
“Are you feeling alright? Have you taken your medicine?” Yoo Hye-Sook asked.
Kang Chan smiled softly.
“Why are you smiling?”
“I’m just happy to be home,” Kang Chan responded.
“Oh, my! Do you want some fruit?”
“Would you like to have some?” Kang chan asked Yoo Hye-Sook.
“Sure.”
He had gotten used to conversations like that.
After changing out of his school uniform, Kang Chan had some melon and watermelon with Yoo Hye-Sook and spent time with her.
1. In the original text, the author described that Kang Chan felt like a sardine that was accidentally caught in a school of mackerels. The word ‘고등어들’ means ‘mackerel’, but it is also a term used for ‘high schoolers’. ☜