[But she says she doesn’t need money or job or any of that crap—she only looks at faces. She says now that she’s getting older, she only gets introduced to middle-aged men with beer bellies.]
“Geez.”
Seo Juhan let out an empty laugh. The shamelessness of being able to confidently say she only looked at faces was amusing.
[And she says she’d prefer a civil servant. She thinks they seem domestic and like they’d help well with housework.]
Seo Juhan twisted his eyes and burst out laughing with a “pfft.”
“That’s fucking hilarious.”
[How about it. Are you attracted?]
Lee Donghyuk asked in an intrigued voice.
“Tell her to just get an obedient dog. You know, like a poodle or something.”
Seo Juhan flatly refused as if it was out of the question.
[Whoa, shit, how did you know? She’s always showing people pictures. You’re spot on. You’re really perfect for this.]
Seo Juhan laughed heartily. He found it absurd how the guy was suddenly playing matchmaker declaring them soulmates.
[Hey, just go get married right now and be a good wife and wise mother. No wait, good wife and wise…]
Lee Donghyuk, who had been in the same science track class, attempted to bring up Chinese characters he didn’t even know.
“Ah, fuck off. Where else would you find a real man like me.”
Seo Juhan cut him off without waiting for Lee Donghyuk to find the answer.
[Crazy, he’s calling himself a real man.]
Lee Donghyuk laughed as if he’d heard nonsense.
[I’m the real man here.]
“What are you talking about. You’re shorter than me.”
Seo Juhan didn’t back down and mocked him.
[A scrawny bastard talking. Let’s strip and talk.]
“Girls don’t like bulky guys. Lean muscle is the trend these days.”
[Do you even have muscles?]
“Yeah. Want me to show you?”
[Never mind, man.]
Lee Donghyuk cut off the childish banter and reminded him of the original purpose of his call.
[Anyway, let me know if you’re interested.]
“That’s not happening.”
Seo Juhan expressed his refusal in one breath, just like before.
[Hey, you should accept it readily when someone’s spoon-feeding you, so I’ll introduce you to more people.]
Lee Donghyuk, well aware that Seo Juhan was single from birth, scolded him pointedly.
“Ah, introduction my ass. I’m already dying from how hard it is to go to work.”
What came out of Seo Juhan’s mouth was a lament-like complaint.
[What’s so hard about it. Didn’t you say the place you work at is similar to high school?]
Lee Donghyuk asked as if surprised.
“Teaching is similar… but it’s not kids—adults go there.”
[Then wouldn’t that be easier? It seems like it’d be way better than clueless middle schoolers.]
At the carefree voice, Seo Juhan snorted.
“Easy my ass.”
[Why? Is it similar to vocational or commercial high schools or something?]
Seo Juhan, who had reached the annex, looked up at the building.
“Yeah… I guess. It’s definitely not an academic high school, that’s for sure.”
The old-fashioned red brick walls protruded or were dented in places. The paint that would have originally been white had hardened with black water stains as if dripping down. Even just looking at the exterior, it was dirty and shabby.
[What’s the school called?]
“Yangseong School.”
Seo Juhan answered while walking along the outer wall looking for the entrance.
[Yangseong School? Yangseong means, what, boys and girls go together?]
“No. Only boys go.”
Seo Juhan corrected him firmly.
[Then why is the name like that?]
“The name’s stupid, right? The kids are even more stupid.”
When he converted reality into words, his chest felt stuffily frustrated.
“There are tons of kids who can’t even solve quadratic equations. One bastard couldn’t even do prime factorization. But fuck, I’m teaching those bastards calculus.”
His voice was palpably filled with sincere regret.
Lee Donghyuk laughed in a strangled way, then fanned the flames instead of comforting him.
[Isn’t it comfortable since you can teach half-assedly?]
“If they were just stupid, would I be saying anything? I have to go around cleaning up after all kinds of incidents they cause.”
Seo Juhan raised his voice, bursting with frustration.
[What kind of incidents?]
“Ah, the other day some old lady called the staff room and made a fuss. She said her granddaughter got pregnant because of someone in my class and what the hell is the school doing managing the kids, going on and on. Like, they’re the ones who created new life because they wanted to, so what am I supposed to do about it.”
[Whoa. That’s insane.]
“And that kid. When I first saw him, I almost greeted him thinking he was a teacher older than me.”
[So what happened?]
Lee Donghyuk seemed pleased to hear about other people’s business.
“What do you mean what happened. They’ll figure it out themselves whether to abort or keep it. I just got yelled at for no reason.”
[Those kids there are no joke.]
Lee Donghyuk seemed genuinely impressed.
“Plus, these days when they fight, school violence explodes and it’s a fucking headache.”
Seo Juhan had witnessed a brawl scene that occurred just 2 weeks after the semester started. It was a fierce dogfight like watching fighting dogs on stimulants.
In the end, one lost his front teeth and the other went around with a cast. The homeroom teacher of that class rapidly aged while being tormented by both sets of parents.
So far, among the students in Seo Juhan’s class, there was no one who showed that level of violent brutality. But thinking that it could become his problem someday made him restless.
Seo Juhan let out a low sigh and turned the corner of the building.
“Me calling these blockheads students.”
Seo Juhan, who had been lamenting, closed his mouth at the shadow falling over him.
The face was located quite high up. Seo Juhan had to roll his eyeballs upward to confirm who it was.
It was rare for Juhan, who far exceeded the average height of adult males. This guy could truly be called uselessly tall like a beanpole.
Even among students who weren’t inferior in build, there were hardly any this tall. It was extremely rare, approaching zero. That’s why even before his gaze reached the face, he roughly guessed who it was.
It was Go Un who had appeared out of nowhere.
[I should search for it. What was it called? Yangseong School?]
“…”
[It comes right up. Hey, is this right? Yangseong School in Jeonghan City, Gyeonggi Province?]
Seo Juhan’s eyes were fixed on the black pupils looking down at him.
“Hey… I’m busy so I’m hanging up.”
There was a buzzing sound in his ear, but Seo Juhan abruptly ended the call.
Did he hear me cursing?
His heart pounded at the thought of being caught. It was absolutely unacceptable for a teacher who should be teaching students to go around only cursing about students.
The fact that the subject happened to be Go Un also bothered him.
While the other kids deserved to be cursed at, Go Un was different.
First of all, didn’t he go around wearing his uniform properly? There were plenty of guys proudly showing off flashy tattoos below fluorescent shorts starting in April, no less.
Moreover, Go Un, as class representative, handled it efficiently without showing any sign of annoyance whenever Juhan occasionally asked him to run small errands. He had at least the minimum sincerity to follow rules and order.
In Seo Juhan’s opinion, Go Un was at least equipped with common sense and conscience.
Actually, that wasn’t all. Go Un was largely the almost only one who passed the minimum threshold of intelligence that Seo Juhan had tacitly set.
He was still far from reaching the appropriate standard that Seo Juhan had in mind, but at least Go Un had what could be called learning ability.
Just looking at the March mock exam results proved it. It meant he was at least not irredeemable garbage fit for disposal.
“…It’s class time, so what are you doing here?”
Seo Juhan asked in a deliberately plain tone.
“I left something behind.”
Go Un answered leisurely and tilted his head. It was a gesture as if curious about why Juhan himself was here.
“What did you leave behind?”
Seo Juhan, whose feet had fallen asleep, didn’t notice such signs.
“…Earphones.”
The answer came with a time lag.
“Did you find them now?”
“Yes.”
At the crisp answer, Seo Juhan nodded slowly.
He hadn’t heard about any classes in the annex. Or maybe only the students had been informed.
He probably let the teacher know before coming out, right? Surely he wouldn’t have come out without permission. That’s how much Seo Juhan unconsciously trusted Go Un.
“Alright. Go back before you’re late for class.”
Seo Juhan waved his arm as if to say he could go now.
“Ah, wait.”
Then he lowered his arm at a thought that suddenly occurred.
“It seems like a lot of kids are skipping out during cleaning time lately.”
“…”
“When I go to the classroom in the morning, it’s really too dirty. Tell them to clean properly.”
“Ah, yes.”
Go Un nodded lightly. He calmly accepted the task as if it was no big deal.
In March, Go Un was the only one to run in the class representative election and was elected.
At the time, Seo Juhan had doubts. The position representing the class naturally should fully perform the role of managing the class students. But could this kid really gather and consolidate the opinions of these gangsters?
No, forget the role of class representative—could he even survive in this den of wild animals?
It was fortunate that he was outstandingly tall; otherwise, he would have been a smooth prize rolling around in rough hands.
Juhan’s such worries dissipated within a week.
