“The student is repentant and it’s his first offense, so we’ve decided to let him off with a warning. He also compensated for the cigarettes he tried to steal.”
“…I see.”
Seo Juhan controlled the disappointment spreading sluggishly in his stomach.
Honestly, it also sounded like they were saying it was too bothersome to deal with such trivial matters, but he didn’t say it out loud.
“I understand you can impose disciplinary action according to the school’s own regulations. The students of Yangseong School are so notorious… It must be difficult for you too, teacher, but please do your best to educate them at school.”
“Yes… I understand.”
Seo Juhan answered positively, but his insides were boiling.
He weighed the possibility of reforming Kim Gichan by applying the student conduct regulations against the burdensome responsibility that would be imposed on him as a result.
Without even having to think about it, he came to the conclusion that it would be better not to make it public.
“Please sign here.”
Seo Juhan signed the document the officer thrust at him without even reading it properly.
“Then please get home safely.”
The officer who stood up bowed his head quite formally.
“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”
Seo Juhan also gave a formal greeting with a sunken face.
The sky outside the police box was pitch black. There was none of the charm he’d felt when he came out of the gym.
“Ah, teacher. Thank you so much. If I get caught by my old man again, I’m really dead this time.”
Kim Gichan followed closely behind him.
“…Yeah.”
Seo Juhan answered briefly. When he realized the excuse about not being able to reach his parents was a lie, he became irritated.
“We usually had a place we could hit, but the part-timer changed.”
Kim Gichan chattered amiably. He seemed, to exaggerate a bit, moved that Seo Juhan had come all the way to the police box.
“Teacher, you don’t smoke, right?”
Seo Juhan nodded once without any soul. If he’d said he smoked, Kim Gichan probably would have asked for one. Even spending time talking with someone who lived so thoughtlessly was a waste.
“Someone like Juhan-teacher, you’re the only teacher like that at school. I gave up on math, but I still listen to your classes, teacher.”
“…Enough. Go.”
Seo Juhan ignored Kim Gichan’s words. Even the delinquent student’s sincere confession couldn’t penetrate his heart, cold as an iron fortress.
“Yes! Teacher, get home safely!”
Kim Gichan bent deeply at the waist in an attention stance. It was like giving a salute to a gang boss.
Seo Juhan quickened his steps with a disgusted expression. Feeling his stress levels rapidly rising, he descended the police box stairs.
The police car parked right in front of the police box had its back seat wide open. The buttocks sticking out kept bobbing up and down.
He intuitively understood what was happening. They were cleaning up vomit. It was highly likely the doing of the man who’d been slumped over snoring on the chair in the police box. The wiggling buttocks were proof of diligently cleaning inside.
Seo Juhan clicked his tongue and called a taxi with his phone.
By the time he returned to his studio, it was already close to midnight. However, he couldn’t sleep like this. His stress was peaking to the point where deep sleep was absolutely impossible.
Seo Juhan had lived like a hothouse flower, walking only on predetermined tracks. Events that occurred unexpectedly and the resulting changes to his plans caused extreme annoyance.
If he didn’t sleep now, he’d be tired tomorrow, but the fact that he absolutely couldn’t sleep was also one of the causes of his irritation.
His anger only grew throughout watching an entire 50-minute American drama on Nutflix.
“Ah shit, why isn’t it coming.”
Seo Juhan, lying on the bed, crumpled his pillow and threw a fit.
Since he’d gone straight to the gym after work, he hadn’t eaten anything except water for several hours.
He pressed pause before the next episode started and got up from the bed. The cheap mattress that had been included in the monthly rent option rippled. The laptop on top of it also moved like a mast floating on the water.
In the refrigerator was only a shriveled apple and a 2L water bottle. After drinking water because he was hungry, he’d only been going back and forth to the bathroom.
It was the moment he came out after using the bathroom once again.
[Ding-dong.]
Just then, the doorbell rang. Juhan reached the front door in just two steps and put on his slippers. Then he yanked the door open.
Bang!
The front door hit something and made a bursting sound.
What the…
A flustered Seo Juhan reflexively loosened his grip on the doorknob. Soon after, a massive helmet appeared through the crack in the door.
Seo Juhan flinched for a moment at that intimidating presence.
The helmet was tinted completely black so he couldn’t see inside at all. It looked perfect for committing crimes.
However, the other person was just a young punk doing delivery work. There was no need to be intimidated at all.
“Why did it take so long?”
Seo Juhan snapped in a sulky voice.
“…Because orders were backed up.”
The voice reflected off the helmet sounded like it was coming from far away.
The statement about orders being backed up represented the position of the handmade burger place.
He was about to question the rider about whether he’d stopped at other places on the way. But thinking the person might be a dedicated delivery employee of the restaurant, he quickly changed his strategy.
“Well, then you should have told me in advance. It’s been over an hour now.”
“…”
“If I’d known, I wouldn’t have ordered from there.”
Seo Juhan openly threw a fit, but there was no following answer.
Did they tape his mouth shut? Seo Juhan glared at the silently unresponsive person as if dumbfounded.
The way he kept his mouth firmly shut even though the consumer was voicing legitimate complaints stoked his anger.
The black matte helmet gave off a metallic feel, and the black leather jacket wrapping a solid frame didn’t reveal even an inch of skin. For a mere delivery person, there was something cool about him somewhere.
Would a person with common sense do delivery work? Sigh.
He wanted to hold out until he heard an apology, but he was too hungry for that. In the end, thinking it was only his own loss, Seo Juhan sighed deeply and rummaged through his pockets.
“Ah, card.”
Seo Juhan kept the door from closing and turned around.
Seo Juhan took a card from the wallet on his desk and came back. He wordlessly held out the shiny new card between his fingers as if telling him to just process the payment.
It was local currency that could only be used within Gyeonggi Province. It was also the reason he’d been forced to meet and encounter the delivery person face-to-face.
A large hand wearing black leather gloves took the card.
The helmet inserted the card into the reader and said while pressing the number pad.
“There’s a delivery app that accepts this card too.”
So what. Seo Juhan folded his arms and silently stared.
The way a mere delivery employee used a lecturing tone was really irritating.
Somehow, the rider’s appearance overlapped with the students of Yangseong School. This rider was the future of the punks who were happy as can be even after going to the police station. No, someone was probably already living a similar life.
Zzzz.
A receipt printed from the reader.
Seo Juhan received the heavy plastic bag in one hand and the card and receipt in the other.
“Have a good night.”
The rider casually released the door stopper with his foot.
Seo Juhan leaned against the door to keep it from closing and looked down at the receipt. Then he stopped the rider with an annoyed voice.
“Excuse me.”
The helmet, who had already turned and was going down the stairs, only turned his head without answering. Though he’d already gone down several steps, their eye level was similar.
“Isn’t it fourteen thousand won? This says eighteen thousand won.”
“Because the delivery fee was added.”
The helmet’s calm correction was extremely irritating.
“The delivery fee is four thousand won?”
“Yes. Because it’s a bit far here.”
Since he said so, there was nothing more to say.
Seo Juhan, who was about to finally end this tiresome one-time encounter and go inside, paused. The bottom of the bag was soaking wet.
“Wait. Why is this in this condition?”
Seo Juhan caught him again with an irritated voice.
“Huh?”
The helmet came back up the stairs in one step.
“Look. This.”
Seo Juhan held the handle of the white bag open as if telling him to look for himself.
The inside was a mess. The milkshake in the disposable cup had spilled and completely soaked the brown paper wrapping. Pale droplets clung to the bag and a sweet smell mixed with grease wafted up.
“Ah… I think it happened when it bumped into the door when you opened it earlier.”
The helmet said in a disconcerted voice and cautiously added.
“Should I bring you a new one?”
“No. Whether you bring a new one or not isn’t the problem. Don’t you know what to say at a time like this?”
Seo Juhan glared and snapped with eyes full of fatigue.
“Don’t you know how to say sorry? Didn’t you even receive elementary education?”
One corner of his heart recognized that he was venting his anger unreasonably. But it was like he was possessed. He wasn’t afraid at all of the intimidating helmet looking down from above.
It had already been building up since the delayed delivery time.
In fact, it had already been festering with resentment from even before that, from when the police box called, and going even further back, from being treated like an invisible person at school.
He couldn’t stand it without releasing it somewhere.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? If you heard, you should answer.”
