Chapter 44

#44 <Old Friends, New Friends (2)>

In his past life, Jin Hyuk rarely got up from his chair except to go to the bathroom. But now, things were different. Sitting for too long made his quadriceps near his knees relax, and he could feel the muscles around his pelvis contracting.

His legs were going numb.

“It feels like the blood isn’t circulating.”

If he stayed in one position for too long, the asymmetrical tension in his thigh muscles could lead to his knees bearing the weight later. It was ultimately a problem caused by having too much muscle mass.

“I should stretch my muscles during breaks.”

And maybe find some old friends—or new ones who’d become friends.

Jin Hyuk wandered around aimlessly.

Taeyang Middle School was right next to the high school.

The high school faced the main gate and was attached to the sports field, while the middle school was behind it. Behind the middle school, there was a small sports field, mainly used for outdoor activities or sneaking a smoke.

If those big guys weren’t visible, they must be at the back of the school. Jin Hyuk’s feet naturally led him there.

“There they are.”

In the shade, two friends were bowing their heads in a resting position. In front of them were four guys bigger than them. To an outsider, they might’ve been mistaken for wrestling club coaches.

“Are they seniors?”

The wrestling coach at this school wasn’t particularly big. Many of the athletes were larger than the coach, and this was true even for the middle school team.

As Jin Hyuk approached, he heard swearing.

“Hey, you bastards! Didn’t bring the money?”

“Sorry.”

“Sorry my ass! You should’ve stolen it if you had to!”

When the senior raised his hand, the friends flinched.

This was unfamiliar to Jin Hyuk.

In his past life, he rarely wandered around school during breaks, and since he had nothing, no one ever took anything from him. There were no bullies who beat him up daily, leaving his face a mess. He never thought Shin Woo-sung or Lee Seung-hoon were the type to get beaten up either.

“I never thought seniors could hit them.”

Seeing his friends being bullied like this made his heart ache.

“This time, I think I need to protect them.”

Jin Hyuk deliberately dragged his feet to make noise.

Thud.

“Hey, what are you doing there?”

“Who are you? Are you a freshman?”

“Yeah, I’m a freshman. Want some money?”

Jin Hyuk pulled out a few 10,000-won bills from his wallet and waved them around. His dad gave him too much allowance, and he had nowhere to spend it.

“Look at this punk! Talking back to a senior—”

The senior reached out and pushed Jin Hyuk’s head.

Thwack!

At the same time, Jin Hyuk used the bills to smack the guy’s chin.

“What the—”

Everyone’s faces were filled with shock.

The most surprised person was Jin Hyuk himself.

“Oh no, I didn’t mean to do that.”

Wow. He just hit someone with money.

***

“Mom, mom.”

“Oh my, my baby. Want some food?”

“Yeees! Let’s go see Oppa.”

“Oppa went to school.”

“To school?”

Yoo Jin seemed curious about where her brother, who had been around all vacation, had gone.

Han Yu-young sat Yoo Jin on her lap and fed her.

“Let’s eat. Ah—”

“Ah—”

Her husband had started busily preparing for the farming season.

Han Yu-young felt stifled being alone at home with her daughter, who couldn’t hold a conversation yet, and worried about her son who had just started middle school.

“Is it lunchtime now? I wonder if he’s made any friends.”

“Omma, omma. Oppa, Oppa.”

Yoo Jin seemed worried about her brother too. She babbled about him even while eating.

After a quick meal, Han Yu-young put Yoo Jin in the stroller.

Jang Gun-i, the dog, followed closely as if guarding them.

“Yoo Jin, look. The flowers are blooming!”

“Flowers!”

“The forsythias are already blooming?”

“Forsythia!”

The signs of spring announced by the sky and earth were always refreshing.

The transparent stream flowing gently, the forsythias, and the sprouts in the fields.

Add the warm spring sunlight, and it was pure bliss.

Han Yu-young picked a forsythia flower and gave it to Yoo Jin, then tucked one in her hair.

“My pretty daughter—”

“Hehe, pretty, right?”

They parked by the stream and watched the sparkling water. The rocks in the stream moved slightly, as if crayfish were playing.

Jang Gun-i sat down next to his owner.

“Ah, this is nice.”

Though her life hadn’t been long, Han Yu-young reflected on it.

Her mother, who had taken care of her father, passed away quietly in her sleep when Han Yu-young was nineteen. Han Yu-young was a late child, so her mother’s age was ambiguous to call it an early death.

Her father, who had suffered imprisonment in his seventies, soon followed her mother.

“I miss my mom and dad.”

The once prosperous rural estate was spent on her father’s legal battles and bribes for his release, leaving only Han Yu-young in the end. Her father’s mistress and stepsister took what little was left.

Her brother-in-law even threatened her with a knife. The nearest neighbor was over 200 meters away. With no one to help, Han Yu-young crouched in fear.

“Thieves, damn them, bitches, bandits.”

Though she couldn’t curse out loud, Han Yu-young screamed insults in her mind. She avoided her stepsister, who ran a café in town, and didn’t even go to the market, let alone buy snacks. Even after getting a car, she stayed away.

Her father had been strict, but he always brought her hairpins, skirts, and fried snacks whenever he went to the market. Now, her husband filled that role.

“I survived because of Oppa.”

He was the one who lifted her up when she had no parents or wealth left.

After meeting Son Kwang-yeon, Han Yu-young could finally wipe her tears. She never shared the sorrows of her short life with her husband, fearing he’d feel her pain.

Han Yu-young sighed.

Though she had been happy since meeting her husband, her worries returned when Jin Hyuk started middle school.

“Sigh, our son is weak and sensitive. There must be bad kids in town. I hope no one bullies him or teases him about his ears.”

She didn’t know by what standards they judged, but…

To a mother, a child is always a source of worry, no matter where they are.

“What if they tease him for being an old soul?”

So, Han Yu-young was always worried.

And so.

Squeak squeak.

She didn’t notice Jang Gun-i holding back the stroller from rolling into the stream.

Grrr.

I’ll protect my family!

***

“Hey! Look at this punk!”

The senior who got hit with money looked utterly baffled.

Jin Hyuk was equally stunned.

“Ah, this is bad.”

His hand moved on its own. He just wanted to give them money and end it. If a few bucks could buy his friends’ freedom, he was willing to do it. But the milk was already spilled. This wasn’t going to end well, and Jin Hyuk knew it.

“You bastard!”

Whoosh!

A loud noise rose from the hard ground. The heavy footsteps of a wrestler created a powerful sound effect. But that was it.

Thud.

The senior’s fist was caught in Jin Hyuk’s hand. Effortlessly.

Jin Hyuk spoke quietly but clearly, looking straight into the senior’s eyes.

“Listen carefully, think, and answer.”

“Ugh! Let go!”

The guy struggled.

He tried to pull his fist back, but the more he struggled, the tighter the freshman’s grip became. The senior, who had done a lot of sports and was older, couldn’t understand how he was losing in strength to a middle schooler.

“Ughhh.”

He couldn’t hold back a groan.

The pain in his hand from the freshman’s grip was unbearable. The pressure on an untrained area was terrifying.

“Are you going to keep bullying my friends?”

“Ugh.”

“Answer.”

“Screw you!”

Jin Hyuk couldn’t help but be impressed. How did he know he wasn’t serious?

“Pretty sharp.”

Impressive insight. Must be a senior thing.

“You punk!”

The guy’s left fist flew.

His movements were swift, but the time they spent together was too different.

To Jin Hyuk, the senior’s movements seemed painfully slow, as if begging to be hit.

Jin Hyuk used the senior’s right fist as a shield and moved to his right. The senior’s fist cut through empty air. Jin Hyuk let go of the fist and grabbed his wrist. At the same time, he pressed his right thumb into the inside of the senior’s elbow.

“Ahhh.”

Big and strong as he was, he was still a teenager. The childish scream made Jin Hyuk chuckle.

With one hand on the elbow and the other on the wrist, Jin Hyuk twisted and swept the senior’s legs out from under him.

Thud. A sound and vibration fitting for his size rose from the ground.

“Ahhhh.”

Another big guy charged.

This was getting annoying.

Wham!

The kids nearby heard the sound.

The charging guy collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. No one saw Jin Hyuk’s fists land on his nose and chin in quick succession.

“He’s not dead, right?”

Seeing the guy on the ground, Jin Hyuk shook his head as the guy struggled to regain consciousness.

Relieved, Jin Hyuk glared at the other wrestling club members still standing.

“Hey, you guys.”

When Jin Hyuk called, the other two hesitated, not wanting to fight.

“If you mess with my friends, you’ll regret it.”

The guys didn’t react much.

Silence meant agreement.

Jin Hyuk reached out to his frozen friends.

“Let’s go. Woo-sung, Seung-hoon.”

Shin Woo-sung and Lee Seung-hoon, deciding it was best to leave, followed without a word, glancing worriedly at the two seniors sprawled on the ground.

“Maybe we should’ve stayed in the classroom.”

Jin Hyuk briefly wondered if he’d made a mistake. Could this negatively affect his friends’ futures? But was it right to ignore injustice when he had the power to stop it? Jin Hyuk wanted to live selfishly but not cowardly.

“Let me know if anyone bothers you.”

Jin Hyuk looked at his two friends seriously.

Shin Woo-sung and Lee Seung-hoon just nodded.

“This might get noisy.”

Though he felt he did the right thing, an uneasy feeling lingered.

Because, if they got scolded by a senior or an adult, fine, but getting beaten by a junior? They’d hold a grudge.

Jin Hyuk, too, was a boy with a body full of raging hormones, ready to explode at any moment. So, he understood their psychology.

Sure enough.

After fourth period, during lunch, a visitor arrived.

Crash! Bang! Shatter!

The back door slammed open, the door panel fell to the floor, and glass shards flew everywhere.

“Who messed with the wrestling club?!”

***

Choi Tae-yang, now a high school senior, used his math textbook as a pillow for a nap. He had eaten his lunch early to sleep during lunch.

Nothing beats a book as a pillow. The cool touch clears the mind. He even took off his jacket and covered his head.

But then a junior rushed in.

“Senior! Tae-yang senior!”

“Snore, what’s up?”

“Man-su hyung went to beat up a middle schooler!”

“What are you talking about? Man-su is here—”

Wait, where did this big guy go without eating?

He disappeared right at lunch, so I thought he went to buy cup noodles.

“But what middle schooler are you talking about?”

“A middle schooler is a middle schooler. What other middle schooler is there?”

Choi Tae-yang jumped up.

The wrestling club captain going after a middle schooler? What’s going on?

Wait, but that softie Park Man-su stepped up?

Slap slap!

Choi Tae-yang slapped his cheeks to wake up and sat back down. He couldn’t grasp the situation.

“What’s the reason?”

“They say a freshman knocked out a third-year club member…”

A first-year beating a third-year? And a wrestling club member?

Choi Tae-yang burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! Kid, that’s ridiculous—”

Wait, I know someone who could do that.

Choi Tae-yang nodded quietly.

“What’s the freshman’s name?”

“Son… something— Ouch!”

Choi Tae-yang pushed the junior aside and ran out of the classroom.

Thud thud thud— The giant’s full-speed run made the hallway shake.

“Oh nooo! Man-su! You can’t mess with him!”

The lunch he ate earlier was burning up fast.

Choi Tae-yang clenched his leg muscles, energized.

Park Man-su was in danger.