Chapter 188

< Coward (5) >

***

An unusually chilly autumn, as if it were a reward for the hot and dry summer.

Every time an unexpected downpour came, it felt like the temperature dropped several degrees.

Swoosh-.

“Tch tch tch!”

After having lunch in the cafeteria, Jin-hyeok, who was climbing a rope with his friends, took shelter under the eaves of the wrestling hall to avoid the sudden rain.

Jo Seol-chan and Yeom Byeong-taek crouched down and started their “Seol-chan and Byeong-taek” talk.

“Sang-ki is transferring schools, even the sky looks sad~.”

“Why should the sky be sad? We should be the ones sad.”

“Byeong-taek, you’re always looking at half-naked women in magazines, that’s why your heart is like that~. You should read some Hwang Soon-won or Kim Yu-jeong novels like me~. The library has so many books~.”

“What are you talking about? I like photos. Idiot.”

These guys are impossible to follow, and you never know what they’ll say next.

Slurp-.

Park Sang-ki slurped up his yogurt with his mouth, making a mess. It was provided as a dessert after lunch, but it seems he didn’t have a spoon.

After licking the yogurt off his lips, Sang-ki mumbled.

“…Is Kim Yu-jeong a woman?”

“Of course~. She’s a woman, that’s why she writes about camellias~. Men, like Kim Jin-maeng, write about hibiscus flowers~.”

Ooooh-.

Beyond admiration, Yeom Byeong-taek looked at Jo Seol-chan with amazement.

But Sang-ki looked skeptical.

“…Can you tell by the name? Jeong-hwa in the social studies textbook wasn’t a woman….”

It was about the part they learned in social studies class, “Jeong-hwa’s Expedition.” The fact that Jeong-hwa was not a woman but a man, and a eunuch and general, was shocking.

Why did a eunuch and general have to share a name with his girlfriend? My girlfriend is a eunuch? The world was an endless trial for Sang-ki.

Jin-hyeok, who had been watching his friends’ absurd conversation, also quietly fell into his own thoughts.

‘Was Jeong-hwa’s real name Ma Sanbao?’

He was probably the model for the eunuch who often appears as a formidable character in martial arts novels.

He knew it, but it’s hazy now. It’s strange how the things he studied for exams are packed in his head, but the texts he read just to satisfy his reading addiction are blurry.

“Sang-ki’s been studying hard lately~. Even knows about foreigners~.”

“To date a foreign girl?”

“…How does the conversation even go in that direction?”

Jin-hyeok completely understands Sang-ki’s skepticism.

But he let his friends ramble on. They’ll stop eventually.

Despite differences in taste and intellectual level, they’re really good friends. More mature than tainted, more pure than ignorant, more cautious than cowardly. They don’t blindly believe or spread rumors, they doubt, think, and endlessly share opinions.

“Seol-chan, is Hwang Soon-won a woman too?”

Well, their topics are always strange, and they rarely reach a proper conclusion.

But they’re good-hearted friends.

“That classmate has a neutral name, but I think he’s a man~. The Korean teacher said so.”

“Oh~. Seol-chan, you listened in class?”

“The Korean teacher looks like my mom’s photo….”

Ah, right.

Yeom Byeong-taek, who turned his gaze to the wet ground, muttered.

Drip drip-.

As if asking when it rained, the clouds cleared and sunlight poured down.

After the rain stopped, some female students were seen running late to the cafeteria.

‘Oh, it’s my cousin.’

Even though the cafeteria was large, it couldn’t accommodate both middle and high school students at once. After the middle schoolers finished eating, it was the high schoolers’ turn. Hwang Ga-young seemed to be waiting for the rain to stop before heading to the cafeteria with her friends.

‘It’s chilly, aren’t they cold?’

It was quite a distance from the school building to the cafeteria.

But Ga-young wasn’t even wearing a jacket.

“Oh~, is Jin-hyeok finally noticing the opposite sex? Ouch!”

Jin-hyeok lightly grabbed Byeong-taek’s trapezius muscle to shut him up.

“She’s my cousin.”

“Who? Can you see someone that far away?”

“You can recognize someone you know even from a distance.”

Like how Dad can spot someone even on a vast tidal flat.

Jo Seol-chan backed Jin-hyeok up.

“That’s true~. Byeong-taek can even recognize the café ladies just by the back of their heads~.”

Just by the back of their heads…

‘Isn’t that another name for fate?’

You recognize someone you know, and you’ll meet someone you’re meant to meet.

Slurp slurp-.

After finishing his dessert efficiently, Sang-ki put on the coat he had draped over his arm.

“Come visit, Chairman. Byeong-taek and Seol-chan too. There’s a place near Cheongju University with great bone soup.”

Today was Sang-ki’s last day at school.

He had already said goodbye to his classmates.

“…Dad’s here.”

A car entered the school gate where Sang-ki turned his head.

They might visit each other once or twice, and if they both make an effort, they might meet again.

But if one side doesn’t care, how long can the relationship last?

Jin-hyeok had no memory of sending a close friend off to another region. There was no time or opportunity to grow attached.

The world still moves slowly.

For some reason, Hong Ki-jun wasn’t revealing his cell phone to the world. Despite having a completed product ready to be proudly shown, he hesitated to mass-produce and provide services. He blatantly ignored market and consumer demands.

Ki-jun had only told Jin-hyeok the real reason. Via email.

「I’m different from you. To an alien who just arrived on Earth, the human world might seem beautiful. But what about an alien with preconceptions and prejudices, a fully formed view of Earthlings? An old, worn-out alien wouldn’t see humans as beautiful. Humans are too ugly to fully enjoy the achievements of an old alien. I don’t need a cell phone to make money. Read and delete this.」

Jin-hyeok is the alien who just arrived on Earth, Ki-jun is the old alien trapped in stereotypes. It’s probably a cautious expression, but how could he not understand that analogy?

In Jin-hyeok’s straightforward terms, it’s more like, ‘Humans are rude, so I don’t want to give them anything.’

Anyway, that was Ki-jun’s answer.

‘What a shame.’

Jin-hyeok has a secure phone, but his friends don’t even have pagers or cell phones.

Still, his worldview has broadened, and he knows the world isn’t that big. As long as they have contact information and the will, they can meet.

“Take care, Sang-ki.”

Jin-hyeok held out his hand.

He couldn’t say goodbye to Park Ji-beom because they went to different schools, so it’s a relief to at least see him off. It’s bittersweet, but humans are contradictory, and their emotions are fickle.

On the other hand, he felt a stabbing pain in his chest.

‘I hate goodbyes.’

What is this? Why does it hurt so much?

I should avoid this. I don’t want to do it.

Maybe it was easier when my emotions were numb.

Unfamiliar emotions bring fear I’ve never felt before.

“…I’ll go.”

After shaking hands and hugging his friends to ease the sadness, Sang-ki got into the car.

The wet sand on the playground, as damp as Sang-ki’s tearful eyes, pushed up a heavy, humid breath.

“It’s muddy because of the rain. You guys should go too, now. Go~.”

“Let’s go.”

Seol-chan and Byeong-taek are lucky they didn’t move even though they changed schools.

You brats should study more.

***

Late autumn in the countryside, before dawn.

Jae-dong Village is adjacent to the town, separated by a ridge.

Crossing that hill leads directly to the town.

Cluck cluck-.

The hens in the chicken coop are clucking, “I laid an egg!” but the diligent owner isn’t ready to work yet.

“He usually comes around this time, but not today~?”

Then it happened.

Wheeeeee-. Whoosh-.

A bicycle without lights sped up the hill at a terrifying speed and disappeared.

At a glance, it was faster than a 100cc motorcycle.

“Wow~. That’s not a ghost, what is that~?”

But it’s a good show.

At first, I almost fainted, but after seeing it repeatedly, I got used to it. Human adaptability is like that. If strange events repeat, you become numb and eventually accept them as reality.

Things more movie-like than movies happen in real life, and this might be one of them.

‘Mong-ma-me ttong-tta-tte song-ssa-se madame medam monsieur meshu mademoiselle ung winn….’

The time it takes to get to school can’t get any shorter.

It was thanks to the energy of an open heart after running to Jang Gun-i’s call.

“Did I come too fast? Ouch~, my thigh’s cramping.”

The cold wind started blowing, but Jin-hyeok’s routine of starting the day by running around the playground remained.

Stretching in a loose T-shirt, lightly running around the playground, and then sprinting 100 meters a few times.

‘No one’s watching, right?’

At a time when even Byeong-taek and Seol-chan, who had retired from athletics, hadn’t arrived, Jin-hyeok pressed the stopwatch on his wristwatch.

Bang-!

His posture was unnatural, and he barely breathed. But for Jin-hyeok now, breathing or posture wasn’t important.

「9.23」

Sigh-.

He frowned because he didn’t get the record he wanted.

‘It’s too good. This will stand out.’

One more time.

「9.51」

Try again.

「8.58」

Gasp-!

“That’s too fast!”

Last try.

「11.80」

“What is this~? It’s slower than when I just ran normally.”

This is a mess.

To cool down his heated body, he took off his shirt and sat in the shade next to the inspection stand.

Whoosh-.

He pondered while regulating his already steady breathing.

‘Trying to make it easier just gave me a headache.’

His body felt lighter, and his strength was overflowing, but there was a limit to fine-tuning.

When running long distances, he had enough breathing and judgment to maintain a similar pace, but in a 100-meter sprint where results come in under 10 seconds, it was not only difficult to control but also the gap in results was too large.

Posture and stride were also problems.

The movements that should have been powerful and smooth were out of sync.

What used to take three steps with just leg strength now took one.

You can’t call that a track athlete.

‘It’s better to just do it the way I used to. Training and competitions.’

There couldn’t be a simpler conclusion than that.

If you don’t use it, that’s it.

‘I should check my stride.’

He already dislikes uncontrollable situations, so recklessly using uncontrollable strength? That’s not like Son Jin-hyeok.

Well, I can use this strange strength to catch dog thieves.

This mysterious strength is probably the energy Yoo Jin uses.

It’s funny that the owner of the strength is Jin-hyeok, but he only just got to use it, but Jin-hyeok has something to say too.

‘I don’t know how to use it, how am I supposed to use it~?’

After the strength was unlocked, he gained even better stamina and muscles that don’t tire easily. He often wondered where others would use such strength.

– “Rob a bank.”

– “Team Leader Moon would wear a mask and throw all the bad guys in jail.”

Moon Seok-il and Yang Gang-wook were transparent people.

On the other hand, Dad’s emotions were murky.

– “Justice? Hey, why bother? They’ll just grow old and die or wither away. The best punishment for them is to ignore them. Your dad, every night, just ughhh~. Don’t look at me like that~. You’ll understand when you’re older~. Dad’s scared of the night lately.”

Murky and with a hint of something unsettling.

Only then did he understand what Mom meant by calling him a cowardly groom.

Jin-hyeok wasn’t a fool, even if he lacked perception.

He could also vaguely understand the mindset of treating justice like a foreign barbarian.

Dad was also someone who saw hating and destroying something as a shortcut to becoming the same kind.

‘The human world is so hard, so hard.’

Someone might mock Jin-hyeok as a fool.

Like Yang Gang-wook or Moon Seok-il, who dream of creating their own utopia using their ferocious strength as a weapon.

Or athletes who can’t resist the temptation of drugs.

‘What do you gain from living like that~?’

Fame and honor? Social power and wealth?

Jin-hyeok believes he can already reach a high position and achieve success with his own abilities. As long as he doesn’t become complacent and keeps working hard.

It’s not just a matter of belief.

Using the equipment provided by Yoo Se-ra, he measured his speed in the gym yesterday.

He covered 50 meters in 5.5 seconds after the start. The track was too short to measure a full 100 meters, but considering the latter half’s momentum, it would already surpass the records of adult athletes.

– “The most perfect victory is one achieved without schemes, by cleanly splitting a full strike. Hmm~.”

Jin-hyeok fully agrees with Cheon Gil-ryong’s opinion.

‘But where did that old man learn to say that?’

He smiled as he thought of Cheon Gil-ryong.

Tap-.

A light but full-weighted step.

It must be Hwang Ga-young’s footsteps, who weighs about 50 kilograms and is shorter than in her past life.

Jin-hyeok quickly put on his T-shirt.