DI Ch 6

“Awesome. Kim Young-ji. Three handsome men in both hands. You’re so lucky. Isn’t this a harem?”

“Are you crazy? Don’t say that anywhere. I’m going to get cursed at. No, but that’s not the point now! Is that person also a senior? I think he’s also the same age as Kang Moo-hyun sunbae-nim… They don’t seem to get along very close. The atmosphere sucks. I’m scared! What if the two fight? I need to get good grades.”

Kim Young-ji was in agony and buried her head in the arms of the girl next to her and cried out. It seems that she was more scared than I thought. I was going to tell her not to worry because she will get the best score, but with what confidence he would say so, he just chose silence.

“Who would fight, Moo-hyun Oppa? And even if they really fight, won’t the other Oppa will still be nice to us? But what’s the other Oppa’s name?”

“Woo Ji-min…”

“Yeah. Woo Ji-min? Oh, was that person Woo Ji-min?”

“Why? Do you know who it is?”

At Kim Young-ji’s question, the girl looked at her surroundings with a shy face.

“No, that senior is that. You guys haven’t heard yet?”

Oh, that rumor.

I’m not sure what the rumor was about because I only heard it roughly, but what I do know is that Woo Ji-min became the main character of a messy rumor involving men and women overnight. Woo Ji-min mocked himself for rusting in such a misfortune. Because when one misfortune passes, another comes to find him. Finally, Woo Ji-min, who had received poor grades that year due to stress, took a leave of absence, mistaking Kang Moo-hyun for the culprit of the rumor.

Just as I was about to listen to get the plot right, the hand of the student rep came into my eyes.

“…Uh, why, what, what’s wrong?”

When I suddenly grabbed his fingertips, the student rep who was listening intently was surprised to the point where his shoulders bounced. The student rep who was clutching his chest blinked his eyes wide open.

“Why, why?”

“Sorry. Your fingernail is broken.”

“Uh… Oh, it’s true.”

The boy who had been staring at me quickly nodded. He doesn’t seem to know. The student representative was in pain and bit his nails in his mouth. Kim Young-ji then friendly criticized the exaggeration and clicked her tongue. He pursed his lips and drew his fingers away from his mouth. Nonetheless, he keeps touching his slightly broken nails as if it bothers him. I can’t help it. I rummaged through my bag and handed over my nail clippers.

“Use this.”

“Huh? Oh. Thanks…”

The student representative stared at me blankly before quietly taking the nail clippers and gripping them tightly. My classmates looked at my backpack strangely and spoke one by one at the time.

“By the way, Seo Seung-won, what do you have in your bag that is so big?”

“Oh, the bag is so heavy! Isn’t this heavy for you? You must be really strong.”

“Wow. Don’t you think it could be used as a weapon?”

The real weapon is in the bag. Looking at the guys calmly, I smiled silently as I remembered the 13 multi-tool hatchets in my backpack. I’m preparing for being kidnapped because of Tae Seong-je in a few years. Even if it’s currently safe, there’s nothing wrong with being cautious. Knowing that my bag would not be taken away, I packed everything I could think of, and it became quite heavy.

We all went to a bar together in the evening. They called up other classmates in addition to the eight present, and it soon started to become crowded. Even if I hadn’t done anything in particular, everyone looked at me favorably and with friendly eyes. It was wonderful to see so many good people here and in my world. Of course, bad people are cleverly mixed in among them, but…

Oh, but. In the end, I didn’t hear the rumors. I hesitated, but I let it go. There was no scene in the novel where the rumor’s content was important, so I’ll find out later. Rumors spread from mouth to mouth aren’t worth listening to in the first place. What matters to me is Woo Ji-min, just Woo Ji-min.

*

– Oppa.

My ears were tickled by a whisper. When I opened my eyes, there was a girl squatting beside my bed, her face obscured by the pen lines she drew. Startled, I jumped out of bed and stepped back.

Surprised. My heart was pounding frantically. Either that or not, the girl whispered again.

– Oppa. Wake up.

Holding my chest in surprise, I looked at the pile of blankets the girl was shaking, and I saw a boy stuttering and raising his head among it. The child’s face was also scribbled with a pen, so it was impossible to see who it was.

– ■■■. why are you crying?

When I heard a young voice that hadn’t reached puberty and the other person’s name sounded crushed, I realized that this boy was my childhood and the girl was my younger sister. And that I’m dreaming now.

This was my memory.

When did I fall asleep? I was surprised, but I didn’t dislike it. It’s a matter of course. The dream showed me everything from what I remembered to what I had lost. Maybe it’s because I’ve been dreaming of studying at my original school or playing with my friends lately, but when my younger sister appeared after a long time, I felt like I was about to cry.

Memory loss is unfortunate in many ways. It was even worse because I couldn’t even figure out what I had forgotten. That’s why, even though it was I was able to meet and know my memories and past. The dream was my only hope and lifeline.

My younger sister kept whispering, fearful that the sound would leak through the open door.

– I’m telling you because I’m afraid that Oppa will worry if I leave without saying anything. Oppa, live well.

– What are you talking about? Are you saying you’re running away from home? No, wait. Why are you crying? What’s the matter? Did father hit you? No, father wouldn’t hit you…

My younger self got up hastily, rolled up my younger sister’s sleeves, and looked around.

-■■■, did you get in trouble?

– It’s not like that.

– Then why are you crying?

– Mom…

The child who didn’t usually cry started to shed tears. She kept whispering what was going on as if terrified.

– Mom knew I was playing with Min-joo.

– Min-joo? That, Koo Min-joo?

My younger sister nodded. Koo Min-joo was just an ordinary girl. She was also my younger sister’s favorite friend and a child mother disliked for being low level. So, my younger sister would secretly meet up with her friend and play well while being cautious toward our mother.

– Actually, Mom called Min-joo’s mother earlier. Heung. Uh, she said something very harsh… Oh, no. Min-joo will hate me now.

I sighed like an adult, possibly because I felt sorry for my younger sister, who had finally behaved like me after a long time, and I was concerned that the child would really go out alone. I stood up, emptied the inside of my bag, and began stuffing my clothes inside.

– What are you doing?

– Packing my bags. I can’t go out naked.

-… Oppa, will you go with me?

– Don’t ask such an obvious thing. How can I let you go alone?

That’s right. I wouldn’t let you go alone in such a dangerous world. It would have been the same even if I, a middle school student, had offered to accompany her, but I didn’t think I was particularly young at the time, so I reasoned that it would be less dangerous if I accompanied her. Now that I look at it, I can’t help but sigh because I think I’m doing something stupid.

As a child, I moved quietly to the bathroom and took two toothbrushes and two towels. It was the middle of the night, so creeping up on tiptoe looked pretty cute. While she was squatting next to me and watching the bag being filled, my younger sister hesitated behind me and lifted the hem of my clothes. The bruises of the different colors on my body looked messy.

– What are you doing. Don’t.

– Heueug.. Oppa, what if this bruise doesn’t go away?

My younger sister’s face was already full of tears. It was quiet, so I wondered what she was doing, and she seemed to be crying alone.

– Why wouldn’t they go away? It all will disappear over time.

– No, but what if it doesn’t disappear? Uh, just don’t say it because it’s frustrating. Really, ■■■ I’m dying of frustration when I talk to you.

– Why are you annoyed again?

I laughed as I watched the two bicker. Even now, nothing has changed, I lived without thinking about anything, so she used to feel a little frustrated with my words.  It made my younger sister quite angry, so we fought often. The two of them are serious, but I laughed at the memories alone. Because this was not a lost memory, it felt like I was watching a video I had already seen.

We sneaked out of the house that night to go to the youth center. It was because I needed a place to sleep right away and, more importantly, I thought it would be safe because there were adults. I told my younger sister that we would stay here for a while, but the next day, thanks to the insincere kindness of the center staff, the one night game ended that morning. The staff called our parents. The problem was that I naively wrote my home address.

That day, I was beaten to death by my father’s golf club and broke my shinbone. I promised my father that I would never do such nonsense again, but one cold winter day when I was 17, I left home with my younger sister once again. This time, it happened under my leadership.

But why did I do that?

Something happened in the winter when I was 17 years old. The only memories left were the feelings of anxiety and fear, as well as being very anxious to leave the house. I think I just wanted to get away from my father, did I want to be independent at that time?

Anyway, I wanted to rely on anyone for one thing or another. To be precise, I needed an adult who could be trusted and would listen to me thoughtfully. As a result, it didn’t take long for me to open my heart to the hyung I know through random chat.