* * *
Thanks to his spectacular comeback, Jihak could enjoy a peaceful school life afterward.
“Nice. Quiet.”
No one approached or spoke to Jihak, but he didn’t mind the solitude as it meant no disturbances.
“Why do we have so much to learn? If it was like this, I should’ve brought back the souls of teachers from hell and had 24-hour classes.”
Catching up wasn’t easy, especially after losing so much time compared to others.
“Yawn… I’m sleepy…”
Though the break was just over ten minutes, Jihak knew even a short nap could help him through the next class, so he laid his head on the desk and closed his eyes.
Tap. Tap.
“Hmm?”
Someone tapped on Jihak’s desk.
He sleepily lifted his head to find a girl standing before him.
“Who…?”
“What? You don’t remember my name?”
As the girl spoke in surprise, Jihak genuinely couldn’t recall.
For them, it had been a little over a month, but for Jihak, it had been 2000 years.
“Sorry, but who are you?”
“We were in the same class in first year. Don’t you remember? That’s disappointing.”
With a pout, the girl looked genuinely hurt, making Jihak sigh.
‘Try staying in hell for 2000 years. See if you remember anything.’
Except for a few significant memories, most of Jihak’s memories had faded.
He struggled to recall even the lessons, making it tough to keep up.
“I’m Park Hyemin. Does that ring a bell?”
Even after hearing her name, Jihak’s memory didn’t return.
“Oh. Sorry. I’ll try to remember.”
He pretended to remember, hoping she’d leave him alone.
“So, why did you come to me?”
Jihak had remained alone throughout the second year, unable to bond with classmates after his father’s incident.
The sudden approach of someone now made him suspicious.
‘What’s this about? Is she curious about the accident earlier?’
In hell, he learned that people approached either to seek help or to take something from you.
But Hyemin showed a different side.
“I heard you were in the hospital. I brought you the notes from the last month’s classes.”
She placed a few notebooks on his desk.
“Why are you giving me these?”
These notes were essential for Jihak to catch up on missed lessons.
“Why? Because the teacher told me to.”
“The teacher? Why?”
Despite the teacher’s orders, Jihak was wary of this sudden kindness from someone who never acknowledged him before.
‘Does she want something from me?’
Hyemin explained the reason to Jihak, who was busy forming his own theories.
“You don’t even know I’m the class president, do you?”
“……”
Indeed, as class president, Hyemin was merely fulfilling her duty by sharing the notes with Jihak, who had missed school.
Moreover, Jihak’s teacher, grateful for his handling of the recent incident that almost caused a stir at school, sought ways to assist him and decided that providing notes would help him catch up.
“I need these notes too, so return them by tomorrow. Copy them or do whatever you need to.”
“Oh… okay. Thanks.”
After a moment of hesitation, Hyemin returned to her seat.
Once she left, the surrounding students began whispering to her.
‘Do they think I can’t hear them?’
Jihak could hear even whispers from the playground if he focused.
“Hey, how was it? Scary?”
“Scary? Why?”
“Don’t you know? His dad killed someone…”
Though some time had passed, rumors about Jihak’s father still lingered.
“I don’t care. It’s not like he did it.”
“True… but it’s still creepy.”
“Yeah, just be careful.”
“Careful? Whatever…”
Seeing the students still wary of him, Jihak shook his head.
‘I’ll clear my father’s name. They’ll regret it then.’
Determined to clear his father’s name, Jihak resolved to deal with the rumors swiftly.
Despite everything, this was the first time someone had helped him.
‘I should get these copied on my way out.’
Thanks to Hyemin, Jihak felt he could catch up on the missed classes and wasn’t displeased.
After the last class, Jihak headed to a stationery shop to copy Hyemin’s notes.
“When will I ever copy all this by hand? I should just photocopy it.”
Jihak was impressed with how well-organized the notes were, thinking Hyemin must be quite studious.
As he reached the shop and was about to enter, a disturbing noise caught his attention.
“Hey, you little bastard. Do you think we’re a joke?”
“N-No, it’s not that…”
“So why didn’t you bring what we asked for?”
“Well…”
It was coming from a secluded alley next to the stationery shop.
From the sounds, it seemed some kids were bullying someone.
Just like it happened to him in the past.
But Jihak didn’t pay much attention to it.
‘If you’re powerless, you get taken advantage of. That’s how it was for me back then. Now, I have the strength to avoid that.’
What he learned in hell was that it was natural for the weak to be overpowered by the strong.
If you don’t like it, you have to somehow grow stronger and overpower your opponent. That’s how it was in hell.
Jihak, who lived and endured in such a place and rose to the top, didn’t feel sorry for the weak who were being taken advantage of.
He just thought it was their own fault.
“Bring the money. Idiot. Do you need to get beaten up every time to get it?”
“I’m sorry. Tomorrow I will…”
“Hey. Search his bag.”
Thud—
The kids poured out the contents of the bag on the floor, looking for the wallet.
“Hey? There’s an envelope here?”
“What? This guy… he had money and hid it from us?”
“No, that’s my tuition fee.”
“Tuition fee my ass. Even a smart kid like you… we’ll use this.”
As the hidden tuition money was also taken, Jihak clicked his tongue and shook his head.
‘If you’re going to hide it, hide it well. You get caught hiding it in such a place. Tsk tsk… You only know how to study and don’t know how to use your head.’
Thinking there was nothing more to hear as the situation was ending, Jihak started to enter the stationery store.
“Hehe… We were already having trouble because Jihyun became quiet because of Jihak. Huh? Isn’t that Yoo Jihak?”
“Where?”
The kids, who were about to leave with the money, saw Jihak watching them from in front of the store.
“Hey! Yoo Jihak. Come here.”
Jihak pointed at himself with his finger, confirming if they were calling him.
“Come quickly, you bastard.”
Hearing them calling him, Jihak chuckled and then approached them.
‘One, two, three, four. Faces I haven’t seen before?’
Jihak, seeing the faces of the kids calling him, realized he hadn’t seen any of them before and asked curiously.
“Do you have any business with me?”
The kids, surrounding Jihak as he calmly approached, looked at him mockingly and said.
“You know Jihyun from your class, right? He’s our friend. We used to get things from him, but ever since you got involved, that stopped.”
From what they said, it seemed they were parasites living off Jihyun or Hyunmin.
“But why is that my fault?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know? You…”
As they were about to say something to Jihak, his eyes changed, emitting an overwhelming murderous intent.
A chilling feeling down their spines.
Feeling their hair stand on end, the kids’ eyes trembled as they looked at Jihak.
At that moment.
From afar, someone’s voice was heard, and Jihak quickly withdrew his murderous aura.
“Hey! What are you kids doing there?”
A teacher passing by noticed the kids gathered in the alley and started to approach with interest.
“Let’s… let’s meet next time.”
The kids, hiding their trembling voices, quickly fled the alley.
Swoosh—
Jihak smoothly took all the money from the envelope into his hand.
“Nice. Earned some photocopying money.”
Holding the money he took from the envelope, Jihak smiled, feeling good about the unexpected gain, and headed towards the stationery store.
“Wait… a moment!”
“Hm? What is it? Who are you?”
The student who first had the envelope taken ran up and grabbed Jihak’s clothes.
“Th-That’s my money. It’s my tuition fee…”
Seeing the 50,000 won bills in Jihak’s hand, the student thought Jihak had retrieved his stolen money.
But the response was not what he expected.
“Why should I?”
“Huh?”
“You got it taken by them. I took it back from them. So now it’s mine, right?”
“……”
From the start, Jihak had no intention of returning the money.
The moment the student lost the money, he lost all claim to it.
So it was natural for Jihak, who took it back, to own all the rights to the money.
“It’s my tuition fee…”
The student, hoping a savior of justice had returned his money, looked disappointed.
“If you didn’t want to lose it, you shouldn’t have let it be taken. Once it’s taken, it’s not yours anymore.”
It was a valid point.
The student, known for his academic prowess, understood what Jihak meant.
‘A smart kid… Couldn’t I use him?’
Even in that moment, Jihak was calculating whether it was better to keep the money or use the student who looked upset.
“Ha. Just kidding. Here, take it back.”
“Really?”
Jihak returned the money.
He had a large sum coming in soon, so this wasn’t a big deal.
“But I have a favor to ask. Can you do it?”
“What is it? If it’s something I can do, of course.”
Since Jihak had returned his money, the student couldn’t refuse.
“Alright. You’re good at studying, right? What’s your rank?”
“First… in the whole school.”
Thinking he was just a top student, Jihak was surprised to hear he was the best in the school and felt reassured about his decision, smiling.
“Teach me to study.”
“Study?”
“Yeah. I took a break from school, so it’s hard to keep up.”
The student agreed without hesitation when Jihak asked for help with his studies.
“Okay. I’ll help you.”
“So, when and where should I meet you? What class are you in?”
Planning to set up a study session, Jihak was puzzled when the student, looking at him in disbelief, said.
“…We’re in the same class.”
* * *
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