I am not a Yandere chapter 32

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After parting ways with Wonjin and returning to the parking lot, Yeongdeok realized it was almost time to open the shop.

Deciding not to stop by home, he got into his truck and started the engine.

Opening the shop on time, Yeongdeok spent the entire shift distracted by thoughts of what had just happened.

He couldn’t quite pinpoint the feeling, but his chest felt strangely hollow.

As he was mulling over his confusing emotions, a loud noise broke through the usual chatter of the shop.

Beep!

Yeongdeok’s attention snapped to the source of the high-pitched sound, one that pierced his ears.

Following the uncomfortable stares of the other customers, he saw a boy blowing into a strange instrument like it was a toy.

“Park Junseo. What did mom tell you about behaving in public?”

“But I have a recorder test tomorrow!”

“You can practice at home. You shouldn’t do that where there are lots of people.”

The boy’s mother, trying to reason with him, attempted to take the recorder from his hands, but he resisted, struggling against her, causing the commotion in the shop to grow louder.

“What’s going on? Or rather, what seems to be the problem?”

Approaching them, Yeongdeok furrowed his brow when he saw the boy, recognizing the mischievous face.

“You’re…”

“Oh! It’s that grumpy old man from before.”

The boy pointed rudely at Yeongdeok, the same kid he had thought ill-mannered on the bus.

“Sorry, my son’s not listening.”

“I’d appreciate it if you could quiet him down. …The other customers are uncomfortable.”

“I need to do well on my recorder test! I don’t want extra lessons!”

The boy held up his purple recorder defiantly, making more noise.

“What’s a recorder?”

Yeongdeok tilted his head, puzzled. The boy burst into laughter.

“You don’t even know what a recorder is? Last time, you didn’t even know how to ride the bus properly!”

“What did you just say?”

Yeongdeok’s eyes flashed dangerously, insulted by a boy barely half his size.

“This is a recorder. I bet you don’t even know how to play it!”

The boy waved his purple recorder smugly.

Yeongdeok could handle not only the piano but also the flute, violin, and even the oboe to some extent.

And yet someone dared say that he didn’t know how to play such a shabby instrument?

“Who said I don’t know how to play it?”

“Then give it a try!”

The child provocatively thrust the recorder, shiny with his own saliva, toward him.

Yeongdeok frowned as a droplet of spit fell from the mouthpiece.

“No thanks. It’s too filthy.”

“You’re just chickening out, aren’t you?”

“How dare you talk like that to an adult! Apologize to the boss!”

The child’s mother, embarrassed, forced the child to bow his head in apology, but Yeongdeok’s pride was already bruised.

“Hand it over.”

Yeongdeok took the child’s recorder and inspected it.

It was a bizarre-looking instrument.

He’d never seen anything like it before.

When Yeongdeok only examined the instrument without blowing into it, the child burst out laughing triumphantly.

“See? You can’t play it after all.”

“I-I’m sorry, boss. We’ll just leave.”

The mother, clearly flustered by the attention from the other customers, hurriedly grabbed the child’s arm and opened the shop door to leave.

Yeongdeok, still seething, stared at the snickering child as they exited.

The next day, a delivery arrived at Yeongdeok’s house. Inside the box was a pink recorder.

“I guess I’ve spent my whole life learning only sophisticated instruments befitting an obsessive character.”

Yeongdeok grasped the cheap instrument, thinking that even such a pitiful instrument was worth mastering.

He definitely wasn’t doing this because he felt defeated by that little boy.

No self-respecting obsessive character would bother with a toy like this.

This was all for revenge against that bratty little kid.

After examining the recorder from various angles, Yeongdeok blew into the mouthpiece.

A high-pitched peep sound came out.

“Hmm.”

He began blowing into the recorder, covering the holes with his fingers one by one.

With all the holes covered, a “do” sound emerged.

Immersed in his analysis and playing, he was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the front door.

“Hey, it’s noisy. Keep it down!”

Jihoon’s voice came from outside.

Yeongdeok got up and opened the door.

“What is it?”

“I’m trying to study for exams, and it’s too loud. Can you be quieter?”

“Studying? You, study?”

Yeongdeok’s eyes widened in surprise.

This guy seemed far too dumb to study anything.

“I’m the top of my class, you know?”

“There must not be any real talent in your department if a fool like you is at the top.”

Yeongdeok thought it was absurd that the bratty kid had given Jihoon such an unrealistic character backstory.

“What did you say? Shut up.”

Jihoon, exasperated, let out a deep breath but quickly regained his composure, warning, “Anyway, I’m trying to study hard, so don’t disturb me.”

With that, Jihoon turned and went back into his apartment.

Yeongdeok watched him disappear down the hallway before blowing into the recorder once more.

He had barely played a note when Jihoon popped out again, yelling.

“Are you kidding me? I asked for quiet not even three seconds ago!”

“But I’m studying the recorder, too. If not at home, where else am I supposed to practice?”

“First it was the fried chicken, now it’s this stupid recorder. Give it here.”

Jihoon snatched the recorder from Yeongdeok’s hands.

Yeongdeok glared at Jihoon, who had brazenly barged into his home to steal his things.

“If it weren’t for that brat, I would’ve sued you long ago.”

“If I had the money, I would’ve sued you a hundred times already. I’m going to ace this semester and get a full scholarship, so please cooperate.”

That this fool was aiming for top marks…

Yeongdeok pondered for a moment before deciding to show some kindness to this dimwitted candidate for ‘stupidest side character.’

“What are you studying? I’ll teach you.”

“There’s nothing I need to learn from you.”

Jihoon rubbed his temples, frustrated, but then suddenly had a change of heart.

“Actually… wait here a second.”

He dashed inside and came back with a liberal arts English book and a pen, handing them over to Yeongdeok.

“Can you summarize this? It’s a thin book, so it shouldn’t take long.”

Jihoon’s plan was to give Yeongdeok busy work to keep him quiet.

Yeongdeok flipped through the English book carelessly.

“Is this all you need?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Relieved, Jihoon let out a sigh.

Finally, he could study in peace.

After all the times he’d been tormented by Yeongdeok, he felt like he was starting to figure out how to handle this man.

Though he couldn’t quite understand why he had to develop such a skill in the first place.

Jihoon expected Yeongdeok to go back to his apartment to study, but to his surprise, Yeongdeok entered Jihoon’s home and sat at the table.

Caught off guard, Jihoon quickly followed him inside.

“Wait, why are you coming in here? Can’t you do that at your place?”

“That’s just studying separately. You don’t have the right mindset for learning.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me….”

With the English book open, Yeongdeok was suddenly quiet, as if all the previous noise hadn’t been his doing.

Well, as long as it was quiet now, Jihoon decided to let it slide and sat across from him to resume his studies.

His textbook, ‘Understanding Digital Content,’ was full of theory about the definition of content and the importance of marketing.

All this theoretical nonsense seemed useless, so why was he even studying it?

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