chapter 3
3 – Elementary School Students
This was before I entered elementary school. Before entering elementary school, I asked the director or other teachers how to write Korean and numbers.
And, well, the cheep cheep, and the puppies purr. That’s a rabbit-that’s a dandelion-I had time to study things like that.
That day was just- I don’t know what happened. The director and teachers were so busy calling that it would have been class time if it was the same as before.
I was neglected because the teachers didn’t give the class I was told to do and the teachers just sat at the computer and worked.
It’s not that I hate studying that much, but I didn’t like it as much as playing, so I played with a ball.
At that time, if there was one of the hyungs, I would have called out to them to play with me.
So while I was watching TV, I just tapped my feet like this to keep the ball from dropping to the floor… I practiced it, and that was cool.
I was just playing like that in the corner by myself. Just- I didn’t really want to do it on purpose, but I couldn’t control the power well, so the ball floated.
– Clink!!!!!
The window shattered with a sound. When people get really hot, their faces turn red like that…! I first learned about it that day.
And…
“You really need to be scolded by me today..! Kick your calves!!!!!!”
And I also learned that if you hit your calves hard with a cane… You get purple bruises.
…..Jinah seems to get along a lot too
Seeing so many scars on his calves… I don’t know, but maybe 100 windows were broken?
-Smoothly.
So it could be that he fell asleep on the desk like this because he was so right and exhausted.
“…Teacher, Jin-ah, your forehead has a lot of fever, and- um… It just looks so painful…!”
“… So ..?. … Will Yoo Seon-i take Jin-ah to her infirmary?”
As soon as the teacher saw that Jin-ah was spreading, he immediately looked at me and told me to take Jin-ah to the infirmary.
After waking up Jin-ah who is sleeping, she seems to not know what is going on in a dream… When she takes the child to the infirmary.
Mr. Ho brought Jin-ah to bed without saying anything and put her to sleep. Because Jin-ah looked very tired and exhausted to anyone.
After about two classes had passed, Jina came back to the classroom, but she still looked weak.
What should I say…? Her sleep isn’t tiring, but she just doesn’t seem to want to do anything… Because she was making that face.
….Actually, if I get beat up so much that my calves end up like that. It seems she doesn’t want to do anything-
2)
“Today… Do you have time…?”
“Time…?”
“Would you like to play together if you have time today…?”
Today, Jin-ah’s eyes, which were drooping without energy, shone brightly for the first time.
First of all, seeing her partner struggling so hard can’t help but break her heart. I don’t know about the other kids, but when Jin-ah plays with her, she’s a really fun kid.
In my honest opinion, I want Jin-ah to play with her other friends, but Jin-ah is too shy, timid, and worried. She
She was a child who, like me, naturally got stuck among her kids and couldn’t do that.
A few times since the last time I nagged Jin-ah for her…
At that time, Jin-ah was just like the moon orbiting the earth- she just kept spinning around the girls, because she couldn’t do anything.
Originally… After being scolded by her adults, she feels a lot better when she has fun with the kids – Jina has no friends other than me. Because she didn’t seem to have anywhere to relieve her stress.
As a friend of hers, whenever she sees Jin-ah like that, her heart aches.
Friends. It’s embarrassing to say this with my own mouth, but I hang out with Jin-ah a lot in our class – she’s my friend. So she’s not a girlfriend, just a friend.
And… When her friend looks down like that, she makes me feel bad too. Today I need to lighten my mood.
“…Okay, okay…! So, what shall we play today?”
“Can I decide that?”
“Sure, of course”
I’m just playing around like this to lighten someone’s mood- Hmm.
“Playing house. I want to play house…”
“..Huh?”
At first, I shouted that I would do anything, but still… Playing house is a little difficult- If I get caught doing that, I’m sure I’ll be teased for at least a month…
“…Isn’t it…?”
“No no, I do it- I do it unconditionally…! But I think it’s going to be a bit difficult here…! Because there are a lot of people and a lot of dust on the playground… Yes. Yes, you must have a ball on your face. Fly away or
Or will the weirdos just- interrupt or…? So… Let’s do it somewhere quiet…!”
To Jin-ah, who looked like she would burst into tears at any moment, the words ‘I don’t think I’ll be able to play house’ couldn’t come out of her mouth.
Because if I spit out that kind of thing, I’m sure I’ll put on a sadder face than I do now. But not really here… I’ll go out and do whatever I want… Yeah, yeah…
3)
“Are we doing it here…?”
“Okay, I’ll do it here”
If rumors spread that she is playing house with a girl alone, she will surely get teased at school for a month or so.
With such a calculation perfectly in my head… I brought Jin-ah to a small playground between the facility and Jin-ah’s house.
It’s quite far from school, so I don’t think I’ll run into any kids from school here.
And the kids from the neighborhood who live here don’t come to this playground often. Because… Around here…
“-Kim old man, the weather is hot today~”
“Old man Park! Heh heh…! Gray hair is growing rapidly…!”
There was a center for the elderly, and the seniors who came out of the center were looking at the playground with very bored faces. If the inspirations are staring at you like that, that… The fearful jungle gym escape
He said he would never play the Spin Separator in Hell-
Obviously, the moment he was about to do something like that, he immediately brought a cane and-
-These guys..!
I’m sure you’ll shout…
So personally, I don’t really want to play here, but there was no other place to play house with Jina.
First of all, there are no children but us, and sometimes the old ladies ask for names and ages, but other than that, there’s nothing much to worry about.
There are swings, slides, and… A turtle-shaped bunker, so I thought it would be perfect to go inside and play.
“Yes..! From now on, we will play house…!”
“…Playing house”
Why are my ears so hot…? I do not know. Jina was looking at her squatting body, and I stood in front of Jina like that – she took a deep breath.
“…Again, I’m good at this”
Play house. Until now, I’ve never played house, so I don’t know – but I did play hero with the hyungs.
The hyungs are famous gangsters in Jongno..? What did I do? I only played the role of being bullied for doing that-
Isn’t playing house similar to playing heroes, except for the father and mother appearing…? Why, there are scenes that always appear in morning dramas. If I imitate something similar to that, wouldn’t Jin-ah enjoy it? I thought
.
Ha… Oh!
It’s a bit embarrassing to show something like this in front of a girl…!
“…! Go and stir-fry some meat!!!! It’s this woman..!!!!!”
“…….”
How about this villain father’s role…! Jina’s eyes widened at this realistic acting.
I don’t know, I don’t know, but I think I was very shocked… I don’t think it means anything good.
“That’s… Not family ah…”
Tears began to fall from those big brown eyes.
….I never imagined I would cry over something like this…
Normally, I would say to fry the meat and then give her a slap on the butt, but I didn’t expect it to be done like this.
“…Uh…Um… Sorry… Sorry…”
Covering her face with her palms, she hugged Jina, who was shedding tears. She then pats her back a few times with her palm to calm down… And then the crying stops again.
“…I…Don’t want to play house like that…”
“Even if she has 10 mouths, she has nothing to say, then… Let’s play the house that Jin-ah wants to play…!”
-Swimsuk.
Jina wiped her tears with the back of her hand. She then just… She spoke to me with a soft smile.
“-Welcome. You…! You look very tired today…! Let’s rest while watching TV together…!”
“…Uh..? Uh… Let’s do that… Uhh… Your wife looks really pretty today…?”
The back of her neck tickles a little. Actually… I’m not good at things like this.
She doesn’t know what to do, and she doesn’t know why, she’s all of a sudden laughing–I don’t know.
“…No..! That’s the bathroom…! The living room is this way…!”
“..Uh..? Uh uh- yes… I get it…”
I’m just doing a role play, but… To be honest, I couldn’t really remember what I was doing there.
It wasn’t stimulating, and it wasn’t fun because it was a kind of house play that only real girls would do. And… Uh… Not very memorable.
But… It’s just… All the children from other families live this way… I also thought that, and again- this is a normal family. I don’t know much about this.
“Today… Rice balls…!”
And- Seeing Jina raking up soil from the sandy beach, she can laugh like that.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smiling face like that before… Seeing you smiling like that, you look really happy…
Playing house – It’s not fun…But…Yes… It’s a little bit… It’s a little bit… I’ll have to do it again next time if Jina wants to do it-I thought.