chapter 4
4 – Elementary School Students
“Fox~ Fox~ What are you doing..?”
“Eat rice~”
“What kind of side dishes~”
“Frog Side Dishes!”
It sounds obvious, but I never ate frog side dishes.
Instead of…!
-Wow!
Screaming, Jin-a swish-threw her round ball of snow at me.
I managed to dodge the snowballs while avoiding them, but I got hit by a few, and the clothes I was wearing got a little wet because of that… But, Jin-ah just had to enjoy it.
“-Jinah, my hands will freeze”
Come to think of it, Jin-ah is in the middle of winter, and without her gloves, her eyes are round with her bare hands. Both of her hands turned red. Even so, I’m too cold to touch her eyes with my bare hands
Is Jin-a so sad..? Thinking of that, she popped a hot pack in her pocket and handed it to her.
Is the feeling of a warm hot pack good…? A smile once again blooms on Jin-ah’s face, who was silently fumbling around with a hot pack…
“Thank you! Yoo Seon-ah!”
Her front teeth are missing, though it’s a bit of a silly smile, but I’m still looking at her smile. She is worth giving hot packs.
“Because it’s still, it’s a bit cold- Let’s go in now and take a break- so we can stay and play again”
“…Yeah! Great!”
And we went into the turtle bunker to avoid the wind and the cold. Since it was winter, the weather was quite cold.
Still, it seems less cold if it sticks to me like this. Um… I could feel the crisp, brown hair tickling my nose.
“…Now, we’re in the second year too”
“Yes”
It reminded me of the day Jina missed her school. And the next day, I took Jina and played house in the playground.
From that day on, it seemed like I often played with Jin. Not playing house, playing Ttakjjigi, playing ball, and the rose of Sharon bloomed. Hide and seek
There were a lot of things Jina didn’t know. Usually she would know at least one of the many games, but she didn’t know any.
Still, it was fun- Because if Jin-ah doesn’t know something, I can teach her next to her.
Because I can teach you.
“…I wish I was in the same class as Yoo Seon…”
“That’s right, I’m very sorry”
Are you worried about the upcoming new semester? Jin-ah’s face, which had been wearing her bright smile, became depressed. Now, as our grade goes up, our class has changed.
Jinah was in class 1, and I was in class 6…? End to end. It will be a bit difficult to meet.
And Jina has many days when she doesn’t come out of school, so it might be more difficult for her.
Will I be able to adapt well..? Jin-a doesn’t come out of school well, and she – even if she does go to school – she dozes off and even now, even though the semester is over, she can’t talk well with the kids.
“…Still, there are no bad guys, so I’m sure you can make some good friends there too..!”
… Well, first of all, I was getting along well with the kids. Although, Jina’s hair smells strange, or her clothes are full of dirty stains…
And even though the kids keep playing with it, I don’t think about changing it. Jina… But she’s kind.
How cute her face is when she smiles, and how well she plays when she’s with me.
It’s not a mortal sin to not wash a little and not change her clothes…! Because there were still many scars on Jin-ah’s calves that could not heal…
That’s not going to happen, but even if everyone in the world hates Jin-ah, I want to help Jin-ah as much as I do, I don’t want to bully her…!
“Also, even in the second year, the classes are different..! Because we can meet anytime..!”
“…Yeah! Yoo Seon is right..!”
2)
It was the second year. The new teacher was a male teacher and he was a very nice person.
When you read a fairy tale in a textbook, you read it out loud as if you were a really bad villain… Or you really talk like a tiger in the part where a tiger appears..!
He also played the organ well, played ball together during gym class, and was a really kind person.
Especially on Saturdays when we play, the teacher always bought us delicious chicken, so I liked going to school on Saturdays the best.
“Yaya~ Let’s go play escape together during lunchtime~~”
“No, I’m going to play soccer with you..!”
After a fun class, we would run through the hallways during break time, run around the playground during lunchtime – there was never a time when we were quietly attached to the classroom.
That’s why it seems like time flew by… In the second year, a year seemed like a day. Running around every day, eating at the facility and lying on the futon made me fall asleep on my own…
I only opened my eyes for a moment, but the time to make the futon came, and that was the case.
And… When I was in the third grade, I was able to meet Jina again.
“…Uh…”
At first I thought it was someone else. I remember when I was in first grade, I didn’t get that hot.
The appearance of Jin-ah that I haven’t seen in a long time is exactly like a bear. When you think of a bear, it sounds like a cute image, but it’s just a wild boar. Yes, it was closer to a wild boar than a human.
Her face was swollen, and she didn’t wash it properly… As she got closer, she smelled strange, and again – her hair became completely muddy… A strange bug-like thing was found in her hair, Because it just happened.
“…That’s him..!”
“…What?”
“Yoo Seon doesn’t know who he is…?”
No, I know who Jinah Lee is, but she’s not sure why she became like that. Jina in my memory was smaller, thinner, and had a cute front tooth when she smiled… She seems like that kind of kid.
“He’s a bit weird, he doesn’t come to school often, he wears the same clothes every day- look at that…? Strange stains come from the house…! It smells…Right..?!”
“…Huh? Uh uh…”
Because even before I went to elementary school, I saw and learned a lot while hanging out with the older brothers in the facility…
I knew it was good to be moderate and chit-chat here.
So, my older brothers often tell me that if there is a bullied kid in the class other than you, you can spend your school life comfortably because he takes care of everything.
Actually, last year I lived in a really good class- I haven’t experienced anything like that, but I could see the class teacher being called all over the place because the kids in the next class were fighting and bullying each other.
So bullying or bullying. Well, I kind of know what that is like- what my brothers did to me when I was in the facility was a kind of bullying like that.
In first grade, Jina didn’t go to school well, and… She didn’t have any friends except me, and her affinity wasn’t that good, so she was worried-
Because she never imagined that she would be able to meet Jin-ah again like this… She seems to have thought about it for a while.
Still, should we play together thinking of the friendship we played together in 1st grade, or… Should we just leave Jin-ah alone.
If you see a friend in trouble, don’t pretend you don’t know- The director always taught me that, but it’s not as easy as it sounds.
“Rubber Bazookaaa Aa Apo Oh Oh ~~!”
-Pak!!!!
The moment she was thinking about what to do… Someone hit Jin-ah hard on the head.
I was quietly thinking, so loud that I was startled…! Why..?! Jina didn’t do anything..! She just said she was sitting still..?
Although she smells a little too much… But that said, she’s just enough to hit people..? The smell from the trash can is even worse, but why don’t you hit the trash can and only Jin-ah…?!
“…Don’t do it…Don’t do it…”
“Haeji mee… Haeji mee~ rubber bullets!!!!”
– To Do Do Do! Do-do-do-do
Sunburnt skin, and blonde bridges… One of them was beating Jin-ah at random with her.
Just like the main characters in the comics… I really started beating Jin-ah so fast that her fists seemed to have dozens of them.
Jina continued to say don’t ah… Don’t ah… She just said that, but she didn’t show any resistance.
Even though he was beaten a lot- Seeing as he couldn’t resist… I think this has happened many times.
Yes, she would have rebelled against it at first…But then she would have just given up and accepted it.
“…Hey, I just like to stay still… He’s… The best in my grade. He’s close with the middle school hyungs…”
Shouldn’t I do something…? When I thought about that, my partner stopped me.
At that time, I slowly looked around, one kid who was beating and beating Jin-ah, and several kids who were reluctant around him.
And other than that, all the other kids… Looked out the window, or went outside, or… Most of the kids, like me and my partner, pretended not to see it.
3)
No one thought to stop it, so the violence escalated.
Not to mention shouting out technology names from cartoons and beating them up…
“Fire in the ho oh come~!!!”
And throw rotten milk on Jin-ah’s head for a few days, or…
“Huh..? This place is dirty..? I have to wipe it with a rag..!”
Because I didn’t wash it, so I just rubbed Jin-ah’s face with a dirty rag.
-Ahahahaha..!
At that time, the atmosphere in the class seemed very distorted. At first, isn’t this a little bit..? Even the kids who looked at me like that. It’s getting more and more… Twisted and distorted.
Because everyone giggled and laughed while watching the bad boy Kim Tae-yang, who often bullied Jin-ah.
What should I say…? I can’t express it well… But it was like laughing while watching a variety show… It felt like that.
“…What does this smell like..? Could it be real…?”
The 3rd grade homeroom teacher… Wasn’t interested in what happened to Jin-ah.
Jin-ah doesn’t attend school or attends well, she always comes to sleep, is dirty, and smells like… The teacher’s dislike of Jin-ah was revealed from her expression.
In this class, Jin-ah will be the most powerful… The more the homeroom teacher treats Jin-ah that way… Taeyang’s violent behavior only gets worse as the days go by.
It was a hot summer day.
Jin-a’s body already smelled of milk, which completely smelled of her after a few days… I can’t put it into words… A rolling pin with a lot of foul smell, and a trash can was Jin-a’s mate.
When I thought about it, wouldn’t that alone be the bottom of Jina’s mental and physical strength…?
I cry all the time when I get mischievous… But I burst out… Well, it’s not the first time or two that Jin-ah cries.
So… Not crying, something worse is about to happen…
Actually… I thought a lot about whether or not I should help Jin-ah every time.
But… I couldn’t get out. Courage, memories, pride, consideration, understanding. Because I didn’t have enough of that… As time passed, the precious things inside of me were gradually being cut away.
I could feel it too, but nonetheless. I couldn’t help Jina.
“…Three thousand worlds!!!”
He hit Jin-ah’s torso randomly with a broom…!
If you protect your head with your arms, you will hit your ribs, if you protect your ribs, then you will hit your head again- it’s cruel.
Jina huddled into her corner and curled up like her tortoise, but even when she did, she didn’t escape the hawk. Come to think of it, I don’t know who Jinah belonged to from the past. She really did get beaten up a lot.
Now I get hit at school too.
I didn’t go to school much, and… I wasn’t good at anything. Even so, she can smile brighter than anyone else, and… She’s good at making snowmen, and she’s also good at hide-and-seek.
No matter how ugly Jina is, she didn’t do anything wrong enough to get hit with a broom like that. Why… Why do I… Have to watch Jina get hit like that…?
“..It hurts.. It hurts so much…!”
The director always told me to be the one who…If something went wrong she should be able to make it right.
“I’m dying… Really… I think I’m dying…”
Seeing Jin-ah looking at everyone in the class except for Tae-yang while her tears and runny nose were running down her nose because she was in so much pain-I had a strange feeling that I couldn’t put into words.
Everything-I would have met Jin-ah’s eyes at least once-but… The look of deliberately avoiding her gaze. That’s… Wrong… Why isn’t anyone helping…?
“Help me… Seriously anyone help me…”
Perhaps it was because of the hot summer, Jina’s words started to lose her strength. If things go on like this, I think more and more that she might really become.
My eyes met Jina. Even now, with her plump belly and her hair covered in grease, she still has that brown hair.
“This, damn it. Who uh..? Wants to dye it at school..! Give me the scissors..!!!”
“Yaya- Really cut..?”
“Cut it, then fake it…?”
I couldn’t look at him any longer. I felt like I was going to get nauseous, and my mouth was filled with sour water.
The director always said. Don’t turn a blind eye to those who have fallen into injustice.
…It’s too late. If I shut up like this, I could have passed, but… I have to step in even now.
I couldn’t possibly see Jina like this anymore. I couldn’t stand to see the devastating downfall of my precious childhood friend, the friend she met when she first entered elementary school.
Get up from your seat. I grabbed Taeyang’s wrist as he was cutting Jin-ah’s hair.
“…What are you doing…?”
“Enough… This is not…!”
“What are you talking about, you f*cking orphan. Hey, do you want to search…?”
“Uh…?”
“Don’t f*ck with me, go away. I felt sorry for you and left you alone, but this bastard doesn’t even know the real subject.”
“…Uh…? I’m not an orphan…!”
I could feel the eyes that were focused on Jin-ah were focused on me.
-Carry on…
I can hear them talking among themselves in low voices…!
“…I… I…! I’m not an orphan..! My parents..! I’m working in a foreign country..!”
“…What…? It’s not a foreign country, it must be a world..! You stupid bastard..!”
“Huh…?”
“This is messy about not having a mom or a dad!”