232 – EP.10 Belief that things will get better-1
***
Shin Jeong-ah got off the bus and headed to a place where old villas were densely towering.
She saw volume-rate garbage bags scattered here and there, and trash that had somehow been inserted into the mouths of the volume-rate garbage bags.
The person throwing it away had a short patience, so there were personal papers scattered around, and there were traces left on the street, as if the person had had a big drink before the weekend had arrived yet.
Shin Jeong-ah gently pinched her nose with her free hand and frowned.
She passes this road every day, but she is not used to this place.
She thought of the house where Kang In-ho lived and the hill road leading up to it.
A well-organized, bright, and straight road that doesn’t seem to have any flaws.
It was a bit difficult to go up, but she thought it would be a hundred times better than walking down these smelly streets.
After going around the complicated alley like an anthill several times, a dead end appeared.
And at the end of the alley, there were her friends hanging out with her like always.
“Are you here?”
Kim Jin-tae, who was burning her cigarette, greeted her by spitting on her floor.
Shin Jeong-ah held out a plastic bag, and Seong Yun-ho, who had been flirting with Jeong A-ra next to her, came over and grabbed the bag.
“Oh… I bought a lot. But why did it take so long?”
Sung Yun-ho criticized Shin Jeong-ah.
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“What should I do, you idiot?”
Shin Jeong-ah pushed Seong Yun-ho on the shoulder.
“You idiot.”
Kim Jin-tae was upset when he saw Sung Yun-ho being pushed aside by Shin Jeong-ah.
Kim Jin-tae put his hand into the bag held by Seong Yun-ho.
Clatter. With the sound of glass colliding with glass, a green bottle was taken out of his hand.
“There aren’t many places where the fortress can be breached. They’re so thorough. Damn.”
After checking the contents, Kim Jin-tae put it back into the bag.
He threw the cigarette he was holding on the floor and led the group forward.
“Where are we going today?”
“Let’s go to the multi-room. My friend wants to work now.”
Waving her hand to tell her to follow, Kim Jin-tae left the alley.
And her friends followed suit.
“…….”
Shin Jeong-ah looked at the backs of her friends.
Their shadows created by the flickering streetlights were spread out strangely on the floor and walls.
Seeing the shape that seemed to be a combination of bare winter trees, she slowly moved her feet and followed them.
As she walked along the smelly and dizzy alley, Kang In-ho was still in her head.
***
For Yoon Shia, everyday life was like a fierce battlefield.
After organizing my father’s illness, school assignments, and the lessons I would teach In-ho, the day of tutoring has already arrived.
Today, she got off the bus, clutching her hungry stomach after eating just the right amount of calories.
She stops by a convenience store and she doesn’t even have time to eat something.
Because she didn’t have enough money in her wallet, and because she had a late shift at the hospital, she was 30 minutes late for tutoring.
“Ha-“
Her eyes naturally turned to the night sky.
The moon was unusually bright.
It is a day when I feel particularly weak.
Everything you had planned goes wrong, and when one part of your life is about to get better, another part suddenly starts to run into trouble.
No matter how hard an individual tries or how prepared he or she is,
I feel like I’m being swept away by a huge wave that I can’t do anything about, crashing here and there.
Or it could be passing through a long tunnel.
Like the countless tunnels we passed through on the Yeongdong Expressway, a car named Yoon Shia entered a long tunnel section.
Rarely. As I pass through the mountains, I see the sunlight outside for a moment, but only for a moment.
A life where you have to enter a long, winding tunnel again and just run forward in the dark.
Yes, I am now in the tunnel.
Yun Sia thought as she walked.
It would be even more unfortunate, to completely fail.
Thoughts that are too scary to even think about in my head suddenly arise.
Why does life leave so little hope for the unfortunate to live?
For no reason, Yoon Sia’s eyes filled with tears.
She walked her way, dragging her old shoes. Even time to indulge in her sentiments was a luxury for her.
She quickly went to tutoring and finished her classes, and she desperately wanted to go home and rest.
It was when I was passing the convenience store.
“Teacher.”
When I raised my head at the sound of a familiar voice, I saw a student surrounded by cats in front of a convenience store.
It was Kang In-ho.
A terrible problem child who was suspended from school for bullying his friend.
But he greeted her with a very different expression and outfit than her evaluation.
“What are you doing?”
When the tired Yoon Shia asked, Kang In-ho smiled awkwardly.
“No, well… I came to buy some dinner…”
In his hand was a half-squeezed chur.
“I was tricked by the convenience store owner.”
He smiled, shrugging his shoulders.
Clear smile and eyes.
Yoon Shia thought.
The emotionless and rude eyes I saw the day we first met were so bad that I couldn’t find any trace of them.
“I see.”
Yun Sia had nothing else to say, so she answered roughly.
Kang In-ho squeezed the straw in her hand, placed it in her cat’s food bowl, and then came to her, shaking her hand.
“I guess you had a lot of work today.”
Inho asked as they walked side by side.
Yoon Sia smiled bitterly as she recalled her busy day.
“Teacher, you haven’t eaten, right?”
When we reached the beginning of the hill road, Inho asked.
“Yes. Why?”
“I didn’t eat at the time either. Let’s eat together.”
“Dinner?”
“Yes, dinner. Teacher, I think I would have starved today anyway.”
“Oh, that’s….”
Yoon Si-ah avoided her gaze in response to her probing question.
“After all, it’s about making a living. You have to eat to gain strength.”
As he climbed the hill, Kang In-ho spoke like an old man.
“What, like you?”
Kang In-ho looked very hurt by Yoon Si-ah’s mumbling.
He increased his speed and began to walk at a brisk pace.
Yun Sia looked at his back.
His shadow reflected in the streetlight was displayed on the floor like a huge fence.
“Hurry up. I have to eat and then go to class.”
Kang In-ho, who looked back at her and showed her a cool smile, started to lead first.
As she climbed the long hill, Yun Sia thought.
Ah, this child is a good child by nature….
She’s just not good at making friends…