277 – EP.11 Fake Guardian-1
***
Gulp, the man in front of the school gate swallowed his saliva with a nervous look on his face.
The playground comes into his eyes. Students who came out from lunch were walking around the playground in groups of threes and fives.
“Phew….”
He looks at the school gate once again. It says ‘Sungin Girls’ High School’. He came to the right place.
He recalled yesterday’s events.
– School?
It was during a visit to the school that Kim Seong-ah, who came home from school, suddenly spoke to him.
– It’s like a parent consultation, but I can’t call my aunt.
She said she introduced him as her relative brother.
– I won’t even check for family relationship certificates, so I’d like to ask you a favor.
Seeing her earnest face, Kang In-ho nodded her head, although he was reluctant.
“That’s why I came… But wouldn’t I get reported if I just go in?”
He couldn’t do this or that in front of the school gate.
Kim Seong-ah, who said she would come out on time, shows no signs of coming.
“…….”
Some female students who noticed his presence in front of the school gate began to observe him.
Faced with a barrage of stinging gazes, he helplessly raised his head to the sky and tried not to make eye contact with them.
“I should ask him to buy me a cell phone.”
After waiting for about 10 minutes under guarded gaze, she saw Kim Seong-ah coming across the playground.
The wrinkled school uniform, roughly tied red hair, and mysterious eyes were clearly visible even from afar.
Students circling her track turned their eyes to her as she crossed the playground.
“I was a little late because the line was long.”
“If I had come just 5 minutes later, my face would have been pierced by stares. Or I would have been taken to the police station.”
When she spoke to him, Kang In-ho finally let out a sigh of relief.
“It’s a terrible thing. That’s what I’ve been waiting for.”
Kim Seong-ah took the lead, and Kang In-ho followed behind her.
When the man standing in front of the school gate entered, the female students’ gaze became intense.
As it happened to cross the playground again, it became a perfect spectacle for the students walking along the track.
“You’re so persistent today. I’m sorry, mister.”
Kim Seong-ah apologized.
“Huh? What?”
“No, I’m getting a lot of attention at school for one reason or another.”
Kang In-ho said, ‘Isn’t it just because of me?’ I tried to ask, but he just shut his mouth.
“But, you came dressed up a bit?”
Perhaps the awkward silence was uncomfortable, Kim Seong-ah changed the topic.
“It suits you, right?”
“Well… Yeah, it’s pretty good.”
She said and scratched her head for her embarrassment.
“It’s rude if I dress sloppily. If I dress like a beggar, it won’t be good for you either.”
“Really? But… Where did you get your clothes? Looking at your hair, it looks like you went to a hair salon.”
“I bought it. With your card.”
Kang In-ho answered as if asking what was obvious.
Oh, Seongah Kim sighed.
***
When he and Kim Seong-ah arrived at her teacher’s office, her homeroom teacher greeted her and him.
“Teacher, this is my relative I told you about yesterday.”
Kim Seong-ah spoke slowly, as if the word ‘oppa’ didn’t stick well in her mouth.
“I said he was a relatively older relative, but he seems young.”
“Thank you.”
After Kang In-ho responded to her homeroom teacher’s words, she tilted her head and looked at her homeroom teacher’s face.
“If you have anything to say….”
My homeroom teacher asked me about my intentions due to my explicit gaze.
“When I was a student, I thought that the homeroom teachers for third-year high school students were people with a lot of experience… But these days, it seems like teachers in their 20s are also taking on the role.”
Kang In-ho heard from Kim Seong-ah that his homeroom teacher was in his early 30s.
“Oh my, oh my….”
The homeroom teacher’s face immediately brightened at the subtle praise.
Kim Seong-ah’s face turned strange, and she looked alternately at her homeroom teacher and Kang In-ho.
“Well… I’m actually in my 30s.”
“Oh? Is that so? I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”
“No. Well, that could be true. I’m a little young too… hehehe…”
When Kang In-ho smiled kindly, his homeroom teacher twisted his hair with his fingers and blushed.
“Anyway, you’re having a hard time guiding Seong-ah.”
Kang In-ho gave a courtesy greeting, and the homeroom teacher guided him to the counseling room.
“I’ll go back to my class then.”
Kim Seong-ah returned to her class, looking strangely at Kang In-ho, who showed the appearance of a skilled member of society.
The homeroom teacher made mixed coffee and handed it to him.
Kang In-ho held his paper cup in his hand, enjoying its warmth.
“I think Seong-ah is very polite. Usually when she says she’s a paid student, people think she’s a delinquent, but she doesn’t have that.”
The homeroom teacher began her story by praising Seong-ah.
“I have personal reasons….”
Day and night, I wear strange cosplay and defeat the forces of evil. Kang In-ho swallowed his next words.
“It’s a psychological problem… Isn’t it?”
“Oh, it’s probably not like that. I’m fine at home.”
Although we had only lived together for a few days, Kang In-ho answered as if he knew everything.
“Then I’m glad.”
“Is there anything you’re worried about?”
In response to my homeroom teacher’s strangely slurred speech, I asked as if I were Kang In-ho.
“She has no idea what Seong-ah is thinking. Either she doesn’t come to school, or when she does, she suddenly storms out….”
She folds her fingers and tells her strange things one by one.
“And crucially, study….”
“Can’t you study?”
“No, it’s not like that. I’m studying… But I don’t seem to have any particular sense of purpose.”
“Sense of purpose?”
“Sung-ah just studies. I feel like she has to do it because she’s just a student.”
“But, there are bound to be students who don’t have clear goals, right?”
Kang In-ho asked.
“Unless she’s given up on studying, she’s going to study and go to college, and she’s going to major in something, right?”
The homeroom teacher shook his head.
“…Hmm.”
Not being able to think of anything to say, he swallowed his words.
“This may be a personal question… Do you meet Seong-ah often?”
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“Recently, I have been taking care of Seong-ah at Seong-ah’s house.”
“Personally, I’m glad. It’s psychologically better to live with family than to live alone.”
“Then her brother commutes from Seong-ah’s house?”
The question continues.
“Oh, it’s because I can work from home.”
“I see.”
“Then you will do well in life.”
“Ah, what…”
Kang In-ho felt the direction of the question strangely change.
***
After returning to her classroom and solving her workbook, Kim Seong-ah opened her cell phone and looked at the time.
It was soon time for lunch to end. 5Th period is when the homeroom teacher comes in, so Kang In-ho will go home after lunch.
The image of him smiling cheerfully and talking with his homeroom teacher suddenly comes to mind.
Seongah Kim pouted her mouth.
This was because his appearance was so different from what he showed at home.
While I was thinking about this and that, the classroom suddenly started to become noisy.
She lifted her eyes from her workbook and looked around.
“It’s a man!”
“You’re coming with your homeroom teacher?”
The classroom buzzes with someone’s voice.
I thought, no way.
The classroom door opened, and the homeroom teacher came in.
“Seong-ah, please talk to your brother in the hallway for a moment and then come back in.”
All eyes in her classroom were focused on her. Kim Seong-ah felt as if the back of her head was going to be pierced.
As she walked out into the hallway with her eyes focused on her body, Kang In-ho, neatly dressed, smiled at her.
“Why?”
“No, when does school end? Let’s go together.”
Students inside the classroom stare openly into the hallway. Kim Seong-ah tried her best not to look away from her.
“It ends around 6 o’clock.”
“About 5 hours… I’ll stay at a nearby cafe and then be in front of the school gate by 6. It’s a bit inconvenient because I don’t have a cell phone.”
“Did the consultation go well?”
“Well, you only said good things.”
“You seemed like an adult.”
“Because I’m an adult.”
He shrugged his shoulders.
“Okay, then… See you later.”
“Listen to class well.”
With those words, Kang In-ho left school.
Upon returning to her class, the silent attention was poured on her, and Kim Seong-ah found it a little burdensome.