Chapter 104

By the time I reached middle school, classes would generally be conducted properly on the day of the entrance ceremony.

A class schedule of seven periods? This is a nightmare.

Moreover, the classes are extended so that they end at 4:30 PM?

Hell is not something you can only see after you die; this is hell.

Still, the first day of class is relatively uneventful.

“The teacher’s name is Hwang Jung-woong, and he teaches science.”

The teacher introduces himself, casually reading through the table of contents and taking a look at the early parts of the textbooks.

There are teachers who proceed with the lesson in a standard manner, and there are those who share various fun stories from their past experiences.

It’s almost a playtime atmosphere, the first lesson of each subject.

Once class ends, a few students who have known each other since elementary school gather and start chatting.

Pair assignments are always random; girls with girls, boys with boys?

Not at all.

Sometimes boys are paired with girls, and boy-boy or girl-girl pairs are not uncommon either.

Thus, sitting next to me is a chubby… no, not even a slim person if we’re being polite, a plump boy.

I wonder how much did his parents feed him to end up like this?

Just as I was staring at the boy’s profile, a hand reached over and tapped my shoulder.

What kind of rude brat taps the shoulder of someone they don’t know?

I scrunched my face to express my displeasure and looked up sharply.

What caught my gaze was a boy.

“Mary, right? From Hyeran Elementary School?”

“Huh?”

A boy mentioning the elementary school I attended until last year out of the blue.

It crossed my mind that he might be a student who knew me back then.

My gaze landed on his name tag on his chest.

The name Shin Taehyun was written on the white name tag.

I had a vague recollection of him, but I couldn’t exactly place who he was.

If it was a name I remembered, he should be from the same class or something.

“Do you not remember? We were classmates in the same class in fourth grade….”

The boy, asking if I remembered, referred to a time during our elementary school days.

Hearing the grade, a memory flickered through my mind.

In fourth grade science class, he was the one who almost cried when he thought there were no snacks left.

I remembered how he held out the snacks he had brought to stop the tears.

“Oh, that… the snack boy?”

“Yeah… that’s right.”

With the memory flashing back to me, I pointed at the boy and said so.

He seemed quite embarrassed about it but nodded as if to acknowledge it.

Who would’ve thought that a classmate from elementary school would end up in the same school and class?

At least, I wouldn’t be eating alone in the cafeteria.

That sense of relief somewhat soothed my mind.

It’s better to know someone than to broaden my circle with completely unfamiliar faces.

With that thought in mind, I headed to Taehyun’s seat during break to look for some familiarity.

The girls’ conversations predominantly revolved around makeup, which boy characters from the anime Shiyeon likes, or talk of boy idols.

Thus, I mostly got along with boys who discussed popular games.

“Ryoiki Tenkai!”

“Hey, what the hell is that, you nerd!”

“Free kusho!”

“Damn it.”

Of course, there were some abnormal conversations that took place on this side too.

The boy who had almost cried over snacks was making friends across various spectrums, including students who were infatuated with anime or game buddies.

There were even a few who played RPG games, albeit rarely.

It must have been tough for them to put in all that time when they were elementary schoolers, but that’s impressive.

“Yeah, torture game according to the court!”

“Yeah, 1% market share for PC rooms!”

The two who were vehemently criticizing the major flaws of the games they played turned away while bearing nothing but wounds.

“Idiot.”

That was my role, to mock the scene.

Surprisingly, it didn’t feel much different from a boys’ middle school or girls’ high school.

The fantasies I had about coeducation were fundamentally unnecessary.

Eventually, people tend to hang out with those they’re close to, making everyone fairly similar.

But there is definitely a line that shouldn’t be crossed when it comes to seriously complaining about parents, you know?

There were indeed differences compared to schools with only the same sex.

In particular, I never expected to smell cosmetics so often in the classroom.

On another note, here we were in a middle school with a snack bar.

Up until the year before last, they hadn’t opened the snack bar due to the risk of pandemic transmission, but they decided to open it this year since that virus had simply become treated like a common cold.

Well, that was fine, but…

“Spicy rib-flavored hot dog, please.”

“2000 won.”

“Cheese pizza, too.”

“1900 won.”

During breaks, the snack bar was packed.

Mysterious pastries with names I had never heard before were exchanged like contraband.

The snack lady seemed to need eight hands to keep up.

“Just one spicy+.”

“1700 won.”

Pushing through the crowd, I finally ordered a piece of hamburger.

After battling through the chaos of payment, the next challenge was the microwave competition.

With only three microwaves, the bread kept rotating non-stop.

As the hot bread emerged from the microwave with steam, a stimulating aroma spread through the snack bar.

After winning the chaotic battle with the microwave, I grabbed a plastic bag and headed for the vending machine right inside the snack bar.

One hamburger bun and a can of apple juice.

A cheap hot hamburger bun packed with plenty of sauce flavor, paired with the similarly inexpensive refreshing apple juice.

It was a handful of paradise found in the hell that is school.

‘Every day like this…?’

It was 4:30 PM.

If measured from midnight, this day had only 7 hours and 30 minutes left.

Faced with the unbelievable reality of having to go through this every day, I gazed at the blue sky with empty eyes.

The sky, indifferent to my emotions, remained a fleeting blue.

With heavy steps, heavier than usual, I trudged down the asphalt.

Rushing back with quick steps, I opened the door to my house that I had securely locked.

It was 4:44 PM; as soon as I checked the screen, an ominous number caught my eye.

What I thought was a 20-minute distance had been shortened to about 14 minutes if I walked quickly.

Shiyeon still hadn’t come back, as the house was devoid of light other than sunlight.

With a click, the lights turned on as I activated the switch, filling the house with bright illumination.

Adjusting the wall-mounted boiler controller to around 25 degrees, I turned it on.

The faint noise of the boiler room barely reached the living room.

‘I should hang the uniform in my room….’

With everything taken care of upon entering, I removed my school uniform and hung it on the hanger, then ambled into the kitchen in just my underwear.

Immediately, I began preparing dinner.

In the refrigerator, about three long sausages were left, grilled.

There was some ground meat I had bought for cooking, but I had never gotten around to using it.

Opening the shelf under the induction stove, I found canned baked beans and canned ham.

Three packets of stir-fried kimchi that would be unfortunate to miss during instant noodles.

In the freezer, there were mounds of minced garlic, chili powder, and an array of pantry essentials.

‘Should I make army stew for the first time in a while?’

With my thoughts decided, it was time to take action.

I filled a large pot that could fully utilize the spacious induction stove with water.

After placing it on the induction stove, I turned on the heat, added a spoon of gochujang, and just the right amount of chili powder.

A bit of soy sauce too, followed by a couple of pieces of minced garlic that I had portioned out.

Next, I placed the halved onion on the cutting board and quickly chopped it into half-moon shapes.

The three long sausages were cut thinly and prepared for the pot.

The canned ham was placed whole on the cutting board, cutting a big cross into its center.

Then laying it flat, I made deep cuts about four times, which essentially meant I was done prepping most of the ingredients.

Baked beans and stir-fried kimchi could just be tossed in.

The ground meat had a bit of age on it, but it would be fine once it boiled for some time.

Bubbling and simmering, boiling and bubbling.

Once the foam in the pot began to boil up, I generously tossed in the prepped ingredients.

The ingredients overflowing in that large pot.

As the ingredients of the bubbling army stew cooked and neared completion, I washed the cutting board and knife.

Even after washing up, Shiyeon still hadn’t returned.

The stew seemed to be boiling a bit too vigorously, so I adjusted the induction stove’s heat setting for the pot to zero.

Thirty minutes after I got home, the time was nearing 5 PM.

‘A bit late….’

Is there traffic on the bus?

The army stew I had prepared with care, hoping we could enjoy it together, began to cool down.

At that moment, my smartphone on the living room floor screen flashed without me noticing.

I wondered if some notification had come in, so I quickly picked it up to check…

[I’ll eat outside and come back.]

‘….’

With no choice, I dished out a generous portion of army stew into a bowl and heated up some white rice.

As usual, I had loaded it with delicious ingredients, so the army stew couldn’t possibly taste bad.

Still, as I chewed, the speed with which I forced myself to eat felt uncharacteristically slow.

Is the seasoning off? I just have no appetite.