T/N: Accidentally mistook “dean” for a name, it’s not Hakjoo but referring to the dean. I’ve fixed the mistakes in the earlier chapters now ^^
Jaegyeom stood in front of the school gate with a solemn face.
He came out of the house ten minutes late today, just in case there would be an unfortunate run-in with the librarian like yesterday. He patted the back of his neck anxiously. His tie was firmly tied around his neck. This time, he groped his nape and the lobe of his ear. Thanks to his snipped hair, all he could feel was his skin. After checking, Jaegyeom took a deep breath and nodded.
Jaegyeom entered the school gate like a general heading to the battlefield. He saw the dean standing at the entrance of the main building in the distance. Finally, he and Jaegyeom met their eyes.
“…”
“…”
As if sworn enemies were meeting on a single wooden bridge, there was a sense of tension. The dean looked Jaegyeom up and down and made a very disapproving expression, but that was all. Fortunately, he was not caught like yesterday.
Jaegyeom confidently entered the main building with a proud face. Inside the main building, the stairs and corridors were noisy with children going to school. Just when he passed the stairs to the second floor where the teachers’ office was located, climbing the stairs holding on to the handrail, Jaegyeom stopped walking. The young man was coming down the stairs from the front. The young man, who was rummaging through a stack of papers and slowly walking, raised his head.
“Uh…”
Again. This was why it was not worth coming out of the house 10 minutes late.
Jaegyeom kept his mouth shut and looked up at the young man. As the young man descended the stairs one by one, his eye level also gradually decreased. The young man stopped walking three or four steps above Jaegyeom. The young man looked down at him and smiled.
“Hi.”
It was the same smile as yesterday. Jaegyeom bowed his head dryly. And he would probably be bothering him like yesterday and asking useless questions. ‘Why are you late today? You didn’t forget your tie today’, or something like that. It wasn’t long before they met, but it was already clear what the young man would say and what he would do.
He was already starting to get bothersome. Jaegyeom waited for the young man to approach with a trepid face. The young man who had stopped three or four steps above began to slowly descend the stairs. The scent grew stronger as he got closer. It was the same fragrance as yesterday. One step, two steps, three steps, four steps.
And five steps, six steps…
The young man passed by Jaegyeom, who was standing still.
Jaegyeom looked back at the young man with a puzzled face. Every time they ran into each other, he always said a word or two, but today, a simple greeting was the end of it. The young man passed him and went straight into the teachers’ office. He didn’t know if it’s because of his mood, but there was an offish feeling. Jaegyeom scratched his forehead at the unexpected development.
The young man said something nonsensical about becoming friends yesterday. It would be uncomfortable to exchange just a few words, but what friend is a friend to someone who is nonsensical? When Jaegyeom refused curtly, the young man said, ‘Really? It’s a pity,’ he replied casually.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“…”
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***
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Before he knew it, a week had passed since he became a ‘transfer student’.
After meeting on the stairs, Jaegyeom and the young man often bumped into each other. While sitting on a bench after eating, he bumped into him walking around the schoolyard, while running on the playground during PE class, he made eye contact with him standing near the library window. However, as he did on the stairs, the young man smiled at Jaegyeom and said, “Hi” and went on his way.
There were times when they made eye contact, but there were times when they just ignored each other without greeting. Every time, Jaegyeom felt strange. He didn’t come around more than necessary like before, which was comfortable, but… he was strangely bothered. The man with a knack for making people uncomfortable, near or far.
Anyway, it was a smooth daily life. At least on the surface it seemed so. Except for a few days ago, a trivial incident of unknown cause and effect occurred.
Usually once a day, most of the incidents occurred while Jaegyeom was away. For example, he went to the bathroom and found garbage on the desk, books wet from spilled water in his bag, dirty shoe marks on the chair, and so on.
Until then, Jaegyeom had no idea. He just assumed that someone had done it by mistake. However, at some point, Jaegyeom realized that this series of things was quite malicious to be mistakes.
The realization came when he went to the bathroom to wash his hands. After washing his hands in the sink, he went into the last compartment and tore off some toilet paper. He was lazily wiping his hands when something fell from above. The thing that flew from the next compartment was a carton of milk. It was lucky it was close to the wall.
It didn’t hit him, but the milk fell and burst, making Jaegyeom’s shoes dirty. While he was in the midst of standing blankly for a while, he heard the sound of someone running away. Jaegyeom, who came to his senses later, went outside, but by then he was the only one left in the bathroom.
“…”
Jaegyeom thought that the only person who would engage in such childish and meaningless pranks was, of course, a miscellaneous ghost. In the meantime, he had found several of them all over the school. Looking at what they were doing, all they were doing was writing in the air with chalk, playing by tying and untangling knots in the curtains, or pretending to study while sitting at an empty desk. The reason he didn’t make a move was because they didn’t seem interested in humans.
But gradually things took a strange turn. It was getting worse and worse to be seen as a light prank. Jaegyeom raised his hand and patted his chest. Something thick touched the inside of the school uniform jacket. They were talismans written the other day. He always carried them with him just in case, but now he had a reason to use it.
“Damn miscellaneous ghosts…”
He couldn’t stay still like this.
***
The mirror in the dressing room was filled with dozens of makeup tools and props.
“Jeongju-ssi, we’re shooting in 30 minutes! Makeup team, please finish!”
Jeongju sat on a chair in the dressing room and quietly closed his eyes. He could feel the texture of the soft brush touching the cheeks around his eyes. As his face was entrusted in the hands of the stylist, he opened one eye and nodded at the staff standing in the doorway.
It had already been nearly ten days since he had dropped Jaegyeom off at school on his first day. Time passed quickly, like a galloping horse. In the meantime, he hadn’t received a single call from Jaegyeom. It was Jeongju who had been asking earnestly to contact him if anything happened. Even in the midst of his hectic schedule, he couldn’t help but worry about Jaegyeom constantly.
He tried several times to get him a cell phone, but Jaegyeom wouldn’t listen. Jeongju regretted not pushing harder. He, of course, had left a home phone in the country house earlier, but needless to say, it was just a house phone. Jaegyeom always disconnected the phone line. He tried calling, just in case, but there was no connection.
One day, Jeongju, who was in Seoul, called the country house as usual. However, at that time, Jaegyeom was in the middle of a duel with a boss monster in the game. Startled by the unexpected ringing of the phone, he died while pausing for a moment. No, to be precise, his character died. Jaegyeom got angry and cursed at Jeongju, and in the end, it was fortunate that the house phone was even plugged in for at least one month out of twelve months a year.
“Yeah, I guess no news is good news.”
Jeongju murmured, and the stylist stopped her hand and asked, ‘Yes?’
“Ah, nothing.”
The stylist tilted her head and continued what she was doing. Jeongju let out a silent sigh. He tried to contact the school, but realized that asking, “How is my child doing?” would be an unnecessary distraction. He had better finish his schedule as soon as possible and go there himself. The movie shooting, which was underway with a large investment, was already coming to an end.
In the meantime, his stock value was on the rise. Not long ago, he even took first place in a poll titled ‘Not-human-like entertainer chosen by netizens’ hosted by a newspaper company. Jeongju clipped the article, pleased. At first he almost frothed at his mouth thinking he had been discovered as ‘not human’, but when he realized it was not literal he was overjoyed. He would have to show this off to Jaegyeom. Once this schedule was over, he would have a few days to spare, so he thought of going down as soon as he had time.
“Senior, there is a call.”
At that time, the manager who was waiting next to him held out Jeongju’s cell phone.
“Who?”
“This number is unknown.”
The manager showed the screen of the mobile phone. The number that appeared on the screen was an unfamiliar number that had not been saved. For public relations or work contact, they would go to manager’s number, and this was Jeongju’s personal number. He never answered a number he didn’t know. As usual, he shook his hand and tried to tell him to ignore it, but a thought crossed his mind.
Could it possibly be Jaegyeom? He might have borrowed someone else’s phone to contact him…
“Give it to me.”
Jeongju took over his phone from his manager. He looked down intently at the screen, then touched the screen and pushed it aside. He immediately brought his cell phone to his ear.
“… Hello.”
— Yes, hello?
The hope that it was Jaegyeom was shabbily dashed. The voice that came from beyond was that of a woman. It was the moment when his disappointment was about to float on his face.
— This is Daeryung High School, is this perhaps student Kim Jaegyeom… ‘s uncle?
Oh! Jeongju, who was sitting comfortably, raised his upper body.
“Yes yes! That’s right. I am Jaegyeom’s uncle.”
— Ah, yes, hello. My name is Seo Mijin, Jaegyeom’s homeroom teacher.
“Ah! Yes hello, I should have visited you earlier and greeted you in person…”
Jeongju bent over, holding the phone with both of his hands. The stylist and manager standing next to him widened their eyes at his bewildered and strangely flustered attitude. Jeongju and Ms Seo exchanged greetings in moderation and had a simple conversation. After a polite introduction, the main topic began immediately.
“By the way, why did you call me like this…”
Somehow, a bad feeling crossed his mind. Jeongju swallowed his saliva and spoke carefully.
— Yes, that’s right. I’m calling you because…
After a moment of silence, Ms Seo spoke in a calm tone.
— I think you should come to school for a while.
“… Yes?”
— Jaegyeom…
Jeongju waited anxiously for the teacher to speak.
— Jaegyeom… has gotten into a fight with a kid in his class.
She wasn’t clear what happened, they didn’t talk, the situation was not good, the parents of the other child who got into a fight came to school… Ms Seo’s voice came closer, then drifted away, then came infrequently. Jeongju’s mouth fell open.
It was the moment when the news that had been silent became news.
Is it that punk? I wonder why. Maybe ghost caused it.
Uncle 🤭 isn’t he to young to be his uncle? Bullies in school different country different ways.
Thanks for the chapter
Taehee, you mastermind. He knows to to play lol. Jaegyeom is so cute, I expected him to react more coldly to people, but he’s still kind of innocent