Knowing Brother-Chapter 37

“I had an interview with your mother before school started. She said you had a ‘secret’ and that you might collapse or something, so she asked me to keep an eye on you. I won’t tell your classmates, so don’t worry! The teacher will keep a close eye on Seol-woo, so if you feel unwell and need to leave early, don’t be afraid and tell me.”

“What on earth is that secret?”

The homeroom teacher shook her head in embarrassment. Mrs. Choi had strictly ordered her to keep her mouth shut.

“I was worried that Seol-woo would be shy or shy away, but fortunately, she’s a brave, bright, and wonderful friend. She’d look much brighter if she smiled.”

“There’s not much to smile about. How do you smile so often, teacher?”

There’s nothing to smile about. I asked because I was curious about the homeroom teacher who always smiled for no reason, but the teacher smiled brightly again. It seemed like Seol-woo was quite funny when she blurted out dry words.

“I guess the kids like it more because his personality is the complete opposite of his appearance. Oh, let me ask you something while I’m here. It’s a pilot project run by the Mapo-gu Office of Education. They gather students after school and provide free study mentoring. It’s a small group, so you can ask questions one-on-one....”

It was a roundabout question asking if I would participate in an after-school program for low-income families. I felt like it was the most considerate way to put it. However, the words “free” and “small group” really stuck with me. The alienation that comes with the expression “staying after school”. If mentoring is needed, it must be a student with low academic achievement, and the fact that he doesn’t go to an academy despite his low academic achievement means alienation.

“No. I think it’ll be okay.”

The homeroom teacher must have had a hard time recruiting students to participate, so she kept trying to persuade Choi Seol-woo, but after Seol-woo sighed and turned away, she didn’t say anything else.

I would have rather gone to an academy than lose the position I worked so hard to build.

Choi Seol-woo was obsessed with grades and was greedy. He even wrestled with the pre-study workbook alone before entering school because he wanted to get the best grades in the class.

Test scores were the only thing Choi Seol-woo could do as he pleased in his life. He had no other way to make a lot of money when he grew up. And, in order to give plausibility to his false identity as the son of a frugal rich family, he had to play at least in the top tier!

“Math pre-study is too hard. Can’t I go to a math or science academy? Can’t I make money?”

“Huh? How much? 100,000 won for one subject?”

“Where did you get 100,000 won? Even if I can’t do it, I can at least make 200,000 won....”

“A total of 400,000 won? Where do I get 400,000 won every month...? My medicine bill keeps falling behind.... I also have to pay my aunt Seong-ja every month.... I wish business would go a little better! Just wait, Mom, I’ll make some money.”

“Okay, I’ll listen to EBS for now.”

I heard that even middle school students can do part-time jobs like handing out flyers, so I thought I’d look into it. The conversation that started with the academy shifted to the topic of androids.

“So what’s the exact name of the disease? I need to know now, too. It’s my life and my disease, so what if I don’t know?”

“Oh, wait a minute! I told you that I’ll teach you when you get used to middle school life!”

“What is it that you’re not teaching me, what the hell?”

Mrs. Choi kept avoiding the question, and at the hospital, she just told me to listen to her parents because she was still young. It was back to square one for several months.

Since she didn’t know the answer, she had no choice but to vaguely answer her friends’ questions.

“Choi Seol-woo, why are you always excluded? Isn’t that discrimination?”

“I have severe anemia, so if I overdo it, I’ll collapse. Why, are you jealous? Then you’re anemic too.”

“You’ve never collapsed!”

“I don’t want to collapse. Why does the diagnosis exist? The PE teacher is a retard, then?”

The boys were especially interested in Choi Seol-woo’s shadow behavior during PE. The strength and weakness of his strength were sensitive issues for them. If he said something like malfunction, he would definitely be treated as a weird kid, so he said anemia. If he gave them a strong look and mixed jokes and swear words, they would soon shut their mouths. In the false identity he had built in detail, Choi Seol-woo’s parents were quite scary, so he kept a certain line.

Their attention soon turned to the sports club members entering the auditorium.

“Wow, the big arm incident. What happened at the National Sports Festival?”

“Volleyball made it to the quarterfinals, and track and field was a development at Gyeonggi-jung and Hyung-il Middle School.”

“Is it hard? Really?”

“Hyung-il Middle School is famous for track and field and shot put. They even put up a banner. I heard that a third-year student from there came in second place at the boys’ sports festival this time.”

Hyungiljoong. It was a name I hadn’t heard in a long time. I took off my sneakers and walked down the hallway, lost in thought about what the name on the banner was.

The guy who had complained about the exception earlier put his arm around my shoulder and spoke.

“But... I asked him. My friend’s friend’s friend’s friend’s mother’s friend’s son’s friend lives in your apartment, and he never saw you at the bus stop.”

There are always people like this in human society. Those who constantly look around and have to know their surroundings perfectly «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» to clearly determine who is superior or inferior. Choi Seol-woo, who had a quiet but strong personality and a prince charming image that made him popular with girls, was a person who was difficult for them to figure out.

Seol-woo embarrassed the guy with an appropriate question.

“My friend’s friend’s friend’s friend’s mother’s friend’s son’s friend? Who is he?”

“Ah... I don’t know, what’s your name?”

“I don’t know your name, but you know him.”

“Ah, anyway. I, I only know your face.”

“I walk to and from school.”

“Really...? Oh, can I visit your house next time? What kind of graphics card do you use in your computer?”

I mentioned the name of the high-spec graphics card that I had found out in advance. The three or four boys jumped around excitedly.

Soon, more practical proof might be needed.

Lies beget lies, and gains always come with a price.

It was during the midterm exam period when Choi Seol-woo’s stress was gradually increasing to dangerous levels.

During break time, several girls gathered around Seol-woo’s desk and hastily copied their homework. Choi Seol-woo, who was chatting about the math problems he had solved the day before, looked out the window. The curtains were blowing hard in the spring sunlight that was lying on the windowsill.

Crunch! The classroom door was about to open roughly. A large man opened the back door and came out noisily.

Anyone who looked at him could tell that he was a senior from the kendo or taekwondo club. He shouted in a loud voice.

“Class 8, Grade 1, Nice to meet you! Sorry for interrupting your break, but can we all see your senior for a moment?”

The first-year students unconsciously shrugged their shoulders at the appearance of the third-year senior from the sports club. He skillfully gathered attention by clapping his hands, but he seemed to be pressed for time. It seemed that he was planning to go around the class within the 10 minutes of break. The man asked hastily, as if he was doing something mandatory.

“Is there a kid named Choi Seol-woo here?”

What were the odds that his name would come out of someone he had never seen before? Choi Seol-woo froze in his seat. All the eyes of the class were focused on Seol-woo.

“Hey, shit! You’re here, at our school.”

The man quickly walked over to Seol-woo’s desk.

Kuung. My heart pounded dizzily. Could it be the garbage collection team...? The son of a debt collector... ? Then, here I am... Will all my family affairs be revealed...?

At that moment, when all the worst-case scenarios flashed through my head, the words that came out of his mouth were even more unimaginable.

“Do you know Won Dae-young?”

“.......”

“Don’t you know? There’s no way. You know? Answer quickly, there’s no time! You know Won Dae-young from Hyungiljoong, right?”

I nodded at the harsh urging. I was also afraid of the possible repercussions if I said I didn’t know.

“......Back in the day.”

“That hyung had his juniors search all over Ahyeon-dong Middle School. They asked if there was a kid named Choi Seol-woo in the first grade.”

In order to find out where Seol-woo had left home overnight, Mrs. Choi asked the neighborhood grandmother she was close with about his whereabouts and mobilized all the juniors and seniors of the middle school sports club to find out.

“Give me your contact information.”

Choi Seol-woo naturally did not give her mother’s contact information. Her heart was still covered in blood after forcibly taking Won Dae-young away. There was no place to bring him back.

Cell phone? No. Facebook? No. Parents’ phone numbers? That’s private.

The man had no choice but to give Won Dae-young’s cell phone number to Seol-woo.

“Call here. Phew, mission complete.”

After he left the classroom, the children in the class exploded with interest. Won Dae-young, a member of the Hyungil Middle School track and field team. Although Choi Seol-woo didn’t know, he seemed to be famous in some circles.

However, Choi Seol-woo tore up the cell phone number that his senior had left behind. He worried that he might come to class again, but fortunately, Won Dae-young’s junior didn’t come.

However, Won Dae-young was Won Dae-young.

Won Dae-young praised and gave the junior an additional mission. He called one of Seol-woo’s classmates and found out which academy Choi Seol-woo attended.

The academy district was bustling with students in their school uniforms. Reading rooms, Smoothie King, Sulbing, fast food restaurants, Max Rider, arcades filled with claw machines, karaoke rooms, PC rooms, snack bars, clothing stores, sticker photos... Seol-woo, who was passing by the teens’ entertainment with a dry gaze, didn’t even notice the sight of men and women in sports academy uniforms swarming across the street.

Since the special lecture fee during the midterm exam period was more expensive, he decided to take only one subject, math, first. He quickly filled his stomach and headed to the academy.

While waiting for the elevator in the shopping mall, students passing by the entrance were chatting noisily. He frowned at the noise and entered the elevator. The elevator door, which had been closing smoothly, stopped abruptly with a slight gap.

“Knock knock. Android C8.”

What appeared through the gap in the open door was a taller and tanned yakuza.