01ㅣFirst meeting
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My father's company was transferred to the countryside, so I moved from Seoul to live there for the first time. Along with the move, I had to transfer schools, and I ended up going to a school known as "the worst school."
I, who usually had good grades, studied hard, and listened well to my teachers, felt uncomfortable about going to such a school. I was about to head to school with my earphones plugged in, thinking of going alone, when my father spoke to me.
“Yunseul, are you going to school now?”
“Yeah, Dad.”
“If you go towards the intersection over there, it will take a while, right?”
“It’s morning so it’s not dangerous. If you keep going straight, you’ll come to an alley. If you go straight past that alley, it’ll be faster.”
“Really? Thanks, I’ll be back!”
My father, who had arrived here earlier for work, knew the area well, and I started following his directions. As I approached the alley, even with my earphones plugged in, I could smell a dull thud, the unpleasant stench of cigarette smoke, and even the faint odor of blood.
Peeking into the alley, I saw four or five students in our school uniform standing there, one leaning against the wall, his face unsteady. Three of them were smoking cigarettes, and the air was thick with smoke.
My mother suffered from school violence, and I was a victim of it myself, so I couldn't stand it. Somehow, that gave me the courage to go into the alley. The others were beating up a student, but one was leisurely smoking a cigarette. I turned the other student's shoulder so he would face me.
"what?"
“What are you doing now?”
“Can’t you see? Should I make you like that too?”
The man laughed creepily as he said that, and I ignored him and tried to go to the student who was being hit, but he grabbed my hair.
“Ahhh!!”
“If you have something to see, just look at me.”
“…Let go of this.”
“If you don’t like it.”
“Put this down, it’s dirty.”
“It’s dirty… what a fun kid, let’s meet again next time, shall we?”
“Hey, let’s go. Grab my bag and follow me.”
The strange man brought his face close to mine, said he'd see me again, put out his cigarette, and led the other students out of the alley. As soon as they left, I ran to the student who'd been hit, who groaned and struggled to get up. Without a word of thanks, he limped back to school, and I, too, scratched my head in embarrassment as I walked towards school.
I went to the teachers' office and headed to the classroom with my homeroom teacher before the bell rang. As soon as the morning bell rang, I followed my teacher into the classroom. I glanced up and saw the same man from before, shaking his chair in the back row, grinning creepily at me and waving.
It was clearly an act of welcome, but it was not welcome at all.