Epilogue Chapter 64 - Excursion (2)

Oh Kang-Hyun headed to the zone designated for Kim Si-Ah’s class without hesitation after getting permission. As one would expect, all he saw were children playing in groups just like his class.

‘Si-Ah is...’

Kang-Hyun looked around and saw Si-Ah picking up trash by herself from afar.

“Tsk.”

He slightly had his hopes up that Si-Ah might have gained some friends in her class after Jeon Yeong-Woong’s harassment ended but that did not seem to be the case from how far away she was from her classmates.

“...”

Si-Ah looked lonely from how she was picking up trash in silence. Kang-Hyun sighed and was about to approach Si-Ah when two girls who seemed to be in the same class as Si-Ah went up to talk to her.

“Umm... Si-Ah.”

“W-Would you like to play with us?”

Si-Ah flinched and stared at the girls warily.

She looked away and said, “We... shouldn’t be playing.”

“Well... that’s true, but...”

“The teacher isn’t saying anything about it, so it should be fine, right?”

“...” She swept her hair behind her ear and poked the ground with the end of her foot. She then said cautiously, “Just one...”

“Huh?”

“Let me fill up one bag first.”

“Ah, r-really?”

The two girls glanced at each other wide-eyed, not having expected Si-Ah to agree. They smiled brightly and nodded.

“Okay, make sure to come play with us after you fill up one bag!”

“We’ll be over there, so come when you’re done!”

The two girls went away as they waved.

“...”

Si-Ah stared at her classmates getting further away and turned around to resume picking up trash. She was picking up trash by herself, the same as before, but Kang-Hyun could see her cheeks reddening and the corners of her mouth rising in happiness.

‘Good for you, Si-Ah.’

It was still too early to call them her friends but she was not isolated like before.

‘I should... take my leave.’

His father had told him to take care of Si-Ah but did not want to be a pebble on her road to making friends in her class. He was about to turn around to return to his class zone when he met eyes with Si-Ah.

“Huh...?” Si-Ah excitedly approached him. “What are you doing here? Your class is supposed to be around the Nanji stream area.”

“Oh, uhh...”

“Did you sneak past your homeroom teacher?”

“N-No! I made sure to get permission!”

“Hmm.” Si-Ah smiled and took one step closer. “To meet me?”

She leaned toward Kang-Hyun, acting coy. Kang-Hyun’s face turned bright red from Si-Ah’s behavior which was unlike her usual self.

“N-No, it’s just... our area didn’t have that much trash, so...”

“Aha~ so you came out of your way to come to another class zone to pick up more trash?”

“...”

Kang-Hyun would only be teased if he made more excuses, so it would be better to come out strong.

“Yeah, I’m here to see you.”

“Ngh...!” Si-Ah flinched from the unexpected counterattack. “Wh-What the hell are you saying?”

She stepped on Kang-Hyun’s foot. They began picking up trash after the exchange of blows.

“...”

“...”

The awkward silence continued. Kang-Hyun turned to Si-Ah as he picked up trash like a robot and broke the silence.

“I’m glad.”

“About what...?”

“That you made friends.”

“Urgh... w-were you watching?”

“Yeah.”

“Argh! Why the hell were you watching that? Huh? Are you a stalker?” Si-Ah insulted flusteredly.

Kang-Hyun chuckled and shook his head. “I just happened to see it when I went to see you. I wasn’t stalking.”

“Ngh...”

“Nothing happened since then, right?”

“Yeah...” answered Si-Ah quietly, her head lowered.

The harassment of Si-Ah stopped completely after Kang-Hyun dealt with Jeon Yeong-Woong. Si-Ah’s guard lowered and she became more receptive to her classmates after the misunderstanding was cleared, and managed to gain people whom she could consider her friends.

‘This is...’

It was all thanks to Kang-Hyun who protected her.

‘Yeah. Kang-Hyun is...’

“What’s wrong?” Kang-Hyun asked.

“Sh-Shut up!”

“What? I didn’t say anyth— Ouch! S-Stop stepping on my foot!”

Si-Ah shook away unnecessary thoughts and calmed down her breathing.

“Huuu. That aside, how’s Jeon Yeong-Woong these days?”

“I have no idea.”

“What do you mean?”

“He hasn’t been coming to school that much after that incident. Even when he does, all he does is sleep in the corner.”

“Hmm.”

Si-Ah frowned as she crossed her arms, bothered by Yeong-Woong’s sudden shift in behavior.

“Well... I’ll keep my eye on him,” Kang-Hyun remarked.

“Did he come to the excursion?” Si-Ah asked.

“Oh, come to think of it, yeah. I didn’t think he would.”

Yeong-Woong often played hooky whenever he was bored so Kang-Hyun expected him to skip the excursion. However, Kang-Hyun noticed in the morning that he had come on the excursion.

“He’s not... bullying anyone where no one’s looking, is he?”

“I doubt it.”

Not even Yeong-Woong would come on an excursion just to bully people.

“Besides, I asked his lackeys who always stick to him and they said he doesn’t even talk that much to people these days.”

Yeong-Woong’s gang was only so he could act like a king but their information was credible since they had spent quite a long time with Yeong-Woong.

“So you’re saying his behavior is a little shady but he’s not going around bullying others, right?” Si-Ah clarified.

“Yeah.”

“That’s good enough, then.”

It was not like Yeong-Woong was powerful enough for Kang-Hyun to be keeping tabs on his every action. Not only had Kang-Hyun defeated him easily, but the difference between them had grown even larger since he had trained even harder since then.

“That aside... shouldn’t you go to your classmates?” Kang-Hyun asked.

Si-Ah’s trash bag had been filled to the brim as they were chatting while picking up trash.

“Ah...”

Si-Ah, remembering her promise to the two girls that she would play with them after filling one bag, looked down at her trash bag.

“U-Umm... Well...”

She didn’t want to go.

‘But...’

She had gotten closer to her classmates thanks to Kang-Hyun’s help so she did not want to break her promise with her classmates just because she wanted to stay with Kang-Hyun. Not only would it disrespect Kang-Hyun who had fought Yeong-Woong for her sake but her classmates who mustered the courage to approach her first.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

‘I have to go.’

She had promised to go after filling one bag. She had filled it much faster than expected but couldn’t stand around while doing nothing.

‘Yeah, no matter how I think about it, I should go—’

“Oh, man... what should I do?” Kang-Hyun said, interrupting Si-Ah’s train of thought.

“H-Huh? What’s wrong?”

“I was told to fill three trash bags in exchange for going to your class’s cleaning zone.” Kang-Hyun pointed at Si-Ah’s trash bag and smiled. “Could you give me yours?”

“Mine...?”

“Yeah. You don’t have that kind of condition, do you?”

“But I have to fill one too.”

Si-Ah had promised to play with her classmates after filling a trash bag so she needed to fill at least one.

“Really? I guess there’s no way around it.” Kang-Hyun took the filled trash bag from Si-Ah’s hand and shrugged. “Now that you and I both need to fill one bag each, let’s stay together for a bit longer.”

“...”

Si-Ah’s cheeks turned pink. She did not like Kang-Hyun’s blatant scheme but it was too sweet to resist.

“Hmph...” Si-Ah snorted as she went to get two new trash bags and handed one to Kang-Hyun. “We don’t have a lot of time, so stop playing around.”

“Yes, ma’am~ As you command.”

“I-I told you to stop playing!”

It wouldn’t even take fifteen minutes to fill one bag since the park was riddled with trash but those fifteen minutes were priceless for Si-Ah.

“You’re such a glib talker...”

“You can go if you don’t like it.”

“Who said I didn’t like it...?”

Kang-Hyun and Si-Ah walked around the park as they chatted.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

Just then, earsplitting screams sounded throughout the park.

Vwee—!

Thousands of flies filled the sky like clouds.

***

“Hm, hm~ I wonder where oppa’s class is?”

Kang-Hee sneaked out of her class’s cleaning zone after requesting Lia to hypnotize their teacher so that her absence was not noticed. She hummed as she headed to the area designated for the second graders.

“Let’s see... Oppa said he would be around the Nanji stream.”

Kang-Hee examined the park map and headed toward the Nanji stream.

“You’re that bastard Oh Kang-Hyun’s little sister, right?”

Just then, a boy with a blue stigmata shining on his left chest stood in her way.