Perfect Mission Chapter 11 - Omen (2)

Chapter 11 – Omen (2)

 

Junho figured the school would be in an uproar for a while after Yongjin’s stunt. Anyone would think so. He brought a sashimi knife to school and stabbed a classmate, and the victim was still unconscious. Their school made the 9 o’clock news, gaining nationwide notoriety, and all sorts of rumors about Yongjin, the perpetrator, spread online.

Many people wondered if the mock exam would be postponed, but before the first period, their homeroom teacher reassured the anxious students that it would proceed as scheduled.

“You’re in your senior year. Those not directly involved in the incident won’t be contacted unless absolutely necessary. This is the adults’ way of letting you focus on your studies, so forget about the incident and concentrate on the mock exam today.”

“Yes, sir~”

The mock exam, which they thought would be postponed, went ahead as planned.

It didn’t matter much to Junho. He was just curious about one thing: why Yongjin stabbed Hyeonuk. He wondered where that rage, the kind that drives someone to stab another person, originated from.

Suyeon, who looked distraught yesterday, seemed much better after a night’s sleep.

“Get ready. Level 6 fatty.”

She was provoking him from the get-go.

“You might not know this, but I lost 5kg in two weeks.”

“So you’re saying you’re so fat that losing 5kg makes no difference?”

“…Yeah, well, get ready to be crushed by a level 6 fatty. I’ll make you cry.”

“If you can.”

“Totally can.”

Junho was confident. He was sure he’d get a level 1 in English, if nothing else.

But when he received the test papers, perhaps his brain had improved, because he found the other subjects relatively easy as well. It seemed like Jo Gyeongcheol’s memories had enhanced his problem-solving skills.

It wasn’t that he’d become a genius overnight, but he had a feeling he’d do well this time. Except for math, where he didn’t feel much different than before. Even the great Jo Gyeongcheol had been terrible at math in school, and it seemed that trait had carried over.

‘Heh, just like me.’

The proctor tilted his head, seeing Junho smirking at the test paper, but dismissed it as stress.

Junho realized, while taking the exam, that if you didn’t understand the material, studying became increasingly boring, but if you did well, it became more engaging. He found the process of discerning the intent of the questions and finding the correct answers surprisingly enjoyable.

As a result, the long exam flew by, and he even finished the English test with almost 30 minutes to spare.

“Don’t lie. You had 30 minutes left?”

Of course, Suyeon didn’t believe him.

“Really, the history teacher saw me. Ask him if you don’t believe me.”

Suyeon started to look anxious at Junho’s claim of having 30 minutes left.

“You better start preparing now. They say it’s really hard to get tickets when they go on sale. I’ll be waiting.”

“Huh, let’s talk after the results are out.”

“Shall we?”

“Ugh…”

Junho put his index and middle fingers to his eyebrow and grinned.

“See ya.”

Suyeon was stunned by his incredibly dorky gesture, and Junho, thinking he was incredibly cool, turned and walked away.

“Ugh!”

She gagged in disgust, but strangely, she couldn’t take her eyes off his retreating figure.

 

***

 

To get to his officetel in Yeouido from school, he could take a direct bus from near the school, or he could walk for about 15 minutes. It was both far and near. Since it was near the school and there were also boys’ middle and high schools nearby, there were many snack bars.

The sweet smell of tteokbokki and the spicy, savory aroma of fish cake broth always tempted Junho. Especially the tteokbokki from his favorite snack bar, a place he frequented like a cram school before the accident. It was so addictive and tempting that he often thought about it before going to bed.

When was the last time he’d had tteokbokki or bread, since he started avoiding refined carbohydrates?

Junho felt his self-control waning but desperately held on, thinking of James Bond and Jason Bourne.

But today, perhaps because of the exam, he was particularly hungry. Strangely, after passing the snack bar by about 10 meters, his feet wouldn’t move forward. It felt like something was pulling him back.

If Suyeon saw him like this, she would probably say, “Bullshit… you just want to eat it.”

‘Should I go in? Or not? Just this once?’

While agonizing over his internal conflict, he turned his head and saw a few figures. In a narrow gap between two buildings, barely wide enough to be called an alley, three students in the same uniform had surrounded a boy in a Yangdong Middle School uniform.

It was obvious what was happening. They were extorting money from a passing student.

Junho didn’t want to get involved. Wasn’t this a rite of passage for boys that age, learning the harsh realities of society?

He hadn’t thought this way before the accident, but now, attributing it to absorbing Jo Gyeongcheol’s memories, Junho was about to turn his attention back to tteokbokki when he heard,

“No! My sister bought these for me…”

If the boy had said his mom or dad bought them, Junho might not have cared. But the words “my sister” made him turn away from the snack bar and back towards the bullies.

Having grown up alone, Junho knew that it was rare for siblings to buy each other things like shoes, unless one or both parents were absent.

So, forgetting about tteokbokki, Junho walked towards them.

“What’s the big deal, idiot? Take them off.”

They must have been pretty good sneakers. The middle schooler hadn’t taken them off yet, despite being scared after already being hit.

“I can’t…”

“You can’t…”

Sensing someone approaching, they turned around, and Junho recognized the face.

“Oh, it’s Byeongmin.”

A familiar face that always made him shrink. Narrow eyes, dark skin, and swaggering shoulders. This was the guy who made Junho seriously consider dropping out of school in his freshman year.

Byeongmin had relentlessly bullied him, not just with shoves and errands, but also using him as a punching bag, “testing” his moves after watching action movies. He wasn’t even one of the notorious school bullies; he only picked on weaker kids, unable to confront stronger ones.

Junho, timid and afraid of fighting, had been a prime target because of his large build, making him “fun to hit.” But now, he wasn’t afraid of Byeongmin like before.

“Byeongmin? You wanna die?”

“You want me to speak formally to you? We’re the same age.”

“This crazy bastard…”

Why had he ever been afraid of this guy? He was all talk and bluster.

“You’re still doing this? Extorting money from middle schoolers?”

Those words triggered Byeongmin’s violence. His long arm swung at Junho’s face.

Whack!

As Byeongmin, after landing one blow, moved in for another punch, Junho ducked and punched him in the gut.

“Oof!”

Anyone who’d boxed knew that a solid punch to the gut could make you lose all your strength and buckle at the knees.

“You haven’t changed a bit. Still weak.”

Junho took the hit to avoid future problems. And as expected, it wasn’t as bad as he thought. This was solely due to Jo Gyeongcheol’s memories. Having experienced bullets whizzing past, knives piercing his flesh, and bullets tearing through his thigh, Jo Gyeongcheol’s memories made a punch from a scrawny high schooler feel like nothing.

Especially since taking one hit made him realize that the deeply ingrained fear of violence wasn’t such a big deal after all.

“Ugh… uh…”

Byeongmin, lacking the guts to fight back after being hit, couldn’t bring himself to attack despite the pain. The other bullies, seeing his state, didn’t dare to attack either, just nervously watching. They were all cowards.

“You’ll be an adult next year. Are you still going to be extorting money from kids then? Huh?”

Junho punched Byeongmin, who was curled up clutching his stomach, in the back of the head.

The impact, along with the shocking reversal of roles – Junho, who until last year had been his punching bag, now hitting him – filled Byeongmin with fear.

If he had fought back fiercely and lost, he might have tried again. But Junho’s inexplicable transformation made him lose all will to resist.

“Let’s go.”

Junho led the stunned middle schooler out of the alley and walked with him to the bus stop.

Until just now, he’d been craving tteokbokki, but after getting punched, the craving vanished.

“Get on the bus.”

“Thank you. Um… if you give me your contact information, I’ll…”

“No, it’s okay. Just go.”

“But still…”

“I said it’s okay.”

“Then, thank you. I’ll definitely remember your name.”

“Yeah, sure, sure.”

Junho was about to tell him not to bother remembering his name when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He waved vaguely at the grateful middle schooler, who was bowing deeply, and took out his burner phone.

He had received an email.

The middle schooler carefully looked at Junho’s name tag several times before getting on the bus and leaving.

[Help me]

The short message made Junho frown. The sender was Lee Hongshin, codenamed Goblin.

One of the few people in Korea who knew Gorilla’s true identity, and someone he could trust.

He’d figured they would meet again someday, but he hadn’t expected it so soon, or in this way.