As Giju Wishes Chapter 1.1

Giju, who walked the same path home from school every day, suddenly felt like trying a different route today and turned his body towards an alley. From now on, this was his way home. Though he had lived in this neighborhood his whole life, it was his first time walking down this not-so-narrow alley.

Chirp, chirp–

Even though it was time to go home from school, not a single person was seen in this alley. Only the friendly sound of early summer cicadas could be heard. Giju ran his hand through the foxtail grass under a wall as he walked past. The ticklish sensation felt good. Just as he turned a corner, he saw someone approaching from the opposite direction. The man getting closer was wearing a school uniform, just like him. Though it was from a different school.

Giju slowly took his hand off the foxtail grass and stared blankly at the tall man. The man’s slightly swaggering walk soon passed by Giju’s side. Then, Giju stopped in his tracks, turned his head, and stared intently at the man’s back before opening his mouth.

“Hey.”

At the voice that echoed through the quiet alley, the man turned around a beat later. His gaze, as if to say ‘what?’, looked at Giju.

“What.”

The questioning words were met with a peculiar, yet still silent, gaze. When Giju said nothing, the man furrowed his brows in annoyance and was about to turn away again.

“Um…”

And at the voice calling him once more, he replied as irritably as he felt.

“Do I know you?”

“No.”

Feeling like he was being played, the man turned his body completely and approached Giju menacingly. Then, he looked down at him with a murderous glare.

His fierce aura and eyes so sharp they could pierce through you are so much like this summer, which is just about to get hot, Giju thought as he looked at the man in front of him. He felt more vivid and full of life than the ceaseless sound of the cicadas. It was the first time he had seen anything like it in his life. Maybe that’s why he felt the urge to help him.

“Hey, why did you ca–”

“You, be careful of water.”

Giju said, cutting the man off.

“What?”

At the sudden, nonsensical bullshit, the man, Choi Geon, glared down at Giju with twice the hostility.

“What did you say?”

“Be careful of water.”

In response, Giju, not the least bit intimidated by the murderous aura, repeated the words to be careful of water like a parrot.

“The hell are you talking about.”

At the utterly useless words, Choi Geon glanced for a moment at Giju’s school uniform, which was different from his own, and turned away. He scratched his head as if he’d just heard something annoying and went on his way again. And Giju’s gaze followed him. It was a gaze as if looking at something unholy.

“But it’s true….”

🔖⛩️📿

The head of the Choi family, a big shot and influential figure in the Chungcheong Province region, was a tycoon who owned 5,000 pyeong of land and 500 cows. He had so much land that even Choi Geon didn’t know everything that was on it. Owning numerous businesses related to agriculture, real estate, and more, the Choi patriarch was, in a word, a massively wealthy man. His one and only son, Choi Geon’s grandfather, was Choi Myunggil, who had served three terms as a congressman.

Unable to have a child no matter what they did, the Choi patriarch visited a renowned shaman and performed a ritual to receive a birth god. And just like that, Choi Geon was conceived. Choi Geon was raised like an emperor in the Choi household. Because of this, he was fearless and had no manners. It was because the world held nothing that could stop him.

“Ah, it’s fucking hot.”

Hyunseong High School, an all-boys school, was a prestigious private institution attended only by the sons of well-to-do families, but perhaps because it was stuck in the Chungcheong countryside, professing a love for nature, it was truly a playground for wild animals. And Hyunseong High’s Choi Geon was a particularly fierce and strong-willed monkey among those monkeys.

“Hey, me too, ice water.”

“Catch.”

Perhaps because they had all come back from playing soccer, half the students in the classroom, where the air conditioner was on unseasonably early, were shirtless. They were standing on their desks to get a blast of the cold air. Choi Geon was among them.

His daily life was eating, running, and moving. Beads of sweat trickled down his body, which was healthily tanned and well-balanced with muscle. A moment later, Choi Geon got down from the desk, slumped into his chair, and fanned himself with a workbook.

“What’s next?”

“English.”

Choi Jaehyun, who was next to him, answered Choi Geon’s question.

“Can’t we just say it’s broken and lock the door.”

Choi Geon said, spreading his long legs wide at the situation of having to wear his uniform when he was dying of heat.

“We already used that one once.”

“It could break again–”

Thwack, splash–

At that moment, Choi Geon stopped talking. Something had flown and hit his body. And that something had soaked his pants. Of all places, right on his crotch. The water bottle, which had barely hit his hip bone, separated from its loosely closed cap and fell to the floor, spilling water.

“Ah, fuck.”

Breaking the silence, Choi Geon let out a short curse at the sight, which looked as if he had pissed himself.

“Oh, s-sorry!”

The culprit who threw the water bottle from far away, the class president, apologized with a stiff face.

“You got eyes for decoration? Aish, fuck.”

Choi Geon irritably brushed at his pants, where the stain would surely not disappear, and then stood up from his chair due to the dampness. As he was about to get his gym pants from his locker, something suddenly came to mind.

‘You, be careful of water.’

His brow furrowed on its own. Fuck? Choi Geon muttered softly, his head tilting to the side. Was it just his imagination, or did the water-soaked pants feel particularly damp and clingy?

Swaaaa–

Choi Geon, who had been staring with considerable interest at the rainy view outside the window, was about to turn his head back to the blackboard when he whipped his face back toward the window. Does rain count as water, too? Choi Geon looked at the downpour with a sneer, as if daring it to try something, then suddenly flared up. What the hell, he thought, his expression turning serious.

Because two days ago, quite by chance, he had been soaked by a sudden shower 10 minutes before arriving home. The sun had been shining brightly, so it was truly bad luck.

“This is the end of the test range.”

The teacher, who had slammed the physics textbook shut, relayed something to the class president. Of course, Choi Geon couldn’t care less.

“Guess we can’t play soccer.”

“Let’s just play pool. Hey, who wants to go play pool?”

When Song Jiseop started gathering people to play pool, the usual few from their group got together. The five of them, including Choi Geon, took their respective umbrellas, left the school, and headed straight for downtown. It was the countryside, so “downtown” was just a few commercial buildings and bars, but for them, all of whom lived in the dorms except for Choi Geon, it was their own kind of playground.

“Just throw it away.”

Song Jiseop cackled, looking at Choi Jaehyun’s already inside-out umbrella. The wind and rain were quite strong. Their sneakers and uniforms were already soaked, but they were heading to the pool hall with the sole intention of having fun. The stress of college entrance exams in a confined space made people this diligent.

“Ah damn it, I told you we should take the bus. Which bastard said let’s walk?”

Unconsciously, Choi Geon, who had been subtly mindful of water these days, muttered a curse at his steadily soaking clothes.

“That was me, you bastard.”

At that moment, Song Jiseop, who had long since abandoned his umbrella and was already completely drenched, stomped hard on a puddle. The muddy water from the puddle splashed everywhere, and the guys all swore at him.

“You crazy bastard! I’m still fine!”

“Ah, get lost!”

Everyone except Choi Geon started running ahead to escape Song Jiseop. Song Jiseop chased after them, kicking the puddles altogether. At the sight of him running wild like a colt, Choi Geon, holding his umbrella from behind, chuckled.

“Hey! Someone hurry up and fa–”

Swooooosh-!

In that instant, a dump truck sped past Choi Geon, and the puddle that had collected on the road engulfed him. The force of the water was so fast and immense that the umbrella he was holding was instantly swept away and disappeared. The guys who had been running away all stopped and turned around.

Swooooosh-!

Simultaneously, another dump truck passed by, and a shower of water drenched Choi Geon. Covered in muddy water yet again, Choi Geon’s rationality, which had briefly left him, returned with the thick smell of mud, and he began to grasp the situation. The anger rising to the top of his head made him want to chase down that dump truck right away, drag the driver out, and beat him up, but unfortunately, the truck was already long gone.

“Hey… you okay? How did you get hit and no one else?”

Choi Jaehyun approached and asked, a mix of real and fake concern, as he looked at Choi Geon, who looked like a drowned rat. They all found the sight hilarious, but his condition was quite serious, so they were just glad it hadn’t happened to them.

“Tell me about it, fuck.”

Normally, he would have been pissed that he was the only one who got it and gone crazy trying to dunk someone in a puddle, but right now, only one thought was in Choi Geon’s mind.

‘You, be careful of water.’

“This is truly fucked up.”

Choi Geon muttered ominously at his strangely unlucky situation lately. As he did, he glared at the pouring rain as if it were that guy he met in the alley.

It must be a coincidence. Right, you can have bad luck two or three times a day. If one more unlucky thing happens, I won’t let it slide. I’ll tear that guy to shreds….

Chik-

Chik-