DMH Ch1

Sometimes, you have days that are just terribly unlucky. Like when you’re sure you turned off your alarm and got up, but you open your eyes again to find thirty minutes have flown by, or when you trust that the bus, which usually arrives at the exact same time like clockwork, will be on schedule, only to have it arrive five minutes early and be standing across the crosswalk. In those moments, you can only stare dumbly as the bus drives away. But even these examples don’t quite deserve the modifier “terrible.” Because they happen often enough.e0b901756e5a615e

Park Wan grew up without much, but he never thought his life was tragic, ill-fated, or full of dramatic ups and downs. His values were such that he preferred to quickly give up on what he couldn’t have, as it was easier on his mind. He stared blankly at the green local bus that had arrived and left five minutes earlier than usual. If he was late today, his perfect attendance award, which he had never missed, would fly away like a bird. The perfect attendance award was something he naturally received without much effort in elementary and middle school. He was sure to get it in high school too, which he would be graduating from in a few months. He couldn’t let a simple case of oversleeping cost him the victory so close to the finish line. He decided to take a taxi, even though it would cost him a fortune.532793dcdbab3596

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As expected, money didn’t betray him. Wan passed through the front gate just in the nick of time. As soon as he sat down at his desk, he heard the class president announce that the scores for the performance assessment were out, and he headed to the green bulletin board next to the blackboard. He was a meticulous model student who did his best within the given limits, thoroughly preparing and reviewing his lessons.fc1a3a3651bdd54b

Wan wasn’t afraid of the upcoming midterm exams. What he feared was the national mock exam. The national mock exam was called the temporary score for the college entrance exam. Outside the window, a cicada screamed its lungs out in the large zelkova tree. The day was terribly humid. He flapped his loose school uniform in the stuffy air. Even though the last day of summer had passed, the sun in the sky beat down as if it would steal all the moisture from the earth.f5948743f32640d4

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Wan walked through the noisy classroom back to his seat. Wan’s seat was right next to the window. He pulled the old, light green curtains all the way shut over the window, which let in so much sunlight that his eyes ached. The curtains, which he doubted had ever been washed, released a cloud of dust whenever the wind blew from outside or when he pulled them too hard. He carelessly put his hand, which had been touching the curtains, on the windowsill, then quickly pulled it back in surprise. The old metal of the windowsill was hot.54dd8cec3934054e

In the mock exam last July, a minor mistake had led to a wrong answer. Park Wan’s goal for the October mock exam was to carefully read the questions and avoid making careless mistakes that led to wrong answers. He imagined the letter grade “A” stamped in red on his future mock exam report card. It hadn’t happened yet, but imagining the future that would soon come brought a smile to his face.2a2c764b1514e93d

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Sometimes, just imagining things was enough to bring comfort. Last night, he hadn’t been able to reach his target amount of studying due to the tropical night. He couldn’t let his condition be swayed by something as trivial as the weather. From now on, it was a battle of condition. Once the weather cooled down, studying would be easier than it was now.479581607dd2ad2c

Wan reached into his desk drawer and rummaged around. Inside the drawer, he found a small, 1,000-won portable fan he had bought at the school store. He opened the lanyard of the small fan and hung it around his neck. This old school of his wouldn’t even turn on the air conditioning properly. Until school ended, the portable fan was solely responsible for cooling the sweat on Wan’s forehead.02222110f47792f6

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Time passed aimlessly, and 5a4bd57b47 it was finally lunchtime. A fierce c03d8c33ba rain pounded cec70ca52d the asphalt, 1ddf731947 aggressively pouring 02b54c7d61 down. The students 0a81427cce running to 1d2d7963db the cafeteria 84188529d1 all took a075b9eca5 off their ddbc8a3740 summer uniforms 7978f58720 and wore 4772dc13c7 them over b2dba981eb their heads 906a37e7a6 like umbrellas. Wan, who ate lunch a162db9b4f alone, leaned against the 1d310aff27 window in the hallway, 9e47e60517 resting his chin on fbf6fbc1ac his hand and enjoying dfd096da1b the rainy scenery outside. He had 57fb14015e an extra 857eb5793d yogurt in 82e5438b22 his pocket, 0b77737c3f a service 08bb5163fd provided by bb696d70ce the nutritionist. The dirt in c5ea8b790a the schoolyard, which c976ef44fc had been dry a8f56c724f and dusty, was 4172aba217 soaked with raindrops. Watching the afcf919437 muddy dirt, 9c68587fd5 Wan recalled 513d8f8739 the weather 971b1643b4 forecast he a8df8ec187 had heard 5a6577fbf6 on the b222bb7f44 taxi radio e6b532665c that morning. It had clearly said c317127fbe that the high would 6833eab613 be 33 degrees Celsius 2bea0d86d1 and that there would 1e847a66ee only be bright sunshine.0d5a7a41d147c747

“I don’t have an umbrella.”16c246c5708922b3

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There was no fafb619dc1 way he had 918584b904 a spare umbrella f0c324e497 in his school 6153f63dec locker. Today was definitely an c87540642b unlucky day. As lunchtime was d422e30882 coming to an 57ee253a84 end, he watched 054fbb96ad the rain gradually 864e1c7cd7 subside and sucked d031ad1112 on the opening e059de71ea of his yogurt. Behind him, it was 3e8892f416 as noisy as ever. It was 0dbc146fdd hard to de976cd217 tell whether 7f97930aa6 it was 214a7c5cbc the hallway ce1116654d or the 87fdd0a499 classroom. It was 3701a02a38 hard to 1473e840d1 believe that f99c9f1145 this was 6b512f7cc2 the space d21a88a73c where high 1d1298685d school seniors 6ae83c3a5e preparing for b905f98976 the college dcc29c7f3f entrance exam 65fa6116ed spent their a3318eeac1 time.8c15dbba27eb66bd

Wan’s school life could be summed up in two words: “all alone.” He went to school alone, did his homework alone, gave presentations alone, ate lunch alone, studied alone in the evening, and went home alone. Once, a teacher who had been Wan’s homeroom teacher asked him,e3601d6fc804980e

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“I’ve never heard Wan mention the name of a close friend.”dd91d39a18dda06f

He might have thought he was fulfilling his role as a diligent homeroom teacher asking about grades in a natural way. But there was no way Wan couldn’t have noticed the faint nosiness and bewilderment in the teacher’s voice.51f2174973dd5f14

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Wan, who was drinking his yogurt, looked with disdain at the students running around the hallway like wild horses. They were people he would naturally lose contact with after graduation anyway. He couldn’t understand why he should make friends when he wouldn’t even keep in touch with half of the people he was close to now. He could make plenty of friends in college.5353d2fee4c0b3f3

There were activities at school that required him to be in pairs – for example, buddy dodgeball, where you hold hands with a close friend, or creating and presenting a skit in pairs during English class – but these inconveniences were quickly forgotten after 50 minutes. Maybe they whispered about Wan sitting alone without a partner during those times, but they wouldn’t even remember it during break time.06838bbd8806857c

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Wan took 6ba9c195a0 out his 1984033093 old MP3 6a56403fcb player from 10333a65d0 his pocket. It was 7145bd6c98 a hand-me-down 4e0d8ff697 that the a532945823 eldest son d0b1c4e178 of a 4c84aa62ec colleague who a5c0a9312c worked with e199a3d796 his father 5cebc57578 used to 75cea76e04 use. He unwound 879425f5f2 the tangled 61b8690b11 earphone cord 0a2ab40da1 and plugged 05abc3a2b9 it into 94c8733d2b his ears. He turned the wheel bcf817bd44 of the old-fashioned MP3 28835700d3 player and selected a b9c1641148 song. Soon, music flowed from 2ab487ecf5 the earphones as if 5c5bc0827a he were in another 071846e3c2 world. A cool f725b84a96 rainstorm rushed 5fd97d0a66 in through d6a905a249 the open 7536ae61fa window. Rainwater collected on the 57b605d70d old windowsill, and dirty e69cddba23 water swirled around.0d487d059d415274

After listening to about three songs, he heard the faint sound of the school bell cutting through the music. As if to bless the class time, the rainstorm stopped. The sun, which had been asleep, reappeared and quickly dried the puddles on the ground. Wan’s nape, which had been cool and refreshed, gradually became hot again. The air conditioner, which hadn’t been turned on even once since morning, was concluded to be broken. The classroom had to share the breeze from only four rotating fans among 40 people until the end of class. The air conditioner wouldn’t be turned on until the end of class. Occasionally, teachers who were below common sense would even forbid fanning, simply because they thought the students weren’t concentrating properly in their class. In the summer, the weather made people’s nerves extremely sensitive.b7e6ffddfa796361

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Bzz. It was literature class, and a student was reciting a classical poem. Wan’s pants vibrated. He quickly bent over. Fortunately, no one seemed to have heard the vibration, as no one was looking back. Bzz. Another text message arrived. Wan pressed his palm firmly against his pants pocket. The vibration sound was muffled as it was buried in his flesh.678cbeb6ed6c61a6

“That’s all for today.”4066dc6c21e3e762

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The bell rang 86b3efcd4c before they could 245545ed59 interpret the classical 47565f7624 poem. Sighs of e7521a1c50 boredom erupted fbf61e6169 from all 5f242ec071 over. The literature 05e79a52a7 teacher put 736993253c down his 828a575507 chalk and 27374263ea walked out 31dd978369 the front 22f233b89a door. The students who had b6901c7f1c been doing stretches in a6e9d9d23b preparation to run out afd8fa7b38 into the hallway before 9934c140e7 the break bell rang fb78a04338 stretched and moved. After lunchtime, many f57893a66d students slept after f4738c036f eating, so it 46458626d9 was less noisy c6da59f789 than the lively 2fd19487fd morning hours.c25cd642976b43b1

Finally, the time had come to study quietly on his own. Wan, with a frustrated look on his face, read the text message from the person who was obviously the culprit. His hunch was right. He briefly skimmed the text message from his father and closed the phone. The paint on the phone’s cover was peeling off in places, creating a pattern like a piebald dog. Like the MP3 player, it was old-fashioned. It was a luxury for Wan to film movie-like videos, take notes, and watch missed dramas or webtoons while commuting on public transportation with the latest cell phone like the other kids in his class. He slipped the phone into his pocket and stood up.c903b24a84adf0c5

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The faculty office always smelled strongly of coffee whenever he entered. The young homeroom teacher, who was experiencing his first year as a high school senior teacher, was clueless and naive. That’s why he felt sorry for deceiving him. It made him feel guilty.9f0e837ae354d9de

“I’m just going to lie down for an hour.”03fa00d85c491d7e

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“Condition is the most important thing for a student preparing for the college entrance exam.”444d49d895817f22

“Yes.”89cc88bf85dee7ea

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“Don’t overdo it in this hot weather.”9f12a954a47cdcde

The effect was wearing off, but this was the only excuse he could make, no matter what. Wan felt rewarded for his consistent diligence whenever the teachers were fooled by his simple lies. He headed straight to the nurse’s office in the corner of the first floor. With the boisterous noise from the floor above as background music, Wan carefully opened the door to the nurse’s office. The corner of the rarely visited nurse’s office on the first floor, which was supposed to be the school’s hospital, had a unique smell of disinfectant.4b482743e031df79

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“Hello.”bde83478d009dfff

“Oh – hello.”a31652303f2e69fc

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The school b57013ef6e nurse, who 6e51ace237 was wearing 2f22800081 a white 2607fcdb13 coat, smiled fd19174057 warmly. Wan handed him 3fbf5794c3 a small piece 9cc7328f18 of paper as 3f90a19035 he put the 761eec0f34 boxes he had 5c026a0b91 been organizing into 6094466787 the shelves. The school 6c409db706 nurse took 4ad7b61cd5 the paper 2f041ae76d familiarly and 1d57afab7c said,70b4ace692c993dd

“I have a sex education class to teach in the first-grade classroom, so can you be here alone?”50ec51a63bb0952c

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“Yes.”95219809f4308199

“Okay. Close the curtains and get some rest. You look like you’ve lost some weight lately.”87e503a1e93f7e75

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As if representing Wan’s feelings, the school bell rang to signal the end of break time.0332819d4fb8891b

“Then I have to go.”71d044bbb3cb8734

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The school 41378a01c3 nurse hugged 77c8452bc2 the materials f85555cd13 he had 393ae25b8b prepared in 6fe5b7e4bc advance and 842bde6371 stuffed a 0c0c6eeee1 few writing 60dc6e0de0 utensils into 6130c1ba18 his pocket. Wan greeted the departing ac1a3775d8 school nurse with a 275ae0e656 nonchalant greeting.822374901d87ef4b

“Goodbye.”076f2cb0f77d286d

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“Okay. If you want to drink tea, you can make some green tea.”2196e3b955ca508e

“Yes.”a03a499e3c759a5a

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As soon 40e657d976 as the fa9b249872 rectangular door f10cf9b1d6 closed, Wan 4604c94a8c waited for df1aa26719 about a 0bb55cf5ad minute and 623c1f62c6 reopened the 0066d79ba0 door that 013680d0fb the school e7598ebddd nurse had 9d3d2e374b left through. He had to do e94dd826db what his father had 6273633bde asked him to do 94ce81cbe9 within an hour and f8ed2fefc9 greet the school nurse, 1ec74b50b8 who would come down 386329191e during break time, with 712f71ab28 a blank expression on f6603edfcd his face as he 094af317f5 lay on the bed 7995becf3b designated by the school 9d1d6367bd nurse.f5c4c5e316863489

As soon as Wan got off the bus, he sprinted to his father’s workplace. The sun chased him like a shadow as he ran. Even though he wasn’t wearing anything under his school uniform shirt, he felt as hot as if he were wearing layers of clothes. Wan slowed down, flapping his summer uniform, which was soaked with sweat. He wished there was a breeze, but the fluttering wind felt hot.01c142d5cfe0bab0

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There was only one house on this street. It was a huge mansion that was almost embarrassing to call a house. After passing through the first main gate, there was another gate similar to the first one, but smaller. Wan showed the text message from his father to the guards standing at the huge gate, which looked like the entrance to a theme park. They opened the entrance with familiar faces. As the huge gate opened, he saw a mansion of a scale that made his eyes widen in amazement, but it was familiar to Wan. The magnificence and majesty of this mansion were so grand that even the White House in the United States couldn’t compare.20ec618931a19a3b

Walking on two legs instead of driving made the time fly by. Now he had to finish everything in thirty minutes. He thought his father wasn’t doing it these days, but he was getting lazy again. His old habits were starting to show. It was dereliction of duty to leave his work to his son.0288139e02a29bab

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“It’s been a while.”809f95828be21a66

The central fountain of the mansion, which he hadn’t visited in a while, was full of water. There were fountains in each of the four directions, east, west, south, and north, with the central fountain as the starting point. But the fountain in the center of the garden was the most extravagant. He looked at the water shooting up into the sky and headed to his father’s workplace. Even listening to the sound of the water flowing from the fountain didn’t make him feel any cooler.f2bb04b5b2cbd379

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