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.09b8e84d70c765ce

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.ada63524a0e78f6c

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

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.77d3d67c746b06cf

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.be619d3e5307d639

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

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.b73ed61370224ff4

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.845bd89ac1dfd0e4

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

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.e97254e83627a16f

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.417852fdacaaae13

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

Time passed aimlessly, and c8712382a0 it was finally lunchtime. A fierce eddd442733 rain pounded a194ec7659 the asphalt, 082301dffa aggressively pouring e6638baeb9 down. The students 05db311f89 running to 595478925b the cafeteria 51c35962ce all took 9529b138bc off their 3922918683 summer uniforms 20578c658a and wore 26daaaf3dd them over 6a5772f765 their heads f57f5364b4 like umbrellas. Wan, who ate d9591f9630 lunch alone, leaned 196afe78a4 against the window d6dc983396 in the hallway, e7c775317d resting his chin ed65308ed6 on his hand 82f0f148af and enjoying the cb58a9fe03 rainy scenery outside. He had an extra 017d4e8988 yogurt in his pocket, d10afdc447 a service provided by 8dbd140e24 the nutritionist. The dirt in be1db10bda the schoolyard, which 8b7dc7662b had been dry fdeaae61ae and dusty, was 16223bf6c2 soaked with raindrops. Watching the muddy dirt, 93b23ae536 Wan recalled the weather 1ae2b95b0b forecast he had heard f07ca7791e on the taxi radio da4a91b470 that morning. It had clearly said 5bd011d74e that the high would 309878438d be 33 degrees Celsius 11ef84c6af and that there would e48b915648 only be bright sunshine.4cb71391fe5563c2

“I don’t have an umbrella.”02d040a2e27639d9

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

There was no 35d61db834 way he had 5be09fc62f a spare umbrella bb806205d3 in his school b60f8f2b84 locker. Today was definitely 56b293d9f2 an unlucky day. As lunchtime was coming 21ee4daaa1 to an end, he fb50fc67a1 watched the rain gradually 6fe791df35 subside and sucked on 3831a3abbf the opening of his 160318b537 yogurt. Behind him, it was 28b2c68fc0 as noisy as ever. It was hard to 2c94da9052 tell whether it was 7632094d43 the hallway or the 6e3a184cdc classroom. It was hard 81576ba027 to believe that a9ceea6054 this was the 2ab047789e space where high 5498b486ef school seniors preparing 248422a21c for the college cf0c232a5a entrance exam spent b6b3b24ec2 their time.d20d0f42650328aa

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,5346eb68e47b365d

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“I’ve never heard Wan mention the name of a close friend.”f903096881f52abc

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.214bf1d033cb2246

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

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.f0287b8070756aa5

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.e93b761bdecbb8e4

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

Wan took out his 73e723f8be old MP3 player from dec09d500d his pocket. It was a hand-me-down 1cf10b2cb7 that the eldest son 166284dccb of a colleague who 05eafb9240 worked with his father a45fa19748 used to use. He unwound the 396eca5034 tangled earphone cord 0d631f00cc and plugged it 4e6b27fddd into his ears. He turned a3d704f57b the wheel f6ed888d75 of the 06f8d25c10 old-fashioned MP3 7dcf2504d3 player and a685ce3eb2 selected a b1185f771a song. Soon, music flowed c58cf27cab from the earphones ea4c8529b8 as if he c87f1d813e were in another 0d8745bc97 world. A cool rainstorm rushed 3182dd7db6 in through the open 3def5fc748 window. Rainwater collected on the 5e423a535e old windowsill, and dirty 3836cd19bc water swirled around.fc8e0d965be028dd

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.0b2c3c978a091aed

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

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.27e443c6ead1509d

“That’s all for today.”91c1fc2877fc6b7b

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

The bell ec90747f65 rang before ea978fefe4 they could 635285da79 interpret the 869b099cfd classical poem. Sighs of c718d71e4b boredom erupted e5fd263179 from all 161c0f0212 over. The literature teacher 5438bbc8cb put down his 406a3ada05 chalk and walked 4e7865e94b out the front 24643e5fb6 door. The students f7d5bbc985 who had 2c23cb4a37 been doing 01df69218c stretches in ab67b71c10 preparation to 4bac2f1e47 run out 13502aab67 into the a034e5ac27 hallway before 8756663799 the break 9d6e9c3903 bell rang f019fd71ac stretched and 075530ca40 moved. After lunchtime, dfe29f363a many students 0db039d4ae slept after 470f4a2710 eating, so cafa2a3753 it was af1fdf0d32 less noisy f9d7a01d6f than the fb59a147a5 lively morning 4885f9b21e hours.74da7266ba642bcb

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.bb6f501eb5c49d6d

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

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.4aacbee4f95395f5

“I’m just going to lie down for an hour.”fd9467c5cd77d7e1

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“Condition is the most important thing for a student preparing for the college entrance exam.”c6cb987e880a53b0

“Yes.”0d7b3e2c9820d2eb

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

“Don’t overdo it in this hot weather.”5c574c6258e2ca60

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.62463b83e68bb3c7

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

“Hello.”c45c14af49435c5d

“Oh – hello.”a3e3d3c87a57182b

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

The school nurse, who 50880c440c was wearing a white 1596b1296f coat, smiled warmly. Wan handed him a 037f6f3aad small piece of paper 11969d28c0 as he put the 4e6c4b727f boxes he had been debba4fdd1 organizing into the shelves. The school nurse took c2807ff52e the paper familiarly and b7fe6c84b4 said,37bcc7a65a4e6bcf

“I have a sex education class to teach in the first-grade classroom, so can you be here alone?”a19b5966058ac729

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

“Yes.”245e8df9d237b350

“Okay. Close the curtains and get some rest. You look like you’ve lost some weight lately.”d18aa287711813a1

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

As if representing Wan’s feelings, the school bell rang to signal the end of break time.d31c75c0a486dde9

“Then I have to go.”69a15f79280374eb

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

The school nurse 1578cdf29e hugged the materials e879fd9c60 he had prepared 19cd540607 in advance and d5acff8e28 stuffed a few 56bdd19342 writing utensils into 73591ed3fa his pocket. Wan greeted the 1862d9088f departing school nurse b0b6b52260 with a nonchalant d35afc2c23 greeting.e3c37f9d56a012f0

“Goodbye.”c67696c2735b2458

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

“Okay. If you want to drink tea, you can make some green tea.”598c14ea494fac54

“Yes.”38f06d9b56ff3966

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

As soon 0a443cfb97 as the af7af6dfdf rectangular door 1a175f58fe closed, Wan 5c966a6fe8 waited for fe0f9078da about a e1fe8811d1 minute and 155f040fcb reopened the ea84d37cfd door that cb200a03aa the school bffae2e300 nurse had a05bab6afa left through. He had to 89aa16230a do what his b14e2085f3 father had asked e9e997e1d0 him to do c36a95715a within an hour da91daee1e and greet the 28d2482068 school nurse, who f0ea375f2e would come down 26687370ab during break time, 26914f8ef6 with a blank 5ef760cc63 expression on his d5d8eb21f1 face as he 46dbf8bbc8 lay on the e75d42b9f1 bed designated by 959b9dbd5b the school nurse.eb53ea2aa04ceda8

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.3b7495b33b885dfb

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

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.a5b361c738ca16d7

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.77be6062cadb05ad

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

“It’s been a while.”7a95ae477067145d

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.c38ba052bce1d4ed

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com