IRLPLBIO Chapter 3 Part 2

At that time, Jae-gu only thought that those guys had incredibly terrible luck. The one with broken limbs was left with permanent disabilities, and the one with a broken neck didn’t live long. Even though most of the guys he hung out with had disappeared, Jae-gu was busy preparing to move to Seoul soon, so he didn’t pay much attention.

But looking back now, the incident was intentional. It was clear they were retaliated against because they had tried to extort Han Seong-cheol. Seong-cheol himself might have given the order, or his father might have commanded the people.

The reason Jae-gu alone was spared from such excessively strong retaliation was also clear. It was because Jae-gu had decided to become Han Seong-cheol’s dog.

He must have pretended to be magnanimous and forgiven him because he needed him close to use. In reality, a broken dog is useless, so he probably left his limbs intact.

Considering the future, Jae-gu’s current actions were excellent. Thanks to him stopping them from extorting Seong-cheol, his friends were saved.

Moreover, at the time, he thought he had acted carelessly because he didn’t know Seong-cheol’s true identity, but as he tried to live a proper life, his thoughts evolved to realize that picking other children’s pockets wasn’t a good thing either. He realized that he used to commit crimes without a second thought, and was now struck by how fearless and immature he had been.

“Let’s go to the snack bar.”

He should chug a refreshing chocolate milk from the snack bar.

To Jae-gu, who was smacking his lips, another guy muttered, “I don’t have any money.” Only then did Jae-gu check if he had any money.

Fortunately, a thousand-won bill emerged from his right pocket. After emptying the pockets of the other guys and scraping together every coin, they finally had enough for three chocolate milks.

Han Seong-cheol watched Jae-gu’s retreating back as he chattered and walked away, then subtly curled his lips into a smile.

“…What a shame. It would have been simpler to take care of it now.”

Slurp, slurp.

The sweet taste coming up through the thin straw was tantalizing. Jae-gu, who had sucked hard and swallowed a big mouthful, slowly traced the events that had happened around this time in his mind.

Because the subsequent events had been so spectacular, he had almost no memories from before going to Seoul, but now that he was faced with it, his memories gradually returned. He recalled the smiling faces of his current friends, their trivial habits, and the stories he’d heard about what each of them was doing after everything went terribly wrong.

Jae-gu no longer had any intention of being with Seong-cheol. Instead, he decided to cherish the people around him now, and the time he spent with them.

To do that, he first had to get through school life without incident. …That meant he also had to get along with guys who spouted useless words, just like now.

“Are you really doing this because you like that kid from Seoul? He looked pretty clean-cut.”

“Right, it’s the first time I’ve seen Yang Jae-gu act like that. I thought he seemed a bit off earlier.”

The back-and-forth comments were utterly absurd. In the end, Jae-gu couldn’t keep his resolve to treat them well for even five minutes.

“…Did you get shot in the head?”

“Look, he talks to me like this, but to that kid earlier…”

“Tsk.”

“Gasp.”

He couldn’t understand what nerve these guys had to mess around, when they would instantly quiet down at just the sound of Jae-gu inhaling. When he casually tossed the chocolate milk carton, having thriftily sucked out every last drop, two of the guys politely caught it.

“Phew,” Jae-gu sighed and muttered to himself.

“I need to start living properly too.”

The wind blew. His unkempt, fluffy hair whipped around, and trash that had overflowed from the bin tumbled away. It belatedly occurred to him that the stairs in front of the snack bar weren’t a very good place for making resolutions.

The guys on both sides didn’t quite hear Jae-gu’s words. However, they sensed that Jae-gu was creating an atmosphere that was uncharacteristic of him.

The two guys exchanged glances and, without a word, began to imitate Jae-gu. They put their hands on their hips and struck a pose, looking upward at a 45-degree angle.

The guys, who had been gleefully snickering, were forced to shut up only after receiving a middle kick to their rear.