By the time I reached middle school, it was about time for the classes to be conducted properly, even if somewhat haphazardly on the first day of school.
Seven periods of classes? This is a nightmare.
What’s worse, they say classes will go on until 4:30 PM?
Hell isn’t just for the dead; this is hell.
Still, the first day of classes is relatively smooth.
“The teacher’s name is Hwang Jung-woong; he’s in charge of science class.”
The teacher introduces himself lightly, skimming through the table of contents, checking out the beginning of the textbook.
While some teachers follow this traditional approach, there are others who share various interesting stories from their past experiences.
The first class of each subject is nearly like playing around.
When class ends, I group up with a few people I’ve known since elementary school and chat.
The pairing is completely random; girls with girls and boys with boys?
Not really.
Sometimes boys and girls are paired together, and same-gender pairings of boys and girls are also common.
So, I find myself sitting next to a chubby… well, not even slim by a long shot, fat boy.
I wonder how much his parents fed him to get him to this state.
Just when I was staring at the boy’s profile, a hand stretched out from behind him and poked my shoulder.
What kind of jerk pokes someone they don’t know?
With a face contorted from irritation, I raised my head.
In my line of sight was a boy.
“Is that you, Mari? From Hyeran Elementary School?”
“Huh?”
This boy just casually mentioned the elementary school I attended until last year.
It suddenly clicked—was he a student who used to know me?
My gaze darted to the nametag on his chest.
Shin Tae-hyun was written in white on the tag.
I had a vague memory of the name, but I couldn’t recall exactly who he was.
If I remembered him, we must have been in the same class or something.
“Do you not remember me? We were classmates in 4th grade….”
He mentioned a time from elementary school as if to remind me.
Hearing the grade made some memories flicker in my mind.
That boy from 4th-grade science class who looked like he was about to cry because he ran out of snacks.
He barely held back his tears while handing me the snacks he had stuffed in his bag.
“Oh, that… the snack kid?”
“Yeah… that’s right.”
The forgotten memory came rushing back, and I pointed my finger at the boy as I spoke.
He seemed decidedly embarrassed by the memory, hesitating but nodding in agreement.
Who would have thought that my elementary school buddy would end up in the same school and class as me?
At the very least, I wouldn’t be eating lunch alone in the cafeteria.
That thought brought a small sense of relief.
It’s better to see a familiar face than to widen my circle with complete strangers.
With that in mind, I headed over to Tae-hyun’s desk during break, looking for comfort.
Moreover, the girls’ conversations revolved around makeup, which male characters in Siyeon’s favorite anime they liked, and boy band chatter.
So, I found myself getting along more with the boys talking about popular games.
“Ryoiki Tenkai!”
“What the hell, what kind of nerdy crap is that?”
“Free subscription!”
“Damn it.”
Of course, there were times when weird conversations popped up on this side too.
That boy who almost cried over lacking snacks seemed to have made quite the variety of friends, including those steeped in anime and gaming culture.
In fact, there were even some guys playing RPG games, albeit rarely.
I guess it must have been tough to invest time as elementary students, but good for them.
“Yeah, based on the court’s verdict, it’s a torture game~”
“Yeah, only 1% market share at PC bangs~”
The two, passionately criticizing each other’s favorite game wounds, turned away, both burdened with their respective grievances.
“Idiots.”
Watching all this unfold was my role.
Surprisingly, the atmosphere in a boys’ middle school was pretty much the same.
The fantasies I had about co-ed schools were unnecessary from the start.
In the end, it’s all quite similar when close friends gather around.
Although, it felt like there were lines that shouldn’t be crossed, like inappropriate remarks about parents.
There were definitely distinct differences compared to same-gender schools.
Especially, I hadn’t anticipated the frequency of lingering cosmetic scents in the classroom like this.
On top of that, it was a middle school that even had a snack bar.
They hadn’t opened the snack bar until last year due to epidemic transmission risks, but for some reason, they decided to just open it this year, treating the virus like a common cold.
Well, as long as that’s okay…
“Spicy rib-flavored hotdog.”
“2000 won.”
“Cheesy pizza.”
“1900 won.”
The snack bar is crowded at every break.
Items with names I’ve never heard before are traded like contraband.
It looks like the snack bar lady would need eight hands to handle the demand.
“One spicy rice cake, please.”
“1700 won.”
Navigating through the chaos, I finally managed to order a piece of hamburger.
After facing a small battlefield of payments, the next battle was with the microwaves.
The three microwaves were constantly filled with bread.
As the bread emerged, steaming hot from the microwave, the snack bar filled with an enticing aroma.
Once I navigated the chaotic rhythm of the microwaves and finished the wait, I grabbed a plastic bag and headed to the vending machine right inside the snack bar.
One hamburger bun and a can of apple juice.
A cheap thrill of a hot hamburger bun loaded with flavorless sauce, paired with a similarly cheap refreshing apple juice.
It was a small piece of paradise I could find in the hell of school.
“Doing this… daily?”
At 4:30 PM.
Just a mere 7 hours and 30 minutes left until midnight.
Staring vacantly at the bright sky, I couldn’t believe the ridiculous reality of having to continue this life every day.
The sky, as if completely indifferent to my emotions, remained a fleeting blue.
With heavy footsteps, I trudged along the asphalt.
I quickly returned home, opening the securely locked door.
It was 4:44 PM, and as soon as I checked my phone, ominous numbers greeted me.
The distance I thought would take about 20 minutes had been shortened to about 14 minutes.
Siyeon still hadn’t returned, and inside the house, there was no light but sunlight.
With a click, I switched on the lights, illuminating the home.
I adjusted the thermostat on the boiler control panel to about 25 degrees and turned it on.
I could vaguely hear the noise from the boiler room echoing into the living room.
“I should hang my uniform in my room…”
Having finished what needed to be done upon entering, I carefully hung my school uniform on the hanger, wandering out into the kitchen in just my underwear.
I began preparing dinner right away.
Three long sausages remained from the six in the fridge, and some ground meat that I bought with the intention of cooking but never used.
As I opened the drawer beneath the induction cooktop, I gathered baked beans and canned ham.
Three packets of stir-fried kimchi—what I couldn’t do without when eating ramen.
My freezer contained a stash of minced garlic and gochugaru; most of the essential seasonings were there.
“How about making army stew for a change?”
Now that I had decided, it was time to take action.
Filling a large pot enough to utilize the spacious induction cooktop with water, I turned it on, adding a spoonful of gochujang, some gochugaru, and a splash of soy sauce, followed by two lumps of pre-portioned minced garlic.
Chopping the half-cut onion into half-moon shapes, I prepared to slice three elongated sausages thinly for easy addition.
I placed the canned ham directly on the cutting board and made deep cross cuts in the center.
After laying it flat, I made four deep cuts, effectively preparing most of the ingredients.
Just dumping the baked beans and stir-fried kimchi in was all that was required.
Though the minced meat had been sitting for a while, it would be fine after a good boil.
Bubble, bubble.
Once the pot started boiling furiously, I unreservedly tossed in the chopped ingredients.
The large pot piled high with a variety of ingredients.
As the ingredients for the army stew boiled with enticing aromas, I washed the cutting board and knife I had used.
After finishing the dishes and Siyeon still hadn’t returned, I noticed the stew was beginning to overboil, so I adjusted the heat of the induction cooktop down to zero.
Thirty minutes since returning home, and it was almost 5 PM.
“A bit late…”
Maybe the bus is delayed?
The army stew I had prepared with care was starting to cool down.
At that moment, my smartphone, which I hadn’t been paying attention to, flashed on the living room floor.
What notification did I receive? I quickly picked it up to check…
[I’ll eat out and come home later]
SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1U2ZqNUlTVlN0cDRXTHltSzJjMCs2aG9vR09RbndRMVNRQXhkUW9Fd2QrNg
“…”
Reluctantly, I ladled the army stew generously into a bowl and warmed some white rice.
As usual, I filled it with delicious ingredients; there was no way army stew wouldn’t taste good.
Yet still, I chewed as if I was forcing myself, and my pace was annoyingly slow.
Is it because the seasoning was off? I just didn’t have an appetite.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.