Chapter 23 – I Didn’t Want to Burden Anyone
After the Korea Animation High School competition ended.
Before he could even fully savor the lingering sense of accomplishment, the summer vacation of his third year in middle school came to an abrupt close.
Meeeee! Meeeee! Meeeeeee!
Amid the relentless chorus of cicadas,
Min-hyuk, backpack slung over his shoulders, walked down the morning street alongside Seung-heon.
“It’s still so hot.”
“Yeah, seriously.”
The two of them trudged along, already looking drained.
In Oh Seung-heon’s case…
“Damn it, I didn’t get to play enough! Shouldn’t they add extra vacation days for all the time I spent assisting Shin Pil-ho?”
He kept whining and glancing over at Min-hyuk.
‘Damn it… I have to go to middle school for another half year like this.’
Now that he had already secured a spot at Korea Animation High School, having to attend middle school for six more months felt absurd.
A sigh escaped him naturally.
‘Well, let’s think positively. I can treat this as a break.’
Ever since returning to the past,
He had been running nonstop without a moment to breathe.
So spending half a year quietly attending school and enjoying life as a middle schooler… maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing.
They walked a little farther.
“Huh?”
As the two of them approached the school gates, Min-hyuk suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, eyes widening into perfect circles.
Because right there, above the entrance…
[Grand Prize Winner of the Korea Animation High School Competition! Proud Son of Dun-chon! ‘Kang Min-hyuk!’]
A ridiculously loud, garish banner featuring Min-hyuk’s photo and proudly proclaiming his victory in the competition had been hung up.
“What the hell…”
Min-hyuk’s eyes narrowed.
He had clearly planned to spend the remaining time quietly living out his middle school days.
So why on earth was this monstrous thing plastered right above the main gate?
All sorts of ominous thoughts flashed through his mind and vanished just as quickly.
Up until now, he had been someone who didn’t even know the first letter of “comic.”
And now, suddenly, he was being announced as the Grand Prize winner?
‘Just thinking about it is exhausting.’
He could feel it instinctively.
Something… very tiring was about to happen.
Did Mom mention it?
Or maybe Korea Animation High School had called the school…
While Min-hyuk was blinking rapidly, trying to process what was happening to him—
Thwack!
“How’s that, you punk?”
Oh Seung-heon slung an arm around his shoulder with a satisfied grin.
Min-hyuk turned to him with a foreboding expression.
“Hm? What?”
“That banner up there. This hyung put in some serious effort to get it hung.”
“You… put in effort? What effort?”
“What do you mean ‘what effort’? The day you won the prize, I made a bunch of calls. Starting with our homeroom teacher, then the whole class, and even up to the academic affairs head! Heh heh, you owe me a meal later, got it?”
“……”
So it was this guy.
Kang Min-hyuk stared straight at Seung-heon.
Smack!
“Aaaah! Why, why are you hitting me, you bastard?!”
Min-hyuk slapped him hard on the crown of his head with an open palm.
Seung-heon shouted indignantly, but Min-hyuk glared at him with demon-like eyes and roared,
“Why?! You ask why?! Why would you do something nobody asked you to?! Nobody asked!!”
Min-hyuk’s anguished scream echoed loudly around the front gate.
***
Min-hyuk’s prediction turned out to be perfectly accurate.
“Hey, Kang Min-hyuk! I heard you won the Grand Prize in some comic contest or something?”
“Ah… yeah, something like that.”
“Woah, dude, that’s insane! When did you even start drawing? Weren’t you terrible at art before?”
“Well… I’ve been drawing on the side for a while. Heh heh… I just didn’t want to show off.”
Third-year middle schoolers, prowling around like hyenas in search of dopamine.
From the very first day back after vacation, news about Kang Min-hyuk was the perfect juicy gossip for them to tear into.
“Hey! The prize money’s 5 million won, right? Buy us food!”
“Uh… Mom took it all, so that’s a bit…”
“Hey, could you draw a picture for me and my girlfriend for our 100-day anniversary?”
“Yeah, yeah, later, later.”
The flood of excessive attention from every direction was already draining his energy dry.
But as if completely oblivious to how he felt…
“Krrrr, and this time I even helped Kang Min-hyuk and that pro comic artist uncle with his manuscript, you know?”
“Pro comic artist? Who?”
“You know that magazine New Chance? The uncle who’s serializing there. He’s my dad’s friend, dude.”
Oh Seung-heon was pouring drum after drum of gasoline onto the already burning house, proudly recounting his heroic tales(?) from the entire summer vacation.
‘That damn Oh Seung-heon…’
Min-hyuk was once again painfully reminded just how overflowing with positivity and social energy this version of Seung-heon was back in those days.
Honestly, he really wanted to give him a piece of his mind…
‘But the fact that he did it with zero malice is what pisses me off the most.’
What could he even do?
The current Oh Seung-heon was just a third-year middle schooler, and he hadn’t done it to screw him over or anything…
And yet.
“Ahahaha! I, Oh Seung-heon, deserve a pretty big share of the credit for Kang Min-hyuk’s Grand Prize!”
Aaaargh! So freaking annoying!
If he could, he’d go straight back to the future and tell the adult Seung-heon:
You crazy bastard, because of you I was so embarrassed back then.
‘Just endure it. Just a little longer. The attention will die down soon anyway.’
While he was shaking off the endless stream of requests for handshakes—
A man who looked to be in his mid-30s walked into the classroom.
“Alright, alright, everyone, did you have a good vacation?”
“Hello, teacher!”
He vaguely remembered this being the homeroom teacher from around this time… but he couldn’t quite recall the name.
He taught Korean, had a laid-back personality, and got along well with the students—that was about all he remembered.
What was kind of funny now was that, back when he was a kid, this teacher had seemed like a full-grown adult… but now that he’d come back to the past, he realized the age gap between them wasn’t actually that big.
While Min-hyuk was deliberately avoiding eye contact,
“Hey, Kang Min-hyuk!”
The homeroom teacher pointed his teaching stick in this direction.
“Ah… yes!”
“I heard you won the Grand Prize in the competition? I had no idea you had that kind of talent. Congratulations.”
“Ah, yes… haha, thank you.”
Min-hyuk scratched his forehead in embarrassment as he answered.
“Teacher! Please acknowledge my contribution too!”
At that moment, Oh Seung-heon shot his hand up high and shouted.
“The prize went to him, so why are you so excited? Seriously.”
At the teacher’s dry remark, the whole classroom burst into laughter for a second.
“Anyway, whatever. Everyone, head outside slowly. We’ve got the opening ceremony.”
“Yes~!”
A short while later, when the entire school had gathered on the sports field.
“Ahem, today we have something very celebratory to announce. A student from Class 5 of the third year, Kang Min-hyuk… has won the Grand Prize in the Korea Animation High School Competition.”
As expected.
Even the principal didn’t disappoint, calling out his name.
“Let’s give him a big round of applause, everyone!”
“Kang Min-hyuk! Kang Min-hyuk!”
“He’s so handsomeeee!”
Receiving the gazes, applause, and cheers of the entire school all at once… how should he put it.
Rather than feeling purely happy…
‘Please just stop, pleeeease!’
He felt like his whole body was twisting from the endless wave of embarrassment.
***
After that one big commotion on the first day.
Kang Min-hyuk’s middle school life became somewhat exhausting.
“Kang Min-hyuk, this is a photo of my girlfriend—can you copy it for me?”
“…Is it okay if I do it roughly?”
“Yeah, yeah, just draw it, that’s all.”
During every break, guys from other classes came in droves asking him to draw their girlfriends.
“Min-hyuk, could you maybe draw one comic for the school magazine…?”
Even the teachers started coming to him, roping him into anything that involved drawing.
Since he had already been accepted into high school… everyone asked without the slightest hesitation.
‘This is hell. This is literal hell.’
According to his original plan, he had wanted to spend the second half of third year focusing solely on comics and drawing…
But with the situation twisted like this, he seriously felt like dropping out.
Just like that, his third-year middle school life had gone slightly off the rails.
But as with all problems in the world, time has a way of solving them.
Eventually, the kids’ interest in Min-hyuk faded away…
Scritch scratch!
Even when he openly drew comics or doodled during class, the teachers just let it slide like it was normal.
By the time Min-hyuk had finally reclaimed his peace and freedom(?),
“Hmm… Hong Mi-seon… she’s late again today.”
Min-hyuk, who had been doodling at his desk, glanced up at the wall clock.
It was already pointing to 9 o’clock.
Considering that she usually came home by 6 or 7 to prepare dinner, this was unusually late.
–Mom, why are you so late today?
–Ah, there’s just a little more work left to do today.
At first, for a day or two, he had brushed it off as nothing…
But lately, these late nights had become noticeably more frequent, and Min-hyuk couldn’t help but feel concerned.
He set down the pencil he’d been holding and muttered,
“Tch… Guess I’ll go pick her up today.”
It would be good to cool his head anyway, and a short walk wouldn’t hurt.
***
Min-hyuk cut across the alley illuminated by streetlights.
The sundae gukbap restaurant where Hong Mi-seon worked was about a 15-minute walk away.
It was a fairly large place, known in the neighborhood as one of the so-called “famous restaurants”…
And compared to other spots, the pay here was quite decent.
Humming a little tune, Min-hyuk quickened his steps for no particular reason.
Since he was heading to her workplace…
‘I’ll buy some ice cream too.’
On the way, he stopped by the neighborhood supermarket and stuffed a black plastic bag full of cheap ice creams.
His own little bribe, prepared so that Hong Mi-seon would take good care of herself.
A short while later, as he stepped onto the main road, the target— the sundae gukbap restaurant—came into view.
He stood on tiptoe to peek inside for a moment, then stepped through the door.
“Welcome. Table for one?”
A middle-aged female employee greeted him.
Because of the late hour, the restaurant was relatively quiet.
Min-hyuk gave a soft smile and asked,
“Ah, sorry to bother you. Um… is Hong Mi-seon by any chance still here?”
“Hm? Mi-seon unnie? Who are you…?”
“I’m her son. She’s been coming home late lately, so I came to pick her up.”
“Ahh, is that so? You must be Min-hyuk then?”
“Yes, that’s right. Kang Min-hyuk.”
At that, the wariness instantly melted from the middle-aged woman’s face.
“My goodness, what a tall and handsome boy. No wonder your mom brags about you.”
“Hehe, thank you. Um… I bought some ice cream on the way here. Please share them with everyone.”
“Oh my, you didn’t have to! We’ll enjoy them. But… what should we do? Mi-seon unnie just left for the day.”
“Ah, really?”
Hmm… So they must have passed each other on the way.
Min-hyuk scratched the back of his head and carefully continued,
“Um, can I ask you just one thing?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Lately, Mom’s been coming home pretty late… Do you happen to know why?”
“Ah, that?”
For a moment, an awkward, troubled expression crossed the woman’s face, as if it was hard to say.
Min-hyuk smiled gently and said,
“It’s just personal curiosity. I won’t tell anyone, so could you maybe give me a tiny hint about why she’s late?”
“Well… I’m not sure if it’s okay to say this to a kid.”
“It’s fine, really.”
“She… said she needs money.”
“Money?”
“Yeah. You’re going to some arts high school or something, right? She said she wants to save up more money for that… Lately, it seems like she’s really pushing herself.”
The moment he heard those words, Kang Min-hyuk’s pupils trembled ever so slightly—enough that only he would notice.
Afterward, he forced the corners of his mouth upward and said,
“Ah… I see. I was wondering what it was… Anyway, thank you. I’ll head back now. Please continue taking good care of mom for me.”
“Sure, go home safely.”
“Yes!”
After giving a quick bow, Min-hyuk immediately left the restaurant.
He walked a few steps.
When he turned into the dark alley,
“This lady… still the same as ever. Our Hong Mi-seon.”
Kang Min-hyuk let out a sigh, his face wearing a bittersweet expression.