Chapter 105 – His Own Way of Forgiveness
In one corner of the cafeteria at dinner time.
The group of four, including Min-hyuk, ate separated from the other kids.
The topic among them was still, without a doubt, one and the same.
“This doesn’t make any sense, seriouslyyyyy.”
“I still feel like this is all some kind of lie.”
Rok-hee and Dong-gyo vented passionately without even picking up their spoons.
“Sorry, I’m really sorry.”
Min-hyuk kept bowing his head repeatedly in apology.
Well, on this matter he had absolutely nothing to say in his defense even if he had a hundred mouths, so all he could do was keep his head down.
And on top of that……
‘I really can’t bring myself to ask them for help.’
He still hadn’t even mentioned a word about the character design issues in Brave King.
If he brought it up in that way now, wouldn’t it just look like he was only revealing the truth to get their help?
Even after finally coming clean, any sincerity would crumble away in an instant.
No matter how much Kang Min-hyuk was an old man who had gone through all kinds of hardships on the ground, in the air, and everywhere else, even he couldn’t wear a human mask and pull something like that.
Right now, the priority was to reveal the truth to the two of them and let them vent their hurt feelings.
‘Let’s take it slow, slow.’
Rushing and losing trust, hurting each other’s feelings—that would be the dumbest thing possible.
Anyway, while Min-hyuk was quietly poking at his dinner for that reason.
Han Yu-ra let out a short sigh and said.
“Hey, since the topic came up anyway, why don’t you guys help him out a bit.”
“Help? With what?”
“How are we supposed to help the great Writer David…… I mean, Min-hyuk-kun?”
Kang Min-hyuk quickly waved his hands.
“It’s really not necessary…….”
“Tsst! Hurry up and tell noona already?”
“If you don’t say it, I feel like I’ll get really hurt, Min-hyuk-kun.”
“I’m telling you it’s really nothing.”
Min-hyuk gave an awkward smile and glanced at Han Yu-ra.
A signal to tone it down.
But, for better or worse, Han Yu-ra stayed true to her character.
The character who didn’t give a damn about other people’s reactions.
“This guy says he’s finishing Brave King in December.”
“Whaaaaaat?!”
“Craaaazy!”
The two shouted as if struck by lightning.
For a moment, the cafeteria fell silent……
“What was that just now?”
“……Aren’t those kids from the comic creation department?”
When they looked around, they could see every kid’s gaze focused in their direction.
Even.
“Hey, keep it down over there.”
The nutritionist teacher, sounding a little annoyed, threw out a word.
“Hehe, sorry, Teacher!”
“Gomen…….”
The two wrapped it up with light apologies.
Then they stared straight at Min-hyuk again, lowering their volume as they asked.
“Why on earth? Brave King is doing amazingly well!”
“Oioi, Writer David. The moment you reveal the truth, this is what you do…… stabbing your fans’ hearts right from the start?”
“The story will wrap up without any issues, just as originally planned. And…… there’s something I have to do after that, so I have to finish it.”
“What’s that ‘something’ you have to do?”
“I’m going to serialize too. Webtoon.”
This time, all three of their eyes widened round.
“Really?”
“For real?”
“What?”
There was no way they could understand.
Right now, webtoon didn’t make much money, people’s interest was lukewarm……
It wasn’t exactly an attractive serialization platform.
“I told you before, but I really believe webtoon is going to blow up big time. I also want to challenge myself with a different medium…….”
“That’s all?”
“Half of it.”
“What’s the other half?”
“There are also…… various situational things that line up perfectly.”
“What situation?”
Min-hyuk scratched his forehead and said.
“That’s…… it would really take a long time to explain.”
“Spill it, unless you want to see me actually get angry.”
Rok-hee’s voice carried firm determination.
Then her hand subtly gripped her tray.
Meaning if he didn’t talk properly, she’d flip the whole thing.
Min-hyuk let out a sigh.
‘Ughhh, can’t be helped.’
He closed his eyes tightly, then opened them and parted his lips.
“So…… here’s how the situation is.”
In the end, Min-hyuk had no choice but to explain everything in full detail—from the Bucheon Comic Awards coming in December, to the situation where he now had to clash head-on with the Crow King writer there, and the character design problems that arose as Brave King entered its latter half episodes.
With complete honesty, without any embellishment or pretense.
For the first time since his regression, it felt like he was completely opening up his worries as the human Kang Min-hyuk to his friends, without holding anything back.
“Anyway, that’s the situation.”
“Huuuuhhh…….”
The three of them let out low groans.
‘He’s aiming for the Grand Prize at the Bucheon Comic Awards?’
‘Increasing the serialization volume to finish by December? Is that even physically possible?’
From one to ten, everything Min-hyuk said was far beyond the kids’ common sense.
Dong-gyo cleared her throat and spoke.
“So right now…… you’re stuck on the character design for those two characters, is that it, Min-hyuk-kun?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
At that, Dong-gyo crossed her arms, closed her eyes tightly then opened them, and said.
“The original manuscript page of Baek Seol-hee’s first appearance in Brave King chapter 1, complete with your signature.”
“Huh?”
“What does that mean?”
Tap!
This time he pointed her finger straight at Min-hyuk and continued.
“Min-hyuk-kun, to atone for deceiving your best friend me all this time…… you’re offering to settle it with one original Brave King manuscript page! Honestly, as a fan of Writer David, and as a super-fan of the ultimate beautiful girl Baek Seol-hee! I want it, so badly.”
The kids blinked with incredulous expressions.
But Dong-gyo didn’t back down and kept going.
“If you accept this proposal, I’ll fully support Min-hyuk-kun…… and help with the character design problem you’re facing right now. How about it? My offer.”
“…….”
Dong-gyo held out her palm.
‘Th-that’s so Dong-gyo.’
So straightforward and honest—what else could you call it.
If she was willing to forgive him to this extent, there was no reason not to accept.
Tap!
Min-hyuk grabbed her hand and shook it.
“Uh-heh-heh, uh-heh-heh-heh! The original Baek Seol-hee page in my hands…….”
A sly, sinister laugh leaked from Dong-gyo’s mouth.
Meanwhile, the expressions on Yu-ra and Rok-hee’s faces clearly read ‘utter disgust.’
This time Kim Rok-hee let out a sigh and spoke.
“For me, put my name, Kim Rok-hee, in your next work.”
“Huh? What do you……?”
“Exactly what I said. You said after finishing Brave King you’re going to serialize a webtoon, right? Make sure to include at least one character named Kim Rok-hee there. Ah, but…… not some minor extra. At least supporting role level or higher. Deal?”
Now Rok-hee held out her hand.
Min-hyuk lifted his head for a moment and looked at Rok-hee and Dong-gyo.
‘These kids…… are way too kind.’
So this was how far they were willing to forgive him.
For some reason, Min-hyuk felt a surge of emotion welling up in his chest.
They had every right to feel betrayed, yet they were choosing to forgive him cleanly through this kind of deal.
“Deal.”
“Yesss!”
When Min-hyuk clasped Rok-hee’s hand and shook it, a smile bloomed on her face.
Then Han Yu-ra bit off a piece of sausage, swallowed it, and said.
“If the talk’s done, shall we go look at the storyboard? We need to see the manuscript first before we can discuss anything.”
“Yoshi!”
“Yeah yeah, let’s go quick!”
Swoosh!
Dong-gyo and Yu-ra stood up full of motivation and quickly left the cafeteria.
‘I haven’t even finished eating yet…….’
Min-hyuk gave an awkward smile and started to stand when.
“Pay for the food. If you’re that grateful, you’d better.”
Han Yu-ra lightly kicked near his shin for no reason, then walked past him to catch up with the two ahead.
“……She’s gotten really cheeky.”
……Well, whatever makes things good is good.
Min-hyuk shrugged his shoulders and walked forward.
***
A short while later, in the lounge one floor below where few people came.
The four of Min-hyuk’s group sat around the table, looking over the storyboards and planning documents.
“Hoooo, so this is how you’re leading the latter half. Interesting. Very interesting.”
“……Feels like getting spoiled.”
Since the two had decided to help Min-hyuk, it wasn’t enough to just get help on the design or backstory of two characters—they needed to understand the overall story flow and details, so they were reading everything page by page.
The slight problem was.
“Wow, Coup-ler plays this kind of role? I thought he was just a cute mascot!”
“Ye-yeah, this twist here…… as expected of Writer David!”
They seemed quite immersed, half turning into reader mode.
How much time passed like that.
“Hmmmmm, so Ma Hee-ra and Shin Dong-hyun. These two characters are the problem, right?”
“We fully understand Min-hyuk-kun’s issue.”
Finally having grasped the situation, the two nodded, and Min-hyuk replied.
“Well, it’ll probably be hard to come up with something right away. If anything comes to mind later—even short opinions—feel free to tell me anytime.”
And, perfectly timed.
Ding-dong-daeng-dong!
The bell rang to signal the start of free drawing time.
“Huuu…… let’s head in.”
“I’ll think about it.”
With that, everyone headed back to the classroom together.
Free drawing time began like that.
Min-hyuk sat back down at his desk in the workspace.
‘Still, spilling everything out feels refreshing.’
Honestly, he couldn’t guarantee 100% whether what he just did would actually help the work itself.
Ma Hee-ra, Shin Dong-hyun.
Even though those two characters had some similarities with Dong-gyo and Rok-hee, they weren’t perfectly the same……
And he couldn’t be certain that the two would come up with anything useful about them.
But.
‘It feels lighter inside.’
The lingering sticky residue of unease in his heart.
The feeling of having peeled it off made Min-hyuk’s insides feel refreshingly clear.
Han Yu-ra, Oh Dong-gyo, Kim Rok-hee.
Now, at least in front of these three people, he didn’t have to choose his words carefully anymore. He could be honest.
He definitely felt like he had done the right thing by opening up.
And he felt grateful toward Han Yu-ra, who had pushed him from behind in the process.
A sense of fullness he hadn’t felt since regressing filled him.
He didn’t know how many times he had thought this already, but……
‘Coming to Animation High really was the right choice.’
His affection for the place swelled even more in that moment.
And then……
In this light and buoyant state.
‘Alright, let’s push even harder.’
As always, he spread out his sketchbook, gripped his mechanical pencil.
Scratch scratch!
Min-hyuk immersed himself in work once more.
How much time passed?
Ding-dong-daeng-dong!
The break bell rang out.
‘Should I grab some coffee? Or maybe…… chat for a bit.’
While Min-hyuk stretched and pondered what to do next.
He felt a presence beside him and turned his head.
There stood Dong-gyo and Rok-hee, staring straight at him.
“Huh? What’s up?”
Thrust!
Then the two held out a sheet of paper each.
“Min-hyuk-kun, take this.”
“Mine too.”
On the torn sketchbook pages, dense black writing filled the space.
When Min-hyuk took them and looked over the contents, his eyes widened round.
Written there were ideas about the character designs, backstories, and related details for the two characters he had been agonizing over—Ma Hee-ra and Shin Dong-hyun.
Not just one single story, but several branching options he could pick and choose from……
There were also meticulous notes on items to add detail, direction suggestions, and so on.
Looking at it, new paths opened up in Min-hyuk’s mind.
He could already picture which ideas to add, which to cut, to make it fit the work perfectly.
To him, it felt almost like a rope from heaven.
Of course, what shocked Min-hyuk the most was.
“This…… you two wrote this in just one hour?”
The sheer genius of the two who had produced content of this quality in only an hour.
“Ahem, this body was already a Brave King fan, you know! I’ve fantasized about both characters before.”
“Since they’re similar to me in some ways, I just wrote what I would do if it were me. Hahaha!”
Perhaps excited, the two laughed heartily.
At that moment.
“Too noisy. Get out.”
“Uh…….”
Han Yu-ra appeared out of nowhere and lightly kicked each of their shins.
As the three of them were ushered out of the classroom, Yu-ra spoke.
“Brag all you want, go on. ‘Kang Min-hyuk is David.’”
“Ahem! I kept my voice down, though.”
“……Gomen.”
And then……
She pulled out a torn sketchbook page of her own and held it out.
“Take it.”
“Huh? What’s this now.”
“Rough ideas. Use them if you want, toss them if you don’t.”
Min-hyuk blinked, took it, and replied.
“Ah…… thanks.”
“Huuu, buy from the vending machine. You wasted an hour of my time thanks to this.”
“Yeah. Obviously.”
And he had no intention of stopping at just the vending machine.
Naturally, the four of them walked toward the lounge.