Chapter 19 part 2: (Bonus) Labyrinth

“…I see… □□□ must have had a hard time too… Yeah… It might be a little sad….”

“Haha… That’s why I didn’t know I would change like this now…”

“Responsibility is important, but there are certainly many people who don’t know responsibility.

I’m proud of □□□, who grew up like this even under such people?”

“Hmm… Then, to continue the story…”

It was around the age of 11.

” 101, read line 12?”

“Yes. This might seem surprising for…..”

Around that time, I was just an ordinary 4th grade Korean male elementary school student.

However… I was a little different from others in that I lost my parents early, just a few years ago, almost right after entering elementary school, and I didn’t break down because of it.

No, maybe I was able to accept it calmly because I was young. But surely, it wasn’t something I overcame alone.

“Hey! It’s not right to bully someone for that reason?”

I wonder why. My homeroom teacher didn’t change for more than half of my elementary school life. I didn’t know it at the time, but I’m vaguely thinking now that maybe that teacher did something.

And for some reason, that teacher took care of me a little, no, a lot. I found out later that there were stories about favoritism, but it seems that the teacher explained it well and resolved it well.

I went to school from the orphanage, and time passed, and it was around the time I was moving from 13 to 14 years old.

“Teacher… Why do you take care of me?”

“Huh? Is that what you say at the graduation ceremony? I took care of you so much, so I might be a little sad?”

“Haha… I’m kidding. Um… Because I’m a teacher?

I, if I’m a teacher, if I’m an adult,

I would definitely do that even if it wasn’t □. If there’s a child who’s having a hard time?”

“What…do you mean…?”

“Haha, it might be a little difficult for □□□ to understand… A teacher thinks that all children need to be given equal opportunities.

I think that at an age when it’s difficult to take responsibility for something, someone needs to support them from the side.

If you’re an adult, I think you should hold on from the front and push from the back so that a child who is just starting to try to live in the world doesn’t break down as soon as they start?

That’s why I did it… It’s a little difficult now, but…”

When I heard those words, I fell for the teacher. Not as the opposite s*x, but as a person called a teacher. And I also wanted to become like that.

I wonder if it’s because I experienced losing my parents at such a young age? Is it because that teacher was the person who filled that void, even if insufficiently?

Is it because I heard such words at an age when I was starting to understand what that teacher had done for me? I didn’t need a reason.

From that moment, I wanted to become a teacher like that. I guess that’s why I became obsessed with studying.

Who said that? Is life an endless labyrinth? Then, I’m sure that on that day, I obtained wings to escape the endless maze.

.It didn’t take long for me to lose those wings.

-Smack! Crack!-

“Ugh…..ugh…”

“Ha… You orphan bstard… You’re so fcking cocky…”

“Why…why…”

“Why didn’t you just listen obediently? What’s so hard about deliberately failing a test…”

It was around the age of 15. Lynch, a violent act committed by an individual or a group against a child who catches the eye of some bullies.

The reason? Absurdly… Just because I was good at studying.

Because I was better at studying than him, he couldn’t stand the fact that he, who was always 1st in everything, including studying, fighting, and sports, lost to some orphan…

Something like that… It was absurd… It was unfair… I tried to resist.

“That… □□□… ■■■ is also reflecting a lot, so… Can’t □□□ forgive him just once?”

“…Yes…”

“Good, the two of you hug in reconciliation? Shake hands? □□□, you can go in first?”

I was thinking that it was absurd, whether it was sincere, but my mind calmed down a little… I was thinking that it was a pity that the tower he had built with a single mistake would collapse, so please endure it just once.

Then it seemed to be quiet for about a month.

Damn it, about a month later, the violence against me started again. Just because the look in my eyes was unpleasant, because I asked the teacher for help before.

“You b*stard… You snitched…”

“Hic…

Hic… Sob…”

I wanted to cry. No, tears came out. Why is this happening to me? What did I do wrong? Yeah… It’s not the first time this time, so… That teacher will do something for me…

” “

…I see… ■■■… I’ll talk to him… Rest in the classroom…”

“Yes, thank you.”

I went to the staff room and told the teacher everything. The teacher’s expression quickly turned bad. I thought he was angry that he ignored the teacher’s words and did such a thing again in front of the teacher.

When I closed the door of the staff room and left… I heard a voice from behind. It was the voice of that teacher and… the vice-principal, whom I rarely encountered.

Usually, I would have thought it was a work discussion, but for some reason, my feet didn’t move. It felt like… something was holding my ankle, and I ended up focusing on the voices coming from across the staff room door.

“Ha… Damn it… That orphan bstard is so fcking annoying…”

“Haha.

Teacher… You know, right?”

“Yes- of course! I know! He’s the son of someone who sponsored our school, so would I discipline or scold him? Geez, if you’re an orphan, you should just be obediently stepped on and shut up… Annoying…”

…What was holding my ankle was… sticky reality… I didn’t want to hear more… I left the place.

It hurt.

I was angry.

I wanted to cry.

My values….

My world began to crumble.

Did I try to fly too high for someone like me? That day, I… My wings… My dream disappeared in flames. My life, my value, was soaked in seawater and sank into the deep abyss.

I threw everything away that day.