Chapter 5: Cause of Death

Chapter 5: Cause of Death

You! You uneducated!

The parent, drenched in coffee, writhed as if about to hit me.

Both the homeroom teacher and the other parents united to stop it.

But I approached the writhing parent without any hesitation, arms wide open.

Ah, go ahead. Try hitting me.

In-seop!

Bang Jeong-ah was really worried I might get hit, but when I actually approached, the parent stopped writhing.

I looked up at the six parents and the homeroom teacher with a smile.

You cant hit me, can you?

What is this!

Why do you think?

I suddenly quiz them, they all fell silent.

I didnt drag it on and gave the answer.

Because if an adult hits a minor, the situation becomes very serious, right? Legally, its a more severe punishment. It might be different if we were alone, but in such a public place, you cant hide it.

Ha.

You seem quite angry, but you know what Im saying. If you hit me now, your life could be ruined in an instant.

Everyone fell silent.

This is the law, which prevents people from hitting each other. But your children hit me, and our orphanage high school students retaliated. Thats why things have escalated to this point.

.

Look. Weve both broken the law, and legally, both sides should be punished. Its a loss for both. Thats why weve gathered here, to pretend it never happened. Because if it gets recorded that your kids hit me, it will affect their middle and high school admissions, right?

.

What Im saying isnt anything remarkable, just a more refined version of what we all know. Isnt that right?

The adults nodded, looking dumbfounded.

I too nodded, satisfied with my own smile.

So, we just pretend it never happened and part ways. But if you make a scene like this, cursing and screaming, throwing paper cups at our orphanage teachers Then I dont feel like agreeing to it.

The homeroom teacher, having already experienced a smooth settlement with me, quickly intervened to rectify the situation, sensing that things were going south.

Now, everyone here, were too agitated to have a proper conversation

Teacher, its 7 years.

Just keep quiet, will you!

Ill be a year older next week, so in 7 years, Ill be an adult. Do you think you can continue your job if I start filing complaints and meeting with the educational office officials? Do you think Ill forget about this incident? You seem too young to retire in 7 years, so make your decision wisely.

The homeroom teacher sat down, lamenting the decline of teachers authority in South Korea.

No, I can file a complaint even now. There are six of you parents here, so you could probably hire a decent lawyer, but do you think we have no backing because were orphans? Our director, Mun Chung-jae, is an elder at a mega-church and also has a baptismal name. Do you think hes been living his social life in vain? And if I start stirring things up with the Childrens Rights Center, the Education Office, a congressmans office, local broadcasting stations, and all around the neighborhood, who do you think will be screwed? I wont be. Its your kids and your social reputation that will be screwed.

After finishing my tirade, my throat was dry. So, I gulped down the cold coffee left by the teacher.

Whew

Now, everyone in the room was looking at me as if they were seeing a real monster.

If I were them, Id probably scream and run away if a fifth grader in primary school did this.

If you all understand the situation, lets part ways without any further discussion. Id like to tell you to apologize to Teacher Bang Jeong-ah for throwing a paper cup at her, but since you probably wont, Ill just leave. I wont apologize for pouring coffee either, so dont bother with any petty complaints.

I dragged Teacher Bang Jeong-ah, whose focus had already faded from her eyes, out of the room.

Thus, the incident was resolved through a mutual agreement between both parties.

EP 1 The Cause of Death

Im reminded of the past.

It was a given for students from arts middle and high schools to win literary awards at writing competitions.

For a general humanities student from a regular school to win at such competitions was something special.

I was that special middle school student.

I traveled around the country, collecting youth literary awards as if I were breaking records.

But every time I received such special treatment, I wondered what the point was of attending an arts middle school.

And every time I saw some fucking asshole, obviously less talented than me, winning the grand prize just because they attended an arts middle or high school-

(I admit, I was a bit rough in my middle school days.)

-I gradually began to understand the answer to this strange question.

The students from arts schools were not necessarily more creative or immensely talented than others.

Old enough to feel thoroughly embarrassed about crying and clinging to an primary student.

Her face turned bright red with embarrassment, and she pleaded with me to save her social dignity.

In-seop. Can you keep it a secret that I cried, from the other orphanage teachers and friends?

If you buy me manuscript paper.

Oh! Yes! Sure!

Fortunately, there was a stationery store near the primary school. Bang Jeong-ah hurriedly ran to buy manuscript paper and handed it to me.

Here! Take this!

Thank you, teacher.

Teacher Bang Jeong-ah, still with puffy eyes, smiled awkwardly.

Now that I think about it, I forgot to buy manuscript paper for you this week. I must have been too busy preparing for the Christmas party.

I carefully stored the manuscript paper she gave me and said,

From now on, you dont have to buy manuscript paper every week. Ill use the back of used paper from now on.

What? No! No! Dont tell me its because of money? Its okay! It doesnt cost much. I can keep buying it for you

No, its fine. Thanks to the manuscript paper youve bought so far, Ive practiced enough. Now, I can almost tell how many words Ive written just by writing.

Teacher Bang Jeong-ah looked like she was about to cry again.

I quickly added,

But! When theres a competition that requires manuscript paper, could I still get manuscript paper and postage from you? Ill do the rest by email.

Ah

She smiled brightly and patted my head.

Of course!

That smile was as pure as a childs.

Indeed. 25 is too young to be considered an adult.

* * *

Recently, having faced a few minor troubles, I realized something.

Clearly, the world is too harsh and frightening for a fifth-grade primary student like Moon In-seop to handle alone.

Whether its passing the GED, earning money, or quickly improving my environment, something needed to be done.

Even residing in a 4-person room with two bunk beds was challenging.

Arent my three roommates crowded around the TV right now, making a racket?

-So! What will become of the politicians surrounded by a horde of zombies?! If the country is going to fall apart on the first day of their term, why did they get elected in the first place! A movie that makes you want to vote after watching it! It was Zombies on Inauguration Day!

Ah shit, Kyung-sik hyung! Show us a bit more!

Kyung-sik hyung! Damn it! How can you stop it here!

I yelled at my three roommates who were going wild in front of the TV.

Hey you guys! If you want to watch movies so badly, go to the cinema! Stop being ridiculous with the movie review channel on!

We dont have money for movie tickets.

Hey, four-eyes. Are you insulting Kyung-sik hyung right now?

I can tolerate insults to our parents but insulting Kyung-sik hyung is unforgivable!

Huh? Somethings off here.

What is?

Ugh

While they continued their self-deprecating banter, I covered myself with a blanket and gathered my thoughts.

Lets see. The damn issue of money follows me in both my past life and now.

Since a fifth-grader cant work part-time jobs, I ultimately have to earn money through writing novels.

To make money from writing, the only solution is publishing

Web novels? If I want to earn money from writing, thats the fastest way. But as a proud, legitimate literary writer, I cant walk such a non-traditional path.

Its definitely not because of a trauma from my past life where, despite publishing nearly 100 episodes, I didnt receive a single comment after throwing away my pride and everything for money

Anyway.

To turn a manuscript scribbled on manuscript paper into a book placed in bookstores, there are two ways.

First, participating in literary auditions hosted by various newspapers winning a literary award at New Years Literary Contest and making a dazzling debut.

However, submissions for major literary awards usually close in early December, so that opportunity has already passed.

That leaves only the second option.

The second method is.