Chapter 83
“Unable to connect to voicemail…”
“Unable to connec…”
“Damn it…”
The calls kept failing to connect.
I didn’t want to meet or call the sluggish Hong Yun-hak either.
But after calling this many times with no answer, it was frustrating.
“Hyung, stay calm.”
“Want something sweet?”
“No… You guys eat it.”
I couldn’t get angry at Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon.
They didn’t ask who I was calling.
They probably already saw the name “Hong Yun-hak (Weird Guy)” displayed on my phone screen.
Ye Han-dam came to school with a normal face after being discharged, but Hong Yun-hak had been unreachable for a week.
I couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t answering. The Ye brothers were Chaehwa members but since they were students, they didn’t know much about Hong Yun-hak.
Ye Han-dam only found out he would enter the Gate with Hong Yun-hak upon arrival.
When I asked the returned Ye Han-dam if Hong Yun-hak had helped subdue the rampaging Esper, he said Hong Yun-hak was sent back to the guild because he had already used his ability inside the Gate and couldn’t help.
What kind of raids does that guild do that they consistently use the time-rewinding ability?
Seeing him use it every time made me completely lose trust.
The Gate raid was a week ago, so both guiding and physical recovery should be complete, but when I tried calling today, it still went to voicemail.
I need to know the reason to feel less frustrated.
Especially during midterm exams when my mind is already scattered.
Though our school wasn’t like normal schools that evaluated students’ abilities through exams, the exam period atmosphere was quite similar.
Only the main subjects differed.
After afternoon classes, some students remained in the classroom to study the exam questions more, while Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon were naturally in my room.
“Hyung, want to borrow my phone?”
“Yours?”
“He might be recognizing your number and not answering.”
If he wasn’t answering any calls, there was no point in me trying further.
If he was deliberately not answering, I didn’t need to torment myself or bother Hong Yun-hak.
I picked up Ji Yeohoon’s phone and dialed Hong Yun-hak’s number.
I called, but again it connected to voicemail.
“He’s not answering.”
This was a waste of time now. I sent one text message and tossed the phone back to Ji Yeohoon, who caught it quickly while studying.
“I’ll get back to studying then. Sorry for the disturbance.”
“It’s fine.”
“I’ll focus now.”
There was a brief rustling sound as if someone was writing in a notebook, then Ji Yeohoon sighed deeply at the note Yoon Cheong handed him.
“Why is this amount coming out? Applying the tax rate, this should be correct.”
“No, it’s an E-class emergency Gate, so the basic tax rate doesn’t apply.”
“Didn’t you say D-class and below apply the basic Gate tax rate?”
“The word ’emergency’ is there. Emergencies are applied uniformly at the lowest rate.”
“Ugh!”
I wondered if this was appropriate content for high school students’ mouths, but it was necessary knowledge.
Ability users earned a lot of money.
They also paid quite a lot in taxes, and when entering high school, learning about these tax rates was included in the curriculum.
Until 20-30 years ago, they didn’t teach this, which is why many ability users who entered society ended up paying fines for unpaid taxes.
Of course, these days if you’re affiliated with a guild, the guild handles it, and freelance ability users don’t process it themselves but leave it to professionals.
Still, they provided education to prevent people from getting ripped off due to complete ignorance…
Thanks to that, students studied like crazy in the first year of high school, but stopped studying this subject as soon as they became second-years.
Regular subjects like Korean, English, and Math didn’t matter if scores were low, but the subjects they were studying now were among the main ones that required retaking exams until passing if scores were low.
Since failing to pass by the third year of high school would even result in repeating a grade, everyone typically strived to pass in their first year.
“You’re fine with Understanding Espers and Understanding Guides since your scores are high. If you fail, you can take Ability User Economic Theory next year with the triplets. They’ve failed this year too.”
“Hyung… Please don’t curse me…”
Ji Yeohoon, who had been interested in my call and trying to forget about the exam, buried his head in his textbook as if sinking after my words.
When I stared steadily at Yoon Cheong, who was looking at Ji Yeohoon with amusement, Yoon Cheong immediately picked up his pen.
I too was outwardly continuing to study.
We were in the same room but our positions were completely different.
In the spacious room, I was at the desk, Yoon Cheong had set up a table on the floor, and Ji Yeohoon was studying with a small table on the bed.
Thanks to this arrangement, the two of them couldn’t see what I was writing, as I was positioned slightly higher.
Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon were really studying for the exam, but I was comparing pre-regression and post-regression in my notebook.
No matter how hard I tried to remember, there were parts I forgot.
Even if I could stabilize Espers, the body I possessed was that of a very ordinary person.
If I had known right after returning that I needed to twist as many things as possible until the time I returned to, I would have organized everything in advance.
If I had realized sooner, I could have turned everything upside down.
What could I have changed?
No, let’s move past what’s already happened.
What can I change now?
If I prevent Yoon Cheong’s rampage, would that naturally prevent Ji Yeohoon’s parents’ deaths?
Are there many other things I need to change? What would change the most?
As I kept underlining things that were changing, the notebook tore from the excessive force.
“…Hyung, are you angry about something?”
“Not particularly?”
“Whatever it is, we did wrong.”
“Really?”
Yoon Cheong looked surprised at my response.
You may not know it now, but you’re actually right about doing something wrong.
Yoon Cheong just said that to somehow calm the sudden change in my mood, but it actually made me more heated.
My regression may be due to Hong Yun-hak’s power, used by someone unknown, but the reason I’m trying to change the future is because of these guys, right?
Of course, even though I’ve been causing trouble to keep myself safe since meeting these guys, if I hadn’t done anything, wouldn’t I have been instantly killed again?
In the end, the reason I’m trying to change the future is to stop Ji Yeohoon from exploding the Gate, and to prevent Yoon Cheong from unintentionally harming Ji Yeohoon’s parents.
Suddenly feeling unfair, I blurted out:
“It was you guys.”
This is all because of you.
“Um… Hyung, if you’re displeased, should we apologize first?”
“Yes. I think I should accept an apology first.”
Knowing that I don’t usually speak so unreasonably, they started apologizing without even asking for the reason.
“I don’t know what happened, but I’m really sorry.”
“Hyung, if you’re very angry, you can scold us.”
They were sensitive to my stress.
From my perspective, they were indeed the reason, but from their perspective, I was clearly getting irritated without any reason, yet they seemed fine with it.
With expressions that seemed to understand everything and faces that looked genuinely sorry, they stared at me, leaving me at a loss for words.
“Why did you two grow up so nicely?”
“You raised us.”
“Because Hyung taught us.”
I never did that.
I merely showed them how to socialize with people and taught them how to ask adults when they didn’t know something.
I just passed on what I learned from my parents about how to be kind and when to be firm.
Between those lessons, they kindly learned to be caring.
“I never taught you that.”
Though verbally they said I raised them, in truth, they grew up before my eyes, becoming adults and becoming what I couldn’t recognize.
I wanted to be angry at the guys I knew, but I couldn’t easily get angry at the guys who had grown into forms completely unknown to my pre-regression self.
Without anything being resolved, it was frustrating, but seeing them smile kindly and apologize easily, as if telling me it was okay, the tightness in my chest started to loosen.
The pre-regression guys, who had nothing above them, wouldn’t have been able to humble their pride and speak so easily.
“Hyung taught us. How to apologize and ask for forgiveness.”
“You told us to apologize immediately if we felt we did something wrong. We’re just doing what you taught us.”
The emotions that were trying to settle due to anxiety now surged up because of these guys.
Without knowing what they did wrong, they were trying to appease me because I was being temperamental.
In reality, the current guys hadn’t done anything wrong…
Still, their words made it seem like what I had been doing wasn’t wrong, and that things wouldn’t easily go back, making my heart strangely quiver.
“Are you apologizing knowing why I’m upset? What if it’s not really your fault and I’m just getting angry for no reason?”
At my words, the two guys who had been making slightly troubled expressions opened their mouths.
“Well…”
“The uncle said something.”
“Uncle? What did he say?”
“His father said it. Not their uncle.”
Yoon Cheong’s father? He usually didn’t talk much?
He was always someone who just asked about grades, saying he was glad we were growing up well.
“Um… He said Hyung seems to be under a lot of stress.”
Was it noticeable to that extent?
My parents and Ji Yeohoon’s parents didn’t see it as that serious.
Puzzled, I looked at them, and Yoon Cheong scratched his cheek.
“My father said your stress seemed like parenting stress…”
“He told us to apologize profusely if anything happens. He said that’s the best approach.”
Uncle…!
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
