Chapter 20- A Smell That Lingers

Present time, March 13, 2020, 7:38 am.

Jin-woo didn't draw much attention when he rode his scooter into school. More than a few students were doing the same. There was even a designated parking area between their Gymnasium and High School for students' scooters and bicycles.

While driving through the gate and passing the cherry blossom trees, Seong suddenly appeared behind Jin-woo with his arms wrapped around his waist.

"You actually rode the scooter to school! But aren't you still underage to ride one? What if you were stopped by an officer and had to show your student ID?"

"It's not like I was caught. Besides, my birthday is in two days."

"Hm, I guess."

Jin-woo rode to the parking area and got off to move his scooter to an empty spot. Seong got off as well and followed behind him.

"Jin, what are we going to do about that thing?"

Seong suddenly asked as he secured the red scarf around his neck.

"What thing?"

Jin-woo asked slightly confused as he parked his scooter and took off his helmet.

"Y'know, that thing we saw in the Lab, what are we going to do? Are we going to report it to the school or go straight to the police?"

Jin-woo placed his helmet on one of the scooter's handles before he paused. After a moment of silence, he turned off the scooter and said.

"I don't know."

Pocketing the scooter key, Jin-woo turned to head to his class. He was a bit late.

"What do you mean? Don't tell me you're not planning on doing anything when you've seen something like that!"

Seong said in distress as he walked alongside Jin-woo.

"No, I obviously want to do something about it, but I genuinely don't know what to do. Remember, the School's Chairwoman is Seo-joon's grandmother, meaning she's Teacher Park's mother. Going to the school is meaningless. As for the police, it's my word against Teacher Park's. Do you think an accusation like that from a person with my illness would be taken seriously? And what if the girl doesn't want everyone to know? She could just say I'm lying. I don't know her circumstances but from what I saw she didn't seem unwilling."

Seong went silent for a moment then sighed.

"You're right."

"Don't worry, I'll think up something."

"What? Like taking a video next time? Wait, maybe not that."

Seong said and then frowned in thought before having his eyes light up.

"What about Nurse Soh? Maybe he could help."

Jin-woo immediately shook his head and then asked a strange question.

"Do you know what I hate about cannabis?"

"Cannabis? You mean weed?"

Jin-woo nodded and then answered his own question.

"What I hate about it is that it has a distinct smell that lingers on you. Worse, if you're too used to its smell, you might not even notice."

Jin-woo glanced at Seong and added.

"I found some in your room, remember? I was worried that you would get caught by your Dad so I made you flush everything down the toilet and promise never to use it again. However, from time to time I could faintly smell it coming from you."

Seong looked at Jin-woo with a shocked expression, but soon he scratched the back of his head and said softly.

"I didn't know that."

"It's used to treat insomnia in some offhanded cases, so I understand."

Seong looked even more shocked now.

"You… You knew that I had insomnia?"

Jin-woo nodded and then whispered.

"There's a lot of things I know that you thought you were keeping a secret from me, and I wished I had told you and tried to help you… I really wasn't a good friend to you Seong, I'm sorry."

Seong went silent, however, it seemed he suddenly realized something, and he quickly looked at Jin-woo with wide eyes.

"I-I'm not the real Seong."

"I know."

Seong paused at Jin-woo's response. He then looked around at the students they were passing before he leaned close to Jin-woo and whispered.

"We're still in public, y'know."

Jin-woo nodded.

"I know."

Seong stared at Jin-woo who didn't have a change in expression as they walked.

Perhaps thinking that Jin-woo might not have understood what he meant, Seong whispered once more.

"Didn't you say I shouldn't talk to you in public? You're even responding back!"

Jin-woo smiled slightly and said.

"You don't have to whisper, it's not like anyone can hear you."

A male student who was walking by happened to overhear Jin-woo and he turned to look at him strangely. However, Jin-woo ignored his gaze.

Seong smiled embarrassingly and straightened his back. However, he suddenly let out a happy laugh before he went to wrap his hand around Jin-woo's neck.

Jin-woo, however, immediately dodged his hand by suddenly crouching down to check his shoelace. But if one thought about it, he was wearing the school's indoor shoes so there was no shoelace to check.

Coming back up while fixing his backpack and drawstring bag, Jin-wo said annoyed.

"Don't go too far."

Seong smiled slightly before the two made their way to Class 1A.

….

…

..

The sliding door to the Nurse's Office was suddenly pulled open hard. Teacher Park then came marching in while closing the door behind him.

Nurse Soh who was in the middle of biting one of his sandwiches, paused and looked at Teacher Park with a frown.

"Can you not try and break my door every time you enter?"

Teacher Park ignored Nurse Soh's complaint as he walked over and suddenly picked up the second sandwich inside a container nearby before saying.

"Have you contacted the drivers?"

Nurse Soh watched as Teacher Park bit into his sandwich with an annoyed expression.

"Yesterday you ate my sandwiches before I could even taste them. No wonder you were crazy enough to commit a crime in school, and you were even caught."

Swallowing what was in his mouth, Teacher Park said dismissively.

"Don't worry about that, I'm handling it. What about the drivers?"

Nurse Soh nodded and said.

"I've already contacted the two of them. They should arrive around noon to collect the water."

"And the main source?"

"I paid one of the security guards to just leave the latch open this morning so it's easier to siphon the water."

"Great, if everything goes well, we could really make some money from the school's water supply."

Nurse Soh pause biting into his sandwich once again to say.

"Don't you feel bad stealing from your mother's school?"

Teacher Park smiled ambiguously at Nurse Soh before saying with his mouth full.

"I didn't tell you this, but I've already convinced her to turn a blind eye. She even helped me out a bit by telling the school that a water company would come today to do a standard water check. So, the guard at the back of the school should let the drivers in without a problem."

Nurse Soh was shocked when he heard that.

"Chairwoman Mrs. Park seems to favor her son a lot, even after having to pay several million Won in hush money to that girl's parents from your previous school."

Teacher Park finished his sandwich and then said.

"I'm leaving for my new Class; I'll check up on things at lunch."

Nurse Soh nodded and finally took a bite of his sandwich.

Before turning around, Teacher Park commented.

"The weed leaves a after smell, my wife almost caught me yesterday so be careful with that."

Nurse Soh nodded casually before going to take another bite, however, he suddenly realized something and turned to Teacher Park who just opened the door before asking.

"Wait, you got a new Class?"

Teacher Park didn't pause his steps and simply waved his folded attendance book and said.

"Didn't I tell you? I'm handling things."

Though Nurse Soh couldn't see his face, he could tell Teacher Park was smiling. After the door closed, he pondered about Teacher Park's cryptic words. However, he soon ignored them and went back to his cannabis-filled sandwich as it didn't concern him.