"Obviously I saw Seong, and that teacher is…"
The door was pulled open and Jin-woo stepped to the side as the girl hurriedly left the room with her head down.
Soon, the teacher came out to stand in front of Jin-woo, a rolled-up attendance book in hand and a dark look on his face.
He silently stood there looking at Jin-woo for a moment before asking.
"What's your name and class?"
"Don't say anything! This adulterer and pedo doesn't recognize you, if he does our school life is really done for!" Seong immediately yelled.
Seeing Jin-woo's silence, the teacher's hand tightened around the folded attendance book, and with a whack, he hit Jin-woo over the head.
"You're not answering a teacher when you've been asked a question? Are kids nowadays so disrespectful to us teachers? Huh? Answer me!"
Whack… Whack…
Jin-woo had his head lowered as he silently accepted the hits, but his hands gripped the bottom of the boxes he was holding.
"This damn old thing!" Seong yelled angrily and glared at the teacher.
After slapping Jin-woo consecutively a few times, the teacher suddenly grabbed Jin-woo's face and lifted it.
"Look at me you little brat."
The teacher's eyes were wide with a threatening look in them.
"Don't you dare mention this to anyone, do you understand me?"
While being forcefully backed up against the wall, Jin-woo stared at this teacher with a passive expression on his face. His eyes then happened to glance at the name tag on his shirt that said 'Teacher Park.'
Seo-Joon's father.
Not getting a response from him, a frustrated expression appeared on Teacher Park's face, and he squeezed harder leaving red marks on Jin-woo's cheeks. Especially from his wedding ring on his finger.
However, someone suddenly called from a distance.
"Is something wrong here?"
Both Jin-woo and Teacher Park turned to see a middle-aged man in a white coat walking towards them.
Teacher Park let go of Jin-woo with a frown.
"Jin-woo, are you okay?"
Jin-woo slowly nodded. After seeing this, the man then turned to Teacher Park and said with a frown.
"Teacher Park, this is no way to treat students. If I see something like this happen again, I'll have to report you."
However, Teacher Park wasn't listening to him. His ears perked up at hearing Jin-woo's name.
"Oh, so you are Lee Song-ho's son, you should have said so sooner."
Teacher Park said that with a smile, but there was something in his voice that sounded extremely threatening. Not to mention the way he said Jin-woo's father's name, it sounded like there were some bitter resentments in his voice.
Afterward, Teacher Park indifferently looked at the man who was still frowning at him. He then simply brushed past him and walked away saying nothing to him, rather he left a few parting words to Jin-woo.
"Kids like you should know when to listen to your teachers."
After watching Teacher Park leave, the man turned to Jin-woo and asked with concern.
"Jin-woo, what happened here? Did you do something to upset Teacher Park, or was it something else?"
Jin-woo paused for a moment before he said.
"It's nothing, I just interrupted him when he was doing something."
"Okay, here, let me take these boxes inside. Have you taken your medication yet? You need to go do that as soon as possible, and remember, if you need anything I'm at the nurse's office, okay?"
"Yeah, I know. Thanks, Mr. Soh."
"No problem, it's my job as the school nurse to take care of you students."
With that, Mr. Soh entered the Science Lab while Jin-woo turned around and left in search of a bathroom before entering it. After quickly rushing into one of the stalls he sat on the toilet and clutched his knees. His breathing became more labored by the second.
His hands soon tighten into fists making his knuckles white. His chest started to visibly rise and fall rapidly.
Jin-woo closed his eyes and tried to calm his emotions, but the events from before just continued to replay in his mind.
Having no way to release these pent-up emotions, Jin-woo suddenly got up and angrily slammed his fist against the stall doors. He repeatedly punched it until his knuckles actually started to bleed.
"FUCK!!"
Slam!
"Who does that bastard think he is?!"
Slam!
"If it wasn't for the fact that he was a Teacher I would have ripped his arm off for touching me with that hand!"
Slam!
With one final punch to the door, Jin-woo let out a pained wine.
"Ah, my hand hurts."
"Well, what do you expect if you punch the stall door like that," Seong said from outside.
"Shut up, I don't want to hear that from my own hallucination."
Jin-woo responded as he came out of the stall. At the same time a beeping sound suddenly came from the watch around his wrist.
Without looking at the watch, Jin-woo dismissed the alarm before coming up to the sink. He allowed the water to run over his sore knuckles which caused him to wince in pain. He also washed his face, finding it disgusting Teacher Park actually grabbed it with his hand. Afterward, he examined his cheeks where the red finger marks his fingers made were beginning to fade somewhat.
Sighing, Jin-woo then reached into his pocket and took out the small clear bag with his pill medication. After he took the pill with some of the water from the sink, Seong behind him faded in and out for a brief moment before his body stabilized.
Without opening his eyes, Jin-woo asked.
"Are you still there?"
"You tell me Jin."
Hearing Seong's voice immediately respond, Jin-woo covered his face with his hands completely defeated.
"Why are you still here, why won't you just go away."
"That's no way to treat your best friend, Jin."
Jin-woo turned and angrily yelled at Seong.
"No, you're not! What did you find out that day when we were at the library that made you so excited? Why did you keep telling me in the car to wait until we got home for you to tell me? If you can answer this then I'll believe you're real!"
Seong looked at Jin-woo who looked agitated and was on the verge of crying. He hesitated. After a moment he slowly said.
"I don't know, I can't remember."
"No, just stop. It's not that you can't remember, it's because I don't know. Seong died last year and I'm only seeing you because my brain's messed up. I might react to your presence but you're not real."
Jin-woo suddenly walked over to Seong and grabbed his hand. He then lifted it up and turned to the mirror over the sinks.
The image of himself weirdly holding nothing but empty air could be seen.
"See? Nothing. I can feel your hand, your warmth, but you aren't real."
"Ahh!"
Jin-woo squeezed Seong's hand causing him to release a yelp, but that was just part of his hallucination as well. Perhaps deep down his brain wanted Seong to be real despite everything he said.
Jin-woo looked at Seong's face and felt a stabbing pain in his heart making him lower his head.
"I'm going crazy talking to myself. You're not real, but why do I wish you were? Instead of you, I wish the real Seong was here."
Overcome with emotion, Jin-woo felt his eyes sting and tears began to form in them.
Seong looked at Jin-woo, a sad expression appearing on his face.
"Jin, I really wish I was."
"I said shut up! Don't talk-"
Before Jin-woo could finish his words, the bathroom door was suddenly pushed open hard causing it to slam against the door stopper.
"Oh look! It's the school's freak!"
As bad timing would have it, Seo-joon and his crew just walked in.