## Chapter 15 – The Forest
*Chirp, chirp.*
The forest was silent.
The scent of grass entered my nostrils.
Perhaps because it was night, the smell felt even stronger.
The sound of waves gradually disappeared, and the chirping of insects could be heard from somewhere before fading into silence.
*Crunch. Crunch.*
The surroundings were dark.
However, since the wind was blowing from the sea, I could use the breeze coming from behind as a guide to leave the coast and enter the forest in a straight line.
‘I was worried, but it’s just dark and not particularly dangerous. That’s a relief.’
[Danger Detection] still wasn’t picking up anything.
My pace naturally quickened little by little.
“W-Woojin, just a little slower…”
But the homeroom teacher, who didn’t have any special abilities and therefore didn’t know what was in the darkness, was busy looking around in fear.
The flashlight beam shone haphazardly here and there.
At this rate, it would take forever just to move forward.
I didn’t really want to talk to her, but I sighed and said,
“It’s okay, just trust me and follow me.”
“Okay.”
The homeroom teacher came up behind me and grabbed my clothes with her hand.
“Why are you grabbing my clothes?”
“S-sorry. But I can’t feel at ease if I don’t. I know you’re not that kind of kid, but just in case you abandon me halfway…”
“……”
“Th-that… I’m sorry about this morning too. I’m sorry for not being a good homeroom teacher. I’m sorry for disappointing you…”
Timid, indecisive, and unable to assert herself properly.
She probably messed with me this morning because she got caught up in the situation, flustered.
I knew that much about her personality from the past three years.
There was nothing more to be disappointed about.
“Do as you please.”
“Thank you.”
We moved for 30 minutes, rested for 10 minutes, and repeated moving for another 30 minutes.
This was because the homeroom teacher’s stamina was terrible, and I was also consuming a lot of energy because I was using the [Danger Detection] ability.
‘Still, I guess we’ve been in for about 3 hours.’
Of course, the actual distance we covered wasn’t that great because we couldn’t find our way and moved around aimlessly.
As proof, the sound of waves would come and go in my ears.
I thought we were going forward, but at some point, we were approaching the coast.
I turned slightly to the right from the sound of the waves coming from the left.
But before long, the sound of waves was coming from the right this time.
I turned to the left, then back to the right.
As I moved forward, turning left and right like that, I could be sure of one thing.
‘As expected, the place where we crash-landed was at the very tip of the island.’
You might ask if an island surrounded by the sea can have a tip, but it was indeed the tip.
To be more precise, it was a pointed, long piece of land. We crash-landed at the end of it.
As proof, when I looked around the island on the first day, both the left and right coasts stretched out endlessly.
There were sections where the coastline wasn’t visible because it went in and out, but as a result, I could see the distant parts of the island at a glance.
In other words, the land on the opposite side was wider than where we were standing.
‘Next time, instead of going straight into the forest, it would be better to move along the coast and then enter in the middle.’
That way, we wouldn’t have to walk through the trees with difficulty, and we wouldn’t get lost.
‘Hmm?’
And how long had we been wandering around like that?
Suddenly, I sensed a red aura far away.
‘It’s getting more and more.’
The numbers were increasing rapidly.
There were many elements in the forest floor and trees that could be a threat.
Sometimes, they were even above our heads.
‘Could it be that the snakes didn’t all go out to sea?’
“Woojin? Why are you looking so scary…”
I was conflicted.
Should I keep going forward, or should I just turn back here?
I hadn’t even seen a coconut yet. Maybe the coconuts were beyond those things.
I was about to retreat, but I steeled my resolve.
I didn’t have much time.
I needed to find out as much as I could about the island today and tomorrow.
Also, the way the snakes were afraid of humans and moved to avoid them this morning suddenly came to mind.
‘Maybe if I don’t attack first, it’ll be okay.’
I took the flashlight and bravely moved forward.
Behind me, the homeroom teacher gripped my clothes even tighter. She seemed to have sensed that something had appeared ahead, judging by my reaction.
*Rustle. Rustle.*
I carefully pushed through the bushes and moved forward.
And I cautiously shone the flashlight on the creature emitting the red aura.
Something was wriggling, hanging from a tree. But no matter how I looked at it, it wasn’t a snake.
At first glance, it looked like a spider.
Like a spider with a carapace.
The homeroom teacher peeked out from over my shoulder and said,
“Huh? A crayfish?”
It wasn’t a snake.
Looking closely, it looked like a crayfish.
To be precise, a hermit crab. Like a hermit crab without a shell.
“It’s probably a coconut crab.”
Yes, the things emitting the red aura were coconut crabs.
Coconut crabs were wandering around everywhere in the forest.
***
Coconut crabs of various sizes, about 40cm in length.
I had seen them in a video before, but seeing them up close, their pincers looked quite threatening.
Enough to get seriously injured if you accidentally touched them.
So, even though I looked at them with curiosity, I didn’t get too close.
Instead, I looked up with a satisfied expression.
‘As expected, there are coconuts.’
Coconuts were hanging from the tops of the tall trees.
I was about to turn back with this right in front of me, so I thought it was a good thing I had the courage to come.
‘But what’s with the coconuts emitting a red aura?’
Not all of them were like that, but some coconuts were showing up as red on [Danger Detection].
Was there something wrong with the ability? Just then, one of them fell to the ground.
‘Ah. I see. So, it’s emitting a red light because it’s about to fall from the tree.’
The system was telling me in advance which ones were likely to fall. Saying it was dangerous.
I picked up the fallen coconut. It wasn’t as heavy as I thought.
“Are you… going to take it?”
“Yes. I have to show them that I didn’t just come to play.”
I wanted to catch a coconut crab too, but the giant pincers looked a bit dangerous. Let’s just tell them that those things were there too.
‘I can’t climb up and pick them myself, and I don’t know when they’ll fall, but should I just rest and wait for now?’
Fortunately, there were still two coconuts with a red aura, and I knew their locations, so I moved away to a place where there were no coconut crabs and sat down on the ground.
“What time is it?”
“J-just a moment. Uh… it’s about 11:10? Around that time.”
The homeroom teacher took out her smartphone to check the time and told me.
We left at 7 o’clock, so it’s been about 4 hours.
“Then let’s rest here until 3 a.m.”
“Huh? Aren’t we going to look around more?”
“You’re tired, aren’t you? You were grilling clams until late last night, and you got up early this morning to catch clams too.”
I said, handing her water.
The homeroom teacher, holding the water bottle I gave her tightly with both hands, blinked her eyes. Soon, she lowered her head and mumbled.
“Th-thank you. Woojin.”
The homeroom teacher drank the water and handed the bottle back to me.
But was I being too kind?
The moment I received the water bottle, the homeroom teacher suddenly grabbed my hand.
“W-Woojin.”
She looked straight at me, holding my hand tightly with both hands.
Maybe I was being too kind, and maybe it was because the flashlight was gradually weakening, making it difficult to see each other’s faces.
That might have given the homeroom teacher an excuse to be brave.
“Woojin. Why don’t you ever complain to me?”
“……”
“You can complain and even confide in me once in a while.”
“If I confide in you? What would have changed?”
“It wouldn’t have been much… but I wanted to get a little closer to you. That’s why I waited for you for three years…”
Violence that has been perpetrated in the small society of the school for three years.
Teachers who succumbed to power and condoned that unreasonable act.
There was no way I could confide in her.
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I’m sorry for being an incompetent, frustrating, and pathetic teacher. I know. I know I’m indecisive and frustrating. Sniffle. I’m pathetic, myself… I’ve been your homeroom teacher for three years, and I haven’t been able to help you even once. Sniffle, sniffle.”
It wouldn’t have changed even if any other teacher had come.
Perhaps because she was this kind of homeroom teacher, I was at least not bullied by her.
Sometimes, those who succumbed to power were more cruel than those who wielded it.
That was the case with physical education. That was the case with math and science.
They didn’t hesitate to make me a scapegoat in order to look good to the other students.
If even the homeroom teacher had been like that, I really wouldn’t have been able to endure it.
I calmed the sobbing homeroom teacher.
“Ah, don’t cry at night. Snakes will come.”
“Hic, hic.”
Sigh. How did I end up comforting her instead?
Once she started crying, she didn’t seem to be calming down easily.
It seemed like I needed to change the subject.
“You asked me earlier why I never complained.”
Only then did the homeroom teacher, who had stopped crying, look at me.
“Ms. Songduri. The former homeroom teacher. That’s what she said when she was kicked out of school.”
-I’m sorry. I couldn’t protect you and had to leave you alone. But don’t lose hope. Three years is just a short time. Listen to the teacher who comes after me. Don’t complain.
“That’s why.”
She was the one who tried to help me and even got kicked out.
The only one who fought for me until the end, who stood up without succumbing until the end.
As you can see, the result wasn’t very good.
But still, I had no reason not to follow the simple request she left behind.
“I see.”
A teacher smiling brightly.
I wondered if I was seeing things because it was dark, but no. She was really smiling.
“You seem to be in a good mood.”
“Does it look like that? Hehe. Actually, Ms. Duri and I are very close. We were study abroad buddies.”
“Yes?”
“We used the same room and were like sisters. Look. We’re still texting.”
The homeroom teacher opened her messenger chat window and showed it to me.
I read through the conversation and clicked on Ms. Songduri’s profile.
Both the conversation and the profile looked happy. She had left for another school, but it seemed like she was doing well there.
‘That’s a relief.’
I felt a burden that I had been carrying in my heart for three years slowly being lifted.
I had always been bothered by the fact that she had thrown away her life for me, whom she had only known for a short time during the first two months of the first semester.
‘That’s really good. Really.’
I was relieved by that, but suddenly, the unique scent of a woman was felt at the tip of my nose.
I raised my head and saw that the homeroom teacher, Lee Sujeong, was right in front of me.
“Teacher?”
Suddenly, my vision was covered.
*Kiss. Smack. Smack.*
I felt a soft sensation on my lips, and a cautious hand climbed up my thigh from below, caressing my thing.
“Teacher. What are you doing?”
“…Just stay still. This is the first time I’ve been brave enough to do this in my life.”
Then she pulled down my pants.
My pants came down easily because I wasn’t fully erect yet.
“You’ve been holding back a lot since you came here, haven’t you? Just stay still. Your teacher will take care of everything.”
The homeroom teacher lowered her head and buried herself in my crotch.
*Kiss. Smack. Smack…*
I felt a moist sensation on my glans and shaft.
Perhaps because it was dark all around, the tongue movements and the softness of her lips felt even more vivid.
‘…Lee Sujeong Teacher.’
Our homeroom teacher, and the most beautiful and shapely teacher in the school.
She was only twenty-nine years old.
Although she was indecisive and couldn’t assert herself, she was very popular with the male faculty members thanks to her outstanding appearance.
In particular, her brown wavy perm and warm smile went well with her cozy image, and male teachers often talked about it.
-Lee Sujeong Teacher, she’s really amazing, isn’t she?
-She seems like she’d be a good wife. Pure, modest, and she’d never cheat, and she’d embrace everything. You should marry a woman like that.
“Kiss. Smack… Aum…. Haa….”
The homeroom teacher held my dick tightly with both hands and licked it carefully. The act of kneeling felt almost reverent.
*Slurp, slurp…*
The homeroom teacher, who had thoroughly sucked on my glans and made it wet, swept her hair back and stood up.
Then she lifted her skirt up.
She took off her panties and positioned herself on top of me.
“Then I’ll put it in now.”
She spread her legs wide and faced me.
In that state, she inserted my dick into her pussy and hugged me. She slowly began to lower her hips.
*Thwup-*
As I said before, my senses were heightened because it was dark.
I could feel the moistness of her vaginal walls and the hot heat emanating from it.
It was so hot that I felt like I was going to get burned.
*Squish-*
“Ugh…”
The homeroom teacher let out a gasp and hugged me tighter. My glans was covered by her pussy.
And at some point, I felt some resistance on my dick. Very strong resistance.
‘This is…?’
Her hips lifted up again because it wouldn’t go in due to the resistance.
“Teacher, wait a minute…!”
*Thwack.*
Before I could even finish speaking, the homeroom teacher slammed her hips down with all her might.
“Hnghhhh.”
Some liquid flowed down my dick.
Even without turning on the light, I could guess what it was.
I had already experienced it once when I broke open Park Jimin’s pussy.
“Teacher, were you a virgin?”
“Y-yes. Is it a bit of a turnoff? Being a virgin at this age. Hehe.”
“No, not in that sense.”
Are the teachers at school stupid?
They make lewd jokes about Lee Sujeong Teacher every day, and they talk about wanting to marry her and date her… and no one has touched her yet?
Lee Sujeong Teacher is even bad at refusing.
It’s a bit problematic to put it this way, but she was the type of person who wouldn’t be able to refuse even if you took her on a date and dragged her to a motel.
“You’re so attractive… I was just surprised that you haven’t done it with anyone yet. Have you never dated a man?”
“Uh-uh. Actually, I’ve received a lot of offers, but I had something I had to do.”
“Something you had to do?”
*Kiss.* Lee Sujeong Teacher kissed me.
“I wanted to postpone it until you graduated safely. I wanted to focus on you. You’re my first student as a homeroom teacher.”
“……”
“Hehe. Although I haven’t been able to help you even once.”
Lee Sujeong Teacher gave a foolish smile.
For some reason, I couldn’t do anything as I watched her.
“…Teacher, you’re really an idiot.”
“Hehet. R-really?”
She was really an idiot. Just because of that reason.
‘And I’m an idiot too.’
Because of that stubbornness… I should have opened my heart at least once.
“I’m sorry for being an idiot. I’m sorry for not being able to help you for three years. But even though I’m shameless, will you forgive this pathetic homeroom teacher now?”
I nodded slightly.
“Hic. Thank you!”
The homeroom teacher hugged me tightly.
A heart that had never been opened for three years.
An action that had never been taken for three years.
Only after graduating, only after falling into this remote place, could we reach each other.
With the courage that had been hesitant to take, we were now taking a step towards each other.
