Calibrating the NTR Drift in the Light Novel 104

Chapter 104 – The Ground Hardens After the Rain (2)

On Thursday morning, I completed my final health checkup and was able to be discharged. My arm was still in a cast and I still had a bandage on my head.

The school uniform, which was covered in blood, was as clean as ever thanks to Yuri taking it and leaving it in the laundry room.

It happened last Friday, so I was discharged after almost a full week.

How did it work out that Yuri told me about the academy? The receptionist checked some things, including my information, and she called somewhere and asked about this and that, and she said, “You can just go.” Br〉

With a sigh of relief, I left the hospital and headed to Jinsu Higher Education Academy.

When we arrived, fourth period was already in full swing.

“It’s a bit awkward to go in now…”

Even though I was in the middle of a class, I was a bit embarrassed to walk in confidently.

Moreover, it was obvious that the rumor would have spread throughout the academy since such a major accident occurred right before and not when nothing was going on.

I had no choice but to spend my time absent-mindedly at the back of the academy building, where the students usually sit and smoke, until just before the end of fourth period.

‘It’s quiet.’

This place was always a place where there was at least one or two thugs in class, no matter the time.

But surprisingly, I couldn’t see any of those guys now.

Something like that happened last week, and a lot of third-graders and some of their classmates are already in detention, so unless their brain-dead, they’ll at least have some sense and buy it.

I lay down on the bench and looked up at the sky, listening to the loud noises of kids taking physical education classes on the playground in the distance as background music.

I felt somewhat at ease.

Ever since I first heard about my past karma through Jeong Eun-ji, the unknown feeling that had been making me feel uneasy was much less.

Of course, if you ask me if this is enough because of what I have done over the past few years, I will say that not all the children who have been harmed by me…

– Ding dong ding-dong~

With the clear ringtone ringing throughout the academy, the inside became very noisy at the same time, so much so that it could be heard even from the outside.

The bell signaling lunchtime rang, and I headed to the classroom of my class, the third grade.

As I walked along the hallway and climbed the stairs, I felt that many people who recognized me were gathered around and whispering among themselves.

I didn’t look in that direction and headed straight to my class.

The eyes of the people pouring out of Class 3 turned to me at the same time, and several of the boys I often played soccer with shouted at the same time.

“Huh? Hey, Han Seongjin!”

“It’s Han Seong-jin!”

“Hey, have you been discharged from the hospital? Oh, I got an arm cast.”

When a guy I was really close to came home with a leg injury before the sports day, he was busy teasing me for having a bad leg, but he wasn’t yet at the point where he called me a bad arm, so he seemed a little reluctant to make a comment.

Well, no matter how close we have become these days, it’s not like we don’t know about their previous notoriety or temperament, so maybe this is natural.

The boys came up to me, pounded my chest with their fists, and gave their own congratulations as they passed.

One of them called me and pointed with his chin in the direction of the classroom.

“Hey, go take care of your girlfriend. She’s been so dazed all week that she can’t even hear who’s calling her.”

Even though Yuri had already seen me regain consciousness on Monday, I think he was still in a bad state at the academy, perhaps because he didn’t have much time to see me.

“Oh, okay. I should go. Thank you.”

Everyone headed to the Ururu student cafeteria, and I ran back toward the classroom and ran into some latecomers who were just starting to come out.

Most of the girls who still felt uncomfortable with me averted their gaze as soon as we made eye contact and hurriedly headed to the restaurant.

And while I was hospitalized, I saw a face every day, but I found a face I wanted to see again.

“Yuri.”

“Seongjin!!!”

Yuri looked at me with joy as if she were a separated family member, and she immediately ran up to me and hugged me.

We hugged Yuri with her right arm that wasn’t in a cast, and Yuri nuzzled her face like a puppy on my chest.
Our couple welcomed our reunion for the first time in a day.

“Does your arm still hurt a lot? Is your head okay? Are you overdoing it for no reason? Are you not forcing yourself to leave the hospital when it hasn’t completely healed? And-“

“Yuri.”

Yuri started asking questions as anxious as a mother who had abandoned her child to the water, and I calmed her down by gently caressing her cheek.

“I came out because they said I could be discharged from the hospital. It’s not all better, and there’s a bandage on my head, so I’ll have to be a little careful with a while.”

“I see… I see. Ha… I’m glad…”

He came to visit me every day, and even yesterday evening, but when he saw me at the academy, it felt different again, and Yuri let out a sigh of relief.

Behind her, Eunji Jeong was looking at me with a complex expression.

“Hey, didn’t you even say a word to congratulate me on your discharge?”

“… Congratulations.”

“Just stab her in the side and bow to her.”

“You go to the restaurant first. I have something to talk with Yuri for a moment.”

“What is it? I was planning to go with Yuri.”

“That kind of dirty conversation that only couples have?”

“Miss, you’re saying something strange again.”

Jeong Eunji must have sensed that I had no intention of telling her, so she pursed her lips and headed toward the restaurant first.

All the other kids rushed to the cafeteria, so only me and Yuri were left in our empty classroom.

“Yuri, I’ve been thinking about it for a while since you mentioned that bastard Gong Young-bae last time.”

“Yeah, so?”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to do anything to Gong Young-bae right now.”

“What? But that son of a bitch-“

“But that doesn’t mean we can just close our eyes and move on.”

Yuri, who thought I was just trying to cover up what happened with Gong Young-bae, was about to get angry, but her tone calmed down for a moment after hearing the next words.

“I will never let that bastard go away just for daring to make my woman look like such a piece of shit. Part of me wants to chase him right away and set him back… But it would be very difficult if he gets caught up in another violent argument as soon as he gets out of the hospital.”

Nod.

“I don’t have any solid evidence, so there’s nothing I can do if that bastard catches him. I’m going to be so pissed that I’m going to die, but I can’t blow up Gong Young-bae just because of that.”

“But that bastard is definitely-!”

“I’m sure he did something stupid. It was sexual harassment that can’t be ignored on a sports day. So I think it would be better to do it this way.”

“How?”

I told Yuri what I thought.

Yuri, who heard that, sometimes frowned, and sometimes listened calmly.

And after hearing my whole plan, he looked at me with a very shocked expression.

“That means… In the end, you have to show it at least once. You and me.”

“I guess so?”

“I don’t like it. You’re the only one who can see me.”

“And I’m not good at acting. I don’t want to see that bastard, Gong Young-bae. Make sure that you and Gong Young-bae don’t talk to each other or run into each other as much as possible.”

“I know that well, as your boyfriend. Don’t worry. Until the end, I will make sure that you and Gong Young-bae don’t leave anything behind or cause any confusion. Can you be patient just a little bit? For the sake of revenge for both of us?”

“That’s… Yes, I’ll try to endure it as much as I can. Instead, you have to hug me every time that happens.”

Here, I could tell without saying that ‘hug me’ did not mean a simple hug.

“Are you going to do that even if I don’t say that?”

As I said that, I lightly kissed the back of Yuri’s neck and gently massaged her breasts.

“Aang…♡ Bye, pervert, this is the classroom…♡ What if I get caught?”

“Isn’t it thrilling?”

“Huh…♡ As soon as I got discharged, already… Ugh…♡”

“Isn’t it better now than just repeating sorry like a parrot?”

“… Yes♡”

Yes, this is much more comfortable and suits me well.

Han Seong-jin, suffering from feelings of guilt and self-destruction and unable to do anything but say he was sorry, died in the hospital.

It was a long time of humiliation, a tiresome car.

From today, I am truly reborn as a new Han Seong-jin.

#####

Gong Young-bae felt his heart sink when Han Seong-jin appeared with a large bandage on his head and a cast on his left arm.

He knows all about Yuri Yu-ri’s route home from school, so he reveals the expected route to the bullies and deliberately approaches Yu-ri Lee to waste time.

Meanwhile, Eunbong’s thugs kidnap the two and use them as bait to lure Han Seongjin.

Han Seong-jin takes care of things among his scoundrels, and once the work is done, he and Lee Yu-ri are released.

The plan must have been perfect.

Eunbong’s bad guy broke his promise, and even Han Seongjin wasn’t dealt with properly, so he showed up at the academy again after just a week.

‘Damn… Damn… What should I do now? Seongjin Han If that bastard comes to interrogate me… No, no. I was definitely a victim in that incident. It was all set up to make it look that way. There’s no way you would have noticed. Because everyone who knows the truth has been caught! Even if they come and make a fuss, if they catch me…’

As he was about to rush back to class after lunch, feeling like he was walking on thin ice, a voice he didn’t want to hear called out to him.

“Hey, Gong Young-bae.”

“…!”

He thought about running away for a moment, but he was afraid it would look even weirder, so he barely answered in a trembling voice.

“Why, why…?”

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

Gong Young-bae’s heart beat harder.

‘Nothing will happen. That kid doesn’t know anything. Anyone can see that I am one of the victims.’

As I followed Han Seong-jin to the stairs leading to the rooftop, my heart pounded even more.

Because on that rooftop was the place where the deal between him and the Jin Su-gyo gangsters was made.

‘Seo, do you really know? Probably not, probably not…’

And the two faced each other in a slightly larger space just before going out through the rooftop door.

Gong Young-bae felt as if his heart was going to jump out at any moment.

And that moment.

“Thank you.”

Han Seong-jin grinned and held out his uninjured right hand.

“… What?”

“When Yuri was kidnapped, you tried to prevent it somehow. Even though there were so many bastards. Thank you for trying to protect Yuri. I came to tell you that.”

It seemed as if the tremendous tension that had enveloped my entire body was relieved all at once.

‘Thank God, I didn’t know that.’

The fact that Han Seong-jin, who was not there, knows this fact means that there is a 100% probability that he heard the story from Yu-ri Lee.

That means that Yuri Lee also recognized his actions as trying to protect herself.

Although the result was very twisted, in the end, they succeeded in lowering Han Seong-jin’s guard and slightly changing Yu-ri Lee’s perception, so half of the goal was achieved.

“Hey, my arms are falling off. Please shake my hand. At best, I just say thank you.”

“Oh, that’s right. Look at my mind. It’s okay. I didn’t do it to get praise.”

Gong Young-bae belatedly shook hands with Han Seong-jin.

‘I tried to protect Yuri when you were away. Yuri knows that too. I have a chance of winning too.’

And I smiled secretly.

‘Han Seong-jin… I will take back the glass that was stolen. Yuri is not a guy like you, he suits me much better.

Gong Young-bae had no doubt that the situation was tilted in his favor.