Chapter 274 – Chapter 274 Welfare Center
Even while drinking coffee and heading back to work, the conversation between me and teacher Miye continued.
“By the way, did you say you were going to college?”
“Yes.”
“Which college is it?”
“It’s Korea.”
“What…?”
Teacher Miye asked again, wondering if she had heard it wrong.
“It’s Korea.”
“Isn’t that the Korea University I know? I know… Wow…”
While stopping at the signal, Miye teacher turned her head and looked at me with admiration as she sat in the passenger seat, exclaiming.
“You made a lot of money at a young age, so you already ride a Genesis and study well?”
He said something with a confused face.
“I’ve been doing pretty well.”
So, even if Nayoung and other girls fell in love with me and formed a harem, wouldn’t they be able to go to another man?
“Yeah… It looks incredibly good to me.”
Putting her modesty aside for a while, she expressed her good looks. She was quite taken aback by the fact that she had made money on her own and even entered the best university in Korea, but soon said with a face full of envy.
“I hope our son grows up and Ji-hoon becomes like you.”
“It will be.”
“Yeah. Yeah. I really hope that’s the case.”
The signal changes and the car starts moving again.
“If you bring your son to the welfare center, can you teach him a little bit about his studies? He’s 11 years old now.”
Since the public interest itself was only the job of sucking honey, he wanted to do a private job rather than a public service job.
“When you’re 11, it’s always the right time. Now, when you’re 11, it’s not good if you focus too much on studying.”
It’s not too late to let them play to their heart’s content when they’re in full swing and to study in earnest when they start wearing school uniforms.
To be honest, I didn’t want to do it because it bothered me.
“That’s true. But when I got the report card, it was disastrous. I couldn’t go more than halfway, so my heart is in a hurry.”
Master Miye let out a deep sigh.
No matter how much they say it’s time to play, they don’t study too much and fall behind the other kids.
“It’s okay. It’s because I studied hard when I put on my school uniform, so I’m like this now. And if I put on my uniform, my mindset itself will change, so even if I make a quick move at that time, I won’t be late.”
In fact, I returned when I was a little younger and started studying and working in earnest, but I’m not saying it’s very wrong.
“Umm… Yes. You say that you’ve already succeeded by going to Korea University, so let’s watch more…”
Teacher Miye was persuaded by me.
Teacher Miye’s son came to visit me sooner or later, and even if he didn’t give me a small gift, I felt like I should at least express my gratitude.
“Keep it off… It’s all here.”
Time passed and she arrived at the welfare center.
Mi-ye, who stopped the car, sighed, expressing with her whole body that she did not want to go.
“Let’s go. Jihoon-ah.”
“Yes.”
I followed closely and entered the welfare center.
As soon as I went inside, he took me to the inside of the office that I could see, and soon put me into the public rest room.
The rest room was empty, as if all the current public services had gone to work.
“I’m going to have a good rest today. I’m going to work from tomorrow. Oh, by the way, lunch is eaten at 12 o’clock, so you can go and eat it with the public workers you work with at that time.”
“Yes.”
“If you don’t know something, you can ask anyone because me or the public interest kids are nice. Then.”
Teacher Miye left the break room with those words.
“…”
Quite a lot of space.
In the corner of the space, bags were gathered as if they had left the luggage of the public interest.
As a rough rule of thumb, there seem to be 10 bags, so the public interest here seems to be at least 10 people.
Originally, was there so much public interest?
No, I don’t know what kind of public interest the welfare center has in the first place.
Doesn’t that mean that if there are at least 10 people, if there are as many as 15 or even 20 people?
What the hell do you need so many people to do here?
As soon as I remembered that the welfare center was harder than I thought during the public service work place, an ominous feeling came over me.
[I] Have arrived.
[I] I arrived, but it seems that there are many public interests besides me. There must be at least ten people.
I had nothing to do, so I contacted Nayoung.
After a while, I sent a message saying that it had arrived and that there would be a lot of public interest.
When the brightness decreased to turn off the screen automatically, Nayoung’s answer arrived.
[Nayoung] Really? So many? Isn’t that a lot of hard work?
He questioned why there were so many people doing what, and worried as if there must be a reasonable reason for it if there were a lot of people.
[I] I don’t know. Even if it’s hard, how hard will it be?
How hard would you take children who are unsuitable for active duty and make them do hard work?
If there is an accident because you ordered it for no reason, the military manpower office and the welfare center that ordered the work should take all the responsibility.
Still, there were more people than I could have imagined, so anxious thoughts kept running through my head.
I tried to look away and had a conversation with Nayoung.
How long has it been since
As the short hands of the clock approached 12, people began to rush into the public common room.
All of them were wearing black Korea Army T-shirts.
“…?”
They were all young men, and their public interest was evident from the fact that they were wearing those T-shirts.
The public interest looked at me with a questioning expression when I saw a stranger sitting in their lounge, then turned off their attention and stared at the smartphone screen endlessly.
What? I was taken aback for a moment when he didn’t say anything and didn’t even look at me.
Originally, are you new, what is your name, how old are you, etc. Shouldn’t I be asking this question?
The world of active service and the public interest seemed quite different.
When I don’t talk too much and I wonder if I should talk first.
There were other public interest members who came into the break room in the same lively atmosphere wearing Korea Army T-shirts.
“Oh. Is it new?”
A short man who seemed to be full of time asked with a smile.
“Yes. I’m new this time.”
“Hey… Really? But you must be exercising? Your body is really nice?”
“I do it every day.”
I made a private gym at home, and the women and I were using it every day.
Even last weekend, the public service training center had just ended, so I couldn’t use the gym, but I did a wildly different exercise on the bed with the girls, so it was no different from doing it every day.
“Hey… How many threes?”
This public interest seemed to have a lot of interest in the movement, and kept asking various things about the movement.
Even if you can’t do it once, you’ll be seeing each other for more than half a year.
And in order not to become like a delinquent, even if I thought of other people’s eyes, there was nothing big about it, so I told them one by one.
“That’s good. There’s exercise equipment here on the second floor? Do you want to go eat and go out together?”
“Yes… What is it?”
Originally, I was going to spend all my lunch time on the phone with the girls, but I decided to make friends quickly and exercise together during lunch.
“By the way. How old are you?”
“I’m an adult now.”
“Huh…? Now? How did you get in? Even if you can’t, you’ll be able to come in after a year.”
It’s a similar reaction to Miss Miye’s.
He admired it because it was as difficult as picking stars in the sky to enter the public interest immediately after being judged for public interest.
“I’m not sure either. They sent it right away to see if there was something wrong.”
When I said I didn’t know, he took me to the restaurant, laughing as if it was a big deal and saying let’s eat.
The welfare center seems to be providing free lunch to the elderly, and the large restaurant was filled with elderly people who came to eat.
“Eh… What’s on the menu today?”
From a grandfather who is dissatisfied while eating free rice.
“Can’t we go cheaper if we stay?”
Even an old woman who asked for a little wrap, saying there would be plenty of food.
She seemed to want too much to just eat.
And when I saw the public servants guiding the elderly and saying that it was not okay, I could only sigh.
“For reference, to eat here, the food cost is 2,000 won. You have to pay 40,000 won per month.”
“…”
Contrary to the name of the free soup kitchen, it seems that they receive money from the public.
Well, 2,000 won a day is a lot cheaper, but it was not free, so it was a bit like that.
Anyway, after finishing my meal, I left the restaurant and headed straight to the second floor of the welfare center.
I felt like I was much closer than the first time when I warmed up my body and started exercising right away with the public service hyung who came with me.
At one o’clock like that, the public interest except me was away again in the name of work, and only then did I get in touch with Na-young.
As soon as she asked if she could call her, the phone rang as if she had been waiting.
[Is the work hard?]
From the start, I heard a voice worrying about me.
“No, today is the first day, so I didn’t ask for work.”
[Okay? Does the job look difficult then?]
“Um… I don’t know.”
The total number of public servants is twenty-one.
Twenty-one people set up a personal chat room, and conversations about work were constantly coming up, which seemed to be busy.
[If it looks difficult, can’t we ask for a change?]
“Change something, change something. Even if it’s hard, it’s going to be there.”
Even if the work is difficult, it is clear that it will be much more comfortable and easier than living in the military as an active duty soldier.
Above all, since he had worked for a long time in a place that was notorious for being more difficult than the military before returning, there was no way he would feel exhausted with just about anything.
[Then I’m glad…]
Nayoung is relieved as if it were her own business.
She smiled involuntarily at her reaction and opened her mouth.
“Rather than that, Nayoung, how are you?”
[Eh… I don’t think it’s that different from usual. Since Ji-hoon doesn’t have you, isn’t there something the girls are asking us to do somewhere to play as if they’ve been waiting?]
Since it wasn’t easy to talk to Nayoung because of me, it seems that she wants to take advantage of the time I’m not here and push her against Nayoung.
Being not a man, he could laugh lightly and move on.
“Really? Then…”
Fun.
It was so much fun to talk with Nayoung over her phone, so laughter flowed out.
She was on the phone, unaware of the passage of time, and Na-young hung up the phone, leaving her regretful that it might be time for a lecture.
“Shit…”
When the phone hung up, she was left blank with nothing to do.
Time is passing by so fast, but strangely, it feels like it is passing more slowly than usual.
