Half Of Me

4

7 am.

There was pink sausage in the side dish. As I was emptying my bowl of rice in the morning, wondering what kind of rice cake it was, I suddenly felt eyes on me. Her adoptive father made her mother stand still and not go into her room. When she stopped spooning, she smiled awkwardly.

"My son is eating well. Is he eating breakfast well these days?"

"I always ate breakfast... because I thought it would be a good idea to eat it."

"Okay, hurry up and eat."

"Do you have anything to say?"

huh? No... Taek-in's mother trailed off her words, and after a while when I ate again, she asked carefully.

"Is school okay?"

"yes."

He looked like he wanted to ask more, but he didn't say anything until I put my bag on my back and left.

"Taekin."

I was still called an awkward name. When I turned around, she put a 50,000 won bill in my hand.

"It's Saturday today and we'll finish early, so come and order whatever you want."

As I closed the door and came out, I felt dirty. I felt like I was a fraud.

Was this due to my low mood in the morning?

"Kim Taek-in."

Hakju called me at the school gate. He simply pointed with his finger next to the latecomers who were lying down and stretching out. You do it too.

"Teacher, I have trouble sleeping..."

"That's your problem."

Shut up and lie down. Even as he got older, his fierce eyes never changed. I knelt down next to the latecomers, wondering why they were afraid of their teachers even though they were 30 years old. Not even a minute had passed, but my arms were already shaking. I can't do it. When I'm in this child's body, I have to eat four meals a day. After 5 minutes, my arms kept breaking and my upper body was shaking. I felt resentful toward North Korea. They're like idiots who just talk and can't even fire an arrow. Was the tunnel dug to connect a real phone? You have to use it, use it. War right now...

"You say you sleep 10 hours a day, but you can't even handle that?"

I didn't even have the energy to raise my head, so I rolled my eyes as much as I could and looked at Hakju.

"Iknow, right."

"Do you know?"

"Of course. These days, high school students have incredible stamina. In our time, though..."

"what?"

"...Don't tell me because it's difficult."

It's not like I'm going to replace it. I heard Hakju say something as if he was shocked, but it didn't reach my ears. I lowered my head, which was difficult, opened my mouth, and focused on breathing. Huff, huff, huff. Let's hold on just a little longer, just a little longer. However, contrary to my expectations, when my upper body was lowered to the point where my face almost touched the floor, the bell rang to end self-study.

"wake up."

As soon as I heard the sound of the crane, I fell to the floor. I don't think I've ever experienced anything this difficult other than when I went to guerrilla training in the military or when I first worked in the market. No, just yesterday there was a playground where a dog was running around.

"Kim Taek-in wake up."

Thanks to Hakju's personal recommendation, I was able to get his trembling body upright. Should I go to my homeroom teacher and tell him I'm leaving early?