A few months had passed since then, and it was almost time for Johan and his fellow students to graduate from middle school.
Johan was getting ready for school in his room.
Once he was ready, he went to the kitchen and started preparing breakfast for himself and his mom.
Johan had learned how to cook ever since his mom went completely blind a couple of years ago.
Since then, Johan had been taking care of her and the house, making sure that his mom didn't get involved with drugs again.
He succeeded because he never let that preacher talk his mother into changing churches.
Unfortunately, the preacher was still in contact with his mother because she thought he was an innocent person.
But actually, he was anything but innocent.
Johan didn't have anything to prove his point, but he still didn't allow that preacher to meet his mom.
They only talked on the phone usually when Johan was around because Mrs. Seong couldn't use the phone without seeing anything, so she needed help.
The preacher was not stupid enough to try and convince Mrs. Seong to do drugs because of that.
Meanwhile, Johan was preparing breakfast, and he made some sandwiches for himself and his mom.
Johan took their sandwiches and knocked on his mother's room door.
"Hey Mom."
"Johan? Come in,"Mrs. Seong said.
Johan opened the door and saw that his mother was awake but still in bed.
She couldn't actually do anything without any help, so it was better for her to stay in bed.
"Johan, you don't have to cook for me every day," Mrs. Seong said.
"Mom, you have been saying this for years now," Johan said as he sat near her. "But you should focus more on your studies than on the house," Mrs. Seong said.
"Yeah, yeah, we will talk about that, but eat first," Johan said, completely ignoring her. He gave her a sandwich that Mrs. Seong held in her hands before she took a bite.
"That's so good," Mrs. Seong said.
"Thanks, but now eat without talking," Johan said, and his mother looked annoyed at him. "Young man, I am your mother. You are not my father, so don't tell me what to do."
"Yeah, whatever."
"Listen to your mom," Mrs. Seong said, but Johan didn't say anything. They had their breakfast, and Johan said, "I will be going to school now, Mom."
"Have a good day, Johan. Make me proud," Mrs. Seong smiled. Johan also smiled at her before he left her room and stepped outside of his house, where he saw his caretaker there.
"You are late."
"Sorry, I was busy with my own house chores."
"Don't be late next time, okay!"
Johan said, but his tone wasn't what you call friendly because he didn't usually tolerate such things.
The only reason he didn't fire her was that his mother actually liked this woman, and they were kind of friends, and she had been taking care of Mrs. Seong for a while now.
Johan was about to leave for his school, but his caretaker stopped him and he asked, "Yes?"
"My salary?"
"Oh,"
Johan remembered that he still had to pay her for her work, and it was the beginning of the month. "Wait a minute."
Johan reached out to his back pocket and took out his wallet and handed it to his caretaker. "Keep it."
She took the wallet, and it was filled with bills. She was both shocked and amazed that Johan had this much money on him, but he didn't even care.
"This is too much."
"If you don't want it, then just take your salary and give the rest back or keep it all, but don't ask me for salary again."
"Okay."
"That money should last this year, I believe."
"Yes."
"Then I will be going now. Take care of Mom and the house."
Johan left after saying that to his caretaker and walked towards his middle school.
As Johan was walking towards the school building, he was deep in thought and completely ignored Mira and Zack calling out to him.
"Johan!"
"Oi Johan!"
Zack ran after him and placed his hand on Johan's shoulder from behind, which made Johan snap out of his thoughts.
By pure instinct, Johan hit Zack with a back kick, which hurt him badly.
"That hit... it fucking hurts!"
Zack felt the hit but didn't show it in front of Mira. He looked at Johan, who seemed amazed.
"He endured it? Maybe I should've used more power. Zack is different from the rest, after all," Johan thought to himself.
Zack had different thoughts: "That asshole hits really hard, but where did he learn Taekwondo?"
"Johan! Zack! Are you okay?"
Mira ran up to them, concerned about Zack. However, Zack shrugged it off, saying "I am fine Mira, it's a normal greeting between us."
Mira looked at him dumbfoundedly, and Johan awkwardly smiled and said, "Yeah, Mira, it's our way of saying hi to each other."
"Oh, I see. It's fine then," replied Mira, who, being herself, believed them.
Zack was now back to his usual self, and the three of them started walking towards the school building. Then, Zack asked Johan, "Hey, Johan."
"Yes, Zack?"
"Have you heard about the middle school boxing championship?"
"Yeah, you will win, don't worry," replied Johan with a smile.
However, Zack shook his head and suggested, "Why don't you participate too? You are pretty good yourself."
Johan was surprised by Zack's straightforwardness, as he wasn't expecting to be challenged to a fight. "You want me to participate against you?" Johan asked, surprised.
"Yeah, come on, it will be fun!" said Zack.
Johan smirked and thought to himself, "Zack might be able to make me go serious."
"Alright, Zack, I'm in. May the best man win!" Johan said as he shook Zack's hand.
Meanwhile, Mira was just standing there, completely zoned out. She then said, "Guys, why are you always fighting?"
Mira spoke, but she was utterly ignored by Zack and Johan, who were running towards the school building in a childish rivalry.
"I won!"
"No, I won!"
"Fuck it, you clearly lost!"
"Fuck you too, I genuinely won!"
Zack and Johan were still arguing over who had won the race when some students surrounded them, particularly surrounding Zack and asking him the same thing.
"Why are you messing with our boss, you midget?"
"Do you want to die, asshole?"
"Stay away from Boss Johan."
All of the shady-looking middle schoolers surrounded Zack, but he punched the shit out of them all and then looked at Johan.
"What kind of lackeys do you have?"
"I don't even know their names," replied Johan before he left for his classroom. Once he entered the classroom, everyone bowed down to him.
"Welcome, sir."
"Good morning, sir."
"We salute you, sir!"
Johan was used to these kinds of greetings because his classmates had found a way to save themselves from beatings by following a few simple rules.
"Don't mess with Johan."
"Stay respectful towards Johan."
"Hand over your lunch money to Johan."
"Beat anyone who messes with Johan."
"Last but not least, stay respectful towards Johan."
These were simple rules that most of the school used to follow to stay out of Johan's radar.
Johan walked into his classroom and gave a sweet smile to everyone. "Hey, guys."
"Yes, sir," they replied.
"I actually lost my wallet this morning. Can you spare me some cash?" he asked in a sweet tone, but the students felt like it was a demand.
In just a few minutes, Johan had a whole bunch of money and wallets that were given to him by the students. He chose one good-looking wallet and kept all the money from the others for himself.
But Johan wasn't heartless. During lunch break, he treated everyone with their own money, and everyone was happy because they thought that Johan actually cared about them. In reality, he just felt pity after taking their money.
After school, Johan returned to his house and lay on his bed, thinking about something.
"Boxing championship, huh?"
He got up from his bed and shifted his gaze to his wall, which had a big-ass shelf filled with different trophies and awards, all with one name on them: Johan Seong.
The kids in school were all talented, but their talent didn't hold a candle to Johan's copy talent and his gift given by God of fortune, the [Mind's eye].
But the shelf was almost filled, with one place still empty. Johan tapped the empty spot and said, "I guess it's time that you got something to keep in."