Chapter IX – The Return

The sun peered into the room. This was the first time Arthur woke up late for his morning run. Glancing at the clock, it was already 6 am. Typically, Sophie left for school at 6:30.

Getting up, Arthur felt a massive difference already. The Qi within him flew naturally and without any resistance. His body fully recovered after the struggle yesterday. It was finally time to put on the uniform. He was just glad that they included pants for men rather than the short skirts that Sophie wore.

With black pants, a white long-sleeved shirt, and a black vest with an emblem of a kite shield engraved with a letter J, the uniform looked badass. That was at least Arthur’s opinion. The only thing he had no clue how to put on was the tie that he saw people around town wearing.

Exiting his room, he made his way downstairs and into the kitchen. Sophie was there already eating breakfast.

“Oh, you’re up,” Arthur commented.

It was the first time he saw her since Monday morning, due to her avoiding him and him going to bed earlier yesterday.

Sophie was shocked to hear Arthur’s voice. She woke up just a bit too late today, hoping he was still on his morning run.

“Arthur!” she yelled out surprised. “You didn’t go running?”

“Neither did you. What’s going on? Did I do something to upset you?” he asked even though he knew that wasn’t the case.

“No, no! Nothing like that. I’ve just been feeling bad.”

“Alright then,” he said slowly approaching her. “In that case, we are going to school together today.”

“I’m leaving any minute now, you should probably go on your own.”

“That’s fine, I can leave right away,” he knew she was lying and wasn’t going to let her go that easy.

“I mean. . .” she stumbled on words.

“Look Sophie, I get that you won’t tell me what’s going on, but you can’t keep avoiding me either. So sit down, eat slowly and we will go together. OK?”

Sophie went silent. Arthur proceeded to struggle with the tie, it was almost as if he was choking himself. Sophie sighed but followed it up with a giggle. She realized just how foolish it was to avoid him, the one person she enjoyed spending time with the past few days. Getting up, she yanked the tie away from him.

“Stand still. . . You look ridiculous.”

With a few simple moves, as if she had been doing it her entire life, she set it up perfectly. Arthur instantly understood that he knew nothing, as it would take him decades to master such a move.

“There you go. Now you look good,” she commented.

It took her a moment to realize the haircut and the clean shave.

“Wow, you truly did glow up for the first day of school. Looking good. I bet all the girls are going to flock to you.”

“There’s the little joker that I love. You done sulking?”

“I wasn’t sulking. . .” she commented with a low voice.

Arthur sighed.

“You’re not going to tell me what’s going on, are you?”

Sophie shook her head. She could have blatantly lied, but there was no point.

“That’s okay too. We all have our secrets.”

“Do you have to go to school today?” she asked worriedly.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. Don’t worry about me so much. I got you as my mentor, so I’ll be ready for anything.”

Arthur placed his hand on her shoulder. He didn’t know what she was going through, but he could not help but pull her into a hug. She was trembling and trying her hardest not to let tears run down her cheeks.

“It’ll be OK, I promise.”

Sophie nodded, hugging him back.

“Isn’t that so sweet, I do love seeing you two like that,” grandpa commented as he entered the kitchen.

The two stepped away from one another.

“Grandpa, you’re up!” Sophie yelled with a brittle voice but managed to cover up the built-up stress. “Off to see Arthur to school?”

“It is his first day after all.”

“You didn’t have to wake up so early grandpa,” Arthur said as he scratched his head.

Ryung already worked hard enough, there was no need to force him up.

“Have you forgotten my words already? I have a gift for you.”

Ryung approached, handing over a handful wrapped box.

“Well? Open it!” he said enthusiastically. “Now I know it’s a bit early since your birthday is by the end of the month, but since it’s your first day of school and you’ll be needing it, Sophie helped me pick one up for you.”

Arthur smiled, opening up the gift. As the paper unwrapped it revealed a boxed new phone. It was one of the newer models, looked expensive at that.

“You really didn’t have to,” Arthur commented but was thankful for it.

“Nonsense! Right, Sophie?”

“Yup! It’ll fit you great, and I’ll teach you the basic uses on the way to school.”

“So you’re going with me?”

“Why wouldn’t she?” grandpa asked confused.

“Ah, I told him that I was leaving earlier today, but since it’s his first day I decided to stay back for a bit,” she explained while hugging his arm.

“Thank you,” he said with a low voice, but with a wide smile on his face. “My first ever birthday gift.”

Though the two did not truly understand just how meaningful his final statement was, Arthur was truly happy. The three embraced in a hug before the siblings left for school.

“Ah! I don’t get it at all!” Arthur yelled as Sophie was dying of laughter. “What sorcery is this? Do all of you know how to do this?”

Every comment he made just made it harder for Sophie to breathe. The two walked to school, it was the first time in a while that Sophie walked. She spent almost half an hour just explaining the menu to him, let alone things like sending messages or using the internet.

“All that’s important is that you know how to answer my calls. Do you need more practice? Swiping is hard, I get it,” she said but instantly started laughing again.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't look at him seriously. She found his lack of understanding of phones adorable.

“No, no. I think I got that part. I just swipe towards the green phone by using my finger.”

“Very good. You’ve practically mastered it,” she teased him.

Arthur wasn’t exaggerating his cluelessness, but at the same time, he was glad that she found it so amusing. Though that mood suddenly shifted as soon as the two arrived on school grounds.

“So this is it, J High,” Arthur commented.

“Yeah. . .” She sighed, then glanced back at him. “Just promise me you won’t let any comments get to you. Keep it low profile for a while.”

“I still don’t get what you mean by that, but whatever.”

She shook her head, there was nothing left she could do. The students all around them already started whispering. Arthur was already a celebrity, but for all the wrong reasons.

“Well, this is your classroom, I’m off to my own. You’ll be OK right?” she asked one last time, clearly worried. “I can still take you home.”

“Go, go!” Arthur shoved her gently. “Meet you outside later today, we can walk back together. Deal?”

“Ari might join us,” she commented. “My best friend, you don’t remember her.”

“That’s fine by me. Now go before you’re late for class.”

Sophie nodded, running off.

Arthur turned towards the front door of the classroom, the hallway was nearly empty already. He was excited. All the school talk made him imagine all sorts of things. Who were the teachers, how are the other classmates and so on. There were too many questions and hardly enough answers.

Taking a deep breath, he finally entered.

The classroom went silent as soon as he walked in. Everyone was aware of his return due to the teachers informing them. Grandpa must have told the principal beforehand.

There were a total of 24 classmates, and the spread between boys and girls was about 50-50. Most didn’t look like much, especially when compared to Sophie. The tables were all separated, with each student having their desk.

Walking up to one of the free desks in the center of the classroom, the silence was finally broken with whispering among the classmates.

“Hey, Arthur! Good to have you back,” said a short girl with shoulder-length hair and glasses.

“Hey,” he responded, the way he talked was different than in the past. “Thanks.”

Some of the classmates looked at him and hardly recognized him. His aura was different, as well as his hairstyle.

“Suicide boy, catch!” yelled one of the classmates while throwing an unknown object with full strength towards Arthur.

Arthur’s gaze caught sight of it, and with inhumane reflexes grabbed it midair right before it hit him. Some students caught wind of this and were stunned unexpectedly.

Opening his wrist to see what was thrown at him, he saw a small white cuboid made of rubber. The girl in front of him adjusted her glasses.

“An eraser?” she looked puzzled.

Arthur squeezed on it with his fingertips noticing how light and soft it was. With a smirk on his face, he grabbed it and turned to the one who threw it.

“Thanks,” Arthur said, flicking the eraser right back at him.

It moved faster than his classmate expected, flying past his guard and hitting him on the shoulder.

“Augh!” he grunted in pain. “What the?”

His friends laughed at him.

“Did that hurt you, Kun? Want to cry about it?” his friend teased him.

“Oh shut up!”

“Ha, I better not insult the mighty Jung Ha-Kun, or I might just see him throwing something at me too! Wouldn’t want him getting hurt again.”

Everyone kept on laughing, meanwhile, Arthur watched as the teacher entered.

“Settle down everybody. Class is about to begin.”

Everyone went quiet and sat down at their desks. Arthur occupied the one in the center of the classroom. Next to him were two guys, one who’d be described by everyone as a total nerd. He wore large framed glasses, had a face full of zits, and was the ugliest haircut out of all. On the other hand, next to him was the most average-looking student there was. This type of person was bound to go unnoticed for the rest of his school life.

“Today we have one of our own returning to the class. Everyone, welcome back Arthur.”

Everyone kept quiet.

“Hey,” the nerd spoke up with a breathy voice.

The teacher cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence.

“Right. . . Well, as you all know, Arthur got into an accident a few weeks ago.”

“Suicide!” another student interrupted with a loud voice, muffled only by his poor attempt at mimicking a cough.

Some students chuckled, but for the most part, everyone kept quiet. It seemed to Arthur like the opinions were mixed on the subject. While it was clear that he had no friends here, it’s not like everyone hated him or wished to bully him. Not that he cared anyway.

“That’s enough Chan-Yeol,” the teacher warned the student. “One more comment out of you and you shall be suspended. Remember, keep your comments and opinions to yourselves. I’m sure Arthur has a lot to deal with already.”

“I apologize,” Chan-Yeol was clearly being sarcastic.

“Anyway. . . As you’ve all been told, Arthur struggles with amnesia, can anyone tell me what that is?”

One of the girls in the class raised her hand. Arthur took note of her mannerism, it was clearly a way to seek approval to answer. Sophie mentioned it but told him not to do that.

“Remember, to answer a question, one must raise their hand and wait for the teacher to call their name out. Though because of your situation, I’d ask you not to do that.”

Maybe since she answers so often, she needs approval. Clearly, Sophie wanted to tell me to just go for it, the teachers probably won’t call my name out in order to not risk me getting it wrong. Well, I’ll let her answer this one.

“Yes Nabi?” the teacher called out.

“Amnesia refers to the loss of memories, such as facts, information, and experiences. It could be either temporary or permanent due to an injury or some other outside factor, such as extreme stress. The severity of also can vary from recent events to a total memory loss.”

“Correct! Sadly for Arthur, we were informed that his amnesia caused him to forget everything, as such we can only hope that it is temporary and that we can help him out during the confused stage. It is not easy trying to find oneself while surrounded by the unknown.”

The teacher sat down finally at his desk.

“My name is Nam Dae-Hyun, I am your homeroom teacher as well as the biology teacher. You’ll be having your first class with me. Arthur, do us a favor and pay attention. If you have any questions, raise your hand and do not hesitate to ask. Sadly I do have to continue with our current lecture.”

He got up again, approaching the board. Today’s lecture was about the human body.

“Now, you all had your homework to do, so we are going to start with a short quiz.”

The students unanimously sighed, except for Nabi.

“Now, now. . . Who could tell me how many bones the human body has?”

Nabi instantly raised her hand, the rest remained silent. The teacher sighed and glanced around the classroom.

“Anyone other than Nabi?”

“There are between 206 up to 213 in an adult human body,” Arthur answered without being called out. “Though there are more in children, roughly around 300. Would you like me to name them?”

Everyone just turned towards Arthur slowly. The teacher coughed, and Nabi huffed.

“Correct. . . Though Arthur, if you know the answer you should raise your hand and wait for permission. Like Nabi for example.”

Shit, I guess that’s not what Sophie meant. . . Well, whatever. I got it correct anyway.

“Alright, next question then. What’s the largest organ in the human body?”

Both Nabi and Arthur raised their hands.

“Arthur. . .” the teacher called out with a low voice. “Remember, this is a trick question.”

“How so?” Arthur questioned, it was a pretty easy one too. “The skin.”

“Correct. Guess you studied up,” he said impressed. “Now then, who knows how many chambers does the heart have?”

Again both Nabi and Arthur had their hands raised.

“Arthur. . .” the teacher sighed.

Nabi slammed her table in annoyance. It was clear that she wanted to answer.

“I don’t mind her answering it if she’s so eager. . .” Arthur said submissively, not wishing to anger her.

“It’s not your fault, so go ahead and answer,” Nabi mumbled, but curiously paid attention to what he had to say.

“Okay then. . . There are four chambers, two upper chambers known as the left atrium and right atrium, along with two lower chambers called the left and right ventricles. The heart also consists of four valves: the tricuspid, pulmonary, mitral, and aortic valves.”

“Correct. . .” the teacher answered shocked by the level of detail. “Very well done indeed.”

“Nerd,” the kid next to him muffled, but Arthur merely shrugged his shoulders at him disinterested.

Why is he only asking questions from chapter three? Did I misunderstand something when Sophie told me that I must be prepared?

The rest of the class proceeded all the same, with Arthur and Nabi answering every question one after another. When the bell finally rang, Arthur sighed.

“What’s up with you?” asked Nabi angrily.

“Huh?”

“You used to be bad at biology, and all of a sudden you know everything. I thought you were supposed to have forgotten everything, not learned everything.”

The others whispered and chuckled at the scene that unfolded.

“My sister told me to study up a bit before returning.”

Nabi sighed. “Whatever, you seem to be doing fine. Name is Nabi, Hwang Nabi. We didn’t get along much, but if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thanks. . .” Arthur answered, watching her as she slowly left the classroom.

Few more people approached him curious to know if he had really forgotten everything. Some even tried to make fun of him, but he wasn’t giving in to the provocation.

Part of him found it fun, the whole school experience. The rest of the school day slowly became uneventful.

I could get used to this.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.