Chapter CXIII - One Problem After Another

The first day of school felt never-ending as Arthur listened to the final lecture, eager to leave as soon as possible. Luckily, the gossip temporarily died out, giving Arthur some peace of mind; however, he knew things wouldn’t stay that way tomorrow.

Despite not making their relationship public yet, people were slowly becoming suspicious as not only were they constantly together, but Irene didn’t hesitate to rest against his shoulder or caress his forearm during breaks. Maybe it would’ve been less suspicious had she acted like that with other friends, but the treatment was exclusive to Artur, causing more than a few to show jealousy.

Be it their gaze or malicious comments, Arthur knew he had to ride out the storm, but things took a sudden turn when Eun Ae, a girl from their class who often kept quiet, came up to him with a question right before the last class started.

“Hey, Arthur?” She mumbled, looking a bit nervous.

She used the opportunity to approach while Irene wandered off with Nabi, causing many of his classmates, including Max, who was still around, to think she was about to confess.

“Yeah?” Arthur raised an eyebrow suspiciously, noticing that a few people were listening in secretly.

“My Mom brought up something a few days ago, and I wanted to ask if it were true.” She paused for a second, averting her gaze. “D–did your grandfather get into an accident?”

“Huh?” Arthur mumbled, surprised that she so bluntly approached him about such a topic.

“P–please. . . don’t take me wrong,” she lowered her voice, showing hints of genuine sympathy. “I wasn’t sure if she was mistaken, but if it’s true, I just wanted to tell you to stay strong and that I hope he recovers quickly.”

Eun Ae. Though she hardly ever spoke to him, her attitude was day and night compared to some of their other classmates. And while he hesitated to answer at first, a memory of him overhearing her mentioning that her grandmother passed away during their first semester suddenly resurfaced.

Arthur believed that she must’ve understood the difficulty of his situation and wished to provide comfort as someone who went through a similar experience.

“That’s right,” Arthur confirmed, dropping his gaze from sleepiness that looked no different from sorrow when viewed from the sidelines. “He suffered a stroke and is now in a coma.”

“So it was true. . .” Eun Ae’s expression softened. “Sorry for bringing it up, but please stay strong. I’m sure he’ll wake up.”

She didn’t hesitate to step away, making Arthur’s gaze follow along.

“Thanks,” Arthur said, stopping her in place with her back turned.

Without saying a word or looking back, she nodded and continued walking.

“Ready for class?” Irene’s voice reached Arthur’s ear as she dropped next to him, greeting him with a smile. However, noticing he wasn’t paying much attention, she leaned in with a curious gaze and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Arthur answered, returning the smile. “I’ll tell you later.”

Class started shortly, and Arthur's attention drifted into the endless void as his eyes became heavy not even ten minutes into the lecture. With the classroom’s murmur becoming unnoticeable, Arthur’s mind achieved tranquility.

“Hey. . .” Arthur heard sweet whispers of his loving girlfriend as her hand gently caressed his back, waking him up from his nap. “Don’t fall asleep during class.”

Shaken awake, Arthur accidentally dropped his pencil on the table, causing enough noise to grab the teacher’s attention.

“Does my class bore you, Arthur?” Miss Seong sighed, stopping mid-lecture. Arthur wasn’t sure how to respond without sounding disrespectful, but his blank stare only made things worse. “If you got nothing to say, why don’t you visit the principal’s office.”

It was clearly not a question but an order.

“Miss Seong, he’s just exhausted. Please understand–” Irene tried defending him, but the teacher silenced her with a raised hand.

“Irene. While I admire your loyalty to a friend in need, he must take responsibility for misbehaving during class.”

“But–” Irene tried to protest but felt Arthur’s hand touch her shoulder.

“It’s fine,” he reassured her before looking at Miss Seong. “I’m sorry, Miss Seong. I’ll see myself out.”

While annoying, Miss Seong wasn’t in the wrong, seeing as sleeping in class was disrespectful and considered misbehaving, regardless of reason. Of course, Irene wasn’t happy about it, and the snickering from a few of their classmates made his friends’ blood boil, but at least he could walk off some of the fatigue. Though it didn’t last long, the nap he took reinvigorated him, giving him the energy he needed to pull through the day.

“Excuse me, sir?” Arthur peeked through the door after knocking twice, looking for Irene’s uncle.

Seated behind his desk, going over some paperwork for the school, Chang Ji-Min gestured for Arthur to come in.

“Arthur?” He adjusted his glasses, leaning back. “What can I do for you?”

“You remembered me. . .” Arthur mumbled with a meek smile as he walked in with one hand rubbing his neck.

“Putting in the effort to remember our students is the least I should do. However, you don’t think of me as irresponsible enough to let my niece and her friends stay at our vacation home without knowing who they are?” He chuckled, appearing to be in a good mood. “Now. What brings you to my office during class hours?”

“Miss Seong sent me to your office after I had fallen asleep by accident.” Arthur lowered his gaze, knowing how bad his explanation sounded.

The last thing he wanted was for Irene’s relatives to have a poor impression, especially after receiving help prior to the school trip not long ago.

“I hope you understand that you’re guilty of misconduct?” he asked.

“Yes. . . I’m fully prepared to brace for the consequences.”

Chang Ji-Min sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. “If anyone were to hear you speaking like that, who knows what they’d think of our school.”

“Pardon?” Arthur looked up, unsure what he meant.

“You’re at school, not a military base.” He chuckled, placing one hand on the table. “While I considered explaining why your actions were disrespectful, it seems there’s no need for that.”

“I see. . .” Arthur defaulted to a neutral response.

“Last time I checked, falling asleep wasn’t a crime. Heck, even I’m guilty of doing so more than once or twice. Especially in college, but you didn’t hear that from me.” He laughed, trying to make light of the situation. “However, I don’t believe we should just ignore what happened. Would you mind telling me the reason why you dozed off?”

“I’m not one to make excuses,” Arthur said.

“There’s a difference between making excuses and defending yourself,” Chang Ji-Min pointed out, leaning forward with his elbows resting on the table. “Was it stress?”

Arthur stayed quiet for a second before letting out a sigh. “You know about my grandfather, don’t you?”

“It’d be irresponsible of us if we didn’t,” he said, meeting Arthur’s gaze. “I’m sorry about what happened to your grandfather. I wish him a fast recovery.”

“Thank you,” Arthur lowered his voice.

“Guessing by your tone and the fact that my niece hasn’t mentioned it once, you probably wished to keep it a secret, but the hospital made sure to warn us that one of our students had no guardian looking over them. You were lucky that Mr. Jong Yoon-gi took it into his own hands to look over you and your sister in the meantime.”

“I’m grateful for Mr. Jong’s help,” Arthur said, looking out the window. “But despite that, with so much to deal with, I guess fatigue caught up to me.”

He wasn’t sure if it was sympathy or his ties to Irene, but Arthur appreciated her uncle’s approach. However, he wondered if things would be the same had he caught wind of them dating.

Grabbing a pen, Irene’s uncle grabbed a small piece of paper and began writing on it before handing it over to Arthur.

“Here. Take this.”

“What is it?” Arthur had a look.

“Give it to the school nurse, and give yourself time to rest up.”

“Is. . . this really okay?” Arthur furrowed his brows.

“If it weren’t, I wouldn’t have offered. However, promise me you’ll apologize to Miss Seong when you get the chance and will try your best not to let this happen again.”

“I’ll try. . .” Arthur said, unsure if he could do it or not.

“That’s all I can ask. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have paperwork to return to.”

“Thank you again, sir.” Arthur bowed and took his leave before heading to the nurse’s office.

“Almost there. . .” Arthur mumbled, heavily breathing while holding onto Ryung’s wrist and infusing Qi.

As if the first day of school wasn’t hard enough, Arthur had to go and perform a treatment on Ryung, something that became part of his daily routine. However, despite his best efforts, there were no visible signs of improvement. While he knew healing would take time and that he needed to be patient, Arthur couldn’t help but hope for a miracle that would save Ryung quickly.

There was one such miracle possibly awaiting as Arthur was just about to reach Ryung’s heart through the unclogged Qi pathway he’d been working on along his right arm. If the heart wasn’t as tainted as the rest of his body with impurities, Arthur could speed up the healing and help keep him stable without worry. But reality hit hard as Arthur’s worst nightmare proved true.

“W–what?!” The shock took a second to sink in as Arthur witnessed unimaginable horror. “How?”

Ryung’s heart was brimming with impurities, causing Arthur to wonder how he even lived as long as he did with all that pressure devouring him from within. He let go of Ryung’s wrist and sighed, knowing that continuing further for the day would result in devastating backlash from which Arthur might not recover.

Impurities. They are negative energies that gather within all living things. Even those that regularly cleanse their bodies will always have at least some within them. While Arthur’s body was tainted beyond imagination when he reincarnated, the source of his impurities likely differed from Ryung’s.

Negative emotions, substance abuse, unhealthy lifestyle, stress, and similar things caused impurities to gather. Considering how much flowed through Ryung’s body, the thought of suicide must’ve crossed his mind at least a dozen times.

It was heartbreaking for Arthur to realize how much he misjudged Ryung’s suffering, making him lose confidence in his understanding of those around him. He found himself haunted by inexperience of having close bonds such as a family, allowing anxiety to resurface while struggling to even imagine how Sophie truly felt behind the smile she showed whenever he was around.

Regardless of how he looked at it, Arthur couldn’t ignore the question of what exactly drove Ryung to such a dark place, let alone what gave him the strength to keep pushing, working two shifts every day, all while supporting his grandchildren. If Arthur ever had any doubt whether Ryung loved them or not, it just got dispelled.

“What was it you did that got you this way? Just how much guilt haunts you?” Arthur whispered, void of all judgment.

Arthur wished only to help save Ryung from the darkness cast upon him, and while cleansing the impurities within his flesh would significantly improve his life, unless he faced the source itself, it would only be a matter of time before it all returned. The secrets Ryung kept had to come to light for things to change, and regardless of what they were, Arthur swore he’d stay by his side and help one step at a time.

Life in the new world proved difficult and unpredictable, just like the old. However, things were much different this time around as Irene gently grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the building after patiently waiting for him to finish like she always did.

“Feeling hungry?” Irene asked.

She knew the answer already, making him smile as he pulled her in for a quick kiss. “Yeah, and we could also stop by the park while the sun’s still out.”

“In that case, I know just the place!” Irene smiled, reminding him of something very important.

He was not alone anymore.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.