I Was Possessed By An Unknown Manga

EP.25 The importance of communication

When I entered, Mizuki’s desk, the teacher burdened with our class, was right at the corner in the teacher’s office.

Usually, the front of the door was treated as the worst seat because the wind comes in, but it seemed that her seat had been assigned here because she was a new teacher who came in this year.

“Hello, teacher.”

“Uh, come in.”

The teacher raised her head up as if she wanted to keep an eye on me because it was career counseling, but I quickly sat down because she was not that tall and sitting on a chair, and I thought she would fall over the chair as she was leaning her neck back.

Then Mizuki’s neck returned to a normal angle.

Pushing back the chair to make it easier to see, I said,

“I think you can tell me, now that we’re at the same eye level.”

“Well! Hold on a second…”

The teacher, who heard me, hurriedly opened the student record next to the desk.

“You can take your time.”

“No, I wasn’t nervous at all?!”

Mizuki looked back and forth in the student record, shouting like that, and stopped on the page where my picture was attached.

“Wow, let’s see. Korean, Math, English, Physical Education…”

The teacher, who was looking at the grades of each subject one by one, shut the student record as if there was nothing more to see.

“Kim-kun what’s your dream?”

I answered the sudden question, rubbing my neck.

“I’m not sure yet. If I don’t have anything to do, I’m thinking about taking over my parents’ family business.”

Then Mizuki opened her eyes wide.

“Well, if you don’t mind, what are your parents doing?”

“They run a small restaurant in Setagaya.”

“Your parents run a restaurant?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

“No, there’s not. ?”

Mizuki, who seemed nervous at first, gradually loosened her expression as the conversation progressed.

Perhaps the tension of the career counseling had been eased for the first time.

“Then what subject are you most confident in, Kim-kun?”

“If I have to choose, I think it’s math or science. I think there are a lot of difficult vocabulary in Korean, so it’s a close call.”

When the teacher heard my answer, she muttered, taking notes hard in her notebook.

“Yes, yes, math and science. Then, wouldn’t it be better for Kim-kun to go to the department of science and engineering?”

When I heard something I never wanted to hear again, I unconsciously stiffened my face.

“No. That’s not true.”

“Huh?”

“I think it’s a complacent attitude to choose a job just because you’re good at a particular subject. I want to do what I want.”

I didn’t know anything else, but I didn’t want to go to an engineering university in this life.

The teacher was surprised to hear my firm rejection, and looked like a surprised rabbit, but I couldn’t help it from a position where I was stimulated by PTSD.

“I see. I was careless. Being good and liking are different.”

As the teacher said that, she laughed, covered the notebook, and put her hand on her knee with a serious look on her face.

“In fact, I didn’t want to be a teacher when I was a student.”

It was quite an interesting story, so I unwittingly started listening.

“Then what kind of job did you originally wanted to do?”

“I’m a little shy, so don’t laugh?”

“Yes, I won’t laugh.”

Then, Mizuki slightly exhaled and inhaled, and said in a voice as if an ant was crawling in.

“Actually, I wanted to be a voice actor. I really liked the male character of the robot manga that I saw on TV when I was in middle school.”

“Ah….”

I understood roughly what she was talking about.

“Anyway! So, I brought it up during career counseling, and my homeroom teacher said something like ‘Mizuki, you can do as many hobbies as you want later, so wouldn’t it be better to have a stable job before that?’ That was the advice. I’m sorry to say this myself, but I was a great honor student in high school. My homeroom teacher probably thought my grades were a waste.”

Certainly, I could see why Mizuki suddenly brought this up.

Because it was the same situation as me now.

“At that time, I thought it was natural to follow the homeroom teacher’s advice. But I regretted it quickly after I went to college according to my school grades. It’s not like other people are living my life anyway, and I decided my future too easily with just one piece of advice.”

Shortly after, Mizuki looked at me in the eye and said in a calm voice.

“So, Kim-kun, think about what you want to be in the future and decide. This is not a teacher, but a senior advice.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Considering the incident, I may have actually been about two years older than the teacher, but it was a story that was I could clearly relate to.

If I could go back in the past, I wouldn’t have become a graduate student, I would have immediately gotten a job at a company or set up a chicken restaurant.

When a strange silence came after the conversation, the teacher said, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

“I’m sorry. Was I talking too much? As I was talking with Kim-kun, I thought about the past.”

“No, it was quite helpful.”

As I answered to Rika earlier, it was an opportunity to think again about the future I was vaguely thinking about.

I still didn’t know what I wanted to do or what I wanted to be, but I was sure I would find out before I graduate.

I decided to ask one more question before leaving the teacher’s office.

“Do you like your current job?”

It would not be very pleasant if the job that was recommended and chosen was teacher.

However, nodding her head without any hesitation, Mizuki said,

“Yes, I think my current job is good, too. It feels strangely rewarding when I teach students.”

Rattle-

Having heard the answer I wanted, I pulled my chair and got up.

Then I bowed slightly to the teacher who stood up at the same time.

“I’m going to go to my extra activities now.”

“All right, go on.”

Mizuki smiled kindly and waved.

Maybe she would become a good teacher in the future.

***

It was when Nanae Mizuki heard about Kim Yoo-sung’s parents that she realized that she had misunderstood unilaterally.

“Kim-kun, what is your future dream?”

“I’m not sure yet. So, if I don’t have anything to do, I’m thinking of inheriting my parents’ family business later.”

When the family business was first mentioned, Mizuki thought of the Yakuza family without realizing it.

It must have been because of the rumors about Kim Yoo-sung, previously circulating at school, and the prejudice created because of his appearance.

So, Mizuki unconsciously quivered and asked another question.

“Well, if you don’t mind, what are your parents doing?”

Then, Kim Yoo-sung slightly closed his eyes, opened them, and replied in a calm voice.

“They run a small restaurant in Setagaya.”

As soon as she heard that, Mizuki felt like she was beaten hard in the back of her head.

“Your parents run a restaurant?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

“Huh? No, there’s not. I really want to go there later.”

She was a fool.

If she thought about it a little bit, she would have quickly noticed that the rumors about Kim Yoo-sung were only nonsense, but instead she immediately believed it.

He wasn’t the kind of bully she thought he was.

Rather, he might be a filial son who ran a restaurant day and night and was proud of his parents who raised their only son.

She was afraid by her own quick guess.

After the misunderstanding was resolved very simply, Mizuki was able to naturally proceed with the consultation of Kim Yoo-sung with a smile.

He was still a big man with a blunt face she wasn’t used to, but it didn’t feel as scary as before.

It was when they talked about going on to school that the consultation suddenly stopped.

“No. That’s not true.”

When she rashly recommended that he should set his career in a science and engineering university, Kim Yoo-sung refused in a firm voice.

“I think it’s a complacent attitude to choose a job just because you’re good at a particular subject. I want to do what I want.”

As soon as she heard him, Mizuki recalled memories of the past.

About seven years ago, when she was still 17, her homeroom teacher said to her,

‘Mizuki, you can enjoy your hobbies as much as you want later, so wouldn’t it be better to have a stable job before that?’

In fact, in retrospect, it was an irresponsible advice that anyone could give.

If she were in the teacher’s shoes, she would never have said that to a student.

At least challenge your dream, because if you give up without even challenging yourself, you’ll regret it later.

She wanted to convey her feelings to Kim Yoo-sung.

So, she talked about the rambling past, and Kim Yoo-sung listened to Mizuki from beginning to end.

After the whole story, she was suddenly shy.

It was because as she tried to explain her experiences by mixing them, she felt like she said everything, even what she didn’t have to say.

“I’m sorry. Was I talking too much? As I was talking with Kim, I thought about the past.”

“No, it was quite helpful.”

Kim Yoo-sung nodded as she said so.

When she said he could go back, with confidence, Kim Yoo-sung asked Mizuki a question just before he got up from his seat.

“Do you like your current job?”

The answer to that came right out without thinking.

“Yes, I think my current job is good, too. It feels strangely rewarding when I teach students.”

Then, Kim Yoo-sung nodded as if he was satisfied, greeted her, and left the teacher’s office.

After finishing the last consultation, Mizuki, who was left alone in the teacher’s office, looked down at the seat where he had stayed for a while and firmly resolved.

From now on, she wouldn’t judge a student just by his appearance.