After Ten Millennia in Hell-Chapter 63Epilogue - Excursion (1)

A month passed since Kwon Oh-Jin and his lovers crossed over to the Earth where Oh Kang-Woo resided. In the meantime, Kang-Woo cooperated with Oh-Jin and traveled worldwide in search of the Mus, the Celestial of Musca, but to no avail. Not even Oh-Jin, the master of the Black Sky, could find the Celestial who had hidden in a breach between Rifts, with no clues.

‘Well, it’s only natural.’

To make a comparison, it was like trying to find one cockroach under a closet the size of Earth— no, it would be even larger if the Rifts were included.

‘I mean... Oh-Jin could find him if he unleashed the power of the Black Sky.’

However, that was the same as burning down the house with a flamethrower to kill one cockroach. Oh-Jin’s obstinance broke after a month of fruitless searching and he decided to enjoy his break with his lovers instead as Kang-Woo had suggested.

Kang-Woo returned to normal life after Oh-Jin left with his lovers and simply waited for the cockroach to come out from under the closet— like a fisherman waiting for a fish with bait it couldn’t refuse.

***

Summer turned to autumn. The sweltering heat died down and a refreshing light breeze blew. After returning from school, Kang-Hyun handed Kang-Woo a gray piece of paper.

“Father, our school is going on an excursion to the World Cup Park tomorrow.”

“An excursion?”

“Oh, uhh... to be more exact, we’re cleaning up the park as volunteer work, but...”

“It’s just a field trip to the park, then.”

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“Well... yes.”

One could only expect elementary schoolers to clean the park so much. Most would likely hang out with their friends in the park with trash bags in hand instead of picking up trash.

“Is it just your grade?” Kang-Woo asked.

“No, it’s the first and second graders, but the areas we’ll be cleaning are different.”

In other words, Kang-Hee and Lilia would also be going.

“Haaa. An excursion, what a bore... I’d rather they send us home early so I can spend time with our dearest Father.”

“O-Oppa! I’m going to where your class is tomorrow!”

“No. Didn’t you hear the teacher say the first and second graders will be in different areas?”

“It’s not like we’re gonna be cleaning for real! I wanna be with you, oppa!”

“I said no.”

“Whine.”

Lilia reacted apathetically to the excursion while Kang-Hee whined about being separated from her big brother. Neither seemed excited about the excursion which was one of the events elementary schoolers would be most excited about.

‘It’s not good for kids to be too precocious.’

Kang-Woo smiled bitterly, thinking it would be nice if they acted more their age.

Seol-Ah walked over from the kitchen and asked, “Oh, then shall I prepare lunchboxes tomorrow?”

“It’s okay, Mother. We can just buy sandwiches from the convenience store—”

“Convenience store?! Not a chance! I’ll make you lunchboxes!” shouted Seol-Ah, rolling up her sleeves while blazing enthusiastically.

“Mother, umm...” slurred Kang-Hyun, unsure of how to tell her the truth.

Lia and Kang-Hee had yet to experience it but Kang-Hyun had been troubled by the lunchboxes Seol-Ah prepared for his first-grade excursion.

“Hm? What’s wrong? Do you have something in particular you’d like to eat? Shall I make you tonkatsu? Or stir-fried sausage with vegetables?”

“No, it’s not that...”

“Oh, you can’t go without kimbap on an excursion! I’ll make you all kinds like tuna, cheese, bulgogi, and a bunch of others, so don’t you worry!”

Seol-Ah snorted excitedly, her eyes beaming. Her love for her children was always bursting but went beyond the critical point in such special events, which resulted in the lunchbox incident last year— A.K.A. the Oh Kang-Hyun food truck incident.

“Mother, no matter how you look at it, making lunchboxes for thirty people is a bit much.”

“Ngh. Y-You could share with your classmates...”

“They bring their own lunchboxes. Even last year, I had to bring more than three-quarters of it back because we couldn’t finish it all.”

“But...”

“Please don’t make as much as you did last year.”

“Okay...”

Seol-Ah’s shoulders drooped, her expression filled with dejection. Kang-Woo gently patted Seol-Ah’s back and turned to Kang-Hyun.

“Is Si-Ah going tomorrow too?”

“Oh, yes. Of course.”

“I see.” Kang-Woo smiled faintly. “Alright! Have fun tomorrow, son! Take care of Si-Ah too.”

“Yes, I will.”

Kang-Hyun wondered why Kang-Woo asked him to take care of Si-Ah but did not think much of it. After all, he was planning on being with Si-Ah without his father mentioning it.

“Oh, and...” Kang-Woo placed his hand on Kang-Hyun’s head. “Can I ask you something, son?”

“Yes, of course.”

“How much are you willing to sacrifice for your loved ones?”

“Pardon?”

Kang-Hyun tilted his head, unable to understand his father’s unexpected question. It had come so out of left field that his mind momentarily blanked.

“Umm... I...” He hesitated to answer for a moment and then answered with a serious expression, “Everything.”

It could be seen as the boasting of a snot-nosed brat but Kang-Woo could tell from the boy’s eyes that his resolve was true.

“Good.” Kang-Woo smiled and rustled his son’s hair. “You’re definitely my son.”

***

The next day arrived.

“Fill up your trash bags with the trash you see from here to there~! Everyone knows they can’t leave the park, right?”

“Yes!”

“Alright then, get going! A special gift from me awaits the person who picks up the most trash!”

“Yaaaaay!”

“G-Guys! You forgot your trash bags!”

Despite the efforts of the teacher to get the children to pick up trash, the children scattered throughout the park without even taking the trash bags and tongs.

“Haaa,” Kang-Hyun sighed as he grabbed a trash bag and tongs, staring at the children scattering like a flock of sheep unleashed into an open field.

He paid no mind to the children grouping to hang out and picked up cigarette butts, tissues, beverage cans, and the like. Seeing that, one of Kang-Hyun’s friends came up to him.

“God, look at you. Are you seriously picking up trash?”

“What’s wrong with picking up trash when that’s what we’re here to do?”

“Who cares about that? The teacher isn’t saying anything about it.”

Kang-Hyun turned to the direction his friend pointed and saw the homeroom teacher sighing as she stared at the children running around the park. She seemed to have expected this to happen.

“You too, Kang-Hyun. Ditch the bag and let’s hang out.”

“Forget it.”

“Why not?! Look at the teacher, she won’t scold us!”

“It’s not that she won’t. She can’t.”

“Eh? What does that mean?”

“...”

Kang-Hyun clicked his tongue and stared at the dejected homeroom teacher. She was worried she would be accused of child abuse or forced labor by the parents if she strictly disciplined the children.

“Well... it doesn’t matter, does it? It’s called a cleaning but it’s just a picnic.”

“Even if it’s a cleaning in name only, there should at least be minimal results.”

And those minimal results were likely difficult to handle for a female teacher who was only in her second year of teaching. Kang-Hyun stared at the teacher who was picking up trash by herself and resumed picking up trash.

“Mmm... I don’t really get what you mean, but you’re gonna keep picking up trash, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Tsk. What else did I expect from an honor student?”

The boy shook his head and ran to the other children who were choosing who was going to be it for their hide and seek.

“...”

Kang-Hyun turned away from his friend and looked around. Since even the classes in the same grade were separated, he didn’t see Si-Ah anywhere. He would likely be stopped by his homeroom teacher if he tried to go to a different class zone.

“Let’s see...”

Kang-Hyun made sure no one was around and used the Authority of Haste to stuff his bag with trash. He filled five trash bags in an instant. He judged this should be more than enough for a minimal result.

“Teacher.”[1]

“H-Huh? Yes, Kang-Hyun?”

“I filled up my bags.”

“What?”

The wide-eyed female teacher smiled brightly, not having expected a student to actually fill up their trash bag.

“Wow~ You’re the best, Kang-Hyun! I said I would give a special gift, right? You can have—”

“No, I don’t need a gift.”

“R-Really?”

“But can you do something else for me?”

“Like what?”

Kang-Hyun handed the teacher five trash bags filled to the brim and continued, “Please help me so I can go to another class zone.”

“H-Huh? Another class’s cleaning zone?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a little... the zones are managed by different teachers...”

“Is that so...?” Kang-Hyun expressed sadness and took back his five trash bags. “I suppose it can’t be helped, then. I will take these b—”

“N-No! Give me just a second!” The teacher quickly stopped him and took out her smartphone to call someone. “Umm... Oh, yes. Our zone doesn’t have that much trash, so one of my students volunteered to be moved to another zone. Yes... Yes... No, he’s not a weird student. You know Kang-Hyun, don’t you? The one who won gold in the math competition... Oh, yes. That’s him. Yes... Ah, thank you very much!”

Kang-Hyun could tell how the conversation went, seeing how the homeroom teacher was sweating bullets.

“Kang-Hyun! I got permission from the other class’s teacher!”

The homeroom teacher stared at him with beaming eyes and a bright smile. Kang-Hyun smiled and handed her the trash bags filled to the brim.

“You’re the best, teacher.”

Of course, he didn’t forget to praise the teacher who did her best.

1. This is how teachers are referred to in Korea, not by their last name. ☜