91. Younger A.U - Program

A few rules were instituted after that night.

Ijin was not allowed to study for more than three hours at a time. Which sounded like a lot, but with the training he had received from the camp, Ijin could easily sit down and study for hours at a time. Sitting and studying required a similar type of focus he had used during training, so it wasn't too difficult. To make sure that he would take breaks, Kang would take frequent walks with him, with the occasional walk to the convenience store for a few snacks.

On top of that, his cut-off time was seven in the evening. After seven in the evening, Ijin was supposed to put away his studying materials and then relax until bedtime. Kang would let him solve whatever he was working on, and then after putting everything away, they would go on their evening walk.

Having a routine like that would allow him to have some structure in his life and honestly, Ijin couldn't complain. It was one of the easiest routines he had yet. He and Kang would go on their morning runs at around seven am, come back and wash up by eight, sometimes eight-thirty, and then Ijin would study from there. Kang and Han-jae would work on paperwork and do errands with their parents, occasionally using said errands or walks as an excuse to get all of them out of the house. It was boring, especially when Ijin had to study something he didn't find interesting—which was quite often—but he could deal with it.

After a month of that routine, Ijin was almost done with the middle school textbooks, and he was back to running with Kang every morning.

That being said, after an entire month, they were finally hitting the inevitable bump in the road that they had all been expecting.

"Huh," Ijin had a feeling that he was approaching the point where Han-jae and Kang could no longer help him. "Han, do you remember how to do this?" At the call of his name, Han-jae walked over to the table, leaning over his brother's shoulder to take a look at the next book.

"Oh, they changed it." Hanjae said as he pulled the textbook closer to him, his frown deepening as he looked over it. "They didn't teach us like that."

Ijin watched as the two brothers went back and forth, discussing the new method of solving the math problem with the method that was in the textbook. Apparently, he needed to use the method that was in the textbook and not the one they knew because he would be tested on the textbook. Or something like that, Ijin really wasn't sure. He also didn't care that much, he just knew that he had to study the textbook and that was that.

Hanjae sighed as he flipped through the rest of the textbook, "No yeah they changed a lot of stuff." He said as he squinted at the text. "I can figure this out, probably, but uhhhhh." Hanjae leaned in even closer, "It's gonna take me a bit to really get it."

He looked over to Kang for his opinion, who was quick to shake his head, his hands going up in defense. "Don't look at me. Hanjae was better at school than me." Kang sighed, watching the way his brother was pouring over the textbook, flipping between the same two pages as he tried to figure out the math problem. "You only have two more months before you have to take the exam..." the soldier had his chin in the pit of his thumb and forefinger, thinking about Ijin's education. The original goal had been studying everything within two months, and then using the remaining month for review and to improve what needed to be improved.

But if they needed to wait for Han-jae to figure out the new math techniques, then they were probably going to fall behind.

Kang and Ijin made eye contact from across the table.

Kang gave him a nervous smile, "I think it's about time I sign you up for that study school." He nodded. It sounded like that was for the best, for him to go to the study school so a teacher could help him catch up with the rest of his studies.

For some reason, Han-jae looked at them as if they had insulted his very bloodline. "Hey, I said I can get this, just give me a bit." Hanjae almost grumbled out, earning an elbow from Kang.

"We're not calling you slow." Kang said as he scrolled through his phone, his fingers flying across the screen as he searched for the program's phone number. "But we don't have time. The kid has one more month to catch up, and then another month to review everything. If we wait on you, then he's going to fall behind." And that was the one thing they couldn't do since he was supposed to enter school with the new school year.

They really didn't have a lot of time to waste. They were on a time crunch, and they couldn't wait for Han-jae to explain everything to them. Not to mention, while Ijin was studying almost all day every day, Han-jae was usually busy with his own thing. Unless Han-jae wanted to sit at his side at all times to be ready to answer any and all questions, but by doing that, he would be too busy to work on his own tasks and it wouldn't be fair to the researcher. Han-jae had his own work to worry about.

"Besides, this is a chance for the kid to make friends."

Ijin hated how that was enough to sway Han-jae.

Han-jae lit up like a light, turning to Ijin with a bright smile. No scratch that, he was smiling like the cat that got the canary, as if the idea of Ijin being forced to make friends overjoyed him.

He decided to ignore Han-jae's smile and turn back to his studies. Kang was already off talking to whoever on his phone, most likely setting up the entire study program and all, and Han-jae was still beaming at him.

The plate clinked softly against the table. "Leave him alone Han," Ah-in said as she ruffled Ijin's hair, "here honey. Some apples while you study." She kissed the crown of his head before she went back to the kitchen, cutting up apples for the rest of them.

"Thank you." If it had been a month earlier, right after he started studying, he would have been embarrassed from the affection. But after an entire month of Ah-in cutting fruit for him and kissing his head like that almost daily, Ijin had learned to enjoy it. He certainly wouldn't reject it after all.

The apples were crisp and sweet as he munched on them, and he savored each one. his hand reached for a new one each time he finished a slice. After a lifetime of eating food that he could only describe as slop at best, fruit had become one of his favorite snacks. If the Kang family had let him, then he would have happily eaten fruit for entire meals, especially honeydew. Maybe he should ask Kang if they could buy it more often. Maybe strawberries too, he was even fine with smoothies.

By the time he finished his plate of apples, Kang was done with his phone call. "Alrighty kiddo," Kang swiped an apple slice from Han-jae but was able to easily block his brothers' jabs, "I got our appointment set up, we just have to go in to do the paperwork and then you can start going to their evening classes."

"Evening classes?" He had been under the impression that school was for most of the day and that it was done by the evening.

Kang nodded. "Yeah. They only offer classes from five to eight. Our appointment is at three tomorrow." Hm, alright then.

That was fine, then it would be best if he studied before he went to the evening classes so he could find and think of any questions beforehand. He would only be there for three hours, for all he knew there wouldn't be a lot of time for questions so it would be for the best if he went prepared.

Until then, he was going to try and continue to make progress on his own.

"Stop eating my apples dammit!"

And ignore the brothers the best he could.

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Kang and his new teacher, Ms. Akibara, allowed him to excuse himself. Kang and Ms. Akibara were discussing what class he would be put in, in terms of difficulty and subject level, and Ijin wasn't interested in that in the slightest. Kang would tell him about it later on and what he should expect. He knew Kang wouldn't put him into a class that was too difficult for him to handle.

For the time being, Ijin was going to go and empty his bladder.

The sound of the faucet running did nothing to cover the sound of an impact out in the hallway. There was a second impact and Ijin was intimately familiar with the sound of a fist hitting skin and the sound of a body hitting the floor. Shaking his hands dry, Ijin wiped them against his pants as he walked out of the bathroom, trying to see who was causing the commotion. They were in a school and if the camp had taught Ijin anything, putting a bunch of kids together was bound to start at least one fight.

He was right. Off in a corner, one that was hidden from the security cameras, was a trio of kids. Ijin had to lean around the corner to actually find them, but he wasn't particularly surprised to see that it was two older kids ganging up on a younger one. The two older ones looked to be older than Ijin, while the third kid was probably around 032's age.

Ijin couldn't deny the spark of pity that went through him when he saw the kids' feet leave the floor because of the brutal gut punch the tallest kid gave him. One of the older kids at the camp had hit him like that when he was a child and Ijin still remembered how much it hurt at the time. He still remembered how much it hurt to get hit again while he had been in the middle of vomiting.

The kid fell onto his knees, his arms wrapped around his stomach as he whined and gasped for air. His eyes scrunched up tightly as one of the older kids grabbed him by the hair, forcing him to lift his face. His face was already bruised on one side and would no doubt become a mottled mess of bruises by sunrise.

Ijin didn't understand why the two older kids thought they were tough enough to be beating on the kid like that.

They didn't even realize that he was behind them until Ijin's boot was sunk halfway into the guy's scrotum. Call it fighting dirty, Ijin didn't care. They were fighting dirty against the kid either way and if they couldn't deal with him doing the same, then that was their problem.

The first kid collapsed into a heap, much like the younger kid did, and when the other guy tried to avenge his friend, Ijin stopped that with a solid punch to the face, making him fall like a sack of potatoes.

Again, Ijin didn't understand why they thought they were tough enough to beat on someone else like that if they couldn't even handle a few kicks and punches. It was almost disappointing.

"Than-thank you..." The kid rasped out from the floor, earning a shrug from Ijin. It hadn't been particularly hard to deal with the two idiots, and the only reason he had done it was because Ijin knew how much it sucked to get beat on like that. If it wasn't for 005 bailing him out like she did, and her and 002 training him, then there was no way he would have survived the camp.

He wasn't exactly trying to pay their kindness forward per se, if it had even been kindness, but if he could help, he would.

Slowly, the little kid climbed onto his feet, cringing, and groaning each time he tried to straighten up. Just as the kid decided that it would be better to stay hunched over with his hands wrapped around his stomach, he heard the sound of Kang's voice echoing from down the hall.

He turned to leave; it was probably time to go if Kang was trying to find him.

After stomping on the hand that tried to wrap around his ankle, Ijin walked out from behind the corner, spotting Kang further down the hall. "Oh. There you are." Kang said lightly, his voice echoing in the empty hallway, "we're finished here. Let's go home." That sounded like a plan.

The sound of footsteps behind Ijin made Ijin look back, only to see a redhead and another kid running into the corner where Ijin had been. The smaller one, the one who looked related to the kid he just helped, made eye contact with Ijin before he disappeared around the corner.

Their voices echoed as they walked towards the exit.

"Hi H-Hyeokjin."

"Hyeokjung?!"

"Mother-"

"Jaehyung wait wait no, it was this guy-!" the door closed, cutting them off from being able to hear the rest of the conversation. Ijin briefly wondered who was who and why they weren't there in the first place to keep the kid safe if they were so worried about him.

At the same time, Kang turned to him, "You'll be joining the class for middle schoolers tomorrow." He nodded, that sounded about right. He was getting stuck on the tail end of the middle school content. Though Ijin had just briefly wondered if Kang had noticed the commotion, only for Kang to follow up with, "So what was that all about?" Yeah, he figured.

Ijin wasn't surprised that Kang had noticed that something had happened. If anything, he probably heard the sound of the two kids gasping and rolling in pain. It was something of a miracle that Ms. Akibara hadn't heard as well. However, Ijin wasn't complaining because getting in trouble before he even started the program probably wouldn't be a good thing.

"I helped a kid out in a fight." Although his explanation was short and to the point, that made Kang give him a wary look.

"You didn't hurt them too bad, did you?"

"They'll be fine." There was a cool thing about the human body called healing. Even if Ijin had kicked the guy hard enough to feel something pop under his boot, that could have been fixed with a doctor's visit and honestly, it wasn't his problem.

In Ijin's eyes, it was just a simple case of the bully finding out that they weren't as tough as they thought. He had done it plenty of times at the Camp, when there were a few mercenaries who thought they were tough enough to mess with 032 before they became Numbered.

The look that Kang gave him told Ijin that Kang was cycling through the emotions of worry, pride, begrudged acceptance, and confliction. "Alright then." Kang said, at last, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked straight ahead, "Try to make this a one-time thing, yeah?"

"I will." That sounded easy enough. It wasn't like Ijin was the type to go picking fights, not often anyway.

"Hey!" Well, that sounded oddly like the kids who had run into the hallway as they had been leaving. He and Kang exchanged eye contact. "Wait!" They turned around and they were met with the sight of the redhead, and the other two, who were clearly brothers, running up to them.

Kang groaned right next to him. "Please don't tell me they're the ones you hit."

If it wasn't for the fact that they would continue to follow him if he just kept on walking, Ijin would have tried to walk away. "No. The one I helped is the smallest one."

"Good. Because I can't fight teenagers." Ijin begged to disagree because he met plenty of adults who would almost happily fight a child, so Kang could fight a teenager. Kang was plenty strong enough to fight one.

He just didn't want to. Which was fair, Ijin didn't need Kang to fight his battles for him anyway. Besides, it would say a lot about Kang's character if he didn't find a problem with beating up kids, especially since he was a trained special forces soldier.

The three teenagers stumbled to a stop in front of them. The older brother pushed his brother's head into a bow before bowing himself, "Thank you! For helping my brother with those guys."

"Yeah, thank you, man," the redhead added, "those guys have been messing with us for ages already. How were you able to beat them so fast?" The older brother whacked the red-head in the side without breaking form.

"Jaehyung." The kid hissed out, giving his friend, Jaehyung, a fierce glare. Jaehyung didn't seem to care too much as he shrugged it off. "But seriously, thank you. Let me treat you to something, to show our thanks."

He shook his head. "That's not necessary." He didn't help the kid expecting anything in return, so he didn't need a thanks.

The two brothers stood straight up and the shocked expression they had was nearly identical. It would have been even more identical if the younger brothers' face hadn't been swelling up already. "Yeah, it is!" it was the younger brothers turn to speak up, "Those guys have been bothering me for months! And they always do it when I'm by myself too! But you just," he made a punching and kicking motion, mimicking the way Ijin had hit the two guys, "like it was nothing!"

The brother nodded along, "Yeah. Some kimbap at least. Seriously, you took care of my little brother when I couldn't, let me show my thanks."

Kang elbowed him before he could say no again. "You don't say no to someone's thanks." Yeah, he did, it's by denying it because it was unnecessary. Kang cut in before Ijin could say no again, "how bout this, kid, let them treat you to some kimbap. Meanwhile, let me take a look at that bruise," Kang tapped on his cheek as he spoke to the youngest, "I can tell that they got a good hit on you."

The boy flushed and just as he was about to deny the offer, it was the boy's turn to get elbowed by someone older. "That's fine."

"Great. Lead the way then." Kang motioned for the boys to start walking. There was a convenience store right across the street, and the three boys started to lead them to the crosswalk.

Just like the three of them were whispering to each other up front, Ijin and Kang were doing the same behind them.

"Listen," His guardian whispered to him, leaning down to him to do so, "this is part of playing nice with others. It won't take long."

Ijin called bullshit. "You just want me to make friends."

It was impressive that Kang, who was terrible at lying, was able to keep his face straight. "No, I want you to play nice." He stressed out, and if Ijin didn't know better, he would have taken Kang for his word.

The youngest let the two boys walk ahead, joining him and Kang in the back and breaking up the conversation. He was a little bit smaller than Ijin and his cheek looked worse up close.

For the lack of better words, the kid looked like he had stars in his eyes. "I'm Hyeokjung." That meant that his older brother must have been Hyeokjin, assuming he had even heard their names right. "How did you learn how to fight like that?"

Jaehyung and Hyeokjin glanced back at them, Ijin had to ignore the way Hyeokjin's eyes were lingering. He was probably making sure that his brother was okay, even though they were a few feet away. "I learned when I was younger."

The other two joined the conversation. "What school do you go to?" Jaehyung asked, grabbing the back of Hyeokjung's shirt so he wouldn't walk into the intersection, making the boy scowl. "I haven't seen you around."

"We were out of the country until a few months ago," Kang helpfully cut in, leading them across the street, at the same time, he discreetly gave Ijin a glance that told him to let Kang handle the talking. "That's why I enrolled him at the study school, so he can catch up and take the entrance exams." The boys made a noise of understanding, the conversation falling off soon after.

They walked up to the convenience store and after a few words, Kang left Ijin, Jaehyung, and Hyeokjung outside. Ijin just hoped that they would be able to get that entire exchange done quickly so they could go back home.

Jaehyung rocked back and forth on his feet. "You didn't tell us your name."

He had been hoping that they didn't remember to ask his name, especially since his legal name wasn't his real name. "Jangsu." Though he knew that if they were going to be in the same study program, they probably would have found out his legal name eventually.

"Jaehyung. Hey," Jaehyung leaned in closer, a wry grin, "did you really kick Hwan in the nuts?"

He nodded.

Jaehyung grinned like a maniac. "Oooo," He vocalized, "That's dirty man. To do that to another man."

Ijin shrugged. "It's dirty to beat on someone younger like that." He didn't care about fairness much, there wasn't a point in being fair in a fight of life and death. He had learned to take hold of advantages and run with them.

The redhead nearly barked in laughter, slapping the back of Hyeokjung's shoulder as if it was something particularly hilarious. Hyeokjung didn't look particularly happy about his shoulder getting slapped like that. "Yeah, that's true! But seriously thanks man, those two idiots have been messing with Hyeokjung for weeks already. Every chance they get. Maybe they'll leave him alone now that you kicked their ass." Probably not. Ijin knew bullies and he knew that they hated it when they got their asses kicked. If anything, they were probably going to go after Hyeokjung with renewed ferocity.

"Weren't you scared of them?" Hyeokjung asked, "they're like, really big. Almost no one messes with them."

Again, Ijin just shrugged. He had fought bigger, scarier, and deadlier. Ijin couldn't begin to count the number of times he had fought and killed full-grown men, two teenagers like that weren't a big deal.

Kang and Hyeokjin walked out of the store. While Kang motioned for Hyeokjung to walk over to him, Jaehyung hovering around the younger boy, Hyeokjin handed over some tuna kimbap. Kang must have told him what he liked. "Here. Your Dad told me what you like." Ijin didn't notice as he took the kimbap with a nod.

It wasn't until a second later that he realized that Hyeokjin had called Kang his father. He didn't know where Hyeokjin got that idea from, it was obvious that he and Kang were not related, not in the slightest.

But oddly enough, Ijin didn't really care that they assumed Kang was his father. He didn't find the need or urge to correct them. None whatsoever.

He was fine with Kang being called his father.

Just that thought alone had him smothering a giddy feeling. It was embarrassing how just a mere title was enough to make him react like that.

"Thank you." there was a flush to Hyeokjin's face. Ijin pushed down the giddy feeling in his chest. "A lot of people wouldn't have helped my brother. I appreciate it." That sounded about right. That was normal back in the camp when he was a trainee. There were a few times when no one had helped when he was in a fight, but likewise, there had been a few times when Ijin had done nothing but watch.

"He looked like he needed help." Then again, he wasn't in the camp anymore. He wasn't surrounded by people who could and would kill others. He wouldn't help everyone, but maybe he should stop being so passive when it comes to others getting hurt.

Or maybe he was just saying that because the only reason he helped Hyeokjung was because he reminded him of 032. He used to help 032 like that when they were trainees together.

Hyeokjin grimaced at Ijin's words but nodded in agreement. Kang had just about finished putting a cooling patch on Hyeokjung's face, giving the boy a few last instructions on caring for the bruise. "Why hasn't the school done anything about them?" he asked as he gave the bag to Hyeokjung, which looked to have a few more supplies. Probably something to help with the swelling. "Haven't you reported them?"

"Well, yeah." Hyeokjin said flatly, letting out a sigh that puffed out his cheeks soon after. "But they won't take it seriously unless our parents file the complaint in person."

"Yeah, they can't because they're overseas-"The brutal elbow from Hyeokjin shut him up. Hyeokjin's fierce whispering of 'we don't know them you idiot' explained why he had elbowed his brother like that. Ijin did have to admit that it was dumb of Hyeokjung to tell them something like that.

He decided to ignore what just happened in favor of moving on and so did Kang. All Kang did was laugh awkwardly. "Tell me if they mess with you, just don't start a fight." Kang directed to him, and Ijin nodded. That was easy enough. He had never been one to look for trouble anyway.

The boys smiled at that. "I would really appreciate that sir." Hyeokjin said as he bowed his head, his brother following suit. "We have to head home now. I didn't catch your name." He directed towards Ijin. He introduced himself as Hyeokjin as soon as Ijin gave him his legal name. "Alright. Then see you around man. Thank you for the help." He added one more time, and once they exchanged their pleasantries—they being Kang—they were going their separate ways.

Kang looked over at him, a small smile on his face, one that was paired with an almost hopeful look.

"No," Ijin said preemptively. Kang's reaction proved that he had read Kang's intent right.

The soldier snorted, "I didn't even say anything." He said in defense, which was moot to Ijin because Ijin knew what Kang had been planning to say. Just because Ijin helped the little brother, and just because he accepted Hyeokjin's show of gratitude, didn't mean they could become friends all of a sudden. At most, they were distant acquaintances. They just knew of each other's existence, they knew the barebones of their personality, and that was it.

"You didn't have to say anything." That made Kang laugh properly, his head going back as laughter escaped him.

His guardian ruffled his hair, knocking his body against Ijin's, inciting a smile from the teenager. "You know me too well." All Ijin did was hum. That sounded about right. Ijin did know Kang well, that was how he knew Kang had been just about to suggest the four of them becoming friends.

However, in Ijin's humble opinion, the tuna kimbap was a good step towards them being something closer than distant associates.