Chapter 59: The Innocent Boy Makes a Decision and the Hidden Devil is Faced with a Solution
Junsu too marched on without his companion, Naomi. They weren’t supposed to see each other nowadays, but he had to meet her because of the boys. They kept urging him to go to the winter festival with Naomi. They even had catch phases, which were hard to deny, especially Jaejoong’s.
“It’ll be fun,” Jaejoong kept singing in a whiny voice. “Come on, man.”

Although Junsu agreed to go, he was now regretting his decision. He shouldn’t have succumbed to peer pressure. This thought motivated him to increase his walking pace, making it nearly impossible for Naomi to follow.
“Junsu!” she panted. “Wait up! Y-You’re walking too fast!”
He didn’t even look back. He didn’t even hear her pleading. He didn’t even see her tumbling to the ground because a stranger had accidentally pushed her down.
“Junsu!” she now screamed with her bottom plopped to the cement road.
Her knees were scratched; blood oozed from her injuries. No one stopped to offer her a hand. Even Junsu didn’t stop for her. Naomi laughed with tears in her eyes. This was how it was supposed to be. She should have expected him to be like the others. Please don’t hurt me anymore was what she used to say to God. Her wish was never fulfilled. Wishful thinking, her mother had told her, was the worst part of life.
“Your father was wishful thinking,” her mother often scoffed.
Junsu marched on and on until he bumped into another lady, who was with her boyfriend.
“Oww,” she whimpered.
“Sorry,” Junsu muttered.
He was about to continue his walk when the lady’s boyfriend forcefully placed his hand on Junsu’s shoulder. Junsu, thus, was compelled to shift his head only to receive a punch in the face. He had fallen backwards due to this unexpected encounter.
“What the hell is your problem?” Junsu grumbled with a bloody nose.
“That’s for purposely crashing into my girl!” the buff boyfriend snubbed.
If it were another day, Junsu would have apologized again. However, it was today, one of the worst days of his life so far. It was a day packed with frustration and vented fury. That one blow from this stranger prompted the explosion of a shaken pop can, so Junsu dashed towards his target, tackling him to the ground.
He didn’t care anymore. He pounded the opponent’s face. His enemy, in this case, retaliated with a combination of kicking and punching. A crowd was multiplying and swarming around the two fighters. Others just watched this spectacle.  Several teenagers chanted, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
There had to be a loser and a winner. There would have been such identifications if Changmin hadn’t intercepted by dragging Junsu away from the other man.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Changmin hollered.
Upon realizing what he had caused, Junsu stumbled away with numerous cuts and bruises all over his face and arms. He couldn’t face what he had done. This is too fucked up, he thought.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Changmin yelled and attempted to restrain Junsu, who in turn flicked away Changmin’s arm.
“D-don’t bother me right now,” Junsu shouted. “Just, just screw off!”
Changmin was probably the last person he wanted to see right now. Changmin’s face irked him these days. He could just picture Naomi and Changmin together, smiling. He could see her smiling for Changmin and that image disgusted him, piling layers and layers of pain on him. What Junsu needed was a shovel to dig away such layers. His shovel just happened to be his escape and his escape meant walking away.  
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The booth that Shiori and a few of her classmates led was one of the most successful businesses at the winter festival. Needless to say, Changmin was proud. He couldn’t resist flashing a smile every now and then. Even some of his students, his fans, chirped, “Oh my god! Our Prince is smiling! Our Prince is smiling for once!”
The reason for their success was that their group had decided to sell different flavoured Yakisoba noodles in hot dog buns while having the popular boys from the all-boys high school to be the servers. Somehow, Shiori had managed to convince her childhood friend, Minjun, to force his friends to help their team. Whatever the agreement Shiori made with Minjun, Changmin didn’t care. He just cared about the results.
The results proved to be fruitful for the line to their station was seemingly endless. There was no stopping to the sound of the register ringing and no stopping to the sound of servers calling out orders. For Changmin and Shiori, there was no stopping, in terms of cooking. They were the chefs. Originally, Changmin had not agreed to this role, but after having a few of the girls try out this role, he thought that it was safer for him to handle a grill or a pan. However, throughout the process, he kept complaining, I’m doing a girl’s job.
“You sure you’re okay with this?” Shiori had asked a few times after handing plate after plate of food to the other helpers.
“Yeah, I’m all right,” Changmin groused. “Just hand me some food after this!”
To Changmin, food was his remedy. Whenever he was upset, angry, or annoyed, he would go to food for comfort. His mind would concentrate on taste and he would transfer his energy to critique the dishes he tried. There was only one condition, however, for food to be therapeutic. Whatever he ate had to please his taste buds. If the dish proved to be revolting, then his mood would worsen. Because of this condition, he refused to savour new dishes when he needed to be encouraged.
When it was almost time for the end of the festival, he told Shiori that he needed a five minute break. Thus, he wandered around, enjoying the last moments of festivity. Within these moments, he was bound to witness disparity. He managed to view Junsu tackling another man. Even though he was certain that Junsu had a reason for this, he still had to impede further violence. A crowd, a rowdy one, had already formed.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Changmin yelled and attempted to restrain Junsu, who in turn flicked away Changmin’s arm.
“D-don’t bother me right now,” Junsu shouted. “Just, just fuck off!”
Who would have expected Junsu to react that way to Changmin as well? It was improbable. It was inconceivable. It was unbelievable. Perhaps more could have done by Changmin if he hadn’t suddenly received a phone call, one that would revise his life.
“Hello?” Changmin at first answered in a bothered tone.
“Is this Mr. Shim?” an unknown male asked.
“Yes?” Changmin hesitantly replied.
“I’m Sakamoto Ryu, the principal of Beppu High School,” the man with a rusky, deep voice explained. “I understand that you have recently submitted a resume and have had an interview. I’m sure you know what this means. I am delighted to offer you the chance to become a teacher at our school.”
Changmin needed a minute to digest all of the words that had been thrown at him. A teaching position. A chance. Beppu High School. Now he had to think carefully.
Beppu High School? Where in the world was Beppu?  He couldn’t even remember where he had applied for jobs. This was most likely one of his last options, but a chance was a chance. All of his other chances had vanished. Now was not the time to be the chooser. However, he didn’t prefer making hasty decisions.
“Could you please give me a few days to think about this?” Changmin settled on saying.
“Of course, I can,” Mr. Ryu said. “You can just call me back with this number. I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you.”
“Thank you,” Changmin uttered rather breathlessly. “Thank . . . you.”
There was a resolution for many matters, which also meant that there was a start for others. This, this could be a start, Changmin thought. This could be a start to a wonderful or a disastrous resolution.