I,A Gangster, Became a High School Student

Chapter 1

Kim Deuk-pal. 47 years old. His dream is to attend college.

* *

It’s a winter day with steady rain. In a hanok with a pond garden, a student preparing for the CSAT exam burned to study. Although he was an older student, his enthusiasm was no match for the younger ones, so he pushed his pencil harder and harder to solve math problems.

The long dragon tattoo on his forearm flickered with each math problem. Despite being winter, the dragon’s entire body was alive with movement as his muscles flexed under his short-sleeved tee. The tutor, who specializes in tutoring adolescents, broke out in a cold sweat. He tried not to make eye contact with the dragon as it glared at his biceps.

When he finished the last problem on the page with his red grading pen, he put the book away.

“…That’s it for today’s class. Good work.”

“Yes, sir, you did a great job too.”

The late student, Kim Duk-yeol, bowed and closed the problem book. CSAT Special Math 1. The problem book pages were blackened and burned where the student had made progress.

The room was large, and Kim Deuk-pal followed the instructor as he packed his bag and got up.

“I’m really worried about my math score.”

As a proud Korean, Kim was confident in his Korean language and Korean history. However, math was one of his weakest subjects, along with English, which lowered his average score.
Kim Deuk-pal just expressed his concerns about his grades from a student’s point of view, but the instructor fumbled as his face turned pale.

“Well, that’s, uh, that’s what math is all about. Active students struggle to raise their scores because the basics are critical. You took the qualification exam and followed me well. Ah…! I didn’t mean to disrespect the qualification exam……!”

Kim Deuk-pal opened the right door of the window paper, leaving the instructor who made a hasty excuse for ignoring him for passing the qualification exam. Big men in black suits lined up on both sides of the door bent 90 degrees. The instructor was more nervous than necessary.

“Here you are! Brother!”

As the big guys clapped loudly, Kim Deuk-pal stepped aside so the instructor could come out.

“The teacher is leaving. Take him there.”

“Yes! I see!”

Kim Deuk-pal told the instructor to move quickly, and the instructor hugged the bag tightly like a lifeline. Although he accepted the proposal due to the cost of tutoring in Daechi-dong, it was harsh for a lecturer who lived as a small citizen all his life to be calm in the den of gangsters who plastered their bodies with knife marks and tattoo marks.
The gangsters under Kim Deuk-pal and the so-called younger brothers disappeared with the instructor (the level of being dragged from the instructor’s point of view). Instead of returning to his room, Kim Deuk-pal moved to the open floor in the garden. With his hands in his pants pockets, Kim Duk-pal’s back was lonely as he looked out over the garden.
The garden was ruined after a December frost. The wisteria with its tiny branches and dark garden stones gave it a dreary look. However, the winter garden was at its peak on a snowy day, not on a rainy day like today.

When white snow accumulated on the branches, it was as spectacular as plum blossoms in spring. This was just as it had been a month earlier, in November, when Kim Duk-pal was taking the SAT, when a sudden cold snap caused a blanket of snow to fall.