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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 48: Is it really that serious?
The end of July, with August just around the corner.
With summer break just days away and exams finally over, second-year middle schoolers were basically an unstoppable force.
“Gaaah! A mosquito!”
“Grrr… I’ll wipe them out! Every last one of them, from the face of this world!”
“Mosqui-Ward, oppa…?”
A group of boys cracked up in a corner of the classroom, putting on overly dramatic skits with full commitment.
And over on the other side…
“I still can’t get over that episode of 'Fullmetal Alchemist'. It was just... too much.”
“My brother buys the volumes all the time and rereads them constantly, but even he skips that one.”
“Have you seen Wakayama-sensei’s new series?”
“Of course. I couldn’t even eat snacks that day.”
“…Might be good to skip a few more.”
“Eradicate.”
The girls, too, were giggling over the same topics as the boys.
With exams done and the anticipation of summer vacation hanging in the air, the classroom was buzzing. Every corner was filled with chatter about recent trends or plans for the break.
Amid that lively chaos, a distinct sound sliced through the noise:
Drrk—tak.
The classroom door opened lightly, and all the scattered gazes homed in on the source of the sound.
It wasn’t a teacher coming in for homeroom. Just a student casually arriving at school.
“Kanna-chan, welcome back! I heard you wrapped up filming?”
The room, which had quieted for a moment, lit up again with cheerful energy at the sound of a girl’s warm greeting.
Kanna had returned to school after being absent for quite some time due to a shoot.
The girls swarmed around her, guiding her to her seat as they bombarded her with questions.
“Oh right! You recorded a drama CD recently too, didn’t you? That… Enju-sensei? Is it true they’re the same person as Wakayama-sensei?”
“I heard a rumor she’s like, super gorgeous?”
Pfft!
Kanna burst out laughing before she could stop herself.
Noticing the puzzled looks from the girls around her, she quickly recomposed herself and brushed it off with a casual, “Who knows?”
“She’s super private, though. Always wearing a hat and a mask.”
“Ugh, what a waste. I really wanted to see her face.”
“What’s the point, anyway? Not like there’s a single photo out there.”
“True.”
Maybe it was because the whole class had suddenly zeroed in on Kanna.
The group of boys gathered near Junhyuk, having overheard the convo, immediately jumped on the “Enju-is-a-beauty” rumor train.
“If a pretty girl drew the manga, obviously you’ve gotta buy the physical copy!”
“Dang… I wasn’t planning to spend it here, but… guess I’ve got no choice. My poor allowance…”
“Brother, would you join us… at Comiket?”
Watching his classmates giggle and gossip about Enju being a total babe, Junhyuk’s hands began to tremble.
“You guys… are all gonna die here.”
His sudden outburst nearly shattered the group’s cohesion—but thanks to his poor condition, it fizzled before it could escalate.
“Dude, your eyes look terrible today. Are you okay?”
“Hasn’t he always looked like this?”
“Yeah, he’s usually kinda floppy, but right now he looks like he’s on death’s doorstep.”
“I just didn’t get much sleep, that’s all.”
Junhyuk rubbed his dry eyes and waved it off like it was no big deal.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Ugh… Just one day back at school and I’m already wiped…”
In the now-familiar corner of the old school building’s emergency staircase, Kanna let out a groan as she took a long sip of milk from a carton through a straw.
“You looked totally normal to me, like you were handling everything fine.”
Junhyuk said.
At that, Kanna flicked her fingers out in emphasis.
“Part 2 of the 'D Note' movie’s coming out this August, right? People keep poking at me over it. Asking stuff like, ‘Kanna-chan, do you have more screen time this time?’ Ugh…”
Maybe she got too into recounting it—veins popped up on her forehead.
Crkk—
Kanna crushed the now-empty milk carton in her hand and exhaled a heavy, frustrated breath.
After a deep inhale to collect herself, she turned toward Junhyuk with a dramatically changed expression.
“Anyway, you seem to be doing better than I am. I read your new one. 'Fullmetal Alchemist' too—seems like both are getting good responses, huh?”
“Well, glad to hear you liked it.”
Junhyuk mumbled, stifling a yawn.
Kanna narrowed her eyes and gave him a hard look.
“I noticed it in class too, but… you look way more exhausted than usual today.”
“Bad dreams.”
He replied flatly.
“Oh, what, did you see ghosts in your sleep and get too scared to rest?”
Kanna teased, lightly jabbing at him with a playful tone.
Junhyuk let out a faint chuckle.
“Yeah, too scared to fall asleep recklessly.”
“…You sure you’re okay?”
Kanna’s teasing faded into concern as she looked closely at him—he was clearly more out of it than usual.
Junhyuk waved a hand dismissively.
“Just a little more tired than usual. I’ll be fine after a bit.”
“You should probably skip afternoon classes and get some sleep in the nurse’s office.”
Kanna suggested.
“It’s not that bad.”
Junhyuk replied, taking a swig from a plastic water bottle.
Kanna shook her head firmly.
“Come on, it is that bad. Even a teacher would probably send you straight there if they saw you. Your eyes are totally dead—like, totally.”
She exaggerated the droopy look of Junhyuk’s eyes with a silly face.
Click—
“Hasegawa Kanna. Racially insensitive behavior against East Asians.”
Junhyuk said dryly as he snapped a photo of her with his phone.
Just then—
Fwoosh—
A small gust of air moved as Kanna swiftly snatched the phone from his hands.
“Are you looking to die today?”
“I-It’s not like you can even see—”
Before he could finish, Kanna had already opened his photo album and deleted the shot. She handed his phone back with a faintly murderous glint in her eyes.
“Anyway, seriously—try to take a nap in the nurse’s office if you can. Your eyes are in a state.”
“I have a mirror at home, thanks. It’s not that dramatic.”
Brushing off her concern, Junhyuk tried to act unbothered.
But—
“Jun-kun, your eyes are… completely dead. Are you feeling alright?”
As soon as they stepped into the classroom, Matsumoto—the substitute homeroom teacher—locked eyes with Junhyuk and hurried over.
“It’s that noticeable?”
“It is. You look really run-down. Don’t worry about class. Let’s get you to the nurse’s office.”
With exams over, class time was basically just a formality. There wasn’t anything meaningful happening.
Matsumoto scribbled the word “Self-study” in big letters on the chalkboard, left the class rep with instructions to keep everyone quiet (pointless as that was), and headed out with Junhyuk in tow.
A Japanese school nurse’s office.
In manga, there’s always that classic school nurse character. But this would be Junhyuk’s first time actually setting foot in one. He walked in with a weird mix of sleepy curiosity and mild anticipation.
“Sensei, he’s from my class. Looks like he’s really exhausted.”
Matsumoto explained.
The school nurse, who had been writing something at her desk, turned her head at Matsumoto’s words.
“Oh, okay. What seems to be the probl—”
“KYAAAAAAHH!”
The nurse suddenly let out a piercing scream and fell backward off her chair.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Do I really look that bad?"
Junhyuk had convinced himself it wasn’t that serious, so the school nurse’s over-the-top reaction hit him harder than expected.
“W-Well… kind of…?”
Matsumoto, who nearly blurted out ‘Yes, absolutely’, softened his words as much as possible.
“If just seeing your face made her fall over like that, it must be pretty bad, huh.”
But once they got the full story, it turned out it wasn’t just his face that startled her.
Apparently, the school nurse had watched a zombie movie at the theater the night before—and Junhyuk’s face had reminded her of one. She’d genuinely thought he was a zombie.
“…That hurts more than it helps.”
The nurse, finally having calmed her nerves, apologized to Junhyuk and began her examination.
“Hmm… this is…”
She muttered quietly, then glanced at Matsumoto.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything seriously wrong. It looks like mild sleep deprivation. But your eyes are pretty bloodshot… Just to be safe, maybe you should see a doctor?”
That suggestion made Matsumoto flinch visibly.
To this day, Matsumoto hadn’t let go of the idea that Junhyuk might be the school director’s secret relative… or even an illegitimate child.
Junhyuk had tried multiple times to clear up the misunderstanding, but every time he got close, Matsumoto would get spooked and bolt—so there was no way to set the record straight.
“Th-th-this isn’t something serious, right?”
“It doesn’t look that way… but getting it checked wouldn’t hurt.”
Junhyuk appreciated the concern, but he didn’t see any reason to go all the way to a hospital over this. He politely declined.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll just nap here and go home afterward. There’s only one class left this afternoon, anyway—”
“No!”
Junhyuk’s attempt to gently turn it down was cut off sharply by Matsumoto.
“There’s only one class left, so school’s basically over for the day. Just rest here for a bit—and let’s go to the hospital together.”
“I really don’t think—”
“No!!”
Once again, Matsumoto shut him down, eyes blazing with urgency.
Matsumoto had a thought: What if this was an early warning sign of something serious? Then the student’s life could be at risk.
And what if it was nothing? Then his own life—as a teacher—would be at risk.
So, what was the safest move?
“I’ll take you there in total comfort! Like, peak hospitality! You won’t feel a thing!”
His solution: make the hospital visit feel so unintrusive that Junhyuk wouldn’t resist.
“Just stay here until class ends, okay?”
With that, the fired-up teacher shoved Junhyuk onto the nurse’s bed and sped out of the room like a man on a mission.
“…Ah.”
Left alone, Junhyuk sighed in defeat.
And just like that, unable to refuse, his fate was sealed: a trip to the hospital it was.
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After arriving at the hospital and finishing up all the necessary tests, it was already early evening.
Nothing serious was found.
Just like the school nurse had said, the diagnosis was a mild sleep disorder.
And aside from that, the only issue was dry eyes—likely from staring at a tablet screen too long—so they prescribed some simple eye drops.
Watching Matsumoto sigh in relief and clutch his chest like he’d survived a war made me feel a bit guilty.
He’d stuck with me all the way into the evening just for my checkup, and honestly, it felt like I’d just dragged him around and made his nerves fray instead.
“Whew… I survived. My promotion… is safe…”
…So that’s what had him stressed.
Still, I was genuinely thankful for all the time and effort he’d put into bringing me here. I was about to say something to show my appreciation when—
“Ah, Jun-kun. Sorry! I forgot to validate the parking ticket. Mind waiting here for a bit?”
“Ah, sure.”
And with that, Matsumoto dashed off with my diagnosis paperwork in hand like a man on a mission.
I didn’t want to just leave without him, so I figured I’d wait by the reception area. I headed toward the chairs and was just about to sit down when—
“Writer Jung?”
Someone called out to me.
How many people in Japan have the surname Jung, let alone work as a writer? It had to be me.
“…Ishida-sensei?”
I turned toward the voice and saw a familiar face.
Ishida-sensei—whom I had once met while I was hospitalized.
Last I heard, he’d made a full comeback from that rough hiatus, and now one of his works had even been greenlit for an anime adaptation.
It had been almost a year since that hospital-room encounter. We’d kept in touch here and there, just to check in, but this was the first time we’d run into each other in person since then.
“Ishida-sensei, what brings you he—”
I was about to ask what brought him here, but the words stopped short.
Because of the man who walked up beside him.
“Ah, let me introduce you. This is—”
Kimiyama Togo.
I already knew the rest of that sentence.
A middle-aged man with a thick beard and a sharp, commanding presence. He looked about the same age as Ishida-sensei, but unlike Ishida’s gentle demeanor, this man’s aura was stern and intense.
Like Ishida, he was known for socially critical novels and manga. A prolific creator, a respected name.
In my previous life, he was one of the people who guided me—alongside Ishida-sensei.
He was my mentor.
And—
“It’s a pleasure. I’ve heard a lot about you, Writer Jung. I’m Kimiyama Togo.”
He was the one person I had sworn never to meet again in this life.
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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