Chapter 63

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Hyunwoo was stepping forcefully, checking behind his back while reading Oh’s expression on his face.
Because the passage was narrow, it was a bit dangerous. Oh’s face was all reddish, indicating that he was flexing his arm too much.

Shall we stop for a moment if you feel that it’s hard?

Oh stole a glance at Minhye for a moment, who was still looking at him.

No, let’s move on. A bit quickly…

Though Hyunwoo was concerned, he had no other choice as Oh insisted.
Anyway, it was the best policy to move the table as quickly as they could.
After all, something happened when they moved less than 20 meters. Oh let go of the table as he lost his grip on it.
The big table dropped on the ground with a bang.
It was a close call for Hyunwoo because one end of the table dropped, while the other end slipped out of his grip at the same time. If it dropped on the top of his foot or knee, it could have wounded him a lot.
Hyunwoo quickly stepped back and put down the table. Once again, the corner of the table dropped on the ground with a big thump.
At that big noise, those helping with the laundary came in droves. Minhye was among them.

What happened?


Are you alright? Are you wounded?

Fortunately, Oh and Hyunwoo were not wounded. Though there was some damage on the ground when the table dropped, it was not big enough.
Reading Minhye’s face, Oh scratched his head and said,

Assistant manager Jang paced too quickly, so…

Hyunwoo barely controlled his smile. He moved quickly because Oh pressed on so much, and now, Oh was blaming him.
Hyunwoo felt disgusted at Oh’s excuse. He wanted to have Oh pay the price.
Suddenly, an idea came to mind. It was to let Oh prove himself that what he said was a lie.
Hyunwoo expressed concern for Oh and said,

Are you okay? Were you wounded?


No, I’m alright,
Oh said, who apparently didn’t care if Hyunwoo was wounded or not.
In fact, it was the other party who would be put in more danger if one put down the table, for the person who put down the table instantly could recognize it and step back, while the other party might have an accident without knowing it in advance. But Oh didn’t seem to be aware of that at all. Hyunwoo just pretended not to know either.

Good for you. Okay, let’s finish moving the table then,
Hyunwoo said.

Let me help you,
another volunteer said.
But Hyunwoo stopped them.

It’s dangerous if you try to hold it with wet hands because it’s slippery. And two people are enough because the passage is narrow. Can you hold it, Mr. Oh? If you put it down again, you might be wounded. So, tell me if you feel you can’t hold it any more.


I can do it. Don’t worry.


Don’t lift it high this time. We have to move it lightly.

Hyunwoo and Oh held both ends of the table again. As Hyunwoo said, they were lifting it about 10 cm from the floor to move it.
Hyunwoo slowly moved on purpose to prove that Oh had lost his grip of the table because of him.
Oh groaned even before he moved five steps.

Wait a minute.

As soon as Hyunwoo stopped walking, Oh put down the table quickly with a bang.

What’s the problem this time? Did I walk too fast?


No, I think I got wounded a bit when I lost my grip a minute ago.


Which part?

Oh moved his hand here and there around his body and pointed toward his knee.

My knee. I feel stiff there. I think my knee hit it lightly.

That was a ridiculous excuse, of course. If that heavy table had dropped on his knee, he would have suffered a big wound. Not only the male volunteers but also the females frowned at Oh’s blatant lie.
In particular, Park Minhye’s face was distorted by anger.
Then, she said,
Step aside, Mr. Oh. Who else would want to help him?


Let me help him,
Yonggu said, who came forward as soon as she said that. Yonggu wanted to show her that he was different from Oh.

It’s rather heavy,
Hyunwoo said, giving a reminder to Yonggu. But Yonggu thought nothing of it.

It seems so. Let’s lift it.

Both of them lifted the table at the same time.
Yonggu was obviously different from Oh. Though it was heavy, Yonggu had no problem at all, and he had a relaxed expression on his face. He pressed on Hyunwoo, saying,

Why does it take so long to move this kind of table? Let’s move it quickly.

In Hyunwoo’s mind, Yonggu could make it without any difficulty.

Sure.

Both of them quickened their gait to move it. Yonggu moved it at least four times as quickly as Oh. Was it because of that? Hyunwoo found Oh’s face becoming red again, which was natural as he and Yonggu were compared in Minhye’s presence.
Minhye didn’t hide the expression on her face as if she was mocking him.
But Hyunwoo and Yonggu didn’t show their feelings at all. They just focused on moving the table.

Lunch time.

Lunch was served by the orphanage house.
As it housed almost 100 orphans, the dining hall was big. The strange thing was that the meals were made by the orphans, not the staff or cook of the orphanage. Although they had a nutritionist, she didn’t play a big role there. Still, the food tasted very good.

Wow! This rice tastes really good.


Even the side dish tastes wonderful. Excellent cooking!

Smiling satisfactorily, a nutritionist explained,

We have a cooking club in the House of Happiness. As many as seven joined it. Three of them obtained cook licenses. Hyunmin, Jaeyoung, won’t you come this way?

At her shouting, Kim Hyunmin and Park Jaeyong came out. Hyunmin had a big figure, with a rough facial image, while Jaeyong was slim.

Jaeyoung is a baker here. As soon as he graduated, he got a job at a bakery shop. Hyunmin is now looking for a job. If you need a cook, please let me know. Though he has a rough image, he is very kind-hearted and sincere. And as you see, he can cook quite well.

At that moment, Hyunwoo thought about his mother’s side dish store. Hyunmin could be of big help to her, Hyunwoo thought. And he liked Hyunmin all the more because he was said to be sincere and quite good at cooking.
But it was her mother’s judgement call.
‘Let me tell my mother about him later.’
While they were dining, the orphanage staff explained about the House of Happiness a lot.
Hyunwoo paid particular attention to their mention of various clubs in the house. After listening carefully, he found out that they were not just for fun but for preparation for their jobs.
The cooking club was made with that in mind, too. The ultimate goal of the club was for its members to find jobs after obtaining professional licenses while taking cooking classes.

There are several clubs in our house. The most dynamic clubs are the cooking and animation clubs.

‘Animation?’ A mere mention of it aroused Hyunwoo’s attention. If an opportunity comes along, Hyunwoo wanted to learn it, too.
Hyunwoo suddenly got curious about it and asked,

Do you have an animation teacher here?


Until last year there were some students who donated their talent in the field. After they went abroad for studies, however, there are not many. There are several in the cooking club, but as for the animation club, there are only those helping.


Ah, talent donation.
Hyunwoo nodded his head. He felt this type of donation was a genuine donation. There was nothing more valuable than sharing knowledge in this world. It was something Hyunwoo wanted to experience if he had a chance.
‘It’s really regrettable that the animation club doesn’t have the necessary teaching staff. It’s very difficult to learn it without teachers.’
Then, Hyunwoo suddenly thought about his chauffeur partner, Gyunsu. Gyunsu was a professional animator, and his abilities were already proven. As he was particularly good at drawing characters, he was duly recognized by his company for his abilities.
It was because of the company’s financial situation that Gyungsu was bad off. He couldn’t move to another company, though. Animation companies were overflowing with young professionals, with no opening for Gyunsu, who was in his 40s.
‘I wish Gyungsu donated his talent here.’
But it was not for Hyunwoo to decide. He could mention it to Gyungsu, but the decision had to be made by Gyungsu, not him.
After lunch they resumed their volunteer work. As Hyunwoo’s help was needed wherever he was, his break time was much shorter than others. Hyunwoo looked for something to do.

Does anybody need my help?


Can you come this way?
said one staffer.
Hyunwoon was led by the staffer to a large room. There were seven young boys gathered there, all sitting before a computer monitor.

You guys said the desk was broken. Can you come out a minute?
said the staffer.

Wait a minute, sir. After we’re done with this…

Hyunwoo grinned at them. Everybody was so engrossed by the computer game that they seemed to have forgetten how dreadful the staffer in charge of discipline was.
But the staffer’s reaction was unexpected. Typically he shouted at them to stop, but today he just let them enjoy the game as much as they could.

Looks like they’re doing something important. I’m sorry, but can you wait a minute?


I’m alright. Let them do it,
said Hyunwoo.
Then, he moved close to them to find out why they were so focused like that.
He heard the staffer’s voice from behind.

These boys are ‘Anifan’ members. Anifan is the animation club in this house.


Anifan?

It means animation fantasy.


Got it.

Out of curiosity, Hyunwoo watched them working on the animation. After they were done, they were replaying what they had made and reviewing it.
The length of the animation was about seven minutes. As it was made by beginners, the screen of the animation was rather shoddy and low grade. But the story itself was far from it. Even though Hyunwoo watched it for a taste, it was so interesting that he got carried away with it before he knew it. The background of the animation was a trash heap of all sorts of stuff. A crushed can was the main character, and it was competing with the trash newly brought in the heap over the topic of ‘who was more worthy of trash?’
It was interesting and instructive at the same time. It was surprise to him that the animation had such an engaging power even without any speaking.

We’re done now,
said the boys.
They turned off the computer and stepped back.
Now, Hyunwoo came back to his senses and began repairing the broken table. The staffer went out, and the boys were looking at his repairing work.
While fixing it, Hyunwoo asked them,

As for the animation a moment ago, did you make it by yourselves?


Of course.


Wow! That’s great! How did you?


Well, it takes some time to make it, but if you have a good story and a character, the rest of the job is easy.


When did you start to learn animation?


I’ve been learning it since my sophomore year in middle school, so it has been six years up to now.
And these friends have been learning it between 3-4 years.


Wonderful. You guys’ abilities are great.

Hyunwoo praised them with an exaggerated gesture, but they didn’t show a happy expression.

What’s the big deal? We can’t make use of our talent.