Chapter 5.4

“Ahhh, I told you to let go!”

It was the first time Sangwoo had ever spoken informally to a senior. Sangwoo threw himself forward and snatched his hat from Jaeyoung’s hand. Their chests momentarily bumped, and Jaeyoung fell backwards, but Sangwoo immediately stood up and ran out of the dressing room.

The male students playing on the console turned their heads in surprise as the door slammed shut. Sangwoo could feel his heart pounding, and he could feel his face heating up.

‘Why do you make a fuss and take what belongs to others so easily?’

He was panting as he left the theater department. Jaeyoung had himself said that he was unpredictable, and this had been correct. Doing this and doing that, he was a bastard that was as unpredictable as the weather.

Sangwoo, who had been in a rush, gradually slowed down. As time went by, he began to feel awkward. No matter if Jang Jaeyoung had taken the cap and not given it back to him, suddenly shouting out of nowhere, had been an overreaction. Sangwoo wasn’t naturally the type of person who’d lose his temper just because he got angry. But he had been surprised, because someone suddenly got very close to him and touched his face. This was why he hadn’t been able to use good judgment.

‘Come to think of it, it isn’t even reasonable.’

When you tackle someone in soccer, you’re much closer than this. How about in wrestling or Ssireum1, when bodies are completely glued together? No one even bats an eye.  In the army, it’s nothing to be tightly packed together while taking showers being fully naked. All of these things are between men anyway.

Sangwoo concluded that he had acted irrationally. So when Jaeyoung followed behind him, he couldn’t look him in the eye. Jaeyoung handed Sangwoo a blue costume, a pigtail wig, and a cellphone.

“I joked around and removed your cap to put the pigtail on. I didn’t know you’d get angry.”

“I’m not angry.”

It was a lie, because Sangwoo’s heart was still pounding furiously. Jaeyoung was simply trying to prepare their props, but it became clear that Sangwoo had misunderstood him in a strange way. Whether he intended to or not, he seemed to be able to stress out Sangwoo in many ways.

“We have to practice to do well on the skit. Let’s get along, Sangwoo.”

Sangwoo ignored his words and left the building with the costume and the wig in his backpack. He could hear the sound of Jaeyoung following him from behind. Sangwoo turned around and said:

“It looks like you’ve changed your strategy, but stuff like that doesn’t work on me, so don’t pretend that we’re close.”

A smile spread on Jaeyoung’s expressionless mouth.

“I don’t do things like planning strategies. I just do what I want.”

“And don’t follow me from here. I don’t even go to the library now, and I study at home, because of you, sunbae.

“Telling me not to do it makes me want to do it even more.”

“Follow me, then.”

“Fine. I’ll have to do what you say.”

“……”

Sangwoo quickly walked towards the library and got on his bike as usual. He thought that he’d feel a bit better if he deliberately passed by Jaeyoung while going down the hill at lightning speed. But Jaeyoung followed him down the hill.

“What are you doing?”

“You told me to follow you.”

Sangwoo looked at the fluorescent skateboard Jaeyoung was riding with an astonished look. Just how crazy was this person, really? Wasn’t time precious to everyone?

He shook his head and tried to concentrate on just riding his bicycle, but he kept glancing in Jaeyoung’s direction. Jang Jaeyoung  skated very well, and he knew it would grab people’s attention. It wasn’t just Sangwoo, but also those who saw him in the alley, curiously looked at him with admiration. Jaeyoung seemed to enjoy the attention as he showed off his skills by doing aerials in this crowded place. He smiled at people as if he were a celebrity and ran up to children and gave them high-fives.

He looked as carefree as a video game character. Even then, Sangwoo knew that Jaeyoung was different from himself, but watching him skate with his hair fluttering in the wind  and a smile on his face, he felt like they were from completely different species.

From one to ten, they were complete opposites. Unlike Sangwoo, who only did what he had to, Jaeyoung seemed to do whatever he wanted to. Unlike Sangwoo, who didn’t have a single friend, Jaeyoung was the university star with acquaintances everywhere. Unlike Sangwoo, who only wore black clothes, Jaeyoung’s closet had to be rainbow-colored. Unlike Sangwoo, who always wore an indifferent expression, Jaeyoung always smiled mischievously. Unlike Sangwoo, who was obsessed with sticking to the same routine, Jaeyoung was like a homeless vagabond. They were living in different worlds. Without that unsavory incident, they would never have gotten to know each other.

The two of them rode side by side around the sidewalk and entered an alley. Even though no one else was around, Jaeyoung did a 180 degree aerial to land. It was as if the skateboard were attached to his feet.

“Why the hell are you following me?”

There were many better places to skateboard, but he couldn’t understand why he would do it on the uneven pavement of an alley. Jaeyoung replied that there were no insignificant things and nothing is to be done lightly. It wasn’t an appropriate response for the question. However, there wasn’t any need to understand him anyway, since they were already halfway through this entire ordeal.

“There’s only a week left now.”

“Of what?”

“The withdrawal period.”

Jaeyoung just laughed without responding. They were almost in front of the studio building where Sangwoo lived. It was a four-story building with mold on the plaster walls. Sangwoo locked his bicycle to a covered bicycle rack marked #402. While he did that, Jaeyoung looked up at the building while lightly pushing his skateboard back and forth with his feet.

“So you live here.”

“The maximum sentence for trespassing is three years.”

“I was wondering why you hadn’t said anything yet.”

“If you pick the lock and take my bike, I’ll report you immediately. The same goes for the saddle and other parts as well.”

Jaeyoung just laughed at Sangwoo’s words instead of saying something sarcastic. When he tapped the tip of the skateboard with his foot, the other side of the board flipped up. Jaeyoung held the board with his left hand and waved his right hand.

“Have a nice weekend, Sangwoo.”

“… Ok.”

He didn’t have any choice but to give Jaeyoung’s innocuous words a passive response. Sangwoo took his eyes off him and entered the building. He was wondering why he felt so uneasy, so he tried to contemplate this while climbing the stairs. By the look of things, it seemed to be because it was the first time that they parted in a normal way without cursing at each other.

Sangwoo was anxious that Jaeyoung would follow him, but there wasn’t a single sound behind him. Sangwoo climbed to the fourth floor and entered his studio upon inputting the door lock password.

He sighed for an unknown reason. He put his backpack in front of the door, took off his cap and coat, and hung them up. He took off his jeans, changed into a training suit, and then washed his hands with soap in the bathroom. There was an ordinary guy with flat, unstyled bangs in the mirror.

Sangwoo grabbed a book he was going to study with from the bookshelf and placed it on his desk. He grabbed the pencil case and the notebook from his backpack and placed them next to the book. However, before he sat down on the chair, his feet moved towards the window.

He slightly lifted the curtains and looked down under the window. Jaeyoung had left the skateboard on the spot and was playing with a cat. The black cat was lying on the ground showing its belly, while Jaeyoung squatted and scratched the cat everywhere with his fingers. Sangwoo had also encountered this cat several times, but he had only seen it either hiss angrily or quickly make an escape. After he saw Jaeyoung take out his cellphone to take a picture of the cat, Sangwoo closed the curtains.

He experienced two days in hardcore hell mode, one day of rest, and two days where he got slightly annoyed. Just like with his character, it was difficult to define with a word, but Jang Jaeyoung’s behavior had been like an irregular sequence. Sangwoo hated things that didn’t have a pattern, because they were unpredictable. He sat down at his desk and began to study.

return 0;

Uncertainty is accompanied by inefficiency.

Jang Jaeyoung’s behavior had no pattern at all, so he wasn’t able to predict what he’d do during the weekend. So, Sangwoo repeatedly felt nervous and then relieved whenever he saw a human silhouette projected onto a game poster that covered the window glass of the door to the PC room.

His part-time job on that Saturday went by slowly. There were fewer people than usual, but he wasn’t able to spend his spare time efficiently as he kept glancing at the door. It was a desirable defense if he had to deal with the sudden appearance of an enemy.  However, Sangwoo thought it was funny, as just by looking at the situation itself, it seemed as if he were waiting for Jaeyoung.

‘There hasn’t been a day where I haven’t seen him until now.’ 

That was the only pattern he could find in Jaeyoung’s behavior. He chased Sangwoo around as if preying upon him, even on Wednesday when their classes didn’t overlap.

However, by 10pm, Jaeyoung still hadn’t shown up. Sangwoo felt odd and a bit uncomfortable, and he thought he might be waiting in front of his studio. Since he’d gone there by skateboard once, with his persistent personality, it wouldn’t be that much of an effort for him to return. Sangwoo walked to the front of his building and saw a black figure there.

‘As expected, there he is!’ 

But when he got closer and looked at it, it was just a huge garbage bag. In the end, Sangwoo didn’t see Jaeyoung once that day. If he had known that it would turn out that way, he would have spent his time working more efficiently. As he was glancing at the door, he regretted the time wasted doing nothing. Sangwoo entered his studio while feeling a bit sullen and ended the day.

i) Jang Jaeyoung appears and disappears during the week with [100]% certainty.

ii) Jang Jaeyoung appears and disappears during the week with [x]% certainty. (0 ≤ x ≤ 50)

Albeit incomplete, he drew the same conclusion from the example he got from the previous Saturday. In order to not be as anxious as he’d been the previous day, Sangwoo believed in the option of Jaeyoung not appearing again today, with the same type of conviction as in religious belief.

Ding-dong.

However, Jang Jaeyoung broke down Sangwoo’s ‘belief’ when he appeared at 19:33 (7:33pm). When the bell rang on the door, making eye contact with the visitors was a requirement of his job. Sangwoo’s hypothesis that Jaeyoung wouldn’t show up was partially torn into shreds.

Jaeyoung picked up his card and passed the counter, so Sangwoo felt anxious about what he was going to do. The fortunate thing was that there was a security camera affixed to the ceiling, so if Jaeyoung were to do something irrational, he could just tell his manager and make it so that Jaeyoung could never return again. The manager was a kind man. In the past, he had sided with him when a fight had started between Sangwoo and a man asking for credit.

[Customer #22 Order:  HOT Chicken Flavor Ramyun]2

Sangwoo glared at the notification. Jaeyoung had only passed the counter a minute ago. It was clear that he had placed the order as soon as he had turned the computer on.

Sangwoo got up from the seat, measured the  appropriate amount of water, boiled it, and cooked the ramyun according to the instructions. He put the ramyun bowl on the tray and headed to the smoking room. Jaeyoung was leaning against a chair and shook his legs while looking at a webtoon. Sangwoo put the tray down on the table and turned around immediately. He heard a loud sigh behind him.

Three minutes after returning to the counter, another notification arrived.

[Customer #22 Order: Lemonade]

‘It seems like the tactic today is to train a mutt.’ 

If that were the case, then it would be the most bearable one so far. Jaeyoung’s seat wasn’t that far from the counter anyway, and since Sangwoo was already getting paid working there at the PC room, it was no big deal to do something else anyway.

Eighty percent of the glass was filled with water from the water purifier. He dissolved  one teaspoon of concentrated lemonade powder into the water. When he dropped in four ice cubes, the water level raised all the way to the top of the glass. Sangwoo went to Jaeyoung with the cup on the same tray as before. He was watching a video of people spray painting on walls. The bowl of ramyun was half-empty.

“Whew…”

A heavy sigh left his lips as if he had been jolted by  an earthquake. Sangwoo put the drink down next to the ramyun bowl and the smoking room.

Five minutes after returning to his seat, another notification arrived.

[Customer #22 Order:  Abalone chips]

Sangwoo glared at the screen with a displeased expression on his face. The system allowed all types of food to be ordered, but there were rarely any customers who rang the bell just to order a snack, as they usually  went to the counter themselves to buy it.

‘Thanks for allowing me to exercise that way.’

Sangwoo grabbed the snacks from the shelf and headed towards the smoking room. Jaeyoung was watching a video of overseas basketball this time.

“Haaaaaa…”

The sigh seemed to gradually get louder somehow. Sangwoo put the snack next to the lemonade and the ramyun bowl, and left the smoking room.

Sangwoo knew that wouldn’t be the end of it. He sat by the counter with his arms folded and looked at the screen. After waiting for a while, the notification went off again.

[Customer #22 Order]: Fruit Jelly

Sangwoo snatched the jelly, as if had been waiting to do so, and headed towards the smoking room.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa….”

______________________________________________________________________________

Footnotes

1.SSireum is a form of Korean wrestling.

2.This was translated as Spicy Fire Ramyun in a previous chapter, but I decided to use the English name on the pack. The author changed a letter (probably in order to avoid copyright issues), so I changed it from “ramen” to “ramyun” as well. Many of you may have seen the massively popular spicy ramen eating challenge videos.