Chapter 55

At that time, Gyeonhui had just arrived and blocked Wuchang’s advances. Gyeonhui’s face hardened when he saw Ojae fallen to the floor.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Me? I’m his brother.”

“What? Is this your boyfriend, you little jerk?”

Wuchang swung his fists abruptly toward Gyeonhui.

‘Puck.’

With a dull sound, Gyeonhui took a punch to his face. He slowly licked his mouth and spat on the floor.

“Ptuu.”

His mouth burst with the taste of blood within. He then turned his head and looked at Wuchang.

“What’s with that look, huh? What are you going to do about it?”

The man swung his fist again.

This time, however, the results differed. Gyeohui quickly pulled his head back, avoiding the punch before striking Wuchang’s side with his left hand.

“Oup.”

With the pain reaching his intestines, Wuchang bent his upper body as if he were choking. Gyeonhui then swung his right hand at Wuchang’s face.

‘Udangtangtang.’

The massive-looking Wuchang suffered after going through Gyeonhui’s strike as he crumbled weakly. Gyeonhui adjusted his clothes and looked at him, fallen on the floor.

“You do know that this is self-defense, right? You can’t blame me for this.”

Wuchang could not answer. He could only gasp for air.

“If you’re going to sue me, then come visit me with your attorney.”

Gyeonhui took his business card out of his wallet and dropped it on the man’s face.

“Hey, Wuchang!”

Sarah, who was watching with elation, looked embarrassed.

“I’m going to call the police! You two are criminals!” Sarah cried out to Gyeonhui in a harsh tone.

“Call the police? Don’t you have a conscience?”

Ojae grabbed Gyenhui’s arm as he raised his voice. “… Stop it, please.”

“Stop what? We have to do something about this…”

Ojae, who was still staring at Sarah, slowly started to speak.

“Let’s just forget this. I’m begging you.”

Ojae turned after saying the end of his words and headed to the stairs.

“Hah… really.” Gyeonhui sighed with frustration and followed Ojae.

“Hey, Wuchang, are you okay?”

The man had barely caught his breath. He leaned against the wall and grabbed Gyeonhui’s business card that had fallen to the floor.

“… Those jerks, I’m not going to let this go.”

Wuchang clenched his teeth as he watched Gyeonhui and Ojae leaving.

***

At a cart bar in a nearby park.

“Ku…”

Ojae drank a shot of soju (a Korean distilled spirit made from rice) before yelling aloud.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?” Gyeonhui asked while looking at him with his arms crossed.

“It’s okay. I won’t die because of this.”

“Stop pretending that you’re unhurt.”

Gyeonhui spoke in disgust, but he filled Ojae’s empty glass with alcohol regardless. As he gazed at Ojae, Gyeonhui shifted his eyes and looked at the dark park.

After a moment’s pause, Sun’s words came to his mind again.

‘I just realized that I really don’t need to hear anything from you anymore.’

Her calm voice hovered in his ears, and it penetrated through his heart again. His core and everything else around his chest felt like it was being crushed with aching pain and stiffness. He felt as if he was clogged up, and his wounds were salted.

He clenched his fist on his chest. Ojae turned his head and started asking.

“Is it her, again?”

Gyeonhui shook his head instead of answering. Gyeonhui could see that the pain was his own, not hers.

“I’m… Why am I sick?”

He mumbled to himself like he could not comprehend it. Ojae, who was standing still, started speaking slowly with a low sigh.

“Gyeonhui, do I look okay?”

“Do you really want to ask that with that face?”

Gyeonhui, still in pain, asked while furrowing his brows.

“Tell me then, do I look okay?”

When asked again, Gyeonhui glanced at him. “Yes, you are still ugly.”

After hearing his answer, Ojae smiled and started talking weakly.

“I’m a mess outside, but it’s worse inside of me. My stomach is sore; I felt like I had been drinking heavily, and my chest hurts like somebody’s squeezing it.”

Gyeonhui showed a bitter expression as he understood Ojae’s question.

“Why do you think that I’m sick?”

“You’re sick because you’ve had the hell beaten out of you.”

Ojae slowly shook his head after hearing Gyeonhui’s response and started speaking.

“It’s because I loved her. I really loved Sarah more than anything. That’s why I’m so sick.”

“What is with all this melodrama? Are you already drunk?”

Feeling the awkward atmosphere, Gyeonhui asked in a dismissive tone.

“You do too.”

Ojae said while looking at Gyeonhui. Gyeonhui furrowed his brows without knowing what Ojae really meant.

“You also love Sun, that’s why you’re sick.”

“… Love?”

At one point, Gyeonhui shook his head while his eyes were open wide.

“If there’s anything like that in the world, then we wouldn’t have gone to the orphanage.” His eyes sank coldly.

“I know it’s hard to believe, and that hurt you a lot. However…” Ojae looked at him sympathetically. He then slowly opened his mouth, “Your pain is proof that love actually exists in this world.” Ojae spoke with confidence.

“Damn. Sarah wouldn’t feel sick about this, though. It’s disgusting.”

The bitter-looking Ojae gulped down another drink at once. Gyeonhui stood up from his seat with his jaw clenched.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ve lost my appetite because of you.”

Gyeonhui left the car bar right away. The wind, still cool, stroked and passed over his cheeks.

“Hah…”

Feeling the pain in his chest, he caught his breath while leaning against one of the cars parked there. He lifted his face and saw his own distorted reflection in the car window.

The still throbbing chest pains, endless sinking feelings, and indescribable anxiety were ever-present.

His own pain caused it; it was his own condition, not hers.

“This is ridiculous…”

Since his complex emotions were all mixed up, his eyes began to shake violently.

“Do… I… Do I love Sun…?”

“Get some sleep.”

Eunwoo looked at Sun while driving. Eunwoo remained ever-considerate, knowing that it was a difficult time for Sun.

“No, I’m fine. It’s okay.”

Sun was tired, but she shook her head, smiling. She felt sorry about sitting in the passenger seat and fall asleep beside Eunwoo. Moreover, she felt like it wouldn’t be easy for her to fall asleep anyway.

Sun slowly moved her gaze downward and looked at the sketchbook on her lap.

“But why did she give it to you knowing that you’re someone who has already broken up with Gyeonhui?”

Ari, who was sitting in the back seat, asked.

“Well…”

There was no way for her to respond because she also had no idea.

“Let me see that for a minute.”

“You mean this?”

When Sun turned, Ari nodded. Then, before Sun could hand it over, Ari had already reached out and took the sketchbook.

“What is this?”

Confusion crossed over Ari’s face as she continued to leaf through the sketchbook.

“Oh my. Look at these drawings. Gyeonhui has been mean since he was a kid.”

Ari, who was looking at the pictures, clicked her tongue and shook her head. After seeing Ari’s reaction, Sun turned her head as well. She tried not to concern herself over it, but Ari’s response was disturbing.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Look at this.”

Ari opened the sketchbook and showed it to Sun.

The paper was filled entirely with black crayon. There were no blanks.

That page and the page after it, the whole sketchbook was filled in the same way.

“Is he retarded?”

Sun’s mood sank after hearing Ari’s comments.

“Hey! Song Ari!”

Eunyoung, who was glaring at Ari, raised her voice to stop her remark when she noticed the change in Sun’s expression.

“Why are you talking to me like that? It’s scary.” Ari, who was feeling Eunyoung’s gaze, asked.

“You’re not supposed to talk about others like that. No matter who it is.”

“… Right.”

Ari responded with a sad, dry answer and closed her mouth. Sun turned her head and looked at the picture.

She looked at the black paper; she could hardly tell what was in them.

‘I wanted to have at least one person look at him the right way in this world. His drawings and him.’

Sister Andrea’s words came to her mind, but she could not understand what it meant.

‘What did she want me to understand about this black painting?’

She turned her head out of the car window to see the scenery of the night sky, and that view transformed into the dark drawings within her mind.

“Hah…”

A long sigh, which showed that she couldn’t subdue her frustration, came out.