CH 15

It’s a new year and Choi Se-kyung hasn’t boarded the plane to Canada His ostensible reason was that he wanted to focus on college since he was a senior. However, his low mood after the night he couldn’t find Song Yi-heon was decisive. He couldn’t process his emotions properly outside, so he used studying as an excuse to avoid seeing people.

It wasn’t until he reported the incident to the district police that he realized he didn’t know anything about Song Yi-heon. This included his name, age, and school, which he had to learn from because they referred to the same school. However, he learned nothing personal, like a phone number or an address. The police rushed him to fill out the report, but reports with inaccurate personal information were missed. Choi Se-kyung, not a family member or friend, never heard from the police about Song Yi-heon.

None of the phone calls he received were about him. Hong Jae-min was the only other student in his class with Song’s phone number. He tried to contact another friend to see if they were still harassing Song Yi-heon. However, he was told they could not reach him.

Choi Se Kyung had no contact with Song Yi Heon anyway. It was just a one-sided crush on Song Yi-heon’s part, and he was more of a stalking victim than anything else. But the eye, the eye, was the problem. On a rainy day, those scarred eyes poked through her consciousness cracks.

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“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“What?”

Se-kyung looked up from stirring his soup at the unexpected question. Se-kyung’s mother, eating with him at the neatly set breakfast table, picked up a side dish and spoke softly.

“You’ve been so distracted lately. I thought you had a girlfriend.”

As the vice president of a Seoul department store, she’s glued to her home during New Year. This accounts for a significant portion of her sales, but she hasn’t neglected her only son. It’s a harmonious household, with an excellent mother-daughter relationship, except her family has faults. Se-kyung put down her spoon with a charming smile.

“Of course not, I’m busy studying.”

“Whatever. The department store is yours.”

“If my dad hears, he’s determined to kick your ass.”

It was a boneheaded joke, and the hat cracked at the same time. The lookalike face widened its eyes and smiled similarly. Choi Se-kyung had a lot in common with her mother, not only in appearance but also in personality. Se-kyung changed the subject, not wanting to draw attention to herself.

‘My dad’s been busy lately, and I haven’t seen him in a while.’

When he asked her about breakfast when it was just the two of them, Se-kyung’s mother shook her head to say nothing.

“Apparently, a member of a gang in Seoul died. They said it was a car accident…. So there’s a turf war taking place on and they’re busy. Isn’t it funny? They’re gangsters, they don’t even pay taxes.”

She didn’t say much, as she was already getting ready for work and sipping soup to keep her lipstick from smudging. Se-kyung didn’t ask. She’d heard news of the gangsters, but nothing about Song Yi-heon’s whereabouts, which was what she really wanted to know. Se-kyung suddenly frowned. He tried not to think about it, but he still remembered Song Yi-heon.

“Oh, your grandfather is in the hospital. You should visit him. It’s a central hospital. Call Ye Hee and she’ll show you the room.”

“My grandfather is hospitalized. How did it happen?”

Se-kyung put down his spoon and showed interest, though he wasn’t curious about his grandfather’s health either. He pretended to be concerned as a responsible grandson, but his mind was filled with Song Yiheon’s eyes, which were filled with resentment.

This winter has been unusually snowless. Every year, an environmental documentary airs about the melting Arctic as evidence of a warming climate. However, Se-kyung, who doesn’t care about the global environment, didn’t care if it was raining or snowing. He just cared about the polar bears who lost their homes. But this year, regardless of the polar bears, he dislikes rain.

He didn’t like this because it was a trauma caused by Song Yi-heon.

Se-kyung entered the building and walked down to the basement where the bookstore was located. The bookstore was decorated with Christmas decorations that hadn’t been taken down and decorations that emphasized the new year’s prosperity. As he pushed open the automatic doors, the heater blasted his dry face and he wandered among the shelves.

He had planned to buy a collection of essays by his grandfather’s favorite author as a get-well gift. He wasn’t a well-known Japanese author, so he wasn’t heavily promoted, so he had to search for a while to find it, even though it was unpublished.

With his hands in his coat pockets, Se-kyung searched through the bookshelves until he found the essay book he needed. He stretched his back, which he had bent all this time. As his vision increased, he saw something he hadn’t seen before. It was a boy wreaking havoc on bookshelves beyond the bookshelves.

Dragging a ringer in his hand, he flipped through every issue on the shelf, unsure of which to buy. The boy with the short haircut was unaware of the employee walking nearby, and his eyes were focused on his workbook.

Choi Se-kyung forgot to fetch the essay book and hurriedly left the store, a rare glint of excitement in his eyes. The boy’s backside looked like Song Yi-heon’s.

***

The students gathered in the auditorium to escape the blazing sun on the playground, sitting in rows around the jump rope. Happy to be out of the sun, but not in gym class, they hugged their knees with bemused expressions. Part of me wants to yell at them to do some self-study, but I know it’s part of their performance assessment, so I wait my turn.

“Next, number 12, get ready!”

The gym teacher, who never took off his sunglasses, even indoors, called the next number. Overshadowed by the big guy in front of him, Song got up on his knees. The P.E. teacher, who had just given No. 11 a bad mark for barely clearing the vault, was not pleased when she checked the attendance book to see who No. 12 was.

The gym teacher taught Song Yiheon’s class last year. He thought that Song Yiheon, who often sits in the shade of the stands or walks to the nurse’s office, dared to participate in the class. He knew it would be the lowest score, so he put a pen on the board and blew the whistle.

-Beep!

The bell rang and the gym teacher took off his sunglasses, not believing his eyes. Song Yi-heon ran and jumped over the vault perfectly. He leapt over the jump rope in a clean, uncluttered fashion and landed safely on the other side. Applause erupted among the kids, and the gym teacher clapped her hands, clutching her attendance book under her armpit and exclaiming in admiration.

“Hey, Song Yi-heon, did you get any special lessons over winter break?”

The original Song Yi-heon was sleepless and short-tempered, and his physical strength was weakened by fatigue, but he wasn’t an excellent athlete. After the fight with Hong Jae Minne, he needed to adapt to his body. He increased the intensity of his workouts, so he could jump over the vault just like in the textbook.

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Song Yi-Heon scratched his head in embarrassment and awkwardly bowed to the gym teacher. The PE teacher noticed his updated hairstyle and complimented him.

“You have a cool haircut! Why have you hidden your handsome face all this time?”

“…Thank you.”

Song Yi-heon, still in his Sookmyeong personality, couldn’t raise his head properly and returned back to his seat at Jo Arida. When boy number thirteen came out and the interest subsided, Kim Deuk-pal relaxed and buried his forehead between his knees.

He tried to play it cool, knowing that if Song Yi-heon suddenly became proficient at sports, it would only fuel Choi Se-kyung’s already-ignited suspicions, but he couldn’t help but hear the sound of the performance evaluation incorporating into his grade.

“Woah!”

Suddenly, a cheer rang out, and Kim Deuk-pal looked up to see the kids applauding Choi Se-kyung, who had just jumped off the vault. Se-kyung’s posture was similar but his limbs were longer, and the applause was louder than Song Yi-heon’s.

Nonchalantly, he returned the children’s high-fives, palm to palm, and returned to his seat. Choi Se-kyung, number 16, was in the back row after Song Yi-heon. Kim Deuk-pal tried to avoid eye contact with him as he approached, patting him on the back.

As soon as the bell rang to end the class, Kim Deuk-pal was the first out of the auditorium. But he didn’t know how to avoid Choi Se-kyung once he got back to class, and he lamented his fugitive status.

If he knew what and how much Choi Se-kyung knew, Yi-heon would make a plan. However, Choi Se-kyung, that fox-like bastard, has been tight-lipped since she got lucky at the cafe. Kim Duk-pal, who was stabbed, couldn’t ask for help, and his insides burned.

“That thing is a halter…….”

It’s a nine-tailed gummy bear,” Kim muttered to himself as he pushed open the auditorium door.

“Shit, look at that flag flying.”

A high-pitched shout flew behind his back, accompanied by a mocking laugh. When he turned to see who it was, he saw a head of bleached hair glaring at him.

“You’re planning to change yourself because you’re afraid of heat?”

Hong Jae-min glared at Song Yi-heon every chance he got, annoyed that he was the only one who hadn’t been punished for the fight. When the gym teacher stepped into the equipment room to get the boys to set up the jump rope, he didn’t miss a beat.

Normally, Song Yi-heon would have been humiliated by his classmates’ stares, with nowhere to turn for help, but not Kim Deuk-pal. He was happy to hear Hong Jae-min’s protests.

When Song Yi-heon approached him with a smile on his face, Hong Jae-min shivered. Even if Song Yiheon wasn’t as scared as before, he would still hit him. However, he seemed too busy checking his surroundings to notice Hong Jae-min.

He doesn’t know why, but he found that very unpleasant. When he couldn’t affect Song Yiheon in the slightest, his temper flared up and he clenched his fists. This is usually when Hong Jae-min loses his temper and fights without thinking. His fist, hidden behind his back, crackled with bone as he tried to block Song Yi-heon’s blow, unaware of his fate.

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“Ugh-!”

He caught Song Yi-heon off guard when he saw the gym teacher checking the supply closet. However, the moment he raised his fist, a kick to the shin knocked him down. No matter how long and flying his reins were, they were no match for a gangster who had been in the ring before.

“A kid looking down on a grown man.”

Muttering so low that only Hong Jae-min could hear, Kim Deuk-pal coolly placed his hand on Hong Jae-min’s back. A thud sounded around them.

“Asshole, did I ever do anything to you because I’m gay? You’re a chrysalis. I can’t see your dick. Don’t gays have eyes?”

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After roughly scolding Hong Jae-min, who was dazed by the tingling in the back of his head, Kim Deuk-pal threw his arms around the kid’s neck. When Hong Jae-min, who was pinned down by Song Yi-heon’s height, squirmed and struggled to escape, Kim Deuk-pal tightened his grip. He craned his neck to look into the supply closet, unperturbed by Hong Jae-min’s frown.

Choi Se-kyung was coming out laughing at his friend who had moved to the vault, but his smile was different when he spotted Song Yi-heon. The affectionate smile between friends was too much. He made eye contact and raised his hand to call Song Yi-heon, and Kim Duk-pal freaked out and pulled Hong Jae-min to him.

“Let’s go to the canteen? Uh, yeah. Let’s go, canteen.”

“Hey, shit, Noah, c’mon…….”

He pushed Hong Jae-min around, scared of Se-kyung’s catch.