28
“Wow… I’m…”
Taein, whose shoulders were raised like a manipulated puppet, let out a sigh. If Gu Wanjae kept standing in front of him, they’d at least get into an argument, but he was already tapping a motorcycle by the roadside and doing his own thing. He had to ride that to get to school. ‘Management’ included going to and from school, and Gu Wanjae would borrow various bikes from somewhere every day.
But that thing…
It looked like a red delivery motorcycle, hardly worthy of being called a bike. No matter how much he borrowed from this person and that person, did he borrow something like that? The anger was brief, and Taein looked at the motorcycle with a sulky face while worrying needlessly inside. Will that thing even start? It doesn’t look like it’ll move forward.
“Hey.”
Gu Wanjae was already mounting the motorcycle. He turned around and just wiggled his hand, telling him to get on quickly. Taein shook his head while gripping his summer uniform shirt.
“I’m not going.”
“You’re skipping school?”
“I’ll take the bus.”
“Stop talking bullshit and get on. I adjusted it properly. It’s not even weird.”
“It’s fucking weird though.”
“It’s not weird. And so what if it’s weird? Do you have anyone you need to look good for?”
“Would I? Shibal.”
“Then get on. If you take the bus, it’ll take an hour.”
He could see him pulling his body back as much as possible with an annoyed face. Gu Wanjae liked putting people in front. More than liking it, it was convenient or something. Whenever the structure allowed front seat boarding, Taein sat in the front. The problem was that today’s motorcycle didn’t seem to have much space in front. Taein, who was looking at Gu Wanjae’s back with his legs spread wide, reluctantly moved his steps slowly.
“You bastard…”
“What bastard.”
He got on the motorcycle while looking at Gu Wanjae with annoyed eyes. He perched his butt on the pointy remaining seat surface and turned his eyes to the analog instrument panel. Behind him, Gu Wanjae seemed to be muttering something, then immediately started the engine. The distance between the handlebars was particularly close, so both his shoulders were properly trapped between Gu Wanjae’s arms.
If only the homeroom teacher hadn’t said to definitely come before first period. Whether it took an hour or not, he would have just taken the bus. All sorts of thoughts came to him on the motorcycle that started immediately. Even as the days kept getting hotter, pleasant wind blew in the morning. It’s just that his mood was bad. Taein, who had been silently trapped between Gu Wanjae’s arms, heard grumbling sounds and turned his head halfway.
“What?”
“Your nape isn’t covered.”
“Why would I cover my nape, you crazy bastard?”
“It’s fine for me to see it, but think about someone like Lee Wuyong staring at you from behind.”
“…Lee Wuyong isn’t coming to school. And who looks at napes?”
“Kang Taein, life is originally a series of unexpected events.”
“How impressive.”
“Do you understand now?”
The conversation had no substance. Even while talking about this, they’d talk about that. Gu Wanjae would make strange criticisms. Recent morning scenes had been like this continuously. Taein only intermittently said things like “whatever, shibal, ugh” and didn’t listen to Gu Wanjae’s words. Following the nape, this time he heard absurd talk about how about wearing arm guards.
“That kind of thing is a fashion item.”
“Bullshit. You do it if you want.”
“Would I do it if I did?”
“…Hey, look at the signal.”
It was the timing when they stopped after receiving the signal. The light would change soon and they had to go forward, but he was making such sounds. Taein sent his arm back and hit Gu Wanjae’s waist with a thud. Then his body was pulled back and wind blew. Since they were going to make it to first period, it was far from the general office workers’ commute time or school attendance time. The roadway was relatively empty. On the motorcycle boldly racing through the wide open roadway, surprisingly no problems were found.
Just some noise.
How long had they gone like that? Buildings around the school came into view, and they passed the King Karaoke and bus stop. The convenience store attached to the uphill road also caught the eye. The motorcycle boasted not bad performance even on the uphill road. Some black smoke came out, but it managed to go up somehow. Taein, whose body was pushed back slightly due to the recoil, endured by putting strength in his lower body. The motorcycle stopped in front of the school, and Taein got off quickly as if his butt was on fire.
Unlike regular schools, there was no grand school gate, large bulletin board, or noticeable playground. A large building located in the middle of an alley was the entirety of the school. As soon as Taein got off the motorcycle, he straightened his appearance first. Though it wasn’t at a level where straightening would fix it. Gu Wanjae was looking at Taein with one leg up on the seat. Taein, who was touching his shirt collar, frowned and made eye contact with Gu Wanjae.
“Really, shibal. I’m going to rip it off.”
“If you rip it, I’ll staple it back on, so you figure it out yourself.”
“Fuck, shibal.”
The wire core in the collar area that he had briefly forgotten while riding the motorcycle was blatantly felt. Taein felt each one and got angry enough to even raise his fist at Gu Wanjae. It was a familiar sight. Today he had even stapled it with a stapler, so he really couldn’t say anything even if he got hit. Gu Wanjae familiarly pulled his face back and lightly raised the corner of his mouth. Taein also leaned his body forward, but didn’t actually hit him. Because he could see two students behind.
When with Gu Wanjae, he acts as carefully as possible.
With all the rumors already floating around, there was no need for his actions to stand out too.
It didn’t take long for Kang Taein, friend of the delinquent-famous Gu Wanjae, to become a delinquent. Taein had known for a long time that his image was like that. At school, there wasn’t a single case of guys in the relatively normal category approaching him, and only pure delinquent guys talked to him. Including underclassmen. Especially the one he had unintentionally gotten close to was Lee Wuyong, but he hadn’t shown his face since that day. He had said he was quitting school, but it was unclear if it was true. It might just be that he couldn’t come because of what he had said that day. Even he wouldn’t be able to easily come to school.
To a guy he wasn’t even that close to, saying “if it’s you, it’s possible,” disgusting words that were revolting to even recall.
Leaving the words “I’m going,” Taein opened the school’s glass door. Behind him, he heard Gu Wanjae’s “uhhh” sound, and the sight of him pulling the motorcycle forward was also reflected in the glass window. Taein went up to the second floor and looked out the window. The smoke around seemed to be from the motorcycle. Gu Wanjae was properly parking the motorcycle next to the school. He seemed to have something to do nearby. After just checking roughly, Taein headed to the classroom.
* * *
The shirt collar bothered him throughout class. Even when most of the guys sitting in the classroom collapsed using their desks as pillows, Taein was touching his collarbone with his hand. It was because his skin had risen red and become stinging. Eventually, as soon as the lunch bell rang, he headed straight to the bathroom. He went into the last stall and slowly pulled out the wire core from the top. It was properly clamped so it was hard to straighten, but when he wrapped his fingertips with tissue and touched the wire core, it did straighten.
“Ai-shi… it hurts.”
Taein quietly complained about the pain in his fingertips and put the removed wire core in the trash. Just as he was about to pull out another one, sounds came from the sink area.
“You’re fucking crazy too. Do you say such things?”
“Then I have to say it. Are we supposed to lie to Gu Wanjae to cover for Lee Wuyong?”
It was Choi Chan’s voice.
“Oh shibal, dog-like fucking friendship.”
He didn’t know who emphasized “dog.” Taein slowly unfolded the wire core while listening to their words.
“Friendship my ass, shibal, I’m resentful that I couldn’t kill that shibal bastard.”
“Should I tell Lee Wuyong?”
“Want to die?”
The guy who laughed loudly at those words said “ah” and continued as if something came to mind.
“Does Kang Taein come to school?”
“Yeah, he came earlier too.”
He had never run into Choi Chan so it was puzzling, but he just thought he must have seen him. The second wire core was clamped more properly than the first one. Taein, who straightened the wire core with difficulty, gently pulled it out of the small hole.
“Do Kang Taein and Gu Wanjae really live together?”
“Yeah, that’s for sure.”
The sound of water pouring was heard. Choi Chan, who seemed to be washing his hands, said one more thing.
“Those two probably have something going on too.”
“What do they have?”
“Haven’t you heard the rumors? Those two did this.”
The hand pulling out the wire core hesitated. This. Even without knowing how Choi Chan was expressing it or what his expression was like, it was words he could sufficiently infer. Just hearing the other guy’s reaction that followed.
“Shibal, fucking disgusting!”
“Disgusting, right. Probably Kang Taein is this and Gu Wanjae is this.”
“Ugh. Shibal.”
“We should have known from when Gu Wanjae was fucking protective of Kang Taein.”
“Gu Wanjae was?”
“From way back… when he was fucking beating up other bastards, only with Kang Taein it was ‘our Taein,’ ‘my friend,’ doing that shit like a dog. Do you do that to a fucking friend? I almost threw up.”
So Choi Chan thought of him like that. Him and Gu Wanjae like that. The tissue that had wrapped his fingers had fallen to the floor at some point, and he was touching the wire core with bare skin. His fingertips had turned red while gripping the end of the wire core. Lee Wuyong was the one who mainly approached, and Lee Wuyong was always Gu Wanjae’s target, so there wasn’t much contact with Choi Chan. When those two hung out together, he saw them often though. Contrary to his expectation that Choi Chan wouldn’t be very interested in him or Gu Wanjae, words like “Kang Taein” and “Gu Wanjae” kept coming out of his mouth.
“That bastard Kang Taein is fucking funny to watch too. Because Gu Wanjae does stuff for him, he thinks he’s something.”
“Isn’t that just his personality originally?”
“It’s his personality, but there’s probably also him enduring believing in his lover.”
“Lover shibal, ugh.”
Taein, who heard those words with his eyes narrowed, touched the door lock. Should he unlock it and go out? He had that thought for a moment, but those guys left the bathroom faster. Some guy named Moon Hyeongjun or Moon Yeongjun said something about where someone was and went out of the bathroom. Taein stood still in the stall having only pulled out the most frustrating wire core.
Rumor.
Fake.
It was definitely ridiculous talk, but he felt strange. Did he and Gu Wanjae look like that? Not because of his personality, but because of his ‘lover’ Gu Wanjae, he acts like shit? While thinking it was a funny idea, his head was complicated. He had never even acted like shit. With Choi Chan, he had only been together as side character 1 when several people were together. Including being with three of them including Gu Wanjae, or being alone with him had never happened. Sometimes he had come into his classroom with Lee Wuyong though.
The more he thought about it, the more subtly angry he became.
They talked shit without knowing anything.
He and Gu Wanjae would never be that kind of relationship even if they died.
Should he have really burst out?
Taein came out with a slightly flushed face and looked around the corridor. The guys eating lunch had already all left. He slowly moved his steps while looking at the classroom windows. There were guys lying on desks sleeping, and classrooms where three seemed to be waiting for something. It was quick to the stairs. Taein, who pointlessly brought his hand to his shirt buttons, just slightly unfolded the wrinkled parts. Still, having pulled out two wire cores, his appearance wasn’t that ridiculous. It was much better than before.
Taein arrived in front of the cafeteria and stood in line. Soon he went inside and received rice and side dishes on a tray. The sound from the side was heard around the time he was getting soup.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
