3
“You bastard. Are my eyes fucked up or what?”
“What do you mean your eyes are fucked up? I just know because I was hanging around the crew.”
“Shibal, you bastard.”
Sure enough. The guy who first claimed he saw Gu Wanjae with the crew threw a punch at the guy who said he’d been hanging around the crew. With the desk between them, the guys who had been gathered like a swarm of ants all stepped back at once. That’s when all the neatly lined desks got scattered. When the effect reached even the desks in the back, Taein, who had been sitting quietly, also stood up from his seat.
In times like this, it was best to go outside. From the beginning, his classmates seemed to enjoy it when fights broke out. They’d go “Hey, hey” and pretend to break it up, but when fists were actually flying, they’d step back and watch.
The desks are probably overturned. Since there’s nothing on top, it should be fine.
When fights ended, usually about five desks would be knocked over.
Taein imagined the chaotic classroom and went outside.
* * *
At the end of April when spring flowers were falling, Taein was attending class in his unchanged classroom. The guys who fought every other day and talked about organizations and Gu Wanjae would spout the same nonsense whenever break time came. “They say Gu Wanjae is coming. What? Today? Yeah.” He had heard the same story 30 minutes ago. The guys talked about it so much that he now knew Gu Wanjae might come to the crew.
Though it has nothing to do with me.
He wasn’t even certain if it was the same guy he’d seen on the winter closing ceremony day. The more he listened, the more he wondered if the name he’d heard that day was Gu Wanjae. Seeing that he was tall and knew the bully guys, he thought there might be some connection with these guys too, but then his thoughts leaned toward the opposite.
First of all, the guy he saw on the closing ceremony day didn’t seem interested in fighting.
What his classmates mainly talked about was Gu Wanjae’s fighting skills. How scouts came from some territory, how some organization boss he knew did this and that. Whenever these uninteresting sounds entered his ears, Taein felt like the guy he saw a few months ago wasn’t that guy. That guy seemed to enjoy pile-driving more.
He was lost in idle thoughts when it happened.
The door creaked open and someone appeared at the front door of the classroom.
“……”
It was in the middle of class. The teacher, as if accustomed to this kind of thing, only glanced at the front door and continued the lesson in a bored voice. There weren’t even five people actually listening to the lesson to begin with.
Taein watched to see what the guy who entered with a grinning face would do. The guy came in looking for an empty seat and sat down while muttering louder than the teacher.
“Wow, school is really school.”
At that sound, the guys in the back snickered. They were guys who had been sleeping originally, but someone had woken them up in succession and their upper bodies were sitting straight up. The guy who entered sat in the back, in an empty seat, and nodded his head or shrugged his shoulders at the guys showing interest in him. It was a casual response.
Taein’s eyes were fixed only on that guy. The guy wasn’t even conscious of it, but when he took a full look around the classroom, he finally made eye contact with Taein. Taein was the first to look away.
I didn’t think it would be, but it was right.
Taein thought to himself and swallowed.
Gu Wanjae, who had his first day of school at the end of April rather than early March, was indeed the same guy he had seen on the closing ceremony day. He still stood out because he was taller than guys his age. That day he had an expression that was completely unreadable and made a bad impression, but the guy he saw today even had a pleasant demeanor with his good-natured appearance. Even though it must have been his first time meeting the teacher, he was grinning by himself, and the way he muttered playfully while looking for a seat to sit down.
But Taein stopped thinking there.
He would be someone with no connection to him anyway.
The same went for himself. Whether he had seen Gu Wanjae that day or not, he didn’t have different feelings about the guy. He had just been curious whether the Gu Wanjae his classmates talked about was the same guy he knew. Now that it was revealed, his curiosity ended there too.
Soon the bell rang, and the teacher left the classroom without even looking back.
All the teachers who taught classes had no interest in the students of this school. They had no enthusiasm for teaching, and even when they came to the classroom, classes were often replaced with self-study. It was like the atmosphere of a middle school after the final exams of the second semester of third year. It was similar to the days when high school admission was decided and teachers barely interfered.
Taein stared blankly at the notebook he had open.
It was something he’d received as promotional material for a physical education academy entrance exam in front of the school, and he had this spread out during every class period.
“Hey, Wanjae!”
“Gu Wanjae!”
Since it was that chaotic even when the guy wasn’t there, the classroom where he actually appeared was beyond description. From the guy who had raised his voice the loudest when talking about Gu Wanjae, to the guy who pretended not to know by saying “Who’s Gu Wanjae?”, to the guy who often got into disputes because of Gu Wanjae. They all gathered in front of Gu Wanjae with their hands in their pants pockets. Even someone from another class came looking, and Gu Wanjae’s name echoed loudly throughout the entire classroom.
“……”
Taein listened to the classroom noise that was as rowdy as a fight and stood up from his seat. He had stopped by a stationery store in the morning to buy a small padlock. Since they used old-style metal lockers, personal padlocks were needed, and he had just bought one now. Though there wasn’t really anything to steal, he had bought it since he thought of it. Touching the padlock in his pocket, Taein headed toward the lockers. His was on the far left edge so it was easy to find.
“……”
Taein silently attached the padlock to the ring and pressed the numbers. Is this how you do this?
The feeling that something was off was brief, as the padlock fitted nicely.
Taein pulled on the padlock once and turned around. There were still many people around Gu Wanjae. He hadn’t particularly intended to look, but that was the only thing visible so his eyes naturally went there.
He was about to withdraw even that gaze and return to his seat when suddenly he saw someone shoot up.
It was a guy whose head was above those of his peers. Gu Wanjae said “Hey, hey, come out” and walked toward the window. Then about halfway there, he suddenly turned his head and looked at Taein just like that day.
Narrowed eyes and raised eyebrows. A face that seemed to ask why he was here.
Taein made eye contact with Gu Wanjae for 3 seconds before he was the first to look away. Gu Wanjae strode over quickly.
“Hey.”
“…Yeah.”
For an answer given in confusion, there was an edge to his words.
“You know me.”
“……”
Taein didn’t speak, then under the continued staring gaze, he turned his eyes to the side and opened his mouth.
“…I don’t know you.”
“You don’t know me?”
“Yeah.”
“But why do I feel like I know you?”
Since the guy who came to the back was Gu Wanjae, the self-proclaimed friends of Gu Wanjae had also swarmed over like a pack of dogs. Taein suddenly felt unpleasant about becoming the object of his classmates’ attention. The moment Gu Wanjae remembered him, it was obvious how his classmates would view him. Though there didn’t seem to be guys like that yet, he could become a ‘lackey’ again and become someone’s entertainment. He hated being treated that way itself more than being beaten or having disputes picked with him.
“…I don’t know.”
“Really?”
“……”
Gu Wanjae showed a curious face saying “Really?” just like that day.
“What school did you graduate from?”
As if frustrated that he couldn’t remember, he also interrogated him about his school. Taein briefly calculated what he should say to deflect the school question.
“Why do you ask that?”
When he said that, he could feel the strange stares from the guys standing behind him. “What’s that about?” and sounds quietly mocking his very answer could be heard.
“Hey, I asked what school you graduated from. Did I ask something weird?”
“……”
“Did you graduate from Sanhyeon Middle School?”
“No.”
“Then.”
“It’s not around here.”
“So where?”
“……”
“Seojan?”
“No.”
“So where the hell?”
Taein thought he should answer since many of his classmates had also gathered.
“…Jangson.”
“Jangson? That fucking one in the mountains?”
As if their first meeting that day wasn’t a coincidence, Gu Wanjae didn’t seem to know the school name well either. It was understandable since it was a school that had constant talk every year about whether it would be closed or not. Sounds of “Where’s that?” could be heard from behind as well.
“Yeah.”
“What did you do there… Ah.”
He had an expression like he’d never been there, then said “Ah” as if something came to mind. Taein was making eye contact with Gu Wanjae when he shifted his gaze to the guy standing next to him, then to the guy standing next to that guy.
“You’re that bastard.”
“……”
It was a sigh-inducing observation. If he remembered that day, he would also know why he was there. Taein glanced briefly at Gu Wanjae then sighed with his chin slightly jutted out.
“That bastard who was handsome all by himself.”
“……”
“I remember your face now.”
“……”
“Those bastards who were next to you back then were fucking crazy.”
As if taking a fun trip down memory lane by himself, he referred to the bully guys as “the guys next to you.” It was confusing whether he was doing it on purpose or acting like that because he only remembered the face. Taein stayed still and only gave a small “Yeah” in response. Then the guys next to him laughed openly, saying “I guess he admits he’s handsome?”
Gu Wanjae, who looked to the side laughing at that comment, pushed one guy completely against the lockers.
“As you can see, there’s a fucking huge difference.”
He wiggled his finger comparing Taein and the guy next to him.
“Shibal, is this The Prince and the Pauper?”
That seemed to amuse him. Even the guy who had been pushed next to him and became the object of comparison was laughing. Taein glanced to the side then turned his gaze to the laughing guys.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
