8
One of the two guys was quietly looking at him. That guy had intervened and said it didn’t seem right. Taein’s eyes turned in that direction.
“You don’t know us.”
“…Yeah.”
“We’ve been with Wanjae since way back…”
“Why are you saying that?”
“Hey, why not? Still, we should say what needs to be said. Anyway, we’ll probably see each other often… I’m Choi Chan, and this is Lee Wuyong.”
“Shibal, did you come here to introduce yourselves?”
Unlike Choi Chan, who gently offered greetings and extended his hand, Lee Wuyong seemed angry. He had asked several questions but didn’t get any worthwhile answers, so his face showed irritation. Taein’s eyes turned toward Lee Wuyong again, then returned to Choi Chan’s hand. He was still extending his hand for a high-five.
Taein looked at Choi Chan, who was opening his eyes wide, then extended his own hand. The hands that met in mid-air like arm wrestling were firmly grasped by Choi Chan’s grip. Choi Chan pulled Taein toward himself and pretended to hug him. It seemed like a greeting saying let’s get along well, but considering how it started, he wondered what could possibly get better. Unlike Taein, who stepped back expressionlessly, Choi Chan kept smiling. He seemed to be the most decent guy among Choi Seonyeong’s group.
“What are you doing…?”
It was Gu Wanjae who approached with a displeased face. Taein looked at Gu Wanjae with his back to the window.
Gu Wanjae looked at Taein first, then scanned Lee Wuyong and Choi Chan in turn. Then he glanced at Choi Seonyeong running from behind. Choi Seonyeong seemed to have gone to the bathroom while Lee Wuyong and Choi Chan took Taein away. He looked urgent as he ran over.
“Wanjae.”
He had been speaking to him with an arrogant expression, but in front of Gu Wanjae, he had that characteristic stupid face. Taein looked at him and then turned his eyes elsewhere. He wondered if there was really a need for him to be standing here. With that thought, he briefly made eye contact with Choi Chan and tried to leave.
“Where are you going?”
But Gu Wanjae caught him so he couldn’t. With his arm caught by Gu Wanjae, Taein just made a sound.
“…Just somewhere.”
“…Vending machine.”
“Why the vending machine?”
Starting with Choi Seonyeong, even Choi Chan and Lee Wuyong, whom he had met today, were all looking only at him. He wished Gu Wanjae would let go of his arm, but the guy strangely held onto his arm and had no intention of letting go. Then he pulled his arm to the center completely. He had positioned him where he was originally standing. Gu Wanjae positioned Taein like that and came one step closer himself.
“Hey, what did you guys do?”
At those words, Choi Seonyeong made an exaggerated surprised expression and waved his hands saying “What?”
“Not at all. Why would we?”
“Hey, didn’t I tell you? The moment you stick with these bastards, you’re out.”
These bastards. The guys Gu Wanjae roughly pointed at with his hand were Choi Chan and Lee Wuyong. He especially sent a long look toward Lee Wuyong before turning his head. Choi Seonyeong went “Uh, uh” but seemed to have something to say. He quickly opened his mouth.
“Wanjae… But Wuyong says that really wasn’t him…”
“What the shibal?”
“…No…”
“Hey, enough. Fuck off. If you’re going to say shit like this.”
Gu Wanjae’s hand was still gripping Taein’s elbow. Only Taein, who had ended up standing in the middle unexpectedly, was in an awkward situation. Although he had put him in the center, they were only talking about their own affairs. Taein’s eyes were half-lowered, only touching the protruding wall surface below the window.
“Wanjae, I’m really wronged. Now that it’s come up, that wasn’t me…”
“What wasn’t you, shibal? It was you, you bastard. Idiot.”
“It really wasn’t me. Just believe me once.”
He had no idea why such words were being exchanged. Taein just blurred his focus at the voices heard from both sides. He didn’t know what they were saying, and even if he listened to everything, it seemed like it would only give them ammunition against him when Gu Wanjae wasn’t around. Since these were guys who had said strange things to him out of nowhere today, next time they would probably call him over like this again, picking on him and asking “What did you hear that time?” Just imagining it was exhausting.
“Hey, enough. Fuck off. I’m tired.”
“Wanjae…”
Gu Wanjae gestured for all three guys to fuck off, then turned around first. While still holding onto Taein’s arm.
“Hey, what did you say?”
It was a tone asking why Taein, who had nothing to do with it, was standing there. While heading toward the classroom exit. Taein spoke in broken words to Gu Wanjae, who was pulling his arm and going outside: “Nothing, at all.”
“What?”
“I said I didn’t say anything.”
“What do you mean you didn’t say anything? You must have fucking picked a fight.”
They walked through the entire hallway and stood in front of the stairs. Gu Wanjae looked up and raised his finger. He didn’t speak, but his face was asking if they should go to the rooftop. They had gone to the rooftop like this several times before. Following Gu Wanjae, who started climbing the stairs first, Taein also went up the stairs.
“Hey, wake me up next time.”
“……”
It wasn’t convenient to answer while climbing. Gu Wanjae kept turning his head from far above and talking.
“Huh? I said wake me up next time.”
“…Why?”
When he said that, he could see Gu Wanjae stop in front.
“They’re not doing that bullshit because of me. So you should wake me up.”
“You have something… going on.”
“What?”
“No, why are they acting like that toward you?”
“I don’t know, shibal. It’s not me.”
Going up like that, they reached the rooftop door. Gu Wanjae skillfully opened the ‘Rooftop Entry Prohibited’ door and went outside. Not only Gu Wanjae but many guys were using the rooftop like a resting place. Sometimes when he came, there were several more people besides Gu Wanjae and himself. Those guys must be the ones throwing glass from above for fun.
There was a tarp spread on the floor. Would it rain soon? Taein walked making rustling sounds and looked at Gu Wanjae. Gu Wanjae was already at the chair by the railing.
Someone had brought chairs used in the classroom.
There were four of them.
Following Gu Wanjae who sat first, Taein also sat in the chair next to him.
“Shibal bastards. I want to sew all their mouths shut.”
“……”
“Didn’t you hear too? What I’m doing.”
He seemed to be talking about rumors. Taein also knew how Gu Wanjae was talked about among the half guys. But Taein just made a short “Ah” sound.
“Especially that bastard earlier. Lee Wuyong.”
“……”
“That bastard spread fucking rumors about me.”
“Uh…”
“I got fucking beaten up because of that bastard.”
“…By your parents?”
When he asked about parents, he could see Gu Wanjae’s face scrunch up on one side.
“Don’t talk like that about parents. I just have some hyungs I know.”
“Why would the hyungs you know…”
“He just fucking twisted the words in the middle. So the words were wrongly delivered to the hyungs I know too.”
Even when Gu Wanjae explained, Taein couldn’t understand well. Why he would get beaten by hyungs he knew, and what “fucking twisting words” meant. He briefly thought that he definitely wasn’t an ordinary guy. But then, seeing Gu Wanjae tired from countless rumors, he also felt sorry for him. Taein didn’t ask anymore and just nodded.
“Aren’t you going to ask?”
“What?”
“Things you’re curious about me.”
“……”
“You should interrogate me and spread rumors like those bastards.”
He said that while laughing. Taein looked at Gu Wanjae and just slightly shook his head. There wasn’t really anything he wanted to ask.
“Ah, shibal, really fucking bastards.”
“……”
“Where did you say your house was back then?”
Since the neighborhood was clearly visible anyway, Gu Wanjae seemed to want to know the exact location of his house. Taein had once casually mentioned that he lived in this neighborhood. He had never said that he had no parents or that he lived in a facility. It was something he had never told anyone in his life.
“…Over there.”
When he pointed to the right with his hand, Gu Wanjae’s eyes also turned to the side.
“A house?”
“It’s a villa, but it’s low so it almost looks like a house.”
“Can you see it from here? How many minutes away is it?”
“It doesn’t even take 5 minutes.”
“Ohh.”
He didn’t specify exactly where he lived, but he could see Gu Wanjae stretching his head to the right as much as possible. It was visible even without doing that. Taein looked at Gu Wanjae’s profile and briefly wondered whether to say it or not. Then he opened his mouth.
“Behind that church over there. The building with blankets and laundry hanging.”
“Ah, over there.”
“…But it’s not a house.”
Gu Wanjae kept looking at that place. Taein continued speaking alone.
“It’s like an orphanage. I’ve lived in places like that since I was little.”
When he had to say such things with his own mouth, he had often thought about how to say it well. The words that actually came out were simple enough not to need practice. Even after Taein spoke as if spitting it out, he didn’t know why he had said such things. Unlike the concise words, as time passed second by second, he felt like he shouldn’t have said it.
You know how it is sometimes, right? Regretting the moment after you speak.
Since Gu Wanjae seemed to be having a hard time because of rumors, he seemed to have blurted out such words in his own way to comfort him.
He only said that, but Gu Wanjae didn’t look like he was having a hard time.
Even after hearing Taein’s words, Gu Wanjae kept looking only to the right. Except for nodding his head a couple of times, he didn’t say anything. How long had they been like that?
Saying “Hey, nice weather,” Gu Wanjae leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes.
Taein also leaned against the chair and felt the wind.
Rather, it was better not to say anything. Although he hadn’t known Gu Wanjae for long, the Gu Wanjae he had briefly observed seemed to have a habit of easily getting over anything. He seemed to speak lightly and also lightly brush off what he heard from others. He actually thought that was fortunate.
“Hey.”
With his eyes closed, Gu Wanjae spoke to him first.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
