Seok-ho didn’t respond, simply pressing his temples firmly as well.
Some interesting news, my ass.
It was obvious he was about to ramble on about something pointless again. But Jun-seo was definitely not the kind of person to shrink back just because the person in front of him stayed silent.
“Do you remember that kid named Kim Kang-woo I mentioned before?”
Seok-ho paused.
He slowly lifted his eyelids and raised his head. His pitch-black irises fixed on Jun-seo. He said it was interesting news—so why was Kim Kang-woo’s name suddenly coming up?
“This hyung probably doesn’t remember again.”
Apparently interpreting the silence differently, Jun-seo mumbled while popping a bright yellow slice of pickled radish into his mouth.
“You know, those high school punks who came here before. The ones I interrogated you about, asking what the two of them had been doing here. The one I said looked kinda pretty.”
“……”
“Anyway, there’s this kid named Kim Kang-woo. But starting a few weeks ago, he suddenly stopped coming to school because he supposedly went abroad for language training.”
Seok-ho’s eyes snapped open sharply as he looked at Jun-seo.
“Language training?”
The words came out sharper than he intended.
Fortunately, Jun-seo didn’t notice the change in Seok-ho’s tone. Nodding, he kept chewing diligently. After crunching down on the pickled radish and swallowing it, he waved his chopsticks as he answered.
“Yeah. Apparently he went to Australia for language training.”
Seok-ho crossed his arms and stretched, tilting his head.
Language training.
For a moment, he almost frowned at the ridiculous news but barely held it back. Jun-seo popped another piece of sweet-and-sour pork into his mouth and continued talking through his chewing.
“But doesn’t that seem weird?”
“What does?”
“The timing makes no sense for language training.”
It really is strange.
After all, that Kim Kang-woo who supposedly went abroad for language training was currently in his house.
Seok-ho swallowed his words and remained silent. Then his thoughts followed.
Normally, if a child—especially a minor—runs away from home, wouldn’t the parents report it as a missing person right away?
Which meant the news about Kim Kang-woo going to Australia didn’t make sense at all.
Why would they lie when their son was clearly still in Korea? Was he a child who wasn’t particularly loved at home?
From what Seok-ho had briefly observed, the kid seemed like the type who was constantly watching other people’s reactions. Kim Kang-woo behaved like someone who had grown used to surviving by reading the room.
Seok-ho also had a vague idea that the kid had been exposed to school bullying. So he had assumed Kang-woo’s somewhat passive and withdrawn demeanor might be the result of being ostracized by his classmates.
But what if it wasn’t just school? What if things were similar at home as well?
Then again, most runaway cases involved family problems. It wouldn’t be strange at all if Kim Kang-woo’s relationship with his family was bad. After all, there were plenty of people who committed acts worse than strangers under the name of family.
Various thoughts quickly filled Seok-ho’s mind.
“Anyway, because of that, there are all kinds of nasty rumors going around among the students. Some say he got some terminal illness. Others say he got kidnapped somewhere—there’s a lot of ridiculous speculation. And some kids are saying Kim Kang-woo ran away to avoid Baek Kyung-wook, who used to bully him. Because of those rumors, Baek Kyung-wook’s been in a pretty scary mood lately too.”
Baek Kyung-wook.
At the mention of that name, the image of that insolent high school bastard immediately came to mind.
But that was all.
Seok-ho had never been someone who placed much significance on people. Even the irritation he felt that day had faded with time.
Kim Kang-woo was no different. For a moment, Kang-woo’s tears had shaken him—but it had only been a fleeting emotion. Of course, as a result, he ended up furnishing Kang-woo’s room.
But that was as far as it went. He needed to draw a clear line. He had no intention of tying the kid down. So he shouldn’t get any more deeply involved.
Seok-ho deliberately refrained from pressing Jun-seo further about exactly what had happened between those two. He simply guessed vaguely that Kim Kang-woo probably had more complicated circumstances than he had first thought.
“Still, when you look at it, Kim Kang-woo’s life seems pretty twisted.”
After rambling on casually, Jun-seo paused and looked at Seok-ho.
“Hyung, you haven’t seen him even once since then, right?”
Seok-ho’s eyes naturally narrowed.
Was he testing him because he knew something? Or was it just a question thrown out without any real thought?
It couldn’t have come from Young-wan.
Young-wan knew very well that if such talk leaked out of his mouth, it wouldn’t just be Seok-ho who would be bothered—he himself would get dragged into the trouble too.
He acted friendly just like Kwon Jun-seo, but inwardly he was someone who carefully calculated his own interests.
The reason he had come to the house despite complaining about being summoned so suddenly was because maintaining a close relationship with Kwon Seok-ho would benefit him more in the long run. He was the type who wouldn’t lift a finger if something didn’t work out in his favor. Someone like Young-wan wouldn’t do something as stupid as that.
When Seok-ho simply stared at him without much reaction, Jun-seo once again drew his own conclusion.
“Yeah, there’s no way you’d have seen him. You probably don’t even remember his face. Guess I asked something pointless.”
Jun-seo shrugged and resumed moving his chopsticks. Even so, Seok-ho did not let go of his suspicion.
