#003
“He got hit for laughing?”
“Yeah. They said he laughed loudly while eating in the cafeteria, so Lee Jiwoon hyung hit him saying he was noisy. Hard enough to leave a dark bruise on his face.”
Yechan was quite shocked by Minho’s words. He didn’t seem like someone who would hit people for such ridiculous reasons.
“Anyway, it’s fortunate nothing happened.”
“Really. Ah, so Yechan isn’t going to the PC room today either?”
At Minho’s relief, Taehyun immediately started his PC room complaints.
“I’m not going.”
“Ah, it’s really hard to hang out with the top student even once.”
When Yechan gave an immediate answer, Oh Taehyun clicked his tongue.
The math teacher opened the front door and came in.
* * *
The next day during lunch break, Yechan was standing in the cafeteria line, suffering from Taehyun who was still whining about going to the PC room.
Someone placed their hand on Yechan’s shoulder as he had drowsy eyes.
“Yechan.”
A low voice was heard. The faces of Taehyun and Minho, who had been chattering, hardened.
Yechan, who had taken his eyes off the two, turned his head.
He saw round, upturned eyes on white skin. Slurp. Jiwoon, who had taken a sip of pack juice, made eye contact with Yechan.
“Number.”
Jiwoon handed his phone to Yechan with an expressionless face. Yechan ended up entering his number into Jiwoon’s phone.
Jiwoon, who took his phone back, tapped the screen and saved his number.
“Haven’t eaten yet?”
“I was about to eat.”
Behind Jiwoon, several unfamiliar faces were following. They seemed to be Jiwoon’s friends. The gazes of the kids standing in line focused this way.
“Jiwoon Jiwoon, what? Who is he?”
A sunbae with bright brown hair among the group asked. At that question, Jiwoon frowned as if annoyed and pointed toward the front of the line with his chin.
“Call Han Seungwoo.”
When the bright brown-haired person tilted his head and gestured, Han Seungwoo, who had apparently been watching the sunbaes, came running from the front.
“Hello!”
“Yeah yeah. Seungwoo, take care of Yechan.”
Jiwoon said suddenly. The friends standing behind widened their eyes and exchanged glances.
“Yechan is hungry.”
Seungwoo, who had been momentarily dazed by Jiwoon’s words with cold eyes, soon answered quickly.
“What? Ah, yes! I’ll take care of him!”
Jiwoon nodded, sucked on his pack juice again, then took out candy from his pocket. He stuffed several candies into Yechan’s jacket pocket and patted his shoulder.
“Eat well. Yechan.”
With those words, Seungwoo bowed once more toward Jiwoon’s back as he turned and walked away.
“Goodbye, hyung!”
As soon as Jiwoon left, Seungwoo grabbed Yechan’s arm and pulled him. Hey, let’s go. The cafeteria line was steadily getting shorter.
“What are you doing?”
Yechan asked, shaking off Seungwoo’s arm.
“Let’s go. Go stand at the front of the line.”
“Why.”
“Ah, fuck. Just stand when I tell you to stand.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Yeah, buddy. I don’t want to either.”
Yechan stood firm and didn’t move. Seungwoo, who had been trying to drag him somehow, soon gave up and let go of his hands.
“Hey, Oh Taehyun. What’s with this bastard?”
Taehyun, who was popular with everyone, seemed to be acquainted with Han Seungwoo too. Seungwoo was frustrated and kept hitting his own chest.
“Um… let’s go for now, Seo Yechan. The atmosphere right now is a bit…”
Everyone who had been standing in line to eat was watching this way. When Seungwoo started grabbing his arm again, Taehyun pushed Yechan’s back.
Yechan had no choice but to move to the very front of the second-year line. Yechan, who received his meal, sat down. Taehyun, who suddenly ended up sitting with Seungwoo’s group, seemed to have known them well originally and displayed his characteristic thick-skinned nature, saying today’s menu was decent.
“I’m excited. I fucking love this. But what’s with this kid? Oh Taehyun, do you know something?”
Seungwoo asked while eating his stir-fried pork. At Seungwoo’s question, Taehyun turned his head toward Yechan.
“Hey, you said nothing happened between you and that hyung.”
“Not nothing happened, absolutely nothing happened.”
“But why is that hyung acting like that toward you?”
“I don’t know.”
“You really don’t know?”
Then, one of Seungwoo’s group, a kid with vague features and a small build, asked. His eyes, openly glaring at Yechan, were full of hostility.
The kid’s name tag read ‘Choi Yeon’. Yechan scowled and replied.
“Nothing except going to the nurse’s office together after he fell while playing soccer.”
“He fell? That’s serious. Did that hyung get hurt?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re fucked.”
Seungwoo shuddered while eating his soup. Watching Seungwoo shiver, wondering if the rumors about getting beaten were true, Yechan silently chewed his rice.
“Among our kids, there’s no one who hasn’t been hit by that hyung.”
At Seungwoo’s words, the group members added their own comments.
“The reasons are fucking varied too. Too noisy, ugly, bored… But I got hit for no reason. Still, that’s less pathetic, fuck.”
“Buddy, I’m offering condolences in advance. I won’t go to the funeral.”
“Ah, what’s said here is secret! If we get caught, we’ll all get stomped and go to hell.”
Unrealistic stories were being exchanged for mere high school boys eating lunch and whispering.
Yechan finished his meal while listening to their conversation with one ear and letting it out the other. Throughout the meal, Choi Yeon’s gaze watching this way was annoying, but he still emptied his tray cleanly.
And that evening, Yechan was once again dragged by Seungwoo and had to get his meal from the very front row. Gazes followed from here and there, and Choi Yeon still stared at Yechan intensely.
Taehyun and Minho used their social skills to exchange light conversation with Seungwoo’s group. But Yechan silently ate his meal and got up from his seat first.
Perhaps because he ate quickly, Yechan, who brushed his teeth and returned to the classroom, was able to start studying a little earlier than usual.
Lee Jiwoon: Yechan
Lee Jiwoon: Did you eat well?
Me: Yes
On the way home after finishing evening self-study, a message came from Jiwoon.
Yechan answered roughly and turned off the screen. A short answer was enough for the person who had created this troublesome situation that didn’t need to happen.
The message soon showed as read. No reply came.
And the next day, and the day after that, Yechan had to eat with Seungwoo’s group. This was reflecting Seungwoo’s wish for help, since if Yechan didn’t do this, he seemed like he would get beaten by Jiwoon.
And Yechan admitted it after two days. It was convenient. Being able to finish eating quickly and focus on self-study for a longer time was quite welcome.
The kids who had been whispering while looking at him and Seungwoo shut their mouths on their own at Seungwoo’s fierce eyes. In the ecosystem of late teens that was like the wild, Yechan could only let out a hollow laugh.
Anyway, similar things would repeat in college and society, only the degree of expression would be different. It seemed easier to think of it as adapting in advance.
Yechan picked up his mechanical pencil and started solving math problems.
* * *
It was a rainy Thursday.
During the break of 5th period, Yechan, who checked his phone, frowned. There was a message from Jiwoon.
Lee Jiwoon: Do you do evening self-study?
At the sudden question, Yechan tapped out a reply.
Me: Only on days I don’t go to academy, Tue Thu
Lee Jiwoon: Academy Mon Wed Fri
Lee Jiwoon: Evening self-study Tue Thu?
Me: Yes
Lee Jiwoon: Where do you live?
Me: Grand Palace
Lee Jiwoon: Meet me at the main gate entrance after evening self-study
Me: Yes
Yechan, who was typing “Why?”, deleted the content again and replied. He’d find out when they met. He didn’t want to continue the message chain by asking for reasons unnecessarily.
Yechan carefully concentrated and finished classes and evening self-study. Math was particularly troublesome today. To Taehyun and Minho, who wanted to go together, he vaguely made an excuse that he had something to do.
Yechan, who was pondering over problems he couldn’t solve while going down the central stairs toward the main gate, unconsciously stopped in his tracks.
Among the students pouring out, he could see Jiwoon leaning against one side of the entrance. Against the backdrop of night, shadows created by the lighting fell on Jiwoon’s face.
That face looking at his phone while leaning crookedly against the wall gave off a strange atmosphere. The feeling that was both languid and cold was truly strange.
Wind mixed with the scent of grass flowed in from outside where the rain had stopped. Seeing Jiwoon lowering his phone, Yechan walked a bit faster.
“Sunbae.”
Jiwoon lifted his eyes that had been looking down to see Yechan standing in front of him. His brown bangs swayed in the blowing wind.
Jiwoon, who straightened his body that had been leaning against the wall, opened his mouth.
“Let’s go home together.”
“Isn’t third-year evening self-study until eleven?”
“Not for me.”
Yechan was speechless at the arbitrary answer. Jiwoon started walking. Yechan followed behind him.
“What are you doing? Come to the side.”
Yechan, who had been walking behind, silently moved to Jiwoon’s side. It was late March but the night breeze was still chilly.
Jiwoon, who had been rummaging through his bag for a moment, took out thick clothing. His action of taking off his uniform jacket and handing it to Yechan as if to put on the clothes he took out was naturally smooth like flowing water.
Yechan, who received the jacket unexpectedly, shifted his gaze to the white shirt in front of him. The perfectly fitting shoulder line of the uniform wrapped around broad shoulders.
Jiwoon, who had put his hood over that, took back the jacket that had been in Yechan’s hands. Then he stuffed the jacket into his bag.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“No. I have a lot of body heat.”
Jiwoon, who had been looking at Yechan wearing only his uniform jacket, nodded. Yechan thought he wanted to put the hood swaying behind his head on that small head.
“Is your knee okay?”
“No, it hurts.”
“Still? Do you want to go to the emergency room? Let’s go to the hospital where my mother works. I’ll go with you.”
Yechan glanced at his wristwatch. He thought of the emergency room of the hospital where his mother, who was a doctor, belonged—more precisely, the hospital his maternal family was running.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
