#101
“I’m coming in.”
At Eunhong’s words, Woohyun snickered while keeping his eyes fixed on the screen. It felt like he was mocking him, so Eunhong pressed his lips into a firm line as he took off his shoes and entered the room.
Nothing much had changed inside the studio apartment. It was typical of Woohyun to use his home merely as a place to change clothes. The only surprising thing was that unlike before, he wasn’t piling up laundry or leaving trash lying around, which secretly irritated Eunhong.
Looking back, it had been over ten years. They’d been close companions since that first day they met in their first-year high school classroom, when he asked if he could sit next to him. It wasn’t that he had no regrets. The thought that if they’d both just tried a little harder things might have been different wouldn’t leave his mind.
“So you do know how to clean.”
Eunhong muttered with a sigh. Woohyun, lying on the bed, continued to snicker. Eunhong opened the large bag he’d brought and surveyed the items he needed to collect.
“I’ll leave the computer. You can take it when you move out.”
“I don’t need it, you little shit. If you’re going to throw it away, leave some money for disposal costs.”
“I was thinking of only taking the clothes that were gifts… If you’ll wear them, I’ll leave them, but if you want them gone, I’ll take them. The hoodies are in good condition…”
Woohyun abruptly sat up. The video sound that had been loudly filling the small apartment suddenly cut off. He twisted his face into an ugly expression and roughly ran his hand through his hair.
“Didn’t I say I don’t need them? Am I a beggar? You want me to wear clothes you’ve thrown away?”
“…You used to wear my clothes before. And you’ve been using the computer too. I’m just offering them to you, what’s the problem?”
“When did I ever? Huh? Got any proof?”
It was exhausting to even respond. Eunhong turned his head away. Should he be grateful that Woohyun had completely crushed the faint hope he’d been holding onto? Eunhong began gathering his belongings from around the desk, neatly packing them into his bag.
He carefully collected everything—the award plaque from a college competition, a limited-edition figurine gifted by teammates, merchandise from projects he had participated in, and more. These were irreplaceable items, and he felt almost thankful that Woohyun hadn’t thrown them away or damaged them.
After spending quite some time emptying the desk area, Eunhong opened the bottom drawer and his expression stiffened. It was alarming enough that it opened without a key, but it was completely empty inside. He felt around inside the drawer and eventually pulled it out completely to check the inside, but none of the items he was looking for were there. His face flushed with bewilderment at finding it so spotlessly empty, without even a speck of dust. Cold sweat ran down his spine.
“Hey. An Woohyun.”
When Eunhong turned to him with a hardened face, Woohyun looked back with an expression that seemed to ask “why are you looking at me?”
“The watches that were in here… what did you do with them?”
“…Don’t know. How would I know?”
“…”
With only suspicion and no proof, Eunhong couldn’t bring himself to speak and just stared at Woohyun for a while. Then, a sudden thought crossed his mind, causing his face to turn pale as he jumped to his feet. Eunhong flung open all the doors of the built-in wardrobe and roughly rummaged through the hanging clothes.
“Ha….”
They were gone. The coats, jackets, and bags that Jaeha had given him each season—all gone. The expensive items he’d been afraid to wear because of their price tags had disappeared without a trace, as if someone had carefully selected and removed them.
“An Woohyun. Tell me honestly.”
“Looks like we had a thief or something.”
“An Woohyun!”
“…”
Eunhong glared at Woohyun with a face drained of color. His lips were so tightly bitten that they’d lost all color. His shoulders trembled as he clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white.
“Fine. Let’s call the police then.”
“Hey. Why call the police? They won’t find anything anyway.”
Eunhong pulled out the phone from his pocket. Immediately, Jaeha’s message prominently displayed on the screen caught his eye.
[I’m heading your way too. Let’s grab something delicious to eat and go home together.]
Perhaps due to anger and shock, his vision turned red. Seeing Jaeha’s message made him feel worse. His stomach churned and his chest trembled. His voice cracked miserably at the end.
“Whether they find them or not, we’ll see when we call the police.”
As Eunhong tapped on his phone screen, Woohyun urgently got up, approached him, and struck the hand holding the phone. With a slap, the phone flew and hit the wall with a dull thud that echoed throughout the room. Eunhong looked down at the red mark on the back of his hand, then glared at Woohyun in disbelief.
“Fine, I used them! Happy?! You were going to leave them anyway, weren’t you? Just now you said you’d give everything to me!”
Woohyun shouted with forceful confidence.
“An Woohyun. You’ve really gone too far. You’re insane.”
The audacity of the other party made Eunhong suddenly feel drained. Seeing Eunhong’s shoulders slump, Woohyun seemed to take it as acceptance and continued his rambling.
“It’s not like you need them anyway, right? You have plenty at that house. Why are you so desperately looking for things you don’t even need? Fuck. Making people feel awkward. You should just take the hint and back off. Being so damn uptight.”
“How can you talk like that? Are you even human?”
Eunhong collected himself and ran a hand through his hair.
“So where are they all? At your girlfriend’s place?”
The items ranged from clothes and bags to… the most expensive ones were the watches. Especially the watches…
“I sold them, fucker. Do I look stupid? Why would I move them to someone else’s place? They weren’t worth much anyway. Stop making such a fuss.”
“…What?”
“The watches all had flaws, so I didn’t get much for them. Just let it go and leave. I’ll vacate the apartment before the contract ends, okay?”
The “flaws” Woohyun mentioned were the dates and initials that Jaeha had engraved. Sometimes it was a birthday, sometimes the day Eunhong won an award, graduation days, project launch dates. These were gifts Jaeha had given with his heart each time something good happened to Eunhong, each time he accomplished something.
“Where did you sell them? If you tell me, I’ll…”
“…Hey, don’t overreact. That Lee Jaeha bastard probably forgot about them long ago. It’s pocket change to him, why bother finding them? He probably can’t even remember one by one what he bought for you.”
Woohyun paused mid-sentence and rummaged through his pockets for a cigarette. Sighing heavily as if tired of this pointless argument with Eunhong. Eunhong was stunned by Woohyun’s words. His legs lost strength, and he collapsed into the desk chair. As he held his head, not knowing how to resolve this situation, Woohyun lit a cigarette with a smirk.
“Or is it that you’re upset because I used what was yours? Getting all worked up because I took a few things, like some petty brat. The haves are worse, I swear.”
“…”
Woohyun exhaled a long stream of smoke and giggled. Eunhong glared at him with bloodshot eyes, but Woohyun paid no attention. Before everything was revealed, he had at least pretended to hide it, but now that everything was exposed, he was acting like he was the wronged party.
Just then, Eunhong’s phone, which had been thrown against the wall, rang loudly. Lee Jaeha’s name flashed over the cracked screen. Both of them turned their gaze toward the phone at once. Woohyun muttered while chewing his cigarette filter.
“Fuck, having a rich boyfriend should be enough. Such a disgusting hypocrite. Acting all nice by yourself, but this is when your true nature shows.”
“Tell me where you sold them!”
As the phone continued to ring, Eunhong raised his voice. Woohyun’s eyebrow twitched.
“Can’t you just let it go since it’s payment for selling your hole? Stop making such a fuss!”
“You crazy bastard…!”
Having only been thinking about recovering the gifts, Eunhong flared up at the prostitution comment and jumped to his feet. When he grabbed Woohyun by the collar, the other man glared back, not backing down. Hit me! Come on, hit me! He provoked with a loud voice. Eunhong clenched his teeth so hard he thought they might break and threw a punch.
With a smack, Woohyun’s head snapped to the side. After mumbling for a while with his head turned, Woohyun spat out blood-mixed saliva and a broken tooth into his palm. His mouth was also split and bleeding, suggesting he’d been hit hard. Woohyun snorted in disbelief.
“Wow… This is crazy, I never thought I’d live to get hit by Ban Eunhong.”
“…”
“Hey. What are you going to do about my tooth, you psycho?”
Eunhong trembled as he breathed in and out harshly. The fact that he had hit someone’s face for the first time in his life, that all his precious belongings had been stolen, and that this deed had been done by someone he had considered a friend—all these things tormented him.
They say the one who hits hurts more than the one who gets hit, and a stinging pain rose in the hand he had struck with. He didn’t want to cry like an idiot, but his face flushed hot and his vision blurred. Tears like grape beads fell as his grief overtook him, which only earned Woohyun’s ridicule.
“Why are you crying after hitting me? You’re really messed up. Hey, did I hit you? Did you get hit? Why are you crying? So annoying. I’m the one who got hit, why are you acting like you did something right?”
“…Where.”
“Where what?”
“Tell me where you sold them.”
Woohyun exhaled a long breath that made his bangs flutter. Ahhh! he shouted, stomping his feet. Then, as if unable to control his anger, he raised his right hand violently as if to strike Eunhong.
At that moment, there was a loud knocking on the front door.
When neither of them responded, it quieted for a moment, then returned with an even stronger sound. Bang—bang—like someone hitting with a stone. The door seemed about to break, and they were just staring with wide eyes when—
“Eunhong.”
—a soft voice called out. Eunhong’s shoulders jerked in surprise. He hastily wiped his face with his sleeve, pushed Woohyun aside, and ran to open the front door.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
