TWELVE 33

“Whoa!”

Jang Cheolwoo let out an exclamation the moment we faced each other. Skipping any further formal greetings, we embraced. Even an embrace that might have felt cringeworthy was now just an expression of how glad we were to see each other.

Jang Cheolwoo and I went into the closest bar we could see. It was always like this when I met him.

“I almost forgot what you looked like, man,” I said.

After we ordered a round of beers and some snacks, Jang Cheolwoo grinned broadly.

“I forgot everything. But seeing you brings it all back.”

“How about it? Do I look the same?”

“Creepily identical. But I’ve been curious since a moment ago—what’s with that bruise? Did you get hurt?”

It was the bruise from being hit by Kim Junghwan. I reflexively rubbed that area and smiled sheepishly.

“Uh, I just got hurt somehow.”

“It’s not a side effect from getting Botox or something, is it?”

He clearly threw out a lame joke because he saw I was having a hard time talking about it. As expected, he was a thoughtful fellow.

“Where would I get the money for Botox?”

“If you don’t even get Botox, how do you look exactly the same?”

Jang Cheolwoo gestured toward his own face.

“Look at me. I’m already covered in wrinkles.”

“You look good, why? Much better than before. Life must be treating you well?”

The Jang Cheolwoo I remembered had been extremely scrawny since he was a kid. But now, he had put on a decent amount of weight and looked much healthier.

“They say you get fat once you get married. That turned out to be true for me too.”

“You’re bragging, aren’t you?”

“Well, a little.”

Chuckling, Jang Cheolwoo raised the beer glass that had just been served. After clinking our glasses together, we gulped down the beer at the same time. It felt like a refreshing path was being cleared from my throat to my stomach.

“How old is Min-ah now?”

Min-ah was Jang Cheolwoo’s daughter.

Jang Cheolwoo got married at twenty-four. When I first heard the news of the marriage, I suspected a shotgun wedding, but he said he wanted to get married early and settle down quickly. And he had a daughter the following year. Fortunately, she took after her mother, not him, and was very cute.

“Three years old.”

“She’s at the age where she’s peak cute.”

“It’s not just cute; my heart actually flutters. she has so much aegyo. Should I show you a picture?”

His eyes sparkled the entire time he showed me photos of his daughter and wife. I thought to myself, So that’s the kind of light the eyes of a happy person have, and my own heart swelled with a positive feeling as well.

I had been friends with Jang Cheolwoo since before entering elementary school. We were born in the same neighborhood and naturally became close while roaming the alleys together.

As was usually the case for those living in our neighborhood, Jang Cheolwoo had a childhood that was far from affluent. Thanks to that, he and I had many things in common besides where we lived, and our bond of empathy ran deep.

We attended the same schools up until middle school, but we parted ways when Jang Cheolwoo decided to go to a technical high school. From then on, he devoted himself to studying and part-time jobs, and the frequency of our meetings gradually decreased as I also spent my time earning money and nursing my sick grandmother. Still, I think we met at least once a month until he got married.

“How about you? What are you doing these days?”

Jang Cheolwoo, who had been going on about his wife and child, finally asked. Inwardly, I hoped my turn wouldn’t come. I only wanted to deliver happy news, but I had none of that.

“I’m just the same. Working, paying off debts.”

“On-site work?”

I considered mentioning the bar but just nodded. At that, Jang Cheolwoo let out another exclamation.

“I’ve never seen a person who does on-site work and doesn’t age like that. Do you eat preservatives?”

“What are you talking about? Why do you keep hyping me up?”

“So that you’ll treat me today,” Jang Cheolwoo laughed playfully.

“Fine, I’m buying.”

But the moment I agreed, his expression turned serious.

“What, I’m joking. Let’s split it. Life is tough for both of us.”

“Just take it. I’m doing alright these days.”

“Stop kidding. Did you win the lottery?”

“As if. But I have enough money to buy drinks.”

“Then let’s do one more toast. To ‘Our Winning Ticket.’”

“Do you even buy lottery tickets?”

“I’m going to buy one on the way home today.”

We shouted our toast with grand ambitions. At that, the shop owner brought over a service dish and offered a blessing, saying, “Come back again after you win first place.” The boisterous laughter from Jang Cheolwoo and me made the quiet shop stir.

Afterward, as more alcohol went down and we continued our catch-up in a high-spirited state…

“By the way, are you still in touch with him?”

Jang Cheolwoo asked out of the blue, so I asked back.

“Who?”

“Gi Seoin.”

It felt as though a pot of boiling water had been suddenly poured into my stomach, which had been cooled by the beer.

While I was agonizing over how to respond, Jang Cheolwoo curled the corner of his mouth.

“If it’s hard to answer, you don’t have to. I asked something unnecessary.”

“…Why? You can ask.”

I was curious why Jang Cheolwoo asked about Gi Seoin, and what part of my reaction made him decide to withdraw the question.

“But why Seoin?”

As I asked, I retraced whether my expression or voice had been strange. Then I thought of Gi Seoin, whom I had encountered on my way out today.

“Seungkyung.”

The guy who got out of the car the moment he spotted me had returned to his original appearance. Neatly groomed hair and a perfectly pressed suit… His shoes would have been sparkling without a single speck of dust if he hadn’t chased after the fleeing me.

If Gi Seoin had set his mind to it and chased me, he would have caught me easily. But he didn’t.

Is he still… in front of my house?

“It just came to mind because I saw you,” Jang Cheolwoo answered. “Honestly, when I thought of you, it was Gi Seoin, and when I thought of Gi Seoin, it was you.”

It was unexpected to hear Jang Cheolwoo say that, as he had never even attended the same school as Gi Seoin.

“How do you know that?”

“How could I not? You brought Gi Seoin with you every time you met me. Was it when we were twenty? Anyway, I think it was like that until after high school graduation. Don’t you remember?”

I was sorry, but I had absolutely no memory of that. However, Jang Cheolwoo wasn’t the type to make things up, and it was something that the past me could have easily done, so I accepted it.

“I guess it might have been like that.”

“I’m saying this now, but I didn’t really like him. But since you insisted on bringing him along, I just went with it.”

“Was that so?”

“Yeah, man.”

“Why… didn’t you like Gi Seoin?”

Gi Seoin didn’t have a warm personality toward others. He would even act meanly if it was someone related to me. But was Jang Cheolwoo among those targets? As far as I knew, the only person Gi Seoin tolerated was Jang Cheolwoo.

“Why didn’t I like him? You really don’t remember a single thing?”

Jang Cheolwoo was aghast.

“I don’t, really.”

“Phew, your mind must be at ease then. Anyway, it’s a bit much to go into detail now. It was all when we were young, and we’re old enough now that he probably doesn’t act like that anymore.”

I was extremely curious about the Gi Seoin that Jang Cheolwoo remembered, but for some reason, Jang Cheolwoo seemed reluctant to talk about it, so I couldn’t ask.

“Honestly, I…” Jang Cheolwoo spoke, wearing an expression as if he had just thought of a very funny joke. “I thought Gi Seoin liked you.”

Pffft.

What burst out wasn’t Jang Cheolwoo’s laughter, but the beer I was swallowing. I wiped my mouth and the table with a tissue before looking at him. Jang Cheolwoo, meeting my eyes, wagged his eyebrows.

“I bet all the kids who knew you and Gi Seoin thought the same thing.”

“On what grounds?”

“What grounds do you need? Gi Seoin followed you around every day, and he looked at the kids you were close with as if they were his parents’ murderers, but to you, he was all smiles and sunshine. That was exactly it.”

What do you mean, “all smiles and sunshine”?

Those were words that didn’t harmonize with Gi Seoin at all. It seemed that Jang Cheolwoo’s memory had been distorted over the long passage of time.

“It’s true he followed me around every day, but no, it was just that he and I were close so we stuck together.”

“I’m telling you, it wasn’t that kind of feeling. In my opinion, it’s true he liked you.”

“Hey… No, it wasn’t like that.”

“Ah, why are you the only one who doesn’t know!”

Jang Cheolwoo tapped his chest as if frustrated, then suddenly clapped his hands.

“That’s right! Does he date now?”

The answer, No, almost popped out reflexively. But the Gi Seoin who didn’t date only existed in my delusions.

“He does. A whole damn lot.”

A sudden surge of anger made my words come out harsh.

“A whole damn lot?”

“Yeah, he’s a womanizer, that guy.”

The alcohol was definitely kicking in, so I set down the beer glass I had been holding out of habit. I should stop drinking now. I had already made more than enough of a fool of myself drinking with Yoon Kijun before. There shouldn’t be a second time.

Taking a sharp breath, Jang Cheolwoo rubbed his chin and muttered, “That’s strange… Well, it was when he was so young, so people can change. But he’s a womanizer? In what way is he a womanizer?”

“Just… exactly what it means.”

“I guess he’s putting that face to use.”

He is, putting that face to use.

I was the only one who didn’t know. The fact that Gi Seoin had been charging that expensive face-value to all sorts of people.

“Don’t you have anyone you’re seeing, Woo Seungkyung?”

“Me? Of course not.”

Because of who…

No.

It’s just that I haven’t met anyone, and I couldn’t meet anyone.

I snapped back to my senses. I really have to stop drinking. I can’t guarantee what I might do if I drink more. Even right now, because we keep saying “Gi Seoin, Gi Seoin”… I’ve become extremely curious if he is still waiting in front of my house.

I also want to know what it was he wanted to say to me. I want to hear how the incident that happened at the bar is going, and… I wanted to see him.