ASD 27

Gijun and Gawon started walking side by side. Matching each other’s pace, Gijun told Gawon about what happened at his previous school for the first time.

He said he was eating with some hyungs who used to go to the same gym but had since quit, when he somehow got caught up in a fight with some thugs from another school. To make matters worse, the other side had been drinking, which was not fitting for students, so the situation became even bigger.

By the time he came to his senses, at least several dozen people had gathered. The scale of the dogfight was quite large, and it was a situation where the perpetrators and victims were ambiguous. But unluckily, as it happened, the families of some of them were closely tied to his father’s business.

In the midst of complex interests, Gijun said he ended up receiving a forced transfer. It was an excessively heavy punishment to receive just for being there, and for fighting back against an opponent who had thrown the first punch.

“But well, our family isn’t one to make a fuss about things like fighting.”

Gijun said, scratching the back of his head as if embarrassed.

“Actually… I don’t like talking about my family to anyone. So I’ve never once mentioned it myself.”

“…Yeah.”

“It’s just that with you… I feel like it’d be okay.”

“…”

“My family, it’s a gangster family. My father and my uncle, all of them.”

Gijun confessed in a calm voice. Gawon, instead of looking at him in surprise, just walked while staring straight ahead.

Finally, it had come out of Gijun’s mouth. The words he had wanted to hear the least from this kid.

His chest grew heavy, as if a stone had settled in it. People whose names alone made him shudder with rage. Beings who had been suffocating him and his mother their entire lives. Gijun was saying that he had been raised at the hands of such cruel people.

He couldn’t give any reply. Even if it was Gijun, he couldn’t just nod his head as if it were nothing. Gawon swallowed a sigh and lowered his head.

“They’re gangsters, but it’s corporate-style, so on the outside, they look similar to regular company CEOs. Of course, the work they do is completely different. Anyway, my father is very busy. He’s also indifferent by nature, so I was pretty much raised alone. Oh, and my mom passed away when I was ten.”

“…I see.”

“A lady helps with the housework, and my father’s secretary takes care of all the public-facing matters. It’s pretty much that kind of atmosphere.”

Gijun shrugged his shoulders lightly and smiled. His mother had passed away. Gawon couldn’t rashly say anything and just nodded his head quietly. He suddenly felt a little embarrassed as he remembered feeling dispirited on his own at the mention of a lady who worked for him.

“My father wants me to take over the work he’s doing now. But I don’t want to be a gangster. I want to succeed in sports. I want to go to college for that, too.”

His dazzlingly white sneakers kicked lightly at the ground. Gijun’s side profile, looking at the sky that had by now been dyed by the sunset, was neat.

“That’s why I can’t get involved in things like fights. If something like that happens one more time, he said to quit college and everything else and come into the company to learn the business.”

“…Ah.”

“Sports will be over then too. I probably won’t even be able to go to school? I’ll be locked up at home.”

…He won’t be able to go to school? Locked up where…? Gawon’s face was colored with shock. Gijun chuckled and added.

“My old man, he’s no joke when he’s angry. During that gang fight incident, he beat me until my shinbone was shattered. I transferred as soon as the bone healed.”

“…Wow.”

“He was furious, asking why I was hanging out with such pathetic bastards, and that if I wanted to act like a gangster so badly, I should just join the organization and do it. He had a pretty hard time reaching settlements with each of the victims.”

“Your father, he’s really strict.”

Gijun chuckled. His face was playful, but it also looked strangely lonely.

“Strict… I feel like that’s something for other fathers. We’re a bit, unconventional. Since we’re not normal, after all.”

Gawon slowly nodded his head.

Now he understood. Gijun’s conduct from earlier.

During the commotion, Gijun had not lifted a single finger and had taken the beating just as it came. There were many witnesses who would testify to that. Besides, those sunbaes were already known at school for being a low-quality bunch. If a School Violence Committee was opened, it was a situation where Gijun would be one hundred percent guaranteed to win.

Even so, Gijun didn’t want any punishment. Not even a civil settlement, let alone a School Violence Committee. He could win in the process of opening a committee, but the moment his parents were summoned, things would have to turn in a direction Gijun did not want.

“Anyway, that’s my situation. That’s why I couldn’t fight back earlier.”

“…Yeah.”

“I’m sorry. For making you worry. Were you really angry because I just took the beating?”

The scent of soap suddenly wafted over. Taking advantage of his unguarded moment, Gijun even stopped walking to stroke his head. An incredibly affectionate voice, Gijun’s scent now much closer. His heart pounded fiercely, and Gawon deliberately pushed the kid’s body away sullenly.

“Who was angry. I was just frustrated. You kept saying you were good at fighting but you just took the beating.”

“Hahaha.”

Gijun burst out into a clear laugh. The heart that had been so tense because of the commotion that happened today was eased by that one smile with an absurd amount of ease.

Finding Gijun, who could stir him up so much, annoying, Gawon narrowed his eyes and glared at him. He wanted to find fault with him for no reason and pick on him.

“Actually, you’re all talk, aren’t you. Maybe you’re not actually good at fighting?”

“Hmm… is that so?”

The face that tilted leisurely was swollen and busted here and there, but it was still annoyingly handsome. In any case, there was no one who could follow him when it came to being smooth.

“Why. Are you going to be disappointed in me if I’m a fucking loser?”

“I was already disappointed when I saw you getting your ass kicked, you know?”

“Ah, I can’t have that. I want to look cool to my Gawon.”

“Dream on. You getting beat up didn’t look cool at all.”

No matter how much he teased and provoked him, he rarely ever got flustered. Gijun smiled slickly and brought his face right up close.

“I got my ass kicked in the fight but… can’t I make it up with my face somehow?”

“Just know that you look really ugly right now.”

Gawon withdrew his glare from Gijun and started walking forward with plodding steps. Although he spoke harshly, the bruise near the deeply dimpled cheek weighed on his mind.

“…Aren’t you going to the hospital?”

“I don’t need to. Why go for something like this.”

Gawon’s face, which had been about to relax slightly, hardened once again. Seeing the sharp corners of his eyes, Gijun hastily added.

“I’ll do it at home. At home. We have a first-aid kit at my house.”

“How can you treat it with that.”

“It’s just bruises. It’s fine. Wounds like this heal quickly.”

Even though his face was messed up to the point where anyone else would be horrified to see it, Gijun seemed completely unfazed. He must get hurt like this often while working out. Gijun looked all too used to tending to his wounds by himself.

He said he grew up alone. Without the touch of a father or mother. This kid, too, must have grown up enduring the emptiness of a vacant room all by himself.

He didn’t like it. The image of Gijun, who laughed like a guy with a screw loose in front of him, treating his painful wounds all alone at home.

He squeezed his eyes shut. Took a deep breath in, and then out. When he opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was none other than the bruise on Gijun’s cheek. And the cuts by his eye and on his lip.

Gawon slowly opened his mouth.

“…Can I help you? With treating your wounds.”

*

He had followed with the sole intention of taking care of the wounds, but Gijun’s house was more than what Gawon had vaguely expected. From the moment he saw the two-story house, complete with a garden and of course, a garage, he couldn’t help but feel intimidated.

His face burned anew. What must Gijun have thought when he saw his house, which was stuck together like crab shells without a yard or a gate on a narrow alleyway.

“Excuse me.”

Gijun smiled as if finding it cute as Gawon entered, greeting in a small voice.

“Make yourself comfortable. No one’s here.”

“…Okay.”

As Gijun said, the house was empty. The inside was incredibly spacious. The first floor was appropriately arranged with antique furniture, old pottery, calligraphy pieces, and in the center of the living room, a staircase leading to the second floor was visible. Gijun led Gawon up to the second floor.

“Ah.”

Gijun, who was crossing the hallway, stopped dead in his tracks and said with a troubled expression.

“…Are you okay with cats by any chance? Allergies or anything like that.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Gawon slowly nodded his head. He wasn’t particularly fond of dogs or cats, but he found them cute when he occasionally met them in the alley. He would sometimes share a bit of leftover food, and pet them too.

Come to think of it… Gawon gave a bitter smile. He remembered the time Gijun had been unfairly hit by him. It was because of the cat’s name.

“This is my room.”

Gijun opened the door. The first thing that caught his eye was the cat tower located in the front. Next to it were a desk and a bookshelf, and opposite them was a bed. Also noticeable were the gloves hanging on the wall and posters of foreign athletes, whose names Gawon didn’t know, striking poses.

At Gijun’s guidance to come in and get comfortable, Gawon slowly stepped inside. The scent that usually came from Gijun wafted strongly toward him. Lest his heart, which had begun to pound and thunder, be discovered, Gawon took off his bag and carefully set it down in a corner.

At that moment, the cat that had been hiding inside the little house attached to the cat tower jumped down nimbly. Meow— watching the cat approach and rub its face against Gijun’s shin, Gawon smiled slightly.

“Cute. Is this Sunny?”

“…Huh?”

He had deliberately asked in a nonchalant voice. However, Gijun flinched in surprise, his eyes going round, and then he hastily shook his head.

“No? It’s… Mun…sik. It’s Munsik?”

“Huh? Last time you definitely said…”

“I changed its name. I thought that suited it better.”

Lest that name come out of Gawon’s mouth, Gijun answered, barely even breathing. It was absurd. Gawon stared quietly at Gijun before bursting into laughter without realizing it.