HYUNG 12

A sudden surge of stress washed over me. I was planning to get some work done… but this isn’t mine. That jerk Ham Dowon had taken my laptop. He must have just swept everything off the table indiscriminately… well, since the color and model were the same, I suppose it was easy to get them mixed up.

[You took my laptop. Yours is here.]

Click. I took a photo of Ham Dowon’s laptop and sent it via text. Perhaps he was still sleeping, as there was no reply even by the time I finished eating and cleaned up.

When I opened the freezer, it was packed full. After contemplating for a moment, I eventually pulled out one of the ice creams Ham Dowon had bought and started eating it. Since he had already bought them and put them in my house, I couldn’t just leave them there forever feeling burdened.

I lay on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. It was just one missing laptop, but I felt as if my hands were handcuffed, unable to do anything. It wasn’t even like I used it that often outside of doing assignments. I figured I should read the book I bought a while ago. Just as I rolled over and reached my arm toward the bookshelf to grab the book, my phone vibrated. Hugging the book, I rolled back over and grabbed the phone on the bed.

“Hello.”

— Hyung, did you have a good morning?

“Yeah. You told me to have a good morning yesterday.”

I overslept, and when I tried to do my work, my laptop was gone; honestly, it wasn’t all that great, but since there was no need to explicitly mention that, I just brushed it off.

— Is it thanks to me that you had a good morning?

“Actually, no. It’s not that great because you took my laptop.”

I could hear Ham Dowon chuckling on the other end of the line. He dares to laugh? Even though he took my laptop, his bloated ego was so annoying that I ended up speaking truthfully.

— Ah. I’m sorry, hyung…

I didn’t mean to make him lose heart, but his voice sounded so dejected. I quickly changed the subject.

“Are you coming to school today?”

— No. I’m not going. But you need the laptop, right? Then I’ll go.

“Where is your house?”

— Near Hongik University Station.

He lives in a good area. The station near the school is also on Line 2, so it’s the same line and wasn’t that far away.

— It won’t take long if I drive there. Can I use the parking lot at the building where you live, hyung?

“Yeah. Most of the residents here are students, so the parking lot has plenty of empty spaces.”

— Then please text me your home address. I need to put it in the navigation.

“Okay. How long will it take?”

— About… two hours?

“That long?”

I’ve never driven in Seoul, but considering the time it took to take the subway from Hongdae to here, shouldn’t it be 30 minutes at most? I have no idea where that two-hour calculation came from.

— Ah, you want to see me early! Yes. I understand! Hyung, just wait a little bit!

“Just come when you can. Contact me about 3 minutes before you arrive. I’m hanging up. I’ll text you the address.”

Crazy guy. This incredible confidence and ego. It’s to the point of being wondrous. It would only make me tired to try and challenge it. I roughly wrapped up the call and hung up first. Then I opened the text window to type the address, but a text from Ham Dowon arrived before I could even send mine.

[I’ll get there a bit earlier. Please wait just a little, hyung!!]

If anyone saw this, they’d think I actually said I was waiting for him. If he’s like this toward a guy, how does he act toward girls? Is he just the type to be charming toward hyungs… It’s bothersome to even think deeply about what kind of personality a mere junior acquaintance has. I just need to get my laptop back. I sent the address.

I turned on my tablet PC and sat at the table.

“What should I watch?”

At first, he said two hours. Even if he comes a bit earlier, it would take roughly that long, so I figured watching one movie would be sufficient.

I scrolled through the list of movies I had bookmarked, but nothing really appealed to me. I didn’t want to watch this one for this reason, and I didn’t want to pick that one for that reason. After staring at only the posters for a long while, just as the title of the movie I finally selected was about to start, the phone rang. It was Ham Dowon. The timing was absolutely killing me.

“Yeah. Are you here?”

— Yes. Can I just park in the parking lot?

“Yeah. Just park in an empty spot. I’ll head down.”

In the end, I couldn’t watch a single thing. What a shame. I tucked Ham Dowon’s laptop under my arm and got into the elevator. And when the doors opened as I reached the first floor, a call came from Ham Dowon.

“Did you park?”

— Yes. I just parked. I’m getting out of the car now.

“I’m coming out right now too. I see the parking lot. Is that black SUV your car?”

There was only one car parked in the empty parking lot. It was a large, black SUV.

— Yes.

I approached and tapped “knock knock” on the car window. The window slid down “whirrr” and I saw Ham Dowon wearing his seatbelt. The unfamiliar scent I had smelled on the bed wafted out, though it wasn’t strong. It was just enough to be noticed if I was conscious of it.

“You drive a nice car.”

“Ah, my mom bought it… There was a news article about a couple who got into a car accident but were fine. After seeing that, she said she liked this brand and chose it… I didn’t choose it myself…”

I threw out a casual compliment about the car, but the reaction I got back was excessive. He mumbled his words as if he were quite embarrassed. It is a fairly expensive car, but it’s not like it’s impossible to buy, so it’s still his car, isn’t it? It was funny how he could say strange things perfectly fine but act like this over something random.

“Who said anything? I wanted one from this brand too. You bought well. I heard these are good. Sturdy. My dad drives a car from here too.”

“Heung, is this car good?”

“Yeah. It’s good.”

In the end, since I complimented him again, he’s going to smile like it’s so great. What a funny guy.

“Do you want to take it for a test drive?”

“No, there’s no need to go that far. Here, the laptop. Where’s mine?”

I pushed the laptop through the gap in the open window. Ham Dowon handed over my laptop with a slightly dejected expression.

“…Here.”

I held the laptop in my arms and smiled brightly, but then Ham Dowon spoke up urgently.

“I’m a bit tired because I drove for so long… Can’t I rest for a bit before I go? And I think I might have left something else behind besides the laptop yesterday… Also, your house is small, hyung, so I have to eat and use all those things I bought there, and I have to do my assignments too, so…”

“You drove for a long time? Isn’t it 30 minutes at most from the Hongik University entrance to here?”

“Usually! I commute only by subway, so I don’t drive often! Even driving for 30 minutes makes me a bit tired…”

“Hmm. Because of you, the freezer is full, so someone really does need to finish off that ice cream. I barely managed to squeeze in the pizza someone suddenly left behind, too.”

“Ah, I’m sorry…”

“I didn’t say that to make you apologize. Aren’t you getting out?”

“I’m getting out!”

While Ham Dowon hurriedly got out of the car, I contemplated the menu. What is something I usually can’t eat well alone? Ah. I remembered.

“There’s something I want to eat.”

“What is it that you want to eat with me, hyung?”

It’s not that I particularly want to eat it with you… why is he grinning like that again? Still, since it was something difficult to eat alone, I answered honestly.

“Gamjatang.”

There is “ppyeo-haejang-guk” which can be eaten alone, but right now I wanted “gamjatang.” With extra hand-pulled dough flakes. Ham Dowon’s expression darkened slightly.

“…Ah.”

“Do you hate gamjatang?”

“No. I can eat it…”

If you can eat it, you can eat it; I don’t know why his expression is like that. Is he saying he’ll force himself to eat something he doesn’t like just because of me?

“If it’s not great, we can eat something else.”

“It’s something you like, right? Gamjatang.”

“I’m suggesting it because I like it.”

“Then let’s eat it. I can eat it well.”

An unnecessarily determined face. That strange expression again. Just why is Ham Dowon like that? I was genuinely curious, but I didn’t particularly want to ask. Trying to understand peculiar kids is a hassle. It wasn’t something I was curious about enough to waste my breath asking, and I wasn’t that interested in that guy. Above all, I was hungry right now and didn’t want to care much about other things.

After leaving the laptop at my studio and walking to the gamjatang restaurant, I felt a sense of incongruity from our reflection in the glass. I was dressed in nothing but a hoodie, shorts, and slippers that I wear at home, while Ham Dowon was wearing a coat with well-pressed slacks and a shirt. Furthermore, it looked like he had even styled his hair. He even drove his car here. There was no reason for this other than a girl.

“Why did you come dressed like that?”