HYUNG 69

I guess the fourth-year student is causing a scene again. Even though the students in the preparatory class have strong personalities and talk too much, it was never this exhausting. Just witnessing a glimpse of it for a moment was draining, so I felt a wave of pity thinking about how she has to spend hours in the same space with him.

“The winter special lectures are really starting soon, and I just don’t have the confidence to be with him from morning until night, I really don’t…”

Teacher Dohee buried her face in both hands. Is she crying? I was startled for a moment, but fortunately, she wasn’t. She was merely covering a face distorted like a demon’s.

“I’m seriously going nuts. But Teacher Hwanoh, why did you come by?”

“To give you some ice cream… Teacher Wonkyu bought it, but there was some left over.”

“Thank you. Can I eat both of them? I’m absolutely fuming right now.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

One was supposed to be for the assistant instructor who hadn’t been there long, but I just gave them both to her obediently. Teacher Dohee, holding a tube ice cream in one hand and an ice cream bar in the other, began to bite into them alternately.

“I can tell they’re cold, but I have no idea what they taste like.”

“Eat slowly, slowly…”

“I’ve really experienced all sorts of malicious people, but that ba—… No, a student like him is truly a first. I’ve seen plenty of kids who are incredibly stubborn. But he’s enormous. He’s in a different class, a different class. I mean, it would be one thing if he was good at drawing. When I point something out because he’s drawing something completely off on his own, do you know what he says? He says, ‘Ah, I have my own world! What do you know about my art!’ I just wish he’d stop trying to go to college and do art on his own. There are plenty of non-majors in the art world. Or it would be nice if he just went to study abroad. I even suggested studying abroad, you know? But he said he wouldn’t go even if it killed him. He says he’s going to do art in Korea for the rest of his life, so he has to go to a prestigious Korean university even if it’s just for the connections. Is he not going to the military? Doesn’t the Military Manpower Administration take kids like that away?”

“I’m not quite sure…”

“I really reached my limit today and almost punched his drawing board. Even without putting much strength into it, those things break easily if you strike them.”

“…You’ll hurt your hand.”

“Ah, I shouldn’t be talking behind a student’s back like this… Please pretend you didn’t hear it. I really just reached my limit… The assistant instructor doesn’t understand me. When I asked if we shouldn’t scold Gihoon at least once, he was like, ‘Why? Gihoon is nice and listens well. Aren’t you being a bit sensitive, Teacher?’ He said that to me! After I’ve been in this industry for years.”

“Ahhh…”

“Ah, but Teacher Hwanoh, I heard you got scolded by the director?”

Teacher Dohee suddenly asked while putting the lone wooden stick into the plastic wrapper and starting to suck hard on the tube ice cream. Ah, that. Someone must have seen. I just smiled.

“…I didn’t get scolded.”

“A student in my class said so? That they saw you while going to the convenience store? What happened?”

“Just… there were complaints about a cigarette smell in the preparatory class, so he asked me to be careful. It’s no big deal.”

“You don’t smoke, Teacher Hwanoh. Is it about the students? Kids these days do smoke a lot. Still, when the preparatory class kids smoke, they’re nervous about it so they manage the smell. But among the exam class kids, there are a lot of adults, and since they think they’re all grown up, they don’t manage the smell at all, so the smell, the smell… When you turn on the air conditioner, it’s full of cigarette smells. Full of it. I thought it was a smoking room. And also… …Ah, Gihoon, where are you going?”

When the door to the exam class swung open, Teacher Dohee turned around in surprise and smiled awkwardly upon seeing the fourth-year student who had come out with a face full of dissatisfaction. The fourth-year student’s crooked eyes scanned Teacher Dohee and me.

“Are you two having an office romance, Teacher?”

“What?”

“You don’t look like it, but I guess you are a woman after all, Teacher. Seeing as you look at academic background and faces.”

The fourth-year student scanned me from head to toe, up and down. Then, he let out a short laugh to himself and walked off somewhere with thumping footsteps. Teacher Dohee looked like her insides were boiling, but she barely suppressed it and smiled with great effort.

“Gihoon-ah… Where are you going? I asked you twice, didn’t I, hmm?”

“Don’t bother worrying about me for no reason, Teacher, and just focus on your dating. I won’t tell the other kids.”

Teacher Dohee’s clenched fist was quite scary. Though it was small, the bones on the back of her hand, protruding white, looked quite sharp. Teacher Dohee trembled, and once the fourth-year student had completely vanished, she couldn’t contain her rage and bang! struck the wall.

“Teacher Dohee, did you hear a loud noise?”

The assistant instructor, who swung the door open, looked around the hallway with a startled face, and Teacher Dohee just let out a laugh like someone whose screw had come a bit loose. Looking at Teacher Dohee’s slightly reddened fist, I made a decision. I would end my work at the art academy with this part-time job and nothing more.

‧₊˚♪ 𝄞₊˚⊹

— Hyung!

As if he had been waiting for the moment my part-time job ended, the phone rang exactly on time. Since it was Ham Dowon, I picked up without even giving the usual “Hello.” A cheerful voice greeted me. Despite the fact that he had been avoiding me just because his boyfriend got a bit of an erection while kissing, he sure was consistent about contacting me.

— Is your part-time job over?

“I’m just about to head out. What is it?”

— Can’t I just call? Does there have to be a reason?

“Well, I suppose not. What are you doing right now?”

— Hyung, I’m at my mom’s academy, so can’t we meet? It’s right nearby. I want to see you, hyung.

“Mmm…”

I’m at an age where I know exactly what it means to ask to see your lover at this late hour, yet he calls me out so innocently. Despite having run away. Knowing full well what I might do.

— Hyung, I want to see you… Really, so, so much.

“…Shall I go over there?”

But then again, hearing that pathetic voice made my heart go soft. I don’t have a heart of steel enough to be cold toward the charms of a cute younger boyfriend.

— Hyung, wait just a tiny bit. I’ll go to you! Let’s take a walk!

Even in the midst of this, Ham Dowon’s way of speaking was charming and ticklish. If he had been born in the Joseon Dynasty, he would have made quite a name for himself as a beloved royal concubine or a favorite mistress.

“…A walk where?”

— There’s a nice place to walk near here!

“Okay…”

I wondered if the walking path might lead to a motel. It really was purely a walk… No, two healthy men are dating, but I feel like I’m the only one being too anxious. Even though I’ve been quite understated about those things in my past relationships. Maybe it’s because he’s the first person to ever just bolt when the mood was somewhat set… Now, sexual acts between men didn’t even feel scary. I just really wanted to do it, with that Ham Dowon. I should really have a heart-to-heart talk with him at some point, but I’m very afraid that Ham Dowon might run away again.

— Hyung, I like you. Really!

Unaware of my inner thoughts, Ham Dowon just whispered into the receiver.

“Do you even know what I’m thinking?”

— Thinking about me?

Because I felt a bit prickly, I spoke bluntly, but Ham Dowon just said something cute again.

“…Yeah. Thinking about you.”

He said he was a youngest son who grew up receiving lots of love, and Ham Dowon’s naturally ingrained charm was indeed lovely. …Am I wearing rose-colored glasses? But it wasn’t a lie. I was indeed thinking about Ham Dowon.

As I walked down the stairs toward the exit, I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. I could hear Ham Dowon’s laughter too.

— Hyung, why are you laughing?

“Why are you laughing?”

— Me, it’s because I like you, hyung.

“I’m laughing for the same reason though?”

— Because you like me?

Ham Dowon giggled. Like a child, cutely. I almost burst into a smile again, but I purposely stiffened my face and lowered my voice.

“No. Because I like myself.”

— I’m a little disappointed, but I like your high self-esteem too, hyung.

“Beg a little more. Tell me to say the words you want to hear.”

— Hyung.

“Yeah?”

— I miss you.

“Then come quickly. Is winter coming soon? It’s starting to get chilly now.”

— I’ll be there soon!

“Yeah.”

— But you know. Hyung, earlier, Saja…

Ham Dowon rattled on about his cat again, and I leaned my shoulder against the academy exit and listened quietly. I have zero interest in raising a cat, but I found myself listening intently to Ham Dowon’s stories.

“So Saja lost his temper again?”

— Yes! The back of my hand got scratched!

“He needs to be scolded then.”

— There’s nothing to scold our Saja for. He’s so tiny.

“There’s nothing to scold you for either. Win the fight next time.”

— How can I fight with him? I’m just playing with him.

“Didn’t you say you fought last time?”

— No, it’s just that Saja was acting ungrateful! After everything I’ve done for him! Still, I was the one who asked to make up first.