Eighteen’s Bed Novel Completed - Chapter 112

“How can it be so-so? You have to do well.”

His feigned seriousness didn’t impress me at all, so I yawned without realizing it.

“…Are you sleepy?”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe you’re tired, your words are always so short.”

“Yes, I think so.”

I replied, wiping the tears from the corners of my eyes. At this point, I wished he would just let me go, but Go Yohan was just scratching the back of his neck. I yawned a second time.

“What are you going to do when you go in?”

“Check answers?”

“And?”

“Sleep.”

Yawn. My third yawn came out. This time it was really big, so much so that my fatigue could be heard.

“You must be very tired these days.”

“Ah, yeah, kind of.”

It felt awkward to just lower the hand covering my mouth, so I needlessly scratched my neck or collarbone area. Bored and sleepy. My mind was hazy. As if pressing all my emotions down from top to bottom. Whenever personal feelings about Go Yohan tried to rise to the surface, I quickly thought about being sleepy. I also thought it was boring.

“I’m going in now.”

It was a notification, not a request. It was something I wouldn’t have been able to do even half a year ago. This admirable courage came solely from the fact that graduation was just around the corner. In other words, I didn’t have much time left to see Go Yohan. That was a very good opportunity for me.

To make the parting not awkward or malicious, but good. Good. I made a future-oriented choice.

“Your first round of admissions results come out tomorrow, right?”

He still thinks I applied for early admission to Business Administration. But I don’t feel the need to correct him. Well, Political Science and Diplomacy also announce results on the same day, so I’m not lying. No lies.

“Uh, uh-huh.”

“…Alright, get some rest for now.”

Go Yohan narrowed one eye and scanned me up and down. His gaze no longer felt scary or intimidating. It was a fear that would disappear like a mirage anyway. In a few days, I wouldn’t even be a high school student anymore.

Age builds courage.

I nodded and turned my body. The main gate was right in front of me. I was about to press the numbers and open the door when Go Yohan suddenly called out to me from behind.

“Hey!”

I pretended not to hear. The best way to deal with someone craving attention is to not give them any. Thinking that, I pressed the keypad faster. Just as I was about to press the final ‘open’ button, a strong force grabbed my shoulder and spun me around.

“Wh-what?”

No matter what, I couldn’t help but be surprised by such an action. I was clearly not afraid of Go Yohan, but my hand, gripping the wall in surprise, was trembling slightly. I tried hard to ignore that subtle movement. Go Yohan firmly held my shoulders with both hands, then,

“Everything will be alright.”

He left me with those strange words and went back home.

The next day, I trembled in the school bathroom. I had lied to my homeroom teacher that I applied to Business Administration, and I couldn’t bear the expectant eyes, so I had escaped to the bathroom. There, I rubbed my eyes vigorously and then stared closely at my phone screen. The words definitely hadn’t changed.

「You have passed the first screening. The registration payment deadline for the second screening is until [Month] [Day].」

The first screening, which only looked at grades. I thought my grades were a mess, but I survived the 2x cut. Suddenly, a choked sob burst out. I even covered my mouth, afraid that the sniffling sound might leak out. Now all that was left was the document screening and interview, and honestly, I was confident about the documents.

My parents’ and my choice was correct.

That a locally famous school like this was better than a too-famous private high school… I learned in the second semester of my third year that the reason was that parents could directly manipulate numerous documents.

Since I had passed the most worrying 2x grade cut, admission was a sure thing. That’s why I cried.

“Damn it… Fucking hell, ah…”

I learned that success gained after failure, even if its fruit is smaller than a dream, is sweet.

As expected, not long after, “Kang Jun, freshman of Hankuk University, Department of Political Science and Diplomacy – Congratulations on your admission.” I saw those blue letters and cried and cried again.

In addition, Ahn Jisu was admitted to Hankuk University’s Department of Business Administration. On the day of the admissions announcement, he ran around the hallway shouting, so the whole school knew. Ahn Jisu also got first place in the last final exam. I was second again. Everything was back to how it was before. Kang Jun, who was always second, had returned.

Ahn Jisu took the last spotlight of graduation that way. The old me might have gnashed my teeth and been jealous, but now I considered it a bit of a relief.

Because I didn’t particularly want to tell Go Yohan the name of the department I got into.

In December, as soon as finals ended, the classroom became a mess. Until fourth period, we just watched movies all day long.

It was always like that when the nerds, who usually holed up in their rooms and only solved problems, decided to play. Why did they have to bring only boring series movies? They got excited about the movie’s continuous world and kept forcing us to watch, but I, who was already bored from the first part, was focusing on my English listening.

Thanks to that, my seat automatically changed to the very back. Next to Go Yohan. The silver lining was that Go Yohan didn’t put his calf on my thigh or openly poke my cheek. It seemed he had painfully realized that his actions were damaging his reputation.

However, he didn’t stop his tricks. Even when he tried to be careful, Go Yohan’s true nature never disappeared. A prime example was him putting his hand under the desk and touching my knee.

“…Don’t.”

“Why?”

“The kids will see.”

“They’re not looking.”

I bounced my knee to push Go Yohan’s hand away. My back was against the chair, my eyes aimlessly on the screen. The only interesting thing about that movie was one thing: the male lead was handsome. As I rested my chin on my hand and just watched the screen, Go Yohan came closer.

“Aren’t you curious?”

“About what?”

“How I did on the Suneung.”

“You probably did well.”

There was nothing else to look at, so I only saw the protagonist’s back and butt. The guy in the front suddenly got excited and yelled, “Don’t fall for it, you bastard!”, completely blocking the screen with his head, so the protagonist was also blocked. I tilted my head towards the hallway. Just in time, a service shot filled the screen.

“…The exam’s over, but your tone is insincere. You.”

Looking at the swaying butt, I felt nothing but emptiness, not even lust. Like some perverted beast. Are you a savage?

“Hey, Jun.”

Well, at least it’s better than shots revealing women’s breasts. Those don’t even evoke any emotion.

“Hey!”

“Ah!”

A brief sharp pain shot through my waist. I snapped back to reality and found my head sharply pulled towards the desk. Ugh. My suddenly bent back ached, and I grimaced. Still grimacing, I turned my head and saw that Go Yohan’s face was not normal.

Ah, I made a mistake. I should have tried to be a little more sincere. I quickly forced a smile and said,

“Sorry, the movie’s interesting.”

“…”

Go Yohan, grimacing at my words, glared at the screen. Go Yohan, with that kind of face, always does something. Now I wasn’t even nervous anymore. Go Yohan stood up and pressed firmly on my shoulder.

“Who’s the bastard who brought this dog-shit boring movie here?”

Go Yohan slightly opened his mouth and moved his jaw. Click, clack, sounds came from his misaligned muscles. The classroom, where tension was building for the movie’s climax, turned cold in a different sense. It was clear that some of the classmates were watching him warily.

“Why, why. Is it not fun?”

“This movie you bastards are making a fuss about with your ‘worldview’ or whatever is boring, so turn on something else right now. I thought I was going to die of annoyance because of you loud-mouthed bastards.”

He didn’t even stop there; he snatched the remote from the guys in the front row and changed the screen. Go Yohan slammed the buttons as if venting his anger. Eventually, a random movie came on, and Go Yohan stopped his hand just as he was about to press play.

“Anyone who wants to watch something else, give your opinions.”

“…Uh, then let’s watch that Korean movie next to it. Comedy.”

“Anyone who agrees?”

“Me too, I want to watch that one. They say it’s funny.”

“Alright, let’s be patriotic, you bastards.”

Go Yohan, who had scoffed heartily, moved his hand a few times and pressed confirm. It was a B-grade comedy movie that had become famous through word-of-mouth online and had surpassed its break-even point. I, who had been staring at Go Yohan’s dictatorship with feigned disgust, had to admit that Go Yohan’s choice wasn’t bad after all.

“…Pfft.”

Not long after it started, laughter burst out. Even as I laughed, I felt a little embarrassed that I was laughing at such a gag, so I covered my mouth and looked around. Fortunately, there were many kids similar to me. The atmosphere was definitely better than before. They were more satisfied with simple and clear one-time gags than with the series they had to force themselves to watch to see the next part.

Even the kids who had complaints about Go Yohan soon got engrossed in the movie. It wasn’t for nothing that it surpassed its break-even point without any advertising. I nodded to myself.

“…Is this funny?”

Go Yohan, who had somehow sat down in his seat, asked softly. But I didn’t know why he asked so carefully. I fixed my gaze on the screen and nodded.

“You like this kind of pathetic humor, huh?”

“Uh, kind of.”

It was embarrassing to laugh at cheap humor, but I didn’t hide it. Having gone through nineteen, I felt that endless denial and delusion would only be poison to me.

Firstly, I decided to learn to accept myself. I like cheap humor.

“It’s very funny.”

“Then…”

A long arm came close to mine. I felt that strange warmth and twisted my body. It was to avoid touching him as much as possible. Go Yohan, who was looking only at the floor, thinking who knows what, didn’t notice that I had avoided him.

“Want to go see a movie with me this weekend?”

His long fingers tapped my tattered earlobe. In the past, why couldn’t I have been suspicious when I saw that ear? A conservative family like Go Yohan’s wouldn’t have tolerated such an ear. Moreover, Go Yohan rode a motorcycle that was too old for his age. It would have been impossible without his parents’ financial help. Go Yohan was clearly not ostracized by his family.

Go Yohan is a real bastard.

“No.”

“…Why?”

“I failed the Hankuk University Business Administration exam.”

Actually, I didn’t even look at Business Administration. I pressed my cheek with my finger and rested my chin on my hand.

“Because of you.”

Kang Jun has become very shameless these days. It’s thanks to all the elements that made him afraid of disappearing. With graduation just around the corner, Go Yohan, who was merely a high school student, was no longer frightening, and earning Go Yohan’s hatred no longer saddened me. My life began to return to its normal trajectory.

Moreover, after the early admission announcement, my homeroom teacher subtly pitied me.

So Go Yohan only thought I was solely focused on the Suneung results. Well, he’d find out soon enough after graduation anyway. Whenever the Suneung was mentioned, Go Yohan would subtly stiffen. That sight was a bit amusing.

“Suneung.”

“Uh…”

“You did well on the Suneung, didn’t you? It’ll be fine. You’ll be able to go.”

I can’t go. Because I got in through early admission. The words in my head didn’t come out. In the movie, an idol-turned-actor danced a funny dance. Laughter naturally flowed out.

“That’s really funny.”

“They say you got two wrongs on the Suneung. They say this exam was incredibly difficult.”

“Well, I don’t know.”

It’s a self-assessment.

“Hey, but what’s the name of that actor?”

I left Go Yohan alone, poked the kids in front of me, and asked. I should watch it again when I get home. Since I had no friends to fool around with and no studying to do, I needed something to pass the time. It was a purely innocent question. But my leaning body was pulled back with a strong grip.

“Why are you asking about such things?”

He’s smiling, but he’s not smiling. His fierce, untamed glare was unpleasant and raw.

“…That is.”

A year ago, I would have screamed and thrown a fit upon seeing that look. Asking if he was making fun of me. It was all meaningless. After all, I was treated as Go Yohan’s toy, a fool swimming at the bottom of that sewer.

“Just to watch it again later.”

“You have a lot of time, don’t you? Not even nervous about college.”

“Yohan.”

I turned my body and grabbed the back of the chair with my hand. I met Go Yohan’s eyes directly.

“It’s my college, so you don’t need to worry about it.”

It’s not your concern anyway. I almost failed because of you. I swallowed the words I couldn’t say. That was my situation. I had complaints, but I wasn’t tormented. I had known for a long time that this was the easier path.

“…”

Go Yohan’s face was strangely tangled. It was like a tangled ball of yarn or hair.