Eighteen’s Bed Novel Completed - Chapter 124

“Why am I here, you piece of shit. The school website was openly bragging about me coming to find you, you bastard. You fucking hid it, then as soon as you entered university, you plastered your name all over it, so flashy. Perfect SAT score, Korea University Political Science and Diplomacy, Kang Jun. Is this you, you bastard? Why? Are you scared?”

Cough, spit. Sticky phlegm-filled saliva splattered onto the dirt ground. I looked at the unpleasantly wet ground, and when I raised my head, I had to admit it. Why my classmates, whose faces I didn’t even know, were worried about me. They must have felt it too. Kim Minho smelled of a sewer. It was the smell of the bottom, something I never thought I’d encounter at a university. And it was hostility. A blatant intent clearly shone in his bloodshot eyes.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, both of you, you motherfuckers… The most famous university in Korea. Fucking university? Hey, I saw it on the way here, the school’s nice. How fucking big is it that buses drive around inside the school? That’s why so many politicians come out of it, so many rich people, so many great people, right? These bastards, really.”

“Hey… Kim Minho.”

“I’m a fucking middle school dropout with missing teeth, but what, nobody fucking listens to me, and I got kicked out like a fucking idiot just because Go Yohan spouted off? You two ruined someone else’s life and now you’re both at Korea University? You fucking bastards, is it nice to live your lives however you want just because you were born with good parents? Fuck, you bastards who just got a good umbilical cord and suck off your parents must be enjoying it, right?”

He was insane. He was always out of his mind, but now he was beyond even that state of insanity. It felt like facing a rabid dog, its jaws gaping towards me. He even looked like he was about to foam at the mouth. A crazy person is scarier than a strong one.

“How much money did that Lee Seokhyun bastard take, that he kept his mouth shut? I heard he moved, to some fucking nice place? But why didn’t I get any? You bastards? Is Lee Seokhyun the mouth, and I’m just a beggar?”

“……Minho.”

I slowly backed away. But as I distanced myself, Kim Minho approached.

“My mom cried. Because of me. Your mom cried too, didn’t she? Because of you? Because she was happy? So fucking happy? My mom cried because she hated me so much. She cried because her life was ruined. She cried because her life, bet on a discarded hand, failed. I couldn’t even get my teeth fixed because of Go Yohan. I didn’t have money. But Go Yohan didn’t even give me compensation money? Han Junwoo must have gotten some, right? That bastard has a lot of money. Anyway, rich bastards.”

His posture, dragging his feet across the ground, was utterly deranged. The sight of him approaching with his hands shoved into his hoodie pockets was precarious. And his body even emitted a musty odor.

I quickly scanned my surroundings, but saw nothing. Tension drenched my body. My phone was visible, but bending down now would be suicide. What would he do if I took my eyes off him? I stared wide-eyed, trying to keep my wits about me. I had to resolve this. Somehow.

“Kim Minho, I understand why you’re angry at me, but please, just listen to me…”

“My words? Fuck, when has listening to you ever done me any good?”

Cough—spit. Saliva hit the ground again.

“You always just slipped away.”

“……Let’s talk after you take your hands out of your pockets.”

“Take them out? Take what out? Oh, are you worried there’s something in here?”

Kim Minho twisted his body in an abnormally grotesque way. It was like an act of showing off his strength. His blatant swagger also had a threatening purpose. Kim Minho was clearly cackling as he looked at me. He was enjoying my flinching.

“Hey, but why are you scared? What do you think is in here?”

“Minho, I’m sorry about what happened back then. Let’s talk about that calmly first. I’ll explain everything. Do you want something from me? Is there a reason for this?”

“Reason? You bastard, there are plenty of reasons.”

Then what is it, you bastard. I suppressed the urge to curse and forced a smile.

“What is it? Tell me everything.”

“What else? I’m going to ruin you before I die, you fucking gay bastard.”

“……Hey.”

Kim Minho was truly incorrigible from the moment I first saw him. I never imagined it would continue into university, and so troublesomely. First, I took a long breath, trying not to show anything. I continued to speak as calmly as possible. Let’s just stall for time. It was a secluded path, but someone would surely pass by.

“I had my reasons back then. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t lie, you bastard. I know you’re not sorry at all.”

“No, I really am sorry. So tell me everything you want. I’ll do it.”

“Oh really?”

With a rustling sound, Kim Minho’s hand moved. From his large, deep pocket, his true intention finally emerged.

“Then take this hit just once.”

It was a familiar bottle. No fool wouldn’t recognize that transparent green glass bottle.

“……A soju bottle?”

“Yeah. Just take this hit once. It’s my wish. If you’re sorry, you can do that much, right?”

My brows furrowed slightly. Judging by his smirking demeanor, it definitely wasn’t soju.

“……Hey. That’s not soju, is it?”

“It is soju. It’s nice to be an adult, isn’t it? You can buy alcohol at convenience stores.”

“Minho.”

“Stop calling me by my first name, pretending to be friendly. It makes me want to puke, you disgusting gay bastard. If it weren’t for you, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be in this state. Fuck, after I was in the same class as you, Go Yohan was ruined. Until freshman year, he was just a strong, idiotic brute, but after he was in the same class as you, he became a fucking asshole. When I think about it, you’re the worst, you bastard.”

“……Minho.”

“Shut up. Honestly, I don’t think I can do anything to Go Yohan. Ah, I realized it after getting beaten up. That bastard was born like this. He was born to beat people to death. His fists are fundamentally different. I can never win against him. But you’re not like that, are you? I think I can do it to you. I can somehow mess up a weak, big-mouthed bastard like you before I go.”

“……”

“So, I’ll just ruin your life and then leave. Otherwise, I won’t be able to live with this injustice.”

“……Don’t make a choice you’ll regret. And Go Yohan, he’s not someone who’d be hurt by something like that, is he? Let’s think calmly, okay?”

“What are you talking about? This idiot still doesn’t know Go Yohan.”

Kim Minho’s steps had stopped. I was breathless, forced to only stare at Kim Minho, who blocked my way. A shadow fell across Kim Minho’s face. And a vile smile spread across his face, etched with injustice. As if he was very happy.

“Go Yohan really likes your face, you know?”

“……”

“As for me. I hope both of your melted faces suffer for the rest of your lives, you motherfuckers.”

With those words, the soju bottle, its cap half-removed, left his hand. It flew from a distance. Reflexively, I raised my hand. It must have been a desperate attempt to block the incoming bottle. Time flowed slowly. Like a stretched-out tape. The problem was, my body moved at the same speed. I could have just dodged it. I couldn’t dodge the bottle that I could have dodged.

I stared at the bottle, growing larger in my vision, and thought.

Why me, of all people? Why is that bastard’s hatred directed at me? Why do I have to be the target of a coward who, in the end, was too scared to even touch Go Yohan?

My body, realizing it couldn’t dodge, closed my eyes. Was I irresponsibly trying to avoid the situation that was about to unfold? But the moment I closed my eyes, something covered my body. Fortunately, it wasn’t the bottle, nor the liquid inside.

It was a very warm body.

Suddenly, I opened my eyes. There was no pain, other than a heavy weight pressing down on me. Before me was only a body wearing a thin shirt and the dirt ground. When I turned my head, a familiar scent and an unfamiliar smell mingled. I reacted to the scent like Pavlov’s dog.

“……Go Yohan?”

I pushed hard against the upper body pressing down on me, then looked at Go Yohan’s face. His eyes, meeting mine, were writhing in pain. His tiny pupils shook violently. Go Yohan, who had fallen just as I pushed him, rolled on the ground, wincing.

“Ugh…”

It was a low, low scream. Unease became a blade, cutting my throat. I stopped trying to get up and crawled towards Go Yohan. It was strange, something was strange. The smell was strange too.

“Hey, wait a minute.”

“Fuck, that bastard dares…”

Go Yohan cursed and flipped himself over to get up. Only then did I see what had happened, what Go Yohan had blocked, what he had blocked in my place. Go Yohan’s shoulder was half-swollen, disgustingly red. The more horrifying fact was that I could see his clothes melting before my eyes. Wet sand clung to it.

“Go Yohan!”

Go Yohan. The psycho who pulled out his own dangling tooth. The rare psychopath who enjoyed shocking others more than feeling pain.

But was that truly Go Yohan’s intention? Or was that how Go Yohan had lived his life? My days of contemplation were short, and the answer only came after many days had passed. I knew it when he revealed his battered back and punched Kim Minho’s face. That was Go Yohan’s way of life.

“Ph-phone.”

And my way of life was always suspicious and countermeasures. Rather than stopping Go Yohan, I searched for my phone. 1, 1, 9. I pressed the three numbers firmly and put the phone to my ear. My hand trembled so much that the phone kept hitting my temple. The moment it connected, I spoke without a moment’s hesitation.

“H-here, first floor of the Social Sciences building at Korea University.”

My anxious gaze fell on his back, which was beginning to swell red. And Go Yohan, who was punching wildly, his eyes half-glazed over, as if out of his mind.

“You fucking, dog-like bastard, how dare you… You fucking piece of shit…!”

I quickly got up. To stop his hands from wildly hitting the seemingly unconscious face. And this time, it wasn’t to help Kim Minho. My hand firmly grabbed the arm that was brutally smashing Kim Minho’s face.

“An, an accident… happened.”

I dragged Go Yohan into the first-floor restroom. His mouth, which always spouted nonsense, was half-torn and bleeding, and his eyes were glazed over. That single change explained the pain he was enduring.

“……Ugh.”

“J-just wait.”

I set his heavy body on the floor and frantically looked around. A thin storage room door caught my eye. I hastily unlatched it and opened the door. I saw a faucet used for washing mops. Fortunately, it had a hose attached.

There was no time to delay. I hastily turned on the faucet and picked up the hose. And I aimed the stream of water precisely at the reddened, swollen area. The moment the water touched him, Go Yohan screamed. It was a desperate scream that couldn’t be expressed in words. His fingertips, gripping the sink, turned stark white.

“You have to, you have to wash it off.”

Go Yohan’s hands clung to the old sink, trembling palely. He was gripping it so hard that his arms were white. A small stream of water poured onto his back. I spoke plausibly, but my hands were trembling like an aspen tree.

“……Ah, it hurts.”

“……”

“Fuck, it hurts so much.”

Go Yohan, his face unseen, his head bowed low, clinging to the sink, barely keeping his back straight. I bit my lip as I watched his back, where the peeled, red flesh was burning. Every time I saw the marks of clothing stuck to his back, my knees buckled. My inner thighs felt twisted.

“It hurts…”

I had never offered foolish comfort. My comfort was expensive. I knew well that comfort wouldn’t change anything. For me, realistic help was always more important than comfort.

But now, I sold my comfort cheaply. Cheap comfort was all I could offer.

“I, I called an ambulance here. It’ll be here soon… Soon…”

I don’t know how much time has passed.

As I was scattering cheap pity with trembling lips, paramedics appeared with hurried footsteps. They quickly shoved Go Yohan and me into the ambulance and asked various questions.

However, Go Yohan only groaned in pain, and I mostly babbled, ‘I don’t know.’ How pathetic. What do I even know about Go Yohan? If I wanted to resent someone, I should blame myself. I hated my mind, which couldn’t think of anything.

“Then, do you happen to know this student’s guardian’s number?”

“Oh, no, th-their parents know it, but…”

“Please call them quickly and contact their guardian.”

Without time to answer, I fumbled in my pocket. But there was no hard object anywhere on my body. Panic surged.

“My, my phone isn’t here.”

“What?”

“When I was looking for the hose to pour water on the wound…”

“You didn’t leave it in the restroom, did you?”

Only then did the memory become clear. After rushing into the restroom, I had placed my phone on the sink to find the hose. And then I poured water… When the paramedics arrived, I left with them without having time to grab it.

“Yohan, your phone…”

With a maddening feeling, I turned my head to speak to Go Yohan, but there was no reply. Since the injury was on his back, he was lying face down, and his condition wasn’t visible. He was simply unresponsive, like a corpse.

“Go… Yohan?”

“Step aside!”

My body was pushed back, and a paramedic examined something. He forcibly lifted Go Yohan’s head and checked his eyes. After that, I don’t remember well what happened. The paramedics had no reason to explain the situation to me.

All I knew was that Go Yohan had lost consciousness. And that I heard the word ‘shock.’

“For now, please answer if his guardian calls later.”

Looking at Go Yohan’s phone, which the paramedic had already taken out, I felt my helplessness. As if they knew there was nothing more to gain from me, no more questions came my way.

Sitting in the corner of the ambulance, staring at the motionless Go Yohan, I realized what it felt like for my heart to be completely blocked. Endless despair and helplessness. A heaviness incomparable to being bullied pressed down on me.

‘That’s why people should live kindly.’

Go Yohan’s voice echoed. My uselessly held phone only trembled. Live kindly. Just live kindly. You bastard who even believes in God. Unconsciously, I clenched my teeth, which were clattering together.

Go Yohan’s arm dropped limply. My head shot up at the sound of his will-less hand hitting the floor. His wrist, now fully exposed, had no rosary.