Eighteen’s Bed Novel Completed - Chapter 14

But Han Junwoo’s commotion didn’t stop there. A faint doorbell sound echoed from downstairs. I strained my ears for the familiar small sound. The single ring became continuous, then only the first part of the sound repeated endlessly. It was Han Junwoo.

If it’s that loud, the live-in housekeeper will wake up. As soon as I realized that, I sprang out of bed, opened the door, and rushed out.

He’s a real fucking bastard.

I hurried across the garden, and the moment I opened the main gate, I had to dodge a flying stone by moving sideways. That son of a bitch threw a stone at our front gate. I froze in surprise. But Han Junwoo didn’t apologize or worry about me nearly getting hit by the stone. He just pushed me aside and went into the house as he pleased.

“Hey, Han Junwoo! Where do you think you’re going, just barging in?”

Han Junwoo didn’t answer me and ran. I closed the gate and frantically followed him, but there was no way I could keep up with Han Junwoo’s speed. I was anxious.

How did Han Junwoo get here? How did he know Han Taesan was here?

Well, Han Taesan, who has no friends, wouldn’t have anywhere else to go but our house, I guess. I’m going crazy. Nothing is going right because of Han Taesan. I tried to suppress my swirling, complicated thoughts, breathing heavily.

“Where’s Han Taesan!”

“Quiet! Han Junwoo!”

“Hey! Han Taesan!”

“Everyone can hear you, be quiet!”

Han Junwoo opened every single room, yelling loudly. I called out to Han Junwoo, lowering my voice, but Han Junwoo, instead, pushed me away and made me fall. And when I bit my lip in humiliation and got up, Han Junwoo had already gone up the stairs and finally opened my room door.

“Fuck. Why is Han Taesan here?”

My mind went blank as unbelievable situations connected in a continuous sequence, and my body was forcibly thrown down. Han Junwoo pressed my head to the floor. I couldn’t escape, no matter how hard I tried, and I couldn’t lift my head.

I could clearly feel Han Junwoo pressing my head with all his might. I desperately grabbed Han Junwoo’s arm. I tried to twist and break free somehow, but Han Junwoo pressed down even harder, as if he would crush my head.

“Hey! Let go of me!”

I screamed without realizing it. It was horrible. This sudden situation that had engulfed me was excruciating. I struggled with all my might. And Han Taesan’s voice, calling my name, clearly echoed from inside my room.

“…Jun. Ju, Jun!”

“You fucking, piece of shit!”

As soon as Han Junwoo saw Han Taesan’s pale face, he kicked my body, pushing me hard.

I tumbled down the stairs without a chance to grab onto anything, hitting my head on the floor. For a moment, my head spun so much I couldn’t tell up from down. As I was half-unconscious, I heard Han Junwoo’s voice.

“Jun! Han, Junwoo. Wait, just a moment.”

“Fuck, watch closely, Han Taesan.”

“Jun, Junwoo. Please. Please. I’ll do whatever you say. I already did everything.”

“Did what? You fucking bastard. Just shut up and watch. What I! What I became because of you! How dare you do this to me. Fuck. You dog-like bastard. Watch closely how pathetic and idiotic Kang Jun, who you like so much, becomes because of you.”

“I told you! It’s not, not like that! Pl-Please!”

Han Taesan stood next to Han Junwoo, just sobbing. If he was going to stop him, he should have done it properly; instead, he just stood awkwardly, trembling, unable to grab Han Junwoo. I grabbed my forehead, pushed myself up from the floor, and shouted loudly.

“Hey! Han Junwoo!”

I desperately called Han Junwoo’s name. But soon my voice turned into a groan. My stomach hurt, my arms hurt, my head hurt, and my body lost control, rolling on the floor. I was being beaten by Han Junwoo.

“No. Junwoo, I was wrong. Junwoo. Junwoo. Please, please. It’s all my fault.”

“You fucking piece of shit. Go die, you dog.”

“P-Please stop. Please. Please. I won’t even talk to Jun, no. To Kang Jun again, I won’t even look at him, just like you said!”

And then, finally, I burst into tears in front of Han Junwoo.

It’s so unfair. So unfair. I’ve never felt this unfair. Han Junwoo. How could you do this? How could you tear my heart to shreds? What did I do to you? Did I confess, did I force my feelings on you?

Tears wouldn’t stop, dripping onto the floor. Even in my dazed state, I saw them. How could you do this to me just because Han Taesan treated me specially? It’s unfair. Even so, I was your close friend. It’s unfair. In the midst of it, I was covering my face with my arm.

Even though I was being hit in the stomach, my chest ached. Because being caught by others being beaten was more painful than the physical pain.

“Fuck, Kang Jun, what a pathetic bastard. Crying like that.”

Through my blurry vision, I saw Han Junwoo grabbing Han Taesan’s wrist and dragging him away. The moment Han Junwoo’s body touched Han Taesan, Han Taesan gagged and then vomited on the floor. He trembled, covering his mouth, but Han Junwoo, seeing that, just stroked Han Taesan’s cheek again. Han Taesan recoiled in horror, twisted his body, and fell, and Han Junwoo again cursed and forcibly pulled Han Taesan up and out.

In the midst of it, I couldn’t give up. I struggled to get up, clutching my stomach, which felt like it was tearing, and followed them. Han Taesan struggled violently but kept looking back at me. His eyes held a strangely desperate look. It felt unpleasant. Annoying Han Taesan.

Only the two of them were visible in front of my eyes. I felt resentment towards Han Junwoo, and anger and jealousy towards Han Taesan. I reached out to grasp the traces of the two people ahead of me. What I finally managed to grab when I reached the main gate was the hem of Han Taesan’s clothes. Han Taesan stopped, and then Han Junwoo also stopped.

Han Junwoo turned to look at me, and I opened my eyes wide, but what returned was violence. Han Junwoo grabbed my shoulder and pushed me, and I stumbled and fell to the ground.

“Fuck, now, now please just get lost! You damn bastard! Please stop interfering!”

Han Junwoo yelled at me. My chest hurts. Bad bastard. Bad bastard. Han Junwoo, who I want to kill. Han Junwoo, who I want to kill. Han Junwoo dragged Han Taesan’s hand and headed towards the road.

I quickly tried to follow them, pushing myself up awkwardly with my hands on the ground. It was at that moment.

Ding.

I thought I heard a mechanical sound. Did I mishear? The moment I doubted, I heard a ‘Thud!’ as a window closed. Suddenly, goosebumps ran up my spine from my tailbone. Silence descended upon my world.

No. No.

Keeping my eyes on their retreating backs, I hurriedly fled back into the house.

Where was it from? Where did that sound come from?

I quickly closed the main gate and hid behind it, thinking. My thoughts were solely this: Did they see? Who saw? Was I visible? My heart hammered violently. A hammer struck my heart, and my startled heart leaped. Which house was it? Did they hear? No, was it audible? Did they know it was me?

I hurried inside, locked the door to my room, and just gasped for breath. In the silence, I gradually calmed down. Then Han Junwoo’s tormenting voice crept back into my mind.

‘You pathetic loser.’

My tear-filled face contorted. A hot flush rose from my distorted face. I curled up on the carpet and cried. At that moment, Han Junwoo truly trampled me like an insect.

What was even sadder was that to avoid being caught for the dawn commotion, I had to clean up the vomit Han Taesan had made, despite my aching body. Holding my breath and bending down, snot kept dripping from my nose, so I sniffed. The area around my eyes grew hot, and my vision blurred. Liquid dripped onto the back of my hand. Sniff. I sniffed.

When I was wringing out the rag at the sink, I looked in the mirror. Below my nose was covered in blood. My head spun.

When I came to, I found myself sprawled on my bed. In my dazed state, I must have managed to lock the door and collapse inside.

“Wow, I’m amazing, even then.”

Lying still, just blinking, I gradually came to my senses, and my entire cheek began to throb. I raised the hand that was easiest to move. My shoulder moved stiffly, as if rust had formed in the cartilage, and a piercing pain shot through my arms.

“Ouch…”

When I touched various aching parts of my body with my struggling hand, the soft flesh felt hard to the touch. I lay still for a moment, then used the hand that had been stroking my face to push myself up from the floor.

Sitting on the bed, staring blankly at the wall, I suddenly burst into tears. A whining sound crawled out of my throat and erupted from my mouth, and my throat must have been damaged too, as a scratchy pain rose.

Unable to contain my anger, I got up and threw every object I could get my hands on. After crying and venting for a long time, I just collapsed onto the floor. I pressed my lips together and closed my eyes. But my eyes still felt gritty, and tears flowed uncontrollably down my head.

“Damn it!”

I truly wanted to die.

But what I really wanted to die from was last night.

The window was definitely closed. Did they hear? Did someone hear? Damn it. Damn it. Fucking Han Junwoo. Idioitic Han Taesan. Why did you come to my house! Why did you twist my life like this?

“…Damn it.”

In front of Han Taesan, what Han Junwoo trampled was my pride. That was more painful than Han Junwoo avoiding me or hating me, and it was so unfair that the tears I had suppressed finally came out.

However, even at moments when I release my emotions through tears, I am conscious of others’ gazes. This moment was one of those.

Suddenly feeling a profound silence, I closed my mouth. I looked at the clock. It was just before 8 AM. It suddenly struck me that facing the housekeeper like this would be very awkward. At the same time, my head cooled down.

My mind returned to rationality. I didn’t want anyone to see me in such a shameful and ugly state. My hurried heart quickly made my body get up, set the chair upright, and shove all the thrown objects under the bed. Then I waited for the housekeeper to knock on the door. A few minutes later, as if on cue, I heard a knock on the door, and I said as normally as possible,

“Please don’t come in. I think I caught a cold. I’m not feeling well. I’ll skip school today.”

“Really? Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?”

I swallowed the bitter-tasting saliva.

“I’ll go when I feel a bit better.”

“Oh my. Then, should I make you some porridge?”

“Please bring it to my room door. I’d appreciate it.”

“Alright, Jun. Just a moment?”

I decided to skip school. I really wasn’t in the mood to go, and I couldn’t go.

Fortunately, the medicine was scattered in the room, and I picked it up, applying it thickly to my sore spots, hoping to recover as quickly as possible. Afterward, I went back to bed.

I threw the medicine I was holding onto the floor.

My whole body shivered. I felt so wronged. I ached more from the injustice than from physical pain. My stomach felt like it was being pinched by tiny fingers. How cruel. To hide my face filled with sorrow, I blocked out all the light coming through the window and burrowed deep into my blanket, hiding. It felt like only the blanket could protect me from the sorrow pressing down on me.

I need to sleep. I have to sleep. I forced my eyes shut. It’s okay. My parents don’t know, Han Junwoo isn’t the type to blab about last night, it’s okay.

Thinking that, I burrowed deeper into the blanket.

No, in fact, it’s not okay at all.

In fact, hidden under the blanket, I furiously spewed out the words that had been on the tip of my tongue, all in my mind. Words I wanted to pour out to anyone—God, my parents, just anyone—fell like a waterfall.

Please. Han Junwoo did this. Han Junwoo hit me. He trampled me. That trashy bastard. Han Junwoo is crazy. He’s lost it. He’s not in his right mind. Because of that damn Han Taesan, me. How could we have spent a year together? What feelings did I harbor for Han Junwoo for a year? Han Junwoo crushed them. In front of Han Taesan. I’m an idiot. To show that pathetic state in front of Han Taesan, too. And if someone saw this horrible situation.

I stopped my rambling thoughts. Self-loathing welled up. I felt like committing suicide.

What was even sadder was that the first thing I did after crying under the blanket was frantically delete all of Han Taesan’s messages and call records from last night. Late at night, I simply deleted the entire dawn recording file from the CCTV installed in front of the main gate. That morning’s events were a disgrace I didn’t want anyone to know about, or anyone to see.

I skipped school for three consecutive days. Unlike my ghastly appearance, my body was recovering smoothly.

Perhaps because I was surprisingly good at turning my body to avoid visible areas during the beating, or perhaps because my body, accustomed to good living, wasn’t so weak, there weren’t many noticeable injuries. There were no fatally large wounds, just a few dark red bruises hidden under my clothes. For those three days, I stayed holed up in my blanket, crying and crying. I ignored all calls.

I had planned to endure until I was fully recovered, but unfortunately, my parents, who had been away from home for a long time, suddenly returned. I couldn’t help but be flustered.

“…Son, what’s wrong with your face?”