Eighteen’s Bed Novel Completed - Chapter 142

I felt the same way, unable to control my emotions. Go Yohan’s incessantly wandering gaze tickled my chest. Truly, Go Yohan was a bad bastard. I remained silent for a moment, then suddenly threw out a thought that came to mind. It felt like I had to.

“You really are.”

Go Yohan squeezed his eyes shut. He hunched his shoulders and closed his mouth. I looked at him and continued.

“Do you really like… that?”

That word, which was awkward to even say. It wouldn’t even come out of my mouth. Crazy. But Go Yohan slowly opened his eyes, looked at my expression, and then let out an awkward laugh as if he had relaxed. Like someone who had been startled out of their wits and was now finally coming back to their senses. And he didn’t forget to nod.

“Yeah, honestly, a bald mountain is exactly my type.”

“…”

Crazy bastard. What kind of mindset is it that he can stubbornly say such things even in this situation? If I had to pick the person with the most unique mental world I know, it would be Go Yohan. Sometimes, I even had the unsettling thought of whether Go Yohan’s father was like that when he was young.

However, knowing how depressed Go Yohan would be if that thought were discovered, I didn’t say it. I just picked a fight with pouting lips.

“Then, you shave yours clean.”

This is all Kang Soohyun’s fault.

I resented God. Did you really need to give me such a trial just because I took one Go Yohan? I agreed with Go Yohan a hundred times when he said God was a jerk. I don’t know why I always encounter such trials.

“…”

Early in the morning, as I drank water, I felt a presence approaching me. It was trying to muffle its footsteps. But it lacked sincerity. I pretended not to notice, not for Go Yohan’s sake, but because I was annoyed.

“Jun, good morning.”

His voice, whispered close to my ear as if to surprise me, was low and somewhat rough, as if scratched. I wasn’t particularly surprised; I just subtly turned my head, gulping down water with the cup still at my lips. Go Yohan leaned on the table in front of me and said in a sleepy voice.

“I really like people who compulsively drink a glass of water in the morning.”

Yes, the important thing is that the trial is Go Yohan, whom I took. Perhaps God couldn’t handle Go Yohan either and just dumped him on me. Go Yohan was that crazy.

“I also like people whose hair at the back of their head floats up when they wake up because they got a layered cut.”

That’s you too. It’s not just me. Does he think his own hair is clean right now? That’s not something someone with an antenna on top of their head should say. I looked at the top of Go Yohan’s head with half-closed eyes. He probably still hasn’t noticed.

If I listened any longer, my head would explode. I took the cup from my lips after finishing the water, wiped the moisture from my mouth, and spoke. More precisely, I cut Go Yohan off.

“Oh, right, I have to go home today.”

I never said his hair was floating up too. At my words, his eyes, which had been half-closed with sleep, slowly opened.

“…Why?”

“My parents are coming tomorrow. So I might be home until the weekend.”

It wasn’t anything special. They usually return to Korea around this time due to their schedule. I had looked at the calendar and thought, “Ah, it’s almost time for them to come,” and my parents usually came for a few days for work without much contact, then left again.

However, Go Yohan, who had no way of knowing such a usual schedule, looked serious. Unfittingly so.

“Then what about me?”

“What about you?”

“What am I supposed to do alone in this big house?”

“Big house?”

His words were so absurd. I couldn’t even think of putting down the cup and lightly scanned the interior of the house. …Big? I looked again, but my opinion remained unchanged. I looked at Go Yohan, who was clearly trying to act pitiful, and said.

“Isn’t it similar to the size of your room?”

What was this guy, who had lived in a room this size, talking about? I shook my head, annoyed by Go Yohan’s self-serving way of speaking, and Go Yohan, who looked at my expression with displeasure, gave an answer beyond imagination.

“Yeah, my room’s big.”

That’s right. It is big. It’s a size you can’t really deny. My words were cut off like that. If he said that, I truly had nothing more to say.

“And if they’re coming tomorrow, why are you going today?”

“I have something to check there, and something to get from Auntie.”

“Get what?”

At that, I quietly pointed to the refrigerator. Go Yohan followed my finger with his gaze and then let out a popping sound of “Ah” to himself.

“She didn’t come last week. So I just said I’d take it.”

“Well, then I guess it can’t be helped.”

“So I’ll go there first and…”

“Yeah, let’s go get it.”

Huh? The conversation was strange. I tilted my head and looked at Go Yohan. I could still see his hair sticking up at the back. Below it, Go Yohan was nodding with a rather serious face. Each time his head, with its sharp jawline, lightly bobbed up and down, his floating hair fluttered.

“Let’s go get it?”

“Yeah, since Jun is asking like this, what can I do? I’ll go and carry it for you.”

“No, I’m going to send it by delivery.”

I couldn’t understand why he would think of carrying something so heavy. But Go Yohan’s voice was frighteningly low.

“Hey.”

Go Yohan, who always had a heavy aura, was a bit burdensome. It was because he was so flashy and fierce-looking. And since he was also gloomy, people who saw him for the first time often found even his smiling face awkward. When such a Go Yohan became genuinely serious, it was honestly a little scary.

“…Wh-why?”

“Are you disrespecting Auntie’s effort? Are you even human if you do that?”

The tension abruptly released. No, what on earth was he talking about, not being human? His serious demeanor was absurd.

“And am I someone who has to stay cooped up if you tell me to?”

“That’s not it, Auntie doesn’t know I live with you.”

“Doesn’t know what? Then is the bastard living with you a ghost?”

“No, I just said I live with a classmate from the same school. She doesn’t know it’s you. If you suddenly show up with me and take the side dishes, the situation will be weird. So many strange things have happened to you.”

“Then I’ll take this opportunity to tell her. And become friends with Auntie.”

Go Yohan, with his chin arrogantly raised, continued.

“I’ll tell her the dried radish kimchi was super delicious.”

“…”

Why do I live with him, really?

With a sense of futility, I placed the cup on the table and subtly despaired. My life was really getting strangely twisted. Of course, in a different sense than in high school. The only constant was that Go Yohan was at the center of it. The problem was always Go Yohan.

Feeling a headache coming on, I bypassed Go Yohan and went into my room. Then I silently tidied the bed and prepared to shower. Just then, Go Yohan’s voice came from outside the room. “Hello?” I thought nothing of it and went into the bathroom, turning on the water. No more sounds were heard.

When I came out of the shower, the house was unusually quiet. I didn’t think anything strange of it until I dried my hair and changed clothes, but when I left the room, the absence of his presence sharply pricked me, grabbing my ankle. Even the sunlight filtering through the veranda held its breath.

“Go Yohan?”

I called Go Yohan out of an unknown anxiety. But the silence, like being submerged in deep water, swallowed even my anxiety, dulling it. Was this the feeling of having hidden a beautiful canary caught in the forest in both hands, only to open them with joy upon returning home and finding only two or three feathers?

The house was still well-maintained. Of course, my parents would have sent secretaries or staff to check, but even the subtle, intricate scent that only someone who had lived there for a long time would know hadn’t changed. The house still smelled of last winter.

“My mother, you see.”

The footsteps trailing behind me were still silent. Exactly, footsteps like their owner.

“Yes.”

“She says Auntie’s boiled pork and fresh kimchi are delicious.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, she liked them.”

This time, I said it while climbing the thinly carpeted stairs. It was actually a lie. My mother had simply said,

‘Now I feel like eating something boiled. As I get older, my stomach feels bloated, you know.’

My mother liking Auntie’s boiled pork was a lie born purely out of my kindness. Kindness that narrowed Auntie’s choices, kindness that allowed my parents to eat the food they longed for. And,

“And the dried radish kimchi too.”

A kindness whose nature was utterly unknown. When I mentioned the last dish, there was a hesitation so slight it was hard to distinguish. I unconsciously tapped the railing I was holding onto with my finger.

“She says it’s delicious.”

“Then I’ll prepare it in advance.”

As expected, she was impassive. There was no accusatory tone, yet I felt awkward.

“Thank you for your consideration.”

“Yes.”

Having no opinion meant, conversely, that it was hard to know what she was thinking. I subtly turned around, looked at her, who was impassively looking down at the floor, and then started walking up again.

“Oh, what about dinner?”

Auntie, who had been following me, suddenly asked.

“…I’m fine.”

I had no appetite. It was because my attention had been fixed on my phone screen the whole time. Had Go Yohan returned home by now? No, why did he leave the house without a word? What was his intention, acting like someone who would definitely follow me, then disappearing like a ghost?

“I’ll just go lie down in my room. I’ll take a nap.”

“Yes.”

The old Auntie used to nag me, saying that’s why I didn’t gain weight when I said things like that. She was still a cold person. Her footsteps, which had been following me, went back downstairs to the first floor after confirming I had entered my room.

The bed I hadn’t slept in for a long time felt unfamiliar. It was a bed I had slept in my whole life, yet it felt awkward after only a few months of not using it. The awkward comfort was uncomfortable. I turned my body and lay on my side. The rustling of the sheets filled the room like thunder. My attention was still on the screen. Eventually, unable to bear myself, I raised my hand, grabbed the corner of my phone, and turned it over.

“Go Yohan, you…”

You bastard. I silently cursed words I couldn’t utter.

By habit, I don’t even check unwanted calls. It was because I didn’t want to create an excuse. Perhaps I was the one who created the most uncertain news. Not answering calls and lying that I saw the notifications late was my specialty.

But when it happened to me, I felt suffocated. Sleep wouldn’t come. I realized how bad my actions had been. Unable to fall asleep, I dragged the blanket out and lay on the living room sofa. I closed my eyes in an uncomfortable position, waiting for sleep that wouldn’t come. Looking at the low-saturation orange light filtering through the drawn curtains, I was enveloped in an indescribably strange emotion. Feeling a tight constriction above my diaphragm, I rolled over and buried my nose in the sofa.

“Damn bastard.”

The plan fell through. No contact came yesterday, nor today. Not from Go Yohan, nor from my parents. When I went to the dining room, I smelled boiled meat. A slightly musty smell made me feel guilty.

I shouldn’t have said anything if this was going to happen, I lightly clenched my fist and tapped the center of my forehead. Then I looked around hesitantly, made up my mind alone, and moved. I heard the sound of boiling water and the clanging of a stainless steel ladle hitting the pot.

“Excuse me…”

“Yes.”

Auntie answered without even turning around.

“Did you happen to hear from my parents?”

Usually, even if they were late, I would have heard from them by now. I asked because it was too quiet.

“Yes, I did.”

Auntie, who was silently boiling meat and making something like porridge, spoke with a remarkably even tone.

“They said they won’t be here until the day after tomorrow.”

“…That’s strange, I didn’t get any contact.”

“Jun, student.”

The back of her head, with her long hair neatly tied back, was so still it was almost eerie. When Auntie picked up the stainless steel ladle, white porridge fell into the pot.

“Your phone seems to be broken.”

At that, I picked up my phone to check. The screen turned on fine, and the sound was on fine.

“It doesn’t seem broken.”

“Is your data on?”

“Huh?”

Data? I turned the screen on again and checked; it was working fine.

“Yes.”

With a clattering sound, the ladle rested on the pot. After calmly tidying up, Auntie, who had retired her apron strings, turned around, looked at me, and said.

“The boss said you weren’t answering your calls.”

“…Then, I’m sorry, but could I use your phone?”

“Yes.”

Auntie took out her phone from her apron pocket and extended her hand. I also reached across the table to take the phone, turned on the unlocked screen, and dialed my number. When I put it to my ear, it didn’t even ring, just left a familiar message.

‘The customer you are calling cannot be reached at this time. Please try again later…’

“Oh.”

“Is it not working well?”

“Why isn’t it connecting?”

“I wonder.”

Auntie seemed to think for a moment with a serious face, then turned her attention back to the pot where the meat was boiling. The water had suddenly swelled up and was boiling over. I watched the situation for a moment, then asked again, slightly louder than before.

“Could I try again?”

“Yes.”