Eighteen’s Bed Novel Completed - Chapter 174

Thinking about it, it had been three years since I got to know Go Yohan. Not once had we gone far with a specific destination in mind.

If I had an excuse, there was one. Actually, it was all because of me. I had lived a bit tightly to recover my grades, which had been ruined in the first semester. Still, Go Yohan, who uncharacteristically liked a diligent life, I thought he would be in the same situation and mindset as me, but I never imagined he’d like it this much.

From the elevator to the communal entrance, Go Yohan bounced rhythmically like fingers pressing piano keys. Was that called skipping? He was like a child. He even tapped his thigh with his fingers. I subtly asked Go Yohan, who was humming a tune and descending the stairs,

“Are we leaving too late?”

It was already around 2 PM. The late departure was a joint creation of me, who didn’t really like going out, and Go Yohan, who always took his time with everything. Thinking again, Go Yohan and my life values were subtly similar.

“Where? The amusement park?”

“Yeah. Is it late?”

“I don’t think so.”

At my question, Go Yohan stopped his light footsteps.

“Right, anytime is good.”

I knew it. I subtly put on a boastful expression. And subtly showed off the ticket I had taken out. This, I got it. Honestly, it was a ticket I got by chance, but still.

But for now, I decided to keep those trivial words to myself. I felt like I did a good job. Isn’t it time to show off? There aren’t many days when I can openly gloat to Go Yohan. Right? I subtly straightened my shoulders and bragged.

“I bought it.”

“Oh, really? Good job, good job.”

“And I bought it cheap.”

“How commendable. How commendable.”

Go Yohan grinned, patting my butt. Praise could make even Kang Jun dance. But my smugness quickly deflated and shriveled. The reason was what Go Yohan pulled out of his pocket after sticking a hand in. In his unusually large hand was a small, square piece of plastic.

“What is that… Wait, is that a car key?”

I squinted and stared again. It hadn’t changed. No matter how I looked at it, it was a car key.

No way. Why was that in Go Yohan’s hand? No, did Go Yohan even have a license? No, did he have a car? I knew he had a motorcycle… The ticket I’d so proudly taken out suddenly felt shabby, and panic descended like a sudden downpour. I subtly slipped the ticket back into my pocket and asked,

“Why do you have that?”

“It’s proof I’m not a complete idiot.”

“What?”

“We can’t walk to the world of dreams and fantasy like crap. Cinderella even used magic to ride a pumpkin.”

I frowned at his strange non-sequitur, and Go Yohan spread his right hand flat, showing it to me.

“I have a license.”

“How?”

“How, you ask? Yohan’s American, you know.”

What was with that ridiculous way of referring to himself in the third person?

Go Yohan, having used such a brazen way of speaking, then pulled something out from his back pants pocket, holding it between his middle and index fingers as if it were a card. I hesitated, then took what Go Yohan offered. My ‘no way’ didn’t change. Has my ‘no way’ ever changed, though?

“…What is this?”

The card was just a normal credit card. And on it was written, ‘Yohan is allowed to drive a car.’

“Let’s drive wildly with the Lord as our backup.”

“Are you crazy? I don’t want to die.”

“Ha, you brat. Picky, aren’t you?”

Go Yohan clicked his tongue. Then, as if giving a tip, he lifted my coat and shoved the credit card into my back pocket. Was he insane? This guy was truly a psycho. Go Yohan ignored my horrified expression and this time pulled a small card from his wallet. He handed it to me, and I frowned as I took it: an international driver’s license.

“Satisfied?”

His boastful attitude was exactly like a kindergartener showing off his toy. I checked the front and back, and it really was a driver’s license. Seeing the heavily scratched license, as if it had been left in some forgotten corner, I was still so dumbfounded that a laugh involuntarily escaped me.

“If you have a driver’s license, why do you always take taxis?”

“Is it a transparent car? Where would I have a car?”

“But you had a motorcycle.”

“You still remember that old relic I threw away?”

“You threw it away?”

“Yeah. I was afraid I’d die young riding something with two wheels. And I was so scared that if I died, you’d find some other bastard to comfort your grief, so I hurriedly threw it away. I’d rather ride a rickshaw. I suddenly got so scared. Two guys I knew died riding one recently, they said.”

Just how far did his imagination go? I replied with a fed-up expression.

“Your friend must have been badly hurt.”

“What are you talking about? I said they died.”

Go Yohan frowned. His expression seemed to say, ‘Are you even listening to me?’ Did ‘died’ really mean died? My mind went hazy, and I blinked my eyes out of sync. What did disregard for life mean to Go Yohan?

“By ‘people you know,’ do you mean acquaintances of acquaintances?”

“There were these guys I went to middle school with. The semiconductor guy and the musical instrument company bastard.”

“You say you know them, but you don’t know their names.”

“Do you need them?”

“No, that’s obvious… You said you knew them? There must have been names you called each other.”

“We called them Semiconductor and Instrument.”

“Then were you ‘Spirituality’?”

“If they’d called me that, there’s no way those bastards would have died just recently.”

“…”

Wow, he’s truly human trash. Even though he’s the guy I like, he’s closer to Satan than a human. Disregard for life, of all things, was not something to say to a guy who pulled out his own healthy teeth.

Somehow, he manages to call me by my name. Even in high school, the only people who accurately called me by my name were the teachers and Go Yohan. It’s quite ironic. Should I consider this an honor?

“Right… You did well.”

“Are you crazy? What did I do well? Is someone dying a good thing? Your personality is weird.”

I lost the will to answer and trudged along. It was suddenly due to my disappointment in my own taste. I really only like trash, don’t I? Suddenly, my future seemed distant. My taste was trash, and Go Yohan would probably remain trash even as he aged, so I felt a premonition and a fear-like emotion that my relationship with Go Yohan wouldn’t change.

“Then I guess I’ll truly be in your grasp wherever I go.”

There was no answer to my playful remark. Well, it was a joke not worth answering, I suppose.

I needlessly felt awkward and pretended to scrutinize the license for a long time before handing it over. His always large, long fingers brushed my thumb as he snatched the license.

“…”

Why does he always brush my hand like that? Every time our skin touched, the subtle warmth left behind made my heart flutter. I lowered my gaze and secretly kneaded my thumb where Go Yohan had touched it.

Go Yohan carelessly shoved the license he’d taken from his wallet into his pocket. He should put it in his wallet. Why his pocket? Only now did I realize the true nature of the many scratches. Even little things like that were so typical of Go Yohan.

Go Yohan, completely unconcerned with the license, a topic of conversation long past, pressed a button on the car key. Simultaneously, headlights flashed somewhere. In the spot where the light briefly flashed, there was a car that looked exactly like Go Yohan.

“But you said you didn’t have a car?”

“I didn’t, until yesterday.”

“…”

“Now I do.”

“You bought it?”

“No.”

“You borrowed it?”

“Yeah. Probably?”

What did ‘probably’ mean?

“…From whom?”

“I don’t really know. Just through someone. I just saw the model.”

Go Yohan merely shrugged at my question. Wow. He didn’t even know who he borrowed the car from? I couldn’t even begin to imagine how, from whom, or in what manner he borrowed it to forget the lender. Then how was he going to return it?

In the end, I gave up trying to figure out the method. What did it matter anyway? The guy who lent it must be rich.

“Right. A car is better than a motorcycle.”

“Is it?”

Go Yohan, already tall, even lifted his heels. His huge frame went up and down, openly expressing his humble joy. It was a fleeting moment of happiness. As his heels returned to the ground, that honest joy faintly disappeared.

“I purposely chose one with a spacious front seat. No back seat, though.”

But Go Yohan was, after all, Go Yohan. The car whose headlights had flashed looked like what a motorcycle would be if it were turned into a car. It was my first time riding such a flashy sports car. And yet, its color was matte—now I knew the difference between matte and glossy—black. Anyway, Go Yohan’s taste was impossible to understand. A flashy-looking car drenched in a gloomy color.

“You always ride cars that are just like you.”

“Am I cool?”

“You look unhealthy.”

“That’s ridiculous. You just slander people. Where would you find someone as wholesome as me?”

Who would believe that? If evil were born as a human, it would be Go Yohan. Even when Go Yohan did nothing, he looked like a dangerous, deviant child. He just looked that way.

“You look too dangerous.”

That was my definition of Go Yohan. I had expected him to become more like this as he grew older, but still.

Perhaps he hadn’t heard me, as Go Yohan furrowed one eyebrow and gestured for me to repeat myself. Are you crazy? Me say it? Never, absolutely never, not in a million years.

I practically ran down the stairs and sprinted towards Go Yohan’s car. Without hesitation, I opened the passenger door and sat down. Then, looking out the window, I spoke with my eyes.

‘What are you doing?’

Go Yohan, seeing me point to the driver’s seat with my chin, let out a hollow laugh and lightly cracked his neck. Unlike me, who had run all the way here, he walked leisurely, taking long strides. Even at a similar pace. That was even more annoying. The driver’s side door opened, and Go Yohan entered with a blast of cold air.

Now I knew why he got this car. Must be nice to have long legs. Damn it.

“…”

“…”

Since when did the definition of an amusement park become a hungry ghost hell?

I was beyond fed up with the crowds, on the verge of being crushed to death. I wanted to kill that bastard Kang Soohyun. Didn’t he say Christmas was a slow day? That Kang Soohyun would be the type to tell the meteorological office it’s sunny on a rainy day and suggest a company outing, and if he went to the statistics office, he’d make his boss explode within a week and get fired for murder.

So this is what it smells like when there are a lot of people. It was damp and I felt like I was going to die from the smell, so I covered my nose and mouth and lifted my head.

“Yoha…”

Yohan. My mouth, about to call him that, stopped. Go Yohan’s eyes, which met mine, were unfocused. His face was so pale it looked like he was dying, and his expressionless face was so gloomy it looked like he was about to kill someone. Because of that, I couldn’t help but say,

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about.”

“I’ve never been to an amusement park, so I didn’t know there would be so many people.”

“No, I’m happy there are so many people.”

That wasn’t a line to deliver with a dying face and an expressionless gaze. I frowned and quietly said,

“Really, I’m sorry.”

The ride I’d waited for, trying to pick the most fun one, had a whopping three-hour wait time. Insane. The good news was that our turn was right around the corner. It was the price of waiting for two hours and fifteen minutes. I was filled with anticipation that we only had about forty minutes left to wait.

I admit it. I was secretly looking forward to the new experience. If I didn’t concentrate, my heels would subtly lift and fall repeatedly. Calm down. What’s so great about an amusement ride? Well, it might be a little exciting, but it’s not like I’m going to jump around like a kid. I put strength into my feet, pressing my body down heavily.

“If you’re so sorry…”

Just as I was pressing my heels down, Go Yohan leaned in slightly and whispered into my ear.

“Turn me into a rag.”

“…”

He really had no sense of time or place. I pushed Go Yohan’s cheek, which was close to mine, with my palm and stepped a pace to the side. I tried to act relaxed, but in truth, my feelings lately were anything but. I reacted so sensitively because I didn’t want him to notice my body instinctively flinching from his breath tickling my ear.

If Go Yohan was twenty, I was twenty too.

Honestly, I wasn’t all that different. No matter how much I pretended to be refined, I was still just a person. However, the difference between Go Yohan and me was that I wanted to hide my changes, while Go Yohan poured his emotions onto me to an overwhelming degree. If you asked why Go Yohan, who had been so desperate to torment me, had changed like this, well. I guess Go Yohan had matured a little.

For example. Right now, Go Yohan willingly turned his head in the direction I pushed and remained still. Before I took my hand away, I could feel the subtle tremor in his skin. He was smiling.

“Can you be this cold to me?”

“I’m sorry, but if you didn’t say useless things, wouldn’t there be no reason to be cold?”

I knew he was maintaining his smile with his head turned by the prominent cheekbones on Go Yohan’s face. He liked to tease me. And knowing that, I kept retorting like this.

It’s love, it’s love.

I heard Kang Soohyun’s voice deep in the right side of my head. Why was I thinking such nonsense to myself in that bastard’s voice? Just as I was blaming the innocent Kang Soohyun, a cold hand grabbed my ear and pulled hard. The sudden movement abruptly ended my thoughts, and I looked at Go Yohan with surprised eyes.

“Ow.”

It didn’t hurt much, but I blinked my eyes and spoke stiffly, as if to make sure he heard me. What else was bothering him, his smile completely vanished, and he looked down at me from above. Go Yohan was most annoying when he was like that.

“Yohan.”

“Hmm?”

“This…”

“Ah.”

At my words, the hand pulling my ear softened, then tickled my earlobe.

No, I told him to let go, not to touch it like this. I’d rather he just pulled it. This gentle touching, paradoxically, made me more flustered. The rustling sound of hair brushing and every movement of his hand kneading my hard cartilage were incredibly stimulating.

I raised my hand, pushed Go Yohan’s hand away, and turned my face to the opposite side. It must have been obvious. I must have looked strange. But I couldn’t help it. It was better than openly blushing. And sure enough, Go Yohan persistently reached out again. This time, as if he were being more considerate, he lightly touched the thin, undeveloped hairs near my ear, not my ear itself.

I pushed Go Yohan’s fingers away as he played with my hair. As if displeased, Go Yohan raised and lowered one eyebrow, and at the same time, opened his mouth.

“You were just thinking about another bastard, weren’t you?”

He was incredibly perceptive.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t startled. However, Go Yohan had no reason to be displeased with my delusion. The person I had just thought of was Kang Soohyun, after all. I openly frowned. It was to instill the conviction that the scenario he was imagining would absolutely never happen.

“Does Kang Soohyun count as ‘that bastard’?”

“Why is Kang Soohyun coming into this again?”