Eighteen’s Bed Novel Completed - Chapter 18

In fact, there was nothing to be sorry about. But I say sorry to be liked. It’s like the psychology of saying a not-so-pretty newborn is pretty. I think this kind of language is a generally accepted courtesy in society. So I don’t think adults are being played by me. Rather, I considered my courtesy to be closer to a clown’s clumsy masquerade. I always knew my place.

Therefore, I, who strives to be loved, will undoubtedly become a clown who is quite loved for that effort. If, later, I make a big mistake that makes people frown in the theater, I lay the groundwork hoping they will overlook it out of affection. Unlike some idiot. I am living wisely in this world.

Even if my thoughts might seem like cunning brain-wracking with a narrow perspective from an adult’s point of view, among my peers, I am undoubtedly a child who knows how to wisely deal with sudden events. I can assert this by looking at Park Dongcheol.

Park Dongcheol was the most active in trying to curry favor with Go Yohan. Moreover, he also acted friendly towards me, who, in others’ eyes, had already sided with Go Yohan early on. Although he was previously one of Han Junwoo’s closest friends, he was now emphasizing that he and Han Junwoo were not that close.

“That bastard. He was annoying, bragging about having money and a decent face. Honestly, Go Yohan’s face is better. He’s taller too. Isn’t he? Oh, and Go Yohan’s is bigger too, right?”

Park Dongcheol, raising his pinky finger high and wiggling it, approached Go Yohan superficially. It was a way to bring down Han Junwoo’s appearance while elevating Go Yohan. Han Junwoo’s boast was about the countless nights he spent with women, so Park Dongcheol naturally superimposed that barbaric boast onto Go Yohan.

However, Lee Seokhyun was openly fiddling with his phone, making it obvious he was only half-listening, while Kim Minho, who was next to him, focusing his energy on munching on a warmed sausage, suddenly interjected with interest.

“Oh. So you stared at Yohan’s thing in the bathroom? This bastard. Why are you peeking at other people’s things? Are you a gay bastard? Did you hang out with Han Junwoo and get infected? Oh? Oh-la-la?”

At that malicious teasing, Park Dongcheol’s face turned beet red, and he shut his mouth.

“Stop it. He’s pitiful. Do you think he wanted to hang out with Han Junwoo all this time?”

Fortunately, if Kim Seokmin, who was a bit friendly with Park Dongcheol, hadn’t stopped Kim Minho, Park Dongcheol might have cried. Kim Minho shoved all the sausage into his mouth and opened it wide enough for the contents to be visible. Then he suddenly put his arm around Park Dongcheol’s shoulder and tapped Park Dongcheol’s chest with the hand draped over him, saying,

“Hey. You’re not mad about a joke, are you? Don’t be petty, man.”

Park Dongcheol bared his teeth and laughed, but his face was definitely not amused. Kim Seokmin saw that uncomfortable expression and pushed Kim Minho’s hand away.

“Hey, hey. Kim Minho, stop it. Stop it. Hey, Park Dongcheol. Do you want to go to the PC bang after this?”

“Uh-uh? Oh, I’ll go, I’ll go.”

“No, wait. You two. No way? No way? Damn it. I can’t stand to see that. No, don’t go. You can’t go. Quickly scatter. Scatter! Hurry, scatter!”

“Damn it. Kim Minho, stop it. You’re really going to die.”

“Ah, Seokmin. Don’t look at me with such scary eyes. It’s all for us to get along, for you guys! It’s just a joke I’m playing. So I’ll go too. Hey. Prince. You too?”

“I’m good. I’m going home early.”

Lee Seokhyun, whose nickname was ‘Prince,’ waved his hand and refused. As he buried his head in his phone, three gazes, having lost their way, turned towards me. Among them, Kim Seokmin spoke first.

“Kang Jun, you can’t go today either, can you? As expected, a model student must be really tired from all that studying.”

“That’s right, I guess.”

“Damn it. Hey, hey. What kind of youth is that? Always studying, studying. Don’t do that, tell your parents to shove it and come with us. Let’s go. Can’t we? It won’t be found out for a day anyway.”

“Seriously, no. Just the three of you have fun.”

“Wow-. Kang Jun is such a bookworm. A wimp. A boring guy.”

“Hey. Kang Jun was always a total bookworm even when he hung out with Han Junwoo.”

“Damn it. Dongcheol. Park Dongcheol! I know, I know. Kang Jun hung out with us even when you were hanging out with Han Junwoo, didn’t he? If you don’t know, shut up and get lost. And, hey. Humanly speaking, let’s not talk about Han Junwoo when it’s just us. Just thinking about that gay bastard still gives me goosebumps. No wonder I never wanted to be close to him from the start. Ugh-ugh.”

“Ah, sorry.”

“It’s fine. Dongcheol, what are you sorry for? And Minho, you’re being ridiculous. Didn’t you hang out with Han Junwoo on his birthday? Oh. You weren’t there then, were you, Kang Jun?”

“No. I had tutoring then.”

“That’s right. Kang Jun noticed Han Junwoo’s evil intentions first. Damn it. I was briefly crazy for Han Junwoo’s money-splurging back then. Damn it! Damn it!”

Kim Minho put his finger to his forehead and shook his head. Lee Seokhyun, I don’t know when he took his eyes off his phone, was chuckling. Then he shoved his phone into his pocket and stood up.

“Ugh, I’m just going too.”

“Where? PC bang? With us?”

“Then where? Of course.”

As Lee Seokhyun changed his mind and the three guys clenched their fists in delight, the classroom back door burst open with a loud bang. It was Go Yohan. At his boisterous entrance, Kim Minho rebuked him. As if he was always looking for an opportunity. It was obvious he was beneath Go Yohan, but Kim Minho often seized such opportunities to raise his voice at Go Yohan.

“Ah, damn it, Go Yohan! You bastard! Can’t you see the kids are studying? Wow, damn it! What a nuisance.”

“Oh, you’re right. My apologies, my beloved friends.”

Go Yohan placed both palms on his stomach and bowed his waist in a respectful pose. And as soon as he sat down, he rubbed his reddened hands, as if he had washed them with cold water, on his thighs, then laughed, shaking his head slightly and speaking playfully.

“Please forgive Yohan.”

“Enough. Yohan, are you joining us?”

“What? Where?”

“PC bang. Just up ahead.”

“Are you crazy? If you want to ruin your lives, ruin only your own.”

“Go Yohan’s life is as boring as Kang Jun’s. Everyone lives boring lives.”

“You guys will realize your lives truly become boring from thirty onwards. You trash.”

“Damn it. Get lost. Hey. We’ll play for an hour and come back. It’s break time, break time!”

Kim Minho slightly raised his fist in a threat, but it was Go Yohan, the one being threatened, who ended the contest by slapping Kim Minho’s thigh. Thus, Kim Minho’s small bluster ended in defeat.

The loser jumped up on the spot, letting out a strange shriek like a strangled duck, and when Kim Seokmin and Park Dongcheol laughed at the sound, Kim Minho punched Park Dongcheol’s arm, saying, “Laughing? Laughing?”

After that commotion, the three of them rushed out of the classroom.

Park Dongcheol waved at me before leaving the classroom. Well, there was no reason for me to refuse, so I waved back. Then I sat properly in my seat and took out a book from my desk. Before picking up my mechanical pencil and starting to solve the problems, I raised my head, scanned the entire cube-shaped concrete room, and then buried my head in my desk.

I was poking the third problem’s initial diagram with my mechanical pencil as if tapping the lead when I suddenly looked up. A ginkgo tree, turning yellow, was visible outside the window. A pungent odor filled the school grounds. In contrast, the clear blue sky stood out.

“It’d be much better if it were a girls’ high school.”

The old grade head, who taught Korean history, used to say this as a habit.

“It’s like a jungle. A jungle. These boys always try to establish a pecking order first. Around May, the hierarchy settles, and it gets a bit easier. But before that, it’s fights, guys showing off, guys stubbornly climbing all over the teachers, oh, my head. To think I’ll have to see this power struggle again when the new students come in next year. Let’s see. What zodiac sign will next year’s kids be?”

Then he spread his palm wide and muttered, counting the knuckles.

“Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram. Hold on. Then…”

I followed that memory, spread my palm, and counted my finger knuckles. But I soon gave up, not knowing how, and flipped my hand over, this time counting the bones protruding on the back of my hand. 1, 31, 2, 28, 3, 31, 4, 30, 5, 31, 6, 30, 7, 31, 8, 31… 9.

I, who was in early summer, didn’t know I would encounter the atmosphere of March as September drew to a close.

“All boys are just savages, I tell you. They’re irrational, emotional, and always act rashly.”

I tapped my desk like a piano with my fingers, staring at my unusually protruding middle finger bone. Amidst the rough voice of the teacher, who seemed to have a cold, I heard the sound of chalk hitting the blackboard. I looked at the empty seat in front of the teacher. For a moment, I thought I saw a head, one side pressed down, the other floating up, and my fingers, which had been tapping the desk, stopped abruptly.

“…”

In a flustered state, I turned my head back. My gaze fell upon Go Yohan, who had his head buried, staring intently at a workbook. His eyes were half-closed. I watched him narrow his eyes, as if to devour the problem, then bury his forehead back into the book, until I saw Go Yohan’s nose get pressed flat between his head and the book, and then I turned my body back.

“…Did I doze off for a moment?”

I didn’t seem to be in my right mind. For now, I put a star next to problem 3 and solved problem 4.

For lunch, we had curry and yogurt. Go Yohan, who had finished his yogurt first, suddenly asked about grades.

“Oh, right, you’re second in class, aren’t you?”

“Huh? Yeah. That’s right.”

“Then, in the whole school?”

“Second.”

“Crazy.”

“Why?”

“So, our class’s first place is the school’s first place?”

“Didn’t you know? I’ve never been first in class because of Ahn Jisoo.”

“Isn’t she even busier than you?”

“Yeah. Her cram school classes end at 1 AM.”

“Wow, she’s intense.”

“She works hard.”

I intended to cut off the conversation there, so I picked up my spoon and packed the rice tightly. Fortunately, Go Yohan didn’t ask further, just nodded.

“Ah, ah—”

The timing of the conversation cutting off felt awkward. I hesitated whether to continue speaking, but not welcoming the uncomfortable atmosphere, I blurted out.

“So, what place are you?”

“…”

His chopsticks, which had been moving smoothly, stopped abruptly. I suddenly looked at his hands. He’s surprisingly good with chopsticks. If there was one thing Go Yohan was genuinely good at, it might be his chopstick skills.

“In class…”

“Yeah.”

“Ninth.”

“…What?”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

I immediately took my eyes off Go Yohan’s hands.

Really? Not a lie? I was so flustered that I almost asked that without realizing it, but thankfully, I only widened my eyes slightly. Damn, I almost made a mistake. What if I hurt his pride and he disliked me?

And I pondered. Would Go Yohan prefer to be praised, or would he prefer me to dismiss it indifferently, as if I had expected it? My social brain always works like this.

Go Yohan didn’t seem to like his friends much. So, I’ll go with the latter.

“Better than I thought.”

“What? Better than you thought? How stupid did you think I was?”

“No, it’s not that I thought you were stupid… Didn’t you struggle a bit with Korean too?”

“It’s just Korean that I’m not good at. Just Korean.”

“You don’t even go to cram school.”

“So if I don’t go to cram school, I can’t study? Seriously, did you really look down on me like a dog?”

“No. No. Not like that.”

I hastily waved my hands.

“You don’t even go to cram school, that’s amazing.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah. It’s amazing.”