Eighteen’s Bed Novel Completed - Chapter 24

Wasn’t it already a known fact that Go Yohan was kind when he felt like it, and distant when he felt like it? Why did I assume Go Yohan would naturally agree to my suggestion? Was I feeling some kind of camaraderie because we had a common enemy in Han Junwoo? Ashamed and pathetic for having such a foolish thought, I immediately spoke brazenly, pretending to be nonchalant.

“It’s nothing. Let’s pretend I never said it.”

But as soon as I uttered the words, I plunged into the abyss of regret. The words I had just spoken sounded exactly like a child’s boast, and my face burned hot. Ah. Pathetic. Pathetic. Kang Jun. I bit my lip tightly and repeatedly clenched the fist of one hand resting on my thigh. My right eye automatically squinted in tandem. Go Yohan replied.

“Uh.”

How annoying… I quickly turned my body away from Go Yohan. What an irritating bastard.

A high school student’s holiday has no rest. It’s an extension of studying, academy, self-study, and advanced learning.

However, I have no parents by my side. That means no one to monitor me. It’s the good side of a child neglected under the guise of busyness. In that respect, I was a high school student who knew how to enjoy a fair amount of freedom, but my holiday was shattered by a surprise attack.

The cause was Go Yohan.

-Hey. The world’s gotten much better, hasn’t it? Hospitals even have restaurants now.

The sudden message flustered me, and I wondered why the guy who had clearly rejected my offer was looking for me again. Ah, thinking about it again, knowing he was originally such a selfish guy made my feelings fluctuate.

“Why did you call?”

-Suddenly thought of you… Let’s grab a meal.

This bastard, seriously. I held my forehead and bit my lip.

“Well…”

I licked the upper part of my teeth. Indeed, I’m definitely the type who can’t stand being the underdog, even in situations where I am. I didn’t particularly intend to annoy him. It was just putting myself in his shoes. And as I was thinking about how to hang up, Go Yohan’s first words suddenly came to mind.

“By the way, are you at the hospital right now?”

For this reason, my holiday was forfeited and I went to Go Yohan.

If the hospital Go Yohan was at hadn’t been a large hospital and had been quite far from home, my plan would have proceeded as usual. But the place that came through the airwaves was a considerably large hospital, and it was close to home, so I readily accepted Go Yohan’s invitation.

Go Yohan, who said he was waiting in the hospital lobby, was sitting on a bench. With his legs spread wide apart, his only greeting was a quick shake of his hand, as if dusting it off, as soon as he saw me. I didn’t return his greeting, standing there and narrowing my eyes to look at Go Yohan’s face.

“Why haven’t you taken off the bandage on your nose?”

“I have my reasons.”

“Is it still bleeding? Is the wound not healed yet?”

“It’s healed. Don’t worry.”

As I spoke, Go Yohan, who had gotten up and approached me, put his arm around my shoulder.

“Let’s go eat. My treat.”

“This is the underground food court.”

“What, damn… Does the food court give out free food?”

“You’re making a big deal out of so little…”

I glared at Go Yohan. Go Yohan merely snorted with an arrogant expression. We went down to the hospital basement and ordered a mediocre lunch to fill our stomachs. While waiting for the food, I asked Go Yohan.

“But why are you suddenly at the hospital?”

“Huh?”

“Did you come because of your facial injuries?”

“Ah.”

I pointed directly at my own face with my finger. Without stopping, I gently circled the area near his jaw. Go Yohan waved his hand and answered in a very light tone.

“No, this is the hospital where Han Junwoo is hospitalized.”

“……What?”

The air grew heavy. I stopped tapping the table with a light rhythm with my finger. My body felt stiff. Why exactly at the hospital where Han Junwoo is hospitalized? I was the only one confused. Only Go Yohan answered nonchalantly.

“I’m going to show you something fun.”

“What on earth?”

“Han Junwoo’s dad is in the hospital room. Isn’t that amazing? I called him.”

I gaped. ‘How?’ The next words that should have been uttered only hovered inside me and didn’t come out. Go Yohan tapped his fork in the air and told me only about his reason.

“I’m a believer in Jesus. Forgiveness! Wow. What a beautiful and brilliant word. How can I not do as my religion asks, to seek and receive forgiveness?”

“Just for that reason? You’re going to ask for forgiveness?”

“Yeah.”

Go Yohan furrowed his brow and smiled.

“I don’t want to go to hell.”

He’s a guy who does whatever he pleases. Go Yohan is.

“……Will they forgive you just for that reason?”

The tricks that come from an eighteen-year-old’s mind are all pretty much the same. An apology concocted by kids whose age can be counted on their fingers and toes, it’s clearly not sincere, just a shallow trick, isn’t it?

“Just that? That’s harsh. Don’t you know that saying?”

Go Yohan leaned his body. He bent his back, which had been pressed against the chair, and looked at the ceiling. Go Yohan crossed his arms and was still smiling. Go Yohan’s face was very gloomy and melancholic, so even a simple smile tended not to look very bright.

“The saying that men are either dogs or children.”

“……Seriously.”

“Since I’m not a dog, whether we’re old or not, we’re both just kids, so what’s so different?”

It would be a problem if Han Junwoo’s father was a dog, though. Go Yohan made an unnecessary joke and uncrossed his arms. I looked at Go Yohan with a bewildered expression, thinking that his absurd dog logic always appeared regardless of time or place.

“Hey, the pager’s vibrating?”

Go Yohan sprang up from his seat and snatched the vibrating pager.

“You watch the luggage.”

“No, what luggage is there…”

Go Yohan, who had left without listening to me, reappeared holding a tray in each hand. Honestly, I was a bit flabbergasted. Although Go Yohan’s hands were big enough to hold a tray in one hand,

“Isn’t that heavy?”

“Not really. I don’t know?”

One of them was clearly a stone pot. I watched him place it on the table without any effort, mesmerized. Seeing my dumbfounded face, Go Yohan clicked his tongue inside his mouth, making a clear sound, and said,

“Are you perhaps admiring my manners?”

Though he seemed to have misunderstood slightly.

“……Just shut up and eat.”

“How do you eat with your mouth shut? Like this?”

I ignored Go Yohan, who pressed his lips together and held a spoon to them. Soon, Go Yohan bared his teeth and grinned, sitting back in his seat.

I picked up my spoon and chopsticks and looked at the bowl in front of me. Slowly, I lowered my hand and lightly scraped the contents inside. Go Yohan blew air into his mouth, as if the food was hot, then put his spoon back into the bowl. Then he rummaged through the side dishes with his chopsticks.

I stopped just before putting food into my mouth and opened it. My gaze had strangely not left Go Yohan’s hand.

“I’ve always thought this, but your chopstick skills are really proper.”

“Me? Really?”

“Yeah.”

But somehow, it doesn’t suit you. It’s too textbook. I couldn’t bring myself to say that. However, as if reading my expression, Go Yohan, who had been frowning and narrowing his eyes, suddenly exclaimed “Ah!” and laughed eerily.

“You noticed.”

“Noticed what?”

I asked genuinely. What…?

“You’re pretending not to, huh, you quick-witted, smart bastard. Alright. I’ll take care of you too.”

What on earth? I frowned at his utterly incomprehensible words, and Go Yohan twisted the corner of his mouth and said,

“That is, when I go to meet Han Junwoo, like, do something for me… something like that?”

“What… Never mind.”

It was clearly going to be nonsense, so I just nodded vaguely.

Go Yohan, who finished his meal first, stood with his hands in his pockets, just watching me. As soon as he confirmed I was done eating, he nodded towards the hospital elevator. Then, even though he wasn’t wearing a wristwatch, he repeatedly tapped his bare wrist with his finger, urging me.

“I’m done eating, don’t rush me.”

“We have to make the visiting hours, don’t we? You’re taking forever.”

“Ah, seriously. Alright.”

“Get up, quickly.”

“I’m up, I’m up.”

“Quickly call the elevator, quickly.”

“Ah, seriously…”

I lightly grumbled and ran to the elevator, pressing the button.

“Oh, good job!”

“You’re such a pain…”

I secretly glared at Go Yohan. So that’s his personality when he gets close, clingy like that. I’d been close to him for almost half a year and only just realized it. Well, I hadn’t really tried to find out.

While waiting for the elevator, Go Yohan rubbed the end of the large bandage on his chin with his finger. In tandem, the thick bandage, firmly stuck to his skin, began to flap.

“Can you just peel that off like that?”

“It’s annoying. It’s hard to wash my face too.”

The elevator arrived in the short time the conversation ended. As soon as Go Yohan entered, he pressed a floor number without a moment’s hesitation, and while going up, he looked in the mirror and bared his teeth. All the while, he muttered meaningless monologues like, “Ah, my teeth are even.”

I subtly turned my head to look, and the way he slightly bent his waist to look in the mirror, with both hands in his pants pockets, looked so delinquent. And why was he so tall? As I instinctively observed Go Yohan, the elevator quickly arrived.

The hallway was truly quiet. Go Yohan gestured towards the hospital room with his chin.

“That’s the room.”

His slightly parted lips and downcast eyes, looking forward, held a remarkably arrogant gaze. Go Yohan and I got off the elevator before the doors closed. However, Go Yohan didn’t move in the direction he had pointed, and I stopped behind him, waiting for his reaction.

Go Yohan stood for a moment, then moved his steps towards the hospital room again. With unusually long strides, he scratched the adhesive part of the bandage with his fourth finger, then tore it off his face in one go.

“Ah. Damn. It hurts like hell.”

The peeled-off bandage went straight into Go Yohan’s pocket. Go Yohan’s flat pants bulged slightly. Go Yohan turned around and looked at me.

“……”

His exposed jaw was covered in bluish and dark red colors. Honestly, it was a bit grotesque. But the owner of the scar himself was wearing a confident smile, which felt strange and uncomfortable to me. Especially since his face was gloomy and looked like he always had some ulterior motive.

“How about it? Does it look convincing?”

Go Yohan always talks nonsense. Everything he says is spontaneous and self-centered. He always tries to persuade me with illogical arguments, and sometimes he binds himself with unbelievable beliefs.

“Well…”

Suddenly, something Go Yohan had said a few days ago came to mind.

He had said he went to church for the first time in seven years, speaking as if it was someone else’s story. He had made his first confession since his first communion at age eleven. The sin was not greeting God for seven years, and he confessed that he went because he thought his father would scold him, to which the priest reportedly said it was troublesome for him to come with such faith.

‘Ah, I’m sorry. I was about to leave, but I ended up saying the priest’s farewell myself. The priest was flustered. I only realized it after leaving the room. I thought I’d die of embarrassment. Damn it. Why was the prayer written right in front of me?’

However, Go Yohan clearly wouldn’t go to church this week either. Go Yohan was that kind of guy.

‘Well, my parents and some church people who know my face asked me why I hadn’t come. Do they always have nothing else to ask me? What can I do, I’m just so consistent.’

Go Yohan chuckled. And watching the guys who laughed along with Go Yohan, I nodded too. Yes, Go Yohan was consistent in a strange way. And that consistency had never once put me at a disadvantage.

I raised my hand. And roughly pulled off the bandage on my nose.

“Doesn’t it have to be at least this much?”

A dark red line was drawn horizontally across the center of my unusually high nose. Go Yohan looked at me with a smiling face, then squinted his eyes.

“Do you know why Han Junwoo is an idiot?”