Eighteen’s Bed Novel Completed - Chapter 39 Ominous Overtime

Class ended promptly at twelve. There was no closing address. I put the worksheets used in class into my bag. As soon as class was dismissed, the kids who packed their bags as if possessed by ghosts swept out like water down a drain.

They’d just be going to another cram school anyway, even if they rushed out like that. I wondered what was so good about it that they made such a fuss. As I zipped up my bag and slung it over my shoulder, Go Yohan, who had been waiting beside me, said sarcastically,

“Our Jun is so damn slow.”

“If I go fast, I’ll get stuck in that bustling crowd. I’d rather be a little late.”

“Hmm, I guess so.”

Go Yohan nodded, his hands shoved into his pockets. It wasn’t the posture of someone who was about to scold me for being late. Go Yohan hadn’t even properly slung his bag over his shoulder; it was just hanging on one side.

“Put your bag on properly.”

“Why are you picking a fight?”

“Picking a fight, you say.”

Go Yohan poked near my collarbone with the back of his hand, and I feigned being pushed back. But I couldn’t stop the corners of my lips from turning up. I unconsciously let out a faint chuckle, then, realizing my mistake, quickly clamped my mouth shut. I wondered what I was doing, and I had an uneasy premonition that if I messed up, my life might be screwed. I tried hard not to look at Go Yohan.

“It is picking a fight. Why are you bringing up my bag here?”

“You were the one who first chided me for being slow.”

Go Yohan didn’t answer my words. When there was something he didn’t want to answer, Go Yohan would just stand there, staring blankly at people with an inscrutable expression, as if lost in thought. He only said what he wanted to say and chose to answer only what he wanted to answer. Having hung around with Go Yohan, I had somehow gotten used to these kinds of conversations. And, as always, he would suddenly change the subject.

“Did you copy me again?”

“What?”

“Your bangs look a bit long.”

“Are you the only one whose bangs grow?”

When I took a step back, Go Yohan followed. I couldn’t bring myself to meet Go Yohan’s eyes and only watched his approaching feet. It would be strange to suddenly put on a sullen face in this atmosphere, so I forced a smile and walked backward, heading for the door.

“You’re lying.”

I took another step back. Go Yohan followed another step. Before I knew it, I had reached the end of the classroom door. I stepped on the white threshold, the boundary between the classroom and the hallway. I quickly shouted,

“I didn’t copy you! I’m going to cut them.”

“When are you going to cut them? Where? Let’s get a definite answer first.”

“Ah, seriously. I’ll cut them today. Today! So don’t come any closer.”

As I stood on the threshold, reaching out my hand to stop him, a familiar voice came from beside me.

“Uh, over there…”

I suddenly grabbed the classroom door and looked to the side. Across the threshold, outside the back door, was Han Taesan. I took another step back and looked down at the boy, who was a head shorter than me. When I looked at him with eyes that asked why he was there, the boy, whose eyes met mine, stammered and showed me a key.

“I-I’m on duty today.”

“Ah.”

So, because I hadn’t left, Han Taesan couldn’t leave either.

“Sorry, we were so inconsiderate.”

“Oh, no…”

“What? Han Taesan, you’re on duty?”

Suddenly, a storm of soap scent enveloped me. It was because Go Yohan had abruptly slung his arm over my shoulder. My body stiffened. His body, which had somehow come right behind me, gently pressed against my back.

My thought process simultaneously halted. My mind turned blank. Because my body was stiff, I couldn’t even swallow naturally. I gulped down saliva that felt like water-soaked cotton.

“Then you should have said you were on duty earlier. Why are you just standing here creepily watching everything?”

He finally bent his arm and wrapped it around my neck. When I fell silent, Han Taesan looked back and forth between me and Go Yohan. It was an observing gaze. Goosebumps rose. That gaze was familiar. It was exactly the same gaze I had used to observe the relationship between Han Junwoo and Han Taesan in the past. I quickly inhaled the cold air and hastily pulled Go Yohan’s arm down. I swiftly diverted Han Taesan’s attention.

“Is your, uh, grandmother doing okay these days?”

“Oh, yeah. The s-surgery results are good. Her condition has improved a lot too.”

“Nothing else happened, right?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

Fortunately, Han Taesan responded easily. Han Taesan scratched near his neck with fingers dry from the rain, on his chubby cheek.

“Thanks to you, it’s, uh, easier to go to school these days.”

“What have I ever done for you to say that…”

“Oh, no.”

Han Taesan’s firm single word cut me off.

“You, you’ve done a l-lot for me.”

What on earth did I do? What have I done to help him? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t recall anything that would make Han Taesan think I had helped him. At most, I had only interfered with Han Junwoo’s bullying. And even that was all done out of jealousy towards him.

“…Really?”

I didn’t understand. But I wasn’t curious. So I just gave an obligatory answer. I subtly hinted that I wanted to stop talking, but this oblivious Han Taesan didn’t catch on at all. Instead, he mumbled his lips as if he was about to say something important.

“Uh, Taesan. Can I go now? Are you going to close the door?”

I spoke hastily, desperate to escape this uncomfortable situation somehow, and he finally opened his mouth, which had been frustratingly shut for so long, as if he had made a decision.

“When, when no one talked to me, when you talked to me first, when Junwoo bullied me and you stopped him, and you always told me the homework scope, and when I was having a hard time, you let me escape. All… all of it was you.”

“…”

“I… I really wanted to thank you directly.”

The sound of Han Taesan gulping echoed in the hallway. Han Taesan sighed deeply and rubbed his chest. From behind, I heard a humming that wasn’t quite a hum.

“Ha. I, I feel so relieved. I, I was really frustrated.”

So, he kept looking at me strangely just to say this? To thank me? Then he could have just texted or called, why did he have to say it face-to-face? He’s truly an incomprehensible guy. Ha. A bewildered sigh escaped me.

“Oh, okay…”

As I answered with a bewildered feeling, a heavy arm was suddenly slung over my shoulder again. My breath caught. Go Yohan didn’t seem to know that I was looking only at the floor, unable to breathe, as he pressed his finger firmly on my chest and slowly stroked it. Go Yohan’s middle finger passed over my right chest, tickling my left shoulder. I unconsciously clenched my fists and bit my lip.

Damn it. It’s better to act as if nothing happened. Anxiety consumed me. Did Go Yohan just think I was surprised? A snake-like hand wrapped around my neck and said,

“You know, you really like Jun, don’t you?”

“…Huh?”

“Your expression is different from usual.”

Han Taesan’s eyes wavered. The hand that had brushed my neck moved up and touched my ear. Go Yohan’s cold hand fiddled with my ear. I was speechless and stiffened.

“Oh, i-is that so?”

“I’ve been curious for a while. Why do you always sneak glances at Jun?”

Damn it.

This crazy bastard. To ask that so openly. Like Han Taesan, I was also flustered. I couldn’t see Go Yohan’s face, so I didn’t know what his intentions were in doing this.

“I…”

But Han Taesan’s gaze remained fixed on me. It was burdensome.

“Well, that is…”

“It’s fine, Taesan. You don’t have to answer. He’s just messing with you to tease you.”

Because I didn’t want to hear it, and I wasn’t interested. I lightly tapped Han Taesan’s forearm. Then Han Taesan’s gaze went to his forearm, and he ran his palm over the spot I had touched.

“Why? I’m curious.”

I heard a chuckle. Go Yohan’s slight tremor rubbed against my back. Damn it.

“…”

“Stop it.”

I slapped away Go Yohan’s hand that was touching my ear with the back of my hand. At that moment, a small rosary dangling from Go Yohan’s arm caught my eye.

A nightmare came to mind. No, terrible memories. My mind collapsed into darkness at his incomprehensible attitude, whose intentions and reasons I couldn’t fathom. Go Yohan’s incomprehensible attitude only led to clumsy conjectures. Why is Go Yohan acting like this now? At the same time, I felt like my stomach was churning and I might jump.

If he were a guy who openly showed his emotions like Han Junwoo, I might have been able to make a wise judgment, but since he was a guy whose actions changed erratically, I couldn’t understand anything. Go Yohan revealed his weaknesses himself, lied, and sometimes blurted out truths that put people in difficult situations. And he complicated matters. I couldn’t understand what Go Yohan wanted.

“Taesan, if you keep showing such a sinister attitude, many people will be in trouble.”

Go Yohan’s hand, which had fallen from my ear, grabbed my shoulder tightly.

“Ah…”

It hurt. But Go Yohan didn’t seem to care at all. Because the grip on my shoulder was getting stronger. Damn it, my eyes were getting hot.

“That includes Jun. You know, how Han Junwoo and I fought.”

“…”

“I’m saying all this for your sake.”

Still, Go Yohan was on my side. At least for now, he was on my side. I repeated it dozens of times in my head. At Go Yohan’s advice, Han Taesan’s eyes widened in surprise, and he waved his hands, saying,

“Uh, Kang Jun. Don’t misunderstand. It’s not anything weird like that. It’s… I, I just…”

Even I didn’t even want to hear it, so I smiled awkwardly and kept my gaze on the hallway floor.

“Y-yeah. I know.”

“It’s really not, I, I just want to be, be like you…”

Han Taesan kept talking. He looked at my expression, then at Go Yohan’s. Like a timid herbivore.

Could Han Taesan, whom even Han Junwoo couldn’t handle, dare to defy Go Yohan? Han Taesan couldn’t even properly string together his words, his face flushed, and he just turned his body. After finishing his duty, he simply placed the key on the windowsill in the hallway. Then he turned back and looked at me and Go Yohan. And then he tugged at his uniform stiffly and left the hallway as if fleeing.

“…”

I stood still, unable to understand anything. The silence was broken by Go Yohan’s voice, which sank as if it would plunge to the floor.

“Wanting to be like you. Is that even a plausible thing to say?”

Go Yohan’s hand scratched my shoulder hard. The fabric of my uniform was pulled into Go Yohan’s hand with his touch. Han Taesan went down the stairs. The sound of his footsteps echoing in the hallway grew fainter. Go Yohan glared after him and said,

“He should know his place.”

There was no trace of the usual amusement in his calm tone. He was simply letting out his feelings without hiding them. Then he stood beside me. Finally, it was a proper arm-around-shoulder pose. Only then did I raise my head and look at Go Yohan’s profile. Go Yohan’s eyes were unfocused.

A guy who had no idea how to keep pace with anyone. That was Go Yohan. From the start, I found Go Yohan more difficult than Han Junwoo.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t push away Go Yohan’s arm around my shoulder in the end. I managed to get him to let go once in front of the shoe locker, using the excuse of discomfort, but he caught me again as we left the school. It was a complete failure. Still, this time he didn’t touch my arm, my ear, or poke near my chest with his fingers. The important thing was that he didn’t say anything either.

Yeah. This much should be fine. I’d have to push him away again, but I didn’t want to lose a friend. I hoped the atmosphere wouldn’t turn sour all the way home. I didn’t want to fall out with Go Yohan again because of Han Taesan. Go Yohan was an essential person for a smooth high school life.

But why did I keep feeling like I was rationalizing? Inside, I felt incredibly uneasy.

“Ha, crazy.”