Eighteen’s Bed Novel Completed - Chapter 6

“And Han Junwoo. Stop it.”

“Yeah. I think so too.”

Go Yohan, with food in his mouth, suddenly spoke with an unclear pronunciation. It was an unexpected intervention. Go Yohan chewed and swallowed his food. Very slowly. Then he looked back and forth between me and Han Junwoo and opened his mouth.

“What are you glaring at? It’s ruining my appetite.”

And Go Yohan, as always, picked a fight unnecessarily. That crazy bastard. I never liked him, no matter when I saw him. I turned my head away silently, with the same reaction as usual, and looked at Han Junwoo.

“Stop bothering Han Taesan.”

“Damn it, what’s it to you?”

“It’s annoying to watch.”

I glared at Han Junwoo without blinking, and Han Junwoo slammed the table with his fist. At that, Han Taesan, who was sitting in an awkward posture, squeezed his eyes shut and stiffened, and finally Go Yohan chuckled weakly and raised one hand.

“I’m not getting involved.”

And then he licked the water from his lips and continued,

“Let’s do it by majority. I’m neutral, Jun says go, and Junwoo says stay.”

Now that I mention it, Go Yohan is one of the few people who calls me Jun. I find that unpleasant. That feeling sometimes pops out as a verbal habit. Just like now.

“Stop butting in. The numbers don’t add up then.”

“Why don’t the numbers add up? There’s one more person there.”

Go Yohan paid no mind, lifting one corner of his mouth sharply. One hand in his pocket, the other pointed at Han Taesan, beckoning as he spoke.

“Why? Is Han Taesan not a person?”

“Crazy.”

“Why are you silent? Tell me what you want to do!”

He would speak well in such an atmosphere. I sighed at Go Yohan’s thoughtless actions, picked up my spoon again, and stirred my rice. Just then, Han Junwoo tapped the table with a single finger.

“If you say you’re going, you’re dead starting today.”

Water began to well up in Han Taesan’s large eyes. His big eyes, on the verge of tears, looked at me as if pleading for salvation. Damn it. I pouted my lips.

“It’s okay. I’ll stop him.”

“Hey, Kang Jun.”

I heard a voice calling my name, gritting his teeth. I pretended to be calm and looked at Han Junwoo, but at that moment, a wave of sorrow threatened to burst forth uncontrollably. To suppress my emotions, I looked at the ceiling once, then lowered my head forward and said nonchalantly.

“What about me?”

“You…”

Han Junwoo clenched his fist. He was glaring at me. I felt the burning pain of being consumed by that gaze. Still, I had to endure. My instincts told me that Han Taesan shouldn’t be near Han Junwoo. But Han Junwoo’s gaze landed on Han Taesan again.

“I-I’ll go.”

“…”

“K-Kang Jun. Thank you.”

As soon as Han Taesan said that and hastily left his seat, Han Junwoo abruptly turned his body. His gaze was always directed at Han Taesan. Fuck. A curse word slipped out unknowingly.

Han Junwoo slammed his spoon and chopsticks onto the floor, shoved his meal tray hard towards me, and stood up. Then he stared down at me. My mind was desperately trying not to betray any agitation. I picked up a spoonful of soup with my spoon and drank it, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. As the spoon touched my lips, I felt my arm tremble slightly.

“Stop meddling, Kang Jun.”

“…”

“Stop pissing me off.”

“…”

Han Junwoo’s blurry figure was visible outside my vision, fixed on the meal tray. Go Yohan’s long arm shielded the violent gaze directed at me. It didn’t seem to be for any grand reason. He probably just wanted the side dish Han Junwoo hadn’t touched. Look, he’s smiling again, with one corner of his mouth turned up.

“Hey, Han Junwoo. I’m eating all your lunch, okay?”

“Fuck. Eat it all. You son of a bitch.”

“Okay.”

Despite Han Junwoo’s harsh words, Go Yohan smiled gently. Han Junwoo, displeased with his actions, kicked the table and left the cafeteria. I remained steadfastly seated. What was that damn pride, no, no. This was the driving force that had allowed me to endure steadfastly until now. I protected that precious pride and continued to eat my lunch with my usual demeanor. But my mind was filled only with Han Junwoo and Han Taesan.

I raised my head and looked in the direction where Han Taesan would have been sitting. Disgustingly, Han Taesan was looking at me. When our eyes met, Han Taesan bowed his head towards me. I saw Han Taesan with his head bowed and buried my own head in my meal tray.

I said I would protect him, but in truth, I didn’t care what happened to Han Taesan. I was only filled with a painful curiosity about what feelings Han Junwoo harbored for Han Taesan and what he would do.

On the contrary, I almost wanted to jump up from my seat right now and follow Han Junwoo. I tapped the tip of my slipper on the floor. Out of habit, I glanced around. There were many eyes watching.

Then I thought, ‘Ah.’ Han Junwoo stood out, so there must be students here watching. Acting conspicuously would only invite unnecessary suspicion. I bit my lip.

I didn’t want the terrible, frightening word ‘gay’ to stain my life with a murky color. My heart pounded, but my body remained still. My mouth felt dry, and I tasted nothing, but I still moved my hand and ate. My eyes began to sting. My throat felt choked.

I didn’t want my useless emotional turmoil to be exposed. I felt like I had to do something, so I kept stuffing anything within reach without stopping. As I ate distractedly, someone lightly tapped my shoulder.

I turned my head and saw Go Yohan, his palm over his mouth, speaking in a very small voice.

“Jun.”

“…What.”

“Actually, I took five of your sausages earlier, right? But Han Junwoo gave me sausages, so I’ll give you three back.”

As if he were doing me a favor. His tone was so absurd that I let out a breath of disbelief.

“What did you say?”

“I’m nice, right? I’ll definitely go to heaven. Right?”

Whatever.

This situation was disgusting and irritating, and I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I jumped up from my seat. I just threw an irresponsible remark at Go Yohan to finish eating and come out. I threw away all the leftover food and splashed cold water on my face at the faucet in front of the cafeteria. As I rubbed my face with the back of my hand, I ran into Go Yohan, who was slowly walking towards me, having seemingly finished his meal quickly.

“How could you abandon me? Are you even human?”

“Just a little hot.”

“What? Why did you wash your face so violently?”

“…I guess so.”

“Ugh. You’re soaked.”

Go Yohan twisted his lips.

“Oh, right. If you’re wet, you’ll have to wring it out, won’t you?”

“Ha!”

I scoffed at his vulgar joke. Then, I met eyes with Han Taesan, who seemed to have rushed out after me. Surely, he didn’t come out just because I did, did he? A sinister discomfort seeped up from the soles of my feet, making me shiver. I hastily pretended to retort Go Yohan’s teasing, ignoring Han Taesan’s gaze.

“Stop with the d-dirty talk.”

“Is wringing dirty? Jun, you have a perverted side.”

“You deliberately said it that way.”

“When did I? That’s your imagination.”

Go Yohan rarely smiled with his eyes crinkling. He must find it amusing that I’m flustered and babbling. He’s still an annoying brat.

“Anyway, these goody-two-shoes always think dirty thoughts behind the scenes, you know.”

“No!”

However, they say life takes unexpected turns. Occasionally, while I was stopping Han Junwoo from bullying Han Taesan, something unexpected happened.

It was after school.

“Jun. T-Teacher said something, c-could you tell me…?”

“What?”

“Junwoo suddenly sent me on an errand, so I had to leave… I didn’t hear.”

“…”

Strangely, I had become Han Taesan’s refuge. Well, he was a guy with no friends, so it was natural for him to ask me, who was at least nice to him.

“He said to do the performance evaluation by next week.”

“Really? Wow, I hate that.”

I wasn’t talking to you. Go Yohan, who couldn’t possibly not know that, replied with a sly smile as if I had spoken to him. I glared at Go Yohan with an annoyed gaze, then looked back at Han Taesan.

“Thank you, Jun.”

“…It’s nothing.”

And the second annoying thing was. Han Taesan had also started calling me Jun at some point.

“Jun. Thank you so much.”

I frowned slightly.

I just didn’t like you talking to Han Junwoo on this pretext. You annoying bastard. Han Junwoo is a bad bastard too. He must have deliberately sent him on that errand. Subtly, he must have wanted Han Taesan to talk to him. But foolish Han Taesan ended up asking me.

I know. I know everything. Because I was the one who watched Han Junwoo closely for over a year. It was me, not Han Taesan.

I despise Han Taesan.

In return for helping Han Taesan, I was thoroughly ignored. In fact, I tried to greet Han Junwoo, pretending to be fine, but he just gave me a cold glance and that was it. After that, I became stubborn and didn’t even greet him. It was the first time something like this had happened.

Yes, anyway, if I let go, it would be a severed relationship. Our relationship. Just high school friends, you know. This moment, when I clearly understood the truth I had tried so hard to cover up, was truly terrible for me.

An awkward week passed after that. Han Junwoo spent time with his group, and I, pretending to be fine, pretending that he wasn’t important to me, spent time with Go Yohan and other casually close friends.

The most regrettable thing about the current situation was that I had drifted away from Han Junwoo’s group and couldn’t hear stories about him. At least I could hear stories from Go Yohan’s group. So, sometimes when I wanted to hear about Han Junwoo, I would go to Go Yohan. It’s funny how curious I was, yet I would die before bending my pride.

When I subtly asked Go Yohan about Han Junwoo, Go Yohan would tap Kim Seokmin’s game console with both hands and say indifferently, “Oh, him? He went to get some.” Then I would be speechless.

“…That crazy bastard.”

I understood why Han Junwoo’s emotions were so violent. Han Junwoo was a very, very beastly and emotional person who found it hard to control his desires.

“He must have gone to a club again.”

“No, this time it was an introduction.”

Go Yohan twisted his body this way and that, as if the game was difficult, and replied.

“Jinhyun introduced him, didn’t he? You know, that kid who begged so much to be introduced to Han Junwoo. But Han Junwoo is a total beast. Seeing as he took her right away. Hey. Hey. Hey. No, but Han Junwoo is like that, but the girl he was introduced to is no pushover either. She readily accepted without hesitation. ‘Yes, great!’ That’s what they said.”

“…”

“Wow, they’re both so cool.”

It was definitely not admiration or praise. It was full of disparagement. Thanks to that tone, I felt good for the first time. I subtly perched on Go Yohan’s desk, tapped the shoulder of the guy sitting in the chair, and subtly massaged it. Go Yohan looked up at me, then slowly moved back, making space for me to sit on the desk.