Eighteen’s Bed Novel Completed - Chapter 66

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a chair being violently pushed somewhere. Was it my chair? Was I pushed that hard? Damn it, I closed my eyes. I just prayed I wouldn’t fall in the most undignified way possible. Please.

“…Huh?”

But my body didn’t fall to the floor. I guess it was a miracle. Someone supported my back in an awkward stance. It was probably someone passing by. I let out a sigh of relief. I felt the warmth of two large hands on my back.

“Be careful.”

I half-stood up and looked at the face of the person who had caught me.

“Oh…”

Surprisingly, it was Shin Jaehyun.

I looked at Shin Jaehyun with a confused expression and said in a small voice.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Then Shin Jaehyun casually walked through the bustling crowd as if nothing had happened. From behind me, I heard a voice filled with an emotion that could be either admiration or exasperation. It was Park Haon.

“Doesn’t his body language look like an American’s?”

“Oh, Shin Jaehyun? Everything he does just screams ‘Yankee’.”

Oh Yeonjun, hearing Park Haon’s words, exaggerated even more and made a strange nasal sound. “Don’t mention it.” But look at him. This bastard, he pushed me and he’s not even apologizing? Suddenly, anger surged to my head. I straightened my body, which had almost fallen, and stared openly at Oh Yeonjun.

“Yeonjun.”

“Huh?”

“I almost fell just now.”

“Oh, wow. Right, that’s true. Sorry. I’ll be careful. But he’s a Yankee? He is a Yankee, right?”

He’s so brazenly changing the subject. Thick-skinned Oh Yeonjun imitated Shin Jaehyun. He pursed his lips, mimicking Shin Jaehyun’s characteristic thick lips. But Park Haon rebuked his prank.

“Hey. Stop it. Jaehyun is kind.”

“Right. There aren’t many kids like Jaehyun. Even if he’s a bit slow to understand things.”

“…Do you guys know him well?”

At my sudden question, Im Yoongi pointed to Park Haon and himself alternately and said.

“We were in the same class last year.”

“Really?”

“Oh, you didn’t know? Well, Jaehyun does have a strange lack of presence.”

“He’s quiet, for one. But he surprisingly has a lot of friends? He’s weird, that guy.”

Im Yungi and Park Ha-on got along really well. Should I call them best friends? There was an atmosphere where it was hard for anyone else to interject. So Oh Yeonjun seemed bored, as the two of them were talking without him. His annoying face turned to me. He had no shame.

“Then, Jun, our meeting, before class starts, or after?”

Was he still obsessed? I answered reluctantly.

“After.”

“Okay. Then let’s go after.”

“Oh Yeonjun. Do your performance evaluation by yourself. You’re putting an enormous burden on him, he’s struggling.”

Im Yungi smiled kindly and scolded Oh Yeonjun. Of course, I couldn’t help but like Im Yungi’s words. Though I didn’t know why he was taking my side. Oh Yeonjun seemed displeased by that and immediately whined.

“No! I really need to get good grades. I want to go to university through early admission!”

“Worrying is your fate. You even made it to the student council president candidate. Isn’t that something you can write in your self-introduction?”

“Oh, right. You were a student council president candidate, weren’t you?”

“Uh, was I? Does that kind of thing have merit?”

Oh Yeonjun made a slightly uncomfortable expression, then continued, awkwardly embarrassed.

“Right? This will be a good spec, right?”

“Of course. Not just anyone runs for student council president. You need a teacher’s recommendation too.”

Park Ha-on and Im Yungi kindly fueled Oh Yeonjun’s hopes. What could he possibly write just from running for student council president? It wasn’t that big of a deal. That was my thought, but Oh Yeonjun seemed to think otherwise.

Looking at his expression, he was ecstatic. He seemed to be the type who loved compliments unconditionally, no matter how trivial.

“Good. Ah, when I talk to you guys, I feel like a plan just clicks into place. As expected of the top students. Well, I’m off! See you later, Kang Jun-in!”

“Bye!”

“Bye-bye.”

I watched the two people kindly waving their hands, and reluctantly waved back. If I were the only one not to say goodbye, I’d ruin the atmosphere. Then I thought. Were the kids sitting in front of me always this nice?

“See you later.”

The kind farewell continued until Oh Yeonjun left the classroom. Park Ha-on smiled with lowered eyebrows, watching Oh Yeonjun enter the next classroom to meet another friend, seemingly having a wider social circle than expected. The gentle smile instantly turned into a sneer. I saw that change and immediately shut my mouth. What was that?

“He’s still riding on others’ coattails every time. Leech.”

At that, Im Yungi put his head close and chuckled.

“How many votes did he get when he ran for student council president?”

“Thirty-two votes.”

“Wow. Thirty-two votes. He must be crazy. One of them was him, wasn’t it? If it were me, I’d be so ashamed I’d kill myself.”

“Exactly. And why does he keep talking to us? It’s annoying as hell how he subtly jabs about grades.”

“Because of Kang Jun and you. Both of you have higher grades than him. Did you see earlier? He didn’t even talk to me.”

“Yungi. Don’t get angry. You’re better than him. Honestly, his personality… Is he a prince or something?”

Park Ha-on twirled his finger near his ear. I couldn’t agree. It wasn’t because I disliked ignoring Oh Yeonjun. It was because I had a different conviction.

These two must have talked to me and then turned around and cursed me out like this.

Human nature doesn’t change. At least Shin Jaehyun was a gentleman. In fact, that level of backbiting solidified Shin Jaehyun’s good reputation. Because in the end, it always ended with “He’s kind.”

“…”

I sat there foolishly, unable to interject into their already solid friendship, just thinking. To what extent? Between them? Probably… ‘Isn’t Kang Jun walking alone these days? He must have really been abandoned by Go Yohan. Serves him right for acting so high and mighty.’ The faces of the two people seemed to be words cursing me. My thoughts grew noisy.

That’s when it happened.

“So damn noisy, fuck.”

Park Ha-on and Im Yungi’s conversation abruptly stopped. Both the conversation they were actually having and the one in my head. The ‘noisy’ remark wasn’t mine. It was a familiar voice. Low, a wet voice that scraped his vocal cords.

“…Go Yohan?”

Of course, my habit hadn’t gone anywhere. I turned my head like a dog that had found its owner.

Finally, after more than three weeks and four days, Go Yohan interfered in my life. It was a miraculous moment. He even cut in when I was in a difficult situation. My head was filled with hope. I was in no position to laugh at Oh Yeonjun. Because I was like that too. Ah, now I think I understand Oh Yeonjun.

Could it be, could it be that Go Yohan had become gentle again?

However, Go Yohan, whose eyes met mine, threw the workbook he was holding onto the floor.

Strangely, Go Yohan, who was sitting on a chair placed crookedly far from the desk, seemed unusually displeased. With a loud thud that echoed through the floor, the re-opened workbook silenced the classroom. Everyone’s gaze focused on Go Yohan. Go Yohan ran his hand through his hair, and a beat later, glared at me and said.

“Kang Jun. Don’t spoil the class atmosphere, will you? It ruins my mood when I’m studying.”

“…”

“Look at the level of your backbiting. Your personality is really great.”

Go Yohan curled the corners of his lips and smiled. It was full of mockery. I felt wronged. I hadn’t said anything at all. But there was something more hurtful than the unfair accusation.

Go Yohan called me Kang Jun.

I didn’t go to the academy. It was a deviation after a long time.

Not only did I not want to share homework with Oh Yeonjun, but in my current mood, I didn’t want to meet anyone either. The trembling romantic feelings at my fingertips ended brutally, very short and intense. Kang Jun. It was a ruthless word that ended the feelings I couldn’t even finish.

“You bad bastard…”

I lay in bed all the time I didn’t go to the academy, crying my eyes out.

I didn’t even want to make a sound, so I buried my face in the bed and sobbed. I felt a pain that tore my chest apart. It was a different pain from when I had a crush on Han Junwoo. If that was despair over an unattainable dream, this was regret over something I had lost and love that had plummeted.

“…”

After crying for a long time, my eyelids felt heavy.

My swollen eyes, which couldn’t open properly, burned with fever. I knew if I slept like this, I’d look ridiculous tomorrow. Anyone would surely think Kang Jun had been crying all night. I covered my face with both hands and went into the kitchen, secretly taking out an ice pack.

Then, fearing the housekeeper might see me, I rushed back to my room.

Since one arm wasn’t moving properly, I almost lost my balance and fell while climbing the stairs. If I hadn’t grabbed the railing with my left hand, I might have hit my nose on the corner.

Deep down, I secretly thought it might have been better if I had just died like that.

Die. Die. Dirty gay. A pathetic idiot whose life is ruined.

After returning to my room, I wrapped the ice pack in a handkerchief and placed it on my eyes. My eyes were cold, so I couldn’t sleep. I stayed up all night like that. In the early morning, I couldn’t stop the tears that welled up again and sobbed. The ice pack was completely useless.

Moreover, what I feared most was school tomorrow.

“…What am I going to do?”

Before leaving the house, I stood in front of the entrance and looked in the mirror, taking a long breath.

Sensitive boys would surely not have missed the rift between Go Yohan and me.

‘I heard Kang Jun got completely abandoned by Go Yohan after sticking to him. That’s the end of a bat.’

Knowing what rumors would spread, I chewed on the expected rumors and braced myself. It was like a preventative shot. If I repeated the insults I was about to receive internally like this, it would hurt less when I actually heard them later.

There was at least one fortunate thing. The fact that this class was the honors class. These kids were surprisingly not interested in the classroom hierarchy. No, I had to hope they weren’t. There were many who relieved stress with gossip. And it would gradually spread outside the classroom, into the hallways, and to the building across the way.

Like Go Yohan in the west building.

No matter how much I was a plummeting airplane or a chicken about to have its neck twisted, I didn’t want to be servile.

That was something I hadn’t even done to Han Junwoo and Go Yohan, who were higher in the hierarchy than me. And I was supposed to do it to Oh Yeonjun? It was absurd. So, when Oh Yeonjun came to scold me before class started, I brazenly lied.

“Hey. Kang Jun! Why didn’t you come to the academy yesterday?”

“Ah, well. I had a cold yesterday, so I couldn’t go to the academy.”

“I waited for you! You should have called!”

“I was sick and sleeping. And I don’t even have your number.”

“Huh. You don’t have my number?”

Why would I have the number of a guy like you? His self-importance was top-notch.

“No.”

“Wow. I thought you, Kang Jun, were really smart? What is it? Your memory is worse than I thought.”

But this guy always had to be annoying like this. What should I say to make him feel even worse than me? While I was agonizing over that, an unexpected reinforcement helped me. It was Park Ha-on.

“Who memorizes numbers these days? Don’t you have anything better to do?”

Park Ha-on’s tone clearly showed his exasperation. Park Ha-on, who was clicking the cap of his mechanical pencil, frowned and continued. He still seemed displeased about being humiliated by Go Yohan while talking about Oh Yeonjun.

“Stop picking fights with Kang Jun. Let him breathe. Can’t you see he’s struggling?”

“Hey. When did I pick a fight? Why do you talk like that?”

“No, that’s just how it sounds. Why are you getting angry? It’s scary.”

His tone was designed to make people look foolish. In fact, Oh Yeonjun had only raised his voice a little and wasn’t actually angry, but sharp gazes from the noisy atmosphere were now fixed on Oh Yeonjun. The moment Park Ha-on told him not to get angry, Oh Yeonjun instantly became the scary, angry person in the classroom. Only then did Oh Yeonjun realize his voice had been a little loud, and he continued with a slightly subdued demeanor.

“No. Honestly, you can help me this much, can’t you? Kang Jun owes us.”

“Owes us?”

What do I owe? When did I ever owe the class? I had no idea. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure it out, so I asked again, and Oh Yeonjun replied in a tone that implied I should have known.

“When you wrote down the answers after the exam. Everyone let it slide.”

“Huh?”

“If you hadn’t written that, you wouldn’t have been first in the whole school, would you? What’s first in the whole school? Maybe 4th or 5th in the whole school? Then the impact on your grades would be pretty big, right? You got first place because we let it slide. Do you know how unfair Ji-su felt when she found out?”

An Ji-su?

I subtly shifted my gaze and scanned the entire class. The kids chatting in the class were as usual. Some were quietly buried in their studies, some were talking in low voices like us, and some had already left the classroom and weren’t in their seats. No one was interested in our conversation.

“Then you should be considerate of our class that much. Share your grades a bit, and share homework.”

“…”

“That’s… well…”