Eighteen’s Bed Novel Completed - Chapter 69

As I kept my eyes closed, the sounds from the field rushed in more clearly.

Noisy sounds… The sound of the ball being kicked… Anyway, all I’d see if I opened my eyes was an unpleasant reality. Foolish Kang Jun, still clinging to Go Yohan. Kang Jun, wondering when this period would end. Kang Jun, who would open his eyes and habitually turn his head to look at Go Yohan. I hated all of it.

But still, what I hated most was seeing the gap between Go Yohan, who still lived in the highest tower, and me, and Go Yohan, who didn’t even give me a glance when I looked at him.

“Oh? Oh!”

I slowly opened my eyes at someone’s shout. What I saw in front of my open eyes was not the scenery but a soccer ball.

“…Huh?”

Before I could even dodge, the soccer ball, flying with all its might, hit me in the face. My body automatically fell backward.

“Hey! Are you okay?”

I hastily got up, and the area under my nose tingled. I wiped under my nose with my palm. It was covered in bright red blood. I sharply raised my head to find the culprit. Finding the culprit was easy. Everyone’s gazes were directed somewhere.

There stood Park Dongcheol. Park Dongcheol brazenly raised one hand and said.

“Kang Jun, I’m sorry! It was my mistake. I’m sorry! You’re not angry, are you? I’m sorry!”

“Hey.”

That insincere apology was irritating.

“How did you kick the ball so hard that it flew all the way here?”

“What?”

Park Dongcheol didn’t seem to hear my voice. He cupped his hand near his ear and asked again. I wiped my nose again. Blood smeared on the back of my hand. Crazy.

Perhaps at that moment, my looking at Go Yohan was proof that I was still holding onto hope for him. As always, I waited for Go Yohan to humiliate Park Dongcheol. But Go Yohan just stared at me, saying nothing. It was surprisingly the same classmate who had talked to me that morning who took care of me, who was standing there dumbfounded. He just helped me because he was near me. No one volunteered to help. No one scolded Park Dongcheol.

Everyone looked at Go Yohan, and then at me. I still looked at Go Yohan.

“Please…”

That was the last chance I gave Go Yohan. To be honest, it was just a nice way of saying ‘chance’. It was also my last desperate cling. But Go Yohan said nothing until the very end. Neither to me, nor to Park Dongcheol.

Go Yohan stared at me for a moment, then turned his head. The end of his gaze was Shin Jaehyun.

Shin Jaehyun was looking at me with a slightly surprised expression. He seemed a little worried. Still, he was hesitatingly approaching me.

“…Please.”

But even that friendliness annoyed me. Why wasn’t it Go Yohan? I found myself disgusted by that. Damn it. I sprang to my feet.

My gaze went from Shin Jaehyun, then back to Go Yohan.

“Go Yohan, please.”

Go Yohan had an unreadable expression. And he avoided my eyes, turning his head. His large foot shot the soccer ball he had been stepping on into the sky. Thwack. The silence was broken with the sound of a signal flare. “Whoa-!” The cheers of the children filled the field. At that moment, everyone forgot about me, who was bleeding from my nose. And Go Yohan’s interest in me also ceased.

“…”

Only then did I receive permission from the gym teacher to go to the infirmary.

Just my luck, it was a bad day.

Surprisingly, the person I met in the infirmary was Han Taesan. The school nurse wasn’t there. Han Taesan was lying on the bed, groaning and clutching his stomach, then looked flustered when I suddenly entered.

“You, why, here.”

Han Taesan, who was still stuttering, became even more agitated when he saw my nose.

“Ti, ti, tissues!”

“They’re over there.”

I covered my nose with the back of my hand and pointed to the table with my free hand.

Han Taesan, seeing the roll of toilet paper sprawled on the table, shot up, frantically pulled out tissues, and pressed a wad of them under my nose. He was pressing so hard I could barely breathe. When I pushed Han Taesan’s hand, which was covering my nose and mouth, he flinched and pulled his hand away. Then he quietly looked down at his own hand, which I had hit. What was he looking at?

“…”

“…”

An awkward silence passed, and just as Han Taesan began to collect himself. Han Taesan, who had been looking at his own hand, shifted his gaze to my arm, and then lowered his gaze to my foot. At that moment, a black mist began to cloud Han Taesan’s large eyes. It was a look of suspicion.

Again, my conscience was bothering me, so I arbitrarily guessed what Han Taesan was thinking and made excuses.

“No. It’s not what you’re thinking.”

“…”

“You’re misunderstanding right now.”

“I…”

Han Taesan’s face was serious. At this time, I couldn’t look Han Taesan properly in the eye. It was because the warning he had given me kept lingering in my mind. I had ignored that warning.

In fact, I still didn’t believe it. My conscience, riddled with meager hope, denied the truth. It wasn’t actually wrong. Nothing has happened to me so far. Things like the acts of violence that had happened to Han Taesan, that is.

“W-what misunderstanding?”

However, the reason I couldn’t immediately refute Han Taesan’s words was because I had been aware for a long time that a situation beyond my control was gradually approaching. If Han Junwoo was violence, Go Yohan was complicit. I stroked the rough surface of my cast and said, as if making an excuse.

“I’m not sure what misunderstanding you have. But if what I’m thinking is right, I wasn’t hit.”

“…”

“I fell, and I stepped on glass, and I just got hit by a soccer ball.”

“Kang, Jun.”

Han Taesan spoke calmly in a serious voice. His stuttering voice was still there, but unlike before, it had a slightly heavier quality.

“You’re kind, so you d-don’t know very well, but…”

“…”

“My beginning was also a s-soccer ball that fell from the w-window.”

“…”

“The s-second pair was shoes. My s-shoes were th-thrown away at the d-dump.”

“Taesan. I think you tend to exaggerate things a bit.”

“N-no.”

Han Taesan spoke without stuttering, which was rare.

“…You should look too.”

I didn’t want to look into his eyes and said, It’ll be there. I lowered my head and pressed the tissue harder against my nose. My shoes aren’t in the trash. Someone must have stolen them and is using them. Because they’re expensive and good. What’s the point of going all the way to the trash dump to check?

The tissue already smelled of blood. I shook my head harder. Yet, what still tormented me was Han Taesan’s low voice.

“Jun. You, you’re a smart kid.”

“…”

“Unlike me…”

Perhaps Han Taesan didn’t know much about me. I wasn’t kind, nor was I smart. Of course, there was a time when I believed I was smart. But the moment I realized I was just a pseudo-intellectual who had only lived eighteen years, the truth I knew was thrown into the trash can. I crumpled the tissue I was holding. Wet blood stained my hand.

“As I said before, I’m not as good a person as you think.”

This time, it was Han Taesan who shook his head.

“N-no.”

“No, you are.”

Han Taesan’s unwavering favor was uncomfortable. It was a displeasing favor that made me frown involuntarily.

I couldn’t define that displeasure as any particular emotion. It just bothered me. I silently discarded the useless tissue and pulled out a new one. This time, I folded it neatly into a palm-sized piece and covered it under my nose. Han Taesan awkwardly tried to help me, but since I had already taken care of the tissue, he failed and let out a small laugh.

“You’re just a little im-immature.”

“What?”

I frowned and looked at Han Taesan. Immature? Who? Me? But I tried hard to hide my uncomfortable expression. I exhaled imperceptibly and smiled as pleasantly as possible.

“Taesan. I’m sorry, but I’m all grown up.”

“Someone who thinks like that is im-immature, they s-say.”

But even with my rebuttal, Han Taesan just smiled and said.

“…You’ll truly be a g-good adult.”

“…”

“You were the only one who h-helped me.”

That’s because I had an ulterior motive. It was something I couldn’t say out loud, but I chewed on that fact internally.

Suddenly, I recalled the shimmering heat haze that rose as summer approached. Students shouldn’t smoke. And Han Taesan, who had laughed. Still, you’re cool. Indeed, he was. Han Taesan had a subtly rigid and stubborn side. Thinking back, Han Junwoo couldn’t do anything to Han Taesan in the end. Hearing this now, I realized that Han Junwoo liked someone who was stubbornly annoying.

I looked at Han Taesan from last May, whom I could never defeat in my entire life, and shut my mouth. It was because I knew that no matter what he did or said, I couldn’t win against Han Taesan. And Han Taesan, whom even Han Junwoo couldn’t bring to his knees, gave me advice that was a little hard to hear.

“So, Jun. Go to the trash d-dump. Before it’s emptied next week.”

“…”

“And you, you.”

Han Taesan hesitated a little. He seemed to be deliberating which word to choose. Finally, as if he had thought of a good word, he subtly moved his plump cheeks and said.

“I hope you make a b-better choice than me.”

If you’re going to say something so abstract, don’t say anything at all. What the hell am I supposed to do in this situation?

Listening to Han Taesan’s perplexing words, I just felt annoyed. The problem he gave me was too difficult. If such a thing happened again, what choice would Han Taesan, who had experienced the worst of both failure and success, make?

However, I, who wanted to resolve this situation somehow, tried to swallow my pride and ask.

“What are you two doing?”

That is, if the school nurse hadn’t suddenly opened the door and walked in.

“Oh, n-nothing.”

“Wait, aren’t you Jun? What’s wrong with your nose? Did you get hurt?”

Han Taesan flinched and lay back on the bed, and the school nurse looked at my nose, startled, and made a fuss. Since I couldn’t ask questions as long as the school nurse was there, I suppressed my regret.

“I got hit during gym class… and had a nosebleed, so I’m a bit late coming from the infirmary.”

When I returned to the classroom, gym class was already over.

A stale smell of sweat wafted from the kids who had already changed into their uniforms. As soon as I opened the classroom door, the strong smell made it hard to breathe, so I forcibly held my breath. The homeroom teacher, who was preparing for closing remarks, looked at me, who had entered late. I had no choice but to make excuses for myself.

“I had a nosebleed during gym class, so I’m a bit late coming from the infirmary.”

“Oh, I see. Is your nose okay?”

“Yes. It stopped quickly.”

“That’s good. Then take your seat.”

“Yes.”

The awkward atmosphere was burdensome, so I touched my neck and returned to my seat. As soon as I sat down, Park Ha-on turned around and whispered.

“Are you okay?”

I nodded briefly. The closing remarks were short, and the homeroom teacher glanced at me, gave a thumbs-up and a smile, and then left. And I regretted looking at the gym clothes I was still wearing. I should have just come to the classroom first and changed into my uniform.