Right, it was a hypothetical he shouldn’t have even thought of in the first place. The saying that words become seeds didn’t come about for nothing.
Tae Shinwoo was a strange bastard in many ways. Very much so, at that.
Seo Eunho had already realized that fact on the day he appeared at the convenience store. However, he had underestimated him a bit. The problem arose from there. He was a bit more of a psycho than he’d thought.
Actually, he’d thought Tae Shinwoo’s interest would quickly die down. So he didn’t really care about Tae Shinwoo’s gaze that now openly lingered on him, or that thanks to that, the frequency of their eyes meeting had increased.
It’ll stop eventually. As if it were a spell, Seo Eunho thought that way every time their eyes met.
Of course, there was some unease. It bothered him that Tae Shinwoo hadn’t come to find him even once after that. Not that he wanted him to come, but it was clearly strange that he wasn’t doing anything when the interest he had clearly hadn’t died down.
Must be too bothersome. Seo Eunho tried to erase his unsettling thoughts that way. Couldn’t it be that he’d just watched and concluded there was nothing special, then lost interest?
“Money?”
It really couldn’t be a more carefree thought. Seo Eunho swallowed a sigh while looking at Tae Shinwoo, who smiled with his eyes folding hatefully.
“How much should I give you?”
Of course. If he were someone who would just watch from far away and then let it go, he wouldn’t have bothered to come to the convenience store in the first place to spout nonsense.
He’d just believed what he wanted to believe. That Tae Shinwoo wouldn’t show that much interest in him.
“Really? You’ll really give it?”
The situation was flowing in an increasingly stupid direction. Jang Hoyoung and Kim Junseong’s mouths were hanging wide open. Seo Eunho was observing what they were doing from a distance. It was so absurd that empty laughter kept coming out. Seo Eunho rubbed his face and closed his eyes tightly before opening them. Not that it made Tae Shinwoo, who was voluntarily getting his money extorted, disappear.
So, right now Tae Shinwoo was having his money stolen. Strictly speaking, Tae Shinwoo himself had offered to give it. Wouldn’t the former be a less absurd situation?
“You said you needed it.”
He wouldn’t have suddenly felt like giving charity. And it definitely wasn’t that a righteous heart had arisen to not watch Kim Junseong and Jang Hoyoung bully other guys anymore.
The answer was only one from the beginning. Tae Shinwoo was doing that psycho-like thing because of Seo Eunho. Once again, he had risen to Tae Shinwoo’s testing ground.
Well, what should he do? What kind of reaction did he want from him? No, that’s not it. How should he react to give Tae Shinwoo disappointment?
Seo Eunho thought quite seriously. In the meantime, Tae Shinwoo was holding money taken from his wallet. Naturally, Kim Junseong and Jang Hoyoung didn’t refuse. They even started rubbing their bodies against him and doing all sorts of flattery as if they’d become friends. Watching the idiots who weren’t suspicious at all even though a person was suddenly doing strange things, Seo Eunho clicked his tongue.
“How much should I give?”
“How much? How much, hey, how much do you need?”
“How much is there? The more the better. Wow, why are you carrying around so much cash?”
Tae Shinwoo’s wallet looked thick even from a distance. It hadn’t been that thick when he came to the convenience store. He had a reasonable suspicion that he’d deliberately filled his wallet to give charity.
“You’re really giving it, right? You can’t say anything different later.”
Did threatening him like that mean he really wouldn’t say anything different? He’d clearly said it was better not to touch Tae Shinwoo, so why had they lost their minds like that?
Although they’d joked about stealing money from Tae Shinwoo too, in fact, Seo Eunho had thought those bastards would absolutely never touch him. They only bullied those who couldn’t fight back even when bullied.
Seo Eunho had thought the bastards were cunning. But looking at it now, it seemed not. Seeing the bastards smiling brightly with cash in their hands was astounding.
Right, they must be happy. They’d just come to smoke cigarettes in the alley as usual, but suddenly caught a money source. No effort was needed. Tae Shinwoo had approached them himself, asked if they needed money, and said he could give more if they needed it.
Were they thinking they’d hit the jackpot? Without knowing what Tae Shinwoo was thinking. Seo Eunho stared at Tae Shinwoo blankly. And not even a few seconds later, Tae Shinwoo’s gaze turned to Seo Eunho.
“……”
Seo Eunho realized at that moment what reaction Tae Shinwoo wanted. It was because as soon as their eyes met, it felt as if he could read his thoughts.
‘You’ll take some too, right?’
His jet-black eyes were clearly saying that.
He was briefly conflicted. Whether it would be better to respond to his expectations, or act as usual. Actually, it wasn’t even worth thinking about.
Seo Eunho immediately stood up from his seat. However, he didn’t approach to stop the bastards. He just watched from a distance.
Seo Eunho neither tried to correct what was wrong nor did he join in. Because he didn’t want to. So he couldn’t live up to Tae Shinwoo’s expectations.
Of course, he knew that not participating directly himself didn’t make him any different from them. Seo Eunho was the same kind of human. Hadn’t he just recently given the two a warning that Tae Shinwoo wasn’t someone to mess with, to be careful?
“Haah……”
Seo Eunho put out the cigarette he was smoking along with a long sigh. Then he turned around abruptly and started walking. He was about to return to school.
The more he walked, the voices of Jang Hoyoung and Kim Junseong treating him like a sucker bastard, and Tae Shinwoo’s kind voice, gradually grew distant. His steps leaving the alley got faster and faster. It was because he felt somehow uncomfortable.
Ah, come to think of it, he’d learned that those bastards went around stealing other people’s money through their tales told like heroic sagas, but this was the first time he’d witnessed the scene right before his eyes.
Was that why? What was that even?
While saying that the bastards and himself were the same kind of human, was he actually taking comfort in the fact that he himself had never stepped up to bully someone? While thinking that he was actually different from those bastards?
Different, huh. A silent sneer flowed out. Seo Eunho shook his head and walked. It seemed he wouldn’t be able to sit quietly listening to the bastards’ tales of valor anymore. If he did, he might vomit in their faces.
Seo Eunho, who mechanically left the alley, walked toward school without hesitation. He planned to come out with his bag as soon as he went in. There was still time before his part-time job, but he didn’t want to stay at school. Rather, it seemed better today to be stuck in his cramped home where he didn’t know when his father might barge in.
“What are you thinking about so hard?”
It wasn’t even something worth it, but the thoughts that had been complicatedly branching out everywhere all disappeared at the voice that suddenly rang out. It was Tae Shinwoo’s voice. Only then did Seo Eunho realize that Tae Shinwoo was walking right next to him.
Seo Eunho’s steps came to a halt. As if he’d been waiting, Tae Shinwoo stood in front of Seo Eunho. He was smiling. When had he followed? It was absurd that he hadn’t noticed him coming.
“You’re not using it?”
Toward Seo Eunho, who had stopped walking and wasn’t saying anything, Tae Shinwoo asked again. He had such a carefree face that it was hard to believe he was someone who’d just had his money stolen.
“Using what?”
“The money I just gave.”
So he thought he gave it, not that it was stolen. His thoughts were as carefree as his expression.
“It was stolen.”
Seo Eunho answered firmly.
“But I wanted to give it.”
“They stole it.”
“Really?”
At the pointless conversation, Tae Shinwoo shrugged. He seemed not to care much whether it was stolen or given.
“I thought you’d share it with those guys.”
He seemed regretful that Seo Eunho hadn’t taken a share of the money, but on the other hand, he also seemed pleased that his prediction had been wrong.
A crack appeared in Seo Eunho’s expression for a moment. What was his reaction worth? It was absurd that he’d personally gone to have his money extorted just to see that little thing. He really thought, how could there be something like this? Seo Eunho rubbed his face and spoke in a low voice.
“I don’t steal other people’s money.”
It seemed a bit funny even to his own ears to be drawing a line, but in any case, it wasn’t a lie. After answering briefly, Seo Eunho walked past Tae Shinwoo as if he had nothing more to say. The problem was that it was lunchtime now and school hadn’t ended, so Tae Shinwoo had to go back in the same direction.
Should I just go home like this? Do I really need my bag? Seo Eunho, who had been thinking briefly, clicked his tongue and quickened his steps. His wallet with his bus card was in his bag.
His part-time job at a restaurant right after leaving school was nearby, but it was far from the convenience store, so he couldn’t make it on time by walking, so he had to get his bus card.
“But why?”
At his pace, Tae Shinwoo’s steps also quickened accordingly. However, he didn’t look rushed at all. The way he walked swinging his long legs looked as leisurely as usual. His carefree attitude of continuing to talk despite showing he found it bothersome seemed to make it feel even more so.
“Isn’t stealing easier than earning money by working part-time like that?”
He should just ignore him, but listening quietly to Tae Shinwoo’s words made him want to refute. It was the same now.
“I don’t need that kind of money.”
“That would be much easier than the pittance you earn standing around in a cramped place.”
It wasn’t something a neatly dressed student with his uniform buttons fastened up to his neck should be saying. And he’d just had his money stolen, at that. However, Seo Eunho didn’t bother to mention that fact. Expecting model-student-like words from Tae Shinwoo was also a stupid thing to do.
“You do it then.”
“I don’t really need to.”
Of course you don’t.
“Use your handsome face for times like this.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Instead of just stacking snacks in your locker every lunchtime, tell them to give you money instead. They’d readily give it.”
“……”
“You know too. They’re not giving you that because they feel sorry for you.”
