“Weren’t you surprised because of me?”
It was a gaze looking up intently.
Slowly, hoping to seem calm, Kwon Yunsu turned his head. Why would I be surprised? Normally he would have stubbornly protested, but no sound came out as if something was pressing on his throat.
Once the bleeding stopped, Lee Euishin brought disinfectant cotton, ointment, and a band-aid to treat it. He couldn’t enter the kitchen again due to the scolding that fell like a roar.
That day he went to school in Lee Euishin’s car. Only when parking did it occur to him that Lee Euishin didn’t have a first period class that day, and he felt horror at the insane manners of quickly getting out and opening the passenger door the moment the car stopped.
The season rushing from undulating spring into summer—the air was becoming steep.
***
The summer of his twentieth year, the week right before finals—Kwon Yunsu would never forget it for his entire life. He’d never been that diligent in his life.
Eating, drinking, attending classes, preparing for exams, and the madness and fervor of devoting every split second to translation—it was the first time in his life. It could be called the spirit of a soccer idiot who needed a place to escape. Anyway, he worked hard.
The second Thursday of June when the first exam started, the goal was to finish the assigned portion at least by Tuesday. As promised, once the part-time pay came in, they’d all reserve plane tickets together on Friday night. Though there was no need for everyone to gather, Kwon Yunsu, for whom this was his first overseas trip, stubbornly insisted and made that arrangement.
After returning home, Lee Euishin was docile like someone reading the room, and his pitch-black insides were still a complete mystery. The generous Shin Jaewoo didn’t sue Lee Euishin, and whether he’d knelt to apologize or paid compensation was unknown, but the guy who’d gone to headquarters alone easily resolved the panel damage issue as well.
Regarding compensation for emotional damage on condition of Kwon Yunsu’s withdrawal, no club member could open their mouth—naturally because of Kwon Yunsu who was burning with fervor like crazy. Then what about Lee Euishin? The dominant opinion was that at this rate, wouldn’t he join following Kwon Yunsu, but Kwon Yunsu didn’t care whether he did or not. No, he pretended not to care.
After their conversation at the fountain, Shin Jaewoo became noticeably hard to see. But seeing him occasionally add words to the group chat about travel, it seemed he’d go along. He thought it was fortunate. He shouldn’t be important enough to Shin Jaewoo to give up the trip. There was no need to take time to think about it. Because that’s something you just know by intuition. That it’s not like that, that he wouldn’t come to contemplate that kind of relationship with Shin Jaewoo.
Until Tuesday, in a state of voluntary confinement, he devoted himself only to translation. It was Lee Euishin who brought him meals, but he didn’t stop the guy from making something in the kitchen each time because what he made was so delicious, and he didn’t have time to prepare meals himself.
‘Do you want to go that badly?’
‘Then wouldn’t I not want to go?’
‘…Won’t you ask me to lend you money?’
‘You won’t lend it to me anyway.’
‘……’
‘You don’t like me going to Europe.’
‘I don’t like it. I don’t like you going with those guys.’
‘I like it. Go away. I have to do this.’
They seemed to repeat the same conversation twice a day. By that point, he didn’t even have the leisure to seriously persuade Lee Euishin.
Wednesday at 4 AM, having finally transmitted the completed translation, Kwon Yunsu drained a can of beer in gratitude and liberation and lay down on his bed. Then early in the morning he got up and sent a text to the translation company.
「This is Kwon Yunsu who translated the engineering paper. I sent the translation email at dawn. Please confirm. It gets deposited within 3 days after confirmation, right?」
After finding the part-time job on a job site, he’d mainly communicated via email and the staff member’s personal number. The man who said he mainly handled college students had a young voice, and a reply came quickly via text too. This time too, when he came out after washing, a reply was already there.
「Of course. Once the client institution confirms the manuscript, I’ll deposit it right away. Good work.」
Good work. It was a phrase that made his heart boil.
Even with a dazed head from lack of sleep, Kwon Yunsu started an enthusiastic day. First he enthusiastically ate the breakfast Lee Euishin prepared.
“From tomorrow, meal duty is mine.”
That’s my original role. When he smiled brightly and spoke, Lee Euishin made a serious face and shook his head.
“You can’t cook. From now on, don’t even set foot in the kitchen.”
“No. That’s mine. Unless you’re going to charge rent, you don’t set foot in it.”
“The food you make tastes bad.”
“I’ll try harder.”
“…Are you done?”
“Why?”
“You look disgustingly happy.”
No matter what mean things you say, I’m going my way. Dipping tteokgalbi deeply and showing it before his eyes, Kwon Yunsu smiled again.
“I finished. I sent an email at dawn and slept. Euishin-ah, this is delicious. Thanks to you bringing me meals, I finished before the exam.”
Lee Euishin’s expression twisting as if displeased felt good. So this is the taste that made you torment me.
“Let’s study for exams together now.”
“……”
“And let’s go together.”
He proposed thinking it would be the last time.
“It’ll be fun to go together. We’ve never traveled together. If you don’t have special plans, let’s go together. I couldn’t save much money so it’ll be 2 weeks at most.”
And Lee Euishin unexpectedly nodded right away.
“I’ll go.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah.”
Finding the docile Lee Euishin fascinating, Kwon Yunsu asked again with a half-laughing face.
“Really?”
“Go.”
…What. Were you waiting for me to ask you to go together? Were you too haughty to say it first? Just when Kwon Yunsu was opening his mouth again with a sinister smile, thinking he’d caught something to tease about,
“That bastard is going, so I have to go too.”
Lee Euishin blurted out an unexpected statement.
“If that pervert bastard sexually harasses you again, I’m going to drown him in the Thames River.”
“You’re playing around. If he’s a repeat offender getting drowned in the Thames, then you’re a first offender imprisoned in the Tower of London plus hanged at Tower Bridge, you crazy bastard.”
“……”
When he hurled insults while waving his spoon around, Lee Euishin made a strange face. Kwon Yunsu’s face also rapidly turned ashen. What did I just blurt out? Shocked and unable to eat, when Lee Euishin gave him the last remaining tteokgalbi and smiled.
“I was a bit rough, wasn’t I? Sorry.”
“……”
That day when it seemed like everyone in the world was only looking at his lips, that sensation he’d quickly chewed and swallowed beyond countless English words surged like lightning. Kwon Yunsu also surged up from his seat.
“I, I ate well.”
“I also ate well, back then.”
“……!”
At those words heard just before escaping the kitchen, Kwon Yunsu’s entire spine prickled. He knew ignoring was the answer, but,
“Can’t the crazy bastard take it easy?”
“I’ll be gentler next time.”
He got caught once more by the surprisingly blatantly responsive eloquence.
England! France! Spain! Premier League! Playoffs! Camp Nou! Chanting the magic spell that brought peace and comfort, Kwon Yunsu quickly armed his heart. Though he’d said terrifying things, Lee Euishin also said he’d go along, the part-time work was finished, and having diligently attended classes, the finals weren’t too bleak.
Once exams ended, from then he planned to do short-term part-time work. In the end, he might end up receiving allowance from mom and dad or borrowing money from the resentful landlord, but for now, as far as he could go.
While picturing a bright future, Lee Euishin’s wicked teasing was quickly forgotten.
He thought it was smooth sailing at last.
[The call cannot be connected, after the beep it will connect to voice…]
He didn’t know he’d become this familiar with this lady’s voice. After stopping texting in the morning, he’d called many times but the call never connected once. As soon as he finished the first exam and grabbed his phone again, Lee Euishin walking beside him also finally made an uneasy face.
“He’s not answering? Why would a working person turn off their phone, damn it.”
“I don’t know. This has never happened before….”
“Was the number registered on the job site also that person’s number? What did you usually contact with?”
“Email and this person’s number. The office number was written on the site. I captured that, wait….”
Looking at the saved screen, this time he called that number. As he bit his lips in anxiety, his brow furrowed naturally.
