Tae Shinwoo’s words about having both guts and backing were immediately proven. Thanks to Tae Shinwoo going crazy not knowing the meaning of moderation, the police were dispatched and they ended up going all the way to the police station.
When he came to his senses, the other side had completely lost consciousness. The guys covered in blood were loaded into an ambulance and taken to the hospital just like that.
Something they could have just ignored and passed by had unintentionally become very big. Seo Eunho forgot Tae Shinwoo’s confident words and thought about how to get out of this situation.
But it was all useless worry. Tae Shinwoo and Seo Eunho came out safely in less than an hour after entering the police station.
While going to the police station, Tae Shinwoo had been fiddling with his phone, and not long after, someone came to find them and helped the two of them get outside. At the smile saying not to worry about anything, that he would handle the settlement or whatever himself, Seo Eunho felt like he really hadn’t committed any crime at all. Even though that wasn’t the case.
“……”
He must have run wild so recklessly because he had something to rely on.
Thinking that way didn’t feel good at all. There was some guilt thinking maybe he’d gone too far, but more than that, it was because he felt like he’d come to know just how much Tae Shinwoo was a person from a different world than himself.
“You won’t see those guys anymore.”
He really had no conscience. To make people almost unable to move a finger, yet only think about Tae Shinwoo and himself.
But it wasn’t surprising. He’d never been a particularly conscientious person to begin with.
“They’re the type who’ll get even more pissed off and come running.”
Seo Eunho answered indifferently. There was this reason too for not worrying about them. It was certain they weren’t the type to come to their senses just because they got beaten badly once. If anything, they’d do more, not less. Later on, it seemed like one of their bones had been crushed in Tae Shinwoo’s hand as he was practically rampaging, but they were the type who’d come running wearing a cast like a badge of honor.
“They can’t come.”
“Can’t come?”
“I’m going to get rid of them.”
“Get rid of them?”
“Why do you keep asking like a parrot? It’s not like you really don’t understand.”
He had nothing to say in response, so he closed his mouth. He understood right away. Getting rid of people was nothing new for Tae Shinwoo. How many people had disappeared from view like that?
He just wanted to pretend he didn’t hear.
“How are you going to get rid of them?”
“Well. Where should I get rid of them to?”
At Seo Eunho’s question mixed with a sigh, Tae Shinwoo’s eyes sparkled. It didn’t seem like the timing to have sparkling eyes. Seo Eunho furrowed his eyebrows slightly before answering.
“Leave them alone. Why go that far again? Beating them enough to be taken to the emergency room is enough.”
“That’s enough?”
However, Tae Shinwoo seemed to find Seo Eunho’s answer even more incomprehensible.
“I didn’t hit them that many times.”
“If you’d hit them more, you would have killed someone.”
“You said it was okay to kill them.”
“Don’t say things like that because I can’t tell if you’re joking or serious.”
Tae Shinwoo laughed out loud. No matter how he listened, it was serious, but Seo Eunho tried to hear it as a joke. Unfortunately, Tae Shinwoo didn’t let it stay that way.
“I’m serious.”
“……”
“I’m the type to return what I received several times over.”
“……”
“And if they die in the process, it can’t be helped.”
He knew he wasn’t in his right mind, but hearing it like this, he really seemed like a crazy bastard. But the even crazier bastard was right here separately. It was himself, whose heart was pounding instead of being horrified at seeing this guy.
He even had the foolish and absurd wish that he could live thinking like that too. Seo Eunho shook his head vigorously.
“Why is your personality like that?”
Seo Eunho muttered as if it wasn’t about himself. Actually, those words were directed at himself.
“What about my personality?”
But Tae Shinwoo, who couldn’t know all of Seo Eunho’s inner thoughts, asked with an innocent face. Just moments ago, he’d had a terrifying face that was too scary to even dare speak to, but the person who’d had that face had gone somewhere, and at a glance, he even looked innocent.
“It’s… very twisted.”
“Me?”
“Don’t pretend not to know. Do you really not know you’re not normal?”
The corners of Tae Shinwoo’s mouth twitched. It was a signal that he definitely knew. At least it was fortunate that he knew. Thinking pointless thoughts, Seo Eunho walked ahead first.
He’d become thoroughly tired due to an unnecessary incident. He should bring clothes next time and rest at home today. No, let’s not bother bringing them at all. Just wandering around itself was annoying. He could just go around in his school uniform, did he really need clothes or anything?
“I guess it’s because I grew up without a mom.”
Tae Shinwoo, who’d been matching his steps beside Seo Eunho as he was having trivial thoughts, suddenly said. Seo Eunho laughed in disbelief. It was an excuse that didn’t even work.
“I don’t have a mom either, bastard.”
“Ah.”
A short exclamation came back, as if he’d forgotten for a moment rather than not knowing.
“Then… is your father a strange person?”
And then he continued with another excuse. It was also ridiculous to hear about his parents in this way, and every excuse he made didn’t even sound plausible, so Seo Eunho laughed out loud now.
“Want to see what my father looks like?”
At the words that followed, Tae Shinwoo clicked his tongue. It was a face that thought he’d lost, so Seo Eunho laughed again. He didn’t know what was so funny and enjoyable, even Seo Eunho himself. Tae Shinwoo probably didn’t know either.
Somehow the talk about parents continued until they returned to Tae Shinwoo’s house. Seo Eunho listened obediently to his words without picking any fights.
Doing so gradually improved his mood. The sense of superiority from being the only one to know Tae Shinwoo’s stories that others didn’t know now coiled up familiarly.
“……That’s what happened. I wonder if they’re living well.”
Not long after arriving home, Tae Shinwoo’s short story ended. Now it was Seo Eunho’s turn to tell his story, and he willingly opened his mouth.
From the story about his father that he’d never hidden anyway, to the story about his mother that he’d never told anyone.
The resentment toward his father who never stayed by the side of his mother as she died from illness, and the frustration toward his mother who waited for his father despite that. The helplessness of his childhood when he had to face his mother’s death without being able to do anything poured out without filtering.
Tae Shinwoo quietly listened to Seo Eunho’s story. Just as Seo Eunho had listened to Tae Shinwoo’s story.
“I won’t live like my mom.”
“……”
“When I become an adult, I’ll completely independent and live without ever seeing my father’s face again.”
“……”
“That’s why I’m saving money in advance.”
Tae Shinwoo nodded. A small smile hung on his lips. He thought maybe he’d talked about too many useless things, but he quickly forgot because he liked Tae Shinwoo’s serious face as he quietly listened to his story.
The hidden side of him that Seo Eunho now mostly knew about was enough to shatter any illusions about Tae Shinwoo. However, the more Seo Eunho learned about him, the more he grew to like him. Perhaps it was because his actions toward him were at least affectionate.
Seo Eunho knew better than anyone that Tae Shinwoo didn’t listen to anyone else’s words this attentively.
“I’m also going to be independent when I become an adult.”
“……”
“Living alone costs a lot of money, so should we live together?”
And that he didn’t even joke around saying things like this. He clearly knew it was only toward him.
“Even though you have a lot of money, you’re saying strange things.”
So there was nothing he could do. Tae Shinwoo gave no help in extinguishing the feelings that had bloomed.
There was no longer any need to think about how it had come to this.
It had to be this way. From the moment Tae Shinwoo started stepping into his territory, from the moment he started filling all the things he’d wanted to have, Seo Eunho had no choice but to come to like Tae Shinwoo.
From the moment he tried to appeal to his heart, Seo Eunho had no choice but to be helplessly swayed according to his will.
“Let’s live in a spacious house.”
“I didn’t say I’d live with you.”
“We’ll end up living together, won’t we? Because my place will have the cheapest rent.”
“……”
“Or should we just start living together now? Aren’t we doing that anyway? Anyway, I won’t charge rent with a youth discount, so—”
“Why are you being like this, really?”
Seo Eunho burst into loud laughter. Tae Shinwoo, who’d been spouting words that made his heart keep beating in a joking tone, laughed too.
Ah, he really wished that could happen. Seo Eunho closed his eyes and opened them again with a still-smiling face. He wished it could. He wished they could continue like this. Because he liked Tae Shinwoo. Because being by his side was so comfortable. If he could, Seo Eunho really wished it could be like that.
But why did Tae Shinwoo want to do that? Did he still find him interesting? Was being by his side enjoyable? Did Tae Shinwoo, who’d firmly said they weren’t friends, now think of him as a friend?
That must be it. While Tae Shinwoo liking him wouldn’t happen, at least it was certain that he’d entered inside Tae Shinwoo’s boundary.
So his feelings must not be discovered. Seo Eunho reminded himself of that fact. Because he didn’t know how Tae Shinwoo, who’d started to regard him as a friend, might react if he happened to notice his feelings.
How much would he hate it? At that thought, a bitter smile tried to emerge. No, let’s not think about it. If he didn’t get caught, it would be fine. Then everything would be okay.
Seo Eunho steeled his resolve. Well, in front of Tae Shinwoo, even the firm resolutions he always made became meaningless.
