Cheon Jaekyung suddenly appeared and then suddenly disappeared. I thought he’d soon come up from the pit in disbelief and try to devour me. Or at least I’d hear cursing sounds from below. However, after the sound of impact, there was no reaction at all.
While hesitating, I only stuck my head in slightly to check inside the pit. And I felt conflicted.
“This bastard, what’s his problem…”
Wondering why it was so quiet, whether it was because of the shock from falling or whatever, he had his eyes closed. If he wasn’t closing his eyes to bait me, he must have fainted. Well, who could possibly have in mind that there’d be a pit right under their feet? Since he fell without even managing to scream, he might have received a bigger shock than expected.
“Is he lacking somewhere, actually?”
I even began to suspect that Cheon Jaekyung might be lacking somewhere. I stroked my chin and examined Cheon Jaekyung, who lay unconscious with his body crumpled up. Does one’s intelligence drop if they become a eunuch? …No, that can’t be right.
Whether my luck was good or Cheon Jaekyung’s luck was filthily bad, I couldn’t know, but what mattered was that I’d caught Cheon Jaekyung, the cause of my house arrest. My mood suddenly improved. With this, Lee Hyeonseok’s reason to prevent me from going out had disappeared.
“…No, that’s not it.”
Though I’d knocked out Cheon Jaekyung for now, what about when he regained consciousness? I might have to stay cooped up in the house again. No, it was certain. Looking at it, he was the kind of bastard who came looking for me saying he’d get revenge out of the blue, so he’d have more than enough reasons to blame me for falling into the pit and fainting. He was definitely a bastard who said he’d get revenge after I gave back as much as he gave when he picked a fight first.
Anyway, the sight of the unconscious Cheon Jaekyung in the pit looked very pitiful. Perhaps he’d been suffering mentally lately, as he looked even thinner than when I last saw him, and up close, the dark circles under his eyes were deep too. He really looked pitiable.
“Doesn’t this guy go anywhere?”
But contrary to what I felt, cold words came from my mouth. It couldn’t be helped. I was the one in a hurry, not the time to think about Cheon Jaekyung who had tormented me and planned to continue trying to mess me up in the future.
Suddenly, I desperately wished that Cheon Jaekyung would leave for somewhere far away like a foreign country. If only Cheon Jaekyung weren’t here, I’d be free again too. I really wanted to send him off somewhere. In dramas and movies, chaebol who caused accidents all go study abroad, so why doesn’t this bastard go? Well. His love is in Korea, so there’s no way he’d go anywhere on his own feet.
“…If it’s blocked, I’ll just say it can’t be helped, shall I try once?”
After staring down at Cheon Jaekyung for a while, I looked around like someone about to steal. Well, it was true too. Since both that side and this side were already dirty, I lay down without caring and stretched out my dirt-covered arm to rummage through Cheon Jaekyung’s pants pockets.
I worried that even if he was deceiving me or had fainted to catch me for sure, he might not open his eyes from me touching him, but if I just kept thinking about such things, I wouldn’t be able to do anything, so I acted first. Fortunately, Cheon Jaekyung showed no sign of trying to get up at all.
“Ah, nothing here…”
First, the left pants pocket I rummaged through blindly had nothing. Leaving the disappointment behind, when I put my hand into the right pants pocket, a square object was immediately caught in my hand.
“Got it.”
I smiled and carefully took out the item. As I guessed, it was a smartphone. I was almost moved at holding a smartphone for the first time in a long while. When I pressed the power button, a warning appeared asking for fingerprint recognition. When I briefly borrowed the limp Cheon Jaekyung’s hand, it unlocked right away.
“Let’s see… Military, Manpower.”
Without delay, I searched the internet and typed Military Manpower Administration in the search bar, and a link immediately came up. Since it was a site I’d never visited even once, it was confusing, but I safely found the place to apply for the military. When I pressed ‘Integrated Application Form,’ a window appeared asking me to confirm my identity by writing my name and resident registration number. Without hesitation, I wrote a name in the white blank space. Of course, not my name.
“Cheon Jaekyung.”
I intended to write Cheon Jaekyung’s name and apply for enlistment on his behalf.
“What a pretty name.”
Naturally, I knew it was illegal, but Cheon Jaekyung’s actions covered my conscience and guilt. Strike before being struck. I could fail because I didn’t know the certificate password, and even if I succeeded, if Cheon Jaekyung sued, it would become a problem, but I decided to just do it first.
Entering the resident registration number was quite difficult. But perhaps my obsession and resentment were quite deep, as I barely managed to remember what I’d seen at the research center a few months ago and entered it. After entering the name and resident registration number and pressing the certificate, a certificate window appeared, confirming my memory was correct.
Actually, I expected to be blocked at the certificate part. I just felt like I couldn’t bear it without trying first, so I applied for enlistment on his behalf as a way to vent my frustration. But this actually works?
Cheon Jaekyung seemed to have set all authentication confirmations to fingerprint recognition like a modern person. When I carefully grabbed Cheon Jaekyung’s index finger once more and pressed it on the phone, the window closed saying certificate confirmation was complete and the screen moved to the next step.
“Oh… I should use a password instead of fingerprint.”
Leaving behind a carefree impression, I continued filling in the personal information. The next hurdle was writing phone number, email, account, and middle school, but looking through the photo album, notes, and SNS, I felt like I could fill everything. After filling in the remaining blanks and pressing next, a window appeared to select Army, Navy, or Air Force.
“After all, if you’re a man, it’s got to be the Navy, right? Isn’t that so, Cheon Jaekyung? Is that so? Alright.”
I asked the unconscious Cheon Jaekyung as if singing. Naturally there was no answer in return, but I answered on my own. As if being considerate, I pressed the Army application instead of the Navy and entered height and weight appropriately. Especially for vision, I wrote the best 2.0. He’s a main character in the novel, so he should be at least 2.0. After pressing ‘yes’ to the following military service consent, I selected other things appropriately too.
“This is taking longer than expected.”
Though I did spend more time searching for Cheon Jaekyung’s personal information, I was able to apply safely. The application submission result was neatly written on the screen. Right after, a ding came with a text saying enlistment application was completed. I debated whether to delete it or not, but decided not to delete it thinking he’d have to know to go to the military. They say people mature when they come back from the military, so I really hoped that would happen.
The worry of being sued again raised its head, but I turned away thinking it couldn’t be helped since I was pissed off. Regret could be put off for later.
The words ‘print application’ were funny, but as I was looking at it with satisfaction, suddenly thump thump thump, the sound of several footsteps was heard from the direction of the stairs.
“Seo Jiwoo!”
“Kyaah!”
At the sound of my name being shouted in an angry voice, I was so startled that I dropped the phone and burst out screaming without even having time to turn around. It was truly at the level of a lion’s roar. Clutching my wildly pounding heart, when I turned my head back, Lee Hyeonseok stood behind me with a murderous expression.
“Lee Hyeonseok?”
“You, fuck. Why aren’t you at home and filthily lying on the ground?”
Lee Hyeonseok, who was so angry that he cursed as soon as he saw my face, approached me with quick steps. He was so fast I thought he was using some kind of teleportation technique. Without any time for me to retort, Lee Hyeonseok, who quickly reached me, grabbed my nape and lifted me up with force.
“Ack! That hurts!”
It was natural that my neck hurt from the force given without restraint. I spat out screams and groans in pain, but Lee Hyeonseok neither let go nor loosened his grip. I had a hard time figuring out how to respond to Lee Hyeonseok’s reaction, which was angrier than I thought. The moment I was about to open my mouth to apologize first without even knowing what I did wrong, Lee Hyeonseok opened his mouth first.
“What are you doing here?”
Lee Hyeonseok asked with eyes that wouldn’t be strange to say had almost gone mad. If things went even slightly wrong, it wouldn’t be strange if he directly killed me with those hands. Lee Hyeonseok was so murderous that I was afraid to even open my mouth once, but the moment I heard him ask what I was doing, I smiled very brightly. Perhaps dumbfounded, Lee Hyeonseok’s expression froze as is, but I didn’t care and spoke happily.
“I caught Cheon Jaekyung.”
“…What?”
Perhaps not understanding my words for a moment, Lee Hyeonseok was silent briefly, then quickly came to his senses and asked back with one eyebrow furrowed. Well, few people would immediately understand if I suddenly said I caught him. With a shy expression, I raised my index finger and gently pointed toward the pit.
While maintaining his displeased attitude, he turned his gaze to where I was pointing. The sight of only his eyeballs rolling to the side was quite scary, but I decided not to say anything.
“This is…”
“Cheon Jaekyung.”
Lee Hyeonseok, who had seemed uninterested, confirmed the form in the pit and let out a slightly flustered voice. At the voice that seemed to say ‘no way,’ I immediately answered without delay.
Only then did he understand my words about catching him, as one of his eyebrows relaxed, but instead both eyebrows crumpled. Lee Hyeonseok’s face seemed to say he couldn’t understand at all. I would too. Coming to look for someone who wasn’t home and finding a situation where someone had fallen in a pit was something no one could easily accept.
Still, perhaps because it changed the atmosphere thanks to that, the strength in the hand gripping my nape began to loosen. Though he didn’t let go of my neck until the end.
“…What’s this bastard doing?”
Lee Hyeonseok looked at Cheon Jaekyung with contemptuous eyes and demanded an answer from me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t solve that question for him.
“I don’t know either. He got caught on his own.”
So I also told him what I knew to the extent of my knowledge in a helpless voice. It was also the truth. Lee Hyeonseok and I looked down at Cheon Jaekyung, who had fallen into the pit, pathetically and insignificantly.
