But a suddenly ringing vibration interfered. It was a sound coming from Seonwoo’s pants pocket. After checking the caller, Seonwoo didn’t answer right away but stared at the screen for a moment. Despite the sluggish behavior, the call didn’t disconnect. Instead of answering the phone, Seonwoo held it out toward Taejeong as it was.
“Your dad.”
The name saved as ‘Ahjussi’ was visible. Looking at the number displayed below it, it wasn’t a lie. The moment it switched to the call screen, Taejeong’s back flinched.
“Yes.”
“……”
“Yes. I’m home.”
“……”
“I don’t really care, but I’m still going to the hospital tomorrow.”
“……”
“He’ll take care of that himself.”
“……”
“Yes. Do that.”
The conversation ended concisely. After the call ended, the time written on the screen was just over 30 seconds. Seonwoo threw the phone by his pillow with a listless expression. A sound of it being buried somewhere in the sofa was heard.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Say what?”
His voice was indifferent. The vice director had said in his characteristically ambiguous tone that he couldn’t be certain about visitation tomorrow either, so Seonwoo wasn’t in a good mood.
Taejeong’s cold gaze stayed on his face, then slowly moved to the side. It was following the traces where the nosebleed had flowed.
“Why. Do you want me to tell him I beat you up?”
“You’re trying to grab a weakness with just this kind of thing? Stop bullshitting and call again. Or you hit me the same way too.”
“……”
Seonwoo fiddled with the dried blood while staring intently at Taejeong. It was funny how he’d been frozen throughout the phone call that didn’t even last 30 seconds, yet only his mouth was alive, playing both the drum and janggu by himself.
“Fine. Come here.”
Finally, the body that had been limp moved. Even though Seonwoo moved slowly, he felt dizzy so he had to divide the movement several times. He stood on the floor holding onto the backrest, but still had to look up. Judging by eye level, there seemed to be a difference of about 10cm. However, Seonwoo wasn’t the type to be intimidated and back down because of that.
“Did you tell me to hit you?”
“If you say so.”
Taejeong instead offered his cheek with a satisfied face as if showing off. He even looked straight at the incoming fist. A rather heavy sound was heard, but the body standing before Seonwoo didn’t budge at all.
He just silently took the punches with his hands behind his back. Somehow his posture of accepting violence seemed familiar. With that build, it was hard to imagine him getting beaten up.
Thud, thud, thud—the sound of skin rubbing was heard three times in succession. Despite having repaid him as much as he was hit, Seonwoo didn’t stop. However, Taejeong also didn’t docilely take anything beyond that.
“Don’t play tricks and count properly.”
Large hands gripped Seonwoo’s arm crushingly. The grip strength was considerable, befitting his build. However, Seonwoo didn’t try to break free. Rather, he said confidently.
“I’m using my left hand, so it’s only fair if I hit you more.”
“What bullshit. Hit me with your right hand as much as you want.”
“Then I’d really have to go to the hospital. Because the stitches would burst.”
“……”
He shook his right hand in front of Taejeong’s eyes as if showing it off. After looking at the thinly wrapped bandage, he eventually let go of his arm. He even docilely closed his eyes as if telling him to hit more.
Even though it was his left hand, Seonwoo was an ordinary twenty-year-old man and had good hand strength due to long exam preparation. He doubled the force on the last hit, and Taejeong gritting his teeth momentarily was felt beyond the fist.
“……”
Taejeong, frowning, swallowed heavily. It seemed his mouth had finally split open. It couldn’t compare to Seonwoo, who was a mess from his lower face to his top, but they’d both seen blood.
Then Taejeong roughly pushed Seonwoo’s shoulder. The body that had no intention of resisting was pushed away like a paper doll. Seonwoo, who had fallen with a thud, adjusted his posture and sat up.
“Wait. I’m not done yet.”
In the meantime, Taejeong had already gone about three steps away. It seemed he’d used up all his patience in docilely taking the hits.
“You don’t like me. So I was going to ask about your daily pattern so we wouldn’t run into each other……”
He deliberately trailed off. As if that succeeded in stimulating curiosity, Taejeong glanced back.
“You were going to, what.”
“Your dad just told me to take tutoring with you starting tomorrow.”
“……”
“Are you retaking the exam too?”
Now there was no answer. Taejeong only glared with a face that had sunk even more. Just looking at his appearance, he was like a large dog with thick fur, but his personality was fucking terrible, sensitive like a Chihuahua. If he said it out loud he’d get beaten again, so he’d better just think it.
“Well…… Whether you take the tutoring or not, do as you please. Before you go, move me to the bathroom. I can’t walk.”
Seonwoo also had no intention of leisurely sitting in one place and doing tutoring or anything together.
He’d been feeling dizzy since earlier. Right after coming to his senses, he thought he was fine, but after exerting force to hit Taejeong, it felt like the reaction was rushing back. Only his fist made contact, but even his head was throbbing.
If he walked like this, he could clearly picture himself falling after a few steps. But he couldn’t wait until his condition recovered because the dried blood was uncomfortable, so he wanted to wash it off quickly.
“You’re really not in your right mind.”
“This happened because you hit me.”
“Because you did something to get hit.”
“……”
“Fuck, even thinking about it again makes me feel like shit……”
Taejeong’s voice became threatening once more. Just recalling what happened on the first floor seemed to cause considerable displeasure. That seemed to be Taejeong’s sore spot. But Seonwoo wasn’t one to be intimidated by that.
“Hey, how was I supposed to know? That you have a different surname from your dad.”
“……”
For a moment Taejeong’s lips twitched, but Seonwoo didn’t give him room to move.
“I’m not curious. Don’t explain your family history.”
“You’re the most impudent person I’ve ever met.”
“But I probably have more friends than you.”
“……”
A brief silence fell. Instead of threatening, Taejeong strode over and grabbed Seonwoo’s arm. As Seonwoo’s body was suddenly pulled and he awkwardly stood up, he was thrown to the floor as if he’d been waiting for it.
There was no way he could properly keep his balance with one hand injured. Seonwoo tumbled spectacularly, and from that impact a migraine rushed in. Seonwoo, frowning, clutched his head.
“You said you can’t walk.”
“……”
“Then crawl there.”
So a person could look gloomy even with a smiling face. With a shadowed face where his eyes weren’t smiling and only the corners of his mouth were meanly raised, if he smiled like that on the street, he’d probably be reported as a suspicious person.
But Seonwoo thought that gloomy smile was better than a laugh where you couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Taejeong was the complete opposite of the Vice Director not only in appearance but also in personality.
Was that why? Even after being treated violently from their first meeting until now, he didn’t think much of it. Perhaps his head was really seriously wrong, as the Vice Director had diagnosed.
Whatever the cause, it didn’t matter. So should he try crawling to the bathroom as Taejeong said? But after not going far, his stomach churned, so he just lay spread-eagled on the floor.
Then he heard the sound of the front door slamming shut in the distance. Judging by that personality, he was convinced that Taejeong didn’t have a single friend.
ლ
Innate depression, sensitivity, susceptibility—including all such things, personality was highly likely to be inherited from parents. In other words, if the son was like that, one of the two parents genetically connected would be similar in nature.
But they looked so different and the way they expressed emotions was so different that he thought the root might be on the mother’s side, but then when he saw him act selfishly without caring about others’ intentions like now, he wondered if he did take after the Vice Director after all.
“……”
Seonwoo looked disapprovingly at the Vice Director standing at the entrance to the ward. He hadn’t left any contact, yet there he was waiting conspicuously. He’d deliberately come down to match the visiting hours.
“Aren’t you busy?”
“I have time to come see Seonwoo’s face.”
He openly showed that he didn’t want to face him, but he didn’t like the attitude of not caring even while knowing all that. He’d rather feel more comfortable with Taejeong, who couldn’t overcome his jumping emotions and threw punches.
