This was what it looked like when you did something without thinking through the aftermath.
…Damn it…. I should have held back. What if Shin Cha-heun suddenly comes back later.
Cha-heun tapped his own forehead a couple of times. Even if he himself could endure it, what if Shin Cha-heun popped back into this moment right now — then Shin Cha-heun would be the one bearing the full brunt of that ill-tempered Shin Jae-heon’s rage.
…Alright. I’ve already served, well, an adult’s worth — no, a full year’s worth…. Either way, let’s say I’ll hold out here somehow until I graduate and move out.
After graduation, he’d manage to get by in the world on his own.
For now, going straight home in this situation was a bit much, and with only one friend to his name, Cha-heun had exactly one option.
Kang I-hyeon, upon receiving the call, seemed briefly surprised but quickly gave him his home address and let him in.
“Are you I-hyeon’s friend?”
Even at such a late hour, I-hyeon’s mother greeted him warmly without a trace of surprise. Cha-heun bowed politely at the waist.
“Hello, I-hyeon’s mother. My name is Shin Cha-heun.”
“My goodness, to think our I-hyeon would have a friend this handsome. Or rather — is it more surprising that he has a friend at all?”
“Oh, Mom.”
“When have you ever brought a friend home. Cha-heun, thank you for spending time with our I-hyeon.”
I-hyeon tried to stop his mother, but she laughed warmly and pushed her son aside instead. She seemed genuinely delighted that her son’s friend had come to visit. Cha-heun watched the two of them bicker and smiled faintly, giving a small bow of his head.
“Not at all. I’m the one who’s been in I-hyeon’s debt. If anything, I’m wondering why he never mentioned having such a beautiful mother.”
“Hey, Shin Cha-heun!”
“Oh my…. Ho ho ho. Dear, is there anything you’d like to eat?”
“I eat well whatever it is.”
Making his way up to the second floor where I-hyeon’s room was, Cha-heun looked around and thought that for a boy, he kept things quite tidy.
“Hey, is your flattery broken or something?”
“Hm? I meant it.”
“……?”
Kang I-hyeon should have realized, at this moment, that something was off.
“Hey, my dad’s still alive, you know.”
“It’s a good thing to have both parents in good health.”
For one thing, it wasn’t that his friend was going after his mom — but that his friend’s taste was considerably off in a particular way.
Ding ding ding —
A short ringtone kept going off from Cha-heun’s phone.
…It was Shin Cha-heun’s father.
Cha-heun picked up the phone and hesitated for a moment over whether to answer, then ultimately asked I-hyeon’s pardon and stepped out of the room briefly, pressed accept, and held it to his ear.
— Cha-heun, where are you?
“Ah, I was going to let you know…. I was thinking of staying over at a friend’s place tonight—”
— I think it would be better if you came back right away.
A cold voice cut through his words.
He hadn’t spoken much with Shin Chae-il, but this level of interference was a first — Cha-heun was a little taken aback. He steadied himself for a moment and replied.
“…But I’ve already made plans to stay over.”
— I don’t think it’s a good idea for a high school student to sleep outside without good reason…. Tell me the address and I’ll come pick you up.
“……”
It’s not a wrong thing to say…, but going along with it just like that felt a little unfair. Honestly, it wasn’t as if Shin Chae-il could have been unaware of how he was being treated at home — wasn’t this negligence?
…That said, going to his father to tattle in detail about Shin Jae-heon giving him a hard time felt a little…,
“But I think Jae-heon will come after me if I go back.”
He had to say it.
‘Since when do you go around saying things like that.’
Cha-heun decided to relay every single thing — without leaving out a word — to a parent. If nothing else, for the sake of the Shin Cha-heun who would eventually return.
— What?
“Earlier, on the way home, my brother told me to look down and we got into a fight. I already got hit once, and it’s obvious he’ll hit me more if I go home — how am I supposed to go back when I’m scared.”
Having reported every small detail without omitting a thing, Cha-heun quietly switched his phone to silent and shoved it roughly into his pocket.
“…What’s going on?”
The moment he finished the call and stepped back into the room, Kang I-hyeon asked in a tone that was casual yet genuinely serious. He was watching Cha-heun with an expression that was somewhere between concern and gravity.
“Hm?”
“…Your mouth being split open — was that from getting hit by your brother?”
“Ah, brothers fight with their fists all the time. I was messing around and got hit.”
Sensing that Kang I-hyeon was taking it seriously and worrying about domestic violence, Cha-heun added the excuse quickly. It was because the Kang I-hyeon he’d come to know was a kid who had clearly been raised right.
“…Is that so? I thought for a second—”
“Why?”
“Thought someone was going around getting beat up for no reason.”
“…I’m actually pretty good at fighting, for what it’s worth?”
“Oh, sure.”
Kang I-hyeon smirked and shrugged. The attitude that said I know that’s not true, but sure, let’s go with that was a little insulting.
Well…. With that build, though.
It seemed like Kang I-hyeon hadn’t made kendo club captain for nothing — he looked to be easily over 180 centimeters, and was solidly built with it. Open and straightforward, he was exactly the type of boy you’d picture as the model athlete.
“What the hell, Shin Cha-heun — hey, that one, that one — AUGH! Hey, why are you grabbing me?!”
There hadn’t even been time to wonder what the two of them would do cooped up in a room together — Kang I-hyeon brought out two game controllers and suggested something called a co-op game. It looked like a game where two little clay blobs had to cooperate on quests to clear stages, but Cha-heun managed to grab I-hyeon’s character with precision and send them both rolling off the edge. Watching the two of them tumble together into the bottom of a ravine, Cha-heun let out an awed sound.
“Wow, this is hard….”
“You know being this bad at it is a talent in itself, right?”
“Hmm…. We didn’t have a console at home, so I’ve never really played.”
“Ah, right…. I’ve heard some families are strict like that.”
I-hyeon, who had been exasperated just a moment ago, suddenly went quiet and lowered his voice.
…He looks a little sorry about it….
…In reality it wasn’t that the house was strict — it was that I didn’t have money to spend on things like that. Shin Cha-heun’s family is wealthy too, on top of that. Either way, if I said that, Kang I-hyeon would just feel more awkward.
I-hyeon, who had been lightly scolding him earlier, saw Cha-heun marveling at each little thing and started coaching him intently from the side.
“Hey, try pressing X on that.”
“This?”
“That’s a different button. This one.”
I-hyeon eventually scooted in close beside Cha-heun and started pressing for him. He looped his arm around Cha-heun’s hand, and walked him through pressing the controller one button at a time, telling him which key did what.
When Cha-heun turned his head slightly, I-hyeon raised one eyebrow.
The large frame befitting a kendo club captain, and the boldly handsome features up close, came into Cha-heun’s field of view and he blinked.
…The more I see him, the more I think he’s a good kid.
An even-tempered personality, and nothing lacking in height or looks either. It was a funny thought, but if this guy had been around a year later, he probably would have been a candidate for the male lead.
Cha-heun looked at I-hyeon and smiled warmly.
“Why — what — why are you looking at me like that.”
“I was just thinking — I-hyeon, you’re good at kendo, good at games…. You seem like someone who’s good at everything he does.”
“…Next comes ‘except studying,’ right?”
Cha-heun tilted his head, caught off guard by the sudden mention of studying.
“No. Studying is great if you’re good at it, but if you’re focused on something else, it makes sense that your grades would be lower. Unless you’re a genius.”
“……”
“Why?”
“…Nothing, it’s just that you’re about the only one who says it like that. You know how it is. Our school’s private, so the teachers look down on the sports kids if their grades aren’t up. And our mom doesn’t take my side on that one either.”
As I-hyeon grumbled it out, Cha-heun let out a quiet smile. He had probably heard that kind of thing so many times he flinched preemptively — but to Cha-heun’s eyes, I-hyeon seemed like a genuinely good student.
“Don’t let it bother you. The teachers are just old-fashioned in that way…. And your mom says it because you’re her son and you matter to her. She wants your life to be as smooth as possible, so from her own experience she’s placed the most importance on academics. It’s not that she doesn’t trust you.”
“……”
“Unfortunately, in this country, no matter how good you are at sports, if you’re not at the level of making the national team, people just see you as a show-off jock with nothing going on upstairs. She’s probably worried about something like that.”
I-hyeon, who had been listening in silence, furrowed his brow. He seemed to mull it over for a moment, and then, as if something had clicked, his eyes went wide.
“…Hey, you….”
“Hm?”
“You talk like my uncle.”
“Do I.”
“…Funny guy.”
Kang I-hyeon said that, then sat back down beside him and went right back to diligently teaching Cha-heun how to play.
They were deep into the game when the door flew open.
“Augh, Mom, I’m in the middle of a round—”
“You and your games! …No, that’s not — …Cha-heun, your father’s here to pick you up.”
I-hyeon’s mother started to scold I-hyeon out of habit before turning to Cha-heun with a look of concern. At the news that his father had come, Cha-heun was too caught off guard to answer and just blinked.
How did he know to come pick me up?
Half wondering if there might be some mistake, he went downstairs — and sure enough, standing in front of the door of a black sedan parked outside the house was Shin Chae-il. Even at this late hour, dressed in a crisp suit, Shin Chae-il — tall and imposing — looked like a middle-aged model out of a magazine, standing there in front of the sedan.
“…Father?”
Shin Chae-il glanced impassively toward Kang I-hyeon, who had followed Cha-heun down, then turned to Cha-heun and spoke.
“Shin Cha-heun.”
“…Yes?”
“Get in.”
“……”
Cha-heun swallowed at the strange atmosphere and looked toward the front passenger door. Shin Chae-il always had a driver with him — but right now, he was alone. It was late, so the driver had apparently gone home for the night and Shin Chae-il had driven over himself.
…Shin Chae-il.
Shin Chae-il had paid some attention to Shin Cha-heun on the first day, but after that, there had been nothing. He’d been so busy he hadn’t even been coming home — and yet the single fact of an overnight stay was enough to bring him here in person. It made Cha-heun wonder if he really had simply been too occupied with work to look after him.
What’s this about?
After that first day there had been no more rides, and at home Cha-heun had been eating alone and shutting himself in his room — so this was something he hadn’t anticipated at all.
The housekeeper who worked at the house always prepared Shin Cha-heun’s meals separately, suggesting that was simply how things were — and no one had ever come looking for Cha-heun.
…What’s the reason for going out of his way to come pick me up?
Cha-heun let his eyes wander for a moment. He could see I-hyeon, and even I-hyeon’s mother, standing at the front door looking flustered, keeping an eye on the situation. He couldn’t go making the people of this household uncomfortable for no reason — Cha-heun made up his mind to quietly follow Chae-il and moved his feet.
“Cha-heun, tonight at our place—”
Sensing that something was off, just as I-hyeon’s mother was about to say something, Cha-heun quickly stepped in.
“I-hyeon’s mother!”
“Cha-heun.”
“Thank you for having me. The snacks you made were really delicious. I’ll come visit again. I-hyeon, I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
…I can’t impose further on someone who was willing to feed me and give me a place to sleep.
With that, Cha-heun bowed at the waist. When he lifted his head, Kang I-hyeon was watching him with a serious expression and had started to step forward — but Cha-heun gave a small shake of his head.
Shin Chae-il seated Cha-heun in the passenger seat, gave I-hyeon’s mother only a brief nod, got into the driver’s seat, and after that, a silent drive began. Cha-heun, unnerved by the suffocating quiet inside the car, found himself cautiously watching Shin Chae-il’s face.
