“Why are you two so close?”
Baek Seunghyun, who had been patting Kwon Yunsu’s head, looked up curiously. Kwon Yunsu’s side hair, which had been pressed sideways while he slept through all of 4th period, was sticking up like a goblin’s.
“I really diligently wooed him. Even offered up my allowance.”
“Whoa. The class president fell for that kind of thing? Convenience store ramen? Strawberry milk?”
“I bought him mini kimchi, frozen dumplings, and Häagen-Dazs too… I’d never bought those with my own money before. My hands were really shaking when I was paying.”
“You really put in a lot of effort.”
“…You two seem closer though?”
Ignoring the muttering from behind, Lee Euishin turned around. They’d been friends since elementary school, so that level of physical contact was nothing? Disgusting, so disgusting.
“Bend your knees slightly and kick. To make it go far. Don’t curl your instep.”
“Huh? Uh uh… It’s not working well.”
“That’s why you practice.”
“Uh…”
“Hungry?”
“……”
To give credit where credit was due, Kwon Yunsu wasn’t a terribly difficult guy to teach. He had no talent and ran out of stamina quickly, but he really loved it.
He’d never been to a soccer club, but Kwon Yunsu followed Lee Euishin’s coaching, which consisted of simple repetition with brief advice, like an elementary schooler doing dictation. He didn’t slack off or put his pride forward. He could somewhat understand why Kwon Yunsu was unknowingly adored as a harmless elementary schooler.
There weren’t many kids left, so the atmosphere wasn’t right for a practice game. They scattered appropriately—some paired off one-on-one, someone lay on the playground playing mobile games, and someone else played basketball. And Kwon Yunsu came and stood in front of Lee Euishin holding a soccer ball. His eyes were sunken but only his eyeballs sparkled blackly.
“Shall we?”
“Yeah yeah.”
The way he nodded seemed like it would make a jingling bell sound somewhere.
Kwon Yunsu diligently ran around the playground, stretched, and did lifting exercises regardless of his friends’ teasing. At the sound of ‘little Kwon Yunsu~’ from behind him, he energetically said ‘fuck off!’ and just focused on what he had to do. How admirable. Should I buy him ramen?
While he was having that frightening thought, the guys who had been lounging around started to get up. Considering Kwon Yunsu’s stamina, they should probably wrap up now too, but he didn’t want to leave the school gate alongside those noisy guys. Kwon Yunsu waved his hands fluttering toward them as if he could run forever.
“You guys go ahead.”
“Why, let’s go together.”
“What are you two going to do left alone?”
“I’m going to woo the class president.”
…That bastard, really.
“That one’s already fallen though?”
“The class president is too good for that though?”
“Hey, Kwon Yunsu. Make sure to score a goal at the sports festival and repay the class president.”
“Do a big bow in the middle of the playground, a big bow.”
They were like uncles meddling in their niece’s affairs.
“Okay.”
“Repay the favor with your body.”
“Got it.”
Really frivolous. These kids these days who make such wordplay without any hesitation.
“Class President…”
He thought he might actually be shedding tears.
“Eat.”
“Class President, you really…”
“Just going to go?”
Kwon Yunsu silently bit into the pizza. With his sunken face, holding the pizza with both hands and diligently chewing, he was exactly like a beggar elementary schooler.
Though it was certainly an age with a good appetite, Lee Euishin had never seen a kid who ate as ‘diligently’ as Kwon Yunsu. It wasn’t just about hurriedly filling his stomach—Kwon Yunsu always held everything with both hands and chewed thoroughly, eating diligently. Even though it was the daily school meal, every time he received his tray he was grateful, happy, delighted, and just a very strange guy making a big fuss.
It was the same now. They were walking side by side when he was staring blankly at something, so when he followed his gaze, it was a pizza place that didn’t even cost ten thousand won. A suspicious place where if you ordered, a paper-thin pizza came out in less than 5 minutes. When he asked “Want to eat before we go?”, Kwon Yunsu looked at Lee Euishin with glowing eyes, and when Lee Euishin opened the door and went in, he quickly followed. When he pointed at the pizza he’d finished paying for with his chin and said ‘eat,’ that expression—what was the difference from a puppy wagging its tail?
“It’s delicious.”
Not really.
“Really delicious.”
Sure.
“Hee.”
…Are you that happy?
Lee Euishin, who felt ashamed of showing off with money, became anxious that he might get completely smug over ten thousand won. It seemed like he and Kwon Yunsu really didn’t match in personality.
“You act like you’re eating pizza for the first time, so tacky.”
Lee Euishin, who had been resting his chin and watching Kwon Yunsu’s grateful dinner, scolded him like that. Then Kwon Yunsu, who was eating his fourth slice of pizza, looked up brightly. Those black eyes blinking and staring at him—that gaze became suddenly ominous. ……No way. Really?
“Pizza came out twice this month in school meals, you know? Sweet potato pizza and mozzarella cheese pizza.”
“……”
“Class President, why can’t you even memorize the meal schedule?”
His tone was utterly contemptuous. At the same time he wanted to punch him, he felt relieved. A pitiful bastard kills the appetite.
“What kind of pizza is that crap with just some cheese sprinkled on flour?”
“Don’t insult food.”
His scolding tone was stern.
“But I do want to eat something thicker. One with pepperoni and bulgogi and cheese and ham all in it.”
“Ask them to order it.”
“Dad hates delivery food.”
“Then seduce your mom.”
“……”
Kwon Yunsu’s hand stopped again. Think I’ll fall for it again?
“What, you don’t have a mom?”
At the casually thrown joke, Kwon Yunsu’s face became one of deep thought.
With that face, he finished chewing the pizza, swallowed his cola, and wiped his fingers with a napkin. Lee Euishin placed the last slice, which Kwon Yunsu had been staring at intently, into the guy’s hand. Kwon Yunsu ate silently.
“No, I have a mom.”
By the time Kwon Yunsu replied like that, there was nothing left to eat or drink on the narrow table.
“Let’s go.”
Lee Euishin stood up. Kwon Yunsu silently followed behind. At a time when all the middle schoolers in this country would be at academy, evening descended on the quiet neighborhood consisting of apartment complexes, a park, and residential areas beyond. Kwon Yunsu’s profile bathed in the sunset glow looked calm, blank, and a bit dark. Lee Euishin stayed quiet. After doing so for a while,
“Lee Euishin, you don’t have friends, right?”
“……”
That confident question was an accurate fact and he wasn’t particularly ashamed, but he did feel a surge of emotion. Was this bastard indirectly criticizing him for keeping his mouth shut when he should be asking ‘do you have some kind of worry?’ Lee Euishin replied, scrunching up his face as much as possible.
“Are you insulting me right now?”
“It’s not that.”
It’s not that, Kwon Yunsu shook his head vigorously.
“Can I say something?”
The guy’s eyes asking that were so blank and clear that Lee Euishin’s heart became just a little bit heavy. A pitiful bastard kills the appetite, but becoming a bamboo forest wasn’t difficult.
“Huh? Can I?”
“Why aren’t you asking me to keep it secret?”
When he replied bluntly, Kwon Yunsu smiled softly.
“You, you’re not that bad of a guy…”
“……”
“…My mom, she left home.”
It was before the second weekend after school started.
“…Ran away?”
“Divorce.”
