Should I ask for a game console as a graduation present? I idly picked up a game box and looked it over from various angles.
“Hey.”
“Hm?”
Dongwoo sneakily came up next to me, away from the others, and whispered.
“You have a source of money, you know.”
“Where?”
“The Vulcanus egg.”
“Ah……”
Oh right, there was that.
If I sold it, I’d get about 2 million won, so even after splitting it with Dongwoo and buying a game console with 500,000 won, there’d be money left over.
I did feel a bit guilty about stealing the egg, but considering I’d returned the Goldmess egg worth 30 million won, wasn’t the Vulcanus egg just a cute bonus? I nodded while looking at the game console.
“Dongwoo-ya, should we put it on the auction house today?”
“No. The auction house is risky.”
“Why?”
“The acquirer is listed as Control—your hyung. The moment we put it on the auction house, they’ll know we stole it.”
“Ah…… That could happen.”
“So let’s secretly sell it for cash. We can put it on an item site. When the buyer hatches it, the acquirer info gets erased, so who’ll know it’s Control’s?”
“Keu…… You really are smart.”
Since friends passing by were noticing us whispering to each other, we quickly shut our mouths. For now, we left our plan at that and went back to browsing games like our friends.
Time passed and when we left the shopping center, the sun had already set, so all the streetlights lining the roads were lit, and near the main entrance, Christmas tree decorations announcing the upcoming holiday were sparkling in various colors.
“Anyone want to grab dinner?”
Dongwoo tried to see who wanted to go to a fast food place, but most said they were going home and scattered. Only Dongwoo, me, and our classmates Chunseok and Jinhee remained.
“Well then, let’s eat, just the four of us.”
I was asking Chunseok and Jinhee about the hamburger place across the street when Dongwoo linked arms with me.
“Hey! No, we should get going too. You guys be careful on your way home.”
“Huh? Huh? I’m hungry too……”
In the end, I had no choice but to be pulled away from them by Dongwoo’s strength. Why was he forcibly dragging me away like this? I matched his pace thinking maybe he wanted to buy me food alone.
But Dongwoo took me into the gap between buildings, then stuck his head out toward the way we’d come and glanced over.
“What are you doing?”
Dongwoo just stared at the shopping center entrance we’d come from for a while, then ducked back into the gap between buildings.
“Dongwoo-ya, we don’t have food at home.”
“We can just eat together, the two of us.”
“It’s better to eat all together. We can order multiple dishes. Perfect for sharing.”
“Ugh! You’re so clueless.”
I was told I was clueless by my hyungs yesterday, and today I got hit with it twice in a row from Dongwoo.
“Why?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking?”
“Tell what?”
“Chunseok and Jinhee are dating.”
“It’s not written on their foreheads, so how would I know?”
“How would I know? When we went to the shopping center earlier, they were holding hands behind our backs.”
“Hueok!! Really? Why didn’t I catch such a crucial clue?”
“If you knew, the whole world would know.”
“Wow…… But Jinhee, didn’t she originally like someone else? She said she didn’t like anyone unless they were tall, but she and Chunseok are about the same height.”
“What use are conditions in love? If two people like each other, that’s the end of it. Tsk, you’ve already got your ID and you still don’t understand men and women like this. You’re really never going to get married.”
“If I die without getting married, I’ll become a bachelor ghost and stick to you.”
“I’ll just put up a talisman at home.”
Then…… there’s nothing I can do. I made a disappointed expression. Dongwoo and I walked one more block and entered a snack restaurant. Here, we wouldn’t run into Chunseok and Jinhee.
Since we’d hidden from our friends, it would be awkward if we acknowledged them, so every time a couple entered the snack restaurant, we stopped using our chopsticks and stared at the entrance like meerkats.
“Dongwoo-ya, what time is your bus?”
“Eight-thirty for me.”
“Mine’s nine. What about the next one?”
“Eight-thirty is the last bus. If I miss that, I have to call my dad.”
“Haah…… Let’s make a promise. After we graduate, let’s get our licenses. If you get yours first, give me rides.”
“Okay. We’ll definitely need licenses if we’re going to settle here.”
As I was poking at the egg in my jjolmyeon and putting it in my mouth, my phone on the table vibrated. I stopped mid-twist of my jjolmyeon and put down my chopsticks.
The chopstick tower I’d built in the center of my jjolmyeon remained standing fixed in place. Dongwoo picked it up instead and popped it in his mouth with a grin. Tsk. I was the one who rolled it all up……
“Hello.”
Without checking who it was, I glared at Dongwoo and pressed the call button. I picked up my chopsticks again to roll up more when a familiar voice came through the receiver.
—Daeyoung-ah.
“……Seongheon hyung?”
—Are you still meeting with friends? If you haven’t gone home, I’ll give you a ride.
Seongheon hyung had definitely been with some noona earlier. But I couldn’t be so clueless as to ask for a ride. Hadn’t Dongwoo said the same thing—that I was clueless?
“……Uh, no. No. I got on the bus!”
—Really? Did the bus schedule change?
To think Seongheon hyung even knew the village bus schedule to our house—he really was a thorough hyung. Well, he did come to our house often during middle and high school, so it made sense he’d know the bus times.
“Uhhh? Did it? Haha…… Hyung, my battery’s dying so I’ll hang up.”
—Daeyoung-ah. Then is it okay if hyung calls you in the evening?
“Why? Do you have something to say?”
—I just want to hear your voice.
“Ey, hyung……”
Talk to your girlfriend instead, why with me…… I tactfully didn’t finish that thought.
—Then don’t fall asleep and get off safely, and let’s talk later.
“Hy-hyung!”
—Hm?
“I’m planning to sleep early today! Let’s do it another day, not today. Then, sleep well too, hyung, and let’s talk another time.”
—Huh?
Even as Seongheon hyung was saying something, I hung up.
When I rattled off words like a machine gun and hurriedly pressed the end call button, Dongwoo, who’d been snooping on my jjolmyeon, looked up.
“Why’d you hang up so quickly? Like a fugitive?”
“I am a fugitive.”
“True.”
It wasn’t that I hung up quickly for that reason—I just didn’t want to be clueless and interfere with hyung’s romance.
Since Dongwoo had stolen all my jjolmyeon, we ordered an extra roll of kimbap and ate it before leaving the snack restaurant. The two of us took different village buses, so we parted in front of the shop.
Running to the bus stop, I looked at my quiet phone. Feeling bad about hanging up like that, I was about to send a message and tapped on the messenger profile when a familiar photo appeared.
‘Ah, why this photo……’
It was the selfie Seongheon hyung took with my phone when we were grilling meat yesterday. I’d sealed it away nicely, but Seongheon hyung, pleased about something, had set the photo of just the two of us as his profile picture.
“Why this photo of all things…… What’s with my face? And why am I grinning like that?”
Unable to look anymore, I forgot about sending a message and shoved my phone back in my pocket.
It felt like looking at my elementary school graduation album again. In elementary school, trying to look cool, I’d worn a leather jacket with shoulder pads, but I came out looking like I was photoshopped in. I still regretted ignoring the photographer’s advice to take it off.
Embarrassed by the sudden memory and not knowing what to do with myself, the village bus conveniently arrived and I jumped on. Sitting down and looking out at the dark country road through the window, my mind settled.
Like the quiet country road, it seemed there wouldn’t be much change in my life after graduation. Other friends were leaving for glamorous cities to start university life, but my future felt as empty as this country road.
I should have studied well like my hyungs and at least gotten into a national university, but what can you do when you don’t have a head for studying? I should just work hard learning from Dad and live the life of a dutiful son. Still, I fully intended to follow through on getting a driver’s license with Dongwoo.
‘Right, let’s do things one at a time. Keep doing that and I’ll be doing something.’
I rested my elbow on the window frame and propped my chin on it. I felt like I’d spent today noisily, but my heart felt empty. I somehow felt that way.
“……Everyone’s busy dating.”
Was that the reason? Still, it gave me strength that there was Dongwoo who, like me, didn’t have a girlfriend. If he gets married first, it’s betrayal.
Lost in thought alone, the village bus arrived at the entrance to our village.
“Take care, sir.”
“Yeah, Daeyoung! Try coming home earlier! Your parents will worry.”
“Sir, really. I’m old enough now.”
When I retorted cheekily to the driver’s scolding, the grandfather sitting in the front seat looked at me like I was ridiculous. After bowing politely even to the elderly man I was meeting for the first time, I stood under the orange streetlight.
Our house wasn’t far from the bus stop, but the road there didn’t have many streetlights so it was a bit scary. Maybe because I still wasn’t used to the darkness, every time I stepped on the ground it felt like I was endlessly sinking deep.
“I should file a complaint with city hall to put up a few more streetlights. I’m almost an adult after all.”
Thinking I had to keep living here, there were more than just one or two things to improve.
I couldn’t fully understand all the reasons my parents came to the countryside despite the inconveniences, but sometimes when I saw the pure white snow piled on the empty rice fields and the snow flowers blooming on tree branches, I thought I understood the reasons a bit.
When we lived in the city, the security guard would warn us even if hyung and I bickered just a little, and the nearby playground was always empty because all the kids our age were going to hagwon.
Since my parents both worked, it was rare for the family to sit together for dinner, and after I nearly caused a big fire trying to steam potatoes by myself in a kimchi container, Mom quit her job. Around that time, Mom and Dad seemed to have decided to fill Grandfather’s empty space.
Dad, who had originally been used to country life, had a much brighter expression than when we lived in the city, and Mom regained her vitality too. This place was inconvenient, but happiness filled it just as much. So those few inconveniences didn’t matter anymore.
