Only then did Jong-hwa slowly begin to look over the man in front of him. A height half again taller than his own. A strong jaw and masculine features. As if remembering, his eyes deepened for an instant.
“Ah, I remember now. That dragon from the gutter bastard. But looking at you up close…”
I quickly covered his mouth. Jung Hyun-wook didn’t even know I took the same class as him. He only knew me as a poor convenience store part-timer who got harassed by drunks all day and almost got molested on the street.
“If you need help, tell me. I’ll help you.”
The humanity of dawn laborers was deeper than I’d thought. Just as I felt a sense of camaraderie with them, Jung Hyun-wook was also worried about me. Or was he pitying me?
Jong-hwa snorted at Jung Hyun-wook’s words. But as long as he knew Jung Hyun-wook was a student at our school, he wouldn’t do anything reckless. Jong-hwa brushed off the collar that had been crumpled from being grabbed by Jung Hyun-wook.
“Hey mister. You misunderstood, and I don’t want to make this bigger either, so just go your way. I was just joking around. Though it’s not like we’re that close or anything, just neighborhood friends! You know? Just someone I got acquainted with coming and going in the neighborhood. That kind of thing.”
I prayed that Ahn Jong-hwa would please shut that mouth of his. Jung Hyun-wook’s gaze turned toward me. I quickly nodded my head. In the midst of that, I noticed the wound on Jung Hyun-wook’s lip. I took out a handkerchief from my inner pocket and handed it to him. I pointed at his lip while bowing my head repeatedly.
“It’s okay. Rather, I’m sorry. For misunderstanding.”
He who apologized turned his body and disappeared into the alley where he’d appeared. Did he go to the bus stop? He’d clearly left at first train time, so why was he still here?
Maybe he came back because he forgot something. Like how he’d come and gone to leave keys at dawn. If so, he might have come back multiple times today for things he’d left behind. I thought that perhaps today had been a long, unlucky day for Jung Hyun-wook.
His injured hand, and now a scratch on his handsome face too. I remembered Jong-hwa brutally twisting his bandaged hand. I punched Ahn Jong-hwa’s shoulder with my fist.
“Ah! Why are you hitting me!”
“I told you not to pull pranks like that on the street, didn’t I? You almost got reported last time and now again!”
Last time too, he’d pretended to be a thug extorting me next to me as I was returning from grocery shopping at the neighborhood supermarket. I walked ignoring Jong-hwa for a while when suddenly a patrol car pulled up next to us. Someone had called in a report. I kept bowing my head, not knowing what to do, thinking I’d made the people’s cane walk for nothing, but Ahn Jong-hwa held his stomach and laughed as if something was so funny.
“Hey, but is he really a dragon in the gutter? Not a dragon ascending to heaven with a dragon orb?”
“What does that mean?”
“Well… looking at him up close, he was a bit different from what I saw that day. Not a thug face. Something… like he had an aristocratic air?”
Aristocratic air? Well, Jung Hyun-wook’s appearance was plain but he was always neat and clean for a man. His eyes that opened wide horizontally, his sharply extending nose bridge, his solid jawline looked strong, but he didn’t have a rough edge. It was probably because of his intelligent eyes. Many implications flowed in his eyes. I asked:
“Do you know why people who work at dawn work so hard?”
“Why would they? Because they have to if they don’t.”
“Right. Like you and me. Because there’s no way not to do it. We have to do it. Jung Hyun-wook is like that too. I told you. He’s someone who lives diligently.”
So dawn work was different from earning pocket money. For some reason, Jong-hwa stared at me like that, then put the helmet on my head.
“Let’s go. To eat pork neck.”
***
“I announced during last class that there’s a team project. The number of team members doesn’t matter. If someone says they hate teams, you can do it alone. But one person must present, so you can present yourself.”
That meant it would be easier to just form a team. The professor’s joke didn’t get much of a response.
I’d been staring at the back of Jung Hyun-wook’s head the entire class. The lecture hall had already been noisy once over Jung Hyun-wook’s wound that was clearly from being hit. I watched from the innermost corner.
“The presentation topic is ‘Law in Daily Life.’ It’s about finding law experiences most closely related to our daily lives. Even very trivial things are good. What should you do when you pick up money while walking? Can you just keep it? No. According to Article 360 of the Criminal Act, it corresponds to embezzlement of lost property, so you must report found items to the police. I gave an easy example, but everything we easily overlook in our lives applies. Let’s look forward to diverse expansions of thought. Then today’s class ends here. Good work, everyone.”
As I came out with my bag on, someone chased after me. Is it that round-faced department representative again? I turned around but there was no face below my line of sight. When I raised my head, surprisingly, Jung Hyun-wook was there. He wasn’t wearing a cap. It was the first time since I’d met him.
A scab sat on his lip. A proper scratch on a face that had been flawless and clean. My brow furrowed automatically.
Did he discover me and hurriedly follow? How surprised he must have been to encounter the convenience store part-timer in the lecture hall. Especially with what happened at dawn. What face should I make? Should I make a surprised expression too?
“I wanted to give this back. I used it well.”
He handed me the handkerchief I’d given him. It was fluffy and dry, laundered at some point. A pleasantly rustling texture was felt in my hand. I just stood there unable to speak, hesitating.
“If you don’t have lunch plans, want to eat with me? I have something to say.”
***
The place Jung Hyun-wook took me was a small pasta restaurant. Inside the small shop were only two tables. The owner was busy doing everything alone. Jung Hyun-wook ordered on his own. He poured water into the cup in front of me and asked:
“Do you like pasta?”
I quickly nodded my head. Actually, aside from the spaghetti that came out in school meals, this was my first time eating something like this at a proper Western restaurant. I didn’t have food preferences anyway. But somehow, I didn’t want to reveal that in front of Jung Hyun-wook. Those things Jong-hwa talked about—acting pathetic and showing I had no money.
“Speaking informally doesn’t bother you, right? We’re the same age.”
I quickly nodded my head again. It was the first time I’d seen Jung Hyun-wook talk this much. He suddenly grinned. He made a somewhat sheepish face for a moment, then raised both hands in front of his chest. He slowly created consonants and vowels with his fingers, combining them into words. The word Jung Hyun-wook created in sign language was…
Jung Hyun-wook.
“That’s my name. You’re Mo Hyo-kyung, right? I knew. Actually, I was a bit surprised when we ran into each other at the convenience store. I didn’t expect to see you there. You seemed like you didn’t recognize me at all though.”
It didn’t make sense. Jung Hyun-wook was saying words I didn’t understand. I took out my phone and quickly wrote a text. I held it out to Jung Hyun-wook.
Memo Complete
You knew me? How?│
“You’re famous. There’s no one at our school who doesn’t know you.”
I became slightly sullen. Jung Hyun-wook’s low laughter was heard. Just then, the food came out.
“I swear, it’s not the reason you’re thinking right now.”
A plate was placed on the pure white linen table mat. Jung Hyun-wook placed the tomato pasta in front of me and placed a simple pasta with nothing but oil in front of himself. Very Jung Hyun-wook-like taste, I thought.
“Your 5-minute speech. The professor read it himself.”
I was shocked. I had no idea about that.
“I liked reading the legal codes. The rigid and boring clauses and standardized explanations. Only when reading those blunt declarations could I finally be at peace. To me, thrown into all kinds of uncertainty, it was the only truth and god.”
Jung Hyun-wook read my speech manuscript. My face turned bright red.
“I especially liked this part. As soon as I read this, I knew you wanted to become a judge. Actually, a legal scholar might suit you better. Anyway, not a lawyer. Lawyers will make money off the precedents you create.”
Jung Hyun-wook talked endlessly. He couldn’t even eat the pasta in front of him because he was talking. In contrast, I couldn’t speak, so I just poked at the pasta noodles. The sour tomato taste lingered in my mouth, but I couldn’t lift my fork again. I was afraid of dirtying the pure white, clean linen mat.
“Want to try this too?”
Jung Hyun-wook, who’d been watching me like that, switched the plate in front of him with mine. Before I knew it, Jung Hyun-wook’s taste of clean oil pasta was placed in front of me.
Jung Hyun-wook hadn’t taken a single bite of the oil pasta, yet quickly devoured my tomato pasta. In just two or three bites, the plate the size of Jung Hyun-wook’s palm became clean. Only then did I comfortably eat the oil pasta without worrying about dirtying the table mat.
“The unavoidable circumstances for missing the speech presentation—that’s a lie, right?”
I choked! A cough burst out from choking. Jung Hyun-wook handed me a water cup.
“Actually, I saw you that day. I was late to class and running when you were entering the library.”
