“We’re boarding right away. No objections, right everyone?”
After Lee Heemin shouted loudly, they all boarded the plane together. A male classmate who made eye contact with him in the middle gave him a deep smile. Since he didn’t know his name and wasn’t sure the greeting was directed at him, he ignored it.
“Woojae, do you want this?”
Just then, Sojeong spoke to him. Since Gye Sajun had left his seat saying he was going to the bathroom for a moment, Woojae ended up standing alone with Sojeong.
“What is it?”
“Motion sickness medicine. It’s fine if you don’t need it, but I always make sure to take it. I thought you might need it too.”
“Thanks.”
Actually, since he’d never been on a plane before, there were more than one or two things to worry about. He’d taken motion sickness medicine as soon as he got on the bus earlier, but since a plane was also a vehicle, motion sickness could come again. As Woojae received a pill from Sojeong, he briefly wondered whether he should ask for one for Gye Sajun too.
“Yeon Sojeong, talk to me for a bit.”
Just then, a male classmate approached and took Sojeong away, leaving Woojae standing alone again. I should contact her during this gap.
[Nari-ya. You ate the seaweed soup well, right? Oppa’s going now. Contact me if anything happens.]
After sending one text message, he didn’t forget to switch to airplane mode.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah, shit. You scared me.”
He was startled by Gye Sajun suddenly appearing and bringing his face close.
“Y-you don’t need to know.”
After making the resolution to refuse his proposal, it somehow felt even more awkward. When he took a step back, Gye Sajun’s expression became even worse, but he couldn’t worry about that.
The seat Woojae was assigned was a single seat. He thought he’d be able to go comfortably, but belatedly thought of Gye Sajun.
“Your seat is—”
He was about to ask where it was when he saw Gye Sajun pass by him to find his own seat.
Somehow he felt strange. He was embarrassed that he’d naturally thought Gye Sajun would somehow switch seats to sit next to him. Inside the plane where seats were arranged in rows of two and one, Woojae felt isolated once again.
“I guess he doesn’t need me anymore.”
In the first place, he himself was in no position to readily say he’d take responsibility for him either. Though he didn’t know why he felt bad, if Gye Sajun’s feelings had changed overnight, there was nothing he could do about it. Even thinking that, on the other hand, his chest ached.
Soon after, the captain’s announcement began to flow.
Since it was his first time on a plane in his life, everything felt awkward. It was objectively comfortable, but the seat seemed excessively spacious. It was even more embarrassing because everyone except him was so natural. As Woojae looked around, he glanced at a classmate sitting diagonally, then took out an eye mask from his pocket and put it on. He was curious about the view outside the window, but he felt like he’d be ignored if he showed his excitement. It would be more comfortable to just not care at all. He felt the sensation of takeoff along with slightly noisy sounds.
For something this heavy to fly in the sky. The thought that it might fall suddenly came to him, but there was nothing he could do except grip his pants tightly.
With his ears ringing, he felt his tilted body return to its original position. It seemed they’d safely entered the stratosphere. When he slightly lowered his eye mask and looked out the window, they were already above the clouds. He felt a bit of wonder, but only briefly—he quickly got bored.
‘I should just sleep.’
Right before his eyes was a blanket allocated to each seat. Among the noisily chattering students, Woojae tried to sleep miserably. The flight time was neither very long nor short. At times like this, the best strategy was to make up for lacking sleep.
Then something dropped onto his head with a thud. What Woojae discovered after slightly lifting his eye mask was some piece of paper. It had hit his head and fallen.
[Ape]
It was a note with three characters written in crude handwriting. Woojae stared at the note with an expressionless face. He could hear giggling laughter from right behind him. As soon as he separated from Gye Sajun, childish and disgusting harassment had begun.
The answer to this kind of thing was not to react. Woojae put on his eye mask again and tried to sleep. A few more notes fell on his head, but he desperately suppressed the surging anger. He did imagine throwing the unknown bastard sitting behind him out of the plane, but he could endure this much.
‘Keep acting crazy. I’m going to sleep.’
But that resolution didn’t last long either. When Woojae was biting his lips, unable to sleep from anger, ice-cold liquid poured over his head.
“Ah, sorry. What should I do?”
When he took off the eye mask that had gotten soaked, what he saw before his eyes was the male classmate who had smiled at him before boarding. His already sensitive mood felt like it was twisting.
“What are you doing?”
At the insane act of pouring wine on his head of all things, an anger-soaked voice burst out. The male classmate made his eyebrows into a八-shape and fidgeted restlessly.
“Sorry, sorry. What should I do? The aircraft shook, so I made a mistake.”
It shook? He hadn’t felt it at all. But when the male classmate standing before him apologized with a look like he was about to cry, it became a situation where he couldn’t just get angry.
“It’s fine. Be careful from now on. It’s dangerous.”
The wet clothes were unpleasant, but his anger subsided at the other person’s attitude of not knowing what to do and clutching the wine glass tightly. It can happen. Who doesn’t make mistakes? It was the moment Woojae was about to turn his head with narrowed eyebrows.
“Is it expensive clothing? Should I give you dry cleaning money? I’m really sorry.”
His nerves became sharp at the question asked while pinching the wet hem with fingertips. The hand shape was like picking up food waste. He’d tried to let it pass as an insignificant mistake, but he saw the corner of the other person’s mouth slightly raised when their eyes met. There’s a limit to roundabout insults. He was clearly mocking his cheap clothes.
“…Hey.”
“You’re not going to hit me, are you? I apologized…”
Now it was a tone as if reproaching him instead. Only then did he see that the bastards sitting around him were watching the two of them with great interest. They were familiar faces. The young masters he’d shown the taste of violence were positioned centered around him. He didn’t know who had arranged the seats, but it definitely wasn’t Jang Yeonju, who had been preoccupied with drinking anyway.
After wiping his wine-soaked face with his palm, what he saw were pieces of paper scattered at his feet. However many they threw, it’s childish and low-class beyond compare. Even if this behavior was meant to harass him, he couldn’t cause a disturbance on the plane. Woojae stood up abruptly from his seat.
“Hey, aren’t you accepting my apology? Are you angry right now?”
“Apology?”
“Yeah. I said I was sorry to you. I did it four times.”
Even while saying that, his attitude was so arrogant with eyes that said ‘you wouldn’t dare hit me now, would you.’ Even though you’re smaller than me. Rather, the one without fear was him. Woojae looked down at the bastard standing before him holding an empty glass.
“Move, what’s-your-name. I’ll send you a bill later, so write your name and go. See that paper on the floor?”
“What? What’s-your-name? You don’t even know my name?”
The bastard was at a loss for words, seemingly dumbfounded that Woojae didn’t know his name. Seeing him get immediately flustered after acting fake was even a little satisfying.
“While you’re at it, write your number too. It’ll be hard to find you with just your name.”
Woojae passed by him and went straight to the bathroom. The temperature of the wine dripping from his chin was unpleasant. As he walked to find the bathroom, a flight attendant who belatedly discovered Woojae’s appearance hurriedly pulled out a towel.
“Oh my. There’s a makeshift shower room in the back cabin, so you can wash there. The bathroom is a bit cramped. I’m really sorry.”
Seeing the noticeably flustered flight attendant made him let out a hollow laugh instead. Her attitude made it impossible not to know how ridiculous he looked.
“Thank you.”
Since his clothes were packed in the checked luggage, he had no choice but to roughly dry them with a hairdryer. To be in a situation where I have to pray there’s a hairdryer in the makeshift shower room.
There would be wine stains, but that much didn’t matter. While striding toward the makeshift shower room, he found himself looking for Gye Sajun without realizing it. Even though it wasn’t intentional, his eyes moved. At the end of his gaze, he caught sight of the sleeping Gye Sajun. It’s rather fortunate he’s asleep. In this situation, relying on Gye Sajun was more hateful than death.
After Woojae disappeared, Song Heeseok, who had baptized him with wine, returned to his seat with a very angry expression.
“He doesn’t even know my name. Seriously? I’m speechless.”
At Song Heeseok’s complaint, Im Segyu, who was sitting next to him, burst into laughter and retorted.
“Really funny. Still, you got to taste expensive alcohol with this opportunity, so it’s a windfall. For a beggar bastard.”
“That’s what I’m saying! Did you see him glare at me earlier? Really shows he has no manners.”
“Good Heeseok, be patient. Even at the zoo, animals get angry when you throw things at them.”
“I feel so bad though? I apologized.”
“I’ll get revenge for you.”
While they were scheming and giggling, Gye Sajun was sleeping after taking medicine for a strange headache, and Jang Yeonju was completely knocked out from the previous day’s hangover. The only person who witnessed all of this was Sojeong. Of course, Sojeong also wanted to save Woojae, but she couldn’t move an inch because of the friend preventing her from standing up.
“Why are you being like this!”
“Stay still. Do you want to be bullied too? Why do you keep taking care of him? Do you think you’re on the level of Jang Yeonju or Gye Sajun?”
His classmate, Kang Taehwan, firmly set his jaw and dissuaded Sojeong. The two were old childhood friends. Though they’d grown distant recently after Sojeong got a fiancé.
