Henry ran down the dormitory stairs like someone being chased by something. His heart rattled. He kept recalling Declan’s expression when he heard his words.
He had a face that didn’t understand, and Henry became afraid because he wasn’t understood.
He wanted to quickly wrap up this situation. He wanted to make it something that never happened from the start.
Henry opened the gym door as if pushing it with strong force. Relying on the dying bright red sunlight, Henry found the cleaning supply cabinet and took out a vacuum cleaner.
‘Let’s clean up quickly and go.’
Belatedly, he thought he might have brought up unnecessary words.
I shouldn’t have brought up David. Why did I make excuses? I should have just apologized.
It was a series of regrettable things. Undefinable emotions swirled. Henry bit his lips tightly.
He plugged the vacuum cord into the outlet and turned on the power. The noisy industrial vacuum sound blocked out all the noise coming from outside. Only then did Henry sigh and try to bring the vacuum toward the broken glass.
“Put that down.”
If only someone hadn’t grabbed his shoulder and whispered in a low voice into his ear.
Henry startled and jumped. It was a voice he’d grown accustomed to. He could tell who it was without even looking back.
The man seemed to have run down. The breath touching his ear was quite rough.
“Russell? I said I’d do it, why did you come back again…”
In the brief moment when startled Henry stopped his actions, at some point Declan had snatched the vacuum held in his hand.
“What are you doing? We need to clean up quickly…”
“Stay still. You’ll get hurt.”
“You…”
Declan put down the vacuum and blocked Henry from approaching. That’s when it happened.
Slam—!
The gym door opened once more, and a man dressed as a janitor hurriedly entered. Deep bewilderment had risen on his face.
The man’s mouth fell open at seeing the glass shards and broken basketball hoop. Then he looked back at Declan.
“This. Did you do this?”
He frowned and asked Declan.
Henry tried to say that it wasn’t him but himself who did it, but Declan was one step faster.
“No. It was broken from the start.”
“…From the start, you say? Even lies have limits. I clearly checked yesterday too…!”
“You didn’t today.”
At Declan’s words, the man’s face turned red and blue.
“Because I didn’t for one day, the hoop became like this in the meantime? You guys must have broken it.”
“This is the gym. Before we clean, it’s also a place the basketball club uses.”
“Bring evidence. That the basketball club kids did it. You’re the football club, right? Looking at your bodies, you guys look plenty capable of breaking the hoop too. How can I trust the words of punks who got disciplined for fighting?”
“What kind of…!”
Henry, who couldn’t listen anymore, opened his mouth in frustration. All he’d done was pull on the uniform draped over the rim. There was no way an intact rim would break from just that much force.
It was when Henry unknowingly took a step toward the man. Declan reached out his hand and stopped him.
Henry looked up at Declan with a frowning face.
“Why are you stopping me?”
“Let’s just go.”
“What? Why? He’s pinning it on us right now!”
Declan lowered his head slightly and spoke quietly toward Henry.
“You’ll know tomorrow.”
Henry was bewildered and looked up at him. Declan’s low voice felt eerily loud.
“…What are you going to do?”
Henry didn’t want to leave like this. Because he still felt wronged.
But the man didn’t seem to be someone you could have a conversation with, and Henry also had no good way to resolve this matter.
“Fine. I just need to go, don’t I?”
Henry answered curtly and walked following Declan. The doubt of whether it was really okay wouldn’t disappear.
***
The next morning. Joseph, who saw Henry’s face, asked in surprise.
“Hey, what’s that on your face?”
“Something happened.”
“You didn’t come in until I went to sleep yesterday. Did you fight with Russell again while cleaning?”
At Joseph’s appearance of mentioning Declan as the cause of the wound as if it were natural, Henry let out a hollow laugh.
“Why would I throw punches with that bastard?”
“Why would you? You two hate each other. Two archenemies went to clean together and appeared with a wound, so what else would I think? Ask the kids who know you two. They’ll all ask if you fought with Russell, won’t they?”
Was it that much normally? Henry awkwardly scratched his face.
“It was a simple accident. That bastard helped, so I got hurt less.”
At Henry’s words, Joseph’s eyes narrowed. Making a strange “hmm” sound, he looked at him and asked.
“So. Did your feelings toward Russell suddenly soften?”
“What?”
“No, you used to be full of curses every time you talked to me about Russell before. But today is a bit different? You’re even defending him, saying it’s not his fault.”
“What, over just this? I still hate that bastard. I just stated the facts.”
“It wasn’t always based on something definite when you cursed him.”
Henry momentarily lost his words. He wanted to deny that there was no such thing, but even just yesterday’s events were like that. Hadn’t he arbitrarily interpreted what he said and caused trouble?
…Though he still couldn’t believe those words really weren’t made with that intention.
Joseph looked at Henry’s flustered face and stood up.
“Whatever the reason. It’s good if you and that guy make up. David worried about you yesterday too. He’s worried you and Russell will fight after he graduates. Don’t you feel sorry for him? It’s already been almost a year since Russell transferred. During that year, it must have been hard mediating between you and him.”
“…”
“Well. It’s fine if you felt something from this opportunity. I have a girlfriend waiting. I’m leaving first.”
While Henry was lost in thought, Joseph patted Henry’s shoulder and opened the dormitory door first and left.
Even after he left, Henry only came down from the bed and started preparing to go to school after a long while.
He picked up his rolling bag, gathered his books and writing utensils, and put on the shirt hanging in the room. Even in that short time, sighs kept leaking out.
Henry recalled the moment Declan pulled him yesterday. Not only had his weakness been caught, but he’d even received help.
Besides, last night, he had guaranteed he would resolve even the janitor’s absurd insistence.
He felt like he’d become a bad person.
Declan, who warned him in advance despite their bad relationship.
Himself, who twisted his words and was stubborn.
On top of that, even after hearing Declan’s words that it wasn’t that intention, wasn’t Henry still reconsidering and questioning his intentions?
With thoughts filling his head, Henry opened the dormitory door holding his bag. He needed to forcibly stop thinking.
However, making his efforts meaningless, when he opened the dormitory door and went down, Declan’s back as he was going out the front gate was visible.
It wasn’t far.
He could approach and give a morning greeting. He could ask how he resolved the problem with the janitor. He could also ask if it hurt, since last night he’d hit the ground instead of him. He could also say thank you once more.
Henry stopped walking. Instead of approaching him and speaking, he looked at that back.
How should he face him, how should he bring it up?
Henry didn’t know the method. He felt like a young child who went to kindergarten separated from their mother for the first time.
Why such thoughts came on a day like this, Henry couldn’t understand himself.
Eighteen years of time. The world Henry had lived in was always his. The world revolved around him, and if he wanted it, it would come true even without specifically saying so.
Henry realized for the first time how immature a person he was.
It was the first time experiencing something that wouldn’t be resolved no matter how much he thought or how much he circled around. That’s why he wasn’t used to situations like now and didn’t know how to handle them.
Because he didn’t know, he stayed still. Just hoping Declan would approach him now and tell him.
Henry glared at Declan’s back as it moved away.
The slow steps like usual looked fine, and that irritated him.
Declan Russell, at least, didn’t move according to Henry Lowell’s thoughts. He wasn’t swayed either. He was a person who was utterly unreadable.
His mind was dizzy at the first unknown existence he’d encountered.
