It was English class. I thought it was quite interesting and good that they taught classics not learned in Korea. I was satisfied with the teaching methods different from Korea, and I was pleased to learn lots of things I couldn’t learn in the Korean curriculum. This class period was the same, so I entered the classroom with light steps.
Really, really I was in a good mood. Really… Until I confirmed who was sitting in the very back seat of that classroom.
Thud, my heart sank and my mood plummeted in an instant.
“Hello, seventh.”
“…You weren’t here last time.”
That was one of the reasons I was in a good mood. Not taking the same class as Joel Gomez. This is an advanced English class… Right, that bastard was unexpectedly smart.
“Ah, I switched classes. They said I could. Why, got a complaint?”
Joel frowned, and I shook my head. Then I went and sat in the very front seat farthest from Joel. Let’s ignore him, let’s turn away. I kept repeating it to myself, but Joel shouted.
“Hey, nerds aren’t popular!”
I’ll take care of my own popularity. This unpopular… well, not unpopular 78% popularity. Why does a kid like that have high popularity? Because he’s handsome? …I’ll admit that. But his personality is bad. Is the ‘bad boy’ type a classic style that works in America too? But Joel Gomez wasn’t simply a ‘bad boy.’ He was a ‘foul-tempered teenage drug dealer.’
“Hey.”
“……”
“Ya.”
“…What.”
When I ignored him, he threw crumpled paper at me, so I eventually turned around. Joel, sitting crookedly in his chair, giggled. He’ll ruin his back and get a herniated disc like that. Even though he’s an American whose medical insurance is a mess. Even in Korea, spinal disc surgery costs thousands. Spend all the money from selling drugs on disc treatment!
“Just. I’m bored.”
Joel shrugged. Annoying. Really annoying…
“I’m going to listen to class, so don’t disturb me.”
Since students were now gradually entering the classroom with just the two of us, I turned my body around swiftly. I didn’t want to show that I knew Joel.
“Nerd.”
This time I thoroughly ignored Joel’s voice, which was uncharacteristically soft and gentle. Yeah, I’m a nerd. You think anyone can be first in the entire school? Aren’t you from an autonomous private high school? An autonomous private high school? How hard I worked to get into that high school in Korea and how hard I worked to maintain first place in the entire school! …In the end, I failed Korea University Medical School, but… No, let’s not think about that…
The red letters ‘FAIL!’ danced before my eyes, so I shook my head. Let’s forget about retaking the exam and entrance exams and just think about surviving. Let’s focus on class again. Learning is fun, after all.
Before long, all the students sat in their seats. When the teacher came in and class started, I sparkled my eyes and tried to absorb all the teachings. I’ve read Emily Brontë’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ in Korean, but learning it in English is different again…
Tap, tap! The kid in the seat behind tapped my back. Thinking they wanted me to pick up some school supplies or something, I turned around, and a male student with messy hair held out a piece of paper. It was torn from a book.
Give me back my 10 dollars!!!!!
“……”
Son of a bitch…
Although there was no sender written, I could tell who sent it.
I crumpled the paper in my hand and put it in my pocket. I tried to focus on class again. But the male student in the back seat tapped my shoulder again. When I ignored him, he actually hit me—thud, thud!—loud enough to make a sound, so it hurt and I eventually turned around. This time too, it was paper torn from a book.
Want to know what happened to everyone who ripped off my money? 🙂
“……”
Can’t I report this as school violence? I glanced at the teacher. She seemed to have already noticed that Joel was sending me strange notes. But she wasn’t desperately looking at me and Joel. She must already know the rumors about Joel.
Ah, right. I heard that public school teachers in America aren’t that respected as a profession. So they don’t have much authority like in Korea. Well, even if it were Korea, they wouldn’t want to get involved with a student like Joel Gomez. But how did I get involved! I crumpled the paper in my hand again.
Fortunately, Joel didn’t send another note. Unfortunately, it was because the bell rang and class ended.
“Hey, seventh.”
“……”
“Do you plan to answer only after I call you seven times since you’re the seventh? Ah, my throat hurts. Ah, ah. I don’t even have medical insurance, so who should I get my hospital bills from?”
“Here! 10 dollars! That’s it!”
Even if I said I paid last time, he’d insist it’s void because the candy bars, candies, and everything were confiscated. He’s not someone you can reason with. I took out my wallet from my bag and grabbed and handed over all the bills I could. Joel, who had been sauntering over, stared into my eyes. At the same time, he stuck out his tongue and licked the tip of his thumb.
Why, why is he doing that? For some reason, I was a bit flustered as I recalled the kiss I had with Dave at the red tongue tip stained with jelly coloring. But Joel had only done it to count his money. He started counting the money one by one with his saliva-wetted finger. And after flipping through the last bill, he glared at me with a fierce expression.
“It’s not enough.”
“What?”
“It’s only 7 dollars.”
Tap, tap, tap! Joel slapped his palm with the wad of money. That palm was so big that I had the absurd imagination that if he hit once, my head might pop off and fly away from my body.
“…Can I transfer to your account?”
“Would that work?”
“……”
Joel raised one eyebrow.
“That’s all the cash I have.”
“Really? Then you’ll have to pay with your body. Come out.”
Joel stuffed the money into his pants pocket and pointed to the door with his chin. I gathered my bag while saying in a small voice.
“…I won’t do illegal things.”
Drug dealing, I don’t like that stuff! Prison, especially American prison, I don’t want to go! When I made a serious expression with a frown, Joel inflated his ribcage and let out a huff.
“Ha! That’s absurd. What kind of illegal activity do you think there is for 3 dollars?”
3 dollars is… roughly 4,000 won? Whether in America or Korea, 4,000 won wouldn’t even be an hourly wage.
“Aren’t you following? Huh?”
“I’m going!”
The place I followed Joel to was the school parking lot. Joel, who stopped in front of an old sedan, rummaged through his pockets and then took something out and threw it to me.
“Drive.”
“……”
“I said do it?”
Joel opened the passenger door and leaned against it while raising his eyebrows. The weight of the car keys that came into my hand felt excessively heavy.
“…I can’t drive.”
“You have a license!”
“But… I can’t. I have no talent. Uh… I’ve even been in an accident! So I haven’t driven since then!”
I threw the car keys back to Joel as if they were a hot potato. Smack! Joel, who caught the keys nimbly, let out a “Ha!” huff.
“Then what use are you?”
“…I’m smart! I have good memory too! I memorize almost everything I see once!”
It was the advantage I had. I benefited greatly from that memory. But Joel doesn’t seem to believe it. He narrowed his eyes.
“I already know you’re stupid.”
“I’m not stupid!”
“What’s 6,312+23,453-54,333?”
“……”
Six… what? When I just blinked, Joel knocked on my head as if knocking—tap, tap.
“You are stupid.”
“How do you calculate that mentally!”
“It’s easy. It’s 12,321. What am I going to do with a useless bastard who can’t even drive… Get in.”
Joel clicked his tongue at me complaining. I was annoyed by his attitude as if looking at a truly hopeless stupid idiot. When I sulked with my mouth shut, Joel, who got into the driver’s seat, stuck his body out the window and shouted.
“Can’t you even understand when I tell you to get in now!”
“Getting in!”
I eventually got into the passenger seat. And I tapped the equation I heard earlier into my phone calculator. 12,321 my ass! It was -24,568!
* * *
“What is this place?”
“Can’t you tell by looking?”
I blinked and looked at the sign on the small building. The place Joel brought me to was…
“Why did we come here?”
“Why else would you come to a movie theater? To watch a movie.”
It was an incredibly small and old-looking movie theater.
“Why would I watch a movie with you?”
“Be my bodyguard.”
Joel answered carelessly as if it were nothing much. But it was something.
“…Me?”
“Yeah. I have some business where I might get shot. Have you been shot? Fuck, it hurts like hell. Blood flows down, and it feels like someone set my body on fire. I bleed so fucking much that my head gets fucking dizzy.”
Joel, who was unbuckling his seatbelt, leaned toward me and made all kinds of faces. As if he’d been shot right now. His finger tapped between his left side and abdomen—tap, tap.
Gun… Right, this is America… Did he really get shot before? I knew the current situation was bad and he was a bad kid, but Joel Gomez was also only eighteen years old. If he was shot before, he must have been shot when he was even younger.
“Are you scared?”
“…Yeah.”
Joel giggled, and I nodded obediently while gripping the seatbelt tightly. Joel erased his smile and pulled his body back.
“…You’re a child.”
“I am young. I’m eighteen.”
“That’s right. Really just an eighteen-year-old child…”
Joel looked me over carefully. I lowered my head and swallowed my complaints while unbuckling my seatbelt. He’s eighteen too… If someone heard, they’d think he was an old man over eighty.
“Hey, kid. The gun is a joke, so just follow me.”
Really as if treating a child, Joel’s tone became much softer. It was a tone that matched well with his uncharacteristically gentle voice. He just goes around grimacing fiercely, but looking at his appearance, it seems to match his voice… No, his personality shows all over his face, so it still doesn’t match.
“What do you want to drink?”
Joel, who stood in front of the small snack corner inside the movie theater, asked. There was a savory smell of popcorn.
“Are you buying?”
“I’ll put it all on your debt.”
“……”
I came to pay off debt but instead it’s going to increase. This isn’t even a loan shark.
