GBH 19

Kim Deuk-pal felt a sense of duty to keep Song Yi-heon’s body safe until his soul returned. Getting labeled a madman for revealing the truth that the soul had been swapped was the least of his worries. There was no way he could let that sly fox know the secret—who knows what tricks it might pull.

The fact that the fox not only hid its intentions but also wagged its tail with charm made Kim Deuk-pal’s blood boil. He wanted to teach the brat a lesson for trying to lull him into a false sense of security, only to strike him when least expected. He felt an overwhelming urge to give it a good kick and straighten out its attitude.

A child should act like a child to be lovable.

It was when his subtle annoyance showed behind a facade of friendliness.

“Choi Se-kyung!”

The tense atmosphere shattered. A group of boys from the opposite side of the study room recognized Se-kyung and rushed over excitedly.

“Is it really Choi Se-kyung? I called you out on a hunch.”

“Se-kyung! Are you staying for evening study?”

“What’s going on? You never did evening study before.”

Whether they were familiar or not, they quickly surrounded Se-kyung. Kim Deuk-pal, who was now also surrounded, tried to step away, but there was no space. Amid the male students, who cast shadows like goblins under the fluorescent lights, Kim Deuk-pal crossed his arms, feeling out of place.

The boys greeted Se-kyung warmly.

“What’s up with you two sticking so close? Thought you were, like, a couple or something.”

“Are you doing math? Isn’t this workbook way too easy?”

A male student in horn-rimmed glasses rummaged through Kim Deuk-pal’s workbook while asking. Se-kyung responded kindly as usual.

“I was helping a friend who didn’t understand.”

“You were explaining it to him?”

The boy with glasses paused for a moment, as if buffering, then suddenly made a suggestion.

“Hey, how about we start a study group? We could work through the same workbook, meet once or twice a week to explain things we don’t know on the whiteboard. It could even be good for interview practice. Wow, I just thought of it, but it sounds really good. Let’s do it, let’s do it.”

If they formed a study group, Se-kyung would undoubtedly be the focal point. With everyone gathered around and him being the best at math, it seemed like a good idea. Even now, the boys who gathered eyed Se-kyung with anticipation, hoping for a chance to study with him. There were rumors that Se-kyung had private tutoring sessions with a top instructor from Daechi-dong, and he consistently ranked at the top in mock exams. Just sharing study materials with him would feel like a windfall.

“Evening study sessions are a good time, right? We don’t want it to be too short, or we’ll lose momentum. Wednesday seems perfect. We can do one chapter at a time and adjust as we go. I’ll talk to the teacher. They’ll definitely let us use a classroom and give us the keys.”

The proposing student swiftly outlined the study plan, pushing up his horn-rimmed glasses. The others, eyeing Choi Se-kyung, raised their voices and attracted attention. Even clueless Kim Deuk-pal could see that they all wanted him to be the center of the group.

Studying with Se-kyung would improve grades and provide more material for their college application essays, enhancing their chances. The boy harbored a shallow scheme that being the leader of such a group would impress the admissions officers.

“What should we name the study group? How about ‘Trigonometry’? Se-kyung, what do you think?”

The boy, already moving on to naming the study group, asked as if Se-kyung had already agreed. Pimples stood out on the boy’s cheeks as he spoke.

Kim Deuk-pal, at his age, could read people’s faces to some extent, though he didn’t wholly believe it. That scheming brat, trying to snatch others’ efforts, was nothing but a wily fox. Kim Deuk-pal gritted his teeth inwardly, anticipating Se-kyung’s cunning moves.

There was no way the sharp-witted Choi Se-kyung would agree to this so easily.

“Well, let’s do that, then.”

However, Choi Se-kyung agreed like a puppet. He waited a bit longer just in case, but all he got was a silly smile and a nod from the boy proposing the study group. Kim Deuk-pal frowned slightly.

If this fox-like kid does this to me, what about the others?

If Se-kyung let himself be played, it would lower Deuk-pal’s own standing since he was already caught up in Se-kyung’s schemes. Unable to tolerate the idea, Deuk-pal leaned back in his chair, crossing one ankle over the other knee in a relaxed, cocky posture. His hand casually slid into his pocket, making his thin frame seem even more nonchalant as his knit vest sagged in loose folds.

“So, who’s the leader?”

An old-fashioned term like “study leader” chimed in and joined the conversation. The boys finally turned to face the unfamiliar face they had been glancing at sideways. Their excitement visibly dampened by his authoritative gaze. Even the boy who had been so eager to organize the group faltered, stammering.

“Um… Who are you?”

“I’m Song Yi-heon.”

“…?”

“Got a problem?”

The boys were more uncomfortable with the idea of a gay person than girls typically were. Because they were in front of Choi Se-kyung and he seemed friendly with Yi-heon, they forced themselves to control their expressions, but most of them still looked displeased.

If their prejudice could be changed overnight, they wouldn’t have bullied Song Yi-heon in the first place. Kim Deuk-pal calmly took in the mix of contempt and disdain in their gazes. For an ordinary teenager, such scorn from peers might have been hurtful, but to someone as seasoned as Kim Deuk-pal, who had seen all kinds of people in the back alleys, it was no more threatening than an angry chick glaring at him.

Despite the majority versus one situation, Choi Se-kyung subtly took Kim Deuk-pal’s side.

“If Yi-heon’s not in the study group, I’m not joining either.”

He said affectionately, then added as if to eradicate school bullying.

“Let’s all get along well.”

“Yeah, come on, kids. Be nice to each other.”

Kim Deuk-pal also added a word, urging them to heed the advice of adults. However, the boys, who had been embarrassed by Choi Se-kyung’s words, became braggarts in front of Song Yi-heon. Seeing the weak gay kid carry Choi Se-kyung on his back, they felt disgraced.

“Choi Se-kyung, let’s go to the school store together.”

Unable to openly insult Choi Se-kyung by associating him with the gay kid, they tried to separate him from Yi-heon by inviting him alone. However, Se-kyung declined, leaning against Song Yi-heon’s shoulder.

“You guys go ahead. I promised to help Yi-heon with his math problems.”

The boys, their faces twisted as if they’d bitten into something rotten, turned and grumbled as they left. Glancing back over their shoulders, their mouths moved furiously, clearly badmouthing the “gay kid.” In low voices only they could hear, they continued to mock Yi-heon until one of them asked, as if confused:

“So, what? Is Choi Se-kyung gay too?”

“Hey, shut up!”

One of the boys swung his fist at the boy who asked, and they hurriedly rushed out of the study, fearing Se-kyung might overhear. They could mess with someone like Yi-heon, who had no connections, but messing with Se-kyung, who came from a good family and had a solid reputation, was dangerous.

In reality, the study group was effectively disbanded. The boys would never spend time in the same space as Song Yi-heon, and Se-kyung declared he wouldn’t join the study group unless Song Yi-heon was included. A study group without Choi Se-kyung had no meaning.

As soon as the boys closed the study room door, Se-kyung leaned his forehead against Song Yi-heon’s shoulder. Kim Deuk-pal could feel the slight trembling of suppressed laughter and scoffed dismissively.

“Are you finished?”

Se-kyung, who had been quietly trembling with laughter for quite a while, finally calmed down, but showed no signs of moving. Instead, he tilted his forehead against Kim Deuk-pal’s shoulder, turning slightly to give him a playful smile. Aware that the boy who proposed the study group was behind this, Kim Deuk-pal couldn’t contain his amazement and playfully flicked Se-kyung’s eye with his thumb.

“Why is the kid who was so confident with me getting bullied by those punks?”

Could it be that I’m easier to push around than them? Kim Deuk-pal became serious.

“If you become too ambitious, you’ll get into trouble. It’s better to just compromise.”

Se-kyung tilted his head towards Song Yi-heon’s shoulder as he spoke. There was still a part of Se-kyung that couldn’t shake off the warning his father had given him long ago, when he’d wrapped his arms around his young son’s shoulders and locked eyes with him.

“Ridiculous.”

Kim Deuk-pal’s thin shoulders shrugged, as if dismissing such nonsense. Se-kyung finally straightened his body, the smile that had been lingering on his face fading. The way Kim Deuk-pal so easily dismissed the pressure that had gripped Se-kyung all his life made his words seem all the more absurd.

Kim Deuk-pal, or rather Song Yi-heon, was filled with a sarcasm that had never been present before.

“Is there really someone in this world without any ambition?”

The driving force that urged Kim Deuk-pal to rise from the bottom was ambition. He had fought through swollen eyes from countless punches, bandaged his hands, and even with a knife stuck in his stomach, never backed down from turf wars. Even now, inside Song Yi-heon’s body, his desire to exact revenge on behalf of the real Song Yi-heon and experience school life drove him.

“In a world where even a monk can’t help but stand up for himself, only an idiot wouldn’t want more.”

Having run away from home and endured various hardships in the back alleys since childhood, Showing manners and acting cultured only made sense when you weren’t worrying about your next meal. If someone like Song Yi-heon, who wasn’t capable enough to protect his own plate, deserved a helping hand, a person who pretended to be enlightened by sacrificing his own for others was a fool in Kim Deuk-pal’s eyes.

“…. Right.”

Se-kyung ceased all movement and fixed a penetrating gaze on Song Yi-heon. The cynicism on Song Yi-heon’s soft, delicate features didn’t suit him, yet it was intensely compelling—so much so that it gave Se-kyung chills. At the same time, it was strangely alluring. A quiet surge of exhilaration rose in Se-kyung’s dark pupils, like the tide coming in.

The sheer thrill of watching his lifelong warnings crumble so easily left him breathless.

Still unable to tear his gaze away from Song Yi-heon, Se-kyung echoed his words.

“An idiot indeed.”

Seeing this strange boy smile openly in delight made Kim Deuk-pal grin as well.

“Are you enjoying this?”

What was difficult for Se-kyung came easily to Kim Deuk-pal. And in a way, it was only natural. Breaking free from one’s shell might be a tremendous struggle for a fledgling bird, but for someone like Kim Deuk-pal, who had already seen it all and survived, it was trivial.

Just as Kim Deuk-pal had effortlessly dealt with the problems that had once driven Song Yi-heon to the brink of despair—to the point where he’d rather jump off an overpass than go to school—Se-kyung’s problems, too, were barely even worth thinking about.

It was such a non-issue that Kim Deuk-pal didn’t even realize what he had done to Se-kyung. And for the first time, as Se-kyung smiled innocently like a kid his age, Kim Deuk-pal felt a sense of satisfaction.

“Now, solve the next problem.”

“…Okay.”

“You’re pretty tolerable when you’re quiet.”

Until the bell signaling the start of the second evening study session rang, Se-kyung continued solving math problems for him. The distance between their shoulders, which had narrowed earlier, was now gone entirely, and the warmth from their bodies radiated from where their heads leaned close over the workbook.