GBH 17

Three big men occupied a corner of the snack bar. To be precise, it was a small guy wedged between two larger ones, but Kim Deuk-pal firmly believed they were three strong men. They stood at a wall-mounted counter with cup noodles and triangular kimbap, waiting for the noodles to cook. Ignoring the curious glances at their unusual trio, the men opened their cup noodles after three minutes. Hot steam wafted out, carrying the spicy scent of ramen.

Se-gyeong, holding the hot cup in his palm, noticed that Song Yi-heon and Hong Jae-min folded their cup lids to eat from, so he followed suit. However, being inexperienced with cup noodles, his clumsy folding caused the broth to spill, staining his white shirt with red marks.

“You idiot, can’t you even eat that properly?”

Seizing the opportunity, Hong Jae-min snickered and teased. Kim Deuk-pal gestured for the wet wipes in the corner of the counter and said:

“Don’t tease your friends. Get along nicely.”

It was the kind of thing a victim of school violence might say to a bully, but the situation was strange. Even Jae-min, feeling guilty about his past actions, quietly handed over the wet tissue. Se-gyeong used it to wipe the spilled broth off his uniform before resuming his meal. As the sound of slurping noodles echoed, Jae-min, having finished first, opened his triangular kimbap.

Then it occurred to him that the rich young master Choi Se-kyung might be eating triangular kimbap for the first time and wouldn’t know how to open it properly. Unable to miss a chance to mock, he eagerly turned to him.

“Hey, do you even know how to open a triangular kimbap…?”

Hong Jae-min’s words trailed off at the scene before him. While Se-kyung had perfectly pulled open both sides of the kimbap wrapper, Kim Deuk-pal was holding just a white lump of rice. He had apparently tried to open it, as the crumpled wrapper lay on the counter, still holding the seaweed.

“How do you open this thing?”

Kim Deuk-pal scratched the back of his head as he held it out. He had only seen his young subordinates eat these, never trying one himself.

After a moment of silence, Hong Jae-min grumbled and swapped his properly opened kimbap with Kim Deuk-pal’s. Se-kyung, a beat late, stared at his empty hand before taking a bite from the corner of the kimbap. His usually smiling face looked oddly displeased.

“Hey, you’ve got plenty of money. Why haven’t you eaten a triangular kimbap before?”

“Probably because you took a lot of it.”

“You little…!”

Hong Jae-min bristled at Se-kyung’s casual remark, but Kim Deuk-pal, chewing on his kimbap, added:

“He didn’t just take money. He made me steal too, right?”

“Hey, that’s…”

As Song Yi-heon didn’t defend or forgive him, Hong Jae-min nervously stuffed his mouth full of kimbap. Since Hong Jae-min had only been brought along after kicking him, Kim Deuk-pal had no intention of letting him off easy and continued eating, picking up his ramen cup. The dry kimbap made him thirsty, so he slurped down the remaining broth. The savory taste, full of seasoning, was exactly the same as when he first tried it over thirty years ago after moving to the city.

The three men left the snack bar, each with an ice pop for dessert, and walked along the school grounds. Hong Jae-min, who had been trailing behind awkwardly, suddenly cursed when his phone rang and left in a different direction. Though he had reluctantly eaten with them, he disappeared without a word when an opportunity arose.

Whether Hong Jae-min was there or not was of no concern to Kim Deuk-pal, who sucked on his ice pop while taking in the unfamiliar school grounds. The students who had finished lunch seemed to have a prearranged plan: the girls were strolling around the school, while the boys were playing soccer on the field. Honestly, Kim Deuk-pal was itching to jump onto the field and kick the ball around too.

“Se-kyung, hi!”

“Hello.”

The celebrity Choi Se-kyung was busy receiving greetings from girls even on the walkway filled with only female students. Just as one group of arm-in-arm girls waved and passed by, another group called out to Se-kyung with cheerful greetings. Kim Deuk-pal clicked his tongue, thinking Choi Se-kyung’s life must be exhausting in its own way, as he kindly responded to each greeting.

Meanwhile, the girls didn’t recognize Song Yi-heon with his newly short hair. They showed interest in the handsome boy who looked young and cute but had fierce eyes, a serious expression, yet was earnestly sucking on an ice pop. Instead of asking Song Yi-heon, whom they thought was a stranger, they asked Choi Se-kyung, whom they knew.

“Who’s that next to you?”

“My boyfriend,” Se-kyung answered with a playful smile.

“Has this crazy bastard lost his mind…!”

Kim Deuk-pal threw away his ice pop and grabbed Se-kyung by the collar. The girls, initially startled, soon burst into laughter when Song Yi-heon vehemently denied the claim, realizing it was just a joke. They giggled, saying the two looked cute together, offering congratulations and wishing them a happy relationship.

Only Kim Deuk-pal continued to rage, shaking Se-kyung by the collar. Unable to confront the girls, he berated the more approachable Choi Se-kyung.

“No, we’re not dating! Hey, aren’t you going to say something properly?”

“Why, Yi-heon? Are you embarrassed by me?”

Se-kyung retorted mischievously, despite his collar digging into his skin. However, when the boy’s identity was revealed by his name being called, the laughter died down. If it was Song Yi-heon, known for rumors of being gay, it might not be a joke, and they couldn’t just laugh it off.

“Ah… are you Song Yi-heon?”

As the atmosphere changed, Kim Deuk-pal shoved Se-kyung’s collar away and stood nonchalantly.

“Yeah, what about it?”

treated the girls with respect, he wasn’t kind enough to tolerate rude kids who clearly despised them. The only reason he hadn’t acted more harshly was because they were girls; if they had been boys, he wouldn’t have hesitated.

“So, are you two… you know… same-sex… I mean, really dating…?”

The girls weren’t particularly against homosexuality. However, since Song Yi-heon had been bullied at school for being gay, it was difficult for them to accept homosexuality without reservation. And the way Song Yi-heon glared so sharply only added to their discomfort. The girls instinctively crossed their arms tightly, feeling uneasy.

For Song Yi-heon to fit in with his peer group, he needed to take a clear stance on his outing. Unfortunately, 47-year-old Kim Deuk-pal couldn’t comprehend the subtle dynamics among the youngsters.

His blunt argument was: Since they were all at the same school, why can’t they all get along nicely?

Just as the girls were about to be overwhelmed by Song Yi-heon’s cold demeanor, Se-kyung intervened. He put his arm around Song Yi-heon’s shoulders, breaking the cold atmosphere, and explained:

“The rumor is wrong. We’re just friends.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, Yi-heon doesn’t like crowded places, so we often meet up alone. I guess that’s how the strange rumors started. You know Yi-heon doesn’t get along with Hong Jae-min, right? When Jae-min saw me and Yi-heon meeting alone, he spread those rumors to make things difficult for Yi-heon.”

It was a plausible lie mixed with some truth. Moreover, when the well-regarded Choi Se-kyung explained it kindly like a politician before an election, the girls didn’t doubt him.

“Well, Hong Jae-min is kind of like that.”

“Yi-heon shaved his head because he was annoyed by that rumor, right?”

“Don’t touch it.”

When Se-kyung playfully ruffled Song Yi-heon’s short hair, Yi-heon sullenly kicked him in the shin. Seeing this ordinary horseplay typical among boys, the girls’ expressions finally brightened.

The girls, having cleared up the misunderstanding about the outing, said goodbye to Song Yi-heon as well before parting. As they chattered and moved away along the walkway, Choi Se-kyung picked up the ice pop Kim Deuk-pal had thrown away, along with other nearby trash.

Kim Deuk-pal shoved his hands into his pockets and asked confrontationally,

“What are you doing?”

“Picking up trash.”

Though that wasn’t what he meant, Se-kyung straightened up with a handful of trash and walked on as if nothing had happened. When Kim Deuk-pal didn’t follow, he turned back and blinked, as if asking why he wasn’t coming. Kim Deuk-pal let out a hollow laugh, astounded by how innocently Se-kyung was behaving.

“Ha, this little fox is playing with people…”

If it were Choi Se-kyung, Kim Deuk-pal wouldn’t be surprised if he had nine tails hidden behind that flat bottom. Annoyed at being swayed by this fox, Kim Deuk-pal walked slowly. As he moved, Se-kyung started walking again too.

Choi Se-kyung, who had been walking close enough to brush hands with Song Yi-heon, now walked far ahead alone. Kim Deuk-pal followed, watching Se-kyung’s back as he picked up trash along the path. When Se-kyung sat on a bench, Kim Deuk-pal joined him. The bench was in a secluded, overgrown area off the path where students avoided sitting due to crawling insects.

Kim Deuk-pal sat with his legs crossed, quietly observing Choi Se-kyung. He carefully set down the collected trash and took out a handkerchief to clean his dirty hands. Kim Deuk-pal called out softly:

“Hey.”

But Se-kyung, covering the trash pile with his soiled handkerchief, spoke his mind:

“Let’s only pretend about the sexual identity while in school. After all, it’s Song Yi-heon who’s gay, not you.”

“Are you sick or something? You called me Song Yi-heon in front of the girls, and now that they’re gone, you say I’m not?”

When Kim Deuk-pal pressed the question in disbelief, Se-kyung turned his head, wearing his usual smile. But for the first time, Deuk-pal felt a shiver run down his spine. Behind that soft smile, Se-gyeong’s eyes were void of emotion, sinking into an empty depth. If up until now his gaze had been one of calculation, it had now shifted to one of certainty, devoid of any remaining feelings.

“If it were the real Song Yi-heon, he would have been flustered when I introduced him as my boyfriend.”

“Wasn’t grabbing your collar enough?”

Se-kyung laughed bitterly.

“What I meant is that at least he wouldn’t have grabbed me by the collar. Song Yi-heon was the type to bottle things up inside rather than lash out at others. Even when he threatened me, he was more shocked himself. When I stopped Hong Jae-min from taking his money, he was so nervous he couldn’t say a word and just stared at the ground.”

Choi Se-kyung grabbed Kim Deuk-pal’s upper arms, forcing him to look at him.

“Right, Hong Jae-min. It doesn’t make sense. The reason your right ankle is weak is because Hong Jae-min stomped on it and stretched your ligaments. But now you’re sitting close to him like nothing happened, at the very incinerator where he hurt you? It doesn’t add up.”

Se-kyung was the one who had anonymously reported the school violence back then. After stopping the money extortion, he tried not to get involved further as Song Yi-heon seemed ashamed, but that day Hong Jae-min had crossed a line. Seeing Song Yi-heon and Hong Jae-min sitting comfortably together at the incinerator today, as if they were close friends, made Se-kyung feel twisted inside, though he didn’t show it.

Kim Deuk-pal answered stiffly. There was only one excuse:

“I don’t remember because of an accident.”

For the first time, Choi Se-kyung’s smile turned into a sneer instead of his usual kind one. Kim Deuk-pal gritted his teeth at the young boy’s mockery, but Se-kyung’s tongue was sharp.