GBH 73

The final exams were held over four days. Having gone through it once during midterms, Song Yi-heon managed to approach the exams with some degree of condition management. Of course, Se-kyung’s efforts contributed to this as well.

As the finals approached, Yi-heon became increasingly anxious, haunted by the nightmare of misunderstanding the exam scope during midterms. He tried to control his mindset by thinking that wielding a pen was nothing compared to the fistfights he’d had at Incheon docks, but the mere thought of finals made his heart sink so much that he felt it might be better for his mental health to fight with bare fists instead.

Se-kyung was the first to notice these changes in his mood. The remedy he offered for Yi-heon’s mental and physical stability was none other than a study schedule.

Following the densely packed study schedule like a hamster on a wheel left no room for anxiety. Using this schedule as a starting point, Se-kyung helped Yi-heon study by keeping in touch via phone.

There was no mention whatsoever of the confession of liking him. Se-kyung quietly helped without interfering with Yi-heon’s studies, and Yi-heon was so preoccupied with preparing for finals that he sometimes even forgot Se-kyung had confessed.

Choi Se-kyung’s personal messages were limited to twice a day – asking if he slept well and wishing him good night. Although he occasionally made Yi-heon nervous by staring at him openly at school, there were no unfortunate incidents like the kiss.

The days of racing towards the finals without rest finally reached their goal. On the last day of finals, during the last subject exam, there was a sense of excitement among the students. The last subject was a relatively easy physical education written test, so students who finished early were just staring at the clock after completing their answer sheets.

The clock, removed from the wall and placed on the blackboard, struck noon, and the bell signaling the end of the last exam rang.

“Everyone put down your pens and pass your answer sheets to the back.”

As the supervising teacher left with the collected answer sheets, cheers erupted in the classroom.

“It’s over!”

“Who’s up for hanging out today!”

Amidst the energetically jumping teenagers, Yi-heon, who had given it his all, sat in his chair looking as if he had been bleached white. Really, this had been an ordeal like no other. Feeling drained after just one day was bad enough, but doing this for four days made him feel like his bones were dissolving.

He wondered if he should take Choi Se-kyung out for some health food to celebrate the end of exams, pondering if that prim guy even knew how to eat eel. While he was lost in these thoughts, momentarily forgetting Se-kyung’s confession due to the aftermath of finals, his phone, now turned on, began to buzz.

Someone seemed to have contacted him while his phone was off during the exams.

Recently, only two people had been making Yi-heon’s phone ring. One of them was taking the same test and was likely caught up with classmates checking answers, being the top student in the school, so it must be the other person.

Checking the screen, it was indeed the chairman.

Since their last meeting over the Hong Jaemin incident, the chairman had been persistently contacting him. At first, he called, but when Yi-heon wouldn’t answer even by accident, he started sending photos. Lavish interiors, company employees, sprawling golf courses, high-end restaurants, garages filled with foreign cars, presidents of subcontractor companies…

Yi-heon’s reaction was always the same.

“What a load of crap.”

Yi-heon quickly grasped the chairman’s intention. The chairman was showing off what he possessed. He was trying to win favor by displaying a flashy and authoritative lifestyle that might impress a naive high school student. The chairman, taken by Yi-heon’s spirit in the principal’s office, planned to bring him to the main house and use him to reclaim the shares he had lost to his legal wife.

To do this, he tried to win Yi-heon’s favor, but the middle-aged man who had seen it all was far from easy to impress. Sighing and clicking his tongue, the older Yi-heon made a resolution.

“I must not age like this.”

Ah, he was already dead. Kim Deukpal’s soul touched his nape, the meaninglessness of his resolution dawning on him. That dry and barren gesture continued without purpose.

“Hmm…”

Accepting death didn’t mean transcendence. It was endurance, not indifference, so to forget his unsettled feelings, he opened the chairman’s message.

The photo was of a construction site, with demolition underway before full-scale construction began. However, it seemed not all land-related issues had been resolved, as outside the construction site barricades was a group wearing headbands and holding banners.

Judging by the banners with slogans like “Stop Environmental Destruction” and “Protect Migratory Birds’ Right to Survive,” it appeared to be an environmental group protesting the construction. There were also thugs blocking the protesters. Men with their faces hidden by hats and masks were confronting the environmental group, wielding baseball bats and wooden sticks. They had been hired by the company to subdue the environmental group with violence if necessary.

“Tsk.”

Yi-heon clicked his tongue again at the pathetic sight, but even this was a point of pride for the chairman.

“…Huh?”

As Yi-heon was listlessly flipping through the photos, he spotted a familiar face. It was among the group of thugs confronting the environmental group. Even as he thought it couldn’t be, he zoomed in on the photo.

“What…?”

It wasn’t a mistake. Though only his eyes were visible behind the black mask, the sharp gaze with single eyelids stretching towards both temples belonged to Kim Dongsu, who had been Kim Deukpal’s right-hand man when he was alive. Once one was identified, the others came into focus too. Though they all had their faces covered with masks and hats, he could recognize them. They were the subordinates he had personally taken in. There was no way he wouldn’t recognize the men he had raised like his own children.

“…Why are these guys acting like thugs here?”

Kim Deukpal’s soul was struck with the same shock as when he first woke up in Song Yi-heon’s body.

7. Summer Vacation (1)

The academic high school Song Yi-heon attended held supplementary classes even during vacation periods. Nominally, attendance was voluntary, but by the third year, unless there were special circumstances, students were expected to attend classes even during vacations.

Choi Se-kyung, who usually went to Canada for language studies during vacations, stayed in Korea this summer vacation to focus on the college entrance exam and attended the supplementary classes.

Students in summer uniforms and gym clothes listlessly attended classes in the cool air-conditioned rooms. The teacher, having finished writing on the board, turned towards the students and twitched his thick eyebrows.

“Choi Se-kyung, wake up that guy next to you who’s listening to the class with his eyes closed.”

Se-kyung, who had been copying down the board notes, was quite surprised. He thought Song Yi-heon was listening to the class with his chin propped up, but he had actually been dozing off. At Se-kyung’s touch on his back, Yi-heon stirred from his half-asleep state, blearily coming to his senses. His eyes, clouded with drowsiness, were bloodshot and opened with difficulty.

All the students in the class were looking at Yi-heon, but he, still not fully awake, took a moment to grasp the situation. Yi-heon spoke in a voice thick with sleep.

“…I’m sorry.”

“You were working so hard until just before the vacation. You guys have let your guard down because it’s vacation, haven’t you? The college entrance exam is just months away. Get your act together.”

“Ah, teacher-“

As the reprimand aimed at Yi-heon quickly broadened to include the entire class, jeers erupted from the students. The teacher silenced the jeers by slamming his palm on the desk, making it resonate.

“I’m saying this for your own good. Song Yi-heon, you go stand at the back and listen to the class.”

Yi-heon got up from his seat and went to stand at a standing desk at the back of the classroom. Only after confirming that he had opened his workbook used for class did the teacher continue the lesson.

When break time came, several students lingered around Yi-heon, who had his head down on the desk.

Something was off about Yi-heon. He, who had been passionate if not academically outstanding, was now sleeping not just during class but even during breaks. When asked to play soccer after supplementary classes, he’d ignore them and leave, and even when sent messages, the read receipts remained uncleared.

“Song Yi-heon, sleeping again?”

“Hey, hey. Yi-heon. Take it easy on the porn at night.”

“……”

They tried teasing the light brown back of his head resting on his folded arms, but Yi-heon’s back only rose and fell steadily, as if in deep sleep. Embarrassed by the lack of his usual cheerful response, they turned to Se-kyung.

“Se-kyung, did something happen to Yi-heon?”

“Well, I’m not sure.”

Se-kyung responded with a calm smile and draped his own gym uniform over Yi-heon’s shoulders, but no one here was as worried as Se-kyung.

* * *

The street lined with flashy nightclub signs at close intervals was truly a nightless city. Given the nature of the business where drinking and entertainment were the main sources of income, they engaged in flashy and exaggerated soliciting to lure in moths ready to burn their wallets in a single night.

In this street more lively at night than during the day, past 2 AM was when things were just getting exciting. The convenience store, slightly removed from the street lined with nightclubs, did better business at night due to its location. Drunks, night waiters, bar girls, thugs, and various other customers frequented the store.

However, none were as peculiar as the boy who had seemingly rented out the convenience store’s parasol.

The night shift part-timer at the convenience store peeked at the round parasol table across the glass window while mopping the floor.

The short brown hair and soft-looking skin made him appear young, but when he came to pay, his gaze and expression were so sharp it was hard to approach him. Yet, his straight legs below the short pants, slender fingers visible outside the thin windbreaker, small face composed of delicate lines, and pointed nose bridge oddly drew attention.

If the part-timer’s memory serves right, this boy, Song Yi-heon, had been sitting under the convenience store parasol all night and leaving at dawn for a week straight.