BHB 33

Anger flared up in him.

“Why? Are you going to academy again?”

Han Yeowon scratched his face, looking somewhat regretful.

Lee Taegang didn’t think he was going through puberty. He had never experienced confusing emotions, wasn’t sensitive to the opposite sex, let alone interested, and found it ridiculous to be emotional due to hormonal changes that made his values and moods fluctuate.

“Well, I guess there’s no choice then…”

Han Yeowon, seeing Taegang’s lack of response, scratched his face again awkwardly and added:

“Come over to play next time when you’re free.”

Feeling a strange distance, Han Yeowon smiled awkwardly once and turned around. Then he suddenly stopped and looked back.

“By the way, are you okay from yesterday’s injury?”

Although he asked casually, concern was evident in Han Yeowon’s eyes. However, faced with Taegang’s continued silence, his face suddenly flushed with anger and his eyes narrowed fiercely.

“Hey, when someone’s talking to you… Never mind. Anyway… Make sure to disinfect that well. Otherwise, it’ll leave a scar.”

Han Yeowon, who instinctively started to get angry but stopped himself, calmed down and continued speaking calmly.

It was always like this. Han Yeowon worried about things that even parents didn’t. Damn it, Han Yeowon’s unintentional concern was addictive. Because of it, he had gone to school without even changing his dirty bandage.

“I know this hyung who got hurt in a fight and didn’t get treatment, ended up being rushed to the hospital. What was it, infection? Bug infection…? Anyway, because of that. He almost died.”

“…You mean bacterial infection.”

“Bacteria or bugs. Whatever.”

It was an answer that made him feel embarrassed, but Han Yeowon didn’t get angry and instead threw out words mixed with a bitter sigh.

“Don’t get hurt again.”

It was a worry with multiple meanings. Han Yeowon had known since they were much younger that Taegang was receiving excessive discipline from his parents. He knew there was violence in that discipline, but since they weren’t as close as before, it was a concern offered almost like a farewell greeting.

Han Yeowon continued walking to the opposite side this time without hesitation. Towards the unremarkable group he didn’t belong to.

It was the same after school. Han Yeowon never looked this way again after that. He moved with his group as usual, crossing the playground together. Other kids from different classes also started joining one by one to greet Han Yeowon, and the group gradually grew larger. It looked like baby ants gathering around a huge prey.

Taegang observed this scene from a distance, repeatedly clenching and unclenching his bandaged hand.

As they approached the school gate, Taegang suddenly frowned at a noisy sound. Sensing the unusual rough engine noise, he turned his gaze to see men on motorcycles stopping in front of Han Yeowon. They weren’t ordinary motorcycles or cute scooters, but professional bikes. Taegang’s face visibly hardened as he scanned their appearance.

A man sitting on a bike that looked precarious even just to look at took off his helmet and waved cheerfully towards Han Yeowon.

“Han Yeowon!”

Han Yeowon’s eyes lit up.

“Whoa, no way.”

He quickly approached the man, leaving his friends behind.

“Is this what you said you bought, hyung?”

Han Yeowon’s interest was directed not at the man but at the bike he was riding.

“What do you think? Killer, right?”

“Wow, amazing. Look at that finish.”

“Get on. I’ll give you a ride.”

“Seriously?”

“I told you I’d give you a ride. Besides, you lent me money, so I should treat you.”

“Wow, man. How fast can this go?”

Han Yeowon naturally took the helmet handed to him and positioned himself to get on the back. At that moment, a hand grabbed Han Yeowon’s arm. It was a hand wrapped in a bandage with visible bloodstains.

“Are you crazy?”

Taegang, who had been watching from afar, suddenly approached with a stern face and scolded. Han Yeowon hesitated, surprised by Taegang’s sudden appearance.

“Ah, you startled me. What’s going on?”

Han Yeowon laughed incredulously, not understanding Taegang’s agitated state, and shook off the hand gripping his arm.

“You’re going to ride this?”

Taegang knew how absurd his sudden interference might seem to the other, but he couldn’t ignore it. They were only fifteen, and being taller than their peers didn’t make them any less young. The bike had no safety features except for the helmet, and they couldn’t trust the skills of a driver in a school uniform. Taegang couldn’t accept them riding a vehicle that causes numerous major accidents even when driven by professionals.

“Is there any reason I shouldn’t?”

Han Yeowon tilted his head, asking back as if he couldn’t understand Taegang. From his perspective, Taegang’s attitude was even stranger. It was baffling how Taegang would act like before and then ignore him, pretend he didn’t exist, and suddenly appear and interfere like this.

“Don’t do thoughtless things.”

At the scolding tone, Han Yeowon let out a scornful laugh and scratched his head.

“What are you saying?”

“There’s a limit to how reckless you can be.”

“What? This is ridiculous. Why are you picking a fight out of nowhere?”

“Don’t ride it.”

At the abrupt command, Han Yeowon couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief and wrinkled his nose. His face was gradually filling with irritation.

“What’s it to you? Don’t start unnecessary fights and just go on your way.”

“I said don’t ride it. How long are you going to keep doing such low-class things…”

“Oh, shit.”

As the words that grated on his nerves came out of Taegang’s lips, Yeowon gripped the helmet he was holding more tightly and glared fiercely at Taegang. Han Yeowon could be infinitely gentle, but when his temper flared, he could become infinitely fierce.

“What the fuck does it matter to you?”

“…”

“Why are you suddenly interfering? You never say a word usually.”

Han Yeowon spat out words mercilessly, with a face full of exasperation. Taegang’s expression also hardened slightly at the aggressive response.

“Because you keep choosing to do such thuggish things.”

“Oh really? What should I do, I’m so sorry? For being such a thug.”

“I told you. Don’t ride it.”

At the curt and commanding tone, Han Yeowon glared at Taegang even more crookedly, furrowing his brows.

“Who are you to tell me what to do?”

“…Han Yeowon.”

“Now that I think about it, you’ve been barely talking to me and ignoring me all this time because I seem like such a thug, huh?”

Han Yeowon pressed on fiercely, continuing with a fiery momentum.

“Then keep doing that from now on. Don’t suddenly appear and start preaching. I’ll shut up and pretend not to know you too.”

The kind Han Yeowon who had told him not to get hurt was nowhere to be seen. It was always like this. Taegang and Han Yeowon had been bickering and getting on each other’s nerves like this since they were young. A thick vein popped up on Taegang’s neck. His bandaged fist began to tremble visibly.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you getting on?”

The man waiting on the bike interjected, asking Han Yeowon again. He put on the helmet without hesitation, saying he would ride. Then he glanced at Taegang, who had suddenly gone silent, and muttered his final words.

“If you understand, then go now.”

Han Yeowon turned his back on Taegang without hesitation and got on the bike. Grabbing the waist of the man whose name he didn’t even know, he quickly disappeared from view, boasting the engine sound that pierced the eardrums.

During that short time, Taegang kept staring at their retreating figures and then unwrapped his bandage. The unhealed skin was still open, but there was no pain.

It was always like this. Han Yeowon never went according to his thoughts. He was so willful it was infuriating, and he had nothing to regret, so Taegang was the only one going crazy.

He was always the one left wanting. While Han Yeowon never looked back and had no regrets.

After throwing the tattered bandage in the trash, Taegang finally roughly loosened his tightly fastened school uniform tie. His throat was churning, and he couldn’t bear how stifled he felt. His shirt, which had been without a single wrinkle, was now disheveled as if it had never been neat.

The irregular emotional changes, puberty, had hit him. No, it had been slowly approaching. Today was just the day it finally burst.

**

After that day, Han Yeowon made even less effort to acknowledge Taegang. Whether it was because he was angry after their argument or trying to match the “level” Taegang had mentioned. Either way, Taegang knew well that staying in this state was the best choice. After all, as his parents said, they were incompatible types.

Taegang immersed himself in his studies even more than before. After school, he completed all his packed tutoring sessions without a break and solved all the expected questions brought by his hourly-paid tutors without a single mistake. His mother was quite satisfied with Taegang’s behavior. It was natural, as he would receive reports about his every move from his tutors and homeroom teacher, and hear about his diligent lifestyle from the home tutor who looked after his schedule and household chores. Indeed, Taegang’s days were filled with nothing but studying.

The more he did this, the more distant he felt from Han Yeowon. Their social circles were completely separate, and these groups ignored each other as if in contempt. Some people knew that Taegang and Han Yeowon, who stood at the center of these groups, used to be close, but they were all old enough to know that friendships can change over time.