GBH 110

Song Yi-heon was sprawled out by the window seat. In the morning, he had finished counseling with Jung Eun-chae about his estimated scores based on the answers he had written on the back of his exam ticket. Although the exact results wouldn’t be known until the official scores were released, following Jung Eun-chae’s advice, he decided to apply to universities and attend practical skills academy. Eun-chae had introduced him to a student preparing for the same department, and in the afternoon, he planned to visit the academy that student attended.

Though it should have been stimulating to experience something new, the languid Yi-heon felt fatigue rather than excitement.

It felt like burnout syndrome. Before taking the college entrance exam, he had been so full of energy, bouncing around like a lively fish, marveling, “Ah, this is what being a teenager is like! Youth is wonderful!” Now that seemed like a distant memory. Yi-heon let his limbs hang limply, speaking as if he had reached enlightenment.

“Take it easy, everyone.”

However, the girls painting his nails didn’t pay any attention. Song Yi-heon, who once unhesitatingly cut gang members’ earlobes with a jackknife, had become a Barbie doll for the girls in his class.

Song Yi-heon, who became careless when dealing with small and weak things, was an easy plaything. The girls freely experimented with cosmetics bought with student discounts. Even as female students tried to poke him with eyebrow razors or pinch his skin off, Yi-heon was surprisingly apathetic.

“Yi-heon, who are you going with tomorrow?”

“Probably Se-kyung.”

“Is Se-kyung going tomorrow too?”

The girls doubted Se-kyung’s attendance because he had done exceptionally well on the college entrance exam.

Choi Se-kyung, who took the college entrance exam as if it were just another mock test, had fewer than ten wrong answers. When he achieved the same scores on the actual exam that had only been met with “high expectations” on mock tests, the reaction was intense.

Although Choi Se-kyung was from a prestigious family, and Choi Myung-hyun was wary of Se-kyung developing a sense of privilege and superiority, so he wouldn’t be exposed to mass media or give interviews, the school was eager to increase the number of students admitted to Korea University and promote the school, so they wouldn’t let go of Se-kyung.

Song Yi-heon, who had been half-listening to the girls’ chatter, suddenly realized he couldn’t understand their conversation and asked, “What’s happening tomorrow?”

“We’re going to the amusement park!”

“Amusement park?”

For a moment, his interest was piqued. Having been disconnected from mainstream entertainment for so long, his last memory of an amusement park was one with white sculptures and blooming tulips. Even then, he had never actually been there, only seeing it in advertisements.

‘Is it like the Kkumdori Theme Park? Should I prepare kimbap?’

His momentary enthusiasm, extending to thoughts of boiled eggs and soda, was quickly swept away by a sea of lethargy.

‘Those places are for kids to get excited about. Come on, a person should be dignified.’

Song Yi-heon, sprawled out as if he had seen it all, tilted his head back over the chair. Under the sky still tinged blue from the college entrance exam cold wave, Yi-heon felt only emptiness.

* * *

There wasn’t much change in Se-kyung’s daily life after taking the college entrance exam. Se-kyung, who had never considered the exam a major life hardship, didn’t feel much difference before and after. If anything, he felt freer before the exam, as he disliked the flood of interview requests and attention that came from doing exceptionally well.

At least today, heading to the amusement park instead of school, his mood wasn’t bad. Wearing a padded jacket that covered his hips over his school uniform, Se-kyung was spending a long time in front of the mirror.

“Hmm.”

Grabbing his drooping bangs and pushing them back behind his forehead, he seemed unsatisfied and spread his hands like rakes to sweep his bangs back.

“Hmmm.”

Perplexed, Se-kyung tilted his head at various angles in the mirror, scratched under his raised chin, then let his hair fall back into place. The messy, natural style seemed better than at first, and as his hand reached for hair wax, it paused to check his phone.

He had messaged Song Yi-heon to go together, but there was no reply yet, perhaps because he was doing his morning exercise. After confirming the unread message, Se-kyung put his phone in his padded jacket pocket.

Going downstairs, he met Choi Myung-hyun coming up from the garage. His eyes, deeply wrinkled by time, crinkled kindly upon seeing Se-kyung.

“Has your mother left for work?”

It was Choi Myung-hyun’s habit to see his wife off to work on days when she left late or had a day off.

“Come here. You should have breakfast.”

Choi Myung-hyun led Se-kyung not to the dining table but to a small cooking area between the dining room and kitchen. It was not uncommon for Myung-hyun to cook for Se-kyung himself, and it was also a hint that their conversation might be lengthy.

Se-kyung took out his phone with one hand, hiding it under the table as he typed. While mature outside, the act of secretly typing a message without looking at the screen was quintessentially that of a nineteen-year-old boy.

After sending a message to Song Yi-heon saying he’d be late to the amusement park and he should go ahead, Se-kyung put away his phone.

Rolling up his sleeves, Choi Myung-hyun put bread in the toaster and cracked eggs into a frying pan. The aroma of butter spread pleasantly, and the edges of the sunny-side-up eggs with their plump yolks sizzled, browning in the oil. While spreading jam on freshly toasted bread, Myung-hyun asked about Se-kyung’s recent activities.

As Myung-hyun already knew about Se-kyung’s college entrance exam scores and admission strategy, their conversation mostly revolved around everyday matters. However, Se-kyung remained on edge, wary of any traps his father might have set in the conversation.

“Did that friend of yours do well on the exam?”

Se-kyung, angelic in appearance, deliberately pretended not to understand at first, blinking his long eyelashes. But when it became clear Choi Myung-hyun wouldn’t let it slide, he feigned sudden comprehension.

“Oh, you mean Yi-heon. Yes, he did well.”

On the day of the exam, Se-kyung had wanted to stay with Yi-heon late, but due to a family gathering, he had to settle for a phone call. To sum it up, Song Yi-heon had done decently on the exam. While not excellent by Se-kyung’s standards, he ranked in the upper tier with good grades.

Though Yi-heon had kept quiet about where he would apply.

“Se-kyung.”

Strictness was embedded like a skeleton in the gentle call. Se-kyung’s hands tightened imperceptibly on the fork and knife he had picked up.

“The commotion during the festival, it was related to that friend, wasn’t it?”

Even before getting to the main point, Se-kyung was sick of this way of asking questions when his father clearly already knew the answers.

Choi Myung-hyun knew what had happened at school. It would have been strange not to know about the festival being turned into chaos, and Myung-hyun had followed his wife’s advice to wait until Se-kyung finished the college entrance exam.

“I thought you might drift apart from that friend when you go to college, so I’ve been watching, but it doesn’t seem likely.”

It was as if he was hinting at knowing about the close bond between them. Se-kyung recalled kissing Yi-heon against the wall and hugging him in front of Yi-heon’s house the night before the exam.

‘How much does he know?’

Aware of Choi Myung-hyun’s surveillance network, Se-kyung endured an unprecedented chill.

Until now, Se-kyung had been able to tolerate the surveillance because he had no private life he wanted to hide. But from the moment he had a secret he wanted to keep, the surveillance became unbearable.

The chill led to violent impulses. He wanted to destroy his father who tried to control him. He wanted to become a single blemish on his father’s perfectly achieved life, turning his father’s glory into a faded past. As the impulse intensified, Se-kyung’s black pupils sank deeper.

“I know it’s excessive to interfere with your friendships, but it would be better to distance yourself from that friend.”

“…”

“I told you that I will not touch that friend. But Se-kyung, he’s the most dangerous for you.”

Last summer, to grant Song Yi-heon’s requested payment, Choi Myung-hyun had rounded up local organized crime groups. The information Yi-heon provided was true. While boosting his performance, Myung-hyun’s only thought was that he needed to separate Yi-heon from his son.

For the Choi father and son who lived on the edge of crime, Yi-heon, with his gang connections, was a dangerous entity.

Around that time, he heard about Se-kyung causing a disturbance at the school festival. It was too violent to be dismissed as student pranks. It was reckless, and some students were injured.

Se-kyung, who had been quietly attending school for 12 years, had caused an uproar. Knowing about Yi-heon’s existence, Myung-hyun easily deduced the chase that had occurred between Se-kyung and Yi-heon. This was after he had labeled Yi-heon as a dangerous person. A chase that disregarded time and place couldn’t be seen in a positive light.

Still unaware that Se-kyung liked Yi-heon, Myung-hyun believed it was right to separate them.

He took the fried egg with its brown edges out of the pan and poured in prepared vegetables. With a sizzle, the hot oil spattered, and the green asparagus began to lose its vitality.

“The kitchen is a dangerous place, isn’t it?”

Choi Myung-hyun’s hand, stirring the vegetables, stopped. His beloved son’s voice was low and chilling, like a snake slithering.

“It would be easy to push someone’s head into the boiling oil. It’s convenient for burning too, and there are sharp tools within reach. Knives, scissors, blenders, forks… tools that can cut flesh and draw blood are everywhere. It’s also convenient for disposing of a body.” Not hiding, but disposing. Se-kyung whispered, slowly raising his head. In his expressionless face, his black eyes held a dense darkness.

“Se-kyung.”

“Do you have such imaginings too, Father?”

If so, then Choi Myung-hyun’s surveillance network would be understandable.

“I’ll be an adult in about a month.”

However, understanding and invasion were different realms. Understanding didn’t mean permitting invasion. Whether to accept invasion was a matter of mindset, and the realm containing SOng Yi-heon was an intimate place Se-kyung didn’t want invaded.

“It means that even if I really kill someone, it won’t be something you should be involved in.”

Until now, Se-kyung had been confident in his ability to distinguish cruel imagination from reality. It was arrogance. With reason clouded and eyes turbid, Se-kyung wanted to disappoint his father out of spite. If he could only see his father’s face twisted with disappointment for trying to control and oppress him, he felt he could even commit murder.