GBH 111

Screams echoed and dispersed in the bright blue sky as a cold wind brushed past. On the roller coaster winding through the air, the intensity of screams rose and fell with the speed and incline. The amusement park after the college entrance exam season was truly a paradise for students.

And Song Yi-heon, who had been writhing in emptiness, became the very embodiment of someone living it up at the amusement park.

“Let’s ride again!”

“Line up, line up! Get in line first!”

“Aaaaaahhh!”

Securing the front seat on the roller coaster, Yi-heon relished the speed that stretched his taut facial skin in the strong wind.

The amusement park, with its large, dynamic rides, was a hub of adrenaline where screams and excitement ran rampant. It was the perfect place for Yi-heon, suffering from burnout syndrome, to blow away the stress accumulated from studying.

It was a stroke of genius that he had come out with just his wallet and phone, bothered by everything else. Yi-heon flitted about with his light body.

As the leader, he rounded up his classmates and moved about in a group.

And a little while later…

“Uaaaa…”

Yi-heon was left alone with a crying child in an unfamiliar place. Next to the child crying loudly with head tilted back, Yi-heon, who had been left behind, felt similarly.

“Hey, I want to cry too…”

It was because he had been too eager. The employee shouting about the land of dreams and hopes with a hoarse voice, tired out, had quickly put the noisy Yi-heon on a ride. Caught off guard, Yi-heon had boarded the last seat of a train about to depart, separating from his classmates.

If he had waited where he got off the ride, he could have met his classmates coming on the next train. But being new to amusement parks, the inexperienced Yi-heon was swept along with the crowd and exited. As a result, he ended up in this pitiful state, becoming comrades with a lost child.

“Huuuung…”

As the child, who looked about six or seven, began to wail, Yi-heon irritably ran his hand through his hair and crouched down to eye level.

“Do you know your parents’ phone number?”

“Hueee…zero-one-zero…two-eight-four…hueeeng…”

As the child rattled off the phone number mixed with sobs, Yi-heon fumbled in his coat pocket, not wanting to miss it. But all he found were bits of lint. Remembering that he had left his phone in the small bag Kim Yeon-ji was carrying because of all the shaking rides, he let out an involuntary sigh.

As he dejectedly blew away the crumbling dust in his hand, the child, sensing something was wrong, cried even louder.

“Huuung, hung, cough, ung…”

“Kid, stop crying.”

After much coaxing and soothing, Yi-heon piggy-backed the child, who was still sniffling with sticky snot, and asked around for directions to the lost child center. At the fairy tale-like building exterior unseen in the square urban landscape, he double-checked the sign to make sure he had come to the right place and pushed the door open with his foot.

The heater air blowing down from the ceiling swept warmly over the top of his head.

At the reception desk of the lost child center, a man who had arrived earlier was leaning on his elbows. He was wearing the same school uniform pants under a fluffy padded jacket with a hat, and his glossy black hair and long legs looked familiar, making Yi-heon tilt his head as he approached.

“I’m looking for someone.” The voice confirmed it was indeed the guy who said he’d arrive late at the amusement park.

The receptionist, absorbed in listening to the man’s explanation, hadn’t noticed another visitor. So Yi-heon could overhear who the guy was trying to find at the lost child center.

“He has short hair, naturally light brown. Fair-skinned with upturned eyes.” The man helpfully demonstrated by using his index finger to lift his own droopy eyes.

“Yes, yes. And? How old is he?”

“Nineteen.”

“Pardon?”

“He’s pretty.”

The receptionist, who had been acting infinitely kind, suddenly looked at Se-kyung as if he were crazy.

“But you should be careful, he has a fierce temper and might bite if provoked.”

Yi-heon, who had been listening to uncertainty from behind, felt increasingly irritated and interrupted, “Are you talking about me?”

Pushing his head forward, unlike the startled desk clerk, Choi Se-kyung’s lips curved into a smile. Se-kyung put his arm around Yi-heon’s shoulder, pulling him close as if to show him off.

“Isn’t he pretty?”

Se-kyung’s black eyes, which had been clouded by the aftermath of the morning’s argument, shone for that moment like a starry night sky.

* * *

Yi-heon left the child he had carried with the lost child center staff and came outside. Shivering from the sudden temperature difference, Se-kyung limped out beside him, rubbing his kicked shin.

“Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

“Kim Yeon-ji has my phone.” Hurrying to add, lest the overly sensitive Choi Se-kyung get jealous again. The chase at school had been enough, “Don’t misunderstand. I left it with her so I wouldn’t lose it on the rides.”

Sure enough, Se-kyung’s meaningful smile showed he hadn’t completely suppressed the jealousy in his heart. Yi-heon squinted his eyes and chided, “You, that’s a sickness.”

“I know. I’m aware I have a mental illness.”

His self-deprecating tone carried a hint of sarcasm towards the other. Though he thought he had hidden it well, it was a remark nurtured by the sharp emotions buried after arguing with Choi Myung-hyun that morning.

Even Se-kyung regretted it as soon as he said it, but he couldn’t take back his words. If Yi-heon got angry, he could at least apologize, but he felt no reproach from him.

The awkward silence was filled by the noise of the amusement park. Unable to bear it any longer, Se-kyung covered his eyes as if avoiding something.

“… Sorry. For being needlessly irritable.”

He had taken out his anger on Yi-heon after arguing with his father. Knowing that Yi-heon’s changed soul was older, Se-kyung had vowed not to act like a child, but when he became emotional, he couldn’t bring himself to face Yi-heon.

However, to Yi-heon, who was staring at the back of Se-kyung’s turned ear, Se-kyung’s tantrum came across differently.

‘He’s really cute.’

He could take any amount of pouting. The way Se-kyung unconsciously became sharp-tongued and then immediately regretted it, fumbling, was so lovable it made him forget about the tantrum.

The more Yi-heon saw Se-kyung’s true heart – pure and earnest, yet sometimes cruel and violent – the more he felt drawn to him like oppositely charged magnets.

At the same time, when he became aware of his own situation, he would test Se-kyung as if trying to dissuade him.

“Hey, you might be at a huge disadvantage if you date me.”

“… I know. That’s why you need to hold onto me, mister.”

“This kid.” Song Yi-heon kicked at Se-kyung’s feet. 

Skillfully avoiding Se-kyung’s feet as if he might step on them, it was more playful than scolding. As their footwork sped up and laughter started to emerge, the awkward silence disappeared.

When they discovered a snack stand while running ahead and behind each other with mischievous smiles, making age seem irrelevant, Song Yi-heon pulled Se-kyung along. Se-kyung’s pale cheeks had become flushed.

“Got any money?”

“Are you trying to extort me now?”

“I left my wallet with my phone. I’ll pay you back later.”

Se-kyung took out his wallet, avoiding Yi-heon’s attempts to seize it while patting his padding pockets. Churros, cotton candy, bead ice cream… After making Se-kyung pay for overpriced sweet snacks, Yi-heon carried an armful back to the lost child center.

By then, the child they had brought seemed to have found their parents, embracing and sobbing with a woman who looked like the mother. Unable to intrude on the tearful reunion, Yi-heon handed over the snacks meant for the child to a staff member while Se-kyung watched through the glass window and muttered:

“How touching.”

Yi-heon, having delivered the snacks, scoffed at Se-kyung’s unexpected comment.

“Just like your father.”

“My father?”

Se-kyung furrowed his brow and repeated the question as if he’d heard something absurd, at the mention of the man with whom he couldn’t say he’d parted on good terms that morning.

“Yes, your father.”

Meanwhile, Yi-heon positively evaluated Choi Myung-hyun.

During summer vacation, when proposing a deal for his subordinates, Yi-heon didn’t fully trust Choi Myung-hyun. He was known as a prosecutor who caught gangsters, with strong principles. There was no reason for him to turn a blind eye to the Chilsung Group, who were just as much gangsters.

Although 5 minutes with Se-kyung was at stake, from Myung-hyun’s perspective, there was nothing to lose by breaking the promise. Weighed against the principles Myung-hyun had upheld, 5 minutes might not have seemed significant. Yet he kept his promise. He caught surrounding organizations without touching the Chilsung Group.

All for just 5 minutes with Se-kyung.

A man who set aside his principles for mere 5 minutes, fearing damage to his relationship with his son, deserved no title other than “father.”

“I guess he’d want to arrest me to prevent embarrassing behavior in public.”

As is often the case with estranged parent-child relationships, Se-kyung couldn’t believe in his parents’ love. Yi-heon was once again struck by the fact that Se-kyung was 19. Although Choi Se-kyung was mature for his age, he couldn’t be detached when it came to subjective matters like family issues.

In a way, it was natural. While social interactions can be imitated and have set reaction patterns, the father-son relationship was personal. Without direct experience, one could only be inexperienced, and Se-kyung’s attitude fit perfectly with this. 

Yi-heon decided to probe a bit. “Did you fight with your father?”

“Let’s get lunch.”

‘They fought, alright.’ 

Yi-heon understood Se-kyung’s unusually emotional, and therefore more endearing, sulking. Even though Se-kyung looked away, his ears were visibly hot.

* * *

The two went to a food court for lunch. Various restaurants lined the edges surrounding the central area with communal tables and chairs. As they entered, the humid air mixed with steam and heat from cooking hit their cold cheeks.

The restaurant was so crowded with black-haired students who seemed to have just taken the college entrance exam at a nearby high school that even Yi-heon felt dizzy from the noise.

“Are you okay?”

“What do you mean?”

Se-kyung’s innocent smile as he turned to Yi-heon seemed to ask what he was talking about, but he had already shown his sulky side.

“You don’t seem to be in good condition today. Take it easy.”

“Well, I do feel like setting something on fire.”

“……”

Yi-heon went to the store with the shortest line among those offering takeout and used Se-kyung’s card.

They bought hot dogs and soft drinks sold as a set in boxes and went outside. After finding a secluded spot, they settled on a bench behind a building hosting some unknown exhibition and laid out their modest lunch.

As if his taste buds followed his body, Yi-heon took a bite of a hot dog covered in potato and rolled in sugar, generously doused with ketchup. Despite his seemingly indifferent mouth, he warned the hand that was fiddling with his hip from behind his back.

“Watch your hand. It might get cut off without anyone knowing.” Se-kyung laughed carelessly and leaned in. 

Although Yi-heon could guess the emotions behind Se-kyung’s large frame pressing against him, he didn’t stop him. It was too late to do so now, as Yi-heon had also tightly hugged Se-kyung to quell his anxiety before the exam. He had no intention of denying the comfort their body heat provided each other.

He let Se-kyung cling to him as much as he wanted.

“Want to run away?” Se-kyung suddenly asked Yi-heon, who was chewing on a hot dog with his cheeks puffed out. “Gangneung would be nice, like before. Or some mountain village or fishing village… Living quietly where no one can find us.”

A shabby guest house with yellow linoleum floors, a floral bikini wardrobe, a rattling blue-bladed electric fan… Although the Yi-heon before him looked like a sharp teenager, even younger than Se-kyung in appearance, somehow he evoked these images.

“We’d have to cook our own meals. Work during the day, take walks in the evening…”

Se-kyung made this outlandish proposal expecting to be scolded for talking nonsense. So when Yi-heon agreed, his jaw dropped in surprise.

“Sounds good.” Yi-heon said as he ate a sausage off a skewer. “Let’s run away. I’d probably lose it if I saw you setting up house with someone else anyway.”