GBH 12

Contrary to Jung Eun-chae’s worries, Song Yi-heon adapted to school life without any issues. He got out of the car at the bottom of the hill and walked up to school, wore the name tag ordered from the uniform shop by driver Park, and greeted the school administrator with a ninety-degree bow, which the administrator responded to with a satisfied nod. Unlike Hong Jae-min and his gang, who were scheduled to be disciplined for dragging him to the incinerator and had Jung Eun-chae siding with him, Kim Deuk-pal faced no punishment.

From the first day, he even made friends. The first friends Song Yi-heon made were the girls in his class.

When Song Yi-heon opened the front door of the classroom, the girls who were huddled together waved at him cheerfully.

“Yi-heon-ah!”

Wanting to become an exemplary student, Song Yi-heon threw his bag onto the frontmost seat in the classroom and approached the girls. Although it wasn’t cold, the small girls gathered with colorful blankets draped over their shoulders looked like a group of squirrels, making Kim Deuk-pal’s expression soften.

“Did you get home safely yesterday?”

“Yeah, your driver took us all the way to my house. Wow, it was my first time riding in a car like that. I understand why people care about ride comfort now.”

“Only we got to ride comfortably, and you took a taxi. It would’ve been nice if we all went together…”

“It’s fine. I felt more at ease taking the taxi myself than risking you girls riding it late at night.”

Song Yi-heon cut in firmly. It was late when they came out of the stationery store and snack shop yesterday. When he asked where they lived to take them home, it turned out their houses were in the opposite direction from his, meaning he would have had to drive around in circles.

Not wanting to drive around or let the girls take a taxi late at night, Kim Deuk-pal sent them off in the car he usually used and took a taxi home himself. Having seen and used taxis as a means of crime while working for the mob, he was reluctant to let someone else’s precious daughters take one.

As a result, sending them off in a luxury sedan seemed to have positively reevaluated Song Yi-heon. The girls closed the gap to make room for Song Yi-heon to join. They then took out the things they bought at the stationery store like spoils of war. Song Yi-heon also brought his bag and took out the study planner he had prepared at home until late at night.

Although the sections for desired universities and majors were empty, the study schedule and target grades were meticulously filled out. Trying to imitate the girls, he had used various colored pens to write in neat calligraphy. Kim Deuk-pal pointed to the empty square next to a study quote he had copied down, unsure of its purpose.

“What do you write here?”

“Study hours.”

“Study hours?”

“Yeah, the time you spend purely focused on studying. Remember the timer you bought yesterday? You use it to measure your study time.”

“Oh.”

Kids these days have such innovative ways of studying. With colored pens, highlighters, and even timers. Back in his day, they just licked our pencils and pressed down hard while writing. Kim Deuk-pal bit his tongue, resisting the urge to reminisce about the old days.

The girls took the planner Kim Deuk-pal had filled out and praised him for planning well.

The study planner had become the icebreaker for their newfound friendship.

Yesterday, after seating arrangements were made during the closing session, Kim Deuk-pal saw the study planner on his seatmate Kim Yeon-ji’s desk. Fascinated by the neatly written study schedule, he found himself staring at it, unaware that it might be rude. Then, politely, he struck up a conversation.

“Seatmate, what is this?”

Why is he talking like that? For a moment, Kim Yeon-ji was reminded of an older relative who tries to sound trendy when talking to her.

Although she had heard rumors about Song Yi-heon and was reluctant to talk to him, she couldn’t ignore someone right in front of her and showed him the study planner. She thought that was the end of it, but Song Yi-heon later asked if he could join her and her friends when they went to buy stationery after school.

Even though she knew she shouldn’t, she hesitated because she was reluctant to associate with Song Yi-heon, who had been a victim of school violence. Sensing her hesitation, Song Yi-heon added that he would just follow from a distance.

Desperately pleading, Kim Yeon-ji and her friends couldn’t refuse and ended up going to the bus stop together. But soon, Song Yi-heon made a phone call and a luxury sedan arrived to pick them up. Stunned by the high-end car they had only seen on the news, they got in.

At the stationery store, Song Yi-heon wasn’t as gloomy as the rumors had suggested. He asked questions seriously and listened to their answers while filling his basket. When a handsome peer fully accepted their opinions, they felt a surge of pride and began showing him things he hadn’t asked about, explaining them as if they were new discoveries.

Having fun and forgetting that their plan was only to visit the stationery store, they all headed to a snack shop. It was a franchise with restaurant-style interiors, and seeing the neatly plated kimbap and tteokbokki, Song Yi-heon’s mouth dropped open as if he’d never been to such a place before.

While eating the ordered snacks, Song Yi-heon mostly listened. He nodded slowly during their conversation, and by the time they finished eating, he had already gone to the bathroom and paid the bill.

The girls swarmed him, scolding him for paying alone, and Song Yi-heon, caught off guard, looked flustered.

Initially, they said, ‘Students don’t have money.’ Reminded that he was also a student, he replied, ‘Girls shouldn’t spend money,’ to which they playfully accused him of gender discrimination. Not realizing he was being teased, Song Yi-heon scratched the back of his head and, after a moment’s silence, said, “How could I let little girls like you pay for me? Give me a break.”

Seeing him flustered, the girls decided to stop teasing him and agreed to split the bill next time. They left the shop. Outside, it was already dark. Concerned about the dangers of taxis, Song Yi-heon called a car to take them home, and after experiencing his gentlemanly manners for several hours, their preconceptions about him began to waver.

People must experience things firsthand to truly understand them. Rumors were unreliable. Feeling sorry for judging Song Yi-heon based solely on rumors, the girls showed him more kindness. They asked about the blank space in his study planner where the target university and desired major should be written.

“Yi-heon, haven’t you decided on a university or major yet?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

Since this was Song Yi-heon’s body, Kim Deuk-pal, who had to return it when his soul came back, deliberately avoided thinking about the distant future to keep his ambitions in check. But the girls, unaware of the situation, urged him to decide quickly.

“If you tell the counselor you haven’t chosen yet, you’ll get scolded. They’ll ask why a senior hasn’t figured that out.”

“Even if your homeroom teacher is fine with it, other counselors will be very strict. Even if you haven’t chosen a university, you should at least have a major in mind.”

“Really?”

As all the girls chimed in, Kim Deuk-pal started to consider it. Maybe he should at least come up with a surface-level answer for his desired major. He thought back to the university brochures he had looked through after last year’s college entrance exams. There were many universities in Seoul and countless majors. Among them, the one that attracted Kim Deuk-pal was—

“Did you have fun yesterday?”

A soft, low voice interrupted, and Kim Deuk-pal flinched in surprise. Choi Se-kyung gently pressed down on Kim Deuk-pal’s shoulder and seamlessly joined the group. The girls welcomed Choi Se-kyung’s appearance, but Kim Deuk-pal tensed from the hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, we went out for the last time before intensive studying.”

Since the girls knew about Song Yi-heon’s feelings for someone, they exchanged cautious glances between the two boys.

“Did Yi-heon go too?”

“Yeah, it was fun hanging out with Yi-heon. He even treated us to dinner last night.”

When Choi Se-kyung responded without seeming to care about the rumors surrounding Song Yi-heon, the girls began enthusiastically boasting about Yi-heon’s manners from the day before. Se-kyung listened with interest to the details about him paying for dinner and the luxurious sedan. Then, he pointed to one girl’s lips.

“Your lip color is different from yesterday. It suits you well.”

“Oh, as expected from Choi Se-kyung. You have a sharp eye.”

Though the girl responded with a playful tone, she nervously played with her long hair, clearly conscious of her appearance. But Se-kyung didn’t dwell on it, quickly getting to his point.

“By the way, hand in your mock exam files. Only you guys need to submit them.”

“Ah, really? Sorry.”

The girls dispersed to their seats and returned with the folders. Se-kyung took the files and added them to the pile on the teacher’s desk. Although the empty files weren’t heavy, there were thirty-five of them, so they were bulky. Seeing this as his chance, Kim Deuk-pal rushed out to help, practically grabbing the pile.

“Hey, let me help.”

He made an excuse to the girls, saying he was helping out, and left the classroom first, checking if Se-kyung followed. Se-kyung came out carrying the remaining files, but now, that previously kind smile seemed ominous.

Kim Deuk-pal, who died a bachelor due to his difficulty with romance, found same-sex love, especially with such a young boy, a high-level problem to solve. He had to clarify their conversation in the infirmary, but he couldn’t find the words.

As he hesitated, his pace slowed, and Se-kyung overtook him. The sight of the boy’s back, clad in a white school shirt, getting farther away, made Kim Deuk-pal anxious.

“Seriously, I’m going crazy.”

As an adult, it was his responsibility to bring it up first, but he didn’t know what to say, making him hesitant. Only when Se-kyung had gone down the stairs did Deuk-pal snap out of it and rush down the hallway after him. In a sudden move, he grabbed the boy’s waist and looked down over his shoulder. Kim Deuk-pal awkwardly offered his congratulations.

“Um, congrats on becoming the class president.”

“Thanks.”

Se-kyung responded coolly, as if he didn’t remember anything. He accepted the congratulations out of politeness and continued down the stairs without much interest. Kim Deuk-pal hurried after him, trying to steer the conversation.

“Um, we have something to talk about, right? Let’s meet at the incinerator after school.”

“I don’t like the smell there.”

His tone was sharper than the girls’. Kim Deuk-pal had been anxious ever since coming out of the infirmary, causing veins to bulge on his forehead.

What’s with this guy? Why did he confess in the nurse’s office if he’s just going to pretend nothing happened now? If he wasn’t serious, he should’ve just kept it to himself instead of stirring everything up!

Setting aside his adult manners for a moment, Kim Deuk-pal roughly grabbed Choi Se-kyung’s shoulder. However, his haste caused him to exert too much force, leading to instability. He tried to grab the files he was holding to stabilize himself, but his right ankle twisted.

“Ah…!”

His body leaned to the right, as if about to fall towards the stairs. Kim Deuk-pal twisted his arm to avoid hitting his face on the sharp-edged marble stairs. His arms wrapped around Se-kyung’s waist, and at that moment, Kim Deuk-pal realized he was being held in Se-kyung’s arms.

The embrace carried a faint scent, and beneath the crinkling shirt, he could feel the solid muscles that supported Song Yi-heon’s body. His gaze drifted to Se-kyung’s sharp jawline, and then Se-kyung whispered in his ear.

“Be careful. Your right ankle is weak.”

It was as if Se-kyung was sharing knowledge about Song Yi-heon that Deuk-pal wasn’t aware of. The cryptic tone sent a shiver down his spine, and Deuk-pal, startled, pushed Se-kyung away. His mind felt like it had been struck by a hammer, leaving him dazed.

“Um, yeah… Thanks.”

But Se-kyung didn’t let go of his thin waist and smiled brightly.

“Yi-heon, buy me something delicious too.”

It was as if he had been waiting for this moment all along, playing coy just to catch Song Yi-heon when he couldn’t escape.