"This stop is at the intersection of Daeryung High School. The next stop is..."
Students dressed in identical school uniforms lined up to get off the bus. After Jaegyeom, who got off at the very end, bus number 17, which had dropped off all the students from Daeryung High School, drove away lightly, exhaust puffing out. As was usually the case during school hours, the front of the school was static and gloomy.
But there was also a strange vitality within. A unique chaotic vitality that flowed from youth itself. Although it had been a long time since he had been to school, Jaegyeom stepped towards the scene smoothly.
Ring!
The small but clear sound stopped Jaegyeom in his tracks. As he looked around in confusion, he heard the same sound again, but this time he knew exactly where it was coming from. Standing still, he stuck his hand into his pants pocket.
The object that Jaegyeom took out was none other than a cell phone.
***
Before leaving the house, he had a long squabble with jeongju.
Jaegyeom said he would go to school, but Jeongju refused. After
Jeongju found a new house, and he planned to go through jaegyeom's dropout process immediately. He had no desire to go to school, so the reason he had to go to school was gone. If it was like before, Jeongju would have been happy to see him want to have fun and go out, but not today.
It was dangerous to go outside at a time like this. Who knew when or where he would meet exorcists outside. Thinking so, Jeongju desperately tried to dissuade him from going to school, but Jaegyeom was stubborn.
Why do you suddenly want to go to school? You didn't go yesterday or the day before yesterday!'
Jaegyeom looked at Jeongju with a look of pity.
'I usually don't go to school on the weekends.'
So it was. Today was Monday.
'Ah... That's right...'
Jeongju stumbled and grabbed his head. Jaegyeom scratched his cheek and opened his mouth.
'It's just for today.'
He thought of going to see Cho Youngwoo. The time they spent together was a short period of less than a month, and they probably wouldn't meet each other in the future, but the thought of leaving without saying goodbye bothered him. If he left without a word, that guy was definitely someone who would be heartbroken for a long time.
There's a kid i've been hanging out with, and he always gave me meat side dishes, but it's a little hard to eat it like that and then disappear without a word... I want to show my face for the last time... Maybe it'd be fine if it were vegetables, but it's meat...'
Jeongju couldn't understand what Jaegyeom was talking about. He raised his hand to his bewildered face and he asked back as if confirming.
You're going to say goodbye to the meat side dishes?'
What? Why would I say goodbye to meat side dishes?'
'Didn't you just say that?'
What the fuck, you idiot!'
Why are you swearing all of a sudden...'
After talking for a while, the two manage to clear up the misunderstanding, and Jeongju finally understood Jaegyeom's reason for going to school. He hesitated for a while, worried that Jaegyeom might run into Yoon Taehee. However, Jeongju eventually had no choice but to bend his will and back down.
You mean you had such a good friend? You should have told me!
Right, as Jaegyeom said, let's not worry about things that haven't happened yet, he assured himself. Jaegyeom must have an idea and he'll figure it out. Thinking so, Jeongju decided to just trust Jaegyeom. He took out all the cash he had on him and put it in Jaegyeom's wallet, telling him to buy Cho Youngwoo a nice dinner.
In return, he made Jaegyeom carry his cell phone with him in case of an emergency. Jaegyeom was displeased, but he had no reason to refuse. So he took possession of one of the spare cell phones that Jeongju had. In a word, this phone was a compromise.
***
Jaegyeom took out his phone in an awkward position. After raising the smartphone in his hand near his face, he raised his index finger and touched the screen. It was as though he was poking a rice cake, not a screen. The touch was stiff, but fortunately, the black screen brightened as if it worked.
'He told me what to do...'
Jaegyeom tried to remember what jeongju had told him. He had sat him down and gave him a quick lecture on how to use the smartphone. He showed him how to answer calls, make calls, check messages, and even send them. It was a very basic thing, but it was a huge ordeal for Jaegyeom, who had never used a cell phone before.
Jaegyeom touched the notification banner with a worried expression. Then he went over to the message screen by itself. The first thing he noticed was the name of the sender. 'Best handsome Jeongju. In Jaegyeom's stead, who didn't know how to save contact information, Jeongju saved it in advance. Jaegyeom put on a serious expression.
What is 'best handsome '?
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't figure out the meaning, so he just pressed the message. As two speech bubbles appeared in the message window, Jaegyeom stretched his neck out and looked at the screen carefully. He didn't have to bring his face close to it, he could just hold it up to himself, but Jaegyeom didn't realize that...
[jaegyeom-ah~~ Gettin down bus???]
[u at schl alrd?]
Jaegyeom frowned and read the text aloud.
"Gettin down bus. u at schl alrd?."
Another message came.
[i said you've to reply right away when you see it T?? Anxious
TT]
Jaegyeom fidgeted, trying to recall what he had learned. When he clicked on the input window below, the keyboard layout came to mind. It was full of consonants and vowels. He felt like he was already forgetting things.
I'm at school. Stop talking.' That was what he wanted to send.
Jaegyeom carefully pressed the letters one by one and combined the letters. He completed up to 'schhool. Just looking at his eyes, it was as if he was having a snowball fight with the phone.
"Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking..."
Jaegyeom, absorbed in writing his message, muttered the text out loud. Students whispered as they passed him by. The boy holding a mobile phone in the middle of the street and repeating the same words with glaring eyes was receiving attention from those around him.
However, Jaegyeom, alone and in another world, didn't realize it. He, of course, didn't even notice that there was an onlooker standing right behind him. As the message was completed, Jaegyeom's upper body slumped further as if it were about to enter the screen. As a result, the posture of the onlooker standing behind also bent over.
"Im at schhool stop talk inh"
After a fierce struggle, the message was successfully composed.
Jaegyeom pressed the send button as he completed replying. Then, as if it had been waiting for the right moment, a hand came out from behind him. The neat hand snatched away the cell phone Jaegyeom was holding. It happened in a flash. He immediately looked back.
"Oh, you got a phone?"
The onlooker spoke cheerfully. The moment their eyes met, Jaegyeom was hit with the scent of perfume. He was so preoccupied with writing his message that he had not even noticed. His expression dropped in an instant.
"..."
The onlooker was wearing a navy blue shirt with short sleeves, his right hand still in a half cast, and a square bandage applied to the corner of his forehead. All of them were injuries inflicted by Jaegyeom.
"Give it back."
Jaegyeom uttered in a cold voice. Yoon Taehee was holding the cell phone with his left hand instead of his injured right hand, and he casually touched the screen as if it were his, but soon he smiled and meekly returned the phone.
"Here."
Jaegyeom slipped his phone back in his pocket and walked past Yoon Taehee. His pace was neither fast nor slow, and then Yoon Taehee came up beside him and started walking side by side. They walked in silence for a while.
"Long time no see."
It was Yoon Taehee who spoke first.
"Yes."
Jaegyeom, who was walking while looking straight ahead, gave a curt answer.
"How are you feeling?"
"Fine."
It was a very insincere reply.
"I'm not fine."
"Looks like it."
As the consistent answer continued, Yoon Taehee chuckled.
"I waited all day yesterday."
As Yoon Taehee recited quietly, Jaegyeom silently looked away.
Jeongju thought that Yoon Taehee had not been in touch, but the truth was different. Two days ago, Jaegyeom found a small bird by the window. At first, he thought it was a mountain bird that usually came and went, but the bird had something in its beak. It was just a piece of paper. The bird put the note it was biting on the window sill and flew away without hesitation. There was only one line written on the mysterious note.
Intersection café, Sunday 1pm.
Jaegyeom was stunned when he saw the note in neat handwriting.
Was he crazy? Even if he came in person, he would not meet him, so why would he come if told...
Lunatic. The identity of the sender was clear. He always passed by the intersection cafe located near the school on the way to school, so Jaegyeom would be able to find it easily. It was a thoughtful choice of location.
And on Sunday at 1pm,
At that time, Jaegyeom was watching the National Singing Contest at home...
***
"Why did you stand me up?"
Yoon Taehee turned his head and looked into jaegyeom's face and asked.
"I did because you deserved it."
Jaegyeom answered indifferently without giving Yoon Taehee a glance.
"..."
Strangely, it seems to have some hidden meaning... Yoon Taehee silently knitted the tips of his eyebrows at the answer that sounded
somewhat ambiguous and fierce.
"Do you want to have dinner with me tonight?"
After a moment's silence, he suddenly changed the subject. At that, Jaegyeom's eyebrows twitched. He was supposed to have dinner with Cho Youngwoo. But even with that aside...
"Why would I?"
Jaegyeom turned the question back with a plaintive face.
"Isn't it about time?"
Yoon Taehee asked, tilting his head.
"I don't think you and I have a relationship where we can eat at the same table."
"Then, instead of eating, is drinking tea fine?"
When Yoon Taehee responded deftly, Jaegyeom suddenly stopped walking.
".."
Jaegyeom looked around for a while. Since he was on his way to school, there were many eyes watching and ears listening. In the meantime, several students passed by and greeted Yoon Taehee,
"Librarian teacher, hello!", so he was concerned in many ways.
In the end, Jaegyeom walked to a corner to avoid people's eyes. It was behind the tree where Yoon Tahee had tied his tie that one day. "Come here for a minute," He beckoned, and the other hurriedly followed.
The two faced each other behind a tree.
Yoon Taehee questioned him with a puzzled face. Now that they were standing closer, the smell of perfume was even stronger.
"You..." Jaegyeom uttered slowly. "Yes." Yoon Taehee nodded, signaling for him to continue.
"Why are you speaking to me informally?"
"What ?"
Yoon Taehee asked in a daze at the unexpected question.
"Why the fuck are you speaking to me informally?"
Smack! At that moment, Jaegyeom kicked Yoon Taehee in the shin.
Yoon Taehee, whose joint was hit out of nowhere, bent over immediately and silently looked up at Jaegyeom with a frown.
"Am I your friend? I didn't give you permission to call me,
where did you find the guts to speak to me casually..."
Jaegyeom crossed his arms and glared down at Yoon Taehee. It was one thing if he didn't know him, but it was disturbing to see him casually speaking in a nonchalant manner even though he knew his identity. In retrospect, he spoke in a polite manner when he didn't know, but stopped talking after he found out. It was like a bald head
growing backwards.
"And you seem to be misunderstanding something."
Jaegyeom narrowed his eyes and continued.
"Do you think that just because I let you slide once, everything will go away?"
Nothing had changed. Yoon Taehee was still an untrustworthy figure, and apart from the fact that he deflected the arrow, the grudge of the past remained vivid. As for Jaegyeom, he thought it would be the last time, so he gave him the minimum amount of generosity.
"Whatever the reason, what you did won't go away. I won't forget it in the future. So don't think you'll slip away. Got it?"
After speaking firmly, Jaegyeom turned around without hesitation and left. Yoon Taehee, who was slumped over, stared blankly at the back of the boy who was striding away hastily.
".."
A breeze blew from somewhere. A few leaves rustled and fell from the swaying trees. Left alone under the tree, he rubbed his shin, which had been kicked, thought back over the situation, and let out
a smirk.
"It is not easy..."
Yoon Taehee muttered, tilting his head.