Chapter 30

Chapter 30

“Kangbin, how could you ditch me?”

“Lions shove their cubs to the brink of a cliff, don’t they? It’s called education.”

“‘Education,’ my butt. Am I your damn son? You bastard.”

The night grew darker the more they talked. Their voices grew louder and their tongues slowed quicker.

Thump. Kangbin was the first to slump over, defeated by sleep. Doyeon clicked his tongue and laid him out on the couch.

“Wasn’t he the one inviting death?”

When he spread a shawl on the couch over him, Kangbin tugged it up to his neck and spun to his side, groaning and whining.

Sunwoo watched him move around from the ground, hunched up.

“Doyeon.”

“Hmm?”

“Is Kangbin sleeping?”

“Yes. He’s dead.”

“You good?”

“Do you think I’m good? I’m about to drop dead, too. Let’s go to sleep.”

“Yeah.”

Sunwoo didn’t go back to his room. Instead, he shoved his hand back in the prawn chip bag. His eyes looked like they were about to close at any second.

“Doyeon, it’s your first time at a ski resort, right?”

“Yes. It's interesting. There’s a lot of snow and a lot more people.”

“I visit often.”

“Yeah? Must be nice.”

“But I’ve never been in such a nice vacation house. My dad just books a resort.”

“Isn’t that cool enough?” Doyeon laughed. His eyes were closing on him, too.

“Dude... I get curious these days. Do you think we’ll still be friends with these guys when we go to college? Hyunoh and Kangbin aren’t like us.”

Doyeon didn’t reply.

He didn’t know why Sunwoo was bringing this up, but he knew what Sunwoo was trying to say. He never thought too deeply about it, though. For now, they were friends. He felt like they were pretty close.

Besides, Sunwoo’s family was well-off too, as both of his parents were doctors. He didn’t measure up to Hyunoh or Kangbin, but he was still comfortable enough.

“We’re friends. Why bother bringing that up?”

“But it’s true... Kangbin and Hyunoh are talking to us right now because we attend the same high school... but what if... later, I’ll be so sad if...”

“You’re pessimistic.”

“If those douchebags pretend like they don’t know me later...”

“If they don’t, go hang out with someone else.”

“Doyeon, you’ve got to stick with me even if those two betray me, all right?”

“Sure.”

“Seriously, you’ve got to.”

“Yes. Go to sleep now.”

“Mmm. Best friends forever...”

Doyeon laid Sunwoo’s body out on the floor as he began to nod off, dragging a blanket out of his room to cover him up.

Then, he tidied up the table. There were only three glasses to clean up, three empty bottles of Coke, and several chip bags.

He wiped the table down with a wet paper towel and opened up the curtains that blocked out the terrace. It was pitch dark outside, where the trees probably were.

Done with the chores, Doyeon sat on the couch alone for a while before taking a step out onto the terrace, standing right next to the ledge. The cold winter breeze smacked him, but it felt more refreshing than cold.

Haa... Doyeon watched his breath disappear into the air, then checked his phone.

[Hyunoh Gong: Going now. I’ll bring something good.]

Hyunoh had sent him this message two evenings ago. He managed to read it on his lock screen, but he hadn’t opened up the app to erase the [1] unread mark.

He still felt bothered by it, even as he’d enjoyed his evening and all of today, and he’d received a new message early last morning.

[Hyunoh Gong: Landed ^^ You must be sleeping since it’s early back in Korea. Having fun without me, eh? Let me join as soon as I get back. We can…]

Doyeon only read it as a preview and not the text itself, but the preview was cut off at “we.”

We.

We…

Doyeon sat down.

“I miss him.”

He could have been missing him more because the night was blowing up his emotions.

Or did he actually miss him?

Doyeon couldn’t tell. He just wanted to see Hyunoh Gong. Hyunoh, who’d told him he’d bring delicious food back in a month; Hyunoh, who wanted to go to a ski resort with him when he came back; Hyunoh, who he didn’t get to see for days. The fact that he wouldn’t see Hyunoh for a whole month made his longing worse.

He tried to ignore his messages and empty his thoughts, but it was all to no avail. He thought of Hyunoh all day, every day.

Why had he come to like him? Hyunoh’d had plenty of girlfriends in the past, and it wasn’t as though Doyeon could ever confess to him.

He could have tried if Hyunoh had been a girl, but he wasn’t sure. Hypotheticals were impossible. Thinking about it would only upset him more.

“I’m going to stop liking him,” Doyeon muttered, holding on to the bars of the railing. He thought of Hyunoh, in a place without Hyunoh, trying to forget about Hyunoh.

Doyeon made his decision and stared up at the sky. His sight was blurry, doubling the moon into two.

Doyeon wished desperately at the moon, which was using some sort of cloning technique. “Please give me a different homeroom in the next grade… a different class from Hyunoh Gong. Please.”

When he finished praying, the moons were one again.

* * *

“Doyeon Yoo is the class president of Class Two for your second year. Doyeon, come out here and say something.”

Doyeon stood with a confident shout and marched up to the front of the class.

He had done plenty of speeches since middle school as class president, so he was used to being put on the spot.

“My dear, respected, lovely Class Two students! Thank you ever so much for believing in this humble soul...”

Doyeon continued his speech in a funny yet serious tone while looking around the classroom. At the back of the class, Kangbin was waving at him.

“Good job, Doyeon! You’re shining, bro!”

It was the first semester of sophomore year.

Doyeon was off to a good start. First, he was satisfied with the fact that he became class president again, like he always had been. He hadn’t run for class president in freshman year, believing his mom would be too busy, but...

“Did they not vote for you for the second semester too? That’s unfortunate. I liked seeing you as a confident leader.”

His mom was disappointed when Hyunoh became class president again.

She seemed distracted by the idea that her son, who had continued to be class president despite his financial background, failed to be one in high school.

When she started to ask whether someone was bullying him in class or looking down on him because of their finances, he shook his head.

Then he immediately ran for class president for sophomore year.

He was voted in.

Doyeon felt better knowing his mom would be relieved and happy. When he sat down after his speech, his desk partner clapped.

“Congrats, congrats, congrats!”

“Thanks.”

Doyeon smiled, looking at the blue sky beyond his partner’s head. He remembered how blue the sky had been when he first met Hyunoh Gong during freshman year as desk partners.

But Hyunoh wasn’t here.

Hyunoh, who had been in the same class, around his desk, and in his space. Hyunoh, his crush he had to give up on, was in a different class.

* * *

It was easier to distance himself from Hyunoh than he expected.

When two of the four were assigned to different classrooms, they naturally hung out less.

Hyunoh was in Class One, while Kangbin and Doyeon were in Class Two, with Sunwoo in Class Four.

Doyeon was relieved when Hyunoh ended up in a different classroom. He knew his feelings could have grown had he seen Hyunoh every single day.

There was that saying that said the closer the bodies were, the closer the hearts were, and the further the bodies were, the further the hearts were.

Last winter break, Hyunoh had come searching for Doyeon after his vacation in Hawaii. He landed late at night, but he visited Doyeon instead of going straight home.

“Aren’t you tired? You should be home. Why are you here?”

“I promised that I’d bring you something good,”

Hyunoh smiled as he handed him a huge paper bag. There were famous macadamia nut chocolates from Hawaii, cookies for Aeyoung, and coffee for his mother. They were all wrapped nicely.

“Thanks. Really, thanks a lot. I’ll eat it sparingly.”

“Huh? What’s with this un-Doyeon-like reaction?”

Hyunoh smiled and turned Doyeon around by his shoulders, telling him to head in. Doyeon clutched the shopping bag as he was pushed into his house.

It was difficult. It was difficult to not like him, and it was difficult to hide his feelings.