"His face is so disturbing to look at that it makes me physically sick. That fucking old man."
"Don't talk like that!"
Yoon-sung's words were too much for Shi-heum to take.
"Well, our dad was seeing your mom. I knew about it too, even though I don't live with them. So... does that make our dad feel like your real dad?"
When Yoon-sung started snickering, Shi-heum, who'd reached the end of his patience, shouted at Yoon-sung to get out of there, straight away.
"I had an appointment today, but I came early to see you. But you've been pretty frosty."
"I told you to leave."
"OK, I'll take my leave since I'm feeling a bit off. Anyway, don't take out that old man's photo."
Yoon-sung gave Shi-heum a heads-up and then went back to his room. All of a sudden, Shi-heum felt really tired and plopped down on the floor. The floor wasn't just black and white, but it had a few colors in it, and he was never going to get used to it no matter how much he looked at it.
Yoon-sung was just as surprised by the situation. It's like suddenly seeing color and being totally affected by it.
"How could this happen?"
Just because there was color didn't mean the world looked the same as before, and it was always catching his eye. Yoon-Sung felt a little dizzy and closed his eyes.
*
The next day. Yoon-sung was just about to head off to school when he noticed the door to Shi-heum's room was closed. Yoon-sung opened the door and found Shi-heum asleep. There were dried tear stains on the pillow under Shi-heum's head, and next to the pillow was a photo frame with a picture of Shi-heum's mother.
"...."
Yoon-sung looked at the sleeping Shi-heum with a subtle expression, then gently placed his hand on Shi-heum's shoulder. As soon as Yoon-sung touched his shoulder, Shi-heum's eyes flashed open.
"Why...?"
"You're not going to school, are you? It's almost time."
When Yoon-sung said something, Shi-heum got ready for school right away. Yoon-sung was waiting nearby, minding his own business on his phone. Today is Shi-heum's first day of school, so he probably didn't know where the school was.
"If you walk to school now, you'll be late."
When Shi-heum was all set for school, Yoon-sung put his phone in his pocket and said,
"Then, are we going by bus or something?"
"Something like that."
"What does 'something like that' mean?"
"Just follow me."
Shi-heum tagged along behind Yoon-sung to the garage and stood in front of it. He was shocked when he saw Yoon-sung pulling a motorcycle out of the garage.
"You look a bit shocked. Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?"
"No."
"Then give it a shot this time. Otherwise, you'll be late from the first day."
Shi-heum was sitting on the back of the motorcycle, like he'd made up his mind. Yoon-sung gave Shi-heum an extra helmet, put on the one he was wearing, and sat in the driver's seat.
Shi-heum paused for a moment, then put his arms around Yoon-sung's waist, and Yoon-sung started the motorcycle. They arrived at school super fast, which made Shi-heum feel faint.
"Phew, phew.... I'm never going to ride a motorcycle again."
Shi-heum, who'd been through a real ordeal the whole time he'd been on Yoon-sung's motorcycle, gasped for breath as he spoke.
"But we'll have to ride it again when we go home."
"Then just drive more carefully."
"I was planning on doing that even if you hadn't said anything. This time, I drove fast because you made me late. You don't even appreciate the favor I did for you."
When Yoon-sung got annoyed, Shi-heum glared at him with wide eyes. Yoon-sung also narrowed his eyes and stared back at Shi-heum. At that moment, Yoon-sung's friends approached and asked about Shi-heum, who they'd never seen before.
"Hey, Yoon-sung. Who is this?"
"Oh, he's my color. As you can see, he's not very friendly toward me."
"Your 'color'?"
"I guess he's not a fan of being stuck with me. I feel the same way about that guy, because I don't like him either."
When Yoon-sung said this, looking a bit annoyed, Shi-heum told him to tell him where the 1-2 class was.
"You in the second class? Anyway, that fucking old man, he's done everything useless."
So, Shi-heum was put in charge of the first-year Class 2, which also happened to be Yoon-sung's class. Yoon-sung wasn't too thrilled about sharing a class with Shi-heum.
"Why...?"
When Yoon-sung came into the room and put his bag down, Shi-heum muttered to himself, a bit flustered.
"I'm not sure. Maybe it was just a coincidence, or maybe that old guy asked for it on purpose. I'd say the latter."
Yoon-sung spoke frankly and sat down at his desk, then realized that he was the only one in the class without a seatmate. In the end, Yoon-sung got seated next to Shi-heum.
"What kind of situation is this?"
Shi-heum did his best to stay as quiet as possible, but Yoon-sung's friends wouldn't leave him alone. Yoon-sung was the real power in the classroom and even in the school. It was only natural. Chairman Chae built this school from the ground up.
Yoon-sung's influence meant that the kids tried hard to win Shi-heum's favor. Shi-heum didn't seem to care what anyone thought of him.
During class, which was kind of boring, Yoon-sung kept looking at Shi-heum, who was sitting next to him. His smooth, flowing hair and neat sideview were so beautiful.
'It's not my business, no matter how attractive he is.'
When the morning classes ended, Yoon-sung asked Shi-heum to go to lunch with him. Shi-heum wasn't having it, and Yoon-sung didn't ask him again.
Even after Yoon-sung left to get lunch, the others in the classroom tried to take Shi-heum to the student cafeteria. Shi-heum said no to all their requests to eat together and stayed in the classroom on his own, lying face down on his desk.
After his mom passed away, Chairman Chae sent him to live with Yoon-sung because he was having a hard time seeing Shi-heum, who looked like his mom. Now he had to admit it. The chairman was nice to Shi-heum, but only because he loved his mom.
The chairman never really saw Shi-heum as his own son, even though he'd said otherwise in the past.
Shi-Heum's eyes welled up with sadness. But he held them back. If he stayed like this, he might really start crying, so Shi-heum went to the toilet and composed himself in front of the mirror.
He looked at his gaunt self. The pale blue rings around his dark eyes were a bit unnerving. Shi-heum was thinking about Yoon-sung's eyes. Baby pink and baby blue. It was a color combination that was just right.
When the classes ended, Yoon-sung said no to his friends' suggestion to go out and play, and tapped Shi-heum on the shoulder. He wasn't really into hanging out with Shi-heum, but Shi-heum didn't know how to get back home, so Yoon-sung offered to help.
"Let's head back."
"...."
Shi-heum didn't want to follow Yoon-sung, but he had nowhere else to go. So, he reluctantly rode Yoon-sung's motorcycle.
"Hey."
"What?"
"Hungry? You skipped lunch."
As soon as they got home, Yoon-sung said something that Shi-heum hadn't expected at all.
"Nah, I'm not hungry."
Shi-heum wasn't really feeling it. He didn't have time to worry about feeling hungry right now.
"Hmmm."
Yoon-sung bit his lip and looked at Shi-heum. Shi-heum shot Yoon-sung a quick look. Yoon-sung was good-looking, with a sharp, angular face, but he didn't look particularly cheerful.
When Shi-heum looked at Yoon-sung with a cautious eye, Yoon-sung made it clear he wasn't pleased.
"Why are you so suspicious? I haven't done anything to you."
Shi-heum gave Yoon-sung a look, then went into his room. While Shi-heum hit the books in his room, Yoon-sung took a shower and got ready to go out. Then he got a call from his dad.
"Why?"
-I gave you a call to see how you and Shi-heum are doing.
"Why didn't you just call Shi-heum yourself?"
Yoon-sung asked, but his dad just kept quiet.