GGAS 20

“It looks like they’re gone now. Let’s go out.”

Kim Abang, with eyes swollen like a carp, looked up at Seo Taerim as he spoke. It was doubtful whether he could even be said to be looking at him at all.

“Yes….”

Seo Taerim, with a face half devoid of spirit, barely pulled up the corners of his lips to form something like a smile as he answered. He had thought Kim Abang was going to die of dehydration and had instantly mastered the three-piece set of being shocked, frightened, and horrified. Now, whether reporters came or not, everything would be fine as long as Kim Abang did not cry.

But who in life could say anything with certainty?

‘Cancel that… nothing is fine at all.’

Seo Taerim changed his mind in less than five minutes. They had been spotted by reporters on the way, and in their rush to escape had ran blindly into a place that turned out to be a dead end.

“Kim Abang-ssi, I think we took the wrong way. No matter how I look, there’s no way out here.”

As the sound of footsteps and voices of two people or so came from the alley entrance, Seo Taerim quickly turned to Kim Abang and spoke. If they got caught now, it would not only be about a dating rumor but also a fight rumor because of Kim Abang’s swollen eyes.

‘This is a disaster.’

Seo Taerim thought as he looked at the tall brick wall blocking the way ahead. But for some reason Kim Abang did not seem particularly impatient.

“It’s fine.”

Kim Abang, with carp eyes, looked up at the wall as he spoke.

“We didn’t lose our way.”

“Excuse me?”

As Seo Taerim repeated back, Kim Abang suddenly stepped back several large steps, then charged straight toward the wall.

“Kim Abang-ssi!”

Seo Taerim screamed in shock, but instead of smashing his head against the wall like Seo Taerim had feared, Kim Abang lightly stepped with his left foot onto a large garbage container in front of the wall. Then he immediately grabbed hold of a protruding iron pipe on the wall with his right hand and pulled it down, using the recoil to fling himself into the air, and with his legs first, he flipped right over the wall.

“…Uh….”

Seo Taerim stared blankly for a few seconds at the spot where Kim Abang had disappeared. Then he raised his trembling finger, pointing at either the wall or the empty air, in any case at something that could not be identified.

“…Just now, he flew….”

Seo Taerim muttered in confusion, when Kim Abang suddenly poked his round head out from over the wall.

“Taerim-ssi, come up! This is Mr. Kim Cheolsu’s rooftop, so even if you go over the wall, you won’t fall down or anything like that!”

Kim Abang shouted while motioning with his hand for Seo Taerim to climb up. Seo Taerim quickly came to his senses and pulled back the hand that had been wandering helplessly in the air. But since the dazed feeling did not completely go away, he pinched his own cheek. Feeling his fingernails dig in, it seemed clear that he had not just seen an illusion.

“Kim Abang-ssi, do you also do parkour…?”

Seo Taerim asked, connecting what had just happened to a parkour video he had seen on YouTube not long ago.

Kim Abang tilted his head.

“Hm? What is parkour?”

“What you just did, Kim Abang-ssi.”

“I just call it wall jumping… hmm, but parkour does sound cooler.”

Kim Abang spoke with interest. At that moment, the sound of reporters’ footsteps really started to grow louder.

Kim Abang frantically flapped his hand, signaling for Seo Taerim to come up.

“Hurry and climb up!”

“Ah, yes…!”

Seo Taerim nodded as he answered, then, just like Kim Abang had done, he stepped far back from the wall. After taking a deep breath, he ran toward the wall with all his strength, stepped on the garbage container like Kim Abang…

“Ugh!”

…and slipped straight into another garbage container next to it, falling in headfirst.

“Taerim-ssi, are you alright?!”

Having only ever played with tough neighborhood friends, Kim Abang had never in his life seen someone fall in such a pathetic way, so he shouted in shock.

“Yes, I’m alright….”

Seo Taerim groaned as he answered, then coughed violently as he raised his upper body. He placed his hand on the piled garbage bags below to stand up completely. But because his hand slipped on ramen broth leaking out of a bag, he toppled forward again and ended up showing off yet another kind of unsightly figure.

“Urgh….”

As Seo Taerim groaned again while pressing his forehead, Kim Abang, who was watching from above, let out a sigh.

“My goodness….”

“Excuse me?”

“Ah, nothing. Just stay right there as you are. I’ll come down.”

As soon as Seo Taerim nodded in understanding, Kim Abang stood with both feet on top of the wall, then without hesitation hurled his body into the air, leapt, and in one swift motion landed on top of the garbage container. At the same time as landing, he rolled sideways in style like a secret agent and went into the garbage container where Seo Taerim had fallen. But in the middle of showing off a dizzying, flashy spin, he accidentally drove his right foot straight into Seo Taerim’s chin.

“Urgh….”

Seo Taerim, who had tried to get up but fell back down again, let out a groan at the numb pain spreading from his chin. But Kim Abang, not knowing that, was thrilled under the illusion that after three months he had finally pulled off a flawless, perfect roll, and he raised his head with a proud smile.

“Taerim-ssi, did you see? I rolled so awesomely!”

Kim Abang spoke while lightly shaking his shoulders in a little dance, and Seo Taerim gave a bitter smile.

“Yes, I saw…”

“Hm? But why are you holding your chin?”

“Well….”

Seo Taerim tried to explain, ‘You did roll awesomely, but at the end you smashed my chin like it was going to break.’ But when he saw the sparkle of joy Kim Abang’s eyes, he could not bring himself to say it.

“Well… my chin… it just feels good to hold it.”

“Aha~ there are days like that~.”

Seo Taerim did not understand at all what it meant that there were such days, but since he had been the one to start this nonsense, he decided to just keep his mouth shut. And with the hand not holding his chin, he stretched out to help Kim Abang, who was pulling with effort to close the garbage container lid over their heads.

“…But do we really have to close the lid?”

Seo Taerim asked quietly, the worsened stench from the lack of airflow more unbearable than the darkness itself. Kim Abang seemed to think for a moment, then made a hand megaphone at his mouth and whispered very softly.

“But isn’t this better than you trying to climb again and ending up becoming a star in the sky, Taerim-ssi…!”

He had already nearly cracked the back of his head, the front of his head, and his chin, Seo Taerim silently agreed and pinched his nose shut with his thumb and forefinger. Kim Abang tried to cheer him on, he clenched his hands into tiny fists and showed them with a bright smile.

“I know this much won’t make your sense of smell go numb. Please endure just a little more, Taerim-ssi…!”

Seo Taerim looked at Kim Abang in amazement, talking about the mystery of the human body and the hope of life inside a garbage container filled with a stench that made him want to faint on the spot.

“Kim Abang-ssi, don’t you smell it?”

“Ah, I’m fine because my nose got blocked earlier from crying.”

When Kim Abang kindly answered, Seo Taerim felt regret.

‘I should have cried too….’

While Seo Taerim had that rather immature thought, Kim Abang pressed his eye to a small hole in the lid and peered outside.

“…….!”

Kim Abang saw the reporters loitering at the end of the alley and patted Seo Taerim’s arm.

“They’re here…!”

Kim Abang whispered with a tense expression, and Seo Taerim tensed up with him. If they got caught now, it wouldn’t just be getting caught, it would be getting caught as the people who hid in a garbage container. Seo Taerim held his breath and listened intently to what was happening outside.

“Hey, I’m sure I saw them come this way… where did they hide?”

A voice that seemed to belong to a middle-aged man spoke in irritation.

“I’m telling you, you’ve presbyopia. There’s no way to escape this way, why would they come here?”

When the younger one, equally annoyed, brought up presbyopia again, Kim Abang muttered as if shocked, “How can he say something like that!” and Seo Taerim quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.

“…Didn’t you hear a sound just now?”

The younger man spoke sharply.

Ah, was it because of me…?

As Kim Abang blinked his eyes rapidly and looked at Seo Taerim, Seo Taerim gave a faint smile to show it was alright. But that was only to reassure Kim Abang and prevent a bigger accident, not because he had some clever solution. In truth, if only he could, he wanted to peel off the watermelon seed stuck to the back of his hand, stick it by his nose, then boldly kick open the garbage container and ask provocatively, “Do you know who I am?” before strolling out of the alley. But this was neither a movie nor a drama, so there was no way that would work.

…And anyway, the thing stuck to the back of his hand, which seemed to be moving, he wasn’t even sure if it was a watermelon seed or not….

In this half-panic state, Seo Taerim heard the sound of footsteps drawing closer.

“The sound… I think it came from this side.”

The younger man muttered, then tapped the garbage container lid with his hand.

“Sunbae, come here and help me open this.”

Seo Taerim shut his eyes tightly in resignation.

But the middle-aged man, already too irritated, did not help the younger man open the lid. Instead, he snorted, saying, “You said I have presbyopia, but you’re the one hearing things,” then stomped away with heavy footsteps. The younger man sighed, cursed a few times, then shouted to go together and ran after him.

“…Looks like they’re gone.”

Kim Abang said as he peered outside through the hole. Seo Taerim immediately pushed open the garbage container lid.

“Ha….”

Breathing in the clean air made him feel like he could live again. Without bothering to check what it was on the back of his hand, he quickly shook it off and climbed out of the container.

“I am never going into a garbage container again.”

Seo Taerim spoke firmly, then reached out a hand to Kim Abang, who was still inside.

“I suppose that makes sense? But why are those people chasing us anyway?”

Kim Abang carefully took Seo Taerim’s hand and climbed out, making sure not to fall.

“Ah, that is….”

Seo Taerim pulled out the front page of a newspaper he had torn off and stuffed into his cardigan pocket and handed it to Kim Abang. Kim Abang took the crumpled paper, spread it here and there, then soon opened his eyes wide in amazement.

“Wow, it’s my first time appearing in a newspaper!”

Then he said he should clip it for a scrapbook, but when he looked again, he saw it was too wrinkled to be used for that and expressed regret.

“There’s nothing to regret. That kind of article was printed in tens of thousands of copies today alone, and tomorrow just as many will come out again.”

Seo Taerim spoke with a shiver, as if even the thought of it was exhausting.

“Ah, then does that mean we’ll have to run away like this tomorrow too?”

“Most likely.”

When Seo Taerim answered weakly, Kim Abang also drooped his shoulders. He had not yet learned how to scrapbook while running.

“This is serious….”

Kim Abang, thinking of today’s diary that would end up completely empty and tomorrow’s diary as well, spoke in a voice full of worry. But Seo Taerim thought Kim Abang had finally looked at reality from the perspective of a reasonable person, and he let out a deep sigh in agreement.

“That’s exactly right….”

He did not even feel like using his fingers to smooth out the furrow in his brow.

‘There’s not a single countermeasure.’

Seo Taerim ran his hand through his hair with a stiff expression, showing his troubled feelings. But when Kim Abang saw that, he suddenly became very excited, unable to control his emotions, and flapped his arms like a penguin.

“That’s it, Taerim-ssi!”

“Excuse me?”

“That’s it!”

“What is?”

“Thanks to you, Taerim-ssi, I just thought of it! A good idea to solve this situation!”