GGAS 8

“That means I don’t want you to come too close.”

“Ah….”

“Because I, to Kim Abang…”

“Do I smell?”

“Because you smell.”

Seo Taerim unconsciously repeated Kim Abang’s words.

“…What did I just say?”

Seo Taerim stiffened and asked again.

“So it really was that….”

“No, that’s not it.”

“It’s just… earlier, when I bought fruit and was coming back, I rolled on the ground… and I think I bumped into a trash can too… so….”

Kim Abang, dispirited, looked down at his dirt-stained clothes.

“I usually keep myself clean….”

“No, it’s not that.”

“…Then what is it?”

“That….”

When Seo Taerim trailed off, unable to explain, Kim Abang waved his hand.

“Ah, sorry. It must be hard for you to say. It’s fine. I know that I smell….”

Kim Abang said in a voice that was not fine at all.

“No, really, that’s not it….”

‘Damn it.’

Seo Taerim nervously shifted his gaze and spotted a sign outside the window.

<Reclaim a Clean World – BL LASIK>

“Ah, eyes!”

Seo Taerim exclaimed.

“Yes?”

“I mean, I’m nearsighted. I can see your face better when you’re farther away.”

Seo Taerim’s eyesight was 7.5, nearly nomad-level, but he lied to get out of the situation.

“Is… is that it?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

At Seo Taerim’s words, Kim Abang’s expression brightened a little.

“Then I’ll step back so you can see me well!”

Kim Abang immediately pulled far away from Seo Taerim. His hurried steps even looked a little cheerful.

“Is this enough?”

Kim Abang hopped in place as he asked. Seo Taerim gathered the last of his strength and put on a handsome smile.

‘Whether the road is crooked or not, as long as it leads to Seoul. Anyway, he backed off, so it worked.’

And besides, technically speaking, he had achieved his goal without making Kim Abang cry. Seo Taerim consoled himself that this much was good enough. Then he got up from the bed and grabbed the coat lying next to it. Now, as long as the doctor gave permission, he intended to pay the hospital bill and go home.

At that moment, Kim Abang, who had somehow moved even farther away, flailed his arms on purpose to catch Seo Taerim’s attention.

“Taerim-ssi, Taerim-ssi…!”

“……?”

“Take that with you…!”

Since they were in the emergency room, Kim Abang couldn’t raise his voice, so he whispered with as much force as he could.

“The baskeeeet…!”

“Ah.”

Seo Taerim picked up the basket, piled too high with fruit and wobbling dangerously.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention iiit…!”

“Then… I’ll be on my way.”

“Yeees, I’ll go tooo…!”

Kim Abang grinned wide and whispered again with all his strength. Seo Taerim gave a slight nod and quickly walked toward the desk. He just wanted to go home.

***

Seo Taerim let out a sigh as he wandered endlessly around the hospital parking lot. Two problems had befallen him. The first was that there were no more buses. Since it was already midnight, that was understandable, but he had lost his wallet and couldn’t take a taxi. It was no small trouble.

And the second problem was that Kim Abang kept tailing him from behind like a ninja. Before realizing his wallet was gone, he had gone to the desk to pay his hospital bill, only for the nurse to say, “That gentleman already paid everything,” and point behind him. When he turned his head, Kim Abang was peeking out from behind a pillar far away, flashing a thumbs-up with a beaming smile. Seo Taerim nearly fainted again from the shock. Somehow, he managed to hang on to his sanity and step outside, but the small and lively presence never disappeared and kept following him.

“Ha….”

Seo Taerim sighed again. He had thought that if he walked a bit, Kim Abang would eventually go home, so he started circling the parking lot. But it seemed endless. He could not understand why, after they had already said their goodbyes, Kim Abang would engage in such antics.

“Ah!”

He heard a short cry and the sound of a thud behind. Seo Taerim stopped walking. Truly, this was someone hard to understand but even harder to ignore. He had no choice but to quit his endless lap around the parking lot and go to Kim Abang.

“Ah, Taerim-ssi!?”

Kim Abang greeted him happily even as he lay sprawled on the ground. Seo Taerim reached out his hand.

“Take it and stand up.”

“Thank you!”

Kim Abang grabbed Seo Taerim’s hand and got up.

“Kim Abang-ssi, why do you keep following me?”

“Taerim-ssi, should I give you a ride?”

They both spoke at the same time.

“…What?”

Seo Taerim asked back.

***

“The address is… 12, 847-gil, Shancho Boulevard? Is that right?”

Kim Abang asked as he entered the address Seo Taerim gave into the navigation.

“Yes. I don’t know the way well since I’m going there for the first time too, but the address is certain.”

He thought it was a relief he had memorized the address from the message before his phone got smashed.

“Okay, then let’s go~”

Kim Abang started humming as he gripped the wheel. Seo Taerim suddenly felt uneasy.

“But where did this car come from?”

“My friend’s. She works here as a nurse. She’s on night duty today, and she said I could use it if I needed and just put it back, so I got the keys right away!”

“You know how to drive?”

“Of course~. I even have my own car. Its name is Bangbang.”

“So, Kim Abang-ssi’s car is named Bangbang.”

“Yes! What do you think of my naming sense?”

“…Sounds like the name of a trampoline. Cheerful and lively.”

“Ah! How did you know? My trampoline’s name is Bangbang too! Do you also have a trampoline, Taerim-ssi?”

“No….”

“Then later, do you want to try Oi Market¹ with me? I have an extra trampoline I don’t use, I’ll sell it cheap. My manner temperature is 99 degrees.”

“…Isn’t that the one you tried to give to Director Kim Gwanggong and he refused?”

“Ah, how did you know?”

“It just seemed likely.”

“Wow, Taerim-ssi, you’d be amazing as a shaman!”

“I just want to be a hotel owner.”

“That suits you too! Your hotel is super cool. I think you were a hotel owner in your past life too.”

“Abang-ssi, green light.”

“Ah, thank you. But since we’re on the subject, may I ask?”

“Yes.”

“Taerim-ssi, what do you think you really were in your past life?”

“Well… I’ve never really thought about it.”

That was a lie. By nature, Seo Taerim was the kind of person who, when meetings dragged on, would imagine Coffeebene slogans floating in the air. So saying he had never once played the all-time-favorite imagination game, “What was my past life?” was a lie. In fact, he had even searched for many meditation videos claiming to let you dream about your past life. But only a few hours ago, thanks to Kim Abang, he had banged his head on the ground and ended up in the emergency room. In other words, Kim Abang was not yet someone he felt comfortable enough with to share such private stories as though they were talking about past lives. So he rummaged through his memory and came up with a safe and bland answer.

“Well, my mother said she thought I must have been betrayed and killed in my past life. Stabbed in the back.”

“Is your back okay?!”

Kim Abang asked in alarm. Seo Taerim gave up trying to follow the flow of the conversation. He decided to turn the focus back to Kim Abang.

“What do you think you were in your past life, Abang-ssi?”

“Mm… I’ll choose to be someone who didn’t betray you, Taerim-ssi!”

Focus or not, Kim Abang’s way of thinking was beyond Seo Taerim’s imagination.

“…Is that something you can just decide?”

“Just trust me!”

“Abang-ssi, turn right.”

“Ah, yes.”

Seo Taerim looked at Kim Abang with some surprise as he turned the wheel, clumsy yet fairly skilled.

‘I thought his driving would be just as chaotic as his talking… but aside from missing timing now and then because he’s busy talking, he actually drives pretty smoothly.’

If Kim Gwanggong had heard Seo Taerim’s thought, he would have checked out of H Hotel immediately and gone somewhere else. Because Seo Taerim’s comfortable ride was guaranteed at the cost of Kim Gwanggong’s life.

When Kim Gwanggong and Kim Abang were twenty, Gwanggong had been trapped every weekend in Abang’s car while he drove recklessly around the practice course again and again. He had gone along thinking Abang might be scared of driving and wanted help practicing, which turned out to be the mistake. Scared? Gwanggong wasn’t the type to seek ancestral spirits, but at that time, the name of his late grandfather kept coming to mind again and again. In any case, thanks to Gwanggong and the driving instructor shouting themselves hoarse, the present-day Kim Abang came to be.

“Your driving skills are quite good.”

Seo Taerim said.

“Thank you! Mm, but this is a secret, I can drive a little but I’m not good at finding directions.”

‘Director Kim Gwanggong must have had a hard time.’ Seo Taerim thought. A correct guess. Before Bangbang had a navigation system installed, Kim Gwanggong had served as Abang’s human map. Seo Taerim glanced at the navigation and felt relieved. Considering it was still working fine, it seemed unlikely he would end up in the same position as Director Kim Gwanggong.

“Since there’s navigation, there’s nothing to worry about. It doesn’t matter if you can’t find the way.”

At Seo Taerim’s words, Kim Abang looked touched.

“You’re the first person to ever say that to me!”

“…Is that so?”

“Then, can I tell you one more secret? It’s a little embarrassing, but….”

“There’s no need to say it, I already understand enough.”

Seo Taerim gave a roundabout refusal, but the nervous Kim Abang didn’t hear him. He shut his eyes tight and shouted.

“The truth is, I’m bad at memorizing addresses! So even now, I still write my home address wrong, and whenever I order a delivery, it takes a trip around the whole country before it gets to me…!”

It wasn’t much of a secret. From the start, Chairman Kim’s family and all the maids had already been calling Abang’s orders ‘wandering deliveries.’

“…At least they don’t go abroad.”

Seo Taerim said. Kim Abang’s face lit up.

“Do you really think so?”

“…Yes.”

“Wow!”

Kim Abang was thrilled that Seo Taerim didn’t mind even after hearing his secret.

“Taerim-ssi, if you’re bored, should I tell you the story of when I ordered a lint roller last time?”

Kim Abang had a tendency to chatter even more when he liked someone. Seo Taerim realized he had no choice in whether to listen or not, so he just nodded once.

“So what happened was, two months ago I ordered a whole box of lint rollers…”

Kim Abang kept talking while driving. The story of the lint rollers ending up in Jeju Island was practically an epic. Listening to him, Taerim leaned back against the seat. Maybe because the car felt cozy, he started to grow sleepy.

***

“—rim-ssi, Taerim-ssi!”

“…Mmm.”

“Wake up. We’ve arrived.”

“Ah… I must have dozed off. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. You must have been tired. But more importantly, Taerim-ssi, do you want me to tell you something amazing?”

“…….?”

“Look outside the window.”

It felt strangely familiar. Seo Taerim tried to recall when he had ever been here.

“This is….”

“My house!”

Seo Taerim was bewildered.

‘He said he’d drop me off, so why did he bring me to his own house… Should I at least be grateful he didn’t send me off to Jeju Island like the lint rollers…?’

But something was off. For someone who had supposedly dropped off a guest at the wrong place, Kim Abang was far too excited.

“Look to the right too!”

“……?”

Following his instruction, Seo Taerim looked out the right window. There was a house, but it was a place he didn’t know.

“Why are you showing me that….”

“The navigation says that’s your new house! Right across from mine!”

‘What?’

“Looks like we’re neighbors now!”

Seo Taerim’s face turned pale.

1. a super popular second-hand marketplace app in Korea (like Facebook Marketplace, but very local). Every user has a “manner temperature” score out of 100. If you’re polite, trustworthy, and make smooth trades, your “temperature” stays high. If you’re rude or unreliable, it drops. ↩︎