MY 4

Won Wooje slapped his cheeks with a stinging thwack, thwack. Kim Johoon’s plump cheek fat shook.

“I’m sorry… I forgot.”

Whether he hadn’t expected this situation, Kim Johoon, with a face full of panic, glanced warily at Han Seolwoo.

“Aha…”

Won Wooje let out an exclamation and curled the corners of his mouth into a smile. It was a devilish smile.

“Fucking up your common sense… fucking up your manners, and just fucking forgetting. Is it because you just keep fucking stuff up that you get diarrhea, huh?”

Kim Johoon, with a stiff expression, looked down, not knowing what to do. A short silence followed. Won Wooje, with his hands thrust into his gym pants, slowly raised his long foot. Soon, he kicked the bathroom door once more with a bang. Behind the loud noise, Kim Johoon flinched and shrank back.

“Nothing to say?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“I asked if you have nothing to say.”

At Won Wooje’s face, which had turned chilling, Kim Johoon hesitantly looked at Han Seolwoo. Han Seolwoo, who had been standing there blankly watching them, looked behind him. Sure enough, a crowd gathered in front of the bathroom door was swarming like people watching a fire across a river.

Ha… Letting out a faint sigh, Han Seolwoo grabbed Won Wooje’s forearm.

“Let’s just go for now. Class is about to start.”

“Let go.”

“Why.”

Han Seolwoo furrowed his brows at the action of shaking off his hand.

“I need to get an apology from this motherfucker.”

“What apology.”

“The crime of being impudent enough to not return it yet when he borrowed it in the first period.”

“…Ah, I forgot about it too.”

Han Seolwoo lowered his voice. His own sin of solving workbooks all through lunch and only realizing late that PE was the fifth period was great. He felt like he should be the one kneeling in penance.

“Let’s go, just go. Okay?”

He pulled Won Wooje’s arm again. While urging the silent boy, he signaled with his eyes for Kim Johoon, who was watching him, to leave. A rigid Kim Johoon looked at Han Seolwoo and nodded his trembling chin slightly. Then he moved his body hesitantly.

“What’s this?”

Suddenly, a cold question rang out. The sound of whispering came from behind. Han Seolwoo felt a stiffness in the back of his neck. He wished he would please stop making a big deal out of nothing. Han Seolwoo wanted to live quietly.

“I said, what’s this.”

“What’s whaaat.”

Han Seolwoo let out a sigh mixed with annoyance.

“Eye contact? Fucking eye contact in front of me right now?”

Won Wooje frowned deeply. Han Seolwoo unknowingly let out another deep sigh. Won Wooje’s behavior of picking a quarrel again grated on his nerves. He felt annoyed.

“Ah, come on.”

“What?”

“I said let’s just go. I really hate this kind of thing.”

At the firm irritation, Won Wooje’s expression gradually stiffened. Han Seolwoo, who had blurted it out recklessly, slowly lifted his gaze. Only after seeing Won Wooje’s eyes did he think, ‘Uh oh.’

He knew very well when Won Wooje made this kind of expression. Especially when he made it while looking at his face.

“…No.”

Han Seolwoo, glancing toward the bathroom door, loftily lowered his eyes. His long eyelashes cast a shadow. It was a matter of losing the big for the small. There was no need to light a bigger fire to put out a small one.

“I have social anxiety, you know. Look at that, my heart is racing because there are so many people… I think I’m getting a fever, too. It’s even hard to breathe, haaa…”

Han Seolwoo, clutching his chest slightly, put on a face as fragile as a falling petal. Social anxiety was purely an excuse he made up because of Won Wooje. There was no better method when there were many eyes watching or when things were urgent.

Won Wooje’s eyes, which were about to turn yellow with rage, returned to normal. Like a person who had just received a vaccine shot before turning into a zombie.

“…You’re sick again?”

“…Yeah.”

“Where does it hurt?”

He checked Han Seolwoo’s forehead with serious eyes. It seemed Kim Johoon was no longer in his sight. In an instant, the sound of murmuring was heard from behind again. Won Wooje whipped his head around.

“Won’t you get lost? You motherfuckers?”

He shouted toward the crowd gathered at the bathroom door. The startled students slinked away and scattered. At the crowd that disappeared in an instant, Han Seolwoo let out another deep sigh.

During the PE class that started after many twists and turns, they played soccer. Won Wooje and Han Seolwoo, the center forwards, were always placed on different sides to balance the teams. This was because most of the goals came from the two of them.

Every time Won Wooje scored a goal, he performed various ceremonies. He would pull the hem of his shirt over his face or shake his butt while doing the Crayon Shin-chan dance. The high-pitched screeching, as if he were screaming, was a must.

In contrast, Han Seolwoo’s ceremony was modest. When he scored a goal, all he did was cheer and smile brightly. Then the kids on his team would run over, ruffle his hair, hug him, and praise him. Watching that, Won Wooje would spit on the ground with an utterly annoyed expression.

Between the points scored back and forth, the second half neared its end. The score was 4:5, and Won Wooje’s team was losing.

Won Wooje, the center forward, dribbled the ball and ran threateningly through the enemy lines. It was the last chance to attack. He had to score now to even hope for a penalty shootout.

Han Seolwoo, the opposing team’s attacker, blocked his path. His face was more serious than ever. No matter if it was Han Seolwoo, he couldn’t give up such a golden opportunity.

It was the moment Won Wooje, having quickly read his movement, was breaking out to the side. Han Seolwoo, who seemed to be moving to the right, turned and lunged his foot toward Won Wooje’s ball. At the tactic that was one step ahead, the corners of Han Seolwoo’s mouth turned up slightly. And at that moment. Crack! With a loud sound, Han Seolwoo rolled violently on the ground. Simultaneously, a painful groan burst out.

“Hey!”

A startled Won Wooje stopped and shouted.

“What are you doing!”

Then he yelled at Bae Junhyeok, who had kicked Han Seolwoo’s ankle out of nowhere. He was tumbling on the playground floor along with Han Seolwoo.

Won Wooje ran straight to Han Seolwoo. Bae Junhyeok, who fell with him, was out of his mind.

“Seolwoo, are you okay? Are you okay? Don’t move.”

Won Wooje, dripping with sweat, fumbled over Han Seolwoo. He distorted his face and checked his complexion as if he were the one who had been hurt.

“Ah, ugh…”

Han Seolwoo, curling his back, clutched his leg and groaned. Perhaps because of the intense pain, reflexive tears were welling up.

“Teacher! He’s hurt! Fuck! That motherfucker Bae Junhyeok!”

Won Wooje shouted loudly, not knowing what to do. At the breathless shouting, the PE teacher ran over in a hurry from afar and checked on Han Seolwoo. The surroundings, circling them in a ring, were buzzing.

“Let’s see, let’s move him to the nurse’s office.”

It was the moment the teacher was about to carry Han Seolwoo on his back.

“I’ll do it.”

Won Wooje, beating him to it, turned his back and crouched down.

“Hey, grab onto me. Let’s go to the hospital. We have to go to the hospital for this. Teacher, we’re going to the hospital, not the nurse’s office.”

“Ah, ugh…”

“It seems okay, so go to the nurse’s office first, show it to the teacher, and then go.”

“Ah, why. Be careful, be careful. Don’t let your foot touch the ground.”

“We have to see the condition first and give emergency treatment.”

He carefully carried Han Seolwoo on his back. Han Seolwoo, placing his forehead on his shoulder, grit his teeth.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

Won Wooje asked with a frowning face. Without being stubborn, he followed the teacher’s words and walked quickly to the nurse’s office. He didn’t even run properly, fearing that the stimulation would cause pain.

Han Seolwoo couldn’t even answer properly and just kept shaking his head. To exaggerate a bit, it felt like his ankle had been snapped in two. He was forcing himself to hold back because it was embarrassing, but tears were spinning in his eyes.

“You really have to be careful playing soccer. I told you not to throw your body around like that.”

The school nurse said, clicking her tongue. While she sprayed pain-relief spray and checked the condition, Won Wooje walked around inside like a puppy that needed to poop, unable to stay still. To an observer, he looked like he was dealing with an emergency patient in critical condition.

“It doesn’t seem to be broken… My goodness, it looks like he’s ready to kill if I don’t send him to the hospital, just ready to kill. Won Wooje. Can you take Seolwoo? Shall I ask the PE teacher?”

“It’s fine, we can just take a taxi in front of the school gate.”

Won Wooje headed to the hospital with Han Seolwoo after the treatment was finished. Standing on the roadside, he waved his hand urgently while carrying the boy, who was as large as a mountain, on his back. Fortunately, he was able to catch a passing taxi quickly.

“Mister, please go fast. He’s fucking hurt. If we’re late, he might die.”

“Oh dear, where to, is he hurt badly?”

The driver, seeing the two in gym clothes covered in dust, sent a worried look. Vroom, the sound of stepping on the accelerator followed.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Won Wooje kept muttering curses. Then he carefully stroked his swollen white calf. Han Seolwoo flinched. Won Wooje, startled by even that small movement, quickly withdrew his hand.

Sitting back and facing forward, Won Wooje was restless even inside the car, looking through the windshield to see if the car was going fast, looking out the window, leaning back on the seat, and then sitting up again. It was because it was the first time he had seen Han Seolwoo hurt so vividly right before his eyes.

Suddenly, glancing at Han Seolwoo, Won Wooje’s brow narrowed.

“Ah, fuck…”

Quickly leaning forward while bracing against the seat, he cupped Han Seolwoo’s cheeks. It was because he was shedding tears from his reddened eyes.