Chapter 609 (2/2)

Dojin seemed no less surprised. It didn’t seem that these two were in cahoots. That made things even more strange. Who was Han Maru? Spraying salt on an open wound with a smile on his face suited him more than this. Of course, he knew that Maru thought very deeply. He was willing to skip school to help Maru if Maru asked him to. Wasn’t he the thankful friend who recovered the relationship between him, his sister, and his father?

However, he was definitely not someone who would act friendly like this with a smile on his face. He was the kind of guy who would help others without them knowing or by leaving behind a very short, but helpful, piece of advice before leaving. He was definitely not the kind of guy who would say ‘doesn’t that feel refreshing’ while massaging someone else’s shoulders.

“Is it Park Daemyung?”

“Hey, do you think he would play a prank like this?”

“That’s true.”

“Then what the hell is it? What the hell has gotten into that Han Maru?”

“I dunno, but I can be sure that you, Kang Dowook, must have committed a grave mistake. Otherwise, Maru wouldn’t act like that. He’s blatantly toying with you. Oh, hey, did you do something to his sister?”

“Are you crazy? There’s no way I’d do something like….”

“Oho, something like what?”

Dowook palmed Dojin’s grinning face.

“Dojin, should I massage your shoulders as well? I know that culinary arts are tiring.”

“I-I’ll refuse this time. What’s up with you today? Did something happen?”

“Did something happen? No, nothing happened.”

“Then I wonder why you’re doing this…. If you continue like for just a bit longer, I think I can show you what I ate for lunch right away.”

Maru chuckled before shrugging.

“Both of you, watch out for your bodies when you work. Don’t forget your studies too. I’m leaving.”

Just as Maru turned around to leave the classroom, Dojin shouted in a loud voice,

“I heard Dowook and Bada are going on a 1 night trip over the weekend!”

Dowook turned around to look at Dojin. There was nothing like that. Just as he was about to snap out at him, Maru spoke in a small voice as he was leaving the classroom.

“Then you’ll die.”

He left those words before waving his hand and leaving.

“Hm, that sounds more like the Han Maru I know of. See? He’s trying to mess with you.”

“You bastard! Bada and I are going where?”

“You’re going to go somewhere. Anyway, we can be sure that Han Maru didn’t go crazy. It’s fine since we checked, isn’t it?”

Dojin stepped backwards with a grin on his face. Dowook grabbed the pencil case right next to him and threw it at Dojin’s face.

“I’ll fucking rip your mouth apart.”

“Oh? You aren’t a match for me.”

Dowook clenched his teeth as he looked at the sneaky Dojin.

* * *

“So you acted like that the entire day?”

“Yeah. There were all sorts of reactions.”

“Of course there were. They just can’t match your current image to the usual you. Even I would’ve been in a fix.”

“Was I that cold?”

“You weren’t always like that but with her… Gaeul, was it? Compared to when you were with Gaeul, there was definitely a difference. People who have seen you with your girlfriend must have been surprised, you know? After all, they would have never seen you talk so gently and kindly to someone before. Thinking about it now, I feel like you always put everything down only when you were in front of her.”

“Park Daemyung, that makes me feel disappointed. I think I treated you pretty well.”

“I know, I really do. But I can tell when I look at you, that you take a few steps back when you talk to others, figuratively, I mean.”

Daemyung looked out the window. Today as well, there were a lot of big guys playing soccer on the school field. Whether it was raining or snowing, there were always people kicking balls in that field. This was a rare sight for normal academic high schools. Balls could be seen every break time[1], which said a lot.

“Maybe I should play soccer with the people from the acting club.”

It was Maru who said those words. Daemyung spoke as he put his backpack on one shoulder.

“What made you change your mind so suddenly?”

“Nothing, I mean, literally nothing. I did hear about it from time to time. Even the president told me that putting too much distance is not good. In truth though, that’s more comfortable for me. There’s no worry about getting caught up in trouble, I can ‘moderately’ be happy for someone, I can ‘moderately’ be sad for someone, and the fatigue that comes from human relationships is also pretty small.”

“That sounds like Han Maru to me. And?”

“I don’t know. For the past few days, I’ve been thinking that a dry relationship is too sad considering that I only have one life.”

“I guess that’s true. You’ve been changing ever since you entered 3rd year.”

“So you noticed? I only noticed it recently.”

“You have changed the way you treat other people after all. You were like that with Chihwan too. That was the first time you replied to other people’s questions so passionately, wasn’t it?”

“It was.”

Maru leaned against the wall.

“But is it that strange?”

“It is definitely strange.”

“Should I just act like usual then?”

“It’s strange that you’re asking me such a question in the first place. If it was the old you, you would’ve made the decision by yourself.”

“It’s not bad to listen to other people’s opinions. Especially if it’s yours.”

“Honestly speaking, I don’t know. To me, you were, uhm, don’t take offense for this, but how should I put it, uh, you were pretty desolate. I’m not saying that in a bad sense. You were putting distance between yourself and others in order to minimize the damage that would come your way, and that even made you look cruel at times.”

“I still haven’t changed my mind about that.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah. It’s just that... I wanted to know more about the people around me. Also, I feel like it’s not a bad thing to be reckless from time to time. I just realized that there’s a place that can care for me when I’m exhausted. I thought that she was someone I had to protect, but it turns out it wasn’t like that.”

Maru, who made a faint smile, looked more amazing than before. There was a sense of instability about him, but it was the kind that could be seen from someone who was moving forward.

“But it is a little tiring.”

Maru erased his smile and returned to his calm expression.

“Doing things I’m not used to doing.”

“Are you going to keep trying?”

“For the foreseeable future. Oh, I’ll be going off first. The film production club is waiting for me.”

“Okay.”

Maru stretched his arms out and turned around. Daemyung waved at Maru.

“I’m not entirely sure what’s happening, but good luck.”

Daemyung checked the clock once before leaving the classroom.

[1] In Korea, there are 10 minute breaks between each class, not 5.