PCL Ch 7

Lim Dae-han fell asleep as soon as he arrived at school. He spent the morning like a dead mouse, clutching the peach emoticon arm pillow.

His friends in tight trousers would often approach him and act cute, saying, “Dae-hana~, Dae-hana~,” whereas his friends in short skirts and heavy makeup would approach him and say, “Hey, Lim Dae-han~.” He only wrinkled his impressions a few times and continued to sleep.

He must have been tired because he arrived at school early. The teachers in each subject didn’t even say anything to awaken him. Despite the fact that he was clearly present at school, he was treated as if he were absent.

While Dae-han was in a deep sleep, I just spent the day as usual. I listened to the class and laughed at the teacher and Jung Ji-pil jokes. During the break, I peeped at the Dae-han’s seat while listening to the guys who were passionate about games and soccer.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

And after about the fifth time I glanced at the Dae-han seat, Jung Ji-pil spoke with a strange expression. He obviously widened his eyes and looked at me while talking about the new skin of the game.

“What.”

I replied quickly for no reason other than I didn’t want to be caught peering at Dae-han. Jung Ji-pil followed my gaze and looked at me whose looking at Dae-han. My entire body flinched.

“Be honest with me.”

“What?”

“You can’t fool me”.

“About what.”

Jung Ji-pil lowered his voice as much as possible.

“He’s bothering you.”

“Huh?”

“No, fuck, those bastards are just like that.  They say you are their friend, but they want your money.”

“Oh, no… it’s not like that.”

It’s hard to say we’re friends…

Jung Ji-pil’s face filled with determination as I faltered in my response.  I became anxious. He had a corner where he was looking for loyalty or justice in a strange place. I looked through Jung Ji-pil with dismal eyes. Jung Ji-pil nodded and curled his upper and lower lips. He closed his eyes, then opened them again and patted my shoulder.

“Hey, don’t worry.”

“… What.”

“This brother will protect you.”

My anxiety rate increased.

When it was time for lunch, Dae-han got up from his seat because the surroundings had become too noisy. He approached a passerby and asked if it was lunchtime. Then I shifted my gaze. He had a very broad shoulder. He must be exercise a lot. That had to be the case, given the amount of food he ate.

Lim Dae-han’s gaze turned to me as he moved his head and touched his shoulders. When our gazes met, I turned around. With the sound of the dragging chair, I could notice Dae-han approaching me.

That was then.

“Hey, let’s go.”

Jung Ji-pil grabbed my wrist and pulled me up. The back door was where Dae-han came in, and Jung Ji-pil led me towards the front door.  He crossed the desks and walked loudly as he moves forward.

Jung Ji-pil, who grabbed me and dragged me to the front door, seemed strangely desperate. Our class had already ended a while ago, so we had no choice but to eat late and we dashed to the canteen. As a result, I was able to leave the classroom without talking to Dae-han.

“Ah, I’m alive.”

Jung Ji-pil held his chest and exhaled after finishing his task.

“Let’s tell the guys we’ll go first.”

Then I forced myself to proceed. I took out my cell phone and left a message in the group messenger room. ‘We are going first,’ I said to Choi Yang-guk and Lee Deok-hyang, who used to go to the cafeteria together. I was about to put my phone in my pocket when I received a message from Dae-han.

Lim Dae-han: [Come to the stairs] 12:06 pm

Lim Dae-han: [Let’s eat] 12:06 pm

I thought for a while and eventually turned to the canteen. Jung Ji-pil said he had left money and asked to return to the classroom, but I said I would go first. Without properly explaining it to him, I moved as if trying to escape. Jung Ji-pil’s eyes, which had been holding me, were strangely conflicted.

“Did Dae-han call you?”

“Uhm?”

I glanced between the classroom building and the canteen. Jung Ji-pil noticed the answer.

“Is that bastard calling you?”

“No.”

“Wow, this bastard really.”

Jung Ji-pil, who couldn’t say anything in front of Dae-han, was now cursing him. I smiled awkwardly.

“I’ll be back.”

Then I turned away from Jung Ji-pil and the rest of the guys. My steps just got faster. As I turned around the corner next to the canteen, I saw Dae-han sitting on the stairs. There were also a few of Dae-han friends, but when Dae-han shook his hand with annoyance on his face, they quickly retreated to the back. It seemed like they were going to smoke.

Dae-han, who was alone at the time, became aware of my presence and turned his head toward me. Then he made a gesture to me. He was holding a black plastic bag. I glanced Dae-han friends at the back and sat close to him. The cry of the cicadas seemed to tear my ears apart. It was humid, hot, and my body was losing strength, but I was worried about Dae-han.

Dae-han reached out to me. I shrugged my shoulders and his hand couldn’t reach me.

“You are sweating.”

“Yeah, because it’s hot…”

“Eat the ice cream first.”

Lim Dae-han first took the freezie bar from the bag. It had a soda flavor to it. He tapped directly on his thigh to take out the contents and handed it to me.

“… What about you?”

When I took the ice cream and asked, Dae-han shook his head. I gave him a worried look, and he responded.

“I ate something else.”

After all, he was a big eater. Nonetheless, I handed over the ice cream faucet that Dae-han had given me. Dae-han accepted with a soft smile. When he held it in his hand, it appeared particularly small. He had large hands as well. Lim Dae-han’s gaze slowly turned to mine as I rubbed the frezzie bar to conceal my relatively small hand. Then he sighed and shifted his gaze to the front, saying quietly, “Ah.”

Lim Dae-han violently bit the tip of the frezzie bar on his hand in his mouth.

“You have small hands.”

In response to what he said, I said, “Yeah,” and bit the frezzie bar. The shape changed depending on the tooth marks. Dae-han’s eyes were firmly attached to me as soon as I began sucking the tube in complete seriousness. Lim Dae-han averted his gaze as my brow furrowed naturally.

“Ah, shit…”

He mumbled a curse. I was eating ice cream because of the hot weather, but somehow it was more sticky. Then, because it was awkward to be quiet, I spoke carefully to him.

“That, you know…”

“Hmm.”

“You did this with your hands in the morning. What was it? I can’t see it clearly.”

I displayed it in front of him, crossing my hands like a fly crossing its legs or a movie actor impersonating a kiss. Lim Dae-han couldn’t keep the smile from spreading across his lips.

“In the morning?”

“Yeah. Before I left the house. You smoked and did this.”

I demonstrated it once more, but Lim Dae-han grabbed my hand and pulled it down. His hand was hotter than I thought. It’s summer, and Dae-han will undoubtedly be hot. He gripped my hands tightly before releasing them.

“I put on hand cream.”

“Why?”

“I’m afraid it stinks…”

Lim Dae-han’s words were muddled. ‘You can smoke without worried about such a thing. We’re not even in a relationship.’ I thought to myself. I pulled my legs that stretched out, placed my arms on my knees, and buried my chin. I sucked the ice as I pressed my hand against the tube. It was sweet and delicious.

Dae-han hesitated for a moment. He seemed to want to throw away the empty ice cream tube he was holding in his hand, but he hesitated while doing so.

I took the empty tube from Daehan’s finger and put it into the ice cream bag.

“Why didn’t you have lunch with me today?”

Dae-han asked. I couldn’t even blame Jung Ji-pil, who had a strange misunderstanding, and I tilted my head to both sides. I straightened my bent knee. Slippers dangling from my outstretched toes.

“… A friend asked me to eat together with him.”

This was the only conclusion I could reach. Dae-han made an odd expression as he moved his gaze slowly. His brow furrowed in annoyance. Lim Dae-han extended a plastic bag to me as if he didn’t have anything else to say. There were plenty of snacks inside.

“Go and eat.”

“I can’t eat this much…”

“…”

It was Dae-han that stood up first. He stood in front of me and tapped his pants. He has a good built. His tongue poked its way through the gap in Dae-han’s lips and lightly brushed his lips. He reached into his pocket and looked in the direction where his friends had disappeared.

“Go in first.”

“Umm.”

I got up from my seat as well. I hung the plastic bag on my wrist that Lim Dae-han had handed me. I sneaked a peek at Dae-han, who was standing nearby for a moment before heading to the classroom.

***