PSY CH 8

“Are you taking out the trash?”

A gentle voice came from above Dohyun’s head as he dropped the standard garbage bag with a thud. When he straightened his back, Jooyoung was standing in front of him.

“I need to throw out my trash, too.”

Dohyun, who was about to just walk past, looked at Jooyoung with a baffled expression, thinking for a moment that maybe Jooyoung was asking him to take it out for him.

“No, I just don’t know how to do it.”

“…”

“Where do you buy these kinds of bags?”

The slender finger pointed at the trash bag Dohyun had just set down. A 20-liter standard garbage bag printed with the city slogan: “Blooming City, Maeyang.”

“At the supermarket.”

He hadn’t planned on answering, but figured Jooyoung would keep pushing if he didn’t—so he told him. Lately, every time they ran into each other, Jooyoung would start talking to him, and it was driving Dohyun crazy with irritation.

“Oh, the supermarket…”

Muttering to himself, Jooyoung suddenly reached out the hand he’d been hiding behind his back. 

“Want one?”

What he held was an ice cream. When Dohyun didn’t take it and just stood there, Jooyoung gave it a light shake to urge him. The translucent plastic bag hanging from his wrist shook along with it. 

“You like this, don’t you?”

“…”

“No?”

Dohyun stared blankly at the tangerine on the packaging before he answered.

“I don’t like it.”

“Oh… I bought it for you, though.” 

Even if that wasn’t the intent, it sounded like blame, and Dohyun couldn’t hold back the irritation that surged up. 

“So what? It’s not like I asked you to buy it.” 

Jooyoung blinked his big eyes in surprise at the sharp retort. Even that innocent reaction felt like something else to Dohyun. He was about to say something more, but decided to just turn away instead. He thought he’d just ignore Jooyoung and walk past like always.

“Are you upset with me about something?”

But at those words, he couldn’t take another step and stopped in place.

“It just kind of seems like you are…”

“…”

“Your attitude, for one.”

A gentle voice clearly seeped into Dohyun’s ear. He stood still, staring at the empty sidewalk. Behind the low buildings, the evening glow was setting. 

“Upset…”

Murmuring softly to himself, he turned around to meet Jooyoung’s gaze directly.

“I’m not upset.”

From his dry voice alone, it truly sounded like he wasn’t upset at all. But Jooyoung didn’t believe him. 

“You’re lying.”

“…”

“I know you’re upset. That’s why you ignore me when I say hi.”

Upon hearing the confident tone, Dohyun let out a laugh, as if it were ridiculous.

“So what? Do I have to respond just because you say hi?”

“It’s not just that. Your whole attitude is weird, especially when I think about how we used to be close—”

“Ha…”

A cold sigh cut Jooyoung off. Dohyun shoved one hand into his pocket and rubbed his nape with the other.

“Yeah, we used to be close… in the past.” 

At last, he tilted his head slightly. His gaze, fixed on Jooyoung, was both desolate and piercing. 

“But goddamnit, that was ten years ago.” 

At that, Jooyoung looked completely baffled. 

“I’m not saying we should go back to how we were.” 

“…”

“I’m just saying there’s no reason to ignore each other.” 

The moment Dohyun saw the innocent emotion shading Jooyoung’s clear face, something in him twisted. His heartbeat quickened, and a tight pressure squeezed his chest.

He clenched his fists so tightly his nails dug into his palms.

“You must be bored with being here or something.”

He closed the distance in quick, long strides and stopped so close that their scents mingled in the air between them.

“If you need someone to be your lackey, go look somewhere else.” 

Dohyun spat boldly to the side. Jooyoung dropped his gaze to the spit that landed right next to his slipper. Each blink of his eyelids made his long lashes flutter.

“I don’t have time to waste on you.”

When Jooyoung looked back up, an estranged gaze was waiting for him. Even in the dim light, his eyes blazed with heat—wild, like a beast whose territory had been invaded.

“…”

“…”

The two stood facing each other for a long time. Each carrying completely different emotions.

Soon, Dohyun turned away first. All that remained in the space he left behind was a twisted hostility. 

“…Lackey?”

Jooyoung muttered in a dazed voice. The fact that Dohyun had dismissed their shared memories as nothing more than “lackey work” shocked him more than the fact that he’d spat in front of him.

Despite the clumsy kindness in the awkwardly written note, the 200,000 won, and the way he’d fixed his umbrella, there wasn’t a single trace of the boy from those memories in his retreating figure.

The Dohyun who used to happily accept even a pebble from him, who’d eat half-melted leftover ice cream like it was a treat. That Dohyun, so innocent, it seemed almost foolish.

If you need someone to be your lackey, go look somewhere else.

The soft underlayer inside that shell of hostility revealed itself for a brief moment. And that was in a form Jooyoung never could have expected. 

The plastic bag hanging from his wrist rustled. Inside the bag labeled “Woori Supermarket” was an ice cream he never got to hand over. 

***

Behind Maeyang Elementary School, there was a neighborhood park built by shaving down part of the mountain. The walking trails were well-paved, and the area was lush with greenery, drawing visitors on both weekdays and weekends without fail.

In particular, at the book shelter on one side of the park, free movies were screened every Saturday, drawing swarms of lower-grade elementary school kids brought by their parents. The movie changed every week, usually an animation or family film.

Jooyoung and Dohyun went there every week, too. Dohyun wasn’t interested in the movies, but he liked being with Jooyoung, so he followed without complaint.

One day, they ran into Jooyoung’s classmates at the park. Excited by the coincidence, the kids didn’t bother watching the movie and ran around the park instead. Naturally, Dohyun joined in.

But it was clear they didn’t welcome him, especially since he couldn’t keep up with the game rules and insisted on tagging along anyway. On top of that, Dohyun was two years younger than them—a gap that, at that age, felt like an insurmountable mountain.

“Hey, let’s play without your little brother.”

The game had stalled again because Dohyun ignored the rules and did whatever he wanted. One of the kids, clearly having waited for a chance, subtly grabbed Jooyoung’s arm and whispered. 

“…”

Jooyoung hesitated for a moment. Annoying or not, Dohyun was younger than him. It felt wrong to leave him alone. 

Just then, another friend chimed in with a good idea, placing his hand confidently on his waist.

“Let’s play hide-and-seek. Then, we can just make him the seeker.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s good, that’s good.”

Of course, Dohyun’s agreement wasn’t necessary. He always did whatever Jooyoung said anyway. After a bit of thought, Jooyoung nodded, and the game began immediately.

While Dohyun turned around and started counting, the others scattered in all directions. Naturally, hide-and-seek was just a pretext. Their real plan was to sneak out of the park through the walking trail while Dohyun was busy searching. 

“Haengnim-ah!”

But just as they were gathering at the rendezvous point along the trail, they heard Dohyun’s voice behind them. Startled, they turned around to see him running toward them with a big grin on his face. His dark legs below his shorts were surprisingly quick. 

“Crap, run!”

The friend who had suggested hide-and-seek shouted and began to run. From that moment on, everyone scattered as if it had been planned, fleeing from Dohyun. Laughter-laced screams echoed loudly along the walking trail.

“Where are you going?! I found you! This, this is cheating!”

In the midst of the confusion, Dohyun turned toward the direction Jooyoung had disappeared. That path led off the trail and onto an unpaved dirt road. Dohyun quickly caught up to Jooyoung, whose legs were slower, and another friend.

“Gotcha, I got—!”

But it happened just as Dohyun reached out his hand—His sneaker hit a rock and slid down the rough path. His legs gave out, and he fell flat onto the dirt.

“Ugh…”

When Dohyun slowly lifted his head while kneeling, his face was covered in dust. His palms and knees were scraped up, with tiny beads of blood beginning to form. 

Startled, Jooyoung tried to move toward him.

“Puhaha! He fell, he fell!”

But then the friend beside him suddenly pointed and laughed. Even while Dohyun dusted off his hands and rubbed his face with his arm, the teasing voice kept going.

“Haengnim-ah…”

Dohyun called out to him, lashes clumped with dust. It was clear he wanted Jooyoung to help him up.

“…”

But Jooyoung just stood there beside the laughing friend, looking at Dohyun. He didn’t go over to help him up. He didn’t ask if he was okay.

Only when the laughter finally began to die down did Jooyoung grab his friend’s arm.

“Let’s go.”

Then he turned around. His steps, heading toward where the others had disappeared, showed no hesitation. 

Dohyun didn’t call out to him. He simply stayed where he was, sitting on the ground, eyes fixed on the back that kept growing farther away. Even then, Dohyun already knew—Jooyoung wasn’t coming back.