PSY CH 19

The boy who was always by his side.

The one who followed him around so persistently that Jooyoung never even had time to feel lonely. 

Jooyoung sometimes took pleasure in occasionally granting the desperate affection Dohyun craved, only to take it away again. He would occasionally deceive the blind devotion that followed him around. To Jooyoung, Dohyun was a friend he felt completely at ease with—and, at the same time, a friend he could take lightly.

But now, the same Dohyun who once was like that was toying with him out of a base, petty amusement, watching Jooyoung squirm in humiliation as if it were a show to enjoy. There was no longer any affection, interest, or admiration in his gaze. The balance of their relationship had completely tilted.

There was nothing Jooyoung could do. Back then, all it took was a bit of affection to control Dohyun. But now, how was he supposed to convince him? There was no answer in sight. It felt like being thrown into a pitch-dark cave without even a single map.

“Dohyun-ah, please, just…”

In the end, Jooyoung begged him. His face was smeared with shame. This was all he could manage.

“Just? Please?”

Dohyun’s smile deepened. Anxiety surged up in Jooyoung’s throat like a noose tightening.

Just then—

“Dohyun, you in here?”

From the entrance of the arcade behind them, someone called out to Dohyun. The tight tension snapped, and Jooyoung was jolted awake as if struck by lightning.

“Come with me for a sec. I seriously don’t know if we should call someone or not.”

Dohyun looked down at the frozen Jooyoung and let out a soft snort. Gathering his phone and cigarettes, he stepped away from the counter, all while murmuring quietly.

“Lucky you, you bought yourself some time, huh?”

Jooyoung bit down hard on his lower lip.

Not long after, the bell jingled softly. Even after Dohyun left the arcade, the suffocating grip around Jooyoung’s throat didn’t ease.

Like a ghost, he stood there for a long time in front of the counter.

***

Jooyoung crouched down, hugging his knees. He stayed like that for a while before finally opening the mini fridge. Inside were the side dishes he still hadn’t managed to give to Dohyun.

“Sigh…”

He lowered his forehead to his knees and let out a sigh.

When had things started to go so wrong? One thing was clear—this was a disaster he had brought upon himself. 

If only he hadn’t picked up that wallet. If only he had returned it to Dohyun right away when he came looking. If only he hadn’t lied for no reason…

There was no shortage of regrets, but nothing he could actually undo. He had done nothing but make one pathetic choice after another.

Trapped in this situation with no way forward or back, he was growing more and more numb.

Jooyoung stood up, stretching his knees. His vision twisted and spun dizzyingly.

“Ah…”

Maybe it was because he hadn’t eaten properly for days—his dizziness wouldn’t go away.

After some hesitation, he grabbed his wallet and phone and stepped out of the lodging house. He hadn’t eaten, but his stomach felt bloated like something was stuck in it, so he figured he’d at least get some sparkling water.

As Jooyoung descended the stairs toward the main entrance of the building, he noticed an unusual commotion around him. Shouting and cursing filled the air like a fight had broken out.

“Aren’t you embarrassed to be causing a scene like this?”

“Let go of me, I said let go!”

“With what nerve are you walking around with your head held high, huh?!”

“Aaagh!”

Then, suddenly, he heard a familiar voice from the commotion.

The shouting was coming from the right side of the building, near the Viking Karaoke. Jooyoung’s eyes widened in shock as he caught sight of the scene.

“After ruining someone’s family family, you think you can just walk away like nothing happened?!”

A woman who looked to be in her 50s was furiously jabbing her finger at Arin. Arin, not backing down, held her head high and snapped back. Her t-shirt was torn up, like they had already been in a physical fight.

“What the hell are you yelling at me for?! It’s your fault for not keeping an eye on your own husband!”

“What? Keeping an eye?!”

“Yeah, that’s right—keeping an eye!”

The woman’s face flushed red and then pale. She looked completely enraged, her clenched fist visibly trembling with fury.

“It’s because you wagged your tail at him first! If not, that meek man—!”

“Everyone in this neighborhood knows that your husband is a regular at our place, you know? This is so fucking ridiculous, seriously.”

Arin let out a scoff, like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her fingers worked through her tangled hair with an impatient, irritated motion.

“Meek man, you say? What a fucking joke.”

“…”

“You know all the girls at our place avoid him because he’s got fucking filthy hands, right?”

“What kind of nonsense are you—”

The woman glared at Arin, trembling with rage.

“He tries to hit us whenever he drinks. And always wants to put it on a tab.”

“…”

“Oh, since you’re here, why don’t you go ahead and settle that tab for him, huh?”

“…”

“You two are a fucking mess, I swear…”

Arin brushed off the creased hem of her shirt and swept her hair back.

“You’re not even human…”

The woman, pale and silent, muttered to herself under her breath. Arin, still fixing her clothes, turned to face her. 

“What did you say?”

“You’re not even human…”

At that moment, the woman suddenly lunged forward and grabbed a fistful of Arin’s hair.

“You’re not even human!”

She yanked so hard that for a second, it felt like Arin’s neck might snap. A collective gasp rose from the small crowd watching nearby.

“Ahk!”

Arin let out a scream as she was yanked forward and slammed to the ground. The woman, seizing the opportunity, violently shook Arin by the hair.

“You think I don’t know you seduced him and fooled around behind my back?!”

“You crazy bitch! Agh!”

Flailing in the air with both hands, Arin managed to steady her collapsing body. Then she kicked the woman hard in the shin.

“Aigoo!”

The woman cried out in pain and collapsed. This time, Arin grabbed her hair and started yanking just as viciously. The two rolled around in a tangled mess—until suddenly, laughter broke out from behind them.

A group of men had gathered in front of the adult arcade nearby. Among them were Dohyun and Hangyeol, and it seemed the one who had laughed was Hangyeol.

“Whoa, we got wrestling today?”

“Totally mismatched weight class though.”

The men snickered as they watched the fight.

“Oh no, looks like Player Arin is in trouble this time!”

“That stance just now was really good.”

Suddenly, Hangyeol raised his hands above his head and started clapping. The sound of the applause echoed loudly, completely out of place in the situation.

“Whoever wins, go for it!”

At the playful cheer, Dohyun let out a small laugh. The other men chuckled and started cheering along with Hangyeol.

It was an unexpected sight. There were so many people, yet no one stepped in to stop the fight. Everyone was treating it like some sort of sport. 

Then Jooyoung felt someone’s gaze on him. It was Dohyun.

He brought a cigarette to his lips and inhaled. His indifferent demeanor, as if he had nothing to do with the chaos, gave Jooyoung a small jolt. It wasn’t as crude as Hangyeol’s or the others’ jokes, but… the fact that he was simply observing the situation made him no different from them.

“Aagh!”

Arin’s scream rang out once more from behind. Jooyoung tore his eyes away from Dohyun and turned around. There was no hesitation in his step. All eyes from the surrounding crowd turned to him at once.

“Please stop it. This is assault.”

Jooyoung grabbed the woman’s arm. Her hand was still tightly clamped onto Arin’s hair, as if she had no intention of letting go. 

“Ma’am.”

“A human wouldn’t do something like this!”

Despite Jooyoung’s intervention, the woman didn’t back down. Even as Arin kicked at her forcefully from below, she held on tight, yanking her hair. In the scuffle, her sharp, raised nails scratched Arin’s skin. 

“Ahh!”

In the end, Jooyoung had to use force to pull the woman off.

“I said, stop it.”

She couldn’t overpower the strength of a young man, so the woman was held back by Jooyoung, reaching forward desperately. Her fingers were tangled with strands of hair she had torn out.

“Stay away! She needs to be bald before she learns some shame!”

The woman thrashed wildly, consumed by rage.

“Of all the people in the world, you had to go after someone’s husband! Huh? Even animals wouldn’t do that—!” 

“I didn’t go after him!”

“Stop making excuse!”

“I really didn’t, you crazy bitch!” 

The skin scratched by the woman’s nails had turned red. Some spots were even dotted with blood. Whether it was from pain or anger, Arin’s eyes were brimming with tears. 

Jooyoung tried to calm the woman by holding onto her arm. But the more he tried, the more agitated she became. Already furious that someone had stepped in, now being restrained pushed her over the edge.

“Someone help me out here.”

“…”

“We need to stop this.”

The crowd that had gathered to watch the fight looked at each other awkwardly. One middle-aged man made eye contact with Jooyoung and hesitantly stepped forward.

“Ah, come on, that’s enough now. You’re disturbing the whole neighborhood.”

“If you don’t know anything, stay out of it! I need to make sure she never dares show her face again!”

“Tch, haven’t you torn her up enough already? Why keep going?”

The man clicked his tongue and patted the woman on the shoulder, trying to calm her down.

“Yeah. If this keeps up, it’s gonna turn into a real mess.” 

“If she’s got any sense left, she won’t do this again.” 

A few people who had been watching began to chime in. Some tried to console the woman, but most were urging her to stop. Then, the woman suddenly collapsed to the ground and burst into loud sobs. 

“Do you know how wronged and furious I feel? My chest was so tight I thought I’d die on the spot, but dying alone felt too unfair—!”

“Oh lord, who doesn’t know? We all get it.”

One by one, people who had only been spectators until moments ago started stepping in to comfort her as she pounded the ground in grief. 

Jooyoung watched for a moment, then walked over to Arin.

“You okay?”

He held out his hand. Arin wiped under her nose and looked up at him.