PSY CH 20

Her jutting lower lip was full of sorrow. 

“Come on, let’s get up. The ground’s dirty.”

“As if the dirty ground’s the problem… I feel like I’m dying here…”

Even as she said that, she took Jooyoung’s hand without resistance and stood. He didn’t brush the dirt off her clothes or fix her hair, but he didn’t let go of her hand either. Arin sniffled and halfheartedly straightened her messy clothes.

“My head hurts…”

At her quiet words, Jooyoung looked at her hair. Even after trying to fix it, it was still a mess—probably because a whole handful had been torn out.

After a moment of hesitation, he began walking, pulling Arin along with him. She was in no shape to be left alone. He figured he’d take her back to the pawnshop to rest. Thankfully, the woman was still sobbing in the middle of the crowd and didn’t even seem to notice Arin was gone.

“Let’s go.”

As they stepped into the building, Hangyeol suddenly called out, just as playfully as before. 

“Ooh, so you two are teaming up now?”

At that moment, Jooyoung stopped in his tracks.

“Was this funny to you?”

Hangyeol’s smiling face froze. Jooyoung stared at him for a beat longer, then turned away without another word. 

“…Wow. ‘Was this funny to you,’ huh.”

Hangyeol, blinking in confusion, finally snapped out of his daze. He exaggeratedly placed a hand on his chest, pretending to be shocked.

“…”

Dohyun, with a stiff face, didn’t take his eyes off Jooyoung until he disappeared completely. 

The cigarette between his fingers snapped in half, and ash scattered to the floor. Only after a long pause did Dohyun realize the cigarette had broken.

***

“Are you okay?”

“It hurts like hell.”

Jooyoung wasn’t sure whether to laugh or not and scratched his cheek. He had brought her here, but now he had to take care of her injuries, something he wasn’t really skilled at.

“Do you want some water?”

Jooyoung took a bottle of water from the fridge. Arin accepted it silently and placed the cold bottle on top of her crown.

“Ah, that feels good.”

Jooyoung gave her a quick glance before heading to the window. When he opened it, the noise from outside seeped in. People were still gathered there. The sound of the woman crying, along with voices trying to comfort her, reached his ears.

“We’ll have to stay a bit longer. They haven’t left yet.”

Jooyoung closed the window and grabbed the fan. He pressed the rotation button and squatted down. The breeze from the fan helped ease the discomfort. In the stillness, the only sound was the fan whirring.

“…Why aren’t you asking anything?”

Jooyoung, who had been sitting blankly with his eyes closed, turned to look at Arin when a voice broke the silence. Arin, now holding a half-empty bottle of water, wore a sulky expression.

“What?”

Arin raised an eyebrow as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“No… sigh…”

“…”

“I mean…”

Arin seemed to hesitate, her lips twitching a few times before she finally spoke up.

“So, that day, that woman must have been talking badly about me too, right? Saying things like ‘affair,’ ‘cheating,’ and all that.”

Arin was referring to the day when Aunt Sooeun had suddenly visited. Jooyoung didn’t think too much about it and nodded casually, agreeing.

“But don’t you have any questions?”

It wasn’t that Jooyoung didn’t have questions, but…

“I think I have a rough idea of what happened.” 

“Then, do you really think that woman’s husband and I had an affair?”

Her voice, calm yet serious, felt very different from before. Jooyoung turned his head away from Arin’s sharp gaze and looked back at the fan.

“Does it really matter whether it’s true or not?”

“…”

“It’s not like you kill anyone, did you?” 

“Kill someone? What are you talking about?” 

Arin stuttered, as if she had heard something completely absurd.

“So what I’m saying is… ah, damn, it really sounds ridiculous coming out of my own mouth, but still, morally, it’s kind of not right. You know, an af-fair and all that.” 

“Did you really have an affair with that guy?” 

“What?! No!”

Arin, who had been spinning the water bottle in her hand, looked horrified. When Jooyoung buried his face in his knees and giggled, Arin got annoyed. After a moment, her voice calmed down. 

“Well… from that woman’s perspective, it probably seems like an affair. Giving drinks, calling ‘oppa,’ acting all sweet…”

Jooyoung didn’t say anything. The strong wind made his hair fly all over the place.

“Are you not going to ask more?”

“No.”

“Why?” 

“I already told you, it doesn’t really matter.” 

Arin let out a small, amused laugh.

“You’re not interested in anyone, or what…” 

Arin’s slipper-clad foot hit the floor repeatedly. The slippers had a luxury brand logo, but they were clearly fake. Jooyoung pointed at them and spoke.

“Those are fake… you know that?”

Arin followed his finger with her gaze and then cursed sharply.

“Ah, shit! These are knock-offs too!” 

She swung her foot hard, sending the slipper flying to the other side. It hit the wall with a thud, bouncing a few times before coming to a stop.

Leaving a flustered Arin behind, Jooyoung buried his face in his knees and laughed. Although Arin didn’t know it, it was the first time in a while that he’d laughed like this.

***

With the weekend approaching, the bars near the movie theater were packed with people. Loud music blasting from the establishments mixed with the drunken shouts of patrons, making it hard to imagine the quiet stillness of the street during the day.

Dohyun and his friends had their first round at a pork belly place and moved to a different spot. Before the side dishes even came out, two bottles of soju were already placed under the table, thanks to Dohyun, who poured and drank fearlessly.

“Hwangdo, what’s going on?”

Seungmin, sitting across from him, spoke up. Dohyun paused mid-sip and looked at him.

“What do you mean ‘what’s going on’?”

“Well, just…?”

“Just what?”

“You’re running a bit fast, huh?”

Dohyun put down his glass. He leaned his left arm on the back of his chair and scratched his eyebrow with his index finger. His gaze, tilted towards the void, started to show a hint of irritation. After a moment, he turned his head back to face the table and spoke.

“My Seungmi seems pretty interested in me, huh?”

He was smiling, but it was clear that he wasn’t unhappy. Seungmin awkwardly avoided eye contact and cleared his throat.

“Ah, what’s this again? I just asked because your pace is a little fast, that’s all.”

“…”

“Alright, I won’t ask then.”

He said, a little embarrassed, as he ruffled the back of his head and took a sip of water.

“Aw, Seungmi’s scared, huh?”

Junwoo, sitting next to him, pinched Seungmin’s cheek hard.

“Ah, stop it.”

“Stop it.”

Seungmin swatted his hand away, irritated, and Junwoo mockingly mimicked him, causing another burst of laughter around the table. Dohyun smirked and took another sip from his glass.

As the atmosphere became more relaxed, the topic naturally shifted to the fight earlier that day.

“Man, seriously, she grabbed her hair and kicked her in the shin.”

Junwoo began explaining the situation to those who hadn’t been there earlier, reenacting the scuffle by grabbing at the air wildly and mimicking kicking motions with his feet.

“If that kick had landed properly, that lady would’ve passed out.”

“Yeah, exactly, exactly.”

“Honestly, that Lee Arin’s always been a piece of work.”

Just then, someone spoke up with a “But…”

“Is that lady’s claim legit, though? Lee Arin’s supposed to be seeing someone. And, you know, Hangyeol, you were the one who set them up, didn’t you?”

He said this, looking directly at Hangyeol. Hangyeol, who had been tapping his chopsticks on the table, casually opened his hands in a playful gesture.

“We decided to call it a ‘sponsor.’”

The group burst into laughter.

“A sponsor in such a tiny neighborhood. Man, that’s hilarious.”

“So what about that pawnshop haem^[1]?” 

Dohyun’s hand, which had been bringing his drink to his lips, froze mid-air.

“What about him? He’s just a pawnshop haem.” 

“No, idiot. What’s going on with him and Lee Arin?”

“Don’t know.”

The conversation then shifted to discussing Jooyoung. Though everyone pretended they weren’t interested, the truth was, they were all secretly curious about the outsider who had been showing up recently.

“All adults seem to know that haem, huh?”

“Is he older than us? He looks pretty young.”

“Oh, he’s two years older, I heard.”

“Two years? That’s a lot.”

From questions about whether he’s definitely the grandson of the pawnshop owner, to casual remarks about his slightly odd-looking eyes, the conversation quickly devolved into a free-flowing mix of speculation and gossip. 

“Last time, we were smoking, he walked by with his hand like this.”

Someone mimicked Jooyoung’s stance, pinching their nose with their thumb and forefinger.

“Ugh, so pretentious.”

“See? He’s got a bit of a temper.”

Junwoo gave Hangyeol’s arm a light tap as he continued to listen quietly.

“Earlier, Jung Hangyeol cracked a joke, but then suddenly he stared at him and asked, ‘Was that funny?’”

“Whoa.”

“Jung Hangyeol was too scared to say anything.” 

Everyone laughed, teasing Hangyeol. Normally unfazed, Hangyeol muttered an awkward, “Oh… well…” and the expression on his face was slightly uneasy.