FL Chapter 25

After finishing the meal, Kangwoo brought clothes for Heewoon. The T-shirt was roughly the right length, but it was much too loose around the chest. As Kangwoo watched Heewoon put it on, he patted Heewoon’s hair and said.

“You should let your mother know. You’re sleeping over here.”

His tone was very affectionate.

“Okay.”

It was already late at night, and Heewoon’s face was a mess, so it was better not to go home. However, thinking about sleeping with Seo Kangwoo made him feel uneasy. There was no way he would be able to sleep tonight.

Heewoon looked around. He couldn’t remember where he had put his phone. Had he put it in the pocket of his pants before his head hit the wall?

“Your phone?”

“Yeah.”

Kangwoo kindly brought the phone that was placed in front of the TV in the living room.

“…Thanks.”

Heewoon received the phone and unlocked it. There were a few KakaoTalk messages. Is it from his mom? Thinking that, he opened the app.

But none of the messages were from her, they were all from the mothers of his students.

[I’m quitting tutoring.]

[Teacher, you don’t need to come from next week on.]

[Please don’t come anymore.]

Heewoon’s eyes widened. All the messages were about quitting his tutoring. The messages started around 5 in the afternoon.

Another KakaoTalk message had just arrived. Heewoon’s hand pressed the pop-up message urgently.

[I was going to report you to the police but I held back because of your circumstances, Teacher. But please make sure you won’t give others a hard time next time. You don’t need to come from tomorrow on.]

Heewoon couldn’t understand the message at all. He was confused. All the students he was tutoring quit at once. Hee-woon put his hand to his forehead and looked at the KakaoTalk message he had sent to the students earlier.

One of them had read it but didn’t reply. The other one had replied.

[Are you being chased, Teacher?]

What do you mean? He typed his reply, and the number 1 disappeared quickly.

[Gangsters came to our house. They asked us to give the tutoring money to them. So, my mom said no more tutoring from you. My mom is really angry right nowㅜㅜ I don’t think I can continue tutoring with Teacher anymoreㅠㅠ]

“…..”

Heewoon stared blankly at the phone screen.

Did the loan sharks go all the way there? He’s been paying the money back properly, so why…

“What’s wrong?”

Kangwoo gently asked, placing his hand on Heewoon’s shoulder.

“Well… I received messages from the mothers of the students…”

Stammering as he spoke, Heewoon lifted his head.

“And?”

Kangwoo was smiling, the corners of his mouth loosely raised. Heewoon stared at his face helplessly.

At that moment, Heewoon realized.

This wasn’t caused by the loan sharks, it was Seo Kangwoo.

“Why are you looking at me like that? You should contact your mom quickly.”

Kangwoo smiled mischievously and tapped his phone. Hee-woon, who nodded in disbelief, sent a message to his mom.

“Sunbae, are you cold? You’re getting goosebumps.”

Kangwoo said nonchalantly, pressing the goosebumps on his arm.

Kangwoo and Heewoon lay side by side on the bed. Heewoon was relieved that the bed was big enough that he had to stretch his arm to reach Kangwoo.

Lying in an upright position, Heewoon blinked his eyes. The bluish light coming through the window created patterns on the ceiling. He stared blankly at that spot.

He had called and left messages for the mothers of the students several times. But not a single one got back to him. The student who replied to him a few times suddenly had his messages unread, maybe because his mother had found out and blocked him.

He lost his job overnight.

It didn’t feel real.

Heewoon clasped his hands over her stomach. Ever since he’d witnessed the murder, things had seemed to keep growing worse. He’d touched something he shouldn’t have, something huge and dark.

Or maybe he had fully jumped into it.

“Are you asleep?”

A low voice came from beside him. Heewoon swallowed nervously and answered.

“No.”

Rustling sounds could be heard. Seo Kangwoo got up and sat down. Terrified by the sight of him sitting with his back to the moon, Heewoon moved closer to the edge of the bed. However, a shadowy arm followed him, so Heewoon pulled the covers over his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

His wrist was softly held. Heewoon opened his eyes and looked at Kangwoo, though he couldn’t see his face in the shadows.

“Give me your right hand.”

Kangwoo reached out and placed Heewoon’s left hand, which he had just been massaging, on his stomach. Heewoon handed his hand over to Kangwoo and watched him quietly. He was diligently kneading his hand.

Kangwoo’s hand slipped through his clenched fingers as he lightly moved them back and forth. Their fingers brushed each other, and Kangwoo’s thumb brushed against his palm. Kangwoo placed Heewoon’s ticklish hand on his stomach.

Kangwoo covered Heewoon’s right hand with the left and gently patted the back of his hand, then he straightened the blanket. Heewoon watched Kangwoo, who was returning to his sleeping position, for a moment and then closed his eyes.

***

Heewoon opened his eyes. The corner of his mouth was damp from drooling, so he wiped it with the back of his hand. He absentmindedly lowered his gaze and made a bewildered sound.

Huh…

The back of his hand was red. He felt around his mouth and looked at his hand again. There was blood on it. Bright red blood stained his hand. It was strange. Why was this happening?

Heewoon rubbed around his mouth. Both of his hands were gradually getting redder. He struggled and managed to sit up. As he lowered his head and looked down at his reddened hands, blood trickled out of his mouth.

It must be coming from inside my mouth.

Heewoon opened his mouth and inserted his fingers. His fingertips touched his tongue. He searched the inside of his mouth to find the wound. His fingers felt nothing but softness. It was strange. Really strange.

Why…

Didn’t he have teeth?

“Ughhhhhhh…”

Hee-woon inhaled sharply and opened his eyes. The ceiling appeared yellowish here and there. He panted and covered his mouth with his hand.

“What’s wrong, Heewoon?”

His mother’s voice came from beside him. She was lying on her back in front of the TV, looking at him worriedly.

“Ah… I had a dream.”

“Did you have a nightmare?”

“…Yeah.”

Heewoon lay back into his proper position again and placed the back of his hand over his eyes. He rubbed his hand hard against his pants under the covers, as if trying to wipe something off.

His mother changed the TV channel and said as if it was no big deal.

“Our son is unusually oversleeping.”

“What time is it?”

A hoarse voice came out. Heewoon couldn’t tell if his throat was still sore from the fellatio or if he was catching a cold.

“It’s almost time for lunch. Wake up, son.”

His whole body was sore, and he wanted to lie down a bit more, but if he kept lying down, he might fall asleep. Then he might have nightmares again.

So, he pushed himself up. Heewoon looked around. The paint coming off the wardrobe, an old nacre dressing table, a small TV, and his mother lying in her usual position in front of the TV.

It was his home. The home which was filled with the scent of his mother and only three steps in length.

He stretched to hide the sigh that escaped him.

Early yesterday morning, Seo Kangwoo had brought him home. It wasn’t that surprising that Kangwoo knew the address of his house, even though Heewoon had never given it to him. Besides, hadn’t Heewoon secretly found out Kangwoo’s address too?

He still couldn’t reach his student’s mothers. Heewoon glanced at his mom, and then at his wallet placed on the dressing table, among the scattered things. He had been looking at his wallet whenever he could since yesterday.

Seo Kangwoo had made him lose his job in a very forceful way. When he first learned of this, Heewoon had been surprised and taken aback, but when he came home and thought about it, he felt angry.

And then he got scared.

A person had died, but there was not a single news article about it. Lee Hyukjin’s case had been cleanly disguised as a traffic accident. Finding Heewoon at the airport. Going to students’ houses that he had never mentioned and causing a ruckus.

It was as if there was nothing Seo Kang-woo couldn’t do.

Heewoon was afraid of what he was capable of.

Thinking about it now, the best option seemed to be listening to Seo Kangwoo’s words.

Heewoon gritted his teeth to suppress any groans, and then he got up and folded the blanket. As he was putting the blanket in the closet, his mom stood up and said.

“Do you want to eat kimchi fried rice?”

“Yeah. Sounds good.”

With a slight smile, Heewoon also folded his mom’s blanket, put it in the closet, and went to the bathroom. After washing his face, he examined his bruised forehead. A chill ran down his spine as he remembered how Seo Kangwoo had no hesitation at all in beating him.

Heewoon wiped his face and carefully covered his forehead with bangs. He couldn’t hide the bruise on his lips, but his mom seemed to believe him when he told her it was because of fatigue. It was because Heewoon had always been so busy during the exam periods.

When he opened the bathroom door, he saw his mom slicing kimchi.

“Heewoon, can you get some cooking oil?”

I forgot it was all out. His mom added.

Heewoon turned his head to look at the dressing table through the open sliding door. Tak, tak, tak. He looked at his mom, who was making a steady rhythm of cutting kimchi, and then back at the dressing table.

On the 5th of every month, if he didn’t send a certain amount of money, those people would come running at him like feral dogs. Besides, he had no money for living expenses right now. In this situation, there was no other way.

Heewoon said.

“I’ll get some. Do you need anything else?”

“Umm… Ah. Fabric softener. Get the big 3L bottle.”

“Okay.”

Heewoon held his wallet tightly and put on a hooded zip-up. He glanced at his mother, who was slicing ham, from the front door and then put on his slightly worn-out sneakers.

“I’ll be back.”

“Yeah-.”

The entrance door creaked open.

The weather had already turned chilly. The wind that touched his cheeks felt cold. He thought he would need to take out and start using his padded jacket soon, then he headed to the small mart that was a 5-minute walk away.

Honestly, it was a bit strange. He had been holding out because he was so scared of using Kangwoo’s card, yet holding his card right now, his steps were fast. It was as if he had been waiting all along to use this card.

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