SMNTCERR, Chapter 92: #10.
They finished packing the items in the house at around one o’clock. Then they took the elevator down, after stuffing two shopping bags in the back of the car and the back seat, which were already packed with boxes and rice. Sangwoo sat in the driver’s seat and fastened his seatbelt, waiting for the safety pin. Then the car set off.
“Pinpoint the location on navigation.”
“I’ve been there many times… No need to use it.”
“Okay.”
Sangwoo closed his mouth and looked out of the window with a vague feeling. Although the cause of his sadness was just within reach, it was still hard to believe that he couldn’t do anything at all.
‘I am just a fool who can’t do anything.’
He did everything he could to try to solve this problem. Even though his mother said that failure was also a good experience, he didn’t want to fail, so he tried his best throughout. Jang Jaeyoung is the only flaw in Sangwoo, an unbeatable test, an unsolvable problem, an error that cannot be found no matter how much it is searched for. Sangwoo is learning to fail for the first time in his life.
As he sat quietly, the unfamiliar scenery outside the window passed by quickly. Then he saw the university, and ever since then, it has been a familiar path, a path he cycled to the university regularly. He began to feel uneasy, as if something was not right. Sangwoo stared out the window for a moment, but the car didn’t deviate from the familiar path.
“Hyung, what is the address of the new house?”
“Eunmyong Street, Alley 17.”
“It’s near my house.”
“You can say that.”
‘Ass.’
Sangwoo pondered in his heart. If Jaeyoung is living nearby, he would have to worry every time he goes out, even to the supermarket, whether he would meet him or not, wasting both time and emotions. Even though Sangwoo is dissatisfied, it does not mean he can violate someone else’s right to move. So he can only calm down the complex emotions inside him.
Meanwhile, the car did not deviate from the path that Sangwoo knew well, making him uneasy. When the car was on the main road and turned right, he turned to glance at Jaeyoung without realizing it, but there were no traces on his unemotional face.
Finally, the car entered a narrow alley, and Sangwoo blinked his eyes, unable to express his feelings, then alternated his gaze between Jaeyoung and the apartment building.
“Is it here?”
“Yes.”
“Which room?”
“402.”
“Who gave permission? Crazy guy!”
Understanding the situation, Sangwoo reacted immediately. While he tried to forget the other party and find a way to move on with his life after they were gone, Jang Jaeyoung did what he wanted without thinking, exploding with emotions. At the same time, the anger and sadness that he had suppressed and pretended not to have also erupted. Sangwoo turned to face Jaeyoung with a twisted face.
“Why do you do things your way?”
“I have nowhere else to go, so just let me stay.”
“You have so many friends, so don’t lie.”
“Among all those people, there is no one I want to be with.”
“Say something meaningful, go to a hotel. Don’t create trouble for others!” “Sangwooya.”
“Don’t call, don’t call my name with such a sweet tone. Don’t pretend to be a good person, don’t smile, don’t do any of that!”
Even though he may rant and complain, Jaeyoung just listens silently. Even though it should alternate normally, the disease that controls anger doesn’t have to be transmitted.
“I know what you’re going to say, but wait until tomorrow. I’ll tell you everything then.”
“Do you know? You won’t know how I avoid emotions… And still make others scared like a county sheriff. And then after that, my everyday life will probably collapse again! No, it will collapse to the point where I don’t even know how it will collapse!”
Strange. Even though Sangwoo is angry to the point where his veins in his neck bulge, the corners of Jaeyoung’s mouth just curl up, still giving something to laugh about. Sangwoo is furious to the extreme.
“Hey. Jang Jaeyoung.”
“Sometimes I may not be a sadist, but a masochist…”
“You stay here, I’ll go myself.”
Sangwoo unlocked the car door and closed it forcefully as if to destroy it before stomping his feet through the glass door, then went up the stairs while unlocking the door to the room. Jaeyoung followed behind, entered the room without caring and walked straight to pull out a travel bag from the corner and slammed it onto the floor.
“Sangwooya.”
“Did I not tell you not to call me like that?”
“Listen to everything I say first before getting angry, it’s not too late yet, don’t make things more complicated.”
Sangwoo assessed the other party’s words. Then he stuffed whatever clothes he could grab into his bag, grabbed the underwear in the drawer, followed by grabbing the toothbrush and toothpaste from the bathroom and threw it on the clothes. There were still many things left to pack, but he closed the bag lock roughly. He thought about the most important computer, but he didn’t feel like dealing with it and separating its components.
As he turned around, he found Jaeyoung standing in front of the door. Sangwoo grabbed the handle of his travel bag and stared at the other party angrily. Jaeyoung showed no sign of anger or amusement, just stood still with an expressionless face that couldn’t reveal anything inside, Sangwoo’s chest moved quickly, and he gritted his teeth and spoke.
“Back off.”
“No.”
“I told you to back off.”
“Time’s up, I can’t wait any longer.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m afraid my grades will drop because of you. So, I thought I would wait until the end of the exam, but now I don’t plan to wait anymore, not even for one more day.”
“I’m ready to fight. If you don’t want that handsome face of yours to have scars, then back off.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Sangwoo pulled the bag towards the other party, but Jaeyoung just looked down without trying to defend himself, and put his hands in his pockets. It didn’t look like the posture of someone who intended to fight. Jaeyoung took off his glasses and placed them on the shoe cabinet.
“Come at me, I’ll let you hit me, and then we can talk.”
It seemed like the other party was thinking about whether to speak such words. Sangwoo couldn’t tolerate it, the confidence in the immovable reaction of the other party turned into fuel for anger. Sangwoo let go of his travel bag and clenched his fists, but after that, he didn’t know what else to do, so he just stood still, a sculpture ready to harm the opposite party as heavy as a stone, but difficult to lift.
“We already have no way out, right?”
Sangwoo canceled the power option. At the same time, he felt suffocated and exhausted. Even though Jaeyoung did whatever he pleased and even threatened him, including the last remaining safe zone, he had no way to stop the other side, not even one way.
“Close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Just close them.”
Despite the calm expression, Jaeyoung followed the instructions. Sangwoo looked at the image of the other party, thinking that this would be the last time. He looked at the beautiful boy from head to toe with eyes full of pity, wanting more than anything in the world, but he couldn’t possess it. He knew that very well.
‘I miss you so much.’
Sangwoo struggled in his heart before swiftly intruding through Jaeyoung, quickly unlocking the door. While Jaeyoung turned around, he pulled himself out and closed the door again. After the automatic lock closed once, there would be a momentary delay, and he took advantage of that time to run down the stairs like crazy.
When he heard the sound of the door opening again, Sangwoo had already reached the second floor. Jaeyoung shouted for him to stop. Sangwoo heard the sound of footsteps approaching from behind. At the same time, he ran out of the building and straight towards the main road.
“Hey, crazy guy. Chu Sangwoo!”
Sangwoo didn’t turn around to look. He opened the door of the parked taxi and sat in the passenger seat. Jaeyoung ran out of the alley, the image of the other party getting closer quickly.
“Lock all the doors.”
The sound of the doors locking echoed as Sangwoo commanded, and all four doors of the car were locked. Jaeyoung, who arrived a little late, pulled the door handle and even tried to hit the window with his fist, but it was useless.
Sangwoo turned his face the other way. Refusing to look at the other party.
“Aren’t you coming down again?”
The distant voice heard through the window.
“Where would I go? Just knowing is enough.”
When he didn’t care, the screaming became louder. Jaeyoung shouted and smashed his sculpture against the car.
“I asked where you want to go.”
The taxi driver looked a little confused. Sangwoo took a breath and asked the other party.
“Actually, I don’t know where to go.”
“Huh?”
“I mean anywhere is fine. Please just let me out of the car first.”
“Understood.”
After the car slowly exited, Sangwoo looked out the window to capture the image of Jaeyoung one last time, but no matter where he looked, he couldn’t find the person who used to cause chaos in front of the window. Sangwoo wondered, but the driver’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Then should I drive around for about thirty minutes and come back to the same place?”
“No, please go somewhere else. You go ahead and drive. I need to think for about ten minutes.”
Sangwoo sighed. While he was considering various headache-inducing matters, such as where to go, what to do with the burden left in the room, what to do with the unretrieved data on the computer, and how to attend class, he saw a familiar car in the rearview mirror. It was a white hatchback with a red-tinted roof and windows. Sangwoo thought he was mistaken and turned around to look closely, but even the license plate numbers matched.
“That crazy guy!”
He thought about staying and resting, stopping before being overwhelmed and breaking down again in a month, but it seemed that Jaeyoung didn’t see the situation because he prioritized the present, his own desires being the top priority, and had to do everything he wanted. Sangwoo gritted his teeth. “Please keep a distance from the car with the license plate 7285, over there.” As he pointed with his thumb, the taxi driver burst into laughter.
“Have you watched too many movies?”
“No.”
Sangwoo expected the taxi driver to drive faster, but the taxi stopped at the bus stop instead. Then it parked smoothly in front of the zebra crossing, the license plate number 7285, moving to the left side of the taxi and stopping before lowering the windows. Jaeyoung struggled to say something, but Sangwoo turned to face the taxi driver.
“Please help me get on the expressway so that car doesn’t catch up.”
“But I think I’ll quit my job in half an hour.”
“I’ll pay double the fare.”
“Come on, let’s go.”
The taxi driver’s eyes sparkled with anticipation. Sangwoo had just managed to buckle his seatbelt by now and leaned back fully, not knowing that the chase would continue for another two hours.
return 0;.
The taxi driver, who stopped at every red light and maintained the speed as prescribed by the law, deserved recognition as a law-abiding and respectful person. However, in terms of responding to the customer’s request, Sangwoo asked the other driver to speed up twice, but instead of creating distance, the taxi just drove parallel to Jaeyoung’s slow car.
They then left the Seoul area and arrived at the East Sea after standing as competitors. The boxy car with a red lid ran alongside the taxi for two hours as the stubborn driver opened the window and waved casually, making Sangwoo very annoyed.
“Young man, these days having friends who care is a good thing now. Do not argue anymore, I’ll drop you off at the beach, you can exchange punches in a manly way or whatever.”
“I told you, we’re not friends.”
Over the course of two hours, the taxi driver continuously hinted for Sangwoo to get out of the car from a distance.
“That’s enough, that young man, I think even if we reached the edge of the green sky, he’d still be following us.”
That’s a hard statement to refuse. In Sangwoo’s eyes, he never thought Jaeyoung would give up, even if he escaped further, he knew, but he was still stubborn, he didn’t want to face the other party. He didn’t want to talk face to face.
The taxi driver looked at Sangwoo expectantly.
“So, should I park here?”
“…Understood.”
Sangwoo concluded that it was pointless to continue. As soon as the person driving the taxi pressed the ‘Double’ button, the fare skyrocketed. Sangwoo tried not to look at the unrealistic amount and paid with a card. As soon as he got out of the taxi, it quickly drove away. Then Sangwoo stood still, feeling the wind in a place he had just visited for the first time, looking at an unfamiliar scenery.
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