“Seoju…”“What?”Jung Woojin’s skin was as white as if he weren’t Korean. It wasn’t a sickly pale but rather smooth and porcelain-like. However, that white face started to turn red, the color spreading like a rash to his neck and the tips of his ears.With a face flushed red, Jung Woojin spoke again.“Seoju…”“….”“Kang Seoju.”“….”“….”Jung Woojin was so red he looked like he might burst. After mumbling my name a few more times, he turned red all the way to the corners of his eyes and spoke again.“Kang Seoju.”He looked like he was about to cry. Seeing him turn so red while saying my name made me feel strange too. I could feel my own face heating up, so I turned away from him.“Yeah, Kang Seoju. Got it.”As the traffic light changed, the car started moving again. My heart pounded like crazy, and I couldn’t calm down, so I just kept taking deep breaths. I pressed myself against the car window, staring outside, then slowly turned to look at Jung Woojin.He still had a bright red face. Silently cursing to myself, I turned back to stare out the window. What the hell is wrong with him? Why is he acting like this? It’s making me feel weird too.We didn’t say a word to each other until we arrived at the school.After parking, I walked with Jung Woojin as he explained various things to me. But it was just like when I first entered the one-room apartment. Nothing came back to me; everything just felt unfamiliar.“Sunbae, you used to eat here often.”“This is where you had your classes. You had a morning lecture here, but you were always late, so you didn’t attend much.”“Oh, do you remember this place? It’s where we first met.”“You liked being alone, so you didn’t have many close friends. You actually didn’t come to school much either.”Watching Jung Woojin enthusiastically explain everything made me feel a little sorry for him. He was trying so hard, but I couldn’t remember a single thing. Suddenly, I felt tired of everything. My legs hurt, my stomach felt off, and my head was aching. As I sighed more frequently, Jung Woojin, noticing this, sat me down on a bench.“Take a rest here for a bit. I’ll go get something to drink. What would you like?”“Okay.”I replied weakly, and Jung Woojin reached out, briefly holding my hand before letting go.“Don’t go anywhere, okay? If you disappear without saying anything, I’ll get mad.”“Got it. I’ll have an iced Americano with two extra shots. No syrup.”“….”“What?”When I looked at him curiously, Jung Woojin, who had been silent, made a strange expression. He was clearly smiling, but it looked like he was on the verge of tears.“To get coffee, I’d have to go out of the way… How about something from the vending machine instead?”“Then why did you ask me what I wanted?”“Then come with me.”“My legs hurt too much to do that.”I pretended to complain, tapping my legs, and Jung Woojin pouted his lips again, looking at me. When I chuckled in disbelief, Jung Woojin reached out and grabbed my forearm.“Then I’ll buy it for you on the way home. Let’s go now.”“Seriously? Is it that hard for you to get a cup of coffee? Never mind, I won’t have any.”“Then wait here until I get back.”Jung Woojin sighed deeply, then sat me down on the bench again. Like giving instructions to a child left by the water, he carefully said,“If someone talks to you, just ignore them. Even if they act like they know you, just ignore them. The school’s motto is something like ‘Every student is my friend,’ so people tend to act like they know you even if they’ve never met you before.”“Alright. But you’re acting like I’m…”“If someone offers you something delicious…”“Hey!”I shouted, cutting him off, and Jung Woojin sighed again. He hesitated as if he couldn’t bring himself to leave, looking back at me several times. When I waved my hand, signaling for him to hurry up, Jung Woojin looked at me from a distance, then suddenly sprinted away at full speed. Watching his quickly disappearing figure made me smile.Leaning back against the bench, I stared up at the blue sky. I suddenly remembered how Jung Woojin had turned bright red while saying my name earlier. What the heck was wrong with that guy? As I let out a sigh with a puzzled expression, I heard a strange sound from behind me.“Huh?”When I turned my head at the sound, I saw a person I’d never met before pointing at me.“What the hell? Why are you here?”“…”“You haven’t been coming to school lately, and you’re not answering your phone, you bastard!”The man threw the book he was holding onto the bench and shouted at me. Even though Jung Woojin said the school had a motto like that, this guy definitely seemed to know me.“More importantly, what’s a Korean Lit major doing here? Don’t you have class today?”“…”“Why aren’t you saying anything? Come to think of it, you look like you’ve lost some weight…”“Who are you?”“What?”When I got up hesitantly, looking puzzled, the man’s expression turned cold. He tilted his head, then started patting me roughly on the shoulder.“Have you lost your mind? Who are you? What nonsense are you talking about? Screw it, just go get my laptop, now!”“Huh?”“I told you that if you ran off with my laptop, I’d wring your neck…!”“Do you know me?”“What? What the hell are you…”As I spoke, the man’s expression darkened.“Hey.”“Yes?”“Are you suffering from heatstroke or something? What’s wrong with you?”“Well, the thing is… Actually, I can’t remember…”“Damn it! Did you break my laptop? Did you smash it? Is that why you’re pretending not to know?”“What? No…”“You bastard! I knew it! I knew something was up when I heard you moved out of your place! Argh!”As I watched the man suddenly lose it, I started to feel threatened and backed away. But then he grabbed me by the collar.“When I went to your house and some old guy answered the door, I nearly had a heart attack! I should’ve known something was wrong then!”“Hey, hey, cough! Let go of me… Hey, damn it! I said, let go!”“You bastard, pay for my laptop! I’m still paying it off!”“Kim
Gapdol
[1]
Gapdol is not his real name but a nickname, referring to the old Korean poem, Gapdoli and Gapsuni (갑돌이와 갑순이)
, damn it, let go, you son of a bitch!”I yelled at him, and finally, he let go of my collar. As I bent over, coughing and gasping for air, he kept pulling at his hair and ranting about his laptop. Once I managed to catch my breath, the man suddenly glared at me with wild eyes.“You damn bastard, I told you not to call me Gapdol!”“What?”“But why have you been calling me that since earlier…”“Sunbae!”At that moment, I heard a familiar voice from afar. Jung Woojin, nearly dropping the coffee he was holding, came running towards me. Seeing the coffee discarded on the ground like trash, I felt despair.My coffee, damn it…Jung Woojin rushed over and grabbed my wrist tightly, pulling me behind him as if to shield me.“Jung Woojin?”Only then did I tear my gaze away from the fallen coffee and look at Jung Woojin and Gapdol. I didn’t know who this guy was, but I knew one thing: his name was Gapdol. I didn’t really understand what I was saying, but the man in front of me, who seemed like a friend, was definitely Gapdol.“What’s going on here?”A cold voice, one I’d never heard before, struck my ears. I tried to free my wrist from his grip, but the more I struggled, the tighter Jung Woojin held on. Finally, I sighed and spoke.“Do you two know each other?”“What?”“Sunbae, I told you not to talk to people you don’t know.”Gapdol was startled by my question, and Jung Woojin was angry. While I was caught off guard, Gapdol looked between my hand, which was held by Jung Woojin, and my face, stammering.“Hey, since when have you known Jung Woojin?”Since when? I wasn’t sure myself, so I looked at Jung Woojin with a confused expression. With both Gapdol and me staring at him, Jung Woojin finally opened his mouth, his face set in a cold expression.“It sounded like you were talking about a laptop earlier. If that’s the issue, I’ll have it sent to your home as soon as possible.”“What? No, why would you… Wait, hold on. Hey, what’s this about?”Gapdol seemed flustered, stammering as he slowly edged closer to me. I was about to say something to him, thinking he might know me, but Jung Woojin stepped in between us.“We have something urgent right now, so we should get going.”“What? No, wait…”“Mr. Kim Gapsu.”“What?”“I said we’ll have the laptop sent to your home by today.”“What the hell, you bastard?”The atmosphere suddenly became tense. The name Kim Gapsu seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. I felt like I should know that name. Anyway, whether he’s Gapdol or someone else, this guy is definitely my friend. I wanted to talk to him more, but the tension was too thick to say anything. Was Gapdol not really my friend?“Sunbae, let’s go.”“Hey, hey! You, don’t you dare walk away! Hey!”As Jung Woojin dragged me away, I glanced back. Gapdol’s face had turned red, and he was shouting angrily. I tilted my head, staring at the rapidly retreating figure. He really did seem familiar…“Don’t look.”“What?”At that moment, Jung Woojin stopped walking, grabbed my chin, and quickly turned my face towards him. It hurt like my jaw was about to break. But before I could even cry out in pain, his grip loosened. I missed the chance to get angry, so I just scowled as Jung Woojin grabbed my wrist again and started walking quickly.“I told you not to talk to people you don’t know.”“Gapdol isn’t a stranger. Why are you so angry…”“He is a stranger. Sunbae, do you even know who that person is?”“Well, no, but still…”“Then he’s a stranger.”His words were strange. At this point, the only person I knew was Jung Woojin. According to him, I shouldn’t talk to anyone other than him because, essentially, everyone else is a stranger.“What are you talking about? Even if I don’t remember him, Gapdol knows me.”A black car parked in the distance came into view. Without responding to my words, Jung Woojin pushed me into the car. His rough handling irritated me, but I got in without complaint. After slamming the door shut, Jung Woojin locked it and slumped over the steering wheel.“Hey.”His tightly clenched fist was trembling. Sensing something was off, I gingerly reached out to touch him, but he didn’t budge. I had no idea why he was suddenly acting like this.“Hey, Jung Woojin.”“Sunbae.”Jung Woojin turned his head slightly to look at me. His eyes were barely visible through his jet-black hair.“I told you to just call me Woojin.”“……”“Don’t talk to strangers. They could be pretending to know you and trying to take advantage of the fact that you’ve lost your memory.”“…But you called Gapdol ‘Mr. Kim Gapsu’ earlier. Doesn’t that mean we all know each other?”In response, Jung Woojin started the car.“Let’s go home.”“Jung Woojin!”I practically shouted his name, and the car, which had been moving smoothly forward, suddenly screeched to a halt. Startled, I lurched forward, but Jung Woojin quickly reached out to grab my shoulder. As I stared at him, dumbfounded, Jung Woojin sighed and smiled.“Woojin.”“……”My heart was pounding like crazy. His hand gripping my shoulder tightened. Jung Woojin, watching me hold my breath and glare at him, spoke again.“Woojin.”“…Woojin.”I exhaled shakily and repeated after him. Jung Woojin smiled warmly.“Yes, Sunbae. Let’s talk at home.”“……”Jung Woojin leaned me back against the seat and even fastened my seatbelt. Then he started the car again. We didn’t say a word until we got home.Ding, the sound of the door closing echoed unusually loudly. As I took off my shoes slowly, keeping an eye on him, and stepped inside, Jung Woojin, who had been staring blankly into empty space, spoke up.“I forgot about the coffee.”“……”“I’ll brew it right away, just a moment.”Watching Jung Woojin disappear towards the kitchen, I couldn’t help but frown. After taking a deep breath, I followed him to the kitchen. I started to call out his name, but hesitated. Clearing my throat softly, I called out to him.“Woojin.”“Yes.”“Who is Kim Gapsu?”“……”“He’s my friend, right? Even if he’s not a friend, he’s someone I know.”Jung Woojin, holding a capsule of coffee, stared blankly at me. I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking at all. As I furrowed my brows, Jung Woojin sighed, put down what he was holding, and walked over to me.“Sunbae and Kim Gapsu do know each other.”I knew it. I calmed myself, suppressing my rising anger, and asked calmly.“But why did you act like that earlier? You met someone who knows me, and then you just left like that? How am I supposed to regain my memory if we don’t even try to talk?”“Sunbae.”“…Jung Woo… no, Woojin. Stop just calling me and say something, talk!”When I shouted at him, Jung Woojin’s expression twisted.“Not all relationships between people are good.”“What?”“If you’re supposed to meet everyone you know, should I introduce you to that pickpocket you caught last year if you randomly run into him on the street?”“……”I froze, staring at Jung Woojin, who asked this with a calm expression. Not knowing what to say, I scratched the back of my neck, then, suddenly struck by a thought, looked up again.“Then what did you mean when you told me not to talk to strangers earlier? Right now, the only person I know is you, so are you saying I shouldn’t talk to anyone else but you?”“That would be nice, but since you’d feel frustrated, you don’t have to go that far. But you must tell me first.”“Tell you what? If I know the person or not?”It might be a hassle, but it was the safest way. Just like Jung Woojin said, not all relationships in the world are good, and there could be people who approach me with bad intentions, knowing I’ve lost my memory.“Of course, that’s a given, but I’m asking you to tell me what you’re going to say.”“Got it… wait, what?”What kind of nonsense is that? As I gave him an incredulous look, Jung Woojin spoke seriously.“I think it would be better if you tell me, and I relay it on your behalf.”“……”“If not, I’ll get you a phone in a few days, so you can talk through texts. As long as you show it to me first.”“……”I couldn’t make sense of the situation. I replayed what I’d heard over and over, and then finally realized what this guy was saying to me. This wasn’t some overzealous boyfriend trying to get my phone’s passcode, but what on earth…?“What kind of nonsense is that? Are you serious?”When I asked with a bewildered expression, Jung Woojin smiled and answered shortly.“Yes.”“……”“Why? Don’t you like it, Sunbae?”Is he seriously asking that? I’ve just realized that when you’re too shocked, your mind goes completely blank. I needed to say something, but I had no idea where to start. I closed my eyes tightly, opened them, shook my head from side to side, let out a big sigh, and then finally stammered out a response.“You want me to let you check? What I’m going to say to others? To you? Why? Why should I do that?”It was Jung Woojin who said something absurd, yet his face remained so composed that I started doubting myself. Was I the one who was mistaken here? But it was clearly Jung Woojin saying weird things.“Because I’m curious.”“……”“In return, I’ll show you everything too. My texts, call history, and even who I’m talking to and where they live.”“……”
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