Chapter 7: Just a Second

            The next week, Kwang Sun and Hea Woo were released from the hospital. Jung Hee stayed to heal his broken ribs (that were caused by Young Do.) Kwang Sun found their drive home tense and sober, an ambiance that was caused by the previous events. The mood bled into the rest of the week, but faded after a while. Hea Woo barely talked; she only spoke when spoken to. That’s what scared Kwang Sun the most. Dark circles grew under her eyes and her torso got thinner.

            “What happened,” their mother asked one afternoon before lunch. Of course she knew Kwang Sun was hospitalized, she just didn’t know that Young Do had beaten up Jung Hee.  

            Kwang Sun just shook his head. But then his mother asked how Jung Hee was. At the sound of his name, Kwang Sun flinched. Hea Woo looked at the ground. He rushed out of the room and grabbed his noona’s phone. She hadn’t touched it for the week, but she still had Young Do’s number on it.

            Kwang Sun scrolled through meaningless names until he got to Choi Young Do.

            It ringed for a while, but just before the last ring, Kwang Sun heard a gruff ‘yeoboseyo?’  

------------------------------------

            Young Do lazily pulled on his uniform. He buttoned it, but it wasn’t in the right places. His eyes were still drooping from sleep. He styled his hair up, revealing his perfect pointed eyebrows. His socks were not matching. Trudging out of the house, Young Do whistled for a car and got in.

            It was still early at Jeguk. The sun had only peaked out of the horizon, streaking the sky with waves of red and orange. No students dotted the yard; it was just him. He waved the car driver and pulled out a can of paint. He shook it like a whipped cream can. After looking for possible witnesses, Young Do kneeled on the ground and stared at the shape on the ground.

            It was somewhat a tradition in Jeguk; whenever you’re having a hard time, you would help maintain the shape of a dead body stained on the ground. Today, it was Young Do’s turn.

            He had only pressed the nozzle when he heard his name.

            “Hey, Young Do!”

            Young Do turned around. He grinned. It was the second time she had called his name like that.

            Eun Sang looked at him as if she was criticizing him; hands on her hips, eye brows drawn down, and her foot tapping.

            “What are you doing,” she asked. “Don’t you know graffiti is against the law?”

            It seemed like she was serious. She wasn’t smirking. But it felt like something was hidden under her playful tone; at this, Young Do’s smile shattered into pieces and again he melted into Eun Sang’s small arms. His throat burned and his eyes were watery. Like a python around a mouse, he squeezed her. Again, he felt like this was the last time he could do this. It was then he realized that whatever feelings he tried to bury surfaced, and there was no way he could hide them any longer.

            Young Do pulled away and smashed his lips on Eun Sang’s lips, but just for a second. Although she froze, Young Do gathered up his things and marched into the school, tears like waterfalls pouring out of his eyes.

            It was lunch time now; the chef made Young Do’s favorite dish. But as he shoveled the food down his throat, it could have been dirt and he wouldn’t have tasted anything. His mood spoiled the food rotten.

            Again, he saw Kim Tan and Eun Sang hand-in-hand skipping into the cafeteria. Eun Sang’s face glowed as if nothing happened between him and her. When he caught her eye, she quickly looked at the food.

            That was the match to the dynamite, the trigger to the gun, the cause to the effect. Nothing like rejection set Young Do off, but  omitting that he ever existed made him blow up.

            He got up and punched Kim Tan, right in the stomach.

---------------------------------

            It was the same procedure; the chairwomen would call Young Do’s father and Kim Tan’s brother and give them both detention and sentence them to months of scraping gum and cleaning windows.

            They got out of there pretty quickly and left without a word. It was just a quarter before seven when his felt a buzzing against his thigh. He sighed and whipped out his phone. Without looking at the caller ID, he answered it. “Yeoboseyo?”

             “Young Do?” he heard a hushed voice say on the other end of the line. “Is that you?”

            Young Do stood puzzled at the caller. He definitely heard the voice before. It sounded like a boy who didn’t go through puberty yet.

            “It’s me, Kwang Sun,” he said. That explained the high-pitched voice. “I need to ask you something.”

------------------------------

            Kwang Sun was hidden behind the bushes in the front yard. He was sure he looked like he was peeing, so he kept a low voice. There was a girl he liked in the neighborhood, and he would die if she caught him like this, but the problem was important, so he whispered.

            “What is it,” Young Do asked apathetically. Kwang Sun, in a hushed voice, told Young Do about how he knew that Jung Hee tried to run Hea Woo and himself over, and told him about the creepy smile. Oh, and they should call the-

            “Stop,” Young Do whispered vehemently. “We can’t just speak like this over the phone, someone might be listening. Let’s meet in Mango Six.”

            Once Kwang Sun heard the end-call beep, he raced to get there. He felt like he was in a movie, like the hero. He could imagine posters with his face on it, wearing a cool mask.        

            He was now down the street from Mango Six. He saw the sign turn from ‘don’t walk’ to ‘walk.’

            He walked. After getting hit by a car and having his sister almost get his by a car, he would forever walk on the streets by the rules, even if the rules stated that he needed to take his pants off the keep safe, he would do it.

            Kwang Sun felt it, but it was just a second. His head and body shuddered with pain, but it was just a second. The flash of red he saw was just a second. He heard a crash, but it was just a second. He didn't even have time to react.

            Then everything turned black.