Kang-woo kicked Hee-woon hard in the stomach as he stood by the chair.
Hee-woon fell over with the chair, crashing to the floor with a loud clatter.
“Ugh….”
Hee-woon clutched his stomach and curled up.
It felt like his guts were tearing apart.
The pain was so intense it nearly blurred his vision.
He saw a foot in slippers approaching him leisurely.
Hee-woon desperately tried to scramble backwards, but Kang-woo’s hand was faster.
“Aak!”
Kang-woo grabbed Hee-woon by the hair and forced his head up.
Seeing the large hand raised in the air, Hee-woon squeezed his eyes shut.
Kang-woo, who was about to slap his cheek, clicked his tongue upon seeing the gauze covering the bruise.
He let go of Hee-woon’s head, crouched down on his knees, and spoke.
“Sit up properly.”
“Hu…huuh… yes.”
Hee-woon, trembling, pushed himself up and knelt.
His stomach hurt so much his posture naturally hunched over.
Staring at the round crown of Hee-woon’s bowed head, Kang-woo spoke as if sighing.
“I’ve been really lenient with you today, haven’t I?”
“Y-yes, you have.”
“Then why do you keep grating on my nerves, huh?”
Kang-woo lightly tapped the gauze.
Each time his hand touched it, Hee-woon, who had his eyes tightly shut, flinched even more.
Having his eyes closed, not knowing when the slap would come, made it even more terrifying.
He thought it would be better to just see it coming.
Hee-woon opened his eyes.
And his gaze met directly with Kang-woo, who had been studying his face with his head tilted.
“Hic.”
He was so startled a hiccup escaped.
Then, Seo Kang-woo reached out his hand.
Hee-woon squeezed his eyes shut again and blurted out.
“Hic. D-don’t… hit me.”
“Ka-Kang-woo…. I… hic! I won’t do it anymore.”
The hand, which he thought would deliver a strong impact to his cheek or somewhere else, only brushed very lightly against the corner of his eye.
When he tremblingly lifted his eyelids, the finger touching the corner of his eye lightly stroked his lower lashes and then moved away.
“…….”
Hic. Hic.
Each time a hiccup came, Hee-woon’s whole body jerked and his head twitched sideways.
Kang-woo silently watched this for a moment before speaking.
“You’d beg for mercy after just one hit, so why do you act up?”
Listening to the low, pressing voice, Hee-woon hugged his stomach.
“Hic… hic….”
Each hiccup made his stomach hurt, causing his body to curl up even more.
The thought that he might have injured an organ briefly crossed his mind.
He was scared.
He felt like even if an organ ruptured, Seo Kang-woo wouldn’t take him to the hospital.
Thinking he might die, tears welled up in his eyes.
Hee-woon swallowed his saliva with his head bowed.
His insides felt strange.
He hadn’t eaten anything, but he felt nauseous and dizzy.
“Senior, when I say something, you just say, ‘Yes, I understand.'”
“Yes, yes…. I understand.”
Hee-woon didn’t even think that the words were inappropriate for a junior one year younger.
He just didn’t want to get hit.
‘Thought you weren’t going to cry today.’
Kang-woo clicked his tongue looking at the tear-streaked face, then glanced indifferently at Hee-woon’s hands clutching his stomach.
“What are you doing with your hands? Are you hungry?”
“No… it hurts.”
Kicking someone so hard in the stomach they could fly, and then asking if they’re hungry.
Hee-woon felt a surge of anger but lowered his eyes.
“Anyone seeing this would think you got hit several times.”
“It’s… hic… because of the hiccups… it hurts….”
As if resentful of being treated like he was exaggerating, Woo Hee-woon raised his head to plead his case.
“It… it really hurts.”
“…….”
Kang-woo stared silently at Hee-woon for a moment, then stood up.
“Get up.”
“N-no! It… it doesn’t hurt at all….”
Thinking Kang-woo was going to hit him more, Hee-woon waved both hands in refusal.
Kang-woo laughed as if it was absurd and asked again.
“It doesn’t hurt at all?”
“No… huu….”
Not knowing what to do, his small face crumpled.
Kang-woo let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“You don’t listen.”
“How much more do you want to get hit?”
“I’ll get up.”
As he spoke, choking up, Hee-woon’s face instantly became wet with tears.
Clutching his throbbing stomach, Hee-woon stood up with a grim expression.
His hands, each knuckle smaller than Kang-woo’s, clenched into tight fists.
Ha.
Kang-woo turned his head away and let out a short laugh.
“Grit your teeth.”
The back of Hee-woon’s neck, who had lowered his eyes bracing for the impending violence, was pulled.
He reflexively squeezed his eyes shut, but something soft touched his lips.
Startled, he opened his eyes to see a handsome face right in front of him.
Kang-woo smiled softly with his lips pressed against Hee-woon’s.
He stroked the round back of Hee-woon’s head a couple of times, then pulled him in by the waist.
There was no trace of violence in him as he slowly licked Hee-woon’s lips.
He only slid his tongue between the parted lips, lightly tapped his front teeth, or gently tickled the stiffened tongue.
It was a soft, affectionate kiss, the kind lovers share.
Kang-woo pulled his head back and let out a languid sigh.
Hee-woon gasped, trying to catch his breath.
Their breaths mingled in the close proximity.
“I keep getting soft-hearted, it’s a real problem.”
The hand supporting the back of Hee-woon’s head stroked his scalp as if scratching it.
Tears streamed down from the corners of Hee-woon’s eyes as he looked at Kang-woo.
They had been welling up for a while now.
Kang-woo, frowning yet smiling, lowered his head and kissed the tears away with his lips.
He trailed his lips down Hee-woon’s cheek in a straight line and gave Hee-woon’s slightly reddened lips a light peck.
“You’re not hiccuping anymore, right?”
Kang-woo asked affectionately.
When Hee-woon gave a slight nod, the hand around his waist moved away.
“Let’s eat.”
Kang-woo spoke nonchalantly and went back to sit at the table.
Hee-woon watched him for a moment, then righted the fallen chair and sat down.
Seo Kang-woo didn’t touch Hee-woon again after that.
Of course, Hee-woon was so tense he didn’t know if he was eating with his nose or his mouth.
It was only after he left the mansion, got on the bus, that he realized he had been holding his breath.
The pain stabbing at his solar plexus combined with the pain from the kick, making it even more agonizing.
It felt like the storm had passed.
Seo Kang-woo, whose attitude switched so rapidly, was terrifying.
Thinking this life would continue, he felt even more despairing than when he first learned of the debt’s existence.
****
“Hee-woon. I’m going to the hospital.”
It seemed he answered in his sleep.
It also seemed he heard the alarm in his sleep.
When he opened his eyes, his surroundings were dark.
Hee-woon bolted upright and pressed his phone’s lock button.
4:50 AM.
“Ah….”
He buried his face in his hands.
He had classes from 1 PM to 6 PM.
Even if he left the house right now, it would take 30 minutes to get to school.
Meaning, he was marked absent for all of today’s classes.
Yesterday, he had make-up classes for the ones he missed last Friday, finishing past 2 AM.
By the time he got home, it was 3 AM.
It had felt like an unusually long day.
But contrary to his tired body, his mind remained wide awake, so he drank a bottle of soju alone in the kitchen.
This was the result.
Bzzzt—
A message arrived.
[This is Seong-hyun’s mother. I’m sorry, but we’re stopping the tutoring for Seong-hyun. Please refund the tuition for the remaining period.]
Hee-woon squeezed his eyes shut.
It was probably because yesterday, his stomach was upset and he threw up in the bathroom during the lesson.
He tried to muffle the sound as much as possible, but it must have been heard, as the mother’s gaze was sharp when he came out of the bathroom.
On top of that, his face clearly looked like he’d been beaten, so her trust must have hit rock bottom.
Since yesterday was only the second lesson, and the student’s mother had been observing him with a cold eye anyway.
Hee-woon’s mind raced.
Then he had to send back 500,000 won….
How much was left in his account?
648,000 won.
Subtracting 500,000 left 148,000 won.
It was only the second week.
To last nearly three more weeks, even just the transportation costs would be tight.
Losing the three-times-a-week tutoring job so suddenly was a huge blow.
His head throbbed.
Hee-woon lay back down on the pillow.
Well, the other students’ mock exam scores had improved quite a bit, and since they’d been with him longer, they probably wouldn’t quit.
For dinner, I can eat the snacks from the tutoring sessions, and I can skip lunch.
If I eat a big breakfast before going, it’ll be fine, right.
‘From tomorrow, let’s have lunch together.’
As Kang-woo’s words surfaced, his face stiffened.
Hee-woon closed his eyes and pressed firmly on his eyelids.
Come to think of it, he had a nightmare.
A dream where he got a message from Seo Kang-woo.
[Where are you?]
Those four words were so chilling even in the dream.
When he remembered that he had never given Kang-woo his phone number, it became even more terrifying.
With his eyes closed, sleep rushed over him like a tidal wave again.
One good thing was that the 8:30 AM class scheduled for today was now gone.
Plus, today he only had that one student’s lesson.
When he opened his eyes again, it was 5 AM the next day.
He wondered if his body was broken.
But considering he had barely slept since last Friday, it might be a natural reaction.
Hee-woon glanced at his sleeping mother, quietly folded his blanket, and carefully went to the kitchen.
He was extremely hungry.
He boiled and ate ramen, and also ate some cold rice.
It was the most delicious meal he’d had recently.
He patted his full stomach and sat leaning against the wall when the door, with its broken window pane taped over, slid open with a rumble.
“You’re already up? You went to bed early yesterday.”
“When did you come home yesterday, Mom?”
“…Around eight.”
His mother said, opening the refrigerator door.
“Wasn’t your hospital appointment at 2 PM? What were you doing until then?”
At Hee-woon’s wide-eyed question, the wrinkled hand gripping the refrigerator door tensed.