Chapter 41

“Yu-su, couldn’t you ask your boss to advance you a month’s salary?”

Jeong Yu-su had been adjusting the tie of his school uniform with a flushed, hazy expression. At his mother’s question, his hands abruptly stilled. Perhaps the sleepless weekend had dulled his mind, because he could not immediately grasp what she meant. He remained silent for several seconds, his curved eyebrows gradually knitting together in confusion.

“Are we… that short on money?”

“The latest treatment didn’t produce much improvement. You know that, don’t you?”

Because the twins had been so young when they fell ill, there had been little insurance coverage available to them. Their household had remained in disarray until they finally qualified for financial support for patients with critical illnesses.

After that, life had not been unbearable. They survived on government subsidies, his father’s salary, and whatever prize money or part-time wages Jeong Yu-su managed to bring home.

He had sensed their finances slowly tipping out of balance, much like the old saying that raising a patient meant raising them on money. Even so, he had not thought matters had deteriorated far enough for him to request an advance on his salary.

After a moment’s hesitation, Jeong Yu-su chose his words carefully. “I thought I gave you my paycheck the day before yesterday…”

“You only gave me half!” his mother snapped. “Are you saying you refuse to ask for an advance?”

“No, Mom. That’s not what I meant. I was only wondering why you needed it so suddenly.”

The anger vanished from her face as quickly as it had appeared. A gentle smile replaced it, and she patted Jeong Yu-su on the shoulder.

“This medicine isn’t covered by insurance, so it’s extremely expensive.”

“Is there a new medication?”

“Yes. I heard it just became available.”

Jeong Yu-su’s expression brightened, but she quickly continued before he could respond.

“Oh, and while we’re talking about money, can’t you get a refund for the school field trip?”

“Ah…”

“Honestly, it’s a luxury.” Her smile thinned. “You keep doing this. I’ve already allowed you to continue playing sports while your siblings are sick, but do you really have the heart to go off and enjoy yourself?”

Jeong Yu-su lowered his eyes. “…I’ll ask about it when I get to school today.”

“Make sure you do.”

He nodded.

It was only natural, after all. The twins had been ill for years. He was grateful that another medicine existed for them to try, so giving up a field trip was hardly a sacrifice.

His mother saw him off with a radiant smile. Once outside, Jeong Yu-su walked down the street and kicked a loose stone along the pavement.

If I tell him I’m not going on the field trip, he’ll probably offer to pay for it again…

It had been the same when he was choosing a high school.

He had wanted to attend Korea High School of Physical Education. It was the country’s most prestigious school for athletes, but the tuition was astronomical. The twins had fallen ill around that time, which made it impossible for him even to mention the school to his parents.

When Jeong Yu-su had been on the verge of giving up, Do Muwon offered to pay the tuition for him.

“Hey, I just want us to attend the same school. Can’t you pay me back later?”

“You have no intention of taking the money back.”

“Hmm, well…”

Do Muwon’s eyebrows had arched as though the accusation had struck him directly in the heart. His gaze wandered through the air before eventually returning to Jeong Yu-su, who could not help chuckling.

“See? Besides, I have no intention of begging you for money over something like this.”

“You’re so fucking frustrating, Jeong Yu-su. Why the hell not?”

“Because if I start borrowing money from you… I’m afraid we won’t be friends anymore after that.”

Do Muwon fell silent, seemingly lost in serious thought.

Do Muwon’s grandfather, the founder of the Cheonsan Group, treasured his eldest grandson and had kept the boy close from an early age to train him as a successor. The world Do Muwon had seen and heard about must have been incomparably broader than Jeong Yu-su’s own.

When Do Muwon finally appeared to understand, Jeong Yu-su continued.

“If the debt makes me self-conscious around you, or if I start feeling small whenever we’re together…”

“That would be fucking awful.”

“Exactly.”

Do Muwon had cut him off before he could finish, releasing a sharp, irritated breath.

“Then what are you going to do? Attend an ordinary school? You can’t train properly for diving at a place like that.”

“I know. I’m going to earn a scholarship.”

Do Muwon had called him insane, but Jeong Yu-su studied and trained until his nose bled. In the end, he secured the scholarship, then somehow covered the smaller expenses by working part-time jobs.

He had done it because he refused to give up diving.

From the moment he stood on the platform and drew that first deep breath, exhilaration surged through him. Then came the instant of departure, when he cast aside every trace of hesitation and launched himself into open air.

It was freedom in its purest form, as though he had thrown the entire world from his shoulders.

Whenever he cut through the air, a thrill coursed through every part of his body. When he executed a perfect entry, fingertips touching the surface first, it felt less as though he were falling into the water and more as though the water itself had reached up and pulled him in.

There could be no mistaking that sensation. For one flawless instant, he and the water moved in harmony.

Once submerged, he became the only thing that existed in the world. As he began rising toward the surface, the muted rush of spreading waves filled his ears, and through it all, the pounding of his heart remained the clearest proof that he was alive.

That was why he liked diving.

That was why he loved it.

Of course, continuing had never been easy. He could not afford to lose his scholarship in any season, placing on the podium at competitions was treated as a given, and he still had to work part-time whenever training allowed.

Even so, he had never once asked Do Muwon for help.

It was not merely that he refused to borrow money. Jeong Yu-su also knew that if he accepted Do Muwon’s help and his parents discovered the truth, they would never release a golden goose like the heir to the Cheonsan Group.

“…What the hell am I supposed to say?”

Do Muwon had been strangely silent throughout the entire weekend.

He often disappeared for trips or successor training, but even then, he had always made time to call.

The message Jeong Yu-su had sent had been marked as read for ages. A queasy, restless anxiety churned in his stomach as he checked the frozen screen for the fifth time.

This time, Muwon had not even read the messages.

Yu-su promised himself he would try calling once he reached the classroom. He set off again, but the road to school felt exceptionally long, perhaps because every step weighed so heavily on him.

Whispers trailed behind Jeong Yu-su as he made his way slowly down the hallway.

“Did you hear? He got the scholarship for the second semester too. He’s fucking shameless.”

“Why?”

“Don’t you know? Do Muwon keeps him under his wing. People are saying Cheonsan changed the academic scholarship criteria just to hand it to him.”

“Whoa. That’s not friendship. That’s winning the fucking lottery.”

Rumors like those had clung to Yu-su’s school life for so long that he had grown numb to them. He could not bring himself to care about the muttering of students who would never dare say a word in front of Do Muwon. Normally, he would have turned around and confronted them. “Don’t say behind my back what you can’t say to my face. If you’re so curious about the scholarship criteria, I’ll walk you to the staff room myself.”

Today, however, an inexplicable blade of anxiety had lodged itself in his chest.

His unease proved justified. Before he could even open the classroom door, a deafening shout rang out from the far end of the hallway.

“Hey! Jeong Yu-su! We’ve got a huge problem!”

One of his classmates came sprinting toward him, panting hard. The boy seized Yu-su by the arm and dragged him against the flow of students crowding the corridor.

“What is it? What happened?”

“Do Muwon is fighting in the Class Four classroom!”

Yu-su froze. “What? With whom?”

“Bae Cheol-hyeon!”

It was a name everyone knew.

Muwon inspired fear because of the Cheonsan Group, his family background, and the sheer force of his presence, but he rarely started fights unless someone provoked him.

Bae Cheol-hyeon was the exact opposite.

He was repeating a grade after causing one problem after another, whether it involved drinking, women, or violence. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth and accustomed to getting his way, he often picked fights with Muwon simply because Muwon refused to join his clique.

Yu-su could no longer contain his dread. He tore his arm free from his classmate’s grip and bolted down the hallway.

Outside, the summer heat sweltered beneath a chorus of cicadas shrieking with piercing intensity.

“I told you to stop fucking barking. Me and Jeong Yu-su are what? That’s fucking disgusting.”

The words struck Yu-su the instant he forced his way through the crowd blocking the entrance to Class Four. He barely had time to process what Muwon had said before the devastation inside the classroom seized his attention.

The room had been torn apart. Desks and chairs lay overturned in every direction, and Bae Cheol-hyeon had collapsed across the teacher’s podium while Muwon straddled him, driving fist after fist into his face.

A cut split Muwon’s lower lip, probably the result of a brief exchange at the beginning of the fight. Aside from that, he appeared almost untouched. Bae Cheol-hyeon’s face, however, had been beaten beyond recognition.

This was no longer a fight. It was a one-sided assault.

Bae Cheol-hyeon already appeared unconscious, but Muwon raised his fist again. Yu-su rushed forward and caught him by the arm.

“Do Muwon! Stop!”

“Let go!”

Thwack!

Muwon violently knocked away the hand gripping him. Burning pain shot across Yu-su’s fingers, and he stared at Muwon in bewilderment. He had expected Muwon to recoil in shock and apologize the moment he realized whom he had struck. Instead, Muwon turned toward him with bloodshot eyes and fixed him with a savage glare.

“Don’t touch me.”

Yu-su’s voice faltered. “What?”

“Do you even know what this bastard was saying?” Muwon jabbed a finger toward the body beneath him. “He called you and me fucking gay.”

Muwon scrubbed the blood from his lip with the back of his hand, still gasping for breath.

“Disgusting,” he spat.

Bae Cheol-hyeon, who had been sprawled there like a corpse, suddenly forced his mouth open.

“Why… fuck.” His mangled lips twisted into a grin. “Isn’t it true? Who knows what you two do in the locker room? Maybe you kissed. Maybe you fucked. Maybe you’ve been sucking each other’s… Gack!”

Pow!

Muwon’s fist crashed into his face before he could finish, and the brutal beating began all over again. Screams erupted from the surrounding crowd.

Yu-su stood motionless, overcome by a grotesque sense of isolation.

It felt as though he were alone in an empty field, watching the scene unfold on a distant movie screen. Muwon’s punches moved in slow motion while the whispers around Yu-su swelled and faded, each one stabbing into his eardrums.

“Bae Cheol-hyeon said he saw Do Muwon and Jeong Yu-su kissing.”

“Seriously? That’s insane.”

“Insane, my ass. He’s probably lying. If it were true, would Do Muwon be this angry?”

“True… but they do look kind of gay together, don’t they?”

The world spun around him until Muwon’s roar shattered it.

“Shut the fuck up, all of you!”

“Do Muwon!” Yu-su screamed over the chaos. “I said stop!”

Muwon did not stop. His hands were slick with blood now, his knuckles rising and falling with frightening force.

If he keeps hitting him, he’ll die.

Yu-su lunged forward again, seized Muwon’s arm, and practically threw his entire weight against him.

“You’ve lost your fucking mind! Please, just stop!”

“I said don’t touch me!”

Crash!

Muwon shoved him away. Yu-su struck the floor, and the back of his skull slammed into the edge of the teacher’s podium.

“Ugh…”

The classroom fell deathly silent, as though someone had poured ice water over everyone inside. Even the whispering stopped.

Yu-su lifted his head, dazed and bewildered.

Why?

Something’s strange…

It truly was strange.

When he opened his eyes again, he was lying in the nurse’s office.

“Yu-su, you’re awake?”

He blinked up at the woman beside the bed. “Ah… Nurse.”

After asking whether he felt nauseated, the school nurse examined him thoroughly. She suggested that he visit the hospital affiliated with the school for a proper checkup, then hesitated. When she spoke again, her voice had grown noticeably more cautious.

“I heard what happened, but try not to pay too much attention to it. You don’t need to explain yourself over rumors like that.”

Yu-su frowned faintly. “Explain myself?”

“Yes. Lies are exposed sooner or later, and then they fade away. Just keep calm and don’t let it get to you.”

Yu-su stared at her.

Things that aren’t true are exposed sooner or later, and then they fade away… But, Nurse, what if the rumor is true? What if I really do like him? Is that such a terrible thing? Is it something he should be that disgusted by?

The words surged up his throat, but he forced them back down. His stomach tightened as though he were suffering from severe indigestion.

The nurse watched him nod weakly, pity softening her expression. After telling him she would return shortly, she left the infirmary.

Perhaps because of the throbbing pain in his head, Yu-su still could not fully understand what had happened. He stared blankly at the back of his hand for a long while before finally taking out his phone.

A message from Do Muwon waited on the screen.