IRLPLBIO Chapter 7 Part 1

Jae-gu asked his clueless and foolish friend.

“Aren’t you going to your class?”

“Ah, this crazy bastard is at it again…”

Joo Hae-jun, who had recently grown bolder, spoke openly. Jae-gu made a “tsk” sound, and he flinched, but then continued to chatter non-stop with his motorized mouth.

“Jae-gu, do you know how many years you and I have been hanging out?”

“What do I care?”

“…You bastard, look at your rude tone. How upsetting.”

“Aren’t you going? Just go.”

“We’re in the same class, where am I supposed to go! Are you really doing this! Urgh!”

Jae-gu quickly covered Joo Hae-jun’s mouth as he yelled. As he tried to drag Joo Hae-jun out, Han Seong-cheol forced a smile and pointed at the mobile phone.

“Take this. I went to all that trouble to prepare it.”

The corners of Han Seong-cheol’s mouth, which he had tried to force upwards, were trembling. It was clear he didn’t realize how bizarre his expression was.

Fearing he might explode if provoked any further, Jae-gu reached for the mobile phone.

“Oh, you said you’d pay the bill too, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then, one more.”

“…What?”

“I said, give me one more.”

Han Seong-cheol’s incredulous gaze fixed on Jae-gu’s face. Even Joo Hae-jun, whose mouth was covered, looked at Jae-gu as if he were a lunatic.

But what did it matter? Han Seong-cheol was no longer an important person to Jae-gu. Jae-gu only had the hopeful thought that if he got another mobile phone, he would give it to Park Kwang-cheol.

At high schools back then, there was something called ‘Yaja’. Evening Self-Study.

Although it was called “self-study,” participation was almost mandatory, but Jae-gu was among the “almost” who didn’t participate. This was because he wasn’t really suited for Yaja.

“Just think about it for a bit. What is self-study? It’s studying what you’ve learned on your own, isn’t it? But do you have anything to study on your own? You don’t know anything.”

Joo Hae-jun, with his arm around Jae-gu’s shoulder, laughed delightedly. He seemed unaware that he, too, was skipping Yaja and leaving with Jae-gu.

Jae-gu didn’t get annoyed by everything. If he, who had lived for over forty years, were to be swayed by a mere teenager, it would be a loss of face.

Instead, he firmly grabbed Joo Hae-jun by the scruff of his neck and dragged him along. Joo Hae-jun instinctively lowered his posture and pulled his body back, resisting, but it was no use.

“What are you doing? Just say it, say it with words.”

“Let’s go quietly. Before I drag you like a dog.”

“But, you’re already dragging me like one! Where are we going?”

“To study.”

“…Huh?”

At that moment, his resistant grip slipped. Immediately, Joo Hae-jun, caught up with Jae-gu, was dragged along like a dog, just as he had said.

After all that talk about a bet, is he really trying to study? Did he eat something wrong?

Joo Hae-jun’s suspicious gaze kept darting to Jae-gu’s profile.

The place Jae-gu took Joo Hae-jun to was the library. It was fortunate that it wasn’t too far from school. Even if it had been far, he would have come, saying it would be good exercise.

Jae-gu quietly observed the building, which was larger than he expected, and let out a deep breath. The newly painted exterior didn’t show its age.

Everyone entering and exiting looked intelligent, and even the parked cars and bicycles seemed to gleam. Although there was no one stopping them, or even looking their way, he felt like everyone would whisper if an idiot like him walked in. Even though he knew it was just his imagination, he became nervous.

“Huh… Do I have to take off my shoes when I go in there? Do I need slippers or something?”

“Cough.”

Jae-gu barely managed to suppress the laughter that almost burst out. Fortunately, there was Joo Hae-jun, who was saying even sillier things than himself, which helped him relax. He erased from his mind the fact that he too had asked quite a foolish question when Park Kwang-cheol told him about the library yesterday.

Hmph, Jae-gu snorted and pretended to be skilled.

“What’s with the slippers when you haven’t even brought a book?”

“Oh, right, books!”

“I brought a lot, so I’ll lend you some.”

“Oh, Jae-gu, you’re cool! But wait, you brought books? You, the bastard who doesn’t even have textbooks?”

Joo Hae-jun, who was about to start spouting more nonsense, only shut his mouth after getting a punch to the jaw. Jae-gu, adjusting his unusually bulging bag filled with all sorts of books, bravely entered first.

“Hyung, over here!”

Park Kwang-cheol, recognizing Jae-gu, waved his hand. As a middle school student, he finished classes earlier than high school students, so he had come ahead of time to secure seats.

“Oh, our Kkwang-cheol… Gasp!”

Joo Hae-jun, who had been happily waving back, stumbled and fell hard. Jae-gu’s punch was so sharp that this time, no scream even came out.

Jae-gu, who had unconsciously put power into his punch, was also flustered. He belatedly helped Joo Hae-jun up, mumbling an excuse.

“When you said ‘Kkwang-cheol,’ I just… I told you not to call him that…”

“Fk… He called him that himself and now he’s only giving me hell…”

Even as he choked, Joo Hae-jun expressed his resentment. He meant that Jae-gu had called him ‘Kkwang-cheol’ first, so he had just followed. From Joo Hae-jun’s perspective, it was quite unfair.

However, Jae-gu couldn’t accept that unfairness.

Park Kwang-cheol was called ‘Kkwang-cheol’ (meaning ‘bad draw’) because he always drew the short straw. Until the very last moment, Jae-gu also teased Park Kwang-cheol. He took it for granted that Park Kwang-cheol would always take on the hardest tasks that others avoided, and always stand by his side, even though his younger brothers found it difficult to associate with him.

But the moment Jae-gu realized that Park Kwang-cheol hadn’t just drawn the short straw because of bad luck, Jae-gu changed. As much as Park Kwang-cheol had ‘deliberately’ chosen the losing options to support him, Jae-gu also had to do things for Park Kwang-cheol.

“Not anymore.”

The future events, unknown to Joo Hae-jun and Park Kwang-cheol, remained only in Jae-gu’s heart.

Naturally, Joo Hae-jun protested.

“You’re just doing whatever you want!”

“…Anyway, I’m sorry for hitting you, and from now on, let’s call him by his proper name. If you call him ‘Kkwang’ or whatever again…”

“What, what was that punch? Is that an apology! There’s no sincerity, no sincerity! Oh, I’m dying!”

Joo Hae-jun, who usually quieted down when Jae-gu shook his fist, raised his voice loudly this time. Jae-gu subtly clenched his fist, wondering if Joo Hae-jun needed another hit to come to his senses.

“Hyungs, it’s nice to see you two so close. Joo Hae-jun hyung seems to get along well with our hyung.”