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Chapter 20: You Don’t Want To? (2)
Kang Chan entered his room and looked at his phone on his desk. After inserting a fully-charged battery and turning it on, a bunch of text messages flooded in. He received a lot of texts from Kim Mi-Young, followed by a couple from unknown numbers.
[Hi Channy, it’s Michelle. Call me back.]
[Call me.]
[It’s such a turnoff for you to keep ignoring me.]
[I don’t like where this is going.]
[It seems like you’re telling me to get lost, huh? I’m debating about it.]
There were five text messages.
Kang Chan looked at the messages for a moment before pressing the call button.
–– ‘ello?
“Michelle? It’s Kang Chan.”
–– Channy?
“Yeah. You texted me?”
–– You read my texts? I was disappointed you didn’t pick up my calls.
“I was hospitalized. I just got discharged today.”
–– Did you hurt yourself? Is it because of the bandaged hand I saw that day?
Why did women ask more than one question at a time?
“I’m fine. What’s up?”
–– You shouldn’t get the ladies all excited and then play dumb. My friends were really looking forward to it, too.
“You know I’m a high schooler, right?”
–– You probably know what it’s like in France. You were so cold that day, and you’re being cold right now, too! You’re kind of strangely charming whenever you turn me down, you know. You give off the vibe of a wounded beast.
Hooo! Should I ask if she’s Smithen?
–– Are you free today?
Michelle had a sweet voice. No, it was seductive.
“My upper body is all wrapped up in bandages.”
–– Ahh! How sexy!
Was she a crazy bitch?
–– We’ll get your blood pumping.
“I’m not free today…”
–– You’re really strange. There are men begging on their knees to be with us.
“Go meet with those men, then.”
–– Whoa! I really like you. In that case, let’s grab something to eat. Perhaps you might change your mind after that.
“Fine.”
Kang Chan agreed to meet with Michelle and her friends on Saturday afternoon, saying he would text her as soon as he had decided on the location. There was a chance he wouldn’t meet with them, though. In any case, he didn’t flatly reject her when she had offered to help him the other day, so he was planning to draw a clear line between them without Yoo Hye-Sook around.
Kang Chan didn’t hate women. He did have his fair share of experience with women back in France, but it was all purely lust. He never dated any of the women because he didn’t want to find love in a hellhole like that.
He passed the time browsing the internet until it was time for dinner. Regardless of how many times he had searched for terms related to France, Africa, and the battle that fateful day, he couldn’t find anything. Then again, it would be rather odd for information pertaining to it to be circulating on the internet.
Kang Chan had dinner with just Yoo Hye-Sook. The steamed egg was delicious so he finished all of it, leaving nothing behind. The sight elated Yoo Hye-Sook. She looked quite happy, almost as if she had won a cooking competition.
Kang Chan took his medicine after watching TV for a while. Kang Dae-Kyung got home at around 9 pm.
“Welcome home,” Kang Chan greeted him.
“You must be tired, honey,” Yoo Hye-Sook said.
“I feel completely fine now that I’ve seen you and Chan.”
“Oh my!” She responded.
It was a scene that gave Kang Chan goosebumps. However, Kang Chan could tell there was a tinge of awkwardness on Kang Dae-Kyung’s facial expression. It was similar to the facial expressions of his unit members when they were seriously injured but acted as though it was nothing. Such behavior could only mean one thing––they didn’t want to break their comrades’ morale.
Kang Chan feigned ignorance and went back to his room. That was all one had to do if they were to see someone hiding something. There had to have been a reason why Kang Dae-Kyung was hiding something from them.
About 30 minutes later, Kang Chan went outside to the bench. Shortly after, he saw Kim Mi-Young looking at her phone while walking into the entrance of the apartment. She seemed to be waiting for a response after sending a text.
“Snow White!”
Kim Mi-Young lifted her head in surprise and smiled brightly at Kang Chan. The reason why he didn’t mercilessly turn her down was right before him.
“You’re exhausted, aren’t you?”
“Yeah!” She responded with relief in her eyes, seemingly having found a safe place to rest after a long journey.
“Are you hungry?”
“I’ll just eat something at home,” She responded.
At most, all he had to do was meet with her and chat with her at the bench. He wondered if that ever bored her or if she found it troublesome.
Even though she was naive and frustrating, Kim Mi-Young’s presence didn’t make Kang Chan feel uncomfortable—a sensation he never experienced in France. It wasn’t too bad because he just felt like he had a younger sister he wanted to protect within society instead of on the battlefield.
After comforting her, he could just tell her, ‘I’m going to study abroad in France. Let’s meet after we become successful.’ Wouldn’t that be a great excuse? He was planning to use the same excuse on Kang Dae-Kyung and Yoo Hye-Sook. And then, he could immediately apply to the army after six months.
People’s memories of others would gradually become fainter and fainter when they were out of sight. Just like how even Kang Chan’s memory of Smithen’s face was blurry now.
Kim Mi-Young rambled on about things that had happened at hagwon and looked at Kang Chan from time to time, smiling. Little by little, Kang Chan gained a better understanding of Kim Mi-Young’s situation—her mother decided everything for her. It seemed like she followed her mother’s wishes, even when it came to who she could be close friends with and who she had to distance herself from.
She had an old, basic keypad phone because smartphones were a waste of time.
“Right! What do you wanna be in the future?” Kang Chan asked Kim Mi-Young. He asked because he suddenly remembered what Seok Kang-Ho said and because he had nothing else to say.
“Um…a diplomat.”
Kang Chan just nodded. People could change their aspirations whenever they felt like it, after all.
At that moment, Kim Mi-Young’s phone started buzzing.
“I’m in front of the apartment building now. I’ll be going up any minute.”
Kang Chan got up too. It was time to go home.
***
Up until Friday, the days were so peaceful they came across as boring. After Kang Chan was done with his classes, he swung by the hospital to disinfect his wounds. Apart from his shoulder and left hand, his wounds had healed significantly enough to only need gauzes.
“By next Monday, you should be able to start taking showers.”
“That soon? Will I be able to do physical activities, then?”
Kang Chan was surprised.
“It’ll be difficult for you to do strenuous physical activities, but I think you should be able to walk briskly. Don’t ever overexert yourself,” The doctor warned him with a warm smile.
It seemed like he would still be fine after removing half the bandages wrapped around his body. Besides, he could even shower now.
When he returned home, Kang Chan had dinner with Yoo Hye-Sook.
“Is there something you’re worried about?” Kang Chan asked.
“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing.”
It was apparent that Yoo Hye-Sook was now aware of what Kang Dae-Kyung was trying to hide. When Kang Chan entered the room, Yoo Hye-Sook had to bottle up her worries.
Yoo Hye-Sook didn’t force Kang Chan to study, probably because he had fallen from the roof of a building and was just in a car accident. Were they thinking of suggesting he take a break from school this year and resume studying next year?
While Kang Chan and Yoo Hye-Sook were watching TV together, Yoo Hye-Sook would go into her bedroom whenever she received a call, returning to the living room after it had ended with a disappointed look on her face.
Kang Dae-Kyung got home after the clock struck 9.
“I’m home.” Kang Dae-Kyung forced a smile. Yoo Hye-Sook looked at him with pity.
What should Kang Chan do? Should he continue feigning ignorance until the very end?
Just then, Kang Chan saw Yoo Hye-Sook hitting her own chest, evidently forcing herself to eat. She probably forced her food down so Kang Chan wouldn’t have to eat alone.
When Kang Dae-Kyung changed into something comfortable and went to the living room, Kang Chan became determined to do something about it.
“Would you like to take a walk?” Kang Chan asked Kang Dae-Kyung.
“Huh?” Yoo Hye-Sook was still in the room.
After hesitating for a bit, Kang Dae-Kyung said, “Yeah, I’ll come with you,” then went into the master bedroom.
“Where are you planning to go at this hour?”
“We’re just spending quality time between men. Even if you’re jealous, please bear with it.”
Kang Dae-Kyung came out of the room with a cardigan and forced himself to make a joke.
“Honey!” Yoo Hye-Sook called out to Kang Dae-Kyung.
“Yeah?”
Yoo Hye-Sook quickly glanced at Kang Chan in an attempt to tell her husband not to say anything that would make Kang Chan worry.
“Don’t stay out too late.”
Nonetheless, she said something entirely different, hiding her true feelings.