Stranger

I stopped when I saw the view as I walked into the living room. The sprouts cultivator, which was supposed to be in a corner, was on top of the table by the window, and the black cloth was scattered, so the bean sprouts were getting plenty of sunlight.

I tried to understand the situation, blinking my eyes blankly. It seemed that Yeon Woojeong had been looking at the sprouts and left them like this unintentionally.

It was written on the instructions that the sprouts shouldn’t get sunlight. Otherwise, the beans would turn green. I guessed I had to change these sprouts.

The days of eating sprouts grew long gone. Wistfully, I looked at the tiny sprouts that had just changed color and changed the beans. Then I washed and got ready to go to school while sending a message to Yeon Woojeong.

[mryeonthesproutsshouldntgetsunlight]

A reply came when I finished preparing and had just left home.

[Sorry.]

[noitsfine]

[imgoingtoschool]

I put my phone in my pocket after sending the replies. The air had gotten warmer.

.

.

.

“Wow, Kim Jiho. Full marks.”

The papers were returned and graded, and mine was the only one that got all the answers right. Yoon Suyoung got seven out of twenty questions wrong, and Ham Yoonah got three. 

“You really have a good memory, Hyung. How could you get full marks?”

“… You just need to associate it.”

“Associate?”

Ham Yoonah agreed with me and gave an example on my behalf. Her example was a little different from what Yeon Woojeong told me, but I thought it could be a help for memorizing.

“I think I’ll have to blend in some English from now on. Erm, Inggurish test is teroble.”

“I ougree with that.”

A chuckle escaped me. Ham Yoonah and Yoon Suyoung turned to me at the same time.

“What?”

“I was thinking that your humor code wasn’t as expensive as I thought.”

Ham Yoonah nudged my elbow, yawned, and flopped down on the desk. 

“Urgh, I don’t want to do this.”

“Noona, are you going to study more?”

“Well, I have to.”

“What about you, Hyung?”

“I will go.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“I have to go to the dentist.”

“Are you sick?”

“I’m going to remove a wisdom tooth.”

Ham Yoonah, who had been facing down, raised her head and grimaced. 

“Urgh. Is that impacted?”

“I don’t know. Maybe not.”

“I was impacted, and that was hell. They tore my flesh and pulled my tooth out.”

Ham Yoonah said she gets goosebumps just thinking about it and showed the goosebumps on her forearms. Yoon Suyoung stiffened his shoulders with a frightened look.

Ham Yoonah explained in detail the anesthesia process, the removal of the tooth, the cotton balls afterward, and when the anesthesia wore off. I didn’t want to listen to her, but I couldn’t help it. Although I wanted to block off Ham Yoonah’s mouth, I felt I would be more at ease to know in advance about what I would go through.

“Anyway, I hope yours isn’t impacted. That is really teroble.”

I had been listening to her with a grimace and then I picked up my phone and looked up impacted wisdom tooth. I got a bunch of pictures, and they were all terrible. 

“Hyung, hang in there.”

“Good luck.”

Indeed, I was one of the unlucky ones, but I at least had a healthy body. I believed this would be nothing as well.

I picked up my bag, said goodbye to them, and left. As I went to the dentist, I read the reviews on the internet. I had to know what happened so that I could get my heart ready.

I arrived at the dentist’s office on time for my appointment. There were a few people sitting in the room. 

[Did you get there?]

When I took out my phone because it rang, I saw a message from Yeon Woojeong. I felt somewhat relaxed as I saw that.

[Can you do well on your own? Should I go now?]

Even though it was just a bunch of letters, I could feel Yeon Woojeong’s teasing voice. I looked down at his message, and replied, ‘justdoyourwork.’

“Mr. Kim Jiho.”

“Yes.”

“Please come in.”

I put my phone in my pocket and walked into the clinic. I lay back in the chair, opened my mouth, and a round mirror came in. 

The doctor told me to get an x-ray and then we would talk. When I returned to the room after taking the x-ray, my teeth were displayed on the monitor. I could see a single wisdom tooth at an angle on top. 

“As you can see, this is pushing against the tooth next to it, right? If you leave it alone, it’ll keep tormenting you, so you’d better pull it out quickly. But it’s not deep, so it’ll be quick.”

“Yes.”

I got annoyed. It should have grown properly if it grew. Why did it grow like that? I relaxed my frown and lay back in the chair. A green cloth covered my face, and I heard a voice say that I would be put under anesthesia. 

The moment the needle pierced my gum, I remembered Yeon Woojeong’s message asking if I could do well alone. I thought I had a strong body, but this kind of pain was just eerie and I wasn’t used to it. Clenching my fists, I endured the time by reciting the English words I had to memorize today. 

The time, which was long and also short, finally ended. I bit down hard on the cotton ball. My cheeks and jaw numbed, and I tasted blood in my mouth. It didn’t hurt, but it was an uncomfortable experience in many ways.

“Avoid alcohol, tobacco, and spicy foods for at least a week. I’ll prescribe some pain medication for you to take, and a cold compress will help with the swelling.”

I nodded and went to the pharmacy with the prescription. I went home after getting some painkillers.

There was a message when I checked on my phone. As I replied that I was home to the question asking if it had ended, my phone rang shortly after.

—Did you do well?

“Mhm.”

—Is it hurt?

“No.”

—You’re a baby now. Babbling like that.

I was biting the cotton ball, so it wasn’t easy to answer. Yeon Woojeong wasn’t in front of me, but I glared ahead.

—It’s better to eat porridge or something, right? I’ll buy it. Rest well.

“Mhm.”

—Good job.

The last words completely melted away the irritation that had built up throughout the treatment. After I hung up the phone, I pulled the book out of my bag. I kept checking my watch the whole time while doing the homework I didn’t get done in the self-studying time today. Two hours were long. I held onto the question book, and when the time was up, I spit out the cotton ball and rinsed my mouth. 

It felt somewhat strange. Touching my cheek, I sat back and picked up my pencil. After about an hour, the throbbing pain started. After taking the painkillers, I went to the bathroom and checked myself in the mirror. It looked a little swollen. 

I took some ice cubes out of the freezer, put them in a bag, then wrapped them in a towel and put it on my cheeks. The pain felt a little better, but the throbbing sensation would return whenever I was able to forget about it. 

I wondered when the medication would take effect. I got up as I couldn’t concentrate anymore, standing blankly in the living room, then I went to Yeon Woojeong’s room and lay on his bed because my gum started to hurt more and more. After putting the ice compress on my cheek, I curled up to the side.

It was quiet in the home. The stillness seemed to make the pain worse. I hated myself for whining about this. Feeling weak was the last thing I wanted to experience.

Still, there is a certain end to this pain. I could endure it as I thought so. And at the end of this, Yeon Woojeong would come back with porridge. I was the only one who was sick, but just knowing that I wasn’t going through it alone made me feel better. 

I blinked heavily. In an effort to forget the unfamiliar pain, I tried to think of various English words, but eventually, I thought about Yeon Woojeong. It’s already past his time to go home. Is he on the way? I can’t wait for him to get here. I had been thinking like that, and I could hear him open the door.

I felt like all the pain that had been tormenting me melted away at once. I needed to get up and welcome him, but somehow, it felt hard to do that.