Top Secret

Part 1 ending, “Who’s next?”

Sieon was saying to start the game again, which had been interrupted by the girls’ arrival. The fact that he was still hurt seemed not to register in his mind.

“It’s me.”

When Jaeyoon raised his hand cautiously, Sieon’s eyes grew grim. As if he was displeased at the way he sipped on his cola or something, Sieon kept glaring at Jaeyoon the whole time. But what could he do about it when he couldn’t take alcohol? Not even daring to look him in the eyes, Jaeyoon threw the question at him in a tiny voice.

“Buddhist culture in the Goryeo Dynasty?”1

Sieon emptied his glass, pretending he hadn’t heard. It has been like that from the start. The ones who had deliberately posed difficult and tricky questions like the elements of the periodic table, the chronological table2, the Seven Warring States etc., also shut their mouths at the simple question that Jaeyoon asked. Jaeyoon was obviously upset, because he ignored the Coke as if he didn’t want to drink something like that. After emptying the glass, Sieon sprang to his feet. He’d drunk so much that he had to lean against the wall and looked around a few times before he went up to Yoonjae’s room on the second floor. Even after drinking to that extent, there was no hesitation or stumbling in his steps. It was a losing game from the start. Yoonjae and Jinwook, who had somehow sobered up, breathed a loud sigh. Donghyun was already sound asleep.

“So awful. He still remembers the periodic table of elements.”

“How did you survive having such a cousin?”

Youngsoo opened his eyes furtively and said in a cracked voice.

“I gave up.”

“What’s with coming here today, of all the days? Urgh….”

“I couldn’t even make eye contact with the girls. Did you see how they sent hearts to that hyung as soon as they came?”

Everybody sighed yet again. They’d tasted the cup of crushing defeat in appearance and yielded to the character which was on par with his looks. Even Jinwook, who was popular for his neat appearance, couldn’t raise his head. The despairing examinees lost all self-control, raised the bottles of liquor and began to drink.

“By the way, why did he get so angry?”

“His name is Sieon. For to react like that when asked.”

Youngsoo doubted. Maybe it was because they didn’t know.

“It’s the curse of my (maternal) aunt’s couple.”

Yoonjae lowered his voice. The examinees naturally gathered around him.

“?”

“My aunt is Jeong Jeonga. Uncle is Park Jeongshik.”

“?”

Everyone pricked up their ears and paid attention.

“In the name of gender equality, as my aunt insisted on using both names fairly and not just following the man’s last name, hyung’s name is Park Jeong Sieon.”

“Ehh?”

“The meaning changes with the order, so it was funny.3 -You know what it’s like in elementary school. While they made fun of his name, he also got a lot of nicknames”

Then Jeong Park… Jeong Park-ah.4 Set off by someone’s laughter, everyone started to giggle one by one.

“He’s always been like that, but that’s what really set his nature off.”

Lamenting the atmosphere in which they died one by one and the girls had left, they were giggling overjoyed as if they knew some great secret about the unexpected intruder – whom they all perceived as such – quietly so as not to be heard upstairs. Jaeyoon, who had been drinking only cola since the beginning, looked down at those friends of his forlornly, and agonized over how they would clean all of this up. After all, the aftermath would come down on him. Then he heard footsteps from upstairs.

“He dares to touch what’s mine? Is that bastard really out of his mind?”

Seemingly talking on the phone resting on his shoulder, he put on his overcoat as he came down, irritated by the caller on the other end.

“I’m coming right away. Tell him not to move a muscle. If he moves from there even a bit- Hey, kid, get me something to drink.” 

At the urging of ‘Quickly!’, Jaeyoon, who was a little dazed by Sieon’s words over the phone,  ran over and handed him the cup of cola he’d been holding. When he received it, Sieon downed it in a flash, then shouted at the caller again and hung up. Relieved to see him standing at the front door and thinking he was going to leave, Jaeyoon was startled when Sieon suddenly collapsed with a plonk. Blood was seeping from his right hand, the one he’d broken the soju bottle with.

“Are you alright?”5

He asked in a worried voice. He didn’t know if it was because he’d drunk five bottles in a row that he was suddenly overcome by drunkenness. As Jaeyoon approached and helped him up from the floor, a strong liquor scent could be smelled from the staggering Sieon. The living room was already littered with drunkards, so the alcohol smell wasn’t enough to make him frown. Jaeyoon was rather puzzled because it seemed like perfume to him.

“Excuse me, be careful.”

“Yes.”6

“!!-“

It was a gentle voice. Although it was low and dry, Jaeyoon tripped slightly because there was something tender about it.

“You are bleeding through your bandage. Shouldn’t you go to the hospital?”

The man grinned at the worried Jaeyoon. Seeing the smile, Jaeyoon thought his heart would drop with a thump. That face, with its stiff frown, looked like it could melt away any moment now and turn gentle, laughing even.

“Will you be okay by yourself? I need to clean up here a little and help my friends.”

“I will do it.”

The man walked with big strides, picked the scattered drunkards one by one and carried them into the master bedroom. Jaeyoon followed and took out a blanket. Still, Jaeyoon thought the rumours came with a lot of exaggeration, seeing as how he was kind enough to personally cover up his school juniors. As he even went to clean the littered scraps of food in the living room and picked it up, Jaeyoon ran to stop him. He was worried that he might get something on his luxurious-looking coat.

“Just leave it be. I will do it. You should quickly go to the emergency room at least.”

“It’s okay.”

When his eyes slanted into big slits and smiled, Jayeoon wondered if his heart had gone crazy again.

“Be careful on your way.”

His mother said, carefully handing over the hot, steaming pot. After hearing the story from her son when he returned early in the morning, with a look of ‘who can stop you’ on her face, she didn’t say anything and simply gave him honey and bean sprout soup.

“Study even more from tomorrow onwards.”

She didn’t forget to remind him as the true parent of an examinee.

“Yes.”

Thanking his mother for making the hangover soup without any complaints at his sudden request, Jaeyoon carefully held the hot pot and opened the front door.

The house was quiet. It seemed like nobody had woken up yet. Jaeyoon smiled softly at the occasional groans coming from the bedroom. He went into the kitchen first, set the pot on the stove and looked at his watch. It seemed he’d have to wake the guys up before going to the study/reading room.7

Having finished preparing for the guys’ whining of stomachache once they woke up, Jaeyoon popped his head into the living room. The man he’d cleaned the living room all night with had been sitting on the sofa, asleep. He was the sort of man who had a habit of sleeping quietly after downing five bottles. As expected, Jaeyoon thought, rumors couldn’t be trusted. He’d covered the sleeping man with a blanket.

When he recalled the other’s fatal smile, Jaeyoon’s heart slightly trembled. Although he’d thought that face was like a sculpture’s the moment he’d come through the front door, his whole impression of the person changed with those slanted eyes and those curled up lips. The man’s face was newly imprinted in his mind.

However, when he nervously came out into an empty living room, there were no shoes by the front entrance. He had been sleeping there when Jaeyoon had left home to get the soup, but it seemed like he’d left at some point. Realizing he was feeling disappointed, Jaeyoon slapped himself on the cheek.

4444.

Seeing the number on his phone screen, Jaeyoon stopped in his tracks and tilted his head. Because you need to either set your phone on vibrate or turn it off in school, the phone comes alive only for the short bit while you’re headed to the study room. There also wouldn’t be anyone who called, except family. Since all of his friends were at school, and his other friends attending different schools were also test-takers, Jaeyoon’s phone was basically unused, save for looking at the time or urgent matters. But an unlucky number like 4444 appeared.8 And 3 times at that. It may be some useless advertisement or a strange phone call, but as he was about to press the button and call back, the phone vibrated.

“Hello.”

[It’s me.]

It’s me, out of the blue?

“Excuse me?”

[At 5 o’clock, come running like an arrow in the direction of the convenience store.]

“Excuse me? He… Hello?”

After only speaking their business briefly, the person on the other end hung up. It was an oddly familiar voice. Although no specific person came to mind, Jaeyoon tilted his head and folded his phone.

“I’ll pass on the study room today. I’d rather just go and sleep.” 

Youngsoo grabbed his stomach and groaned. Yesterday’s rest hadn’t been enough, and throughout the lesson his face looked haggard, like a chick who’s been medicated.

“Whoa- What if I’ve bet everything on the 100 days, and now won’t be able to go to college, huh?”

Youngsoo suddenly fell flat on his face and shrieked. Although he’d bet everything on the one hundred days, he was slightly giddy that whole day, but pretended not to know anything.

“This is all your cousin’s fault! Why did he come?!! Why did he break the bottle?!! Was he showing off his strength?!!!”

Knowing that it was useless being angry now after not even being able to make a noise in front of the person concerned, he wrongly took his anger out on Yoonjae. As expected though, Yoonjae wasn’t in the mood to put up with it. He, as much as Youngsoo, was absent-minded all day. No, all the members of the group who’d been there that day spent the important D-Day -99 as if their brains were blank. 

After sending Jihye home the day before, Yoonjae was on his way to meet her for the first time since, his steps very heavy. He’d kept staring at the screen ever since he’d gotten Jihye’s clear message. His expression seemed difficult. Jaeyoon stealthily asked.

“Jihye, was she very hurt?”

“No, that’s not it, but it’s embarrassing.”

The more he thought about Yoonjae, who replied bashfully, the more he wondered if his anger would rise, scratching his head. Yoonjae’s face looked like a rotten apple after he got grilled by his parents, who’d returned yesterday evening. It wasn’t enough that his cousin ruined the 100th day and his relationship with his girlfriend took a hit, he even had to snitch to his parents. He’d knelt down all night listening to their nagging, so he was making up for his lack of sleep at school. Yoonjae’s dishevelled appearance was a few light years away from his usual neat one. While patting Yoonjae’s back out of pity, Youngsoo kept kicking the school gate. Six years before, not only was Sieon late for the entrance ceremony, but he also rammed a car into the school gate; this was the place where his legend began. So much so that it wasn’t even a problem that he was a 17-year-old driving a car at the time – rather as if one couldn’t think of something like this – It was a wonderful incident. The middle bars of the school gate were dented even now. Only then did Jaeyoon come to his senses. That voice.

“Hey, where are you going!!!”

Yoonjae called out, but Jaeyoon only raised his hand and ran. Behind the school, there was a very svelte and good-looking car parked in front of the convenience store. If Youngsoo saw it, he could say what make and model it was and from which year but, unfortunately, Jaeyoon was weak with car models and things like that. Still, it seemed like a good car just from looking. To find the man, Jaeyoon looked around the inside of the convenience store. Bang-bang; Jaeyoon turned around at the sound of the car horn, widening his eyes at the sight of the man’s face that appeared behind the tinted car windows. At the sight of him who looked ice cold from head to toe, Jaeyoon started to feel as nervous as he had been that night. It seemed like it took a whole year before he got in front of the car door.

“Get in.”

Jaeyoon paused and bowed politely.

“Hello.”

“To hell with hello, get in.”

After simply being ignored, Jaeyoon, who was embarrassed, decided to get in the car first and opened the door.

“Ah, Yoonjae was with me too-“

“Shut up.”

Gulp. The moment Jaeyoon got in, Sieon took off in a hurry. Jaeyoon who was taken aback not knowing he’d start the car, tried to pull on the seat belt but it wasn’t as easy as he’d thought, so he struggled pulling on it a few more times. The man, who didn’t even think about such a thing, drove at a high speed between the cars without batting an eye and speaking nothing. At the cold and hardened face, Jaeyoon was very tense and regretted not bringing Yoonjae along. He couldn’t understand himself, who’d just run as if he lost his soul. The place where the car stopped after a long ride was a secluded lot. He rubbed his stiff shoulders because he couldn’t fasten his seatbelt all the way here, and followed the man out of the car. He felt somewhat uneasy not seeing even an a dog pass by.9

“What’re you cooking up10?”

The man who took out a cigarette and smoked at a terrifying speed as soon as he got off, opened his mouth after a long while. Although his voice sounded rough as if he couldn’t sleep for the whole night, strangely it wasn’t unpleasant to listen to. His gaze went from Jaeyoon’s face to his nape and stayed there for quite a while. Jaeyoon swallowed his saliva from tension.

“Did somebody bribe you?”

“Eh?”

When Jaeyoon let out vain sound to the random question, his face darkened in one breath. Jaeyoon hastened to shut his mouth.

“You made me drunk and put me to work, did that make you feel real better?”

He took a leather glove out of his pocket and pulled it over his fingers? Crack! Until he heard the scary sound, Jaeyoon was thinking blanky, ‘such long fingers”.

“Fess up before I count to three.”

“With what?”

“You made me drunk!!!”

As if annoyed, the man grabbed Jaeyoon by the collar. Jaeyoon was taken aback by the behaviour of the approaching man, but he thought calmly. He quickly realized that the other was talking about the day before yesterday. However, Jaeyoon couldn’t understand any more. It was him who had opened the bottles and drunk the alcohol. Moreover, he’d even pressured his friends to drink. Jaeyoon neither sat close to him nor had he handed him drinks. If there had been a problem with the alcohol there, there was no reason to only call Jaeyoon and receive such threats.

“Did you like how I obediently did as I was told?”

The man was smiling but it was somehow terrifying.

‘As was told?’

Repeating his words, Jaeyoon tried recalling the memories of the weekend.

[Don’t clean it. I will do it.]

[…….]

[Excuse me, then please collect the empty bottles and put them outside.]

The man’s work handling was extremely fast.

[Excuse me, could you also move this? I’ll wash the rag.]

[Give me your hand, I’ll bandage it again. Make sure you go to the hospital later.]

[It’s been all cleaned up, so get some sleep. Should I get you a blanket?]

“…….”

It seemed like he had made him do this and that. However, he was the one who kindly did everything. Even if he said he didn’t like it, there was no one who cared. Jaeyoon was a bit dumbfounded by such a ludicrous attitude now. Is it possible he becomes gentles if he drinks? And does everything he’s told? Come to think of it, the weekend’s behaviour was 180 degrees different to the atmosphere he’d shown before that, and what he had heard he usually did. Shocked by his friendly smiling face, Jaeyoon, not being able to think of anything else, concluded that when the man grinding his teeth in front of him drinks alcohol, he becomes more gentle than anyone else in the world. For some people the film11 gets cut off, but if he dragged him here and is even giving him such a ridiculous grilling, he must remember everything.

“How dare you make me drink that?”

He felt wronged. He, himself, was drinking! The moment Jaeyoon opened his mouth, thinking he couldn’t be beaten like this, the man’s big hand strangled him.

“Ark!”

TN:

1) Goryeo Dynasty – Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a ‘true national unification’ by Korean historians as it not only unified the Later Three Kingdoms but also incorporated much of the ruling class of the northern kingdom of Balhae, who had origins in Goguryeo of the earlier Three Kingdoms of Korea. The name ‘Korea’ is derived from the name of Goryeo, also spelled Koryŏ, which was first used in the early 5th century by Goguryeo. (wikipedia link)

2) the chronological table – 연대표: Probably refers to either the timeline of history, or order of the kings of Korea

3) The meaning changes with the order, so it was funny. – Park Jeong (박정) can mean ‘heartless/unkind/cruel etc.’ and Jeong Park (정박) can mean ‘anchor/berth/moor’

4) Jeong Park-ah – ‘-ah’ is basically just a suffix attatched to names to indicate closeness or familiarity with the person you are addressing. Some call this an ‘affectionate’ (noun), 정박아 – imbecile

5) Are you alright? – He’s using a extremely repectful tone the whole conversation, and pretty much all the time with Sieon.

6) Yes. – Sieon is also being respectful for the whole duration of this conversation, only.

7) study/reading room – A place exlusive for studying which is usually open 24/7, it’s also paid, a few examples:

8) But an unlucky number like 4444 appeared. – The number 4 is a symbol of bad luck. In elevators, the letter F indicates the fourth floor instead of the number 4. The pronunciation of the number 4 sounds similar to the word ‘死’ which means death in Chinese characters. In China and Japan, the number 4 is also associated with misfortune or death.

9) a dog pass by – idiom, ‘not seeing even an ant pass by’

10) cooking up – plotting/hidden intention/ulterior motive

11) film – memory

(Still looking for TLC if you’re interested ^^)

Sorry it took longer this time but it was a hard part to TLC and figure some words/sentences, hope you enjoyed it and Happy New Year~~!!