"Such a kid!" Jeong-Hyuk takes off his coat. "Getting pranked on the second day of university…"
"Hyung, you are back." Sitting on the couch, Boo Bong-Su takes a bite of a fried chicken leg. "Where did you go to?"
"Don't talk with a stuffed mouth." Jeong-Hyuk glares at him. "Clean up after you are done eating."
"Hyung, are you in menopause phase?" Boo Bong-Su makes a face at him. "You are cranky these days."
"Do you want to die?" Sin Jeong-Hyuk snaps.
"I just want to eat food in peace." Boo Bong-Su turns his head toward the television. He points at the screen. "Oh Ji-Ye won another award."
Sin Jeong-Hyuk stares at the woman smiling brightly as she accepts the award for best song of the year on the screen. He takes his coat and walks out of the house. The snow crushes under his feet as he walks away. He doesn't know where he's going or how long he can continue to walk. Although it's pointless, he will continue to walk tonight and regret later.
On the road ahead of him, he sees a car coming toward him. He wouldn't have noticed it if it hasn't been slowing down, eventually coming to a halt near him. Namgung Yeon-Sik puts his head out of the window of the car. "Jeong-Hyuk, where are you headed to?"
Who knows? At this point in his life, having no destination feels like both a curse and a blessing. However, there are things that one can never say out loud because it's pointless to say them. He can continue to complain. Some people would listen to him while others would ignore him. In the end, he would be left with himself.
"I was just taking a walk," Sin Jeong-Hyuk tells him. The duckling is in the car. When he looks at her, she turns her head away to avoid his eyes. This kid doesn't like him for sure. She's not the first one and she won't be the last one.
"It's going to snow tonight." Namgung Yeon-Sik gestures him to get inside the car. "Get in. You will catch a cold."
He glances at the duckling. Drunk people either speak utter crap or utter truth. It's the sober people who are conscious enough to make a lie. But a girl like her can't lie to save her life. This is it then. Jeong-Hyuk gets into the back seat. He pokes the girl's cheek, just like the way she poked him when she was drunk. "Chicken, not feeling like flying today?"
She grabs his finger and frowns at him. "Old Mister, I am not a chicken."
"Duckling, then?" Jeong-Hyuk pokes her cheek again. "You don't have any facial hair at all. What do we do? Your skin is soft as cotton."
"Old Mister." She glares at him. "If you touch my face one more time, you are going to regret it."
"Oh, Chicken is angry." He looks at the bug bite on her lips and chuckles. Did nobody ask her about it? He presses his finger on her small nose. "Do you still not remember the bed bug?"
Fuming, Chang Seol leans closer and bites his nose.
"Crazy chicken, let go of it, "
Jeong-Hyuk shrieks in pain. Instead, she bites harder until blood fills her mouth, looking at him with furious eyes.
The car comes to stop. Namgung Yeon-Sik watches the scene, astonished. He gathers his wits when Jeong-Hyuk's shouts his name. "Seol Ah, let go. It's not hygienic."
When she realizes that someone else is in the car, she releases the nose.
Her mouth is full of his blood. She bows to Yeon-Sik apologetically before rushing out of the car and running to a tree to throw up the blood.
Covering his nose tightly to stop the blood, Jeong-Hyuk looks at his friend with disbelief. "Hygiene?"
"Well, my friend, even a rabbit bites if it's corned." Yeon-Sik laughs at him when he sees the scared look on Jeong-Hyuk's face. "Or poked."
"Eun Bi will break up with you if she sees this heartless side of you." Jeong-Hyuk scowls.
"That's why I never show it to her," Yeon-Sik mumbles, picking up a water bottle.
***
She spits out the blood on the tree. Disgusted. The taste of his blood is still in her mouth. "Ugh!"
"Here." Yeon-Sik gives her the water bottle. "Wash your mouth."
"Professor, I am sorry," She says to him meekly. What will he think about her? She's not a wild human or anything. That Old Mister keeps getting on her nerves. "I am very sorry."
He smiles at her. "Should you apologize to me? It's not my nose that got bitten."
"Ah…yes." She scratches the back of her head. She shouldn't have done that. She walks back to the car with Yeon-Sik. Jeong-Hyuk's cowers to the corner of the seat when he sees her.
"I am sorry." She glances at him.
"Your apology can't cut it." Jeong-Hyuk points at her with a trembling finger. This chicken can bite. "Are you going to take responsibility if it leaves a scar?"
"Are you a woman?" She raises her brow and asks him with a detached voice, "Why do you care whether it leaves a scar or not? It's not like you earn with your face."
"Hey, are you being a sexist?" Jeong-Hyuk may not care about his appearance but this chicken's words are stabbing where it hurts. "What if women run away from me because of this scar?"
She looks toward the window and mutters under her breath, "He's sure that they don't run away from him now."
"Chicken!!!"
"We reached home." Namgung Yeon-Sik stops the car in front of the share-house. "Seol Ah, go home. I will take him to the hospital."
"I don't want to go to the hospital." Jeong-Hyuk rushes out of the car. He takes a few steps. Then, he turns around and points at Chang Seol. "Chicken, since you did this to me, you are going to treat it."
"Sure, why not." She shrugs. She did draw blood first.
"You are going to take care of my breakfast and dinner from now on," He yells at her again. "Or I will sue you for assault."
"Old Mister, you keep calling me a kid, but you want to sue me for assault." She walks past him in rage. "Go ahead and sue me."
Namgung Yeon-Sik shakes his head and goes into the share-house.
"Fine." Jeong-Hyuk doesn't push her this time. He puts his hands on her shoulders and leans closer to her ear. "If you tell me who voiceless identity is, I will let this go."
Her body becomes stiff. She doesn't dare to look at him lest he finds out that she's lying. "Old Mister, I already told you that I don't know who she is."
"Kiddo." He pinches her cheeks. "When you lie, your voice tremble. Your gaze becomes shifty. You touch your ear or fumble with your clothes. You don't look straight into someone's eyes. I am way older than you are. It's useless to lie to me."
Chang Seol stares at him. "She's dead."
This kid is something.
"You told me that you didn't know her." Jeong-Hyuk folds his arms. The bridge of his nose is stinging with pain. "Now, you are telling me that she's dead."
"You are not going to believe me anyway." She is ashamed to see the teeth marks. "I am sorry about the nose. You should go to the hospital. I will pay for the treatment."
The chicken is watching him with round eyes filled with guilt and shame. She regrets what she did. He can't stay mad at her. However, he cannot let go of this. He must find out who voiceless identity is. What should he do? The girl is stubborn.
Just then, Chang Seol's phone rings. She picks up the call. "Sunbae, I am here -- Are you coming back -- I am sorry. I forgot to call back -- see you then."
Jeong-Hyuk smirks. When she hangs up the call, he snatches her phone. "Chicken, did you talk to your father today?"
"Old Mister!" Chang Seol reaches for the phone. "Give it back to me."
He lifts the phone high, out of her reach. "He doesn't know where you are. I wonder if I should tell him that you are in Z city. I should send him the address of this share-house."
"Don't do that," Chang Seol yells at him, panicking. If her father finds out that it was all a lie, he's going to take her back home and send her to that man's house.
He scrolls through the contact list and finds the one he's looking for. He presses the number. "So, do you know who Voiceless Identity is or not?"
"Yes, I know," She utters with shaking voice. "Old Mister, I can't tell you who she is. Try to understand my situation."
"What kind of situation is it?" He asks her quietly.
[Seol-ah]
It's her mother's voice. She lets out a sigh of relief.
"It's me, Sin Jeong-Hyuk." He has noticed that her face is regaining her colour. He's going to say a few polite words and end the call. "Mrs Chang, I..."
[Son-in-law, I heard about you from her father. When are you bringing Seol-ah home?]
He gawks at Seol's face who is looking at the phone with widened eyes.
What did he just hear? Is there some kind of misunderstanding?
[Is she eating well? She hasn't been picking up my calls. She never told me about you -- that child keeps everything in her heart. She should have told me about you.]
Seol whispers to him, "Hang up."
"You do it." He gives the phone to her. Son in law? She has a lot to explain to him.
She ends the call and sighs. "Old Mister, you should not do things like this. Do you want to give me a heart attack?"
"You should explain to me how did I become your mother's son-in-law." He folds his arms and squints his eyes. "Are you really married?"