A Father's Summons

This was exactly the sort of case where you threw the punch but had no way to handle the fallout.

…Damn it…. I should have held back. What if Shin Cha-heon suddenly comes back later?

Cha-heon tapped his forehead hard. Even if he could endure it himself, what if Shin Cha-heon just poofed back into this body right now? Then the real Shin Cha-heon would have to take every last scrap of that foul-tempered Shin Jae-heon’s rage.

…Fine. Just until I’m an adult—no, I already repeated a year… anyway, until I graduate and get out of that house, I’ll tough it out here somehow.

Once he graduated he could survive in the real world one way or another.

Going home right now was out of the question, and with only one friend to his name, Cha-heon had exactly one option left.

Kang I-hyeon sounded a little surprised when he picked up, but he rattled off his address without hesitation and let him in the moment he arrived.

“You’re I-hyeon’s friend?”

Even at this late hour I-hyeon’s mother welcomed him with warm, unflustered kindness. Cha-heon bowed politely at the waist.

“Hello, I-hyeon’s mother. My name is Shin Cha-heon.”

“Oh my, how on earth does our I-hyeon have such a handsome friend? Or rather—is it more surprising that he has friends at all?”

“Ah, Mom.”

“You’ve never once brought a friend home. Cha-heon, thank you for playing with our I-hyeon.”

I-hyeon tried to stop her, but she only laughed hohoho and shoved her son behind her. She looked genuinely delighted that a friend of I-hyeon’s had finally shown up. Watching the two of them bicker, Cha-heon smiled faintly and bowed again.

“Not at all. I’m the one who’s been leaning on I-hyeon. More importantly, I can’t believe he never bragged about how beautiful his mother is.”

“Hey, Shin Cha-heon!”

“Oh my…. Hohoho. What would you like to eat, dear?”

“I’ll eat anything, ma’am.”

Once they reached the second floor and I-hyeon’s room, Cha-heon glanced around and thought that, for a guy, he kept the place surprisingly neat.

“Dude, is your lip service broken or what?”

“Huh? I meant it.”

“……?”

This was the exact moment Kang I-hyeon should have realized something was deeply wrong.

“Hey. My dad’s still alive.”

“It’s wonderful if both parents are healthy.”

At least his friend wasn’t actually after his mother—but his tastes were clearly warped in a whole different direction.

Riiing—

A short, insistent ringtone kept chirping from the phone.

…Shin Cha-heon’s father.

Cha-heon picked it up, hesitated a beat over whether to answer, then asked I-hyeon for a moment, stepped out of the room, and pressed accept.

“Ah, I was just about to tell you…. I’m planning to sleep over at a friend’s tonight,”

The icy voice sliced straight through Cha-heon’s explanation.

He hadn’t spoken with Shin Chae-il all that often, but this level of interference was brand new; Cha-heon felt a flicker of genuine bewilderment. He steadied himself and answered.

“…I’ve already agreed to stay over.”

“…….”

He wasn’t wrong…, yet simply obeying left a bitter taste. Honestly, it was hard to believe Shin Chae-il had no idea how he was being treated at home. Wasn’t this just neglect?

…Still, running to Father and spilling every last detail of Jae-heon’s bullying felt a little,

“But hyung Jae-heon isn’t going to leave me alone if I go back.”

He ought to say it.

Where do you get off shooting your mouth off like that?

Cha-heon decided then and there to report every single thing to the parent without leaving out a crumb—if only for the Shin Cha-heon who might one day return.

“On the way home earlier hyung told me to lower my eyes and we got into a fight. I already took one hit, and if I go home he’ll just hit me more—I’m scared. How am I supposed to go back?”

Having snitched on even the tiniest detail, Cha-heon quietly switched the phone to silent and shoved it into his pocket.

“…What was that?”

The second he walked back into the room, Kang I-hyeon asked the question in that casually serious way of his. His expression was oddly grave as he studied Cha-heon’s face.

“Huh?”

“…That split lip. Hyung hit you?”

“Ah, brothers fist-fight all the time. I was being a smartass and got clocked.”

I-hyeon looked genuinely worried about domestic violence, so Cha-heon added the excuse almost automatically. Everything he’d seen of Kang I-hyeon so far said the guy had been raised with rock-solid family values.

“…That so? I figured something else.”

“Why?”

“Thought a skinny weakling like you was just getting pushed around.”

“…I’m better at fighting than I look, you know?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Kang I-hyeon smirked and shrugged. Even knowing it was a lie, that “let’s pretend” attitude still stung his pride.

Well…. With that build.

I-hyeon hadn’t become captain of the Kendo Club for nothing; he looked well over 180 cm and packed solid muscle. With that open, athletic face he was the textbook specimen of a sports-type guy.

“Holy shit, Shin Cha-heon—hey, there, there, aaah! Why the hell are you grabbing me?!”

Without any real discussion of what to do, Kang I-hyeon simply produced two controllers and suggested a co-op game like it was the most natural thing in the world. It seemed to be one of those titles where two weird little clay blobs worked together to clear quests and move to the next stage—except Cha-heon immediately grabbed I-hyeon’s character and sent them both tumbling. Watching the pair roll end-over-end into the valley below, Cha-heon let out an impressed whistle.

“Whoa, this is hard….”

“You realize being this bad is its own kind of talent, right?”

“Hmm…. Never had a console at home, so I never played.”

“Ah, yeah…. Strict households exist, I guess.”

I-hyeon, who had been yelling only a second ago, suddenly turned solemn and dropped his voice.

…Looks like he feels a little bad….

…In reality it hadn’t been strictness so much as a complete lack of money to spend. Shin Cha-heon’s family was loaded, of course. Either way, saying anything would only make Kang I-hyeon more awkward.

The same I-hyeon who had been half-scolding him earlier now watched Cha-heon marvel at every little thing and started coaching him in earnest from the side.

“Hey, try pressing X on that.”

“This?”

“That’s a different button. This one.”

In the end I-hyeon scooted right up beside the gaming novice, wrapped an arm around him, took Cha-heon’s hand, and guided his fingers over each button one by one.

When Cha-heon turned his head a fraction, I-hyeon arched one eyebrow.

That big frame of the Kendo Club captain and those cleanly handsome features filled his vision up close; Cha-heon blinked.

…The more I look, the better this kid is.

Even temperament, height, looks—nothing missing in a friend. It was a ridiculous thought, but if this guy had been around a year later he might have been a male-lead candidate himself.

Cha-heon smiled contentedly at him.

“What? Why are you staring like that?”

“I-hyeon, you’re good at kendo, good at games…. I was just thinking you’re good at everything.”

“…Except studying, right?”

The sudden pivot to academics made Cha-heon tilt his head.

“No. Studying well is great, but if you pour yourself into something else, lower grades are only natural. Unless you’re a genius.”

“…….”

“What?”

“…Nah. Hearing that from someone like you just hits different. You know how it is. Our school’s private, so the teachers straight-up ignore the sports clubs if your grades suck. And my mom never takes my side on that either.”

I-hyeon grumbled; Cha-heon huffed a quiet laugh. Clearly the kid had heard the lecture so many times he flinched in advance, yet from where Cha-heon stood I-hyeon looked like a genuinely solid student.

“Don’t let it get to you. Teachers can be rigid…. And your mother is like that because you’re her son and she treasures you. She just wants your life to be a little less hard, so from her own experience she treats academics as the most important thing. It’s not that she doesn’t trust you.”

“…….”

“Unfortunately in this country, no matter how good you are at sports, unless you make the national team you’re just written off as a flashy jock with no brains. She’s probably worried about exactly that.”

I-hyeon’s brow furrowed while he listened in silence. He seemed to turn the words over carefully; then his eyes flew wide as if something had clicked.

“…Hey, you….”

“Huh?”

“The way you talk is exactly like my uncle.”

“Is that so.”

“…Weird guy.”

Kang I-hyeon muttered it, sat down right beside him, and went straight back to patiently teaching the game.

They were completely absorbed when the door suddenly burst open.

“Eek—Mom, I only played one round—”

“Gaming again! …No—wait. …Cha-heon, your father has come to pick you up.”

I-hyeon’s mother had started scolding her son on pure reflex, then turned to Cha-heon with a worried look. The words “your father has come to pick you up” left Cha-heon so startled he could only blink.

How did he even find this place?

Half-hoping it was a mistake, he went downstairs—and sure enough, a black sedan sat parked in front of the house, and standing by the open door was Shin Chae-il. Even at this hour he wore a perfectly pressed suit; his tall, broad frame made him look like a middle-aged model stepped out of a magazine.

“…Father?”

Shin Chae-il flicked an expressionless glance at Kang I-hyeon trailing behind, then fixed his eyes on Cha-heon.

“Shin Cha-heon.”

“…Yes?”

“Get in.”

“…….”

Cha-heon swallowed under the strange pressure and looked toward the passenger seat. Shin Chae-il always traveled with a driver, yet tonight he was alone. The hour was late; the chauffeur had probably gone home and Chae-il had driven himself.

…Shin Chae-il.

He had paid attention to Shin Cha-heon on the very first day and then vanished without a word. He was so busy he rarely even came home—yet the moment an overnight stay was mentioned he had personally come to collect him. Maybe he really had been too swamped with work to look after things before.

What is this about?

After that first day there had been no more rides home, and even when he was in the house he ate alone and shut himself in his room. No one had come looking for him. The housekeeper prepared Shin Cha-heon’s meals separately, so apparently that had always been the arrangement.

…Why go out of his way to pick me up?

Cha-heon’s eyes flicked briefly. Both I-hyeon and his mother stood in the doorway looking thoroughly unsettled. He couldn’t make the whole household uncomfortable for nothing, so he quietly decided to follow Chae-il and started walking.

“Cha-heon was going to stay at our house tonight—”

Sensing the odd atmosphere, I-hyeon’s mother began to speak, but Cha-heon hurriedly stepped in front of her.

“Mother!”

“Cha-heon.”

“I’ve already imposed enough. The cookies you made were delicious. I’ll come visit again. I-hyeon, see you at school tomorrow.”

…He couldn’t take even more from people who had been ready to feed him and put him up for the night.

He finished with a deep bow. When he lifted his head, Kang I-hyeon was staring at him with a serious expression and looked ready to step forward, but Cha-heon gave a firm shake of his head.

Shin Chae-il put Cha-heon in the passenger seat, offered I-hyeon’s mother only the briefest of nods, and climbed into the driver’s seat. After that the silent drive began. Inside the car’s choking quiet, Cha-heon found himself watching Shin Chae-il’s face for no good reason at all.