Runway Chapter 1

Woong— when a loud noise comes, I look up at the sky. Then usually an airplane or helicopter passes overhead.

The deep blue sky is the only sea you can see even in the city. The clouds drifting across it like sailboats were nothing more than a device that made the sky even more beautiful.

I’ve never been to a high place. I’ve never even touched the sky. At most, the rooftop of the four-story building I’m sitting my ass on right now is all there is.

Forget riding an airplane—I don’t even have a passport, and I’ve never once set foot on even the common Jeju Island.

Actually, I’ve never even been on a proper trip. And yet I like the sky. It’s a shallow greed for someone who’s never even been.

Maybe it’s the opposite. Maybe I like it more because I’ve never been, maybe I’m dreaming of the sky.

I swallowed the thoughts that were hard to bring out of my mouth. That’s what being seventeen was like. It didn’t matter what I thought, but it was a tiresome age where I had to swallow everything because I didn’t want to be looked down on.

“You’re looking at the sky again.”

I turned my head at the voice I heard. When did he come onto the rooftop. I hadn’t even felt a presence.

The one who spoke to me in an indifferent tone was Lee Wookchan. He came toward me with his hands shoved in his pockets and a menacing look on his face.

An abandoned building. A four-story building with just a supermarket on the first floor and a karaoke room in the basement—the rooftop here was rented out by unwelcome guests. That’s me. And Lee Wookchan. And Lee Wookchan’s lackeys.

“…”

I looked up at the sky again without replying. The noise that had been tickling my earlobes and digging in was no longer there.

I turn my gaze back to the helicopter disappearing far away. Lee Wookchan comes closer and sits down next to me.

On an office desk someone must have abandoned. I grabbed the railing of the desk. Because I was afraid it would break with the huge Lee Wookchan sitting on it.

“You’re ignoring me, huh.”

Lee Wookchan raised his hand and pulled my earlobe.

“Hey—.”

When I made a sound, he giggled and withdrew his hand. He’s no different from a delinquent bastard. Actually, he is a delinquent. But he’s still my one and only friend.

Lee Wookchan and I have known each other since elementary school. It can’t be anything but a childish relationship. My house was like that too, but Lee Wookchan’s house was also dirt poor.

From the time Lee Wookchan was in elementary school, his older brother made a habit of running away and eventually left for good, and his older sister is an ex-juvenile detention center inmate. Three years later, his brother did come back, but he said there was no reason to exchange words with him.

When Lee Wookchan talked about his brother, he looked genuinely displeased. He spat saliva through his teeth and vomited excrement.

That lectures and nagging are for people who fill their own bellies. What business does a bastard who came back with his head shaved have telling him anything.

But I didn’t think that was the reason. In his words there was resentment and worry. And bluffing to act tough in front of me.

Resenting his brother and looking at his sister pitifully, Lee Wookchan grew up similarly.

In Lee Wookchan’s house, Lee Wookchan especially grew. Unlike me, who barely passed 170 at most, Lee Wookchan was over 190.

He was also big, so the neighborhood older guys would say, hey, use some strength, you bastard. They’d show off and drag him around everywhere.

I’m a bonus. A dust pit stuck to a piece of gum. The fortunate thing is that in our neighborhood, where you can’t survive with brains alone and everything is judged by strength alone, the one I’m stuck to is Lee Wookchan.

∞ ∞ ∞

“Are you going home?”

After leaving the building together, Lee Wookchan asked me while we walked. He had his hands in his pockets and was dragging his slippers with a shh-shh sound. He didn’t even go to school, so why is he wearing his uniform.

I looked at Lee Wookchan. Lee Wookchan fluttered his uniform shirt with not a single button fastened.

“Fucking hot.”

He muttered to himself. Lee Wookchan and I walked in front of the apartment complex.

If you go straight down, you reach the main road, and even though our neighborhood is an apartment complex, there was a dreary atmosphere lingering even during the day.

Even though there’s clearly a fruit shop, a convenience store, a small bar, a chicken place advertised by a celebrity, and a cafe.

“Hey, I asked if you’re going home.”

Lee Wookchan hit my shoulder with his own. He didn’t consider his size and put strength into it. My body lurched forward and I barely caught my balance.

When I turned my head, Lee Wookchan was looking down at me with a playful face. I know that’s his playful face, but from other people’s perspective it was no different from a complete delinquent picking a fight.

“I’m going.”

“What time did your mom say she’s coming.”

“She’ll come when it’s time.”

“You’re going to pick her up anyway. Acting tough.”

Lee Wookchan teased me. It was obvious mockery.

“How are you going to live without your mom.”

“…”

“Coward.”

“…”

“Loser bastard.”

“…”

“Did your dick fall off? Doesn’t seem like you have one.”

I stopped my walking. When I glared at Lee Wookchan, he just shrugged his shoulders.

Why does he talk like that. I was irritated today especially. Maybe because he cut off my thoughts.

When I just looked at him without a word, Lee Wookchan tilted his head.

“You’re sulking.”

With that as the signal, I went on my way. Lee Wookchan followed from behind.

Annoying bastard. I cursed Lee Wookchan inwardly.

Lee Wookchan, who couldn’t possibly know my uncomfortable feelings, still teases me. There was playfulness in his voice.

“Hey, Bae. Bae. Bae.”

He called me. I pretended not to hear. Lee Wookchan didn’t give up either.

“Bae Seonho.”

Eventually he caught up and harassed me. I finally stopped walking and turned my body.

Lee Wookchan, who had been leisurely following, came right up to my face. Because he’s tall and has a tremendous build, I felt overwhelmed anew.

Still, as Lee Wookchan said, I acted tough.

“What.”

I asked in a stiff voice. Lee Wookchan tilted his head. He must have finally noticed that I was annoyed.

Lee Wookchan didn’t smile anymore either.

“Why do you make it so obvious when you’re sulking.”

“What did I do.”

“Is it because I didn’t buy you ice cream.”

Even so, it’s probably money he extorted or stole from somewhere, yet Lee Wookchan acted like he was some great capitalist.

“…”

I went on my way again. Lee Wookchan cursed from behind.

What kind of bastard—he went on and on, saying what kind of girl, what kind of guy, even though I’m not a woman, he blamed it all on my temper.

“Cut your dick off! You fucking bastard.”

Lee Wookchan raised his voice one last time.

Foul mouth. I cursed Lee Wookchan inwardly and headed home.

But the truth is, neither I nor Lee Wookchan are much different. That’s the biggest problem.

∞ ∞ ∞

Our house can be divided into four areas. The living room that’s also the kitchen and the entrance, Mom’s room separated by a sliding door, my room with a small attached veranda, and the bathroom.

In a house where the only proper room besides the bathroom is my room, I was lying there without even turning on the light, just staring at my phone.

“…”

No messages. Actually, there aren’t many places that would contact me.

The guys who look like they’d lick Lee Wookchan’s toes act friendly in front of Lee Wookchan, calling me “Bae Seonho,” “Bae-seon,” but they never contact me privately.

Ah, sometimes they do. When Lee Wookchan gets drunk and can’t even move his body and looks for me. Other than that, nothing.

The rest is Mom or Lee Wookchan. That’s it. I was someone with an excessively narrow circle of relationships.

11 PM.

Only then did I raise myself from the bed. I pulled on the cap I had roughly thrown on the chair.

I shoved my phone into my pocket. And I went to the entrance, put on my shoes, and left the house.

Walking down the hallway and taking the stairs down, the building entrance appears right away.

Room 5 on the second floor is our house. Even in a long hallway-type apartment where eight households live on one floor, our house is right in the middle of the hallway and right in front of the elevator and stairway passage.

Probably because the house right in front of the frequently used elevator and stairway passage would be the cheapest.