Romantic Gangster

#10

“You startled me…”

“You really don’t listen, do you?”

“I didn’t come to bother you today. I just came to give you some medicine because your face looked hurt.”

“Why are you so concerned about my face? Do you like my face? Did seeing it injured make you sad?”

“It’s not like that… I just… you looked in pain. And it’s nice when someone brings you things like this when you’re hurting.”

Just because I looked in pain. It wasn’t anything special, and of course he’d look in pain if he was injured, but somehow the words sounded a bit serious. Hyun-joon felt the irritation that had filled his heart until just moments ago starting to melt away.

He didn’t dislike the quite serious gaze of this nameless guy who wasn’t pitying him, wasn’t trying to tease him, and wasn’t trying to joke around.

“That’s how it was for me. When I couldn’t take care of myself, if someone looked after me and cared for me, I was so grateful and happy.”

“…”

“This isn’t such a big deal to talk about so grandly, but still, since you’re hurt, I thought it would be good to apply some medicine, so I bought it. I’ll leave it here, so make sure to use it.”

“…”

“I was worried because I couldn’t see you anywhere, but I’m glad to see you like this. When your wounds are a bit better, make sure to come to school.”

Ji-woo subtly mixed in what he needed to say at the end, then raised his hand and waved it lightly in farewell.

“Well, I’ll be going now.”

“…Hey.”

As Ji-woo had just taken one step down the stairs, Hyun-joon’s voice stopped him. Ji-woo held onto the stair railing and just turned his head to look at Hyun-joon who had called him.

“How do you use that stuff?”

Ji-woo smiled at the softened voice and climbed back up one step towards the wooden platform. He gestured for Hyun-joon, who was leaning against the doorframe, to come over.

“I’ll apply it for you before I go. Sit here.”

“Ah, you don’t need to go as far as applying it. Just tell me how.”

“I have a feeling you won’t apply it. And even if you do, you’ll do it carelessly.”

“Ah, seriously…”

Hyun-joon, wanting to say something but lost for words because it was so accurate, shuffled over to the platform in his slippers. Then he sat down with a thud, as if annoyed.

“Why use medicine for something like this? It’ll be fine in a few days. It doesn’t even hurt.”

“But you’d be upset if it leaves scars, right?”

“Who would? You?”

Ji-woo laughed silently at Hyun-joon’s somewhat sarcastic words and took out a cotton swab, dipping it in disinfectant. Then he moved his face forward to get a closer look at Hyun-joon’s facial wounds.

“It might sting, but bear with it for a bit.”

“I’m not a kid, why are you saying things like… Ow!”

The moment the disinfectant seeped into the wound, Hyun-joon jerked his head back at the indescribable stinging sensation. Somehow, the touch of the cotton swab seemed to hurt more than getting hit.

“Such a baby.”

“Hey, shit. A baby? Why don’t you try it? Is that really disinfectant? Are you sure it’s not hydrochloric acid or something?”

Ji-woo laughed out loud at Hyun-joon, who was glaring at the cotton swab and disinfectant while saying nonsense. He closed the gap that had formed when Hyun-joon retreated and sat a bit closer. Then he gently disinfected the cut on Hyun-joon’s lip again.

“Ah, ow…!”

“Almost done.”

Ji-woo flipped the blood-stained cotton swab, dipped it in disinfectant again, and this time dabbed at the wound on Hyun-joon’s cheek. Finally, he carefully disinfected the wound near his eyebrow. Although Hyun-joon kept furrowing his brow and grimacing from the sting, it seemed better than when his lip wound was touched, as he no longer tried to retreat or make pained noises.

“All done. Now I’ll apply the ointment.”

“It’s fine. Just apply it roughly.”

“Why roughly? It needs to be applied carefully. And you shouldn’t apply it with your hands. Bacteria can get in. There are plenty of cotton swabs here, so use these to apply it, and make sure to throw away the used ones. Otherwise, you could get a serious bacterial infection.”

“…You really talk a lot, don’t you?”

Grumbling, Hyun-joon finally looked properly at Ji-woo’s face as he squeezed ointment onto a new cotton swab. He couldn’t understand why Ji-woo was so focused on this. If the situation were reversed, he didn’t think he would go this far. No, he wouldn’t have even listened to the homeroom teacher’s request in the first place.

Because whether someone came to school or not, whether they ruined their life or not, none of that mattered to him at all.

“…”

“…”

On the quiet rooftop, only the tiniest sounds could be heard – the closing of the ointment cap, hair rustling in the wind. They were sounds so small that you wouldn’t hear them unless you were concentrating.

“This won’t sting as much as the disinfectant.”

The pale face came closer. As if wanting to get a better look at the wound on his lip, the face came uncomfortably close, and Hyun-joon inadvertently held his breath for a moment. The breath he held in had a very faint smell of castella cake. It seemed he hadn’t taken enough suppressants again.

As Hyun-joon was about to say something, the face came even closer. Although the light from inside the house reached the wooden platform to some extent, it wasn’t bright enough to clearly see the wounds. Perhaps because of this, the face focused on his wounds kept getting closer. It felt like their faces or something else might touch at this rate.

He should have pulled his face back or told him to stop coming closer, but he was so surprised at that moment that he couldn’t do anything. Hyun-joon just blankly watched the concentrated face as it gently rubbed the cotton swab over his wounds. It was difficult to speak, and it wasn’t easy to breathe freely while smelling the sweet castella scent.

“This area is prone to tearing again, so be careful. Be careful when washing, and don’t open your mouth too wide.”

The moment the voice touched his lips, Hyun-joon came to his senses. He definitely felt the voice touch him just now. He felt a warm, sweet sensation brush over his lips. Startled, Hyun-joon finally jerked his head back.

“…Hey, you’re too, too close.”

“I can’t see the wounds well. It’s too dark…”

After thinking for a moment, Ji-woo seemed to have an idea and took out his phone to turn on the flashlight. He then placed it in Hyun-joon’s hand.

“What’s this?”

“Hold it for me while I apply the ointment.”

Ji-woo took Hyun-joon’s hand and lifted it up, then smiled, seemingly satisfied that he could finally see the wounds clearly in the bright light.

“You’re really something else.”

Ji-woo laughed at the complaint and turned the cotton swab around to squeeze out more ointment. Then he carefully spread the white ointment on the wounds on Hyun-joon’s cheek and above his eyebrow.

“…”

Hyun-joon slowly inhaled. The sweet scent had become slightly… more intense than before. It was a smell that somehow made his mouth water. Like something that would taste good.

“Now I’ll put on the bandages. I’ll skip the one on your lip since it might be more uncomfortable, and just put them on your cheek and above your eyebrow. Be careful when you wash tonight.”

Without answering, Hyun-joon focused his senses on the small sounds spreading across the rooftop and the scent, just like before. The rustling of the bandage wrapper, the slight sound of sleeves brushing against something with each small movement – these sounds kept occurring. They were unfamiliar sounds he had never paid attention to before. His ears tickled with these new sounds, and every place the breath touched aroused an urge to taste.

“Is it far?”

“I’m done.”

Ji-woo neatly placed one bandage on the cheek and one above the eyebrow, then moved back. Only then did Hyun-joon turn his head and exhale a long “Phew…” He touched his cheek and above his eyebrow, which felt somewhat itchy.

“How did you get hurt? Did you fight with gangsters again?”

“Not gangsters, well… I guess it was similar.”

“Did you get beaten one-sidedly?”

“Who? Me? No way. Hey, look at my face – you think that guy got away unscathed? This happened because he suddenly attacked me from behind while I was on the phone. I got hit once and scratched at first, but after that, I totally wrecked him.”

Ji-woo watched Hyun-joon, who was fuming with an irritated face as if recalling what had happened earlier, then smiled a little and gathered the trash like bandage wrappers, the ointment box, and used cotton swabs into the plastic bag.

“Hey, seriously. Do I look like someone who’d get beaten up one-sidedly?”

“I know, I know it’s true. You told me before that you’re good at fighting. And you got cast as a gangster…”

“It sounds weird when you say ‘cast.’ It’s not like there’s a gangster audition or something.”

“That’s what the others were saying.”

“Damn, they’re always trying to make it sound weird somehow.”

Ji-woo laughed softly again as he watched Hyun-joon click his tongue, then stood up from the wooden platform. He crumpled up the bag with the trash and put it in his pocket.

“Well, I’ll be going now.”

“You’re leaving?”

“Yeah. I’ve applied all the medicine for you. Just do it the way I showed you. You only need to disinfect for another day or two. Keep applying the ointment though.”

“Oh… Ah, right. Hey! You, geez. You didn’t take enough suppressants again, did you?”

“Huh? Ah… I didn’t think I’d be out this late. I should have taken more when I stopped by home earlier.”

“Hah… You really have no sense of caution. Hey, are you not aware that I’m an alpha? What if I smell you and my eyes go wild and I pin you down here? Why are you going around leaking your scent?”

“Sorry, from tomorrow I’ll take one more pill thinking of you.”

He really said strange things. Telling him to come to school to see him, saying he’d wait… Now he says he’ll take one more suppressant pill thinking of him. He didn’t look like a sly fox, and his tone and manner didn’t seem like he was aiming for anything, but everything he said was ticklish.