7: Pork Belly

If a scenario of all typical detective story ends with an unexpected culprit, then it will be a tragedy.

Finding an unexpected culprit is like getting stabbed with your trusted hatchet on top of your foot (similar to saying stab in the back).

Missing the simple story of a villain being a villain till the end, I attentively stared at my own trusted hatchet whom I brought to the back of the school building where it was safe to talk in seclusion.

 

“What’s up?”

 

Now that I was face to face with Yun-Su, I could not easily open my mouth to talk.

If I think about it hard enough, it was inconceivable to suspect Yun-Su. However, I could not just ignore the nagging feeling in the back of my mind.

But..What if I am making a huge mistake and Yun-Su is going to be angry with me for suspecting him..As soon as I started questioning my decision, I felt the panic rising up. It might be better for me to put this all behind me and forget about it after all. I was troubled.

 

That is when I heard Yun-Su’s pressing voice.

 

“Yo, Ha-Jung. What is it?”

 

I made a habit of answering Yun-Su right away when he asks anything, so it was no surprise when my mouth automatically opened to answer Yun-Su even before my brain fully processed what I was going to say.

 

“Why did you do it?”

“What did I do what?”

 

When I saw Yun-Su’s questioning eyes, I no longer had a will to question him. He looked like he truly did not know what I was talking about.

It is not too late to cook up an excuse and go back to the classroom. Should I do that?

I was scared. What if after today’s talk Yun-Su starts hating me?

Looking back, if it was usual me, I would have folded away my feelings and go back to the classroom with Yun-Su.

However.. I realize now that I was driven by a guilt for someone at the time.

I don’t want to acknowledge this, but if I say that I did not wanted to owe Pork Belly any debt would it be right explanation for my unusual behavior?

Rather then my worry for Yun-Su’s anger, my broken pride for committing a sin toward Pork Belly bothered me more.

 

“My painting.. I am asking you, why you did you do it. I know you did it.”

 

I felt my heart beating so fast that I was worried it might beat out of my clothes. My intention was not to accuse Yun-Su with such brief statements.. But, what is done is done. I made an effort to appear stern as I looked up at Yun-Su with furrowed brows.

For some time Yun-Su did not say anything and I studied his face. The longer I stood there, the more I became unsure of myself. My previous determination about my broken pride being my prior concern quickly disappeared.

 

What am I going to do? He looks angry.. Ha-Jung, you blockhead! What are you going to say? Huh?

 

“..What are you talking about? Why would I rip your painting?”

 

The answer that Yun-Su gave me after a while was slightly unexpected.

Why is he calmly questioning me when he should be angry and cursing? Instead of continuously scared of being hated, the ache in my chest weakened and my head started to feel like they were covered in frost.

 

“Well…You should be telling me that. Tell me why you ripped my painting.”

 

For an instant, I could not believe my eyes when Yun-Su’s lips curled up at the corner. Yun-Su’s up-turned lips soon became a small smile when I heard his answer.

 

“Why would I rip your painting, Ha-Jung.. Are you crazy?”

 

Unconsciously I took one step forward when I saw his uneasy smile as I mumbled my suspicion out loud.

 

“The day when our teacher gave you my painting to be hung on the back board …weren’t you the last person in the classroom?”

“Don’t tell me, you think I am the culprit just because of that? Ha..”

 

Yun-Su smiled with slightly aghast expression on his face as he looked at me.

 

“I am the class president, of course I hung the painting. That doesn’t make me the culprit. Don’t you think it’s more likely that someone came in after school or early morning to do that?”

“The sketchbook…They have our names in the back, so everyone would know who’s it is when they see the names.”

“What are you saying?”

“But I did not write my name on my painting when I handed it to our teacher. Only you knew exactly which painting was mine because the other painting on the back board was yours.”

“I..”

 

Yun-Su was about to talk back but something must have bothered him because he wrinkled his brows and swallowed his saliva. Short time passed before Yun-Su opened his mouth to speak.

 

“I am sure there are plenty of people who knew how your painting looked like. During the art period, people must have seen your painting…”

 

As I stared into Yun-Su’s expressionless face, I felt slightly dazed.

I did suspect but I never thought that Yun-Su was the actual culprit. Slowly I began to see the realty and the reality did not feel real to me.

The person in front of me did not feel like Yun-Su I knew. Instead of being the smart ass he was, Yun-Su was making excuses with a tight expression on his face. Noticing the difference and understanding what it meant, I did not feel angry but instead I felt pain.

 

“Other people don’t have a motive.”

 

I cut Yun-Su off and pointed out the obvious. Yun-Su smiled slightly and asked me in return.

 

“Then what was my motive?”

“You…”

 

When I suspected Yun-Su as the culprit, I did not think that I would be saying my inference out loud. Of course, I did not think then that they were the actual truth.

 

“If I had entered the art state contest, you might not have gotten your metal.”

 

I wanted so much for Yun-Su to smile. I wanted him to wear a dumbfounded expression and tell me that he would have gotten his metal with or without me in the contest. However, all I saw was Yun-Su’s humorless expression and his glaring eyes on me.

Those eyes told me that Yun-Su was the true culprit who ripped my painting.

The childish reason that I thought up was reason enough for Yun-Su to rip my painting.

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TN: I feel a bit out of it. I am not sure why. I need to think of better words to substitute some of the Korean words. So confusing. The beginning of this chapter seems a bit disorganized. I will edit that later, but for now I will continue translating. Thank you for reading guys!