UBC Ch8

It was such a sweltering night that a single fan was not enough to bear. Lying face down, utterly limp, I pressed the button with my toe to increase the wind speed.

“Teach me some studying.”

The face of the man I broke up with just the other day makes an unauthorized visit to my mind. Annoyed, I turned the fan up to the maximum. Lukewarm clumps of air entered my open mouth.

“Should I not have refused?”

My aunt had an uncanny knack for sensing things. My mom, busy with her beauty salon, could be indifferent. But my aunt, who always brought loads of delicious fruits, seaweed, and dried yellow corvina as gifts, tirelessly monitored my every move.

Having experienced life’s ups and downs due to men, my aunt prayed daily for her niece, whom she considered as good as her own child, to be safe and happy. Sometimes I thought it was excessive, but I generally obeyed my aunt. Because I knew her family history and background well. I also knew that her peculiar worries were a form of love.

Anyway, I was worried about whether the man who didn’t even know his consonants was doing well studying alone. I wanted to go to the man’s house to check on him, but he might ask why I came if I wasn’t going to teach him.

Even though homework was piling up like a mountain, I spent time like water fighting a persistent impulse. Lying in front of the living room fan, managing my emotions was all I could do right now.

Tring tring tring.

When the clock hands pointed to 9 PM, the house phone rang. Thinking it was my mom calling to say she would be late again today, I sluggishly crawled over and answered the phone.

“Hello.”

The phone next to the old TV had been there since before we moved. This phone, which looked like it belonged in an antique shop, was one of the items I begged and pleaded to replace.

— Oh, Ji-eon.

“…Teacher?”

My tutor, who had left after tutoring in the afternoon, was calling for some reason. Knowing that he didn’t have a cell phone, he must have rung the house phone.

“Did you leave something behind?”

The fact that I wanted summer vacation to end quickly was also due to my tutor. Before, the smell of cigarettes was a torment, but yesterday and today, a sour sweat smell had been added. Because of that, I held my breath every time the tutor took off and put on his college logo jacket. It was enough to give me a headache after class, so it was all said and done. So much so that I even thought about pouring soy sauce on him while he was walking by to make him take a shower.

— Yeah, Ji-eon. I think I left my lighter there.

“Lighter?”

My gaze, which had been wandering around the living room, caught sight of a purple lighter. He must have dropped it coming out of the bathroom. Anyway, don’t they sell those kinds of lighters at the supermarket? I didn’t think it was such an important item, so I became a little sulky. I get so hot that I take a cold shower as soon as I come in from outside.

— Could you bring it up to the bus stop?

“Sorry?”

It would take 30 minutes to walk to the bus stop. I thought I was doomed, but I didn’t want to cause trouble with my tutor.

“Alright. Please wait a moment.”

As soon as I hung up the phone, I picked up the purple lighter that had fallen in front of the bathroom. I tidied up the stray hairs, tied my hair back, and changed into long pants. Finally, I grabbed a fan and went outside, feeling like I had entered a hot aquarium.

I shuffled out the gate, dragging my slippers. I felt sweat trickling down my spine, followed by a sticky feeling on my arms. I hurried my pace to avoid the buzzing of winged insects.

However, even after passing two houses with their lights on and arriving in front of the bus stop, the tutor was nowhere to be seen. Just as I was wondering if he couldn’t wait and had left, a hot headlight shone into my eyes.

What was illuminating me was the intense headlight of a car. I squinted and stepped back, wincing at the loud sound of the engine starting. The face and silhouette of the person getting out of the car were familiar.

“…Teacher?”

I didn’t know much about car models, but it was definitely clear that it didn’t suit the tutor’s age. It was the kind of car that a middle-aged man of considerable age would drive. My heart pounded with an unpleasant rhythm. The tutor, straightening his shoulders, leaned against the car and stood with his legs crossed. Wanting to quickly end this meeting, which seemed to have different purposes, I handed over the lighter I had brought.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you, Ji-eon.”

Come to think of it, the clothes he was wearing were also unusual. I had a hard time understanding why he stubbornly wore a jacket even in the hot summer, but I had just as hard a time understanding the fashion he was wearing now. I was speechless at the combination of a black tank top and a gold necklace. It was because there were two more eyeballs attached to the tutor’s chest.

Feeling embarrassed to point it out, I lowered my gaze, and the teacher burst into a snicker.

“This look is different, right?”

I didn’t know why she was more embarrassed, but the purpose of the meeting, delivering the lighter, was over. I tried to send the teacher back with an ambiguous smile.

“I’m going to go in now. See you tomorrow.”

So that’s what it’s like to be a college student who freely wears whatever they want. I was about to turn around, understanding his deviation in a different sense, when the tutor suddenly grabbed my wrist.

“Aren’t you going in already?”

“Huh?”

“I’ll give you a ride. You’ve never ridden in such an expensive car, have you?”

If it was a car, I had ridden in it to my heart’s content last winter and this spring. My mom picked me up in front of the school where I had supplementary classes, in front of the study room, all the way there. Was it naive or stupid to believe that you could gain favor with a condescending tone?

“I’m okay. I’m tired today, so I’m going to go in.”

“Hey. Ji-eon. I just wants to buy you a delicious meal because I’m grateful.”

I might live in the countryside, but I was not an ignorant fool. The tutor, who went to college in Seoul, must have forgotten where he came from. He talked about how ignorant and narrow-minded the people in the countryside were as if it were small talk. Of course, he tried to fix it at the end by saying that not everyone was like that, like pouring oil on a wildfire. As a rural person who appeared in his prejudice, I couldn’t help but feel bad.

Did he think that a female student living in the countryside wouldn’t know that asking her to go for a drive was a come-on? I should go back right away and tell my aunt that I’m quitting tutoring. It was only when the number of moths drawn to the headlights increased exponentially that the teacher became aware.

“Are you uncomfortable with me?”

“Yes.”

“No. Since we’re teacher and student, we can go downtown and eat meat. I can listen to your study concerns, Ji-eon.”

Facing my expression, which was cooling down in contrast to the heat, the tutor’s attitude also changed. The tutor, who had a glib tongue, swayed his body from side to side and stood blocking my way. While he was shaking, I saw black hairs sticking out from between his armpits.

“I’m uncomfortable.”

“Me? Ah… because of college? It’s okay, Ji-eon.”

The tutor must have had heatstroke today. Otherwise, how could he interpret my words only in a way that benefited himself?

“You don’t have to feel pressured. If you work hard with me, you can come to this college too.”

This was also a considerable part of his delusion. Knowing full well which college I was aiming for, he was busy showing off.

“It’s okay. I really don’t feel good today…”

“Ah, Ji-eon.”

The tutor, acting out of character for his age, did a set of three things on his own: laughing, talking, and muttering curses. My goal was to quickly turn my body and pass by the heat-stricken teacher. But the tutor, reading my expression, took off his silver-rimmed glasses as if aiming for an image change.

“Yang Ji-eon. I like you.”

“Ah, okay.”

Since the flow had come this far, I blurred my reaction. The tutor stuttered as if shocked by that. I was shocked too. Was the old-fashioned car parked next to the fields and the black tank top really for me? I respected the teacher’s taste, but I hoped he respected my taste too. I sincerely didn’t have even an iota of romantic feelings for him.

“That’s it? Ah, okay?”

“I don’t like you, teacher. I don’t want to date you. I’ll tell my aunt. You don’t have to come from tomorrow.”

I tried to end it nicely, but the tutor grabbed my wrist as I was leaving. It hurt where my wrist was grabbed, he was a man after all.

“Let go.”

“Let’s just talk for a moment. I….”

I was glad that it was a neighborhood with many people I knew, at least. Because there would be people who would come out if I screamed. The only thing I hadn’t considered was that the adults went to sleep by 10 PM, so the lights were turned off in every house.

“Get this…!”

The petty and despicable attitude of the opponent, who was trying to solve it with force if words didn’t work, called for a fist. But a person was passing behind the gray car that the tutor had brought. The other side was also watching our physical fight, illuminated by the yellow headlights.

It was that man.