19 – The Fight Finally Ends

Episode 19: The Fight Finally Ends

The moment he tapped the send button on his phone screen, a voice called out from behind.

“Student.”

The senior, who had been secretly eyeing a tip, nearly plunged into the lake, startled by his own guilt.

The other man quickly stabilized the boat with agile movements and spoke with a smile.

“Student, did I scare you?”

“Ah, no, not at all.”

The senior looked up. Standing before him was a man with a scruffy beard. He looked to be in his late thirties, dressed in a sleeveless undershirt and flip-flops. He couldn’t have looked more disheveled. Though it was unclear why he had come, his eyes were gleaming brightly.

The man in flip-flops asked with a grin.

“Can I use this boat?”

“Ah, the boat.”

The senior began improvising a story on the spot.

“It’s broken.”

“…Broken?”

“Yes. It leaks from the bottom, so you can’t ride it. It’s fine for mooring in shallow water, though.”

“That’s strange. The bridge to that island over there seems broken too.”

“That’s right,” the senior said confidently. “I— ahem, I think someone might have cut it. By the way, who are you, mister?”

The man in flip-flops grinned, showing his teeth.

“I’m an electrical maintenance worker for this school, and I got a notice to check the island. Look, I even brought my toolbox.”

Hearing that he was a school worker, the senior softened. He cleared his throat a few times, looked around, and stepped forward.

“Hyung-nim, I’ll be honest with you. Today, some rich student rented the entire island to confess his feelings. If you were in my shoes, would you want to ruin someone’s life-defining moment? Of course not.”

The man in flip-flops finally seemed to grasp the situation; his eyes lit up as he chimed in.

“Oh, renting a whole island for a confession. How romantic. Young people these days have such great ideas.”

“Exactly.”

The senior slapped his thigh and rubbed his thumb and index finger together.

“The important thing is that it’s only possible if you have the ‘cash.’”

At those words, the man in flip-flops smiled and, surprisingly, backed off generously.

“Fair enough. When is it scheduled to depart again?”

“Probably late dawn? After all, they’re a couple that just confessed and succeeded. They’ll likely lose track of time tasting the forbidden fruit for the first time, so I think it’ll be a bit late.”

Having found an uncle he could get along with, the senior let his tongue run wild.

Whenever men gather to chatter about such things, their eyes inevitably turn sly.

The senior spoke with a sly glint in his eyes.

“Mister, come back tomorrow morning. They’ll definitely be gone by then. One of them is an honor student who would never dream of skipping class.”

The man in flip-flops laughed heartily.

“Damn. I guess no matter how beautiful she is, she can’t hold back an honor student.”

“Of course. That’s why they’re an honor student.”

After chatting for a few more words, the man left, carrying his toolbox.

Once he reached a place where no one was around, he stopped in his tracks, lit a cigarette, and pulled a phone out of his toolbox. It was a very old model that had long disappeared from the market.

“Hello. Team Leader Jung, extend the time by a few hours. Looks like I can’t get to the island tonight. …You ask if there’s a problem? Nothing much, just that some students rented the whole island for a confession. Yeah, right. I got it. I’ll check it out early tomorrow morning.”

He flicked the cigarette ash and sighed in disbelief.

“Aren’t our informants being way too cautious? They won’t even let me send messages, and they keep nagging me to write in the student guestbook whenever I deliver information. They say that’s the only way to avoid detection… Ha… whatever. I’ll return to headquarters soon. I came to get one piece of intel and got blindsided by some brats. Being a cop really isn’t easy…”

Muttering to himself, the man in flip-flops walked away.

* * *

Inside a rocky cave on dreamy island.

It was a small, dim cave. Xie Qingcheng wondered to himself who would ever enter such a place when it wasn’t even raining heavily. However, after bending his waist to step inside, he realized he had miscalculated.

Beyond the dim light of the phone, camping equipment lined the interior of the artificial rock cave. Lanterns, cloths, folding chairs, flashlights. There was even a camping pot set.

“Secret Utopia.”

“What?”

Xie Qingcheng turned his head at He Yu’s voice.

He Yu spoke while shining his flashlight on the wall.

“It’s written right here.”

Only then did Xie Qingcheng discover the great records left by past heroes on the damp, artificial rock wall. They were all graffiti left by students who had happened upon this hidden spot.

The largest among them was ‘Secret Utopia.’

Uninterested in graffiti, Xie Qingcheng gave the wall a cursory glance and sat at the cave entrance, watching the pouring rain.

On the other hand, He Yu, a production major, wanted to meticulously read the various sentences before him.

“The Great Buddha saved sentient beings and led them to the other shore in the past, so why did he not save me from the sea of books?”

He read another phrase.

“Dear Professor Joo. By the time I came to know you, you already had a partner, so I cannot confess this heart and only suffer in silence, keeping this feeling to myself.”

He Yu shook his head as he read the words, shining the flashlight on the wall.

“What wonderful writing. Why is everything so poignant?”

He then shone the light on another section.

Unlike the opposite side, the content here was varied.

“Advanced Mathematics should be kicked out of the college curriculum as soon as possible.”

“I’m graduating soon and I want to become a famous director. Fighting!”

“Taking shelter from the rain here, together…”

He Yu suddenly trailed off and shut his mouth.

Since the other party reacted that way, Xie Qingcheng became curious for no reason.

“Together what?”

“…It’s nothing.”

Driven by distrust, Xie Qingcheng insisted on checking. As soon as he looked at that wall, he was speechless.

[Taking shelter from the rain here, we share our love, and we thank the heaven-sent fate.]

Inside a large heart carved below, the names of two wild mandarin ducks were written.

Knowing the atmosphere would inevitably become awkward, He Yu had apparently chosen to keep quiet. Xie Qingcheng spoke dryly.

“Did you become a text addict in the few years I haven’t seen you? You can’t help but read every single letter you see.”

“Isn’t it interesting? These are people whose whereabouts we don’t even know now. They’ve probably forgotten what they wrote here.”

Touching the mottled traces, He Yu continued.

“Perhaps some have already returned to the earth. Yet, the writing remains.”

Xie Qingcheng said indifferently, “Then you should leave a few words so your descendants can pay their respects.”

It was a sarcastic remark, but surprisingly, He Yu bowed his head and picked up a sharp stone. Then, searching the wall for an empty spot, he spoke meaningfully.

“You’re right. Then what should I write?”

Muttering, He Yu glanced at Xie Qingcheng. It was a look filled with blatant disgust. Right… taking shelter from the rain and sharing love, thanking the heaven-sent fate. Classic works usually started this way. A white snake smilingly lends an umbrella to Scholar He on a sailboat, 1) and Benini lays a red carpet up long stairs for Nicoletta in the pouring rain. 2)

If Xie Xue had been here, this night would have been much more enjoyable. Under the traces of two seniors who formed a bond while avoiding the rain, he could have left a note saying, ‘We did too.’

Unfortunately, the person trapped on the island with him right now was Xie Qingcheng.

The mere fact that two macho men visit our sitewere trapped together made visit our sitethe situation tedious. Moreover, the two of unauthorized copythem didn’t even get along.

Sensing the disrespectful gaze, Xie Qingcheng responded with an even more menacing look.

“What are you staring at?”

“Sorry. There’s just no one else to look at.”

He Yu tossed the stone up, caught it, and carved a few words as he pleased.

[Dreams come true.]

Stone dust showered down to the floor.

Having left his mark in the guestbook, He Yu tossed the stone aside and turned around.

“Doctor, would you like to try doing something childish too?”

Xie Qingcheng’s gaze wavered. He eventually turned his eyes toward the rain pouring outside. In the hazy, whitish light, his profile looked as thin as traditional paper that would vanish with a gust of wind.

“Forget it. It’s a daydream that can’t come true anyway.”

“Oh.”

He Yu asked nonchalantly.

“Then tell me what kind of daydream it is. Ah, may I ask? If it’s not too rude.”

With the fierce wind and rain behind them, Xie Qingcheng remained silent for a long time. He must find it tedious to deal with him, He Yu thought. Just as he thought so, Xie Qingcheng looked at the rainwater gathering and flowing above the cave entrance and spoke calmly.

“In the past, being a doctor wasn’t my dream.”

“You’re not a doctor right now anyway.”

“At first, I had no intention of majoring in medicine at all.”

At this unexpected confession, He Yu widened his almond-shaped eyes.

“Then what did you want to study?”

Standing up and returning inside the cave, Xie Qingcheng stared at the words ‘Dreams come true’ that He Yu had carved before answering.

“…It was too long ago, I don’t remember well.”

To give such an answer while having such a vacant look in his eyes—it was a truly insincere lie. He Yu wondered if this man was currently insulting his intelligence.

As if he didn’t want to discuss the topic any further, Xie Qingcheng turned his head and walked further into the cave, asking He Yu,

“Do you have any food?”

It was indeed mealtime. The only food He Yu had brought was a single slice of mango mousse cake. He had originally made it for Xie Xue.

It seemed that for now, it would have to be offered as rations for the two of them.

Regardless, He Yu wasn’t particularly interested in Xie Qingcheng. He didn’t feel like pressing him since Xie Qingcheng wanted to hide his past.

Instead, he took out the cake and handed it to Xie Qingcheng. He must have been very hungry, as he popped the cake into his mouth without even looking at it.

“Do you have a tissue?”

The fastidious Xie Qingcheng requested a tissue from Secretary He after finishing his meal.

Secretary He looked around. He saw a first-aid kit on the camping table. If it was a first-aid kit, it might contain something like tissues.

Relying on the dim lantern light, he fumbled through the kit, pulled out something that looked like a tissue, and tossed it to Xie Qingcheng.

As he was about to open the packaging, Xie Qingcheng suddenly felt a strange texture and stopped. If it’s a tissue, why is it in a cardboard box?

With that thought, he looked closely at the packaging.

“…”

“What is it?”

Xie Qingcheng threw the condom box back at He Yu.

“Where are your eyes located?”

After a brief silence upon confirming it was a condom, He Yu put the box back into the first-aid kit.

He’s really something else.

Moreover, it was a ribbed condom designed to prolong erection time.

Of course, both of them were somewhat thick-skinned in this department. He Yu had a relatively high tolerance for objects, so although it was a bit absurd, he accepted it as it was.

Xie Qingcheng was a calm and cold person with almost no emotional fluctuations. Furthermore, as a divorced man who had been married, he wasn’t the type to be shocked by adult products, even if he had no interest in them.

Xie Qingcheng simply frowned.

“Students these days are quite promiscuous.”

“This is tame,” He Yu said with a laugh. “You have no idea how many kids are more promiscuous than this.”

As he spoke, his eyes fixed on the guestbook lying next to the first-aid kit.

[Utopia Guestbook]

This was a guestbook closer to a secret diary. People visiting the place would write in a relay, continuing the previous entries. While there was no guarantee the previous writer would return to see it, subsequent visitors could keep writing, making it quite interesting to read through.

Of course, such guestbooks usually degenerate into records of romance and friendship. He could tell without looking how worth-watching the content would be.

He Yu, using his head, picked up the guestbook and said to Xie Qingcheng,

“Mr. Xie, do you want to read this together? It’ll probably be full of content that can help you study today’s youth.”

Since they had nothing else to do, the two of them began reading the guestbook side by side.

Sure enough. From vows of love to declarations of friendship and secret confessions, all sorts of content were densely written in various handwriting.

After flipping through the pages for a while, He Yu suddenly let out a questioning, “Huh?”

“Xie Qingcheng. There’s a story about a teacher here too.”