Exchange of Morals

Back to Seok's Perspective

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It had been a few minutes before I left Minjun's room, but my body couldn't standstill. I knew that there was a quiz or something that would happen tomorrow in my class. And I needed to prepare for it somehow.

However, Minjun's body was more important! And no! I was not speaking about his well-built body packed with six abs. I meant the man was full of bruises covering his body as if he went into war, besides the bullet he took. Minjun would also attend class tomorrow, since it was our first orientation and introduction to the subjects. The students and professors would eye him out with those wounds carved on his body.

"What am I going to do…. Ah, screw this. I know he's a little hungry. Maybe if I give him food, Minjun would be fine," I uttered to myself, and went to the kitchen.

I prepared my lunch box handed by my mom and cut the contents in half. It was around eight in the evening. The two of us had eaten nothing from the past few hours when the incident occurred. Although we helped ourselves with food earlier, that meal had already digested inside our stomachs. And even though the two of us were too broke to afford a delivery, Minjun and I still needed to eat something.

I threw my lunch box in the oven and heated the bad boy up. The meal was all set and done as soon as the clock hit a high-pitch sound. The meal was just a hamburger with rice, barely enough for one person. My mom and I couldn't afford grand meals, so we had to deal with what we had.

I opened my bag and found a few sets of instant noodles from the store. They were on sale, so I had enough reason to buy them. It didn't have the flavour of competing with restaurants, but it still did the job.

I boiled the hot water and poured the steamy stream into the cup. The smell of fish entered my nostrils and even made my mouth watery with every second. I almost took a bite, but I had to prevent my hands from moving without instructions.

"Minjun needs it more than me," I told myself, and heaved a tired sigh. Minjun saved my life.

This meal that I planned on giving him was not enough to repay his kindness. Minjun took the bullet instead of me, despite following him in the isolated alley. He had his powers in cooldown, so I doubted he had healed already. Even though it had been hours since the incident, his body might have suffered a lot more than it should have.

After accomplishing those tasks, I went to Minjun's room without notice and barged straight inside. Minjun was still studying with his notes. But as soon as he heard me, Minjun dilated his eyes and raised his eyebrow.

"Do you know how to knock?"

Just as Minjun had mentioned, I turned to face the door and gave a light knock. After doing as he had told me, I went inside again and placed the burger and instant noodles on the side where he could reach. The food was meant only for him.

"Dig in. I've made dinner," I said. "Actually, this is the lunch that my mom prepared for me. But you can have it. I ovened it for you. You don't have to worry about food being cold."

Minjun froze like a statue in a park. He couldn't move a muscle, despite giving him some hints about what was happening. Luckily, Minjun finally regained his consciousness and reacted within a few moments. The first movement he made came from his mouth. It curled upward and forced him to smile at me in this awkward situation.

"This is the second time you offered me food. I feel touched, confused, and thankful, Seok," Minjun said, but pushed the plate forward. "But I don't want it."

"What do you mean you don't want it?!" I growled, and crossed my shoulders. "My mom is one of the best cooks that lived in this world, even better than those chefs out there! I'd have you know that even without spices, she can make the most out of anything!"

"Woah! No, no, no! I'm not saying that! What about you? You need this the most. This meal came from your lunch box. You should be the one who eats this, not me. Your mother prepared this just for you!" Minjun interposed.

It was as if Minjun threw water from a raging fire and ended up killing the flames inside of me. Minjun never meant any harm to my mom. He was just more worried about me… about the dinner. Even though he was the one who saved me and risked his life, Minjun still acted selflessly towards me. No wonder he was a superhero that the mass praised.

"Yeah. But you haven't even touched your food before. You barely even finished it! And….." I said, and continued with my sentence in a whisper. "You saved my life. I don't know how to repay you."

"Oh. So it's about that. I know what to do."

After saying those words, Minjun placed his notes aside and rose from the bed. He limped to the table and took the meal for one. I could only guess that he still had his wounds and felt like my legs wished to lie on a bed for a hundred hours from the previous fight. Minjun eventually dragged me towards the kitchen, still with the meal in his hand, and offered me a seat. I accepted his proposal and sat on the chair, flabbergasted by his mysterious actions. Minjun sat right next to me and bought two pairs of chopsticks in his hand.

"So why not do this? We cut the meal in half and eat it together, okay? How about that?" Minjun uttered, and flashed me a smile.

I couldn't contain my happiness, with my face heating a volcano. My chest pumped blood all over my blood, making me warm. There was a tingling sensation my heart couldn't explain. But amidst it all, I took the chopsticks from him and buried my face near the food.

What was this feeling? Nobody could answer my question.

However, my train of thought ceased moving when Minjun's wounds appeared in my sight. There was a hole near his stomach. Thankfully, it had somewhat healed, but not completely. The bleeding stopped, but the injuries remained.

"You're still injured. Are you sure you're okay about it?" I asked.

Minjun shook his head and answered, "No. Of course, I want to go there. But if I arrived inside a hospital, the doctors would question me about this bullet. And before I knew it, cops would arrive and interrogate me. If those dumbasses don't ask me anything, I'd have to pay for the hospital fees."

"What if we visit a public hospital, Minjun? That would at least solve your problems, right?" I interposed.

"Yes. But I'm still a student that doesn't have any cash on hand. The best thing that I could do is work on my experiment in the lab and work part-time as a cashier from a convenience store," Minjun narrated, and switched the topic. "That reminds me. You told me about you, so I have to tell my story. I am a second-year student at Yong University. And I want to become a scientist. It is the reason why I became like this. If I can unfold the mystery of my powers, I could develop better cures for the world with my genes. If I can't, helping others made from the lab could also be something, right?"

"I see. By the way, who knows your identity as the superhero, Steel?" I lengthened the conversation, while munching the noodle strips down my throat.

"You and my father. I have a lab partner from my Science project, but I couldn't tell him my secret. I don't want him to be involved, since he has quite a problem with his life. It's best to keep my conflicts to myself and keep the world a better place while I'm at it. Chul-Moo's a funny and kind guy who has a little sister to take care of. He might be your classmate as well. He's my best friend-the only one who believed me when everyone else….nevermind. If you ever stumble upon a situation, please don't tell anyone about my powers, even him."

"Where's your father now? If it's okay, that is. You kept bringing him up with our topic lately."

Minjun took a bite from the burger and continued. "My father was…."

There was a sudden pause from Minjun. After a few seconds, the boy finally filled the missing blanks. "My father is a firefighter around Gangwon-do. He….there were a lot of things that happened to us. But even so, I still respect him because he did the right thing. Maybe some time, I'll tell you what happened with him. I'm…."

I nodded. "Okay."

I also told Minjun about my family's condition. We exchanged views about heroicness and other perspectives about life as well. Minjun said that his father taught me one crucial thing about being a superhero.

"If you can save everyone, you can save everyone else. It's funny that it initially came from a game. But even so, it changed my views. That's why I want to become a scientist and create something that the world can use. I don't have to be a superhero to save the city. I can still be a scientist and work on my projects as well."

I gripped my hands tighter than ever before as I told Minjun about what I wanted in life. "I want to become a journalist because my mom told me that the truth is the most powerful weapon that a human has. She was an accountant before, but lost her job because mom saw the corrupt managers from the bank. Her job was on the line, but my mom never backed out. She told everyone about the bank, scamming others for investments in exchange for her job. Basically, she became a whistleblower. Nobody has wanted to hire my mom ever since. So she's currently working as a hotel staff from Hwaseong-si. I wanted to be like her. That's why I chose to become a journalist."