Yuwon’s heart fluttered. He stared blankly at Hyun Gyujin without saying a word.
“What good does it do to space out at such an important moment?”
Hyun Gyujin gently pressed his fingertip against Yuwon’s cheek to stop him from getting hurt and smiled. Even though Yuwon couldn’t help but admire his smiling face, he couldn’t bring himself to smile back.
“…Isn’t that not okay?”
“Why?”
“…Because we’re friends.”
“So, should we just remain friends?”
This time, his heart sank. Hyun Gyujin was saying the words he had longed to hear, but they didn’t feel right, nor did they bring relief.
“Is that not good?”
“……”
“What should we do then?”
His tender voice gently guided his confused heart. An impulsive answer hovered on the edge of his lips.
“It’s difficult to answer this all at once, so let me ask again.”
“…How do you know?”
“Huh?”
“…I’m clueless, but… how do you know so well? Have you ever tried?”
“I’m doing it with you, right now.”
His heart fluttered, and the pounding heartbeat now contained Hyun Gyujin. Yuwon looked at Hyun Gyujin touching his face again and became blank.
“I can’t space out like you, so I’m trying hard to keep my head straight.”
“……”
“Shall I ask again?”
“……”
“Would you like to date, or do you want to continue just being friends?”
“……”
“Should we date?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
He knew there was a lot to consider. He knew it wasn’t as simple as nodding his head without thinking. But despite all the thoughts rushing through his mind, not a single clear answer emerged. Right now, in this moment, the only thing clear to Yuwon was Hyun Gyujin in front of him.
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Yuwon felt content. Content with Hyun Gyujin smiling as he touched his cheek, content with Hyun Gyujin threading his long fingers between his own, locking eyes.
“Say it out loud. I want to hear it too.”
“……”
“Yuwon, do you like me?”
“…Yeah…. I like you….”
With that answer, along with Hyun Gyujin’s laughter, the label of “friends” that had lasted for 18 years vanished. But there was no sense of regret. Because now, in this moment, there was a day that shone brighter than those 18 years.
And so, their romantic journey began.
***
It was only natural for Hyun Gyujin to reclaim the seat next to Yuwon. Even if it was late, Hyun Gyujin went to the cafeteria to have lunch with Yuwon.
Perhaps because he had unloaded the burden on his heart, Yuwon ate his pork cutlet steak and rice very well. Throughout the meal, Hyun Gyujin couldn’t take his eyes off Yuwon’s face. He couldn’t remember how the pork cutlet steak tasted, nor did he truly taste the chocolate milk he bought from the store after finishing his meal.
What remained in his eyes and his mind was Yuwon’s adorable face, eating the rice like a cute squirrel, and sipping banana milk through a straw. And the image of Yuwon holding a yellow toothbrush and toothpaste, heading to the bathroom, or the sight of his hands gently pressing his lips with a paper towel to wipe off the water, kept coming back to him. He had always thought Yuwon was cute, but seeing him after deciding to date made him seem even cuter, even more beautiful.
“…Why do you keep looking at me?”
“I’m looking because you’re pretty.”
“…Are you crazy? Stop it.”
“If you tell me not to do it while your ears are turning red, who’s going to believe that?”
Hyun Gyujin chuckled and wrapped his arm around Yuwon’s shoulder as they walked to the classroom. Yuwon still flinched at the touch, but Hyun Gyujin no longer felt hurt or worried about it. He now understood why Yuwon flinched, in a way.
“Oh… my tutoring session got canceled today.”
As Yuwon checked his phone, Hyun Gyujin did the same. There was a message in their group chat with the tutor, Yuwon, and him, explaining that the tutor had caught a severe cold and had to cancel today’s session. They were asking for permission to inform their parents.
[Okay]
After sending just one word, Yuwon, who had been typing a lot, looked up with widened eyes.
“Why?”
“Just add a bit more, like ‘Take some rest’ or something.”
Hyun Gyujin thought confirming the cancellation of the tutoring session would be enough, but he obliged and added more words as Yuwon requested.
[Take some rest]
While Hyun Gyujin added three more characters, Yuwon continued typing something. Hyun Gyujin stood behind him in the hallway, leaning his chin on Yuwon’s shoulder, watching the screen.
[They say the flu is really severe these days, so rest well until the weekend and get well soon, Teacher! We’ll let our parents know about the makeup session next time. Don’t worry and take good rest!]
After typing several lines, Yuwon finally sent the message, and Hyun Gyujin chuckled as he wrapped his arm around Yuwon’s shoulder again.
“Are you falling for him because he’s sick or because you like him?”
“She’s not that kind of person, Teacher.”
“People are all the same.”
Lifting the hand that had been resting on his shoulder to gently stroke Yuwon’s soft cheek, Hyun Gyujin tilted his head as if something occurred to him and locked eyes with him.
“Has Lee Yoonsung ever done this?”
“Done… this?”
“Has he ever touched you like this?”
“No.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Of course not. Only you… have been doing this since forever, right? Others don’t do that kind of thing.”
“Of course, it should only be me. The others are all perverts.”
Watching Yuwon laugh in response to Hyun Gyujin’s firm statement, they entered the classroom. Hyun Gyujin lightly grabbed Yuwon’s hand as he moved to his seat, laughing as he looked at Yuwon’s face.
“We don’t have tutoring today, so want to hang out outside?”
After briefly considering Hyun Gyujin’s proposal, Yuwon nodded silently. After all, their somewhat awkward relationship had improved, and they were even dating now, so Yuwon wanted to spend more time with Hyun Gyujin. They had unfinished conversations from the art room earlier, and Yuwon both wanted to share and hear more.
Releasing Yuwon’s hand that had nodded, Hyun Gyujin gently shook it as they watched the teacher enter the classroom for the fifth period. Yuwon quickly sat down and took out his textbook for the fifth period. Glancing at the teacher, Yuwon briefly turned his head and locked eyes with Hyun Gyujin, who was sitting at the back of the same row.
Hyun Gyujin smiled. Yuwon looked ahead again, his eyes still reflecting that smile, before he turned his attention to the textbook, casting his gaze downward. Over the textbook, Hyun Gyujin’s laughter lingered, gently tickling Yuwon’s heart throughout the fifth period.
***
As soon as the closing ceremony ended, Hyun Gyujin stood up from his seat and casually ignored Choi Haeyeong and Kim Junjae, who were clinging to him, and approached Yuwon. Following Hyun Gyujin, Choi Haeyeong narrowed his eyes and alternated between looking at them.
“What’s up, affair over?”
“Your bullshit talk is a habit, isn’t it?”
“Skipping gym class to go somewhere and have a fling? You guys just slipped back into lovey-dovey mode, huh?”
“We’ve always had a good relationship. Right, babe?”
Watching Hyun Gyujin bend down with a large body and speak in a cute manner to Yuwon as he packed his bag, Kim Junjae and Choi Haeyeong pretended to gag. Seeing the two of them, Yuwon chuckled softly and nodded quietly.
“We’re not fighting or anything. I told you before, didn’t I?”
“But, like, you two were… Oh, then Hyun Gyujin, are you going to pick on the academy students again?”
Ignoring Choi Haeyeong’s expectation that Hyun Gyujin would play games again, he pretended to cry and leaned towards Yuwon.
“Master, have a safe journey….”
“That’s enough. I don’t have time to play games.”
Hyun Gyujin, who cleanly cut off the conversation between Yuwon and Choi Haeyeong, slung Yuwon’s bag over one shoulder and headed towards the front door. From behind, there were cries of anguish from Choi Haeyeong, but none of that mattered. Hyun Gyujin held onto the railing and matched his steps with Yuwon’s as they descended the stairs together.
“What should we have for dinner? Is there anything you want to eat?”
“Hmm… There’s a new tonkatsu restaurant near the entrance of the academy. They say their cheese tonkatsu is delicious. I heard it from the kids at the academy.”
“Yeah, let’s go there. Sounds tasty.”
“They also serve curry there, and they say that’s delicious too.”
“But you don’t really like curry, do you?”
“Still, I’m curious since they say it’s delicious.”
Seeing Yuwon smile and express curiosity about curry, something he usually didn’t enjoy, made Hyun Gyujin’s heart flutter. He ran his fingers through Yuwon’s soft hair as they crossed the playground.
“After dinner, can we stop by the academy for a bit?”
“Why all of a sudden? Just hearing about the academy makes me irritated.”
“I left my earphones in the study room. I just need to pick them up.”
“Okay.”
As the school started to empty out at the end of the day, the two of them went to the tonkatsu restaurant Yuwon mentioned. Yuwon ordered the most famous cheese tonkatsu, while Hyun Gyujin ordered the basic tonkatsu that Yuwon had debated over until the last minute.
As they were sipping on the cider that came out first, the steaming hot food arrived. Yuwon placed two cheese tonkatsu on Hyun Gyujin’s plate, which stretched with cheese. Hyun Gyujin also shared his basic tonkatsu with Yuwon.
They divided them evenly and almost simultaneously took a bite of the cheese tonkatsu. As the cheese stretched long and was very soft and delicious, their eyes met with excitement. It was so funny and delightful that they burst into laughter at the same time.
when his friends said “Master, have a safe journey…” they were mimicking like how game characters speak.
Too cute too cute, been waiting for this update along with purple heart. Thank you for the hard work 😍😍😍