Well, Hyun Gyujin is almost 190cm tall, so a regular burger wouldn’t fill him up. Even as a child, he was taller than other kids, but when he entered middle school, Hyun Gyujin started growing at a terrifying rate. Yuwon also remembered those times. If exaggerated a bit, it felt like Hyun Gyujin grew taller every time they met. Back then, Hyun Gyujin used to drink two liters of milk a day, eat and still feel hungry, devouring at least three bowls of rice as a basic meal. And everything he ate back then went straight to his height.
“Why are you only eating one today?”
“I’m afraid I’ll grow taller.”
“What…?”
“Eat three, Yuwon. That way, you’ll grow taller.”
With a playful smile, Hyun Gyujin popped a chicken nugget into his mouth. While Hyun Gyujin swiftly finished his burger, Yuwon, who had barely eaten half, slowly chewed and took a small bite. Even with a small bite, his cheeks moved slowly.
“Are you meeting Kim Junjae and Choi Haeyeong today?”
“Huh? Oh, well… just to pass the time.”
“I feel like it might be upsetting for them to only meet them when I go to the academy.”
Yuwon recalled how Kim Junjae and Choi Haeyeong had said they were just substitutes for him. Although he said it with a smile and as a joke, he couldn’t help but think that there might be some truth to it.
“What did those guys say?”
“Oh, nothing, just… to pass the time, you know…”
“Don’t worry about that. Those guys meet each other to pass the time by using each other. If Choi Haeyeong’s girlfriend calls while they’re playing games, he leaves. If someone else suggests drinking, Kim Junjae leaves to join them.”
“Do you drink too?”
“Sometimes.”
“You too?”
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.
“No. I have my reasons. Besides, I’ll probably end up drinking a lot in college anyway, so what’s the point of secretly drinking now?”
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“I’ve actually cut down a lot lately. I used to smoke a pack a day, but now a pack lasts me more than a week. Sometimes even ten days.”
Hyun Gyujin, who finished feeding the remaining half of the nugget to Yuwon, chuckled. Now that Yuwon had finished his share of the burger and neatly folded the wrapper, he looked adorable. He thought it would be nice to have a little brother like him.
“I’m full…”
After eating a few more French fries, Yuwon leaned back in his chair. Since he was young, he had been forbidden from eating instant or fast food due to his weak constitution, so eating stimulating food on days he went to the academy felt like a kind of indulgence for Yuwon. With his parents busy and now that he was quite grown up, there was no need for them to have a home tutor anymore.
Although he still had a weak constitution and fell ill more easily than others, his health had improved significantly compared to before, allowing him to enjoy such indulgences. Yuwon laughed as he watched Hyun Gyujin, who was now feeding him the remaining nugget. Unlike him, Hyun Gyujin ate anything with gusto, which was nice to see.
“You don’t have to wait for me until the academy ends now. It’s not even that late, just nine o’clock…. The way to the academy is all main roads, so there are a lot of people, it’s bright, and you can go alone.”
“You’re a magnet for perverts, so no.”
“I’m not a magnet, honestly.”
“That’s enough to be a magnet. Remember that time, when… that bastard, who was it. That pervert from Gwonjing High was bothering you at the academy. He said it was different just by looking at you. Even though it was my turn to pick you up, you didn’t come out, so I went up and saw it, right?”
In the second year of middle school, when Yuwon was smaller and weaker than he is now, to say that Yuwon was a target for all sorts of perverts would be no exaggeration. He was prettier and cuter than his peers, and perverts would come up with ways to approach him, and although Hyun Gyujin couldn’t always stop them, he had to deal with the perverts who stuck around at least once a week.
In that process, he had seen all sorts of disgusting things. Especially seeing guys standing there and getting hit while looking at Yuwon made him feel the dirtiest. It drove him crazy to think that his precious friend had become the target of those mentally disturbed creeps’ desires.
So from then on, Hyun Gyujin followed Yuwon obsessively, to the point where even calling it a compulsion seemed inadequate. He accompanied Yuwon wherever he went, always keeping an eye out, because you never knew when and where a pervert might pop up. Even going to the academy to study was no exception.
As he became a high school student and it became known everywhere that he was always by Yuwon’s side, the frequency of pervert sightings decreased, but Hyun Gyujin still knew that there were guys everywhere who looked at Yuwon with strange eyes.
Yuwon’s gym uniform often went missing, and there were many instances where drinks cans or snacks left by Yuwon disappeared while he briefly stepped away. So Hyun Gyujin couldn’t relax completely.
“You don’t do it as often these days.”
“Do you not want me to come?”
“It’s not that, I just feel bad. You’ve been waiting for me until my classes end for years.”
“I’m not standing outside waiting or anything, I play games and then leave. I go home and sometimes exercise before going. What’s so difficult about that? Let’s go without saying unnecessary things. It’s almost time.”
Getting up and grabbing two trays at the same time, Hyun Gyujin quickly tidied up and went outside with Yuwon. It would be more convenient to keep an eye on things if he attended classes at the same academy, but since he stopped attending after fighting with a guy who harassed Yuwon and dropping out, he resisted registering again. Anyway, Yuwon also said he would only attend this academy until the end of this year and would either increase the number of private lessons he took with him or look for another academy when he reached the third year, so enduring encountering these garbage-like academy perverts for just two more months would be the end of it.
“If anything happens, call me.”
“Yeah, see you later. Bye.”
Waving goodbye at the entrance of the academy, Yuwon went inside. Hyun Gyujin, who smiled at the cute farewell, took out his phone when it kept vibrating. There were over a hundred messages piled up from Kim Junjae and Choi Haeyeong, who had been waiting at the PC room near Yuwon’s academy since earlier. He didn’t want to bother reading the nutritionless messages. Hyun Gyujin put his phone in the pocket of his uniform jacket and went into the building next to Yuwon’s academy and took the elevator. Then he pressed the button for the third floor labeled ‘Speed Zone PC Bang’.
***
Behind the building, where complete darkness had descended, cigarette butts rolled on the floor of the dim alley. Hyun Gyujin, who only clicked his lighter while watching Kim Junjae and Choi Haeyeong puffing smoke, sat on the piled-up wooden boards from the construction work.
“Aren’t you smoking? Want some?”
“I’ve got some.”
“Are you not smoking because you don’t have Febreze? Afraid Mongyu will scold you?”
“Yeah.”
“Is Mongyu really that scary? Are you afraid?”
“He is. When Jung Yuwon gets really angry, he won’t even look you in the eye.”
Yuwon rarely gets serious and angry, but there have been times, once every five years or so, when he messed up and such situations occurred. From kindergarten to high school, until now, after one year and ten months, there have been only three such incidents. Of course, all the reasons were because of him..
Each time, Hyun Gyujin begged Yuwon every day. Sincerely apologizing and apologizing again, then throwing in some aegyo, Yuwon eventually softened and laughed. If asked about the hardships of life, Hyun Gyujin would probably remember those three incidents.
“Really? Doesn’t seem like it.”
“I’m really freaking scared. He looks at me like I’m worthless… Ah, that feeling of your heart sinking at that moment… Ah, I hate it so much.”
“Just tell him to look you straight in the eyes.”
“Are you crazy?”
Hyun Gyujin didn’t always use polite and refined language with Yuwon, but aside from joking around, he couldn’t bring himself to use such vulgar language that crossed the line. How could someone write such words to Jung Yuwon? Hyun Gyujin couldn’t even imagine it.
“Use that energy on your girlfriend. Even half of what you say to Mongyu would probably knock her off her feet. Ah, did you get ghosted by Jin Suzy?”
“What DM?”
“You sent an Instagram DM and went crazy because you got ghosted.”
“Who’s Jin Suzy? And I don’t use Instagram.”
“What, you don’t know Jin Suzy? You saw those Osung High School girls before, right? When they said they went on a trip during vacation. At Min Jihun’s house.”
Jin Suzy, Osung High School, Min Jihun’s house. He couldn’t recall everything clearly, but one summer day stood out vividly in his memory when Yuwon’s family had gone on a trip. Hyun Gyujin attempted to piece together his memories from that day.
When Min Jihun’s parents announced their trip, there seemed to be no reason not to join, so he found himself at their house, hanging out. Typically, they would have gone on the trip together with Jung Yuwon’s family. However, due to his dad’s business trip, the plans of the two families fell through, leaving him to spend a few days alone, which proved to be quite dull.
He passed the time with Kim Jaejun and Choi Haeyeong at Min Jihun’s house, engaging in idle chatter. Later, some girls arrived, adding to the commotion, and a drinking session ensued, leading to drunken antics. Amidst the chaos, he remembered exchanging continuous texts with Yuwon, not even taking a sip of alcohol. Even now, pictures of the ribs Yuwon had sent him for dinner on that evening remained in his photo album.
the author announced side stories a few days ago so i’m very excited!
