Hyun Gyujin, who had just taken a sip of mildly sweetened milk tea, tilted his head. The bubbles that he used to find unpleasant in texture now seemed quite tolerable, thanks to Yuwon.
“There was a time when I went to hang out with some kids, and they were calling some girls back then,” Hyun Gyujin mentioned.
“…When?” Yuwon asked.
“When you went to the pool villa,” Hyun Gyujin replied.
“Oh…”
“I briefly saw him then, but he kept sending me DMs ever since.”
“What did he say?”
Even though there’s privacy among friends, Yuwon couldn’t resist asking these questions.
“He asked to meet up. To have lunch on the weekend. And he gave me his number.”
“Oh…”
Yuwon knew very well that Hyun Gyujin’s popularity wasn’t something new. Why wouldn’t he? Just the number of people I’ve seen confessing to Hyun Gyujin would be too numerous to count.
Moreover, whenever some special day rolled around, Hyun Gyujin’s desk and locker would be overflowing with gifts. Once, even a college student who came for tutoring confessed to Hyun Gyujin. That incident caused quite a stir, and since then, only male teachers were allowed to enter the house.
Hyun Gyujin was really popular to the point where such incidents occurred. Even now, Yuwon could feel gazes from several tables, just like earlier. He sucked the bubble tea, which didn’t taste as good as before, down in one gulp. His previously calm heart suddenly tightened.
“So… are you going to meet him?”
“No? Why would I meet him?”
“You’re not going to meet him?”
“No.”
Watching Hyun Gyujin speak so naturally, Yuwon let go of the straw he had been chewing on.
“Why? Wouldn’t it be nice to meet him if you like him?”
“That’s up to you… If you like him, then you can meet him…”
“There’s nothing good to watch. I don’t even remember the face,” muttered Hyun Gyujin as he sipped his drink, his chin resting on his hand. Yuwon glanced at him and took another sip of the remaining lavender-colored drink. The bubble tea had become noticeably sweeter again.
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.
***
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“Mom, I’m sleeping over at Jung Yuwon’s house tonight.”
Seeing Hyun Gyujin following him, claiming it’s scary to be alone, Yuwon secretly pressed down on his pounding heart. Nowadays, it wasn’t being alone that scared him, but rather being with Hyun Gyujin, whose mere presence made his heart flutter unpredictably.
“You can stay home alone.”
“If I stay home, my mom will nag. Plus, it’s getting late, and you might get scared.”
Hyun Gyujin, who had been patting Yuwon’s back as if comforting him, lowered the elevator door and entered the passcode.
“….”
Yuwon, his hand still enveloping the surface that seemed to retain the touch even after letting go, took a deep breath. It seemed like it would be an uneasy night.
“Should we play games? Or watch Netflix?”
“Is there anything interesting on Netflix these days?”
“Wanna watch something steamy?”
“…You should go home.”
“Alright, alright. Anyway, let’s watch something educational. How about a documentary? Look at this one, it’s cute. ‘The Hidden Superpowers of Pets.'”
As Hyun Gyujin pretended to browse through animal documentaries and looked for a series to watch, Yuwon, feeling like he shouldn’t be there, nervously wandered around the house.
“Oh, have you seen the drama aunt stars in?”
“No, not yet.”
“Let’s watch it then. Sit here.”
“Okay, let’s watch it.”
“Hurry up. Why do you keep coming and going?”
“…Because I’m full. I ate too much.”
“You know, our mom lives for the joy of feeding you. She went crazy every time you ate today.”
Finally settling onto the sofa without causing Hyun Gyujin any knee pain, Yuwon grabbed a cushion and hugged it.
“Try to be nice to Auntie.”
“Nagging here, nagging there.”
Hyun Gyujin playfully sighed heavily as he pressed the play button, filling the screen with the opening video.
“Wow, Auntie’s suit looks really cool.”
“I miss mom….”
The words he had tightly held in his heart slipped through his lips. Glancing at Yuwon, who was silently watching the screen, Hyun Gyujin playfully leaned over and lay down on Yuwon’s thigh.
“Do you want to watch like this?”
“Why… why are you lying on me?”
“Because Jung Yuwon’s thigh is comfortable.”
Surprised by Hyun Gyujin suddenly lying on his thigh, Yuwon shifted his body. It wasn’t the first time they had watched TV or read comics lying like this, and it was a familiar thing, but that was a story from when they were younger.
Since entering middle school, he hadn’t had anyone lie down on his legs like this. It was so sudden and… his heart was pounding like crazy. Forgetting about missing his mom, Yuwon looked down at Hyun Gyujin, who was lying down as if nothing was wrong, watching the screen.
“….”
He dismissed the strange feeling as a momentary tremor, but it didn’t go away for days and gradually expanded its territory. At first, it only trembled when Hyun Gyujin’s face came close, but then it trembled when his hand touched his body, and now, just seeing Hyun Gyujin made his heart beat faster.
How could it turn out like this in just a few days, not even a few months? Holding the cushion tightly in his fingertips, Yuwon secretly stole glances at Hyun Gyujin’s face. Even though the screen was filled with the longed-for image of his mom, his gaze kept drifting back to Hyun Gyujin. Try as he might to look away, his gaze would lower, and despite his efforts not to be conscious of it, all his senses were drawn towards Hyun Gyujin lying down with his legs crossed.
“…Get up… it’s uncomfortable.”
“I don’t want to. It’s comfortable.”
While it seemed absurd to force himself to lie down with his long legs uncomfortably bent, in truth… he didn’t dislike it. It looked a bit cute, and he felt grateful knowing that whenever he seemed lonely, Hyun Gyujin would offer to sleep together like this and even intentionally cuddle closer.
“Even if it’s comfortable for you, it’s uncomfortable for me.”
“That’s why you just need to relax and be comfortable. Relax your legs.”
The moment Hyun Gyujin’s hand gripped his knee, Yuwon felt a tingling sensation running down his leg. At the same time, his stomach fluttered, and his spine shivered. Unaware of it, the hand continued to massage his knee, urging him to relax. The toes, nestled under the white socks under the sofa, curled up white.
“…It tickles. H-hey, stop it.”
“Your kneecaps are so small.”
As the warm, large hand massaged his kneecap and then gripped it as if to confirm its size, Yuwon pushed Hyun Gyujin away and stood up from the sofa. Hyun Gyujin, slowly sitting up, watched as Yuwon walked away.
“Where are you going?”
“…To wash up. I’ll wash up and… relax for a bit before bed…”
“Yeah, that’s better. Go ahead, wash up. I’ll play games until you’re done.”
Heading towards the hallway leading to the room as if fleeing, Yuwon grabbed some clothes and locked himself in the bathroom.
“…Sigh….”
Though there was no reason for his breath to catch, it strangely did. After locking the door, Yuwon sat with his legs bent, burying his face in his knees.
“….”
Then, he remembered Hyun Gyujin touching his knee a moment ago and glanced at the kneecap that had been massaged. It might have been hundreds, too few, or thousands… no, perhaps even tens of thousands of times that hand had touched. It wasn’t anything strange, just holding onto the knee. But how could something like this happen with a friend?
A few days ago, just like when he had dreamed of Hyun Gyujin and woke up, his legs were trembling. From the moment he felt the palm of his hand around his knee moving, his straightened posture twisted, and tension surged into his fingertips. No, it might have been from the moment Hyun Gyujin had laid his head on his leg.
This is crazy… I’m going crazy. How could this happen?
He had been alone that night, but this time, he ended up like this in front of Hyun Gyujin. He was scared that Hyun Gyujin might find out, so he made an excuse about needing to wash up and ran away, but the process seemed too awkward, and he worried it might have seemed suspicious.
Covering himself with the clothes he had brought with him, Yuwon buried his face into them. His stomach fluttered, and his toes kept curling. He didn’t want to remember, but Hyun Gyujin’s face kept coming to mind, making him uncomfortable.
Without knowing what to do, Yuwon just crouched down and sat for a while until he finally managed to calm down a bit and stood up from his seat. He wanted to wash up quickly. Yuwon, having removed his clothes, entered the shower.
Warm water flowed down his body. As the water passed over the thighs that had been embraced by Hyun Gyujin’s hands, through the knees that had just been touched and covered, Yuwon shrank back again.
What should I do?
All the restraint and composure he had been holding onto had all gone in vain. The white steam slightly obscured the guilt Yuwon felt. With a heavy sense of guilt weighing on him, Yuwon moved his trembling hands beneath the stream of water flowing over his body.
As his hands touched the guilt, a breath he had never let out before escaped from his lips. Along with the awkward hand movements and the flowing water tracing along his long, slender calves, the guilt engulfed him, being sucked into the drain.
As his breath, hotter than the water, escaped, Yuwon’s surroundings became even hazier. It was as if he knew that he must never let it touch Hyun Gyujin.
‘guilt’ lol ☠️