Yuwon, after taking out all the necessary items and placing his bag on the chair next to him, took a sip of the smoothie. Even though he was usually fond of the sweet and smooth mango yogurt smoothie, drinking it now somewhat improved his mood. It seemed like the problem was mostly due to staying inside the quiet house, especially just lying in his room all day.
Yuwon plugged in his earphones and played his favorite playlist filled with upbeat songs. Everything was perfect with the sunshine pouring in through the window, the mildly warm drink, and his favorite songs. Now, he just had to wait for his mood to improve like it used to.
“……”
What could Hyun Gyujin be doing…? Yuwon found himself inadvertently thinking about Hyun Gyujin and raised his head in surprise. It was awkward to be so trapped in thoughts of Hyun Gyujin all the time, especially when he had come out of the house precisely to escape that. To think about Hyun Gyujin again here was just… Yuwon shook his head to clear his mind and focused on the homework that needed to be done.
Halfway through his smoothie and halfway through his homework, the vibration rang. Yuwon felt a bit nervous seeing the name “Gyujin” on the screen.
[Gyujin: I’m done with my workout and heading home. Wanna come out?]
[Gyujin: I’m home alone tonight too. Let’s grab dinner together.]
Since he was already outside, he could just ask him to come here, but it wasn’t easy to say it out loud. Yuwon typed and deleted messages several times. It was too embarrassing to meet his gaze nightly and escape, yet it wasn’t like he could avoid seeing him forever. It was so awkward.
What to do… He typed and deleted messages like “I’m not hungry” and “I’m at the café, come here” several times. Time passed relentlessly, and it was already five minutes since Hyun Gyujin’s first message. Yuwon bit his lip, his face now on the verge of tears, as he just stared at the messages.
[Gyujin: What are you doing there?]
Then, a message appeared on the screen that was unrelated to the previous ones. Soon after, there was a tapping on the window. Startled, Yuwon looked up and saw Hyun Gyujin standing outside. It suddenly occurred to him that there was a judo gym at the end of this street where Hyun Gyujin usually went. Should he go out? Yuwon saw Hyun Gyujin’s mouth forming the words. Nodding, Yuwon watched as Hyun Gyujin entered the café. When Hyun Gyujin sat down, lifting his bag onto his lap, Yuwon awkwardly smiled. He was completely unprepared for this unexpected situation.
“What are you doing here? Academy homework?”
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.
Hyun Gyujin briefly glanced at the workbook in front of Yuwon before his gaze shifted to Yuwon’s face. More precisely, he briefly touched Yuwon’s phone before focusing on his face.
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“Uh… it’s not that I ignored them…”
It wasn’t like he sent anything difficult or out of the ordinary, just a normal and, in a way, expected invitation to have dinner together. Seeing Yuwon hesitate to respond, Hyun Gyujin tilted his head slowly.
“What’s wrong?”
“……”
It definitely felt off. Lately, he seemed to space out more often and get lost in other thoughts, and Yuwon couldn’t help but wonder what was going on. But whenever he asked, Yuwon just said it was nothing, so he couldn’t understand why he was like this.
It felt like hesitating in situations where he would usually respond right away. Seeing Yuwon hesitate where he wouldn’t have before, it was natural to feel upset.
“If you don’t want to, just say so. Why are you so indecisive?”
Watching Hyun Gyujin stand up from his seat with a puzzled look, Yuwon pursed his lips. He should say it’s not like that, but if he brought up that topic, he would have to explain everything from the beginning, and his mouth just wouldn’t move easily. While avoiding this situation altogether and pretending everything was fine during dinner with Hyun Gyujin wasn’t an option, Yuwon couldn’t muster the courage to do it. Just looking at Hyun Gyujin’s hand on the table brought back the sensation of his touch on Yuwon’s face, making it impossible to act nonchalant.
As Hyun Gyujin left the café, Yuwon’s gaze followed him. Hyun Gyujin’s face as he passed by where Yuwon was sitting seemed cool. Yuwon had made a huge mistake by making Hyun Gyujin uncomfortable. Yuwon quickly put his belongings back in his bag and cleaned up his drink before leaving the café. With large strides and quick steps, Hyun Gyujin already seemed quite far away. Yuwon, who only had enough energy to maintain his daily activities due to his weakened body from accumulating exercise, was already exhausted. Most people wouldn’t be tired from running this much at this speed, but it was hard for him to breathe so quickly. Still, Yuwon ran towards Hyun Gyujin, who was now closer. Thankfully, there was a crosswalk, and he managed to get closer before the situation got any worse.
“Haah…”
When Yuwon, who had barely managed to grab Hyun Gyujin’s arm, met his gaze, he immediately sank back down, completely stunned.
“Hey!”
Hyun Gyujin was even more surprised to see Yuwon’s body suddenly slump down as if he were about to collapse. Quickly, he grabbed Yuwon with both hands and helped him up properly. Then, he guided him into the nearby quiet commercial building and sat him down on the emergency exit stairs before sitting down himself. It was a dusky time as the sun was setting, and the emergency exit area, where the lights hadn’t been turned on yet, echoed with the sound of Yuwon struggling to catch his breath.
“Haah, haa…”
Yuwon’s usual walking pace was wide and fast, even when walking alone. So, it wouldn’t have been easy for him, who wasn’t used to running fast, to catch up with Hyun Gyujin from the café. Knowing that Yuwon had struggled even to participate in simple exercises or classes due to his weakened body, Hyun Gyujin felt pained to see Yuwon, who couldn’t even speak properly due to shortness of breath.
Despite feeling upset and wanting to scold him for overexerting himself knowing he was weak, Hyun Gyujin simply sat beside Yuwon, who was uncomfortably sitting with bent legs, and gently patted his back. He looked at Yuwon’s face, which was gasping for air and even had tears in his eyes, with concern.
“Are you feeling a bit better now?”
Yuwon, pressing against dizziness, palpitations, and aching heart, slowly lifted his head. He had felt extremely exhausted earlier, as if he were about to die, but now that he sat down, caught his breath, and rested a bit, he could finally see Hyun Gyujin’s face clearly.
“Yeah.”
“You should have called me and asked me to wait.”
Instead of scolding, Hyun Gyujin’s voice was soft, filled with concern. It was a subtle sway that was completely different from being out of breath… It was a very delicate and trembling motion.
“I… didn’t think about that. I just wanted to come to you quickly…”
“……”
“…I’m sorry. It’s not that I didn’t want to have dinner with you… I’ve just been thinking a lot lately, so…”
“It’s okay.”
“……”
“I was really upset earlier, but seeing you like this made me feel better. Damn. It’s ridiculous that I feel better because of this, but anyway, I feel better.”
Hyun Gyujin gently wiped away the tears that blurred Yuwon’s eyes with both hands, and he also gently touched the sweat-drenched hair.
Feeling Hyun Gyujin’s touch on his face and hair, Yuwon quietly gazed at his face and lips. Perhaps because he had kissed him all night in his dream last night, the image of lips kept popping into his mind.
As Yuwon felt Hyun Gyujin’s gaze sensing his, their eyes slowly met. When their gazes lingered for a moment longer than usual, a silence lingered due to missing the timing to say something. Yuwon, who didn’t avoid his gaze and didn’t say anything, felt strange yet… didn’t want to avoid his gaze first. If that was the case, was he also being strange? Seeing Yuwon, who was getting closer, Hyun Gyujin felt a tingling sensation in his fingertips.
Yuwon’s face was getting closer. As if… they were about to kiss. Jung Yuwon and a kiss. Even though it was really out of place, Hyun Gyujin didn’t feel any aversion. Without even feeling like he should avoid it despite it being very unfamiliar, he only thought that Yuwon’s approaching face was beautiful. Am I becoming a pervert after kicking perverts? Many thoughts crossed his mind in a short moment.
“…”
Just as Yuwon’s face felt like it was getting closer, the sound of the door opening from above was heard. In a place where no sound could be heard except for small breaths, the sudden noise that appeared out of nowhere was enough to snap both of them out of their trance. The face that seemed to be getting closer suddenly moved further away, and Yuwon quickly got up, startled.
