Though small, the warmth in the voice that reached only him made his heart tighten. Whenever Hyun Gyujin felt that Yuwon liked him, he liked it so much that he thought his head might explode. The excitement made him feel like he might accidentally do something reckless.
“Thank you for not finding me annoying…”
“Why would you say that?”
“Still… I know it’s not easy. From now on, I’ll really exercise and eat well. I won’t give you anything to worry about.”
“Alright. Let’s do everything together.”
“Okay…”
Hyun Gyujin straightened his bent body while filling his eyes with the sight of Yuwon, who was smiling beautifully with his eyes crinkling. As he leaned in just enough to touch their lips, Yuwon’s arms naturally wrapped around his waist.
Without knowing who started it, as soon as their lips met, warm breaths mingled between the slightly open mouths. Unable to suppress the overwhelming feeling that it was good to touch and touch again, Yuwon gently rubbed his tongue against Gyujin’s.
In the last few minutes of their sweet first rebellion.
***
Even before Hyun Gyujin noticed his feelings, Yuwon’s affection grew day by day, filling his mind and heart completely. Now, compared to then, Hyun Gyujin occupied an even larger part of him each day.
Yuwon touched the hand that Hyun Gyujin had stretched out first and placed on his leg under the table while looking at the tutor grading homework. His heart kept racing as he watched Gyujin, who, with his other arm, propped his chin on the desk, pretending nothing was happening.
“…….”
“…….”
When he playfully touched Gyujin’s fingers, Gyujin’s hand would clasp around his, trapping his fingers. Each time that happened, a faint smile spread on Yuwon’s lips. It felt so good to play with their hands like this… It felt a bit childish, and he was anxious about playing such a trick in front of the teacher, but he didn’t want to let go of Gyujin’s hand.
“Wow, I purposely gathered the difficult problems at the back, and you got them all right. If you can avoid small mistakes, there’s nothing to worry about anymore. Especially these problems at the end, they’re tricky because you have to use formulas multiple times, yet you solved them perfectly. This is why I love tutoring.”
As if moved to tears, Lee Junseo pretended to cry. Almost simultaneously, the intertwined fingers under the desk slowly separated.
“But you two have switched seats?”
“Yes. Recently, I’ve been studying harder than Jung Yuwon.”
“Oh, really? That makes sense. Gyujin, you’ve really changed a lot. You didn’t do homework or focus before, but now you’re doing so well. Let’s keep it up.”
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.
“Yeah, well…”
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“Next week, after finals are over, if you’re free on Saturday, would you like to come by the school? I can show you around and treat you to a nice lunch. There are many great places to eat around the school.”
“Really? Can I?”
“Of course. It seems like Yuwon is free. Gyujin, what about you?”
“I’m free too.”
“Great, then come by 10:30. I’ll wait for you in front of the school or at the station.”
Actually, Hyun Gyujin wasn’t too thrilled about spending a weekend, when he could be alone with Yuwon, with Lee Junseo, whom he saw twice a week already. But seeing how excited Yuwon was, he couldn’t express his reluctance. What could he do? He had to let the cute one do whatever he wanted.
“Okay.”
In the end, Hyun Gyujin agreed, and seeing Yuwon clap his hands in joy made him smile as naturally as breathing.
After tutoring, Yuwon took two packs of chocolate milk from the refrigerator and quickly followed Hyun Gyujin, who held his hand and led him to his room.
As soon as they entered the room, their lips met, and Yuwon smiled. He stroked Hyun Gyujin’s hair soothingly when he asked why he was smiling. They stood leaning against the closed door, kissing for a long time before finally drinking the chocolate milk.
“Next Saturday is going to be so much fun, don’t you think?”
“Do you like it that much?”
“Yeah. It’s my first time visiting Hanguk University.”
Yuwon, who had been frail since childhood and had not been able to visit crowded or faraway places, was always excited and happy to have the chance to go somewhere new.
“I prefer being alone with you.”
“I do too, but… the teacher has been inviting us to visit Hanguk for a while….”
“Do you really prefer being alone with me?”
“Of course. Definitely.”
“Then how about I sleep over tonight?”
Hyun Gyujin, lying on the bed with Yuwon, gave him a pleading look that was impossible to refuse. Anyone who saw those eyes would be willing to give everything they had to Hyun Gyujin.
“No… My mom and dad will be home around midnight.”
“So what if they come home? Last time, they didn’t catch us sleeping in the same bed.”
“Still… it feels wrong. If you want to sleep over, use the guest room.”
“I don’t want to sleep over just to stay at your house. What’s with the guest room? Am I a guest? Then you should sleep in the guest room too.”
“…You promised to be careful.”
“I am being careful. But honestly, I don’t know where to start, what to do, or how careful I need to be.”
Yuwon, sitting up in bed, adjusted his disheveled hair as he watched Hyun Gyujin also sit up.
“I don’t understand why we have to be so cautious about things that didn’t matter before. It wasn’t weird for us to sleep together before.”
“That’s because we didn’t sleep in my bed together before….”
“Sure, it might seem strange to others for grown boys to share a bed. But our situation is unique. We’ve been friends since before we can remember, and to our parents and relatives, it’s not strange or unusual for us to sleep together.”
Hyun Gyujin wasn’t wrong. In fact, he was completely right. The two families were so close that Hyun Gyujin and Yuwon were closer than most. And because Yuwon was frail, their relationship was even stronger. Their parents wouldn’t find it odd if they spent days together or stayed locked in a room.
But that was exactly why Yuwon became more cautious. Even though they acted the same as when they were just friends, their ‘relationship’ had changed, and so had the meaning behind their actions. Those simple, ordinary actions now brought a lot of excitement and nervousness. It was impossible not to notice the difference.
“It feels like I’m the only one who wants to be with you more.”
“What are you talking about? I want to be with you too. I love being alone with you like this, and I wish you could stay over.”
“But….”
“Our relationship has changed, so even if our actions are the same, the meaning behind them has changed. Before… holding hands didn’t mean anything, but now, even just holding hands….”
“…….”
“…makes me incredibly nervous. Sharing a bed now… it used to just mean you were staying over at my house. That was all. But now, it’s different. We kiss, we hug… it’s not the same as before. How could it be the same…?”
Hyun Gyujin’s sharp gaze softened as he stared at the pack of chocolate milk on the desk. Yuwon’s words about trembling even when they held hands melted away his initial feelings of disappointment.
…Damn, he’s so cute. Yuwon is really adorable. The frustration in his mind was replaced by the soft thoughts of Yuwon.
“And… kissing… when we do that, I can’t hear anything else….”
“…I can’t argue with that.”
“……”
“Ah, I don’t know. Seriously. Why is this so difficult?”
Hyun Gyujin, sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning back, made eye contact with Yuwon who was looking down at him.
“My head understands everything. I get it, but I just want to spend more time with you. That’s the only reason.”
“……”
“I never had these worries when we were just friends.”
“……”
“If I wanted to hang out more, we just hung out more. If it got late, of course you’d stay over. That was normal. It’s weird that it’s not normal anymore.”
Yuwon’s heart tightened at the seriousness in Hyun Gyujin’s words. The restrictions on things that used to be so natural made Yuwon anxious, fearing that Gyujin might regret their changed relationship and the potential loss of their friendship.
“But it can’t be helped. I’ll try to avoid anything you don’t like. I don’t want to be rejected.”
Hyun Gyujin gave a little push to sit up straight, then, after a moment of thought, got up from the bed and gently tousled Yuwon’s hair with a soft touch.
“I’m leaving. You’re going to study, right? I won’t bother you, so message me before you sleep.”
Watching Hyun Gyujin’s tall figure walk out of the room, Yuwon stood there dazed for a moment before quickly following him to the front door. As Gyujin was about to step out, Yuwon timidly tugged at his clothes.
