Waking up to a chilly atmosphere, Yuwon blinked his eyes. It seemed he had fallen asleep on the desk while thinking about Hyun Gyujin. Closing the still-open window, Yuwon rubbed his arms and headed out of the room. As he contemplated making a warm cup of cocoa to drink while doing his homework, he was taken aback when he saw a dark, large figure lying on the living room sofa. Oh, right. It was Hyun Gyujin.
“You still haven’t left?”
Already stubborn, today was exceptionally so. The marshmallow thoughts that had filled Yuwon’s mind were now covered by a blanket of hot cocoa. Yuwon changed his course from the kitchen to the sofa, where Hyun Gyujin was lying with closed eyes.
“You’re late. Go home and get some rest.”
“I’ll go if you answer.”
“Wow… do you really have to listen to that?”
“Yeah. I need to hear it.”
Partly giving up, Yuwon, who had half-sat down on the side of Hyun Gyujin’s face covered by the hoodie, shook the sleeping Hyun Gyujin.
With a resigned expression, Yuwon sat down on the floor near Hyun Gyujin, who had now sunk to the ground. Even in his stubbornness, Hyun Gyujin’s face seemed handsome. Yuwon wondered what to do with his head, which now felt so warm, and his heart, which was beating unnaturally fast.
From thinking about Hyun Gyujin until falling asleep on the desk, despite trying to stop thinking, Yuwon still ended up thinking, worrying, and feeling anxious when he saw Hyun Gyujin lying there. It was pathetic how he, who had been so concerned about thinking only about Hyun Gyujin and had promised not to, felt his heart race and found himself admiring him when he saw him. What am I going to do?
“I don’t like him.”
Just give up already! With a completely abandoned heart, Yuwon gave the answer Hyun Gyujin wanted to hear. Of course, it was also my genuine feeling.
“Why would I like the teacher?”
Only then did Hyun Gyujin open his eyes. After staring at the ceiling for a moment, Hyun Gyujin turned his body, lying down and looking at Yuwon. Yuwon showed a smile mixed with a sigh, seeing Hyun Gyujin with a softened gaze.
“You smile whenever he says something.”
“It’s basic courtesy. Since you don’t smile, I smile.”
“You let him touch you everywhere and even stay still.”
“Don’t say weird things. Where did he touch me? Who said he touched me?”
Yuwon genuinely couldn’t understand Hyun Gyujin’s words. No matter how much he tried to understand, the phrase “touched” sounded so impure that it simply couldn’t be interpreted.
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.
“Snfgsktfgf.”
“Ktja’r kts, ktfgf?”
Jeglber, Tekbc jrxfv jujlc, jcv atf tjcv jqqgbjmtfv. Tekbc aglfv cba ab afcrf eq jr tf rjk Lsec Xseplc’r tjcv jqqgbjmtlcu. Pa kjr oealif, yea tf aglfv.
“Lfgf.”
Ktf ibcu olcufgr jqqgbjmtfv jcv ilutais qgfrrfv atf ifoa mtffx, cba mjerlcu qjlc. Ktfc, wbnlcu rlvfkjsr, atf gluta mtffx kjr abemtfv abb.
“Here too.”
“…”
“And here again.”
The folded fingers unfolded, creating a feeling of covering the entire head. Yuwon momentarily couldn’t breathe properly due to the sensation. Memories of the teacher patting his head when he did well on a joke or getting scolded once when he forgot his homework flashed back. Cheek… when was it touched? Ah, he forgot. When he didn’t do his homework just once, he was pinched once on the cheek so that it wouldn’t hurt. Now, he understood why he couldn’t interpret Hyun Gyujin’s words at once. He had never considered that action important enough to remember or thought that he could express that action as “touching.”
“…So why are you touching me?”
“I’m a friend.”
“…”
“I can do it.”
Whether it was because of the word “friend” or the fingertips lightly touching his cheek again, Yuwon’s heart fluttered. Even though they were friends, a fact Yuwon was all too aware of, the current wavering emotions were not his friend’s. Or so it seemed. Yuwon gazed at Hyun Gyujin, a person he knew so well but strangely felt unfamiliar.
“…”
It was itchy, and he should say it was too hot wherever the hand touched, and that he should stop, but no words came out. Yuwon just blankly stared, letting his cheek be touched, and as the fingers brushed against his ear, he shrank his shoulders. The hand that lightly touched his ear then descended to his neck.
The sound of the fingertips grazing the skin echoed, or was it just an illusion? Yuwon moved a bit lower, feeling the invading fingers beneath the hoodie, and sensed a tightening feeling in his lower abdomen.
“You endure it well.”
“…Huh?”
“Not ticklish? You’re usually ticklish.”
“Uh… Y-yeah, ticklish. So, stop it and go quickly.”
As Yuwon stood up from the floor, looking at Hyun Gyujin who was also getting up while playfully touching his neck, he felt ticklish in his stomach, and his body, especially his neck, was hot. It seemed like he needed to drink a cola with lots of ice rather than the warm cocoa.
“Want to go to sleep?”
“No, it’s okay… I can just do my homework and then sleep.”
“You’ve grown up, Jung Yuwon. Just last year, you used to beg me to sleep with you.”
“When did I…”
“You’ve called me crying in the middle of the night before. There’s a ghost next to my closet. I can’t go outside the blanket. Come quickly.”
Following Hyun Gyujin’s teasing, Yuwon pushed his back and watched him walk to the entrance, wearing slippers.
“Why?”
Looking at the elevator coming up from the first floor, Yuwon closed the door after putting on slippers, tapping the floor with the toe of his slipper.
“You asked me to see you off like this, remember…?”
“When did I? Why do you treat me and Lee Junseo differently?”
“That’s different. Anyway, I treated you like this, so stop saying strange things now.”
Hyun Gyujin shrugged his shoulders and, not much later, the elevator arrived, and the door opened. Yuwon extended a hand to Hyun Gyujin as he entered the bright elevator.
“Go in. If you don’t want to be alone, text me.”
“Yeah, bye.”
Their eyes met as the elevator doors closed. Yuwon felt embarrassed for no reason and sat down with his face buried in his knees. As he covered his hot ears with both hands, the loud sound of his beating heart echoed louder.
Am I crazy? Why do I act like this… Just by making eye contact, everything becomes a mess. What should I do… Yuwon, who had exhaled a long breath, looked up at the elevator, which had stopped on the 12th floor. Somehow, it seemed like his feelings had also followed Hyun Gyujin up to the 12th floor. That’s what it felt like when his breath was short.
“…”
When will it come down… Yuwon waited for his feelings to return to him as he followed Hyun Gyujin. However, even after the elevator stayed on the 12th floor for a while, his feelings did not return, even as it descended to the 1st floor, then went up again to the 10th, 14th, and 5th floors.
***
Even after finishing the academy homework, taking a warm shower, drinking cocoa with a relaxed mood, and even brushing his teeth, Yuwon still felt dazed. Wavering between strange excitement and tension, today he felt more exhausted than usual.
[Gyujin: Sleeping? Are you okay alone?]
[Gyujin: Can I come?]
Turning on the bedside lamp and lying on the bed, Yuwon checked his phone while hugging a cushion. If someone who didn’t know saw it, Hyun Gyujin’s constant worries and care might seem strange.
Why would a high school boy, who turned eighteen, worry so much and be so considerate about being alone in a house without parents? But Hyun Gyujin had a reason to worry. As he had experienced, on days when something made him really scared and he asked Hyun Gyujin to come, or on the day after he and Hyun Gyujin had argued, he had fallen sick, and even though it was scary and painful to be alone, he had endured it, not going to school for about two weeks. Since that day, Hyun Gyujin had always been extremely worried whenever he was alone at home.
[It’s okay now. I’m going to sleep.]
[Too sleepy.]
When he sent a sleeping squirrel emoticon, a little later, a similar bear sleeping emoticon came back. It was a cute emoticon that didn’t suit the tall Hyun Gyujin, and a smile lingered on Yuwon’s lips as he saw it.
Yes, Hyun Gyujin was such a presence. Always comfortable, reliable, and a good friend. A friend who had been relied on and leaned on as much as, and sometimes even more than, parents in the eighteen years he had lived.
So the fluttering and excitement he felt today were unfounded. Words that didn’t suit the name ‘friend.’
If something bad happened to him, Hyun Gyujin would come forward and express anger first, and even in the midst of that, he would protect and hide him, worrying that he might get hurt. He had always experienced it, but today, he was especially thankful. Yes, that gratitude had lingered in his heart all day, manifesting as excitement or fluttering.
Yeah, that’s right. Yuwon, who had leaned against the side table with the bedside lamp dimmed, lowered himself onto the bed. Looking at the sleeping bear emoticon sent by Hyun Gyujin, he chuckled.
When he woke up, all these things would pass as a mere happening. It had to be that way. Yuwon placed his phone on the side table and pulled the blanket up to his neck. Suddenly, thoughts of ghost stories he had heard somewhere crossed his mind, but he closed his eyes tightly and forced himself to sleep. Looking forward to tomorrow morning when everything would be back to normal after a good night’s sleep.
Thanks for the chapter