#87
Bonoh-ssi, who had been listening intently, asked shyly. He was embarrassed, curling his lips inward as he bit them, but even that looked good because he was so handsome. However, on the other hand, I thought “as expected,” and it felt like my heart was going to tear apart. As they say, handsome men are either gay or already taken. The former was difficult to confirm, but he seemed to fall into the latter category.
I tried not to show my heartbreak as I read Bonoh-ssi’s love fortune.
“It says don’t look far away, but look among the people around you. Oh, and your spouse luck isn’t bad, so if you get married, you could do it at an early age, or… you might never be able to…?”
“Hey, that’s crazy. Can you see I got goosebumps?”
Bonoh-ssi rolled up his sleeves and showed his forearms to his companion. The man sitting on the left tried to cover Bonoh-ssi’s forearms, telling him not to lift his clothes carelessly outside, but somehow he also seemed a bit surprised.
What? I retraced the part I had just read. Isn’t saying to look around you just a common saying? I wondered if Bonoh-ssi’s “someone” was an acquaintance that his companion also knew.
“That’s all for now. Would your companion like a reading too?”
I asked without much expectation. Since he’d been suspicious the whole time, I naturally thought he wouldn’t want one.
“No.”
Just as I thought.
“Why? It’s fun, so try it! Just once, okay?”
However, Bonoh-ssi started clinging to the man, asking him to get a reading. The man looked annoyed but eventually agreed, unable to resist Bonoh-ssi’s urging. He may be suspicious of many things, but he treats his friend well, I suppose. It wasn’t bad for me. I was already feeling regretful about parting like this, so it was nice to be able to look at the handsome man longer.
“Alright, then please tell me your birth date.”
“Excuse me.”
“Yes?”
What’s with him? I had only asked for his birth date, but the man was looking at me with a serious expression. He was handsome but had an unapproachable face, and when he deliberately put on a serious expression, he looked even more intimidating.
“You’re not asking for my name.”
Ah. I was so surprised I almost bit my tongue. I thought he was just picking a fight for no reason again, but he was unexpectedly perceptive.
“Oh, yes. Your name as well…”
“Why are you making it awkward again…”
Bonoh-ssi took my side. Ah, Bonoh-ssi… I’m sorry for ranking you 7th. If you appear on a survival show, I’ll vote hard for you. I haven’t missed a single presidential or general election vote since I became an adult, but from now on I’ll vote for Bonoh-ssi too.
“February 31st, 1987, Kim Cheolsu.”
“Yes. February 31st, 1987… yes?”
He said it so casually that I almost let it pass. I was mindlessly entering the birth date and realized it when it came time to enter the day. Where is there a February 31st, Kim Cheolsu-ssi? Even the name felt like it was made up carelessly.
“What are you doing…?”
Exactly. Bonoh-ssi said what I wanted to say. Unlike before, Bonoh-ssi looked at Kim Cheolsu with a cold expression. Then Kim Cheolsu, who hadn’t batted an eye at my disgusted expression, flinched at Bonoh-ssi’s chilly reaction.
“…Joo Taeseong.”
Eventually Kim Cheolsu confessed his real birth date and name again. This time, since Bonoh-ssi didn’t react much, it seemed to be real. I entered Kim Cheolsu’s birth date again with a cold heart.
“Kim Cheolsu-ssi has sharp metal in his fortune. You have a disgrace star, so it would be good if you go to public baths often. Huh…? Just looking at the five elements, you two have decent compatibility?”
I didn’t even believe in fortune telling, but having been bombarded with all sorts of questions from customers who flocked in on the first day, I had crammed basic knowledge about fortune telling before going to bed yesterday. There weren’t many customers today so it wasn’t rewarding, but it seemed like there was something to show from what I had studied in advance.
“……”
“Wow, really?”
“Yes, Bonoh-ssi has a lot of water but Cheolsu-ssi has no water, so it would be complementary, probably…”
On top of that, perhaps from my habit of reading BL, I found myself unconsciously comparing Bonoh-ssi and Kim Cheolsu’s five elements to check their compatibility. However, I didn’t have very professional knowledge, so I wasn’t certain. When Bonoh-ssi brightened up and asked if it was really true, I became even more uncertain.
“Then what about his love fortune?”
“He has no spouse luck and even if he marries, the probability of divorce is high. But um, love luck is coming this month, and if he misses this, probably never again…”
Bonoh-ssi, sitting next to him, was more enthusiastic than Kim Cheolsu himself. As I was reading the love fortune as it was, I trailed off at the unexpectedly harsh result. A high probability of divorce even if he marries? He does look like that, but since some people get angry even when told the truth, sometimes lies were necessary. Though I had already thoughtlessly read it all out.
“Wow, you’re really good at this… Did you hear? It says this month. You can’t miss it, right?”
Perhaps because it wasn’t about himself, Bonoh-ssi was excitedly telling Kim Cheolsu. It was nice to look at the handsome man, but I was gradually getting drained. As expected, being idle was better than being busy, even if it meant being mindful of others.
After reading the love fortune too, there was nothing more to see. I had read all the results that came out, and since I wasn’t a professional, there was nothing more I could tell them myself. When I said it was finished, Bonoh-ssi stood up with a regretful expression. Kim Cheolsu’s face strangely showed relief, which was a bit annoying. He’s so handsome, so why don’t I feel drawn to him? It’s really hard to feel this way about such a face… Hmm.
The two received cheap drinks with the name “non-alcoholic cocktail” and paid. The drink was blue in color, a syrup imitating blue lemonade flavor, and Kim Cheolsu even looked at that drink with a suspicious expression.
Bonoh-ssi drank half of it in one go, then smacked his lips with a bitter expression, as if it didn’t suit his taste at all. Huh? That was strange. Kim Cheolsu, who had been wearing the expression of a grandfather who insists on going to the bank because he finds internet banking suspicious, smiled when he saw Bonoh-ssi’s bitter expression. His already handsome appearance when sullen became even more radiant.
And Kim Cheolsu naturally took the drink that Bonoh-ssi had been drinking. He didn’t even touch his own drink, instead bringing his lips to the straw that Bonoh-ssi had been sucking on.
Could it be…? I couldn’t tell if my brain had been pickled in BL or if the two were really dating. I couldn’t make an objective judgment at all. But I was relieved that no one would notice I was having such thoughts. Even if I thought like this inside, it was something I had thought about a lot originally, so it wouldn’t show on the outside, and no one was paying attention to me right now.
After they left, I clicked not on the comprehensive fortune tab of the site, but on the compatibility tab. And I entered Kim Cheolsu and Bonoh-ssi’s birth dates.
I began to secretly read the results like reading a BL novel.
***
“I should have asked about compatibility then too.”
“As if you would have asked.”
At Taeseong’s words, Bonoh looked embarrassed. Indeed, he had clearly told Taeseong to refrain from using the term “jagi” (honey/baby) outside.
Taeseong had lied that he decided to call him “jagi” because he was annoyed that Bonoh, who confessed while drunk, had lost his memory. When Bonoh confessed again, Taeseong came clean about the lie, and after that, they naturally began calling each other “jagi.”
However, it was Bonoh’s suggestion to avoid using such an embarrassing term outside, especially between men, as it felt very awkward. Taeseong was very displeased but had to agree. This was because Bonoh would noticeably reduce his words whenever they met, just to avoid being called by that term.
Yet he himself would unconsciously call out “jagi-ya” and then be startled. His ears would turn bright red and he’d creak like a broken robot, which was so cute that Taeseong’s displeased feelings would melt away.
The fortune cafe was interesting indeed. Taeseong didn’t believe in anything other than himself, including fortune telling. He especially didn’t know if it was worth the risk of revealing personal information like birth dates, which corresponded to the first part of one’s resident registration number. So Taeseong remained suspicious.
Bringing desks and chairs from the lecture hall and sitting there with just a laptop also didn’t inspire much trust. It obviously seemed like he was just searching for something on the laptop and reading it out, and to Taeseong’s ears, it was all vague and general statements that could apply to anyone. When he said there was a lot of water, he was quite surprised, understanding it in a different sense.
Even at such ambiguous words, Kim Bonoh chimed in enthusiastically, spilling his own stories freely. Among other things, Taeseong was dizzy at the mention of wanting to immigrate to Australia. If that had happened, he wouldn’t have been able to meet Bonoh. When Kim Bonoh moved into the dormitory, it was very stressful, but even if he could go back, Taeseong would endure that stress to get Kim Bonoh in his hands again.
This time of attending classes with Bonoh, having intimate conversations, and walking around campus felt newly precious. Regardless of the process, Taeseong had achieved the confession he had so desperately wanted. As they walked together, satisfaction welled up from deep in his heart.
“Bonoh hyung!”
Bonoh, who had been chattering beside him, turned around. Taeseong also knew the owner of that voice. It was Bonoh’s new roommate, Woo Hyeseong. Taeseong’s mood, which had been soaked in satisfaction until just now, plummeted instantly with Hyeseong’s appearance.
Whether he had good eyesight or had been roaming the campus all day looking only for Kim Bonoh, Hyeseong was waving at Bonoh from far away. Not only that, but he asked his friends for understanding and then started running toward them.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
