Gentle Giant Chapter 38
“Ugh, I need to make room quickly! Dain, you’re coming to the semester opening party next week, right? Let’s talk in a corner by ourselves then!”
“Huh? Semester opening party?”
“Yeah. They said it’s next week. Didn’t you hear?”
At Dain’s reaction of hearing about it for the first time, Dohyeon also widened his eyes. What? Dohyeon quickly picked up his phone and clicked on the group chat. Then he saw the semester opening party announcement notice prominently displayed at the top.
“What, you don’t even check the group chat?”
“Uh, what group chat? I don’t have a group chat…”
“What??”
After hearing Dain’s answer, Dohyeon quickly scanned through the list of chat participants. And as soon as he realized Dain’s name wasn’t there, his face crumpled up.
“No, what the hell is the student council doing?! These idiots!”
“Don’t get angry, Dohyeon. They could have forgotten.”
“Forgotten my ass! Ugh. Dain, I’ll invite you. Come in!”
“No, it’s okay. Hmm. If it’s something important, they’ll let me know even if it’s not through the group chat.”
Dain said, fidgeting with his fingers. Of course, he didn’t think they forgot on purpose, but if he were invited to the group chat and joined now, that would be uncomfortable in its own way.
Dohyeon let out a short sigh at Dain’s gentle reaction and ruffled Dain’s hair vigorously.
“Right! Those guys only talk about useless stuff anyway. If there are any other announcements, I’ll tell you. Got it?”
“Mm-hmm. Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it! Anyway, you’re coming to the semester opening party?”
“Uh, um. That is… would it be okay for me to go?”
Dain asked carefully.
“Of course it’s fine! And don’t think of it as coming to see other people, just think of it as coming to hang out with me! I don’t really know anyone else besides you either. After having a kid and coming back, they’re all young kids who won’t even give me the time of day!”
Dohyeon said, grumbling loudly. His exaggerated behavior was actually comforting, and Dain slightly lifted the corners of his mouth.
As Dohyeon said, he could think of it as going to talk with him. Actually, aside from the freshman welcome party in his first year, this was his first time participating in a department event, so he was a little excited.
* * *
Juho urged him while massaging Dain’s shoulders.
“Hyung, hurry up. We agreed to go on a date today!”
“Mm-hmm, just wait a moment while I fix my hair.”
“It looks fine now. Who are you trying to look good for?”
“It’s not about looking good for someone. This part is sticking up.”
Seeing Juho’s eyes turn sharp through the mirror, Dain hurriedly finished brushing his hair. The hair that had been sticking up stubbornly from earlier refused to lie flat. Eventually giving up on the stubborn strand, he just adjusted his top once and left the house.
“Hyung, you told me to trust only you so I really didn’t prepare anything. Is that really okay?”
“Mm-hmm! Of course! Juho, just trust hyung!”
Dain nodded his head up and down vigorously, thinking of the checklist he had put in his bag.
Last evening while eating dinner with Juho, Dain heard him suggest they go on a “date.” Since they wouldn’t be able to be together at school on Monday due to company work, his argument was that they should do “lover”-like things on the weekend.
Hearing that story, Dain’s face turned pink at the word “date,” then turned red at the word “lovers.”
Soon after, he agreed with Juho’s suggestion and burned with motivation.
This was the first date for the two who hadn’t done anything particularly lover-like yet. In that case, as the older one, I should step up. Dain put strength in his eyes and declared to Juho.
‘Juho, hyung will prepare everything for our first date!’
As soon as they finished dinner, Dain pulled out his checklist notepad and earnestly began searching the internet. Even when Juho finished cleaning up after dinner and came back from washing up, he could see Dain in the same spot, not having moved an inch, diligently preparing for the date.
And as a result, he was so fired up that his preparation time took twice as long as usual, and Juho barely managed to get him out.
“Um, so lunch is… here, here!”
Dain said, pointing to a small restaurant while turning the navigation app this way and that. It was a restaurant famous for meat dishes that Juho liked. Fortunately, he had free time the day before too, so he was able to make a reservation in a hurry.
“Welcome!”
“Ah, hello. I made a reservation for 11:30.”
“Yes, what’s the name on the reservation?”
“Jung Dain. For two people.”
The interior of the restaurant was full of couples as befitting a popular restaurant, with many young couples in particular.
Juho could vividly imagine how Dain must have searched, and almost laughed. Looking at the interior decorated with a lovely and cozy atmosphere for a meat restaurant, it seemed like a place that men often visited for their girlfriends.
Honestly speaking, it was quite far from Juho’s taste, but instead of showing it, he decided to enjoy this ticklish atmosphere with Dain.
However, he couldn’t understand at all why flower petals were sprinkled on the plates where raw meat was placed, and why teddy bear dolls occupied more than half of the chairs where people should sit.
In contrast, Dain seemed to quite like this kind of thing, as he was happily touching the teddy bear ears continuously.
“Juho, how is it? Pretty, right? The atmosphere here is good and the star rating was really high too.”
“Yes, it’s pretty. Since hyung is pretty, I’ll give it a high rating too.”
“Huh?”
The atmosphere was good and the restaurant was pretty, so the rating was high, but why was he suddenly saying he was pretty? Dain became embarrassed.
Juho slightly lifted the corners of his mouth while watching Dain squirm in embarrassment. And the people around who witnessed that sight blushed at seeing Juho’s radiant face.
In the small-scale restaurant with only a few tables, the two were definitely eye-catching.
Although it was a place that gained word-of-mouth as a date course for being cute and charming, most of the customers were male-female couples. Today was the same as usual, except for Juho and Dain.
On top of that, with two people of large build sitting together when even one person would be big, it was inevitable that attention naturally went to them.
Usually, Dain would have been uncomfortable with those stares, but right now he was excitedly talking with Juho and didn’t notice at all.
“Hyung, the meat is cooked here. Eat quickly.”
“Yeah. Juho, you eat too. Should I cool it down for you?”
“It’s okay. Hyung, eat a lot.”
Juho held the tongs and cut the meat into easy-to-eat pieces. Dain was moved once again by his ingrained kindness.
After deliciously eating even the sikhye that came out for dessert, Dain headed to the next course with a pleased face.
Juho’s face was also full of a pleased smile as he watched Dain naturally take his hand and move along.
* * *
“Hmm…”
A question arose on Juho’s face. After leaving the meat restaurant, the place Dain boldly brought him to was a trendy “life photo” shop. It was quite an unexpected place for Dain, who usually hated photos, to bring him.
“Hyung, you know what this shop does, right?”
“Yeah, I know! This is a place for taking photos!”
Dain said as if he knew that much.
“Hyung, you hate taking photos.”
“Uh, but they said you have to do this when you’re dating.”
“So… hyung, are you really going to take photos?”
“Mm-hmm!”
Juho was newly grateful for Dain’s simple thinking. It was so fascinating to see him faithfully following the dating course he learned from the internet.
He said he learned how to make friends from books, but I guess he learned what to do when dating from the internet. Still, that’s fortunate – I was worried he might suggest writing exchange diaries.
Juho quickly went inside before Dain could change his mind.
Dain had boldly dragged Juho here, but his eyes went round in front of the unfamiliar machines. He hit a roadblock right from choosing which photo machines to use.
From machines with people lining up and waiting, to machines with various themes drawn on them. There were too many choices, and he didn’t know which one to pick.
Eventually giving up on choosing a machine, Dain went to the nearest machine and inserted the bills he had prepared in advance.
“Juho, wait a moment. They said there are poses here too.”
“Haha, hyung. Just take them comfortably. Let’s try anything first.”
“Sh-should we? Actually, it’s too difficult and I don’t really know.”
Dain said with a tearful expression. Knowing how flustered he must be inside, Juho wrapped his arm around Dain’s shoulder and pressed the buttons instead.
The countdown started and a ‘click’ sound was heard. Dain was startled by the ‘pop!’ of the flashing lights and closed his eyes.
When watching photos other people took, it looked super easy, but taking photos was this difficult?
Without even time to properly compose himself, the announcement that the next photo would be taken was heard. Dain looked at the screen with a flustered face, and Juho, who was watching that sight without missing anything, couldn’t hold back his laughter.
For the second photo, fortunately he didn’t close his eyes, but his surprised pupils reflected in the lights, creating a photo that shone as if laser beams were shooting out.
“Huh… what should I do…?”
Dain’s face became tearful again. Juho gently rubbed Dain’s shoulder and said,
“It’s okay. If this photo doesn’t come out pretty, we can take more. Come here.”
“Mm-hmm?”
Juho hugged Dain tightly from behind and looked at the camera. Feeling the coziness from behind, Dain’s expression naturally softened.
The third photo taken with the ‘click’ sound was much more natural than before. He quite liked this photo.
In an instant, only the last shot remained.
Dain smiled following Juho and made a V with his hands. Juho also put his head against Dain’s and made a gently smiling expression.
“Hehe, it came out well.”
The first and second shots were terrible, but the third and last shots were really satisfying. He had never properly taken photos before, but taking them with Juho made him feel like he could take more next time.
Even while walking toward the next course, Dain kept looking at the photos.
“Do you like them?”
“Mm-hmm! I like them so much! Juho, what about you? How are they? Do you like them? Should we take more next time?”
“Haha, yes. I like them too. Let’s take more next time.”
Juho also answered while waving the photos in his hand. Dain thought that next time they took photos, he would definitely hug Juho too.
If he could just finish the last “movie theater” course well, it would be a successful first date.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
