“But what is this?”
Jaeyoon, who had expected items sold by the art club to be some kind of drawings like postcards or illustrations, looked with a puzzled expression at the black objects visible through the envelope.
“Oh, that?”
Sim Hajun smiled with a mischievous expression, narrowing his eyes.
“That is~”
“It’s a phone grip.”
Hajun, who was about to speak with puffed-up shoulders, gave Jung Jinhoo a dejected look for intercepting his answer. Completely ignoring his gaze, Jinhoo showed the contents of the envelope to Jaeyoon, who was looking at him with wide, surprised eyes.
Admiration flowed from Jaeyoon’s mouth as he confirmed the phone grip in Jinhoo’s hand. The art club sells phone grips? As he tilted his head this way and that to look at it, he couldn’t help but smile at the cat drawing on the phone grip.
“This is your drawing, isn’t it, sunbae?”
Jinhoo smiled softly, closing his eyes in response to Jaeyoon’s question.
“You recognized it well.”
Hajun, who had abruptly inserted himself between the two, looked at Jaeyoon with surprise.
‘Of course I’d recognize the drawing I like.’
“Hmm? But have we met somewhere before?”
“What? No, we haven’t…?”
Jaeyoon shook his head with a puzzled expression at the stare fixed on him. You definitely look familiar! As Hajun muttered to himself with his hand on his chin, Jaeyoon also furrowed his brow and looked at Hajun.
‘He’s not a romance character, and not a character that appears in the game… Maybe he’s someone Lee Jaeyoon met before I possessed him? But then I wouldn’t recognize his face…’
Hajun’s eyes, which had been staring at Jaeyoon, grew larger and larger.
“Ah-!!”
As Hajun pointed at him and shouted as if something had occurred to him, Jaeyoon blinked with an awkward smile.
“The one Jung Jinhoo drew…, mmph!?”
The moment his name came out of Hajun’s mouth, Jinhoo’s eyes widened and he quickly covered Hajun’s lips with his hand. After easily subduing Hajun, who was struggling to remove the hand blocking his mouth, Jinhoo awkwardly smiled at Jaeyoon, who was looking at them with narrowed brows.
“…Why are you covering Hajun-sunbae’s mouth?”
“It’s nothing.”
Jaeyoon’s eyes narrowed. Seeing this, a drop of cold sweat ran down Jinhoo’s temple.
“Mmph-mmph.”
Although it was completely unintelligible, Hajun was desperately trying to communicate something to Jaeyoon. His pitiful appearance made Jaeyoon want to somehow understand what he was saying, but without supernatural powers, translation was impossible.
“It doesn’t seem like nothing to me.”
“It’s really nothing. He’s just a bit weird normally.”
“Mmph!?”
Jinhoo casually ignored Hajun, who was strongly protesting.
“Hmm-.”
Under Jaeyoon’s stare, Jinhoo rolled his eyes and deliberately avoided his gaze.
‘He’s hiding something.’
After staring at Jinhoo with slightly furrowed brows, as he looked undeniably suspicious, Jaeyoon eventually shrugged.
“Then shall we quickly go to the art room? We need to sell these, right?”
“Huh? Y-yeah.”
Jinhoo answered with confusion at Jaeyoon’s unexpected easy surrender.
‘If he wants to keep it secret, there’s no need to force it out of him.’
Jinhoo, who had been blankly staring at Jaeyoon’s back as he walked ahead, gave an indifferent look to Hajun, who had escaped from his grasp and was protesting. Hajun grabbed the back of his neck as he saw Jinhoo vigorously wiping his hand with a handkerchief to remove the saliva.
“You, you-!!”
“What?”
“I thought I was going to suffocate to death!!”
“It’s because you were saying unnecessary things.”
“Hey, even so, there’s a limit!!”
Jinhoo’s expression remained serene despite the shouting next to him. After confirming that Jaeyoon had entered the art room, he cut off Hajun, who was getting angry and spraying saliva everywhere.
“Stop chattering and let’s go in quickly.”
“Ch-chattering…? Does this look like chattering to you? Huh?”
Jinhoo shrugged at Hajun’s words. Grinding his teeth, Hajun suddenly let out a small exclamation as if something had occurred to him.
“Oh, come to think of it, that drawing… I think a first-year student hung it on the wall…?”
His footsteps stopped in the corridor. Jinhoo’s face was filled with shock when he turned around. Looking at him with trembling pupils, Hajun felt sorry even though it wasn’t his fault.
“You’re joking…?”
“…I wish… I was.”
“Y-you, why were you just watching it happen?!”
‘Just because.’
Seeing his own end if he uttered those words, Hajun blinked with an innocent expression instead of opening his mouth. Jinhoo’s expression contorted. Though he had many things he wanted to say, his mind was too jumbled to produce any words. Seeing Jinhoo looking at him with his lips moving silently, Hajun spoke in a cowering voice.
“Is it okay to be standing here like this? That Jaeyoon… he went into the art room…?”
His eyes opened as wide as possible, clearly showing his golden pupils. With a panicked expression, Jinhoo looked toward the art room and ran toward it with urgent movements.
‘Please, please!!’
Desperately hoping that Jaeyoon had not yet discovered his drawing, he ran into the art room and closed his eyes with an exclamation as he saw Jaeyoon’s back standing still in front of a painting.
‘Ah, damn it…’
***
“I brought this at Jung Jinhoo-sunbae’s request.”
Jaeyoon handed the envelope to a student from the art club. The boy, who was bowing his head in thanks, had his pupils shake greatly the moment his eyes met Jaeyoon’s blue ones.
“Huh…?”
A confused voice flowed from the boy’s mouth. His eyes opened wide as he looked at Jaeyoon. What is it? Narrowing his brow with curiosity, Jaeyoon followed the boy’s gaze as he slowly turned his head to look somewhere.
“Ah.”
A small exclamation escaped Jaeyoon’s lips the moment he saw where the boy was looking. Blankly staring at the picture on the wall, Jaeyoon approached the drawing decorated on the wall as if entranced.
Jaeyoon thought he understood why Hajun had recognized him. On the pure white wall of the art club hung a drawing of a familiar boy. Chocolate-brown hair, blue eyes. The pretty boy was smiling brightly while holding kittens in his arms. This heart-warming drawing stood out among the numerous pictures exhibited in the art club.
Someone urgently grabbed Jaeyoon’s shoulder as he was staring at the picture like a statue. Slowly turning his head, Jaeyoon blinked slowly at the sight of Jinhoo looking at him with an anxious face, panting.
“J-Jaeyoon, so this is…!!”
Jinhoo’s lips moved in confusion. His golden pupils shook rapidly. Jaeyoon looked at Jinhoo silently, then smiled at the corner of his mouth.
“Sunbae, I think I need to go back to my classroom now.”
“Huh?”
“So…”
As his head gradually lowered, Jaeyoon’s face turned as red as an apple.
“Eut…!”
“Jaeyoon??”
Jinhoo was startled by Jaeyoon’s gesture of quickly covering his mouth with the back of his hand and tried to check his face by lowering his head. But Jaeyoon grabbed Jinhoo’s shoulders and pushed him back.
“J-Jaeyoon…”
“I-I have to go now!!”
As Jaeyoon rushed out of the art room, Jinhoo, left alone in the room, blinked slowly with a face that couldn’t process the situation.
***
‘What is this! What is this!!’
Jaeyoon ran quickly through the corridor. People passing by looked at him with puzzled expressions, but they quickly lost interest, probably thinking he was busy with festival preparations. Running without a destination, Jaeyoon stopped when he reached a place with no people and caught his breath.
“Haa, haa…!!”
With both hands on the fountain, Jaeyoon looked at his reflection in the rippling water. His face and the tips of his ears were so red that they looked no different from an apple.
“No, this can’t be…”
Jaeyoon’s expression crumpled at his heart, which was beating painfully as if it might burst at any moment.
“No… this can’t happen…!!”
Jaeyoon’s legs gave out. Sitting down on the spot with his back against the fountain, he blankly stared at the sky.
“The other person is a high school student…”
Jaeyoon’s eyes opened wide as he tapped the back of his head against the fountain.
‘Come to think of it, this place…’
This place where Jaeyoon had aimlessly run to was both where he first met Jung Jinhoo and also a location that appeared in the drawing he had just seen.
“Ah, why this place of all places…!!”
Jaeyoon covered his eyes with his arm. Then, the image of Jinhoo drawing vividly appeared in his mind. The gentle gaze watching him playing with the cats. Soft pink lips smiling gently. Beautiful white hands filling the empty canvas.
“Ah, really…!!”
Jaeyoon frowned deeply. That day, the drawing born from Jinhoo’s hands was as gentle as his gaze, exciting enough to tickle his heart, and with feelings so obvious it made his cheeks flush. No matter how dense Jaeyoon might be, he couldn’t misunderstand. Looking at the picture, it was as if Jinhoo was whispering in his ear.
‘I like you.’
His heart pounded loudly again. Jaeyoon ruffled his hair wildly with both hands. He had never truly liked anyone before. Whenever he tried to seriously like someone, he felt a warning from deep inside his heart. ‘You’ll regret it.’ So no matter how many times he dated, no matter who he went out with, there was never that heart-fluttering, heartbreaking love like in movies or dramas. His dry attitude made his ex-lovers leave, saying, ‘You don’t love me, do you?’
But…
His first true love turned out to be a high school student!!
‘Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind? Do you have any conscience??’
Jaeyoon covered his face with both hands. Once he became aware, there was no stopping it. He bit his lip hard at the emotions that were overflowing uncontrollably.
Even setting aside the age issue, he was in a body that could return to the original world at any time. If he suddenly disappeared and the original Lee Jaeyoon returned to this body, and if Lee Jaeyoon still liked Han Doyoon. Jaeyoon didn’t want to hurt Jinhoo. So it was right to sort out these feelings now.
‘Please, subside.’
“Jaeyoon!!”
As Jaeyoon was struggling to erase his feelings, silver-white hair fluttered before his eyes. His eyes widened at his own reflection in those clear golden pupils.
“Why are you here…”
“I’m sorry!!”
“What…?”
Jaeyoon blinked blankly at the sight of Jinhoo bowing his head in apology. At the voice saying “sorry” again, as if chewing the words, Jaeyoon spoke in a confused voice.
“Sunbae, what…”
“I’m sorry for drawing you without permission!”
“Ah…”
“I didn’t intend to exhibit it, but my junior misunderstood… I’m sorry.”
Jinhoo raised his head. Clear eyes appeared between disheveled strands of hair, directed at Jaeyoon. Feeling his cheeks heating up again, Jaeyoon subtly avoided his gaze. Jinhoo’s pupils shook greatly. After biting his lip hard, Jinhoo grabbed Jaeyoon’s wrist.
“I’m sorry. Did it make you feel bad?”
“What…?”
What do you mean? As Jaeyoon wore a puzzled expression, he realized that Jinhoo’s hand holding his wrist was trembling. Jaeyoon’s eyes widened. Looking properly at Jinhoo’s face, Jaeyoon read the fear that had appeared on it.
“Sunbae, wait…!”
“I’m sorry. But Jaeyoon.”
Jinhoo and Jaeyoon’s eyes met.
“I like you.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
