The more I chewed, the stranger it felt. The noodles seemed a bit excessively hard. The taste was oddly bitter yet greasy—hard to define, but… it was just plain bad.
Across from me, Do Jihoon was resting his chin on his hand, staring at me. For some reason, his eyes looked like they were sparkling with anticipation.
This bastard… Does he not realize he can’t cook?
“How does it taste, Yuri?”
Guess he really doesn’t know.
Did people around him just go along with it and tell him it was delicious? Is that why he’s unaware of his terrible cooking skills?
I forced myself to chew and swallow the pasta that was basically like smashed instant noodles.
“It’s good….”
“Really? That’s a relief. I bought fresh noodles this morning to make it for you.”
“Fresh? Weren’t you planning to make pasta since yesterday?”
I twirled the pasta and stuffed it into my mouth. The sauce tasted weird too, but the texture was even worse. Seriously, it’s hard as hell.
“Well, yeah.”
“What the hell?”
Do Jihoon sat across from me, continuing to watch as I ate the food he made. I could throw it away once he disappeared, but it didn’t look like he planned on leaving the table until I finished the pasta.
“……”
In the end, swallowing my tears, I had to wolf down the nuclear-level disgusting pasta.
***
Monday morning.
Do Jihoon was in the walk-in closet, throwing on whatever clothes he grabbed.
“Stop right there.”
Ignoring me completely, he slipped his arm into a coat. I rushed over and snatched the poop-colored coat from him.
“Please, Jihoon. If you bought new clothes, at least wear them.”
Do Jihoon stared blankly at the coat I had taken from him. His face twisted into a deep frown. Yeah, go ahead and wrinkle your face all you want. If wrinkles form, they’ll be on your face, not mine.
“Hyung promised he’d make you wear all those clothes, remember? Just wait. I’ll pick something out.”
“……”
“Here!”
I boldly picked an outfit and handed it to him. Do Jihoon stared at the clothes and then glanced at me expectantly. I just looked back at him blankly.
“What?”
“Get out.”
“Oh.”
To be honest, I did kind of want to see Do Jihoon’s body once, but if I said that he’d definitely laugh and call me a pervert. So I just kept my mouth shut and went out to the living room.
A few minutes later, Do Jihoon came out wearing the clothes I picked. Hmm. As expected, my eye for style wasn’t wrong. Black suited Do Jihoon far better than poop-brown.
“Damn. You’re handsome.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“Jihoon, there’s an old saying—if you receive praise, you should give praise in return.”
“Shut that mouth and let’s just go to school, Yuri.”
“You asshole….”
It was currently 8:30. Living on our own was definitely way more comfortable than commuting from home.
Walking to school with Do Jihoon, I puffed up proudly.
“Moving out was a great decision, right?”
“Not sure.”
“Not sure?! Jihoon used to wake up at 6:30, but Yuri lets you sleep a bit more now.”
“We’re adults, Yuri. Let’s stop with the third-person thing.”
“Bastard. Seriously can’t be honest.”
Do Jihoon and I were headed in opposite directions. He went to Building 201 to take Principles of Economics, while I headed to Building 312 for General Chemistry.
Damn it. Right. General Chemistry.
On Mondays, I had back-to-back classes with Ki Tae-young. It was the start of a very damn uncomfortable day.
***
I’m not even sure how I got through the General Chemistry lecture. Letting everything I learned today evaporate from my brain, I searched for good restaurants near campus with Lee Daeju.
“Oh, sunbae!”
We happened to run into Gyeong Bae-hyun, who had also taken a class in Building 312. Gyeong Bae-hyun grabbed both me and Lee Daeju by the arms and dragged us to a Vietnamese pho restaurant.
Gyeong Bae-hyun was the kind senior who generously treated his juniors to meals. In return, we gifted him some sweet coffee.
“Ah.”
“What?”
“No, it’s just—Do Jihoon likes coffee from here too.”
Lee Daeju looked at me with a pitiful expression.
“Daeju, what’s with that look?”
“No… it’s just… you and Do Jihoon….”
“Oh right. This bastard.”
The moment Lee Daeju brought it up, I remembered the massive shitstorm of rumors he’d almost dumped on me. I smiled brightly at him.
“Shit, I told you it wasn’t like that. We get along great, alright?”
“……Really?”
“For real. Don’t spread weird rumors. If cracks form in our solid friendship, are you gonna take responsibility?”
“Got it. That’s a relief, man.”
“But you little punk. I said it wasn’t true, so why were you running your mouth to Kwon Jisoo and Shin Gi-hyeok?”
I gifted him a punch.
“Consider this settling it.”
“Ow!”
Unlike tank-built Do Jihoon, Lee Daeju had a glass body and even my punch hurt him. Hmm. Satisfying.
“Customer, are you ready to order?”
“Ah, yes. Um… a Caramel Cocoa Cluster Frappuccino and….”
Damn it, what was it again? I’d added a bunch of weird stuff to it. I clutched my head trying to remember, but the only thing I could recall was low-fat milk.
“Did you mean the Caramel Cocoa Cluster Frappuccino?”
“Ah, yes! That’s right. Please use low-fat milk.”
“Alright. Would you like whipped cream on top?”
Ah! Right. There was whipped cream too. And caramel syrup and java chips!
“Yes, please add whipped cream. And drizzle caramel syrup and add java chips.”
“Okay. Your order is complete.”
A little while later, we each left the café with drinks in our hands. Unlike me, who was heading back to the apartment, Lee Daeju seemed to be staying at the café to study before going to his afternoon class.
“Go on.”
“Yeah. See you later.”
The moment I stepped out of the café, I called Do Jihoon.
“What’s up?”
The signal hadn’t even rung three times before he picked up. Hearing his voice through the phone made it sound slightly lower and rougher than usual. It almost sounded like he’d just woken up.
“Where you at?”
“Home.”
“The apartment?”
“Yeah.”
“What were you doing?”
Still on the phone with Do Jihoon, I headed back home. We bickered a bit, tossed around a few curses. I was almost at the apartment, but hearing his voice through the phone felt strangely nice, so I didn’t want to hang up for no reason.
I reached the apartment in no time.
“Guess where I am.”
“No idea.”
“Right in front of the house.”
“Yeah? Then why aren’t you coming in?”
Click—
The call ended. Then the apartment door opened and the real Do Jihoon appeared.
“It’s cold, huh? Your cheeks are red.”
“Yeah. Must be one of those late cold snaps.”
Exaggerating, I shivered dramatically and handed Do Jihoon the frappuccino. Tilting his head, he pointed at the drink.
“You got this for me?”
“Yeah. That Caramel Cocoa Cluster Frappuccino with low-fat milk. Whipped cream. Caramel syrup and java chips. I added everything.”
Counting on my fingers, I proudly handed him the drink.
“Here. Take it.”
Do Jihoon grabbed the frappuccino in my hand.
“……?”
But he didn’t take it away.
I was about to tell him to just take it already when I quickly shut my mouth. My hand and Do Jihoon’s hand were touching.
For some reason it felt ticklish and awkward, so I fidgeted my fingers. When I kept staring at his hand, Do Jihoon used his other hand to slowly ruffle my hair.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing. You just look like a puppy.”
“You’re calling me a dog?”
“……Let’s keep that mouth shut, Yuri.”
The soft atmosphere disappeared instantly. Do Jihoon snatched the frappuccino from my hand. When we went inside, the clock pointed to 1:30.
My General Chemistry lab started at 3, so if I stopped by the dry cleaner’s in a bit and then went to the lecture hall, it’d be perfect.
“Do Jihoon, what did you eat for lunch?”
“I toasted whole-wheat bread in olive oil and had it with scrambled eggs. Why?”
“……Pretentious bastard.”
“I’m getting old now. Gotta take care of my health.”
“Say that after you finish the caramel whatever in your hand.”
As if to show off, Do Jihoon loudly slurped the frappuccino. Such a hypocritical jerk.
“I’m going to take a nap.”
“Are you a toddler? Taking naps at this hour?”
“Fuck. Anyway, I suck at hearing alarms, you know that. If you’re not going out, wake me up at 2:10.”
Do Jihoon tilted his head in confusion.
“2:10?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s a weird time. Doesn’t your class start at 3?”
“Yeah. But….”
I have to go collect Ki Tae-young sunbae’s jacket.
The words I was about to spill out stopped short. I pressed my lips together and cut myself off.
“But?”
Do Jihoon didn’t let the conversation end there. His gaze stayed fixed on me.
Should I tell him? Or not?
If I tell him, it feels like he’ll get annoyed. But if I don’t tell him and he finds out later, that might make him annoyed too.
Ah, whatever. If I’m going to get beaten up for it, I might as well get it over with quickly.
