# 6.
“You like sausages, huh? Here, eat all of these.”
Jihan, who boldly claimed he had brought extra from his friends, moved his sausages onto Jeongwoo’s tray. The side dish of sausages, which had three left on the tray, was now piled high.
It felt suspicious, as if it might be aegyo to try to get on his good side.
“You eat them.”
“But I brought them for you.”
“That’s why I’m telling you to eat them. I don’t need them.”
“Enjoy your meal.”
Jihan, now used to Jeongwoo’s prickliness, said “enjoy your meal” and put rice in his mouth.
With cheeks puffed out, Jihan stuffed his mouth full of rice and ate quite heartily. Though it was their first time eating lunch together, he was eating so deliciously.
Jeongwoo almost forgot that the person in front of him was Moon Jihan and even thought about giving him some of his own side dishes. Just for a very brief moment.
It was natural that Jeongwoo, who had started eating first, emptied his tray faster than Jihan. Though Jeongwoo was expected to get up immediately after finishing, he waited for Jihan to finish as well. It was his own way of being considerate.
Jihan smiled as he watched Jeongwoo greeting Sejong, who had just entered.
“You said you didn’t want them, but you ate all the sausages I gave you. And you gave me three sausages, saying I didn’t have any side dishes left.”
Jihan, who had been saving the last sausage, put it in his mouth and muttered as he stood up.
Then he picked up Jeongwoo’s tray, which had been emptied long ago.
“I can take care of my own.”
“I’ll do it for you. As thanks for the sausages.”
With that response, Jihan went to return the trays. Watching his back as he went, looking somehow excited, Jeongwoo shook his head.
“You’re the one who gave them to me in the first place.”
Jeongwoo muttered with a voice that conveyed his inability to understand, shrugging his shoulders. Jihan was just giving back what he had given.
It wasn’t even like he gave back everything he received; he just gave three sausages and Jeongwoo ate the rest.
‘But can that really make him so happy?’
Thinking Jihan was quite a frivolous person, Jeongwoo took his eyes off Jihan’s back and stood up.
‘If he’s going to throw it away for me, I don’t need to refuse.’
With that thought, he left the cafeteria.
Perhaps not thinking Jeongwoo would wait for him, Jihan glanced at the empty seat and went over to his friends.
Jeongwoo, who had exited the cafeteria, went straight to the classroom.
The classroom was empty except for a few students who were studying while having a quick meal, trying to save the time it would take to go to the cafeteria.
Before sitting down, Jeongwoo stretched and took out a workbook while putting on his earphones. He planned to solve problems until lunch break was over.
The problems were going exceptionally smoothly today, allowing him to concentrate in a good mood.
As Jeongwoo was flipping through his workbook, unaware of the passing time, he looked up at a chocolate that had dropped onto his workbook. Seeing only the slender, long fingers, he thought it was Hyewoon.
“You’re already…”
There’s no way he could have already come. Jeongwoo was about to continue when he turned his stiff neck and looked up. It wasn’t Hyewoon looking at him, but Jihan.
Who knows when he had arrived, but Jihan was in his signature pose, resting his chin on his hands. The desk was filled with various candies, snacks, and chocolates.
“Why don’t you answer when I call you?”
As the lunch break was coming to an end, it was getting progressively noisier, so Jeongwoo had turned up the volume to maximum and couldn’t hear what Jihan was saying.
He could only see the shape of Jihan’s lips as he mumbled toward him.
When he took out one earphone, the characteristic bustling sounds of lunch break immediately hit his eardrum.
Jeongwoo frowned at the shouting from the playground and the piercing voices of people going back and forth in the hallway. Jihan giggled again as he poked the wrinkle between Jeongwoo’s brows with his index finger.
“What is it?”
“I didn’t know you were listening to music. I’ve been calling you since I was in the hallway.”
So what am I supposed to do about that? As Jeongwoo’s face expressed this sentiment, Jihan tilted his head side to side and added:
“I was so hurt because there was no response. I thought for sure you’d be frowning or getting annoyed right away.”
He knew full well Jeongwoo would frown, yet he called from the hallway?
Jeongwoo was convinced by Jihan’s words.
This crazy guy lives for the fun of teasing me. His good mood from solving problems smoothly was about to turn sour.
Not wanting to deal with him, Jeongwoo was about to ignore him and go back to solving problems when Jihan pushed the chocolate he had placed toward Jeongwoo.
“Eat it.”
“Why should I eat this?”
“You need sugar when you study.”
Even though the chocolate was already touching Jeongwoo’s stomach, Jihan pushed it with more force.
Jeongwoo pressed down on both the chocolate that kept hitting his stomach and Jihan’s hand, pushing them away.
“How would you know that?”
“Why wouldn’t I know?”
“How would someone who doesn’t study know that?”
“I study when I need to.”
It was an unexpected answer; Jeongwoo had thought Jihan had just heard it somewhere.
As if he had heard something unbelievable, Jeongwoo opened his eyes wide. When his straight eyebrows changed to look like seagulls, Jihan laughed, saying he was cute.
“You, studying? When?”
“During exam periods.”
“Yeah, right.”
Jeongwoo snorted as if it wasn’t even funny. He thought, how could someone who doesn’t study normally claim to study during exams?
Unusually agitated by this, Jihan shouted:
“Cramming is still studying, you know!”
“Sure, sure. Whatever you say.”
He replied half-heartedly. But since Jihan had given it to him, he supposed he should eat it. He had been focused on solving problems for over 30 minutes, and he was craving something sweet.
Although Jihan had just made a lucky guess, Jeongwoo was admiring how well he had read his mind as he was about to pick up the chocolate.
“Think of me while you eat it, Jeongwoo.”
At Jihan’s voice full of aegyo, Jeongwoo froze.
His desire to eat completely disappeared. Somehow, his mouth felt dry.
Brushing his dry lips, Jeongwoo called out to a male student passing by.
“Hey.”
“Me? Are you calling me?”
“Yeah. Eat this.”
“A chocolate bar? Thanks. I’ll enjoy it.”
The one who received the chocolate bar was Jihan’s friend who was passing by.
Jihan’s friends generally fell into two categories: those who were wary of and disliked Jeongwoo, and those who just thought of Jeongwoo as a classmate.
They could be divided into these two groups. The student Jeongwoo had stopped was from the latter category, someone who spoke casually with Jeongwoo.
The male student, waving the chocolate bar with a word of thanks, immediately unwrapped it and took a bite.
Jihan, who had been blankly looking back and forth between them, shouted angrily as he stared at the chocolate bar with clear teeth marks.
“Why are you eating that!”
“Huh? Was I not supposed to eat this?”
“Yeah! You can’t! Give it back!”
It was Jeongwoo who grabbed Jihan as he lunged forward as if to snatch it back.
“It’s okay for him to eat it, go ahead.”
The male student nodded at Jeongwoo as Jihan immediately became docile when Jeongwoo grabbed him, and went back to his seat.
“I gave it to you, so why did you give it to that guy?”
“Identity inspector, I gave what you gave me to him, so what’s the problem?”
Jihan mimicked Jeongwoo’s words exactly and started calling him “identity inspector” again.
When he feels like it, he sweetly and affectionately calls him “Jeongwoo,” but when he doesn’t, he calls him “identity inspector.” Having heard it so many times, Jeongwoo no longer felt angry and just ignored Jihan’s words.
When there was no reaction, Jihan exhaled deeply with a dejected face, as if wishing the ground would swallow him up.
“How could you do that? Identity inspector, aren’t you being too harsh? Is it such a big mistake to ask you to think of me while eating? Is it so hard to think of the person who bought it for you while eating?”
What followed was a stream of reproach. His eyes, full of betrayal, were burning fiercely.
Wondering why he’s acting like a child again, Jeongwoo turned slightly to face Jihan properly.
“You gave it to me to eat, right?”
“Yes.”
“So it’s mine, right?”
“That’s right.”
As Jeongwoo explained calmly, Jihan nodded.
“If it’s mine and I want to give it to someone else, why are you making such a fuss?”
Not understanding the reproach or the betrayed look in his eyes, Jeongwoo said what he had wanted to say all along.
“If you had just kept quiet, I might have eaten it. Why did you have to say something weird?”
“It was a joke.”
“Don’t say things like that, even as a joke. It gives me the creeps.”
Jeongwoo’s iron wall and prickliness were the same as always.
But Jihan, who was staring silently at Jeongwoo, was a little different.
If it had been the usual him, he would have grumbled or pouted with aegyo saying it was too much, but instead, he turned his head away as if upset and pressed his lips tightly together.
What broke the chilly atmosphere was the bell signaling the end of lunch break and the start of class.
When the bell rang and he was putting away his workbook, Jeongwoo didn’t pay attention to the sulking Jihan.
That’s how it was at first.
Screech. Screeech.
Now that class had started, he couldn’t help but be conscious of it even if he wanted to ignore it.
Whether he was really upset or not, Jihan spent the entire class time doodling without saying a word.
Even though he would normally have been asleep by now, saying that a full stomach after lunch makes him sleepier, he was staying awake as if in protest. How could Jeongwoo not be bothered when Jihan wasn’t sleeping but was tearing up his notebook with a pen?
Though Jeongwoo was forcing himself to look at the blackboard, all his attention was focused on Jihan next to him.
About 20 minutes into the class.
After enduring and enduring, Jeongwoo finally scribbled something in his notebook. Then he pushed it toward Jihan in the next seat.
[Why are you upset?]
[I’m not upset]
Jihan tossed the notebook back.
Contrary to his words, he was clearly upset to anyone who looked. Jeongwoo, staring intently at Jihan’s handwriting, which was even neater than his own, snorted.
‘If you want to pretend you’re not upset, at least try to hide it.’
Despite his childish behavior, his handwriting was surprisingly good. Even when Jeongwoo tried his best, his handwriting was so poor that his friends would mock him.
For the first time, he found something about Jihan that he envied.
‘Well, it suits his face, I admit.’
The neat handwriting, as straight as his face, suited him quite well.
[Why are you laughing]
At the sound of Jeongwoo’s laughter, Jihan took the notebook and wrote, pressing the pen hard.
He pressed so hard that the indentation was clear. Jeongwoo burst into laughter again at the handwriting that seemed to be saying “recognize that I’m upset.”
He used to be happy when Jeongwoo laughed, but now it seems even laughter displeases him.
The teacher, who had been engrossed in the lesson, turned his head at the sound of laughter spreading through the quiet classroom. Quickly wiping the smile off his face, Jeongwoo scribbled carelessly below Jihan’s writing.
[Just because you’re cute.]
Even Jeongwoo himself had difficulty reading it. No matter how carelessly he wrote, true to his nature, Jeongwoo stubbornly added punctuation marks.
He felt strange without adding anything, so he made sure to add a period, but Jihan took the notebook as if he knew this.
As Jeongwoo was wondering if he should write again while looking at the notebook in Jihan’s hands—
Jihan, who had been glaring at the long worm-like scribble, dropped the pen he was holding. His earlobes were flushed red.
As if he had some ability to decipher the worm-like handwriting, Jihan immediately understood the meaning and began to clear his throat repeatedly.
[Hey, do you say things like that so casually]
[What did I do?]
[You should at least pretend to be embarrassed]
[You’re the one who heard the compliment, so why should I? And it seems like you’re the one who’s embarrassed.]
[Who’s embarrassed]
[Your ears are red.]
Jihan hurriedly covered his ear with one hand as he wrote.
Jeongwoo’s gaze, which had traveled up the hand holding the thin pen, reached his face. Looking at him like this, not just his ears but also his neck seemed a bit red.
Jeongwoo laughed inwardly, avoiding the teacher’s sharp gaze.
It was a bit funny to see him embarrassed at a single word of being “cute.” For Jihan, who always showered Jeongwoo with compliments like “cute” or “handsome” even when Jeongwoo clearly disliked it, to be embarrassed by one compliment.
He had expected Jihan to respond shamelessly.
[Identity inspector, you’re really annoying]
The notebook was pushed toward him as he was thinking how unexpected this was. Jeongwoo saw the handwriting, which was a bit messier than the neat writing from earlier.
[Yes, I know.]
[You’re really annoying]
[I’ve heard it so much that it doesn’t even affect me anymore.]
[What?]
[I hear that kind of thing a lot.]
The notebook moved quickly back and forth between the two.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
