#004
“I’m just kidding.”
Jiwoon answered while fixing his disheveled bangs from getting dressed. Hunched over from the gentle breeze blowing, with his hands in his hoodie’s front pocket, he looked like a kangaroo.
“Is your mother a doctor?”
“Yes.”
“So that’s why you played doctor a lot.”
Jiwoon nodded, thinking of their conversation in the nurse’s office. His face, brightening and darkening according to the streetlight, caught Yechan’s attention.
That was the moment. Jiwoon subtly looked up at Yechan. Jiwoon’s characteristic gaze was always cool and upright. At the same time, languid and arrogant.
Having finally combined all the words suitable for Lee Jiwoon, Yechan unknowingly opened his mouth.
“Hyung, you look like a tiger.”
A tiger cub. Yechan closed his mouth, unable to voice the words that followed.
Jiwoon, who had been staring at Yechan with those same eyes, suddenly smiled. His softly folded eyes curved smoothly, and his gently relaxed mouth corners lifted upward.
Puhehe. The laughter scattered in the air was light. Yechan blinked as he looked at Jiwoon’s eyes that had grown a bit deeper.
“That’s the first time I’ve heard that. But Yechan.”
“Yes.”
“Not sunbae, but hyung.”
“Ah…”
The smile had already disappeared from Jiwoon’s face. The attitude of directing him to use a familiar term reminded him of what happened in the nurse’s office. For some reason, Yechan cleared his scratchy throat and said.
“Yes, hyung.”
“Good. Which middle school did you go to?”
“Hankyul Middle.”
“Elementary school?”
“Hankyul Elementary. What about you, hyung?”
“I went to Areum Elementary, Areum Middle.”
“Did you move here?”
“Yeah.”
“Where do you live?”
“Asterium.”
“Oh, that’s not around here.”
“It is though.”
“I’ve been there before… isn’t it kind of a detour?”
“Yeah. This way is right though.”
Jiwoon answered arbitrarily and smiled once more. Yechan also raised the corners of his mouth in response.
His dimples briefly showed. Jiwoon stared directly at Yechan’s smiling face.
Yechan, who had been smiling with his refreshing lips curved, suddenly asked.
“It is a detour, right? Why do you take the detour?”
“Because it’s fun.”
The two walked the night street illuminated by streetlights. As they stepped on shadows created by the street trees, the cool freshness after rain permeated their lungs.
The conversation that continued from school to in front of his house was light and comfortably relaxed. Jiwoon seemed to be more of a charismatic type rather than high-handed. It was subtly different from what Han Seungwoo’s gang had said.
“Go in. See you tomorrow.”
“You too, hyung. Get home safely.”
Jiwoon waved from in front of Yechan’s house.
Getting on the elevator, Yechan thought he had had a pleasant conversation with another person for the first time in a while.
* * *
“Oh, Jiwoon Jiwoon’s dongsaeng!”
The next day, after classes ended, Yechan coming out of the art room encountered a 3rd year with bright brown hair. The face looked familiar.
Yoon Jukyung. He could see the name written on the name tag. But whose dongsaeng am I supposed to be? As Yechan pondered the unfamiliar address, a hand suddenly touched his head.
“Damn, you’re handsome.”
Park Kyungjun, a 3rd year whose name tag appeared from the side, ruffled Yechan’s hair.
Only then did Yechan realize they were Jiwoon’s friends. His brow naturally furrowed at the sudden rough contact.
Seeing Yechan’s expression, Taehyun firmly grabbed his arm. Yechan looked at Taehyun with a crumpled face.
“Hello, sunbae-nims!”
Taehyun smiled and bowed deeply to greet the two. Minho also bowed his head. Yechan reluctantly nodded his head slightly.
“Yeah. Hello. You guys be well too.”
Kyungjun answered like that and soon disappeared into the art room with Jukyung. Taehyun pulled Yechan’s arm and whispered quietly.
“Seo Yechan, your expression, your expression!”
Yechan’s face remained crumpled as he raised his hand to fix his hair.
“Ah, just touching people’s heads randomly.”
“Just go along with it and greet them nicely.”
“I don’t know them, what greeting should I give.”
“You just did it! They greeted you first.”
Listening to Taehyun’s words, Minho sighed and shook his head.
“Taehyun is really materialistic.”
“What are you talking about.”
At the conversation that was difficult to follow, Yechan stopped walking and asked.
“Look, look. Seo Yechan. You might think it’s fine because your family is well-off, but I need to build connections to become a future Pulitzer winner, you know? Right?”
Yechan, who was well aware of Taehyun’s desire for connections, roughly nodded his head. Then Taehyun quietly continued.
“Yoon Jukyung hyung’s mother is the chairwoman of Hyeseong Arts Foundation. Park Kyungjun hyung’s father is the president of SD Shopping. There’s one more, Choi Min, that hyung’s father is a policy secretary who has served Lee Jiwoon hyung’s grandfather for a very long time. Okay?”
“Really, how do you know all that stuff?”
Minho asked, clicking his tongue. Taehyun shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing and answered.
“I’m Oh Taehyun. Future Pulitzer winner, I told you.”
Taehyun glared at Yechan, who had clouded eyes. Though it wasn’t new, he really seemed like he wanted to become a Pulitzer winner.
“This is also fate, so help me a bit. When I become a journalist later, I’ll help your hospital a lot too. So let’s greet them, greet them. Just acknowledge them. Huh? This will definitely be useful later.”
He really was a difficult person. To think he could do things so joyfully that he himself could never do even if tired.
Yechan, swallowing a small sigh, walked back toward the classroom. Then, suddenly remembering Jiwoon’s face, he opened his mouth.
“What about Lee Jiwoon hyung’s family?”
Taehyun answered smoothly without difficulty.
“That hyung’s grandfather is a 4-term National Assembly member. Lee Jinwon, you know him, right? He appears on the news a lot. And from way back, it’s a famous legal family. Judges and prosecutors are lined up.”
“Wow… 4 terms is really amazing.”
At Minho’s words, Taehyun nodded.
“Right. That’s why I’m begging like this. Anyway, that hyung’s parents are international lawyers specializing in corporate law. The law firm they run is top-tier domestically. That’s probably why that hyung can keep attending school even after beating people up like that.”
“Anyway, that hyung is kind of creepy.”
Minho subtly added his own opinion to Taehyun’s words. Yechan, who lightly listened to and let pass the persistent rumor-like stories, thought he now understood why commands and orders suited Jiwoon so well.
“You’ll greet them, right? Seo Yechan. I told you, so you’re going to greet them, right? When you do, make sure to include me!”
Yechan roughly nodded his head. Seeing Yechan like that, Taehyun swayed his body joyfully with a big grin.
* * *
Jiwoon sent messages to Yechan every Tuesday and Thursday. When Yechan saw Jiwoon standing at the central entrance, his steps would quicken a bit.
And one day, when Taehyun chased after them saying he would definitely go home together today, Yechan had no choice but to confess about his new after-school companion.
After hearing Yechan’s words, Taehyun made a shocked expression, saying he was completely smitten. Of course, after that, he obediently retreated while asking for connection networking.
“Are you still cold?”
Yechan asked, looking at Jiwoon walking with his windbreaker zipper pulled all the way up and hands in his pants pockets. The fit of the clothes that came up to his collar under his pale face was loose.
“You not being cold is more surprising.”
The two walked along a path lined with cherry blossoms. The road where flowers and buds that had just begun to bloom mingled together spread hazily under the streetlight illumination.
The faces of the two high school boys walking mixed among other students were particularly pale. Looking at the flowers positioned like snow above the black cherry tree trunks, Jiwoon offered Yechan candy again today.
Yechan, who unwrapped the candy and put it in his mouth, asked.
“They really look like cherry blossom popcorn.”
“Do you like popcorn?”
“Um… I only eat it when watching movies.”
“I see. Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a movie.”
Jiwoon said while brushing off a petal that had fallen on Yechan’s school uniform jacket. Yechan, who had been watching the petals gently falling to the ground, turned his head and suddenly met eyes with Jiwoon.
“What kind of movies do you like, hyung?”
“Thriller, action. Oh, the sequel to a movie I like was released.”
“I think I know which one. Wait a moment.”
Yechan showed him a movie poster he searched for on his phone. Is this it? Jiwoon nodded.
“That’s right. Want to go see it?”
“When? Um… Saturday works. Should I book tickets?”
“Yeah. I’ll buy you something delicious.”
“Sounds good.”
Yechan, who accepted immediately, booked the movie and brought up the seating chart.
“In the back. The very back.”
At Jiwoon’s words, Yechan touched the seats and continued with the booking.
Jiwoon, who had been leaning over to look at Yechan’s phone, suddenly dropped his head onto Yechan’s shoulder with a thud.
Are you cold? A little. In the blowing wind, Jiwoon’s hair fluttered and tickled Yechan’s cheek.
* * *
After arriving home, Jiwoon checked the movie ticket that Yechan had captured and sent him. Jiwoon put down his phone and tapped the desk with his fingers.
Yechan, who had grown up properly with an upright impression, always conversed just like that. He used respectful language consistently, yet said everything he needed to say.
He never beat around the bush either. Yechan was polite yet honest. When they were together, rather than being nervous, he was busy using the same jokes Jiwoon had made and laughing together.
Jiwoon had been suffering from terrible boredom for some time. Everything was too easy for him. Studying, sports, human relationships. It might have been because of his guaranteed solid future and wealth that overflowed even when he did nothing.
Moreover, his family environment wasn’t bad either. His parents were always busy, so he couldn’t say he had received enough of their attention and love, but still, Jiwoon thought his parents were decent people in their own way.
That’s why Jiwoon was even more bored. There was nothing interesting in his daily life. Then one day, he ended up hitting a classmate who had picked a fight with him for the first time. That was in middle school.
At first, Jiwoon was also startled. But surprisingly, nothing much happened. It just got a little noisy, that’s all.
And Jiwoon, who was always bored, ended up thinking that little commotion was somewhat fun. It felt good to disrupt his calm daily life.
Therefore, Jiwoon occasionally caused disturbances afterward. Moderately, within limits that didn’t cross the line. Each time, his boredom would fade a little. Of course, that was only temporary, and the tedium would soon rise again.
That’s how Jiwoon had been living, wetting his throat drop by drop in the desert. And as he was living his daily life like that, Seo Yechan suddenly appeared before him.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
