#060
Seo Yechan: Hyung, you got home safely, right?
Seo Yechan: You’re reading my messages now, right?
Seo Yechan: ㅠㅠ
Seo Yechan: Please send me your class schedule
Seo Yechan: (Photo)
Seo Yechan: I’ll send mine first
As soon as Jiwoon got home, he threw his clothes into the laundry basket and fell asleep immediately. He only woke up in the middle of the night. Though his body still ached, now that the fatigue had passed, he finally felt like he could live.
He opened the refrigerator and heated up the braised kimchi that the housekeeper had put in. While eating, Jiwoon checked his phone and tilted his head sideways looking at Yechan’s colorfully highlighted class schedule.
There wasn’t a single general education course. Yechan’s schedule, which had only major requirements without even the mandatory general education courses, had quite a few empty slots.
Me: (Photo)
Jiwoon sent his own schedule and scrolled up while chewing his rice. Then he checked the messages Yechan had sent before.
Seeing the birthday wishes and Suneung resolution messages that Yechan had sent two years ago, Jiwoon put down his spoon. His chest kept throbbing, making it impossible to eat.
Jiwoon briefly considered whether he should reconsider his decision to get along well with Yechan.
Seo Yechan: I’ll come by 8 tomorrow
Seo Yechan: Sleep well
But after reading the messages that arrived soon after, Jiwoon quickly brushed aside his worries. Right now, Yechan wanted a connection with him.
And he was hoping for Yechan’s happiness, and if possible, he wanted to give Yechan good times until then.
Jiwoon smiled softly as he firmly suppressed the greed that was rising again. Then he turned off the screen, hoping that someday he could share the stories they had kept buried with Yechan.
* * *
As promised, Yechan’s car that arrived early in the morning at Jiwoon’s underground parking garage was warm like yesterday. Jiwoon, wearing a black turtleneck underneath a sweatshirt with a color-blocked windbreaker, rustled as he took off his outer jacket.
Yechan handed him an iced americano.
“Hyung, you’re still someone who drinks iced coffee even when it’s freezing, right?”
“Yeah.”
Yechan, who smiled brightly, was wearing a toned-down mint-colored knit sweater. The knit that covered his firm neckline was strangely sexy.
Jiwoon, who had been thinking about the colorful marks that would be positioned inside the knit, lightly shook his head. Then he remembered Yechan from the sports festival day, who had been wearing a similar colored t-shirt. He had looked much cuter compared to now.
Glancing away, Jiwoon carefully examined Yechan’s face. The bone structure of his brow and his eyes had become much deeper. His straight nose was still pretty.
His lips, which seemed to have gotten a bit thicker, were swollen with scratches here and there. He remembered how he had bitten Yechan’s lips relentlessly while they were having sex. Jiwoon shook his head once more at the memory that had unconsciously surfaced.
Soon, looking at the jawline that had become even more defined as if all the baby fat had completely disappeared, Jiwoon suddenly asked.
“But why aren’t you taking any general education courses?”
“I messed up course registration. It’s the correction period now, so I’m trying to fix it.”
Even during the correction period, it wasn’t easy to get into popular general education courses. Jiwoon just hoped Yechan’s timing would be good and kept his mouth shut.
Yechan’s driving was as smooth as his voice.
The first period on Monday was a major requirement. Thanks to arriving with time to spare, Jiwoon sat in the remaining back seat and opened his laptop. Yechan also took out his laptop from his bag.
“Hello, oppa! Oh? It looks like you two became friends now? At the general meeting, Yechan oppa was dying to kill you. Jiwoon oppa, did you develop some kind of affectionate hatred?”
Hayeon came in with some others she had seen at the general meeting and greeted them warmly. Jiwoon thought it might not be affectionate hatred but rather sexual chemistry, then roughly tousled his bangs.
“We were always close.”
Yechan spoke curtly. For some reason, his tone was a bit stiff. Hayeon paid no attention to Yechan’s blunt response and made a joke with sparkling eyes.
“Of course. Old folks should get along well with each other.”
Hayeon giggled and soon moved to find an appropriate seat. Even after that, people who came in greeted Yechan, calling him Yechan-kun, Yechan hyung, oppa.
There were far more people greeting Yechan than those greeting Jiwoon. Jiwoon, who had been quietly watching Yechan amidst the endless stream of acknowledgments, put earphones in his ears.
Yechan grinned and mouthed, “What are you listening to?” Jiwoon silently took out one earphone and put it in Yechan’s ear.
It was fast-beat rap. At the familiar action and familiar gesture, Yechan’s heart beat pleasantly. It was good. So good.
Yechan rested his arm on the desk, lay down, and took in the sight of Jiwoon’s fingers moving over the laptop keyboard. There had been times when he hated being in a different grade from Jiwoon.
Yechan watched Jiwoon’s lips moving to the beat, then soon buried his face in his inner arm. The present moment of being able to attend lectures sitting next to him filled Yechan’s heart to the brim.
“What do you want to eat for lunch?”
After finishing the lectures that continued until lunch and getting up to pack his things, Yechan asked Jiwoon.
“We’re eating together too?”
“I have no friends.”
It was something Jiwoon had once said to Lee Hayeon. Jiwoon chuckled.
“But all those guys really like you.”
“Those guys like everyone.”
Yechan responded indifferently to Jiwoon’s words as he gestured toward the classmates who had greeted them warmly.
“Want to eat sushi?”
“Yes, oppa.”
Jiwoon replied with an indifferent face, slung his backpack over one shoulder, and started walking.
Ah… At the familiar term of address he had forgotten, Yechan bit his lip and hurriedly followed behind him.
* * *
Whatever method he used, Yechan started taking the same general education course as Jiwoon from Thursday. Jiwoon let out a hollow laugh as he received Yechan’s schedule, which had become identical to his own.
“The lectures hyung takes looked good.” One of the general education courses Jiwoon was taking was one of Korea University’s top 3 general education courses.
When Jiwoon asked how he managed it when there definitely weren’t any empty spots, Yechan just said he had gone to see the professor. Jiwoon easily accepted this explanation.
After all, it was a professor who was known for opening up a few more spots if you spoke well. Considering Yechan’s appearance and attitude, it wouldn’t have been too difficult.
With his upright and neat demeanor, plus that face. In short, Yechan was a free pass. Especially with adults.
Yechan came to pick up Jiwoon every morning. They would go to school together, attend lectures, eat meals, and go to cafes. After that, Yechan would drop Jiwoon off at home, and this routine repeated daily.
Yechan literally followed Jiwoon around like a chick. While it was nice to spend most of the day together, as this routine repeated, Jiwoon became genuinely curious about Yechan’s interpersonal relationships.
No matter how much someone disliked the burden that others impose, there should be at least a few loose connections, but Yechan seemed to have no particularly close friends at university. He really seemed to just exchange greetings with everyone.
Didn’t he have a group he hung out with in high school? Seo Yechan’s social skills didn’t seem to be at a level where he’d have difficulty maintaining adequate friendships.
During a free period, sitting in a cafe chatting with Yechan, Jiwoon raised one eyebrow and asked.
“Yechan.”
“Yes.”
“Do you really have no friends?”
“Yes. I don’t have any. So you can’t abandon me.”
At the word “abandon,” Jiwoon’s heart suddenly throbbed. Yechan hadn’t really said anything in particular, but it was like a guilty conscience getting the better of him.
Soon, Jiwoon buried the pain somewhere and put on an indifferent expression. Having swallowed the pain skillfully, he smiled slightly and said lightly.
“Ah… Maybe I should take a leave of absence. I don’t want to go to school.”
“Hyung!”
Yechan’s eyebrows drooped down as if he felt disappointed as he called out to Jiwoon with pursed lips. Jiwoon chuckled and asked again.
“Yechan should make friends. Build connections.”
“I’m not interested in that stuff. Do you need connections, hyung?”
“No.”
While it might be different if others needed him, Jiwoon didn’t particularly need other people’s backgrounds or abilities. He had never once needed such things.
Maybe that’s why. Jiwoon, who had been staring at Yechan, suddenly nodded slightly.
Come to think of it, Yechan had always had similar aspects from before. He probably wasn’t doing this because he disliked burdens like Jiwoon, but because he didn’t need them.
Yechan still had his lips pushed out. With a pouty face, he stared at Jiwoon and said.
“Don’t take a leave of absence.”
“Yes, oppa.”
“Keep going to school with me. If hyung isn’t here, I won’t have anyone to eat with. I’ll starve.”
“We’ll see about that.”
At Jiwoon’s leisurely words, Yechan rummaged through his pocket. Yechan, holding a familiar candy case, grabbed Jiwoon’s hand and lifted it up.
Jiwoon couldn’t take his eyes off the case that Yechan had taken out. It was the candy that Yechan used to always buy for him at the school store in high school.
“I’ll fill you up when your blood sugar drops.”
Yechan, who had tapped candies into Jiwoon’s palm, smiled slightly.
“I’ll pick you up every day. I’ll find good restaurants too. I’ll help with assignments if you need it.”
At Yechan’s words, the expression gradually disappeared from Jiwoon’s face.
“…So please don’t abandon me, hyung.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
