“What are you doing here?”
“Oh, Student Council President.”
Jaeyoon, who had been texting while waiting for Im Hangyeol, checked the reply he received and put his phone back in his pocket.
“Are you waiting for someone?”
“Yes. Well…”
“Who?”
Jaeyoon frowned at Han Doyoon who was asking with smiling eyes. Why are you specifically asking when you already know this is Im Hangyeol’s class? Swallowing a sigh that was about to escape, Jaeyoon answered as concisely as possible.
“Im Hangyeol.”
“…Why would you be waiting for Im Hangyeol?”
Were they that close? Jaeyoon narrowed his brow at Doyoon’s question. He didn’t like how it felt like an interrogation.
“Yes, we were close.”
It wasn’t a complete lie to say that Lee Jaeyoon and Im Hangyeol were close since they were middle school friends. Of course, they’d grown distant after coming to high school and getting involved with Kim Yeonwoo. But during middle school, they had been quite close.
“Hmm…”
Han Doyoon’s eyes narrowed. He probably already knew that Im Hangyeol and Lee Jaeyoon were middle school friends, and that they’d fallen out because of Kim Yeonwoo. After all, Han Doyoon was their senior from the same middle school. Since he was pretending not to know while asking, Jaeyoon also pretended not to know when answering.
“You seem to have a lot of people around you these days.”
Jaeyoon looked up at Han Doyoon. Doyoon smiled, raising the corners of his eyes.
“…I see you always check whether I have many people around me or not.”
“Because I’m interested in you.”
“Then why did you leave me alone when I was lonely?”
Han Doyoon’s red eyes opened wide. After quietly observing him, Jaeyoon smiled, narrowing his eyes.
“I’m just kidding.”
If he had been watching Lee Jaeyoon, if he knew how lonely Jaeyoon had been all this time, how could he so easily say he was interested while ignoring and turning a blind eye to that loneliness? Did he not know that such misleading statements had made Jaeyoon crumble even faster?
Han Doyoon, who had been staring intently at Jaeyoon’s deep blue eyes, bent down and came close to Jaeyoon’s face. Seeing Jaeyoon’s body flinch, the corner of Doyoon’s mouth turned up. He brought his lips to Jaeyoon’s ear and whispered in a pleasantly low voice.
“Have I made you angry?”
Jaeyoon’s spine tingled at the breath on his ear. Frowning at the sensation of his hair standing on end, he grabbed his ear with one hand and stepped far away from Han Doyoon.
Han Doyoon’s mouth curved into an amused smile. Just as Jaeyoon’s expression crumpled and he was about to voice his complaints,
“Lee Jaeyoon~!”
Im Hangyeol came running, waving his hand from a distance. Having changed his clothes, he was now wearing gym clothes like Jaeyoon. When he spotted Han Doyoon standing next to Jaeyoon, his expression crumpled.
“…Why are you here?”
“You should speak politely to your elders, Im Hangyeol.”
“Why should I to someone like you?”
Is it true that ignorance breeds courage? Im Hangyeol, who didn’t care about Han Doyoon’s wealth, power, or cunning personality, spoke his mind without hesitation. Han Doyoon’s red eyes narrowed. After staring at Im Hangyeol with a cold gaze, Han Doyoon smiled gently.
‘Looks like he’s decided to deal with him.’
But Jaeyoon wasn’t particularly worried. Although he didn’t have credentials like Han Doyoon, Im Hangyeol was also one of the romance options. There was no need to worry about things going wrong. Besides, Han Doyoon wouldn’t do anything that Kim Yeonwoo would dislike.
“You’re not the White Rabbit today.”
“H-how can you walk around dressed like that?”
“You were dressed like that yesterday.”
“Y-yesterday I couldn’t get my gym clothes because I left them in class! Today I properly brought them with me!”
As Im Hangyeol proudly showed off his gym clothes, Jaeyoon nodded and patted his red hair.
“Good, good. Well done.”
“W-what?”
Im Hangyeol’s pupils shook rapidly. With a face as red as an apple, he looked at Jaeyoon in bewilderment.
“What’s wrong?”
“M-my hair…”
“Oh…”
‘My 5-year-old cousin came to mind and I did it unconsciously.’
His 5-year-old cousin would come during holidays and proudly tell him that he got 100 points in math or that he could now tie his shoelaces into a bow by himself. Then he would look at Jaeyoon with sparkling eyes, hoping for praise. Every time, Jaeyoon would pat his cousin’s head. Just now, Im Hangyeol’s appearance overlapped with his 5-year-old cousin, and he unconsciously patted his head out of habit.
“Sorry, it’s a habit I have with my little cousin.”
“Ah, w-well… i-it’s fine!”
“Then, we’ll be going now, Student Council President.”
Han Doyoon, who had been quietly watching the two, soon smiled, raising the corners of his eyes. As Im Hangyeol crumpled his expression and was about to pick a fight, Jaeyoon stopped him by elbowing him in the side.
After grabbing the arm of Im Hangyeol, who was holding his painful side, Jaeyoon slightly bowed his head to Han Doyoon in greeting and turned around.
“Tomorrow.”
“Excuse me?”
Jaeyoon turned his head at Han Doyoon’s voice.
“Keep your schedule clear.”
“I already have plans for tomorrow.”
“Cancel them.”
‘He’s boldly talking nonsense.’
Jaeyoon heaved a deep sigh at Han Doyoon’s cheerful smiling face.
“I can’t.”
“Make it possible even if it seems impossible.”
‘I want to hit him.’
Jaeyoon bit the soft flesh inside his mouth. As he was gradually calming his irritation, Im Hangyeol, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, frowned and shouted.
“Are you a kid? You were just lecturing me about respect, and now you’re pestering someone who says they have plans? Stop clinging to his leg and get lost!”
Jaeyoon quickly covered his mouth. It felt like a 10-year-old indigestion had been completely washed away. The corners of his mouth, hidden by his hand, kept rising.
“Im Hangyeol.”
A coldly sinking voice was heard. That sounds a bit dangerous. Jaeyoon grabbed Im Hangyeol’s wrist and quickly ran away after giving a hasty greeting to Han Doyoon.
“Well, Student Council President seems busy, so we’ll be going now!”
“Huh? Hey, hey…!”
The two ran out of the gym, panting and glancing back. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like he was following. Haah, a breath of relief escaped from both of them.
Jaeyoon pushed back his sweat-soaked bangs and said to Im Hangyeol, who was fanning his gym clothes because he was hot:
“Tell me what you want to eat.”
“Huh…?”
“I’ll buy it for you.”
“…Why?”
‘Just because. I really want to treat you.’
When Jaeyoon smiled and looked at him, Im Hangyeol flinched, slightly backed away, and gave him a suspicious look with narrowed eyes.
“Forget it if you don’t want to.”
“No! Who said I don’t want it?”
I’m going to eat something expensive! Jaeyoon looked generously at Im Hangyeol who was shouting while snorting. Eat, eat. Eat to your heart’s content. Right now, he felt like buying him beef too.
After touring various places that Im Hangyeol wanted to see, Jaeyoon bought him three types of hot dogs and even a cola for Im Hangyeol, who said he wanted hot dogs.
“Aren’t you eating?”
“I’m fine. I ate a lot earlier.”
Recalling the delicious crepe Jung Jinhoo had made for him, Jaeyoon led Im Hangyeol to the grassy area where there were relatively few people as he looked for a place to sit and eat.
“Hey, wait a minute…!”
Im Hangyeol, who stopped Jaeyoon from sitting on the grass, took off his gym uniform top and spread it on the grass.
“Here, sit.”
“…What are you doing?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Why are you laying this down for me when it’s not even your spot?”
“Huh? Well…”
Im Hangyeol, who was blinking blankly, suddenly turned red. As Jaeyoon narrowed his brow, Im Hangyeol removed the gym top from the grass and sat down with an awkward laugh.
“Hahahahaha. I-I’m hungry! Hey, why aren’t you sitting down yet?”
“…”
“H-hahahahaha!”
‘Judging by how flustered he looks, did he habitually do for me what he usually does for Kim Yeonwoo?’
After looking down at Im Hangyeol for a moment, Jaeyoon sighed softly and sat down.
“So this is how you two date.”
“Huh? W-what?”
Jaeyoon smirked, raising one corner of his mouth, at Im Hangyeol, whose ears were turning red.
“W-why are you smiling!”
“Nothing, it’s just romantic~”
“Kugh…!”
Im Hangyeol bit his lips, then unable to bear the embarrassment, he ruffled his hair wildly with both hands.
“Aaaaaargh!”
The ear-splitting shout was a bonus.
“Stop making a fuss and eat quickly.”
“…Okay.”
As Jaeyoon watched Im Hangyeol sitting quietly and putting sauce on his hot dog, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, took it out, and checked the screen.
[I’ll come find you tomorrow, so wait in your classroom.]
Jaeyoon’s expression crumpled as he had thought it would be Jung Jinhoo. He stared at the name on the screen and bit his lip with his eyes closed at the message from Han Doyoon.
“Sigh…”
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
Jaeyoon blew air to flutter his bangs and considered just ignoring the message. Maybe he could pretend he never saw it? After thinking for a moment, he let out a deep sigh.
‘That wouldn’t work anyway.’
If the other person had been someone who responded to common sense, they wouldn’t have behaved like this in the first place.
I clearly said I had plans tomorrow, so why is he acting like this? Don’t you want to enjoy the festival event with Kim Yeonwoo? You should enjoy the staple event of BL games! Why is a romance character ignoring the protagonist and bothering an extra villain character like this?!
‘It’s not like he has feelings for Lee Jaeyoon anyway.’
Jaeyoon pushed back his bangs. After taking a deep breath, he replied to Han Doyoon’s message and then turned off all notifications from him. With Han Doyoon’s personality, he probably wouldn’t listen even if Jaeyoon sent a message of refusal. Therefore, the best way to avoid stress was to ignore him altogether.
“Haah…”
“…That guy is interested in you, isn’t he?”
“Who? The Student Council President?”
“Otherwise, why would he keep pestering you even after being rejected? He has no pride.”
“The one Han Doyoon likes is Kim Yeonwoo.”
“That’s…”
“He’s just playing with me to pass the time.”
I hope he loses interest soon. As Jaeyoon muttered with a small sigh, he frowned at Im Hangyeol, who was looking at him with a strange expression.
“What?”
“…No, you really have gotten over Han Doyoon.”
“You still didn’t believe me?”
‘You really don’t trust what people say.’
At Jaeyoon’s expression, Im Hangyeol cleared his throat.
“Then are you… are you dating that senior?”
“…What are you talking about?”
When Jaeyoon looked at him with a crumpled expression, Im Hangyeol exclaimed in confusion:
“That, J-Jinhoo or whatever senior! You said you liked him!”
“Ah, that’s…”
Jaeyoon’s mouth closed as he was about to answer Im Hangyeol. Hangyeol…? A familiar voice called Im Hangyeol’s name. After quietly looking at the trembling orange eyes that seemed surprised, Jaeyoon turned his head to check who it was.
“Why are you two together…?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
