Slowly opening his eyes, Lee Heejun flinched in surprise at the face right in front of him. His brows furrowed at the sight of Sim Jaeha sleeping peacefully with soft breathing.
‘I told him to sleep on the floor.’
The Sim brothers, who had insisted on sleeping in Heejun’s room and even brought their own blankets, had laid their blankets on the floor but still eyed Heejun’s bed. However, Heejun firmly rejected them. Just when he thought they had obediently slept on the floor, Sim Jaeha had somehow crawled onto his bed while Heejun was asleep and was now sleeping soundly without a care in the world.
‘Without any consideration for others…’
Thinking that it would be nice if Jaeha could spare even a little of his studying brain for some sensitivity, Heejun slowly sat up. The movement of the bed must have disturbed him, as Sim Jaeha furrowed his brows and whimpered before wrapping his arms around Heejun’s waist.
“?!”
His violet eyes shook rapidly. Looking down in confusion, he saw Sim Jaeha’s sleeping face. Heejun’s heart pounded loudly as if broken because of Jaeha, who was rubbing his face against Heejun’s waist with a content smile.
Heejun carefully raised his hand and stroked Jaeha’s head. Feeling the soft hair flowing between his fingers, he gazed at Jaeha’s face for a very brief moment before biting his lip. He forcibly removed the arms wrapped around his waist, got up from the bed, and clicked his tongue softly.
‘What am I doing…’
I should wash my face with cold water or something. Heejun’s gaze, on his way to the bathroom, turned to Jaeyoon who was sleeping soundly on the floor.
‘Sleeping so well in his lover’s arms.’
While quietly observing the two sleeping facing each other, Heejun’s shoulders jumped in surprise at a sudden voice.
“Jealous?”
Having woken up at some point, Sim Hajun was looking at Heejun with just his face peeking out from under the blanket. Heejun’s brows automatically furrowed.
“Stop talking nonsense and get ready for school if you’re awake.”
“How about dating someone else for once?”
“…What nonsense are you spouting?”
Hajun wiggled out from under the blanket, then lay on his stomach, propped his face on his hands, and looked at Heejun.
“You’ve never had a proper relationship because you’ve only been pining after one person all this time, right?”
“…”
“The human heart, while it seems solid, can also change easily. Who knows? You might end up liking someone else.”
“If it were that easy, I wouldn’t have been doing this all this time.”
Seeing Heejun frowning, Hajun let out a small sigh.
“You’ve never dated anyone all this time, have you?”
Heejun’s expression crumpled. He ignored Hajun’s gaze that was quietly watching him and headed to the bathroom.
“Stubborn mule…”
Hajun looked at his brother who was snoring on the bed. Sim Jaeha liked women. For Jaeha, dating anyone other than the opposite sex wasn’t even an option. The idea of him seeing a man, especially his childhood friend, as a romantic interest? That was impossible.
‘That kid is a firm heterosexual.’
It was during the spring of his third year in middle school when Hajun noticed Heejun’s unrequited love. Heejun’s attitude toward Jaeha, who was bragging about having a girlfriend, was slightly different from usual. Hajun, who had known Heejun since childhood, noticed the subtle and minute change that no one else would have detected, and confirmed the truth with Heejun when they were alone.
‘Four years… It’s been four years since I found out, which means he could have been in love for much longer… Isn’t that too painful?’
Hajun wasn’t the type to have long-term unrequited feelings. If he liked someone, he would confess quickly, give up if rejected, and date if reciprocated. Nevertheless, he knew very well how painful unrequited love could be. He couldn’t even imagine the state of Heejun’s heart, having harbored such feelings for four years, watching the person he liked date and break up with girlfriends several times from the sideline.
‘It would be better if it reached a conclusion soon, whether happy or sad…’
***
Jaeyoon sat on the chair, rubbing his eyes full of sleepiness. Heejun handed him a water bottle as he yawned with his mouth wide open.
“You still look very sleepy?”
“Yeah…”
“We missed the cafeteria time, want to eat cereal?”
“Yeah…”
Seeing Jaeyoon nodding slowly, Heejun poured cereal and milk into a bowl and handed it to him. Gradually feeling more awake as he slowly ate the cereal with a spoon, Jaeyoon looked around.
“Where’s sunbae…?”
“He went to school because of competition preparation.”
“Ah…”
“Going to school even on a holiday, just thinking about it makes me sick.”
“You go to eat the cafeteria food, don’t you?”
“I hate that, so I usually make do with cereal or sandwiches.”
Jaeyoon looked at the cereal in front of him. So that’s why you bought so many boxes. After putting a spoonful in his mouth, he stared blankly at Sim Jaeha who was still sleeping.
“The class president is surprisingly the type to wake up late?”
“No, he usually wakes up early, but he’s like that because we played until late last night. He goes to bed early since he wakes up early.”
“Ah~”
Nodding his head, Jaeyoon ate the last spoonful and drank the milk left in the bowl.
“Thank you for the meal.”
Leaning back against the chair and stretching his body, Jaeyoon blinked blankly before suddenly remembering something and speaking up.
“Oh, right! Heejun, I don’t need to impose on you here anymore.”
“You’re going to stay in sunbae’s room?”
‘You’re quick on the uptake.’
When Jaeyoon nodded glumly, Heejun raised the corners of his mouth and grinned.
“You must have had a really enjoyable time alone together yesterday?”
“W-what are you saying?!”
“Seems like you did many things in that short time.”
“N-no, I didn’t!”
“Yeah, right.”
Jaeyoon’s brows furrowed. Seeing him glaring sullenly, Heejun shrugged his shoulders pretending not to know.
“I don’t mind as long as you don’t suffer any strange hardships because of that guy.”
‘That guy must be referring to Kim Yeonwoo…’
Jaeyoon smiled, appreciating Heejun’s concern for him.
“Ugghhh…”
Sim Jaeha woke up making a strange sound. He stretched his stiff body and approached the table where the two were sitting.
“Both of you woke up early.”
“You’re the one who woke up late, idiot.”
“Huh…?”
Scratching his messy bedhead, Jaeha checked the clock on the desk and opened his eyes wide.
“Huh?! It’s already 3 o’clock??”
“Congratulations on being the last one to wake up.”
“Ah… since I was going to wake up late anyway, I should have woken up after the movie time passed…!!”
As Jaeha bit his lip and hit the table as if truly resentful, Jaeyoon patted his back. Come to think of it, the movie starts at 4, right? If he gets ready now and leaves leisurely, it would be perfect timing.
“I really don’t want to go… It’s hard enough to watch a movie alone, but couple seats…”
“What can you do when you won by being the loser in the game?”
“It’s not my fault I’m bad at games!”
“No, it is your fault.”
Jaeyoon handed a bowl of cereal to Jaeha, who was face down on the table making crying noises. A sniffling thank you came in return. Heejun frowned at the sight of him munching on cereal with a tearful face.
“Pour milk on it. Why are you just eating dry cereal?”
“I don’t like it soggy.”
“As I always say, you can eat it before it gets soggy.”
“I get indigestion if I eat too quickly.”
“Fine, you’re so great.”
Heejun drank water with a grimace. Watching their conversation, Jaeyoon thought for a moment before speaking.
“If you don’t want to go alone, how about going together? The penalty was to watch the movie and take a proof shot, they didn’t specifically say you had to watch it alone, right?”
“With whom?”
When Jaeha asked with a puzzled expression, Jaeyoon thought for a moment before speaking.
“With a friend.”
“All my close female friends live far from here…”
“No, they don’t necessarily have to be female friends.”
“Huh?”
Jaeha showed a dumbfounded expression at Jaeyoon’s words. As if it was something he had never considered, he blinked blankly before slowly tilting his head to the side.
“You mean I should go with male friends…?”
“There’s no rule that only male-female couples can sit in couple seats, right?”
“T-that’s true, but…”
After blinking blankly, Jaeha nodded.
“You’re right, I can go with other friends! Anyway, even if I go with a friend, no one would think we’re gay! Everyone will just think we’re high school students who were curious about couple seats and bought the tickets.”
It’s not like gay people are that common! Seeing Jaeha speaking with a bright smile, Jaeyoon and Heejun turned away and drank water.
‘There are already four around you, you know.’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
