# Chapter 13. Why Doesn’t Woo Yeonho’s Nose Grow?
I wondered if perhaps the entire class had changed seats on the very day I was absent. My desk drawer was so full of chocolates, candies, cookies, and gum that there wasn’t even space to put my hand in. At first, I thought it might be trash, but after pulling things out randomly, I saw they were all unopened new items.
‘Didn’t Valentine’s Day and White Day already pass? Did someone mistake the desk? Maybe I shouldn’t touch it?’
Anyway, it’s really childish. To think that doing something like this would make someone like you. I was curious about who would do something even elementary school students wouldn’t do. Judging by the desk mix-up, it probably wasn’t someone from our class.
‘Ah, these are the ones Yeonho received before. When I said they were delicious, he brought more a few times.’
“Yeonho put those in there yesterday.”
As I was carefully putting everything back into the drawer, trying not to crumple the wrappers, the guy who always gave up his seat to Yeonho during breaks and disappeared to the school store said this. When I looked up, he still had a lollipop in his mouth.
‘What was his name again?’
No, more important than someone’s name was the fact that Yeonho had left these here.
After not receiving anything for a while, had the gift offensive started again? Did he receive a lot yesterday in particular? What day was yesterday?
I took out the smallest wrapped chocolate from the many in the drawer and fidgeted with it. Seeing how carelessly he’d stuffed them in here and left, he must really not want to eat them. As I rolled the wrapped chocolate around in my hand, the corners got crumpled and the outer wrapping became terribly damaged. I didn’t even feel like eating it. Why should I eat something given to Yeonho by someone I don’t even know?
‘Do they not even know whether the person they like prefers sweet or salty things?’
Thinking about those who would fall for Yeonho’s looks and trail after him made me feel bad. Yeonho is the same way. If he clearly said no when he didn’t like something, he wouldn’t have to receive these things.
Actually, thinking about it again, it’s not their fault. It’s that guy Yeonho who acts in a way that gives people hope. When he smiles at everything like it’s all fine, it makes people have weird fantasies and impossible hopes.
Lately, I’ve been hit with waves of depression at all hours. It usually happened when I thought of Yeonho’s pretty face or when I remembered his annoying behaviors that didn’t match that face.
‘Just yesterday he said he missed me…’
Yeonho, who had tactlessly dumped snacks given by his admirers into my drawer, hadn’t even come to school yet.
‘He said he missed me. Shouldn’t he come early then?’
I want to hit that mouth that only tests me, teases me, or tells lies whenever it opens, until I feel better. Or maybe just shut it up completely.
While I was imagining throwing everything in the drawer at Yeonho, the guy in front of me suddenly stretched his upper body toward me. Then he just stared at my face.
‘What’s he trying to say? Is it possible he gave some of these too? Does he like Yeonho as well?’
“If it’s too much to eat all of them, let’s eat them together.”
“…??”
I had been tensely wondering if he might hit me and ask why I had something given to Yeonho, but embarrassingly, it was an unexpected statement. I now examined his expressionless, indifferent face carefully. His nearly black eyes seemed to sparkle. Despite his completely unassuming appearance, his childlike eyes reminded me of when my dad begs my mom for allowance, and my shoulders, which had stiffened with tension, relaxed.
“Yeonho said we could eat together if he got permission from you.”
When I didn’t answer, he added this, and his eyes moved back to my hand.
‘I’ve seen this somewhere before. On TV? Or in a movie?’
I think I’ve seen it at the park near my house too. Like when a dog looks at its treat in the owner’s palm… What did they do later? If you don’t give it to them, do they pounce…?
“…Um… eat it.”
He wasn’t starving, and he wasn’t an animal, so he probably wouldn’t lose his mind and pounce for a chocolate the size of my thumb, but anyway, I didn’t even like sweet things, so I didn’t mind giving it away. So, it’s not like I was scared or anything.
I put the chocolate in my hand down on the desk and took out another handful from the drawer. Despite taking out so many, I could barely fit one of my hands in the space I’d created, showing just how much Yeonho had stuffed in there.
If I ate all of this alone, I might have to visit the dentist so often I’d wear down the door. Having had a cavity treated when I was young, I knew the feeling of having my gums numbed was so horrible that I never wanted to experience it again. I took out more of the cavity-inducing sweets from the drawer with both hands full and pushed them into the arms of the guy in front of me.
“You’re really nice.”
His completely expressionless face showed not even the slightest change. If Yeonho was someone with easy laughter, this guy was stingy with his smiles. But I liked that better.
‘How nice would it be if Yeonho were like this too?’
I wish he wouldn’t smile at just anyone. Then the number of people who knew how lovable he was would be much smaller.
The guy in front of me straightened his upper body that had been leaning over my desk and was unwrapping a chocolate. Several pieces had already gone into his mouth.
‘Surely he’s not going to eat all of this here?’
Just thinking about it made my mouth feel not just sweet but sticky.
“Um, you can take all of this.”
“?”
“You don’t have to eat it all now… y-you can… take it and eat it… slowly…”
“I’m going to eat it all.”
“Ah… okay…”
There was nothing more to say if he was going to eat it all. It would be him going to the dentist, not me.
‘But if he’s going to eat it, why at my desk and not his own? Is he trying to dump his trash on me too? Actual trash?’
I scrunched my eyes in displeasure and examined him. The name tag that hadn’t been visible before now was.
‘His name is Baek… Baek Seonhu…? Sanho?’
I couldn’t see clearly whether it was Sanhyo or Seonho because he kept moving busily as he unwrapped the wrappers. As I leaned my body more to the side to look at his name tag again, I heard a voice from behind.
“If you give it all away like that, what will you eat, Seungwoo?”
It was Yeonho. Before I could turn around, Yeonho’s arm brushed past my side and rested on the desk. The solid wall touching the back of my head made it feel like I was being embraced from behind, and heat rushed to my face instantly. The space that had no scent before was now filled with Yeonho’s fragrance that made my heart pound with every breath.
Ah, I wanted to see Yeonho’s face so badly. Even his annoying face that smiled the same way at everyone, I wanted to hold it in my eyes. Right now, Yeonho…
As I raised my head to put my thoughts into action, Yeonho’s light brown hair scattered and poured into my vision. Ah, his pretty eyes too.
As I was blankly lost in those pretty eyes, Yeonho’s large hand lightly held my chin and cheek. As if telling me not to look at anything but him. Soon, Yeonho’s fingertips tapped my lower lip.
“You like them too. What are you doing letting them all be taken?”
Yeonho’s eyes smiled prettily. I wonder if whoever created Yeonho, this embodiment of beauty, wasn’t his parents but a sculptor with genius talent?
Just as the blue fairy made Pinocchio come to life, perhaps some god somewhere brought a perfect statue to life with a single breath.
Otherwise, how could a person be this beautiful? Is that why Yeonho lies so well? Is that why he’s such a good actor?
“Which one do you want to eat?”
“…”
Yeonho tilted his head.
Why is even that cute? I thought I would probably think the same way no matter what stupid thing Yeonho did.
Well, it’s not just me. Yeonho was someone who would shine with his own color no matter where you dropped him. So no matter what crazy thing he did, people would never dislike him.
‘Wouldn’t they cheer even more? What must it feel like to live surrounded by fools entranced by mere appearance?’
Suddenly, I remembered the first day I saw the real Yeonho. That thrilling moment when I alone recognized Yeonho’s bare face, which others would never know or want to know.
Recalling that scene, I reflexively bounced out of Yeonho’s embrace like when I burned myself as a child.
Moving my stiff neck to escape Yeonho’s hand, I cupped both cheeks where his hand had touched and rubbed them up and down. If I didn’t do that, I felt like I would show my face, which might have turned red, to Yeonho or anyone else. My cheeks under my hands were very hot, whether from Yeonho’s heat transferring or the hot weather. I was so focused on that, I couldn’t remember what Yeonho had said earlier.
‘What did he say? Was it important? It might have just been a greeting.’
When I didn’t respond much, Yeonho interpreted it as he pleased and, still standing behind me, picked up one of the few remaining chocolates on the desk and put it in my mouth. He did this without any hesitation, even with someone watching with wide-open eyes right in front.
Since I couldn’t spit out what was already in my mouth, I reluctantly chewed the sweetness while glancing at the guy in the seat in front. But he didn’t seem to care about this situation any more than Yeonho did. No, rather than that, he was more focused on eating. He seemed displeased that Yeonho’s hand was intruding on his food. Strictly speaking, since these were things Yeonho had received, Yeonho was the owner.
“Is it delicious?”
Yeonho, who had been standing behind me, came around to the side and leaned his face in. Now I could properly see his face. The face I had missed so much until this morning. When I properly faced him, my heart melted enough to forgive him for dumping his gifts in my drawer. When I nodded, Yeonho stroked my head, saying he knew I would like it.
“But if you go around having everything taken like this, I’ll be too worried to leave you alone.”
Yeonho said, turning his eyes to the messy wrappers scattered on the desk. Being close by, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but his voice still sounded affectionate, so he didn’t seem upset or anything.
Well, it’s not something to be upset about when I’m giving away what he threw away.
“…You said to share it… that’s why I gave it.”
Yeonho’s gaze returned to me. My loud voice, which had explained there was a reason, gradually diminished.
“I-it’s not being taken…”
“Did Sanho do something cute?”
Ah, so his name is Sanho. What a pretty name. Come to think of it, his face seems as pretty as his name too…
“? Something cute…?”
“I’m wondering how cute he must have looked for you to give everything away, leaving nothing for yourself.”
‘I just said he could eat it when he asked to eat together.’
I don’t know what misunderstanding Yeonho is having. When I looked up at him with a still confused face, Yeonho put another chocolate in my mouth. This one had almonds inside, making it more delicious than before with its nutty crunch.
“Will you give me a reward too if I do something cute?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
