Chapter 55
“You’re not sleeping, are you?”
“I’m not.”
“So what’s troubling you? Here I am, giving love advice again.”
“…How did you know?”
“I can tell with one look. I’ve set up enough people at this school to fill a truck.”
…She’s really perceptive. Feeling a bit embarrassed at the thought that his feelings for someone might be showing on his face, Kwon-ju awkwardly rubbed his dry cheeks.
“Who’s the person? You can be vague about it.”
“…They’re older than me. And I’ve liked them for four years.”
Why am I getting relationship advice from this senior? In the middle of speaking, Kwon-ju rested his chin on his hand and stared blankly at the sky with an impertinent attitude. Completely unfazed by this, Suhyeon slapped the table and said, “What? You look different than I expected, but you’re actually super romantic.”
“You’ve liked someone for four years and still haven’t confessed? You’re an adult and a freshman now. Just go for it!”
“…It’s not as easy as you make it sound.”
“A guy who could beat up Beom Ji-ho finds confession difficult? Don’t tell me… the age gap is more than ten years or something?”
“It’s just two years difference.”
A two-year age gap is like being friends once you’re out in society, she’d said. The important thing wasn’t age, but gender. And the fact that Ji-won seemed to think of him as just a cute junior also played a part.
“Two years is nothing to worry about. Speaking as someone who’s set up blind dates like it’s breakfast, you have nothing to worry about. Good face, good body, lots of money. Even being a loner with few friends is a plus.”
“…”
“Why are you looking at me like that? You’re not my type, you know.”
As Suhyeon looked at him with a disgusted expression, Kwon-ju swallowed the words that were about to come out. I’m not interested either. Kwon-ju’s ideal type, the first love he’d carried in his heart until now, was Ji-won himself. What triggered him was being called a loner. He was putting in so much effort to maintain the friendships Ji-won had helped him build.
“Or you could just ask Han Ji-won. You’re close with him, right?”
When his crush’s name suddenly came up during their love advice session, Kwon-ju visibly flinched and clasped his hands together. Suhyeon, completely oblivious to his busy movements under the table despite his seemingly calm face, continued.
“You said they’re older, right? He probably dated someone older before going to the military? Ask him how they met.”
Kwon-ju froze upon hearing this unexpected story about Ji-won’s dating history. He carefully raised his clasped hands to the table and started drinking his untouched beverage. His throat suddenly felt parched.
“Who was the older person?”
“How would I know? I never met them… Oh, but I saw a picture. She was really pretty. He can be a bit of a fool sometimes, but objectively speaking, he’s the popular type.”
“…”
As Suhyeon continued her testimony and praise, Kwon-ju began to nibble on his straw. During that one year when he wasn’t at this university, Ji-won would have been a freshman like himself, so it was entirely possible he had dated someone. Why hadn’t he ever thought Ji-won might have dated someone? With that handsome face and personality so good that he not only welcomed everyone but also approached them first, there’s no way people would have left him alone.
While it was obvious without asking that Ji-won liked women, hearing about his actual dating experience like this didn’t feel great. …But that was in the past.
“Then.”
“Then what?”
“I’ll ask Ji-won hyung, so please tell me what he likes.”
Faced with Kwon-ju’s serious expression, looking ready to write everything down, Suhyeon was at a loss for words. How did the conversation turn this way? It’s not like Han Ji-won would demand payment for answering questions. He was known to readily listen to his peers’ concerns without asking for anything in return, so there was no way he would ignore his favorite junior’s love advice request.
Anyway, since he was asking. After a brief thought, Suhyeon said, “He likes games.”
“I know that.”
“What about alcohol?”
“I know that too.”
Seems like he knows Ji-won better than I do. Then suddenly she remembered when they all went out to eat at a restaurant during their first year. Even at a place famous for steak bowls, Han Ji-won stubbornly ordered a salmon bowl. And how he regularly bought fish cutlets at the student cafeteria, and periodically shared sushi photos when everyone was sharing what they’d eaten that day.
“He likes fish.”
“Fish?”
In Kwon-ju’s mind, he pictured schools of fish swimming leisurely through blue waters. As his imagination expanded from the neighborhood river to the world’s oceans, Suhyeon, who had been watching him stare off into space, couldn’t resist interrupting.
“Yep. That’s for sure.”
“Thank you.”
Kwon-ju’s face brightened a bit after obtaining this valuable information. What’s so great about that? While Suhyeon looked puzzled as she took a mouthful of mint chocolate latte, Kwon-ju’s vast mind was filling up with jumbled plans.
* * *
Unable to postpone his plans any longer, Kwon-ju, who had forced himself to gather courage, was extremely nervous as if asking for a first date. Is this even a date request, if I think about it? While he was organizing the lines he’d prepared in advance, a loud voice from somewhere snapped him back to reality.
“Kwon-ju!”
The square-shaped open mouth, then the voice calling his name, followed by large strides approaching quickly. Though it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen this many times before, for some reason it felt especially special today, making his face heat up.
“What were you thinking about that you couldn’t hear me? Have you eaten?”
“Ah, n-no, not yet.”
This idiot’s stuttering again. After going through the first phase of self-loathing, Kwon-ju forced himself to smile as if nothing was wrong. But Ji-won, not caring in the slightest how many times Kwon-ju stuttered, asked about his business directly.
“What is it?”
As if he couldn’t talk about it here, Kwon-ju dragged Ji-won to a secluded spot behind the building, and Ji-won looked up at him intently. Why is he suddenly acting like this? Wondering if he was sick, Ji-won examined his face, but there was no particular sign of distress. He did seem a bit tense though… Ji-won noticed Kwon-ju’s tightly clenched fists, but before he could ask why, Kwon-ju blurted out.
“There’s somewhere I want to go.”
“Okay.”
“…I-I don’t have anyone to go with.”
His voice cracked from embarrassment, adding to the pitiful impression. Stomping down the part of himself that screamed to hide immediately, Kwon-ju forced a smile and asked.
“Would you mind going with me?”
It felt like he’d aged ten years just asking this one thing. Having said it, he waited for an answer, but strangely, the person in front of him was silent.
“Of course! If there’s somewhere you want to go, tell me more.”
The response was so positively affirmative that it made Kwon-ju feel awkward, as he had been preparing himself for rejection.
While it wasn’t exactly positive that a grown man had no friends to go with or couldn’t go somewhere alone, to Ji-won it just looked pitiful. Especially the way his eyes trembled when he asked, “Would you mind going with me?” With that pretty face acting so vulnerable, Ji-won couldn’t help but fall for it completely.
Above all, considering all the help he’d received from Kwon-ju so far, it would be strange not to accompany him on this one outing. Exams were long over, so taking time off for a day wasn’t difficult at all.
They quickly made plans to meet on a day when Ji-won only had morning classes. Following the address Kwon-ju provided, Ji-won showed up at the meeting place without asking questions and looked up at the building.
“An aquarium all of a sudden…?”
He had expected something like a movie theater, karaoke room, or PC café. Do two guys normally go to aquariums together? Try as he might, he couldn’t recall any friend who had ever suggested going to an aquarium. He’d been to one on family outings or school field trips… he hadn’t even been on a date here.
Kwon-ju has unique tastes. Wondering if he’d arrived too early, Ji-won was looking for a place to wait when he spotted Kwon-ju standing by the entrance in the distance.
“Why did you come so early?”
At Ji-won’s friendly greeting as he clapped Kwon-ju’s shoulder, Kwon-ju, who hadn’t expected him to be there already, was startled and dropped his phone. It fell with a loud thud, screen-first, making both of them freeze.
“I’ll pick it up.”
How mindlessly relaxed was I standing there to drop it? Kwon-ju hurriedly bent down to pick up the phone before Ji-won could feel bad about it, but let out a small groan.
“Ah.”
As he bent down, he smacked his head against a pillar right next to him.
“Are you okay? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have startled you.”
The embarrassment was five thousand times stronger than the dull pain in his forehead. All the effort he’d put into dressing up was meaningless. Starting the meeting like this. Avoiding Ji-won who was trying to check his condition, Kwon-ju covered his face with his palm. How can I show my face after this embarrassment?
“No, I’m fine…”
Though he said he was fine, he really wasn’t. Not his forehead, but his heart. While he knew he didn’t have a cool, dependable image to Ji-won, at the very least he didn’t want to appear stupid. Overcome by self-loathing, he looked ready to burrow into the ground.
“…”
However, Ji-won naturally interpreted this silence and negative expression differently. Is Kwon-ju angry? Faced with his stiff expression, Ji-won felt genuinely sorry.
“Is your screen cracked?”
“No, it’s fine.”
Hearing the cautious, apologetic tone, Kwon-ju quickly came to his senses. So consumed by despair at making such a spectacle before even entering the aquarium, he hadn’t considered Ji-won’s feelings. Hastily stuffing away the gloomy aura that had been spreading around him, he smiled and held up his phone screen in front of Ji-won’s eyes.
“Really.”
“Does it still turn on?”
“Yes. Really…”
Kwon-ju pressed the power button briefly to prove the screen worked, then stopped mid-sentence. Wait. What was I looking at last? Ji-won glanced at his junior who, after offering his phone, quickly withdrew his hand within a second.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
