Out of the text currently displayed on the screen, exactly three characters caught Won-hyeok’s eye.
Han-ul.
Only one face came to mind with that name. A guy with a pretty flashy look. Judging by appearances alone, he didn’t look like a student at some prestigious university at all—more like the kind of bastard who rode around on a motorcycle and made a habit of acting like a punk. They’d seemed fairly close the last time at the cafe too, when they were working on that liberal arts assignment, but were they even closer than he’d thought?
Still, given Han-gyeom’s personality, it shouldn’t be easy for him to get that close to just anyone. Won-hyeok crossed his arms and tapped his own forearm as he sank into thought.
Come to think of it, that bastard had shown a pretty favorable attitude toward Kang Han-gyeom before too—both when they ran into each other at the library last time and at the cafe.
“……”
What if that bastard was interested in Han-gyeom? With Han-gyeom’s looks, wasn’t it only natural that anyone would end up liking him?
To begin with, what was that Kwon Han-ul bastard’s secondary gender anyway? Going by his build, alpha seemed the most likely, but that didn’t mean he could ignore the possibility that the guy had mistaken Han-gyeom for an omega and started entertaining all kinds of thoughts.
“Ah, fuck. At this rate I’m gonna die before my time.”
Out of habit, Won-hyeok rummaged through his pocket. He was trying to find his car keys, but his hand came up empty. As if he’d noticed that whole sequence of movements, Do In-seok abruptly grabbed his arm.
“What the hell? Let go.”
Won-hyeok glared at In-seok with everything he had. Catching sight of the flames practically blazing in his eyes, In-seok instinctively flinched. Judging by that face alone, it looked like he could storm out right now and beat someone to a bloody pulp without a second thought.
“Hey, don’t tell me you’re actually going?”
“You wanna let go?”
“Are you insane? We gathered here today because it’s your father’s birthday!”
Keeping his voice as low as possible, In-seok flicked a glance toward the dining room.
“Fuck that. What kind of special occasion is the day that man was born to me?”
At the downright unfilial remark, Do In-seok let out a deep sigh. He himself also lived however the hell he pleased, but even so, he couldn’t hold a candle to this goddamn cousin of his. It was almost amazing how this lunatic acted like total trash at home yet somehow managed to hide his personality outside and pass for a “normal person.”
“I don’t know what’s got your eyes all crazed, but think rationally. Huh? At this rate, all that’s gonna happen is your eldest uncle will chew you out again.”
At the word rationally, Won-hyeok visibly faltered. As the tension unconsciously bracing his body slowly began to drain away, Do In-seok finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Rationally?”
“Yeah, asshole! Try acting rational for once. How old are you?”
Even though it was ridiculous that someone like Do In-seok was trying to act like the grown-up here, Won-hyeok kept turning that word over and over in his head.
“Even if we date, the condition is that we don’t interfere in each other’s lives.”
Those had been none other than his own words when he started dating Han-gyeom. There had been reasons for attaching that condition.
For Won-hyeok, there were exactly two reasons to date Han-gyeom.
Surveillance and responsibility.
The former was to keep a close watch on the mouth of Kang Han-gyeom, the only one who had witnessed him showing his true personality, and the latter was to preserve his social standing and fulfill the bare minimum of human decency for having gotten caught up in rut and fucked him from behind on impulse.
On top of that, a strange curiosity and amusement toward Han-gyeom—who acted cute right in front of him, like he was showing off little tricks—had served as a kind of catalyst.
But Won-hyeok had never intended to keep this relationship going for very long. He planned to maintain appearances just enough, and by the time Kang Han-gyeom had mostly forgotten his true nature, and by the time he had fulfilled his responsibility, or by the time the curiosity he felt toward him cooled off, he intended to end it.
When that time came, he had added the condition that they shouldn’t interfere with each other, for both their sakes. He hated obsession and possessiveness, that kind of thing, with a passion.
But what if he tried to stop Han-gyeom from meeting that punk-looking bastard—Han-ul or Han-woo or whatever his name was? What if someone who had said he’d probably have to stay at his family home all weekend because of family matters suddenly showed up out of nowhere? Wouldn’t that be the exact kind of behavior that directly contradicted the words he himself had said?
“……Haa.”
Won-hyeok bit down on his lip over and over and dragged a hand over his face.
“What are you two doing out here?”
Just then, Do Won-cheol walked out into the hallway. It seemed he had come to check because the two of them had been gone for quite a while and he’d heard voices several times.
“Ah, we were just catching up as cousins for the first time in a while, haha. Hey, let’s get back in already.”
“The food’s getting cold,” Do In-seok urged Won-hyeok along, keeping up an awkward smile and a falsely casual tone. The moment he started moving, Won-hyeok’s eyes met his father’s directly.
Looking at his son, the man clicked his tongue out of habit, as if displeased.
“If you can’t even hide your emotions at a gathering like this, how long are you going to keep behaving so pathetically?”
“If possible, for the rest of my life.”
Won-hyeok answered coldly and headed straight back to the dining room.
***
[Yeah, have fun. Still, I’m glad you have a friend to meet. I felt bad that I couldn’t hang out with you.]
Inside the swaying subway car, Han-gyeom looked at the text Won-hyeok had sent and smiled to himself.
“How can sunbae be this nice?”
Murmuring quietly under cover of the subway noise, he felt his heart start pounding even harder. Every time he thought of Won-hyeok and let those thoughts slip out loud, his feelings for him grew a little more. This was the first time he’d realized that once you’ve already admitted you like someone, you can end up liking them even more.
Your heart and your feelings can grow.
That was one more thing Han-gyeom had learned thanks to Won-hyeok.
Han-gyeom was carefully trying to choose an emoticon to send back to that text when one of a puppy shooting out little hearts caught his eye. Would it be okay to send something like that? Would it seem like too much of an expression of affection? What if sunbae found it burdensome?
Han-gyeom was stuck there going ngh, agonizing over it, when the subway stopped at the station where he had to get off next and the doors slid wide open. Because his head had been filled with nothing but thoughts of Won-hyeok, he had almost missed his timing. Hurriedly getting off the train, Han-gyeom let out a sigh of relief and headed up toward Exit 3, where he was supposed to meet Han-ul.
“Han-gyeom.”
He had just come up to street level and was looking around when, in the distance, a tall man waved his hand energetically. Even if he hadn’t, Han-ul stood out easily anywhere thanks to his bleached hair and flashy outfit.
“Sorry, I’m late, right?”
“I just got here too. Let’s go.”
Today was the day Han-gyeom had agreed to follow Han-ul to buy contact lenses. Originally, thanks to Won-hyeok saying it looked like he’d have to stay at his family home all weekend, Han-gyeom had been planning to spend time alone at home as usual. But Han-ul’s words had suddenly come back to him, and he’d made plans with him right away.
Besides, he had already wanted to repay him for cutting his hair for free at the salon last time, so they decided to buy lenses together and get lunch too.
“But can I ask just one thing?”
They were walking to the optician Han-ul always went to when Han-ul suddenly threw the question at him.
“Yeah, of course.”
“Why did you suddenly decide to start dressing up?”
“Huh?”
Han-gyeom paused to think for a moment, but really, there was no need to think about it. In all his twenty-one years of life, he’d just lived however he happened to look, so there was only one reason he’d suddenly decided he should try doing something now.
“T-there’s someone I admire.”
Actually, it was someone he liked, but if he said that, it felt like the flood of questions that would naturally follow would be enormous.
“I want him to think well of me… and also, uh, I want to become someone who suits him.”
It felt a little awkward to say out loud something he’d always only thought to himself. Even though the words left a lot of room for interpretation, Han-ul only made a strangely subtle expression and murmured, “Mm, I see.”
After they arrived at the optician, Han-gyeom barely had a moment to breathe. It reminded him of the last time he had gone to get new glasses with Won-hyeok, and the whole thing felt like a kind of déjà vu.
Just as Han-ul had said, lenses came in all sorts—three-month, six-month, and even daily disposable one-day lenses—and the pros and cons differed clearly depending on the manufacturer. But hearing everything explained face-to-face was far better than trying to figure it all out on the internet by himself.
Thanks to the detailed consultation from the professional optician and his friend’s advice, Han-gyeom successfully managed to choose a product that seemed like it would suit him well.
“Thanks. Without you, Han-ul, I would’ve been in serious trouble.”
“I’ll help you check how they look when you put them in later too.”
After leaving the optician, the two of them went into a nearby restaurant. Han-gyeom looked proudly at the shopping bag with the contact lenses inside beside him.
Soon, the food they had ordered was brought to the table. It was an instant tteokbokki place they had come to on Han-ul’s recommendation, and the spicy smell was already hitting him right in the nose.
As if he’d been waiting for it, Han-gyeom picked up his phone and took a picture of the tteokbokki. He was planning to show it later if Won-hyeok asked what he had for lunch.
“Han-gyeom.”
“Hm?”
Han-ul studied Han-gyeom rather closely as he smiled faintly at the photo he’d taken. Even though the weather wasn’t all that cold, his pale cheeks were flushed red, and the corners of his lips—thick with excitement—were curled upward.
Han-ul stirred the pot with the ladle as he watched him, then opened his mouth.
“You do have someone you’re dating after all, don’t you?”
“……Huh?”
When Han-gyeom blinked rapidly with an awkward voice, Han-ul gave him a smile tinged with odd triumph, like he’d already figured everything out.
“I think I know.”
Han-ul set down the ladle he’d been holding with a light clack, propped his chin on one hand, and stared at Han-gyeom openly. For some reason, it felt like cold sweat was running down his back.
“K-know what?”
Han-gyeom swallowed hard. Han-ul’s eyes had curved in a way that was far too meaningful.
“It’s that sunbae from the library, right? The one who bought us cake at the cafe. His name was… Do Won-hyeok, right?”
“……Hk!”
He should’ve denied it, but since it was the first time anyone had seen right through him like this, Han-gyeom ended up hiccuping instead. His face turned so red that even Han-ul, who had only meant it jokingly, looked flustered.
When Han-ul pushed over a cup of cold water, Han-gyeom gulped it down.
“H-how did you know…?”
After making such a big scene and even hiccuping, trying to deny it now was basically pointless. Besides, Han-gyeom was a little curious. He’d definitely tried his hardest not to show even the slightest sign that he and Won-hyeok were dating, so how had Han-ul figured it out when he’d barely even seen them together?
“Well, there are a few things.”
“There are that many?”
Sunbae would hate it if he found out. Han-gyeom’s shoulders drooped. Still, he needed to know so he wouldn’t make the same mistake next time.
Watching the tteokbokki bubbling away, Han-gyeom leaned forward, intending to listen closely to what Han-ul had to say.
