Won-hyeok’s voice was doing its best to sound calm, but in truth, the inside of him was still burning black. Fine, he could grit his teeth and let the haircut slide a hundred times over. Even though cutting it had exposed Kang Han-gyeom’s clear, pretty face far too well, at least those huge glasses had still hidden some of it.
But the face filling Won-hyeok’s vision right now was, literally, completely defenseless. With even the glasses that had at least covered part of his face now gone, it was, in comparison, no different from seeing a fortress that ought to be guarded with ironclad security standing there without a single soldier in sight.
“I didn’t sell them!”
At that, Han-gyeom cried out in alarm.
“You bought them for me, sunbae. How could I ever sell those?”
Apparently, that fool had taken the figurative expression literally. He looked a little stupid, but the way he flapped his hands in a panic was unbelievably cute.
“My glasses are in my bag. I put them safely in the case. So they wouldn’t break.”
“I bought them for you to wear, so why are you treating them like they’re some treasured relic?”
“I-I was thinking maybe I should try wearing contacts now….”
Han-gyeom scratched his head shyly, as if confessing something terribly embarrassing. He was probably awkward about how he looked without glasses too.
“So why the contacts?”
As the inside of him charred black, Won-hyeok’s voice also began to sink, like it was descending into a dark cave.
“Uh, well, I thought maybe I should try changing things up a little too.”
The inside of the car was quiet. Unlike outside, all the surrounding noise was shut out, and perhaps because it was just the two of them sitting enclosed in that sealed-off space, Han-gyeom finally seemed to be picking up little by little on the change in Won-hyeok’s mood.
“Why bother? To the point of not even wearing the glasses I bought you?”
“Huh?”
“When did I ever tell you to wear contacts? No, I told you not to make any effort like that.”
The atmosphere had shifted strangely, as if he were interrogating a suspect and trying to force a confession out of him. The voice pressing him, as if wearing contacts were somehow wrong. The breath saturated with irritation. Won-hyeok was grinding his teeth, pouring out his emotions unchecked, when suddenly reason clicked on with a snap—and he flinched.
Sure enough. Han-gyeom was staring right at him now, slowly blinking, clearly affected by what he had just said. Maybe he was embarrassed too, because his cheeks had turned red.
Won-hyeok cursed internally. He’d messed up. He had meant to handle it nicely, talk it through gently, and somehow steer things so Han-gyeom would go back to glasses instead of contacts—but the temper that had already exploded had once again ruined everything today.
It was because the emotions that had burst loose earlier, when he’d seen him standing so close to Han-ul, still hadn’t been properly settled.
“Han-gyeom, that….”
“S-sunbae….”
Disaster washed over Won-hyeok’s face. No matter how innocent and guileless Han-gyeom was, that kind of attitude just now couldn’t have felt good. He’d probably ask why he was getting so angry. But Won-hyeok had no intention of backing down. No matter where the conversation went, he was determined to snatch away that shopping bag that looked like it came from the optical store and get those glasses back on him somehow.
“You can make your voice even lower too? That kind of voice suits you really well too.”
“…What?”
The feeling was, well. Yes. Like getting hit hard in the head with a hammer.
“You already naturally have a low voice, right? I always thought it sounded really nice. But just now, since your voice was even lower, how should I put it… it felt even more h-heart-fluttering.”
Even while suddenly launching into a voice analysis, Han-gyeom’s eyes sparkled. Won-hyeok’s flustered face was reflected in them. Right now, Han-gyeom had basically possessed the spirit of a fan seeing his bias make a comeback after a long time with a perfect image transformation.
“H-Han-gyeom, you heard what I said, right? We are talking about the same thing, aren’t we?”
Even Won-hyeok—the great Won-hyeok, who had hardly ever known what it meant to be flustered in his life—ended up stammering.
“Ah! The contacts, right?”
Only then did Han-gyeom clap his hands, having nearly wandered off onto a completely different track before returning to the original topic.
“Yeah. I want you to go back to—”
“So it really doesn’t suit me after all?”
Won-hyeok, who had been about to say he wanted him to wear glasses again, stopped before he could finish the sentence. Han-gyeom, sitting properly in the passenger seat, scratched his head with a slightly dejected look.
“The truth is… I always want to look good for you, sunbae.”
Won-hyeok’s brows twitched like caterpillars.
“You said that before. That your ideal type is someone with p-pretty eyes… I know I don’t fit that, but when I’m standing next to you, I still wanted to become someone who suited you even a little.”
This time, the corners of Won-hyeok’s eyes trembled.
“But now that I think about it, even when I came after cutting my hair, and now with the contacts too, I don’t think you’ve ever once said it suited me. So I guess it really doesn’t… right?”
Even as Han-gyeom spoke softly, he carefully watched Won-hyeok’s reaction. Looking at Han-gyeom, calmly confessing feelings he had been carrying around all this time as though he were making a simple confession, Won-hyeok let out a low sigh.
“…For me?”
“Yes. These days, I can’t think about anything but you, sunbae.”
Won-hyeok dragged his large hand over his face several times. Worry, concern, anger, and some strange, subtle pounding in his chest all seemed smeared across it.
“But if you d-dislike it, I’ll wear my glasses again. I was worried too, that maybe it wouldn’t suit me….”
“No.”
At that, Won-hyeok collapsed dramatically over the steering wheel. Startled, Han-gyeom jerked his hips. He’d been saying weird things about his lifespan earlier too—was he really that unwell somewhere after all?
“It suits you. Enough to piss me off.”
Won-hyeok lifted only his gaze slightly and stared at Han-gyeom, who still tilted his head like he didn’t quite understand. Originally, really, he had planned to somehow get those glasses back onto that face. He had even intended to wait until his hair grew out again and stop him from cutting it.
Even if Han-gyeom said no, Won-hyeok knew very well that if he nudged or guided him with clever enough words, Kang Han-gyeom would follow along easily.
But he couldn’t do it. Faced with this little mutt saying, with a face like that, that he’d done it all for him, that he’d agonized over it the whole time—how was he supposed to coldly say it didn’t suit him and tell him to go back to the way he was?
“Really?”
Han-gyeom leaned his upper body forward and asked, sounding happy. Lately, Won-hyeok had been gradually learning Han-gyeom’s little habits, and this was one of them. Whenever he was happy or interested in something, he leaned forward like this.
Like a puppy hoping its owner would pet it.
“Yeah.”
Won-hyeok stared blankly at him, then reached out. By the time he blinked once, what he felt in his palm was the silky softness of fine, smooth hair.
Won-hyeok was unconsciously stroking Han-gyeom’s hair. And even he was startled by it. Han-gyeom, feeling the hand resting on top of his head, could only let out a tiny, “Wow…,” like a child who had just gotten a present from Santa Claus.
That was so dumb and so funny that Won-hyeok finally burst into laughter.
“Sunbae.”
“Yeah?”
“Th-then… should I keep wearing contacts?”
Even if he wanted to say, Then only wear them in front of me, he knew very well that was impossible in reality. And besides, Han-gyeom seemed genuinely delighted by this newly styled version of himself, and pouring cold water all over that felt… unpleasant, somehow.
“Fine… but next time, if there’s anything you want to do, can you at least give me a heads-up?”
Honestly, with surprises exploding one after another like some weekly special event, it was stressing him out more than enough already.
“Yes! I will.”
But when Han-gyeom nodded his head enthusiastically, Won-hyeok felt like none of that even mattered, and all he could do was grin stupidly like a madman.
“How should I put it? I feel like it’s starting to feel more and more real that I’m dating you, sunbae. We really feel like lovers.”
“It’s not that we feel like lovers. We are lovers.”
Leaning against the steering wheel, Won-hyeok lightly tugged at Han-gyeom’s cheek in a teasing way. It wasn’t just white in color—the texture was enough to put glutinous rice cake to shame. How was there not a single part of him that wasn’t fascinating? Kang Han-gyeom felt like the first kind of person Won-hyeok had ever met in his life.
“Right.”
In the gap while Han-gyeom smiled shyly, Won-hyeok tugged on the other cheek too.
“But that Han-woo bastard… no, Han-ul. He knew we were dating?”
“Ah! Right!”
Because both of his cheeks were being held by Won-hyeok, Han-gyeom’s pronunciation came out slightly slurred. It was so dumb and funny that Won-hyeok kept pulling at both cheeks, but somehow Han-gyeom’s face dimmed a little.
“I tried to hide it, but I guess Han-ul is quick to notice things. B-but that doesn’t mean I told him, absolutely not!”
Han-gyeom grabbed the right sleeve of Won-hyeok’s shirt with both hands. There it was again, that habit. Won-hyeok had all of his attention stolen by those fidgeting red fingertips.
“I asked him to keep it secret, so don’t worry! H-Han-ul is nice, so he probably won’t go around telling people.”
Won-hyeok hadn’t brought it up because he wanted to scold him. He’d only asked because, maybe, just maybe, Han-gyeom had boldly told someone with his own mouth that he was dating sunbae Do Won-hyeok.
But of course not.
Apparently that Han-woo bastard just had pretty sharp instincts.
“Okay.”
Won-hyeok’s mind felt extremely foggy right now. Maybe it was because Han-gyeom had flustered him over and over again. So even as he stroked Han-gyeom’s cheek, he found himself wondering whether, since he had already run out from the family home fully prepared to get chewed out, maybe he should take this little mutt somewhere for a drive.
“Sunbae, then drive safely.”
“Why?”
“Huh?”
And yet suddenly, Han-gyeom dipped his head politely and began fiddling with the door handle as if he were about to get out.
“You’re leaving? Right now? Doesn’t the mood feel completely wrong for that?”
“I need to go home and study for exams. I-I already made today’s plan, and if I don’t do it now, I don’t think I’ll finish everything….”
That damn exam studying. Won-hyeok almost shouted, What’s so important about that?—but thinking he shouldn’t ruin the atmosphere now that it had finally improved, he clamped his mouth shut.
“Then I’ll see you at school.”
“Yeah….”
Smiling brightly, Han-gyeom carefully picked up the shopping bag with the contacts and got out of the car. Through the front windshield, Won-hyeok saw him smile softly and bow his head. Forcing up the corners of his mouth that didn’t want to rise, Won-hyeok gestured for him to go inside.
Watching Han-gyeom disappear into the building with light steps, Won-hyeok rubbed his dry face. Why was it? Why did it feel like lately he’d been getting maxed out on stress every single day?
Honk—
Just then, a car horn blared from behind Won-hyeok’s car. Looking in the rearview mirror, he saw a car that had come in and was laying on the horn noisily, clearly telling him to move.
“Hey! Are you not moving your car?! How can you block the way like that?!”
When Won-hyeok still didn’t move, the other driver rolled down the window and shouted angrily. Won-hyeok grinned, rolled his own window down, and tilted his head.
“You fucker. I was just about to move it. If you’ve got a problem, report me. How do you even get through life with that little patience?”
“What? What did you say?!”
Won-hyeok hurled even harsher curses at the driver, then started the engine and stepped on the accelerator. At least it felt like a little of his stress had eased.
