Do Won-hyeok, waking to a refreshing morning for the first time in a while, kneaded his neck this way and that to shake off sleep. After going on a date with Kang Han-gyeom on Saturday, he had met him again on Sunday. He’d been uneasy leaving him alone over the weekend, worried that if he did, who knew what kind of trouble he might get himself into again.
Maybe it was because he’d burned through all his energy outside over the weekend and gone to bed early yesterday, but for the first time in a while his body felt light. Picking up the phone he’d left on the desk, he now automatically left Han-gyeom a message saying he was awake. He was gradually getting used to the fact that Kang Han-gyeom treated his phone like a rock.
Not long after, Won-hyeok came out of the bathroom and entered the room, shaking the moisture from his hair. At the end of his absentminded glance was the keychain. He stared down at the little doll Han-gyeom had personally gifted him. It was something he’d been doing ever since he came home holding it in his hand.
Whenever this keychain caught his eye, he found himself helplessly staring at it again and again. He wasn’t sure if it was because it was the first time in his life he’d ever received a gift like this, or because this otter resembled Kang Han-gyeom. Or maybe it was because the face Han-gyeom had made when handing it to him—smiling so brightly—had been beautiful.
Won-hyeok sat down on the bed and properly examined the otter keychain. No matter how he looked at it, the way it resembled Han-gyeom kept drawing his eyes.
“I know very well that I-I don’t suit someone like you, sunbae. So I tried hard to protect it.”
Then, all at once, Han-gyeom’s words from that time came back to him. To think Han-gyeom had misunderstood and believed Won-hyeok wanted to hide the fact that he had him as a lover.
Well, it had also been his own fault for setting conditions like that without giving a proper explanation, but he’d never imagined Han-gyeom thought of himself as someone who “didn’t suit a person like sunbae.”
Now that he thought about it, it seemed Han-gyeom had very little awareness of his own looks. That must’ve been why he’d gone around hiding everything with his hair and glasses. Hadn’t his family ever told him anything? Then again, there were plenty of actors famous for their faces who’d said they didn’t realize how handsome they were until before they debuted.
Won-hyeok tapped the blanket with his fingers. After thinking something over, he nodded as if making up his mind and rose from the bed.
The keychain was still in his hand. Still, something like this wasn’t exactly a very practical item. He’d accepted it as a gift, sure, but he had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to use it.
“……”
At that moment, Won-hyeok’s gaze shifted to the bag sitting on the desk.
“No, come on, even so, hanging it on there is a bit much.”
Glowering at the bag as hard as he could, he shook his head. Carrying a keychain around attached to his bag—it was something he had never once in his life thought, even for a second, that he should try doing. To begin with, he wasn’t the type to go around hanging cute little things off his stuff.
But then, a certain image flashed quickly through his mind. What if Kang Han-gyeom saw him carrying it around attached like this?
“……”
He would definitely make those big eyes sparkle and wag his tail like a puppy. Honestly, he didn’t dislike the idea of seeing that.
Two thoughts collided in his head. One, how could he go around doing something that wasn’t his taste at all? And two, he’d get to see Han-gyeom grinning.
And Won-hyeok chose one of the two. In truth, it didn’t take him very long to decide.
***
As he stepped onto campus to greet the newly begun week, the scent of spring felt especially thick in the air. Up until last week, everything he saw had looked fucking awful, but not now. Ever since finding out Han-gyeom hadn’t been avoiding him and had his own reasons, the weight that had been pressing down inside him had suddenly lifted, and his heart felt far more at ease. It felt like spring itself was surging richly beneath his feet.
Wearing a smile that very rarely came from the bottom of his heart, Won-hyeok walked across campus. Then he spotted Han-gyeom standing a little ways off.
They hadn’t even contacted each other, and yet they’d run into each other by chance on this huge campus. Wasn’t that, literally, something like fate? Won-hyeok’s smile was just about to deepen when suddenly some squid-looking bastard entered his field of vision. In that instant, it felt like the ground beneath his feet dropped out.
Han-gyeom said something and handed his phone to the other person. The moment he saw that, Won-hyeok’s smile vanished completely, replaced by a murderous expression. The squid-like bastard, smiling favorably at Han-gyeom and bowing his head over and over, walked off in the opposite direction.
“Kang Han-gyeom!”
“Huh? Sunbae!”
Won-hyeok ran over to Han-gyeom in one stride and grabbed him firmly by the shoulder as Han-gyeom waved both hands.
“Did you give it to him?”
“Huh? Give him what?”
Won-hyeok stared daggers at the back of the head of the one who had just been talking to Han-gyeom. Seriously, why were there so many fly-like bastards swarming around him? At this point, he was starting to resent his past self for ever allowing the contacts.
“You gave him your number? You didn’t, right? No way you would have, right?”
Fuck, this was exactly why people said all eyes were the same. Pathetic little nobodies could still recognize something pretty, and then they came swarming like shit-flies, so how was he supposed to relax?
“I can’t exactly make you wear a hat 365 days a year……”
“Why would I give him my number? He dropped his phone, so I picked it up for him.”
At those utterly unexpected words, Won-hyeok froze on the spot. Apparently, while Han-gyeom was walking, he’d bumped into that student, who’d been too distracted by his phone. The conversation had only gone on because Han-gyeom picked up the dropped phone and ended up receiving an apology.
“……You didn’t get hurt? That bastard—no, I mean, why was he walking around while looking at his phone?”
Maybe because he felt a little embarrassed over having misunderstood for no reason, Won-hyeok gave an awkward cough.
“Exactly.”
As Han-gyeom stood there smiling brightly, Won-hyeok shifted awkwardly in front of him and adjusted his bag. He was moving very deliberately to make the bag stand out more, as if there were something he wanted to show off, but Han-gyeom either didn’t notice or simply tilted his head.
Won-hyeok coughed several more times, finally catching Han-gyeom’s attention and making him look down.
“Oh? Th-the keychain! You attached it to your bag?”
Han-gyeom’s eyes went wide as he finally noticed the keychain hanging from the zipper of Won-hyeok’s bag.
“Yeah.”
“I-I didn’t think you’d actually put it on there……”
“You gave it to me.”
“Wow, I’m so happy. Seriously. Maybe this is why people give gifts and stuff to the person they like.”
Watching Han-gyeom confess his feelings so openly again today, Won-hyeok thought that he’d really done the right thing by hanging it on his bag that morning. In the first place, why had he even agonized over it? That whole scene from the morning now felt completely pointless.
Just then, as if something had suddenly occurred to him, Han-gyeom gasped and clapped a hand over his mouth, then quickly looked around. After checking that no one was nearby, he relaxed.
“Ah, sunbae. I-I should get going now.”
“Where’s your class? It’s in the College of Humanities anyway, right? Let’s go together.”
“No! I-I’ll contact you!”
Watching Han-gyeom vanish in a flash as if he were being chased, Won-hyeok was left standing there alone again, dumbfounded.
“Looks like he’s still hung up on what I said.”
Letting out a sigh, Won-hyeok pulled out his phone. Furiously typing, he sent Han-gyeom a text without a second’s hesitation.
[Let’s eat lunch together today. If you avoid me again this time, I think I’ll really be hurt.]
Han-gyeom checked that text right after first period ended. That morning, he’d happened to run into Won-hyeok, who had shown up with the keychain attached, and now he was reflecting on how carelessly he thought he’d acted. Even now, he was still worrying because when he was around Won-hyeok, he didn’t seem able to control his expression well or hide his emotions. But at the very end of the text, where Won-hyeok said he thought he’d be hurt, Han-gyeom finally surrendered.
Before leaving the classroom, he smacked both cheeks a few times to steel himself. Today, even if he ate with sunbae, he absolutely couldn’t let it show too much. With that vow, he stepped outside the classroom, and sure enough, Won-hyeok was there.
“Hello.”
“What’s with that stiff greeting?”
Won-hyeok laughed with his hand partly covering his mouth. He looked so cool that Han-gyeom barely managed to stop the corners of his own lips from loosening on their own.
“Let’s go.”
Han-gyeom followed Won-hyeok to a nearby restaurant. All the way there, he focused on keeping an appropriate distance and minding his expression and behavior, and already he felt like his energy was being rapidly drained.
“Oh? Hey, hey, over here!”
As soon as they stepped inside, someone raised a hand high and waved at the two of them. It was none other than Kang Yubin, and Kim Sun-woo was beside him.
“I called them over. That’s okay, right?”
“Yes……! Of course.”
Actually, it wasn’t okay. Weren’t those two Won-hyeok’s closest same-year friends? If so, then he needed to keep his guard up even more to make sure he didn’t get found out—but could he really pull that off?
Han-gyeom steeled himself grimly inside, then sat down.
“But Han-gyeom seriously looks like a completely different person. You should’ve been going around like this way earlier!”
Since this was Kang Yubin’s first time seeing Han-gyeom’s changed style, he was too excited to stop staring at him. As he went on and on about his hairstyle and showered him with excessive attention, Sun-woo glanced at Yubin.
“Hey, hey, cut it out.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Just because.”
He even stopped Yubin from acting that way, and later he started glancing at Won-hyeok, gauging his reaction too.
A little later, the food they’d ordered arrived. Sitting next to Won-hyeok and concentrating on controlling his expression, Han-gyeom was so distracted he couldn’t even tell whether the food was going into his nose or his mouth.
“Do Won-hyeok, I’ve been wanting to ask for a while now—what’s with that keychain on your bag?”
Around the time the meal was winding down, Yubin pointed at Won-hyeok’s bag hanging off the chair and asked. Just like Yubin, this was the first time his friends had ever seen him carrying something hanging off his stuff.
“It’s a keychain. What else would it be?”
“I’ve never seen you carry something like that before. Was it a gift?”
“Yeah. From my lover.”
At that one sentence, both Yubin, who had been in the middle of talking, and Han-gyeom, who had every nerve on edge, immediately broke into coughing fits as if they were about to spit out what was in their mouths.
“Wh… what?”
“I said my lover gave it to me.”
“Wait! You…… you were seeing someone?!”
“Yeah.”
Won-hyeok nodded casually, and Han-gyeom stared at him with his mouth hanging open. He was trying more desperately than anyone to hide it, but if Won-hyeok said something like that here, then keeping his expression under control was going to become impossible.
What on earth was sunbae thinking?
“Whoa, I feel like I just got hit in the head…… I-is it someone from our school?”
Kang Yubin’s voice shot up in an instant, just showing how flustered he was. Unable to figure out where to even start, he blurted out the question, and Won-hyeok merely nodded with a calm face.
“No way! Why are you only telling us now?! Who is it?”
“They’re here.”
Han-gyeom’s already large eyes grew even wider. His head spun dizzily. He couldn’t understand at all what Won-hyeok was thinking, steering the conversation this way.
“What? Here……?”
Yubin wore a grave expression and thought hard for a moment, then turned to Kim Sun-woo sitting beside him.
“……Are you insane? You think it’s me? Get rid of that look right now while I’m still asking nicely.”
Sun-woo, who had been quietly eating by himself, shuddered and shouted. Then naturally, the next place his gaze moved was already decided.
The moment Han-gyeom’s eyes met Yubin’s directly, his Adam’s apple bobbed hard. In a situation like this, he had no idea how he was supposed to react. The resolve, determination, and mental pep talks he’d worked so hard to maintain until now all turned to scraps of paper in that instant.
“Then…….”
“Yeah. It’s Han-gyeom.”
“Sunbae……”
Won-hyeok, having casually dropped a nuclear bomb, leisurely took a sip of cold water.
“So, guys, could you spread the word a lot for me? That I’m dating him.”
