Thinking that he just needed to give it to him quickly for Wonseok to finally back off, Yi-hyeon reluctantly scooped a small spoonful of ice cream and held it out toward Wonseok.
“Aren’t you here on government support anyway? Don’t act like such a cheap bastard while spending money we paid in taxes. Scoop a little more generously.”
As Wonseok glared at him, Haejun snickered beside them.
“Hah…”
Letting out a long sigh, Yi-hyeon plunged the spoon deep into the beaded ice cream this time. Just as he was about to dump the heaping spoonful into Wonseok’s gaping mouth—
Han Jun suddenly appeared out of nowhere and snatched the ice cream cup right out of Yi-hyeon’s hand.
Startled by Han Jun’s abrupt arrival, Yi-hyeon flinched, and the colorful beads scattered from the spoon he was holding, pattering down.
Han Jun flipped the stolen cup over in his palm as if turning it upside down, lowering his gaze coldly toward Wonseok.
“Yeah. Why’re you being so stingy, giving him just one spoonful at a time?”
Gripping the cup upside down, Han Jun shoved it straight into Wonseok’s open mouth.
Crushed ice cream smeared thickly over the bastard’s mouth and chin.
“Fuck—what the—shit! You crazy fucker!”
Spitting out the cup that had been jammed halfway into his mouth, Wonseok charged at Han Jun, eyes bulging.
“You’re dead today, fucker.”
“I’m dying again today?”
Han Jun laughed lightly, almost mockingly.
“I’m seriously gonna kill you, you son of a bitch.”
The moment Wonseok grabbed Han Jun by the collar, a booming voice echoed through the amusement park.
“Seo Wonseok!”
Their homeroom teacher stood there with a twisted expression. The amusement park was crowded with people—students from other schools on field trips, families with young children. Feeling all those eyes on them, the teacher hardened his gaze and warned them sharply to separate immediately.
Wonseok, who had recently been not-so-subtly threatened with his school record by the homeroom teacher, ground out a curse under his breath and roughly released Han Jun’s collar. Then, turning away, he muttered that he’d kill him the moment he spotted him somewhere secluded where the teacher couldn’t hear.
As the two nearly clashed, Yi-hyeon—who’d momentarily imagined the face of a certain Assemblyman—finally let out a sigh of relief, his tense body going limp.
“Phew… I dragged you into this again because of me. Sorry, Han Jun. And thanks for helping.”
“That’s why I told you to stick close to me—tall, broad-shouldered me.”
Yi-hyeon couldn’t bring himself to say that he’d tried to find him but couldn’t get close because of the other students. Instead, he made an awkward face and squatted down. He began gathering the half-melted ice cream from the cup that Wonseok had stomped on and crushed.
“What are you doing?”
“I can’t just leave it like this. I’m throwing it away.”
After tidying it up as best he could, Yi-hyeon headed toward the trash can. He hesitated for a moment, staring at it regretfully, then turned around and found Han Jun standing there with a smile, holding a brand-new cup of ice cream.
Yi-hyeon stared blankly at the cup being held out to him and tilted his head.
“You spilled it all.”
“I know, but…”
“You not gonna eat?”
“How could I accept this? I’ve got no shame. You got marked by the homeroom teacher and grabbed by Seo Wonseok because of me.”
“How is that your fault? That’s all on Seo Wonseok. Just take it already. My hand’s cold, and my arm’s tired.”
After hesitating for a bit, Yi-hyeon had no choice but to accept the oversized cup piled high with ice cream from Han Jun.
“I can really eat this?”
“I bought it for you. Who else would eat it?”
“What about you?”
“I don’t really like ice cream.”
Yi-hyeon scooped up a huge spoonful and held it out to Han Jun.
“I said I don’t like it.”
“Still. You’re the one who bought it—how can I eat it alone? Just one bite.”
Han Jun stared silently at the mound of beads stacked like a full bowl of rice on the spoon. Slowly, his mouth opened.
Maybe because his mouth was generously large, even after swallowing the ice cream, his soft lower lip lingered for a moment longer—brushing against the finger holding the spoon.
At that plush, compressed sensation, Yi-hyeon’s heart nearly dropped to his feet, and he almost dropped the spoon as well.
He just blinked rapidly with wide eyes, swallowing dryly, when Han Jun smiled prettily, his eyes curving as he said it was good.
In that instant, heat rushed to Yi-hyeon’s face, and without realizing it, he avoided Han Jun’s gaze. As if trying to cool the burning inside him, he shoveled spoonful after spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.
“You like it that much?”
“Uh—yeah. I like it. It’s good.”
“Ah…”
A moment later, Yi-hyeon felt someone watching him from beside. He tried not to be conscious of it, but his cheeks kept itching, making him want to scratch them.
“Yoon Yi-hyeon.”
When Han Jun called his name, Yi-hyeon’s shoulders trembled, and he froze mid-motion with the spoon halfway to his mouth. When no words followed for a while, Yi-hyeon looked up at Han Jun’s face.
Han Jun, who had been staring intently at Yi-hyeon out of the corner of his eye, suddenly lifted his hand.
As if reacting to the large hand, Yi-hyeon’s neck instinctively shrank back. His eyes squeezed shut, his whole body tense, and a soft hand brushed lightly across the corner of his mouth.
Yi-hyeon’s tightly shut eyes flew open.
“W-What was that?”
At Yi-hyeon’s question, Han Jun held out his hand, showing the dark liquid smeared on his fingers.
“You had chocolate on your face.”
Yi-hyeon just blinked, wordless.
“By the way, doesn’t it feel kind of hot today?”
Rubbing his reddened neck with his palm, Han Jun said he’d go wash his hands and walked toward the restroom across from them.
Staring blankly at Han Jun’s retreating back, Yi-hyeon suddenly lifted the ice cream cup in his hand and pressed it to his face. The cool container against his cheek made him feel like, if he didn’t cool down fast, his ears might pop out at any second.
A short while later, Han Jun came out of the restroom, wiping his face with the back of his hand as he walked over to Yi-hyeon, who’d been waiting for him. Maybe he’d washed his face too—his neatly styled bangs were slightly damp.
“Were you waiting for me?”
“Uh—here. Dry your hands.”
Yi-hyeon pulled out a tissue from his bag and held it out. Instead of taking it, Han Jun draped an arm over Yi-hyeon’s shoulders and smiled brightly as he spoke.
“Wanna go ride something?”
“Huh?”
When Yi-hyeon echoed him, Han Jun glanced around.
“Who else is here besides you?”
“That’s not what I mean. You’ve got your group—”
“No rule says you can only ride with your group.”
“Well, yeah, but still.”
“You’re not even close with them anyway. Why bother?”
Because of the changes happening to his body, Yi-hyeon had planned not to go with anyone today. And yet, for some reason, it was hard to refuse Han Jun’s suggestion.
Was it because he’d wanted to ride rides together with him?
After a long moment of hesitation, as if pulled by some irresistible force, Yi-hyeon could only nod.
“Let’s ride that one.”
Yi-hyeon was pulled along by Han Jun’s hand toward where a massive ride loomed. All the while, the corners of his lifted lips showed no sign of coming down.
What Han Jun chose was the scariest roller coaster in the entire amusement park.
Sitting naturally beside Yi-hyeon, Han Jun checked Yi-hyeon’s safety belt before his own.
“You’re so skinny it’s way too loose. Excuse me—miss! Is it okay for it to be this loose?”
When Han Jun raised his hand and shouted, a staff member came over, inspected the restraint, and said there was no issue before leaving. Only then did Han Jun beam again and look at Yi-hyeon.
“Have you ridden this before?”
“No. First ride since elementary school—since riding those paddle boats on Children’s Day.”
“You haven’t been to an amusement park since then?”
“Yeah. My body’s always been really weak. What about you?”
“Me? Until second year of middle school, it was basically mandatory. My mom was an amusement park fanatic.”
“Such a devoted son.”
“I try. Anyway, since it’s your first time, you’re probably pretty scared.”
At Han Jun’s question, Yi-hyeon fiddled with the safety bar and nodded.
“Yeah, I’m scared. But I think it’ll be fun.”
“If it gets too scary, tell me.”
“And if I tell you?”
“I’ll hold your hand.”
Why did just those words make his heart pound and his body heat up like this?
The ride hadn’t even started yet, but Yi-hyeon gripped the safety bar tightly and lowered his head.
“Hey, wouldn’t it look weird for two guys to hold hands?”
“What’s weird about it? Being scared doesn’t have a gender. If you’re scared, you just grab on. Do you have that kind of prejudice?”
“No, that’s not it…”
“I don’t get why you care so much about what other people think.”
Seeing Han Jun pout irritably, Yi-hyeon shrank back, thinking he’d said the wrong thing. He wiggled his feet silently, when Han Jun lowered his hand beneath the safety bar and deliberately flipped his palm upward.
“Then grab underneath.”
The rail slowly began to move.
Yi-hyeon, who had been staring at Han Jun smiling at him like someone dazed, slowly placed his hand on top of the wide, solid-looking palm.
Their fingers interlaced tightly, snapping together like a trap.
Yi-hyeon’s breathing grew far more labored than when he’d pedaled the paddle boat as hard as he could.
