GBAS 34

“I’ve been curious for a while, but what exactly does ‘this side’ mean?”

Hyunwoo, who had now sat with his arms crossed, looked directly into Jiwoo’s eyes. It was a gaze that held nothing but curiosity.

“Ugh, I almost spat it out.”

Unfazed, Jiwoo finished her drink, set down her glass, and pulled out two napkins. Then she muttered slyly.

“Well, look who’s even more innocent over here.”

At that, Hyunwoo tilted his head slightly, as if asking what she meant. Jiwoo, having crumpled the used napkin and tossed it into the trash can under the table, continued.

“Why are you suddenly asking that? Did someone say that to you?”

“You did, and he just said it too.”

“No, you said you’ve been curious for a while. Where did you hear that from?”

As Hyunwoo clamped his mouth shut, Jiwoo’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Are you, by any chance, getting hit on by guys?”

After saying this, Jiwoo gave the guy sitting in front of her a thorough once-over.

He’s handsome. Tall and well-built. Dresses pretty well too. Above all, he had a look that gave off zero ‘this side’ vibes, which ironically made him the type to be even more popular.

“…Is that related?”

“Oh, really?”

Judging by his expression, it seemed her question wasn’t entirely unrelated. The way he leaned in subtly to ask was suspicious, but Jiwoo no longer felt like explaining. Especially not here.

Jiwoo glanced at Seonwoong and Juha, who were blinking with eyes just as full of curiosity, and shook her head.

“Ugh, whatever. If you’re that curious, search it up yourself on your way home.”

“Ah.”

As Hyunwoo muttered, So it’s something you can find by searching, Jiwoo stared at him blankly when a single question suddenly flashed through her mind.

After a long moment of thought, Jiwoo glanced at the person next to her. After confirming that Seonwoong and Juha were caught up in another conversation, she lowered her voice and asked.

“I’m just asking, just in case, but the time you got dumped… was it because of this too?”

Covering her mouth with her hand, Juha’s eyes went wide as she stuck close to Jiwoo’s side and asked.

“Gasp, Hyunwoo, you got dumped again? When?”

Did this girl swallow a train whistle?

Her voice was so loud it echoed through the pub, causing all the nearby customers to glance their way.

“…Sorry, I’m so sorry.”

As Juha bowed her head, the quiet pub quickly became noisy again.

Thanks to his poor choice of friends, Hyunwoo’s love life was being broadcast for the whole neighborhood to hear, and both of his ears were already bright red. Hyunwoo, who had been covering his face with his hands, lowered them and grumbled.

“Hey, why are you bringing that up now…”

“Unnie, Jiwoo unnie. Is it true?”

No matter how much Hyunwoo grumbled, he wasn’t Juha’s concern. Even if he was the protagonist of the story. Jiwoo, who had finished another half-glass of beer in the meantime, answered as if it were no big deal.

“Yup. He’s a pro at getting dumped. As far as I know, he’s never been the one to break up with his girlfriends first.”

“Really?”

Juha covered her mouth with her hand and peeked over at where Hyunwoo was sitting.

“He dates them if they confess, and when they want to break up, he just meekly gets dumped. Seriously, the way he goes about it is hilarious.”

“Wow, that’s insane.”

“I don’t know where he learned it from, but once he gets a girlfriend, he treats them super well, you know? But strangely, I’ve never once gotten the feeling that he actually likes those girls. How should I put it…”

Jiwoo scanned the air, searching for the right words, then said, “Ah.”

“Should I say it’s like grinding a main quest you don’t want to do but have to?”

“So you’re saying he was just cosplaying as a boyfriend?”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s exactly it.”

Hyunwoo, who had been quietly watching the two of them chat excitedly, chimed in.

“Wow, so interested in other people’s business.”

“You just figured that out? Talking about other people is my favorite thing to do.”

The shameless reply made him let out a hollow laugh. As if he had forgotten his initial question, Hyunwoo asked again.

“Then what was I supposed to do?”

“That’s my point. I’m not saying what you should have done. I’m saying, if you were going to be in it half-heartedly, you shouldn’t have dated her in the first place, or you should have at least tried to like her. Mr. Jeon. This is the third time I’m telling you this, okay?”

Waving the chopsticks in her hand, Jiwoo finished her sentence and popped a thick slice of raw fish into her mouth.

“Unnie. But isn’t that too pitiful for the other person? There’s even a song about it. Does it make sense to put effort into love?”

Seonwoong nodded along with Juha’s words.

“That’s true.”

Just as Jiwoo was muttering, Hyunwoo, with a look that said he couldn’t take it anymore, grabbed the green bottle next to Jiwoo. He poured all the liquor into his glass, which only had a lemon slice and ice left, and gulped it down.

Clack.

Hyunwoo slammed the glass down hard and said.

“I did like her.”

Good grief. Jiwoo let out a dry laugh at his words, which sounded as stubborn as a five-year-old’s.

“Don’t make me laugh. You were probably just fooling yourself with the image of you pretending to like her. This guy really doesn’t know his own heart. Ugh, this foolish smartass.”

“And you know so well, I suppose?”

“Of course.”

Jiwoo clasped her hands together, assumed a pious posture, and said.

“When you really like someone, right? You miss them when they’re not around, you’re always curious about something, and you want to know everything about that person.”

Ooh.

Seonwoong and Juha nodded.

“You get annoyed if it feels like they don’t like you as much as you like them, and you do weird things just to get their attention.”

“…”

“Have you ever done that?”

As Jiwoo asked, staring intently at him, Hyunwoo thought for a moment before picking up his glass again. He chugged the clear liquor, then wiped his lips, reddened from the cold ice, with the back of his hand and said bluntly.

“Isn’t that just being pathetic?”

…Ooh. Just as Seonwoong and Juha were about to nod once more, Jiwoo cut in.

“When you’re in love, you become pathetic. You idiot. You don’t know anything.”

Jiwoo thumped her chest in frustration, pointed at his empty glass, and said.

“Whatever. Just order more drinks.”

👾🎮

Kyaaaaaaaaaak!

As the performance began, a roar of cheers erupted across the wide plaza. Hyunwoo, hidden in the gap between buildings, peeked his head out of the alley.

The sight of his large frame awkwardly squeezed into the narrow, deeply shadowed alley was still as shady as ever, but the look in his eyes as he watched the stage was, unlike before, considerably softer.

It was because he had finally learned the meaning of the word ‘this side’.

The process of figuring out the puzzling word wasn’t difficult. Just as Jiwoo had said, simply typing it into a portal site brought up a long list of related search terms.

‘This side’ was a common slang term that people who like the same sex use to refer to each other. He regretted not having searched for it sooner; he wouldn’t have suffered so much if he had.

Anyway.

“To think that Baek Jooin liked men.”

Hyunwoo muttered.

He truly had no idea. And it was only natural, because in Hyunwoo’s world, a ‘couple’ meant a pair made up of a man and a woman. The premise that a pair could also be made up of a man and a man, or a woman and a woman, had never, ever existed for him.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt sick, realizing he’d been a frog in a well.

‘Why didn’t anyone tell me?’

It was mortifying that he had lived his whole life hating people who were clueless, without ever realizing he was one of them. Of course, it was better to know now than never, but still…

Anyway.

Stepping into the room of Baek Jooin, a man who likes men, while completely drunk had been a huge mistake. It was like offering a perfectly prepared piece of meat to a hungry beast. I mean, could anyone resist when a beautiful younger man comes in practically saying, ‘eat me’?

Thinking this far, he now understood Baek Jooin’s lukewarm reaction to his apology.

The responsibility didn’t lie with him, but with Jooin.

He had clearly seduced and abandoned him, a man who had never even thought of initiating physical contact in his life. If his mother and father heard about this, they would weep tears of blood.

This, this…

‘This is something that cannot be overlooked, for the sake of social order.’

Across the plaza was Jooin, and from below the stage, another round of “Kyaaak!” could be heard.

Even while watching Baek Jooin look down at them with a smiling face, Hyunwoo’s insides no longer boiled with rage as they had before. Instead, he found it rather amusing.

“So what, Baek Jooin likes men anyway.”

The corners of Hyunwoo’s mouth twitched as he muttered.

Far from feeling jealous of those who received Baek Jooin’s attention, he now even felt sorry for the fans who were completely oblivious to that fact.