GBAS 46

“It’s getting late, so I was thinking of feeding you dinner before sending you off.”

…Ah. When I followed Jooin’s gaze out the window, a deep darkness had truly settled in. Hyunwoo, having ended the brief misunderstanding, smiled awkwardly and answered a beat too late.

“Dinner, dinner.”

Jooin’s expression grew puzzled at Hyunwoo’s lukewarm response.

Is he not keen on it? I thought he’d be happy to accept, but I never imagined he’d refuse. For some reason, watching Hyunwoo hesitate to answer made me feel strange.

I wouldn’t hold him back if he wanted to go, but there was something I needed to confirm first.

Jooin, who had been quietly watching the fidgeting Hyunwoo, spoke again.

“Never mind if you’re not interested. But we should finish our talk before you go, right?”

Hyunwoo’s eyes widened as he looked at Jooin. He seemed to have no idea what he was talking about.

“Did you really forget, or are you just pretending not to know? You still haven’t said it.”

“S-Said what?”

“The reason you wanted to see me today.”

From the cost of a guitar skin to a black knight’s wish ticket I hadn’t even thought of. I figured there had to be a reason he’d gone through all sorts of excuses to meet. Since he had also brought up what happened that day in the dungeon a while ago, I was sure we’d talk about it today, so I had prepared myself.

But what was this? He acted like he had something important to say, yet the man himself hadn’t uttered a word. This was already the second time I had to bring it up first out of frustration.

‘What is he thinking?’

Even now, Hyunwoo was looking somewhere else, his eyes darting around. Watching him, Jooin shrugged and shook his head as if to say, ‘enough of this.’

“Fine, if you’re not going to talk about it.”

As he finished speaking with a short sigh, the bag hanging halfway off Hyunwoo’s shoulder slid down.

‘This isn’t right.’

Baek Jooin seemed to be gravely mistaken about something.

He appeared to think today’s meeting was a 1-on-1 showdown to uncover the truth about that day. Well, I guess he had no choice but to think that, since it was all we talked about whenever we saw each other.

There was no other meaning behind asking to see Jooin. I just wanted to apologize for pushing him out of anger the other day and see his face. Not in the world of the game where you could just disappear in a puff of smoke while talking, but in the real world, where real people exist.

When Jooin asked at the cafe, I should have said clearly that wasn’t the reason I came to see him today. The result of my flustered, vague answer had come back to bite me like this.

‘…How do I explain this?’

Hyunwoo covered his eyes, sighing inwardly as he hung his head low.

Jooin was glaring at Hyunwoo, who was dragging his feet without confirming or denying anything. The more he thought about it, the more he seethed.

‘Here we go again.’

Jooin’s tightly sealed lips trembled.

It wasn’t like he didn’t have anything to say to Jeon Hyunwoo either.

The moment we met, he brazenly crossed the line without permission and followed me around, and then for some reason, he suddenly started ignoring and avoiding me like a complete stranger. No, like someone even more distant. Who in the world would find that pleasant?

I didn’t even admit it to myself, but thinking back now, I guess I was hurt. It must be true, seeing as the thought suddenly popped into my head while I was watching a drunk Jeon Hyunwoo.

That night. Hyunwoo, who had fearlessly downed all the strong penalty shots, was very drunk and was mumbling things he wouldn’t have said if he were sober. He kept telling me to listen, asking what I thought. He woke me up when I was trying to sleep and relentlessly threw questions at me, and watching him, a thought came to me unconsciously.

‘Maybe now I can find out why?’

So I asked. Why are you avoiding me? Why did you do that?

Until just a moment ago, he had answered every question immediately, but after hearing my words, Hyunwoo thought for a long while before shaking his head as if he didn’t know and burying his face in the blanket.

I waited for several minutes, but there was no reply. I thought he had fallen asleep just like that. I was about to give up, thinking I would never know, and lie down, when Hyunwoo spoke in a muffled voice.

‘Because I was scared.’

‘…….’

‘Because I was scared.’

I had never once gotten angry, so I couldn’t understand what he could have been scared of. It turned out I was the only one who thought we were getting along fine.

And to think we even slept together after hearing that. No matter how much I knew he wouldn’t remember, it was a foolish thing I shouldn’t have done.

‘This is why you shouldn’t even look at straight guys.’

Letting out a deep sigh, Jooin pushed his guitar aside and muttered.

“Why did I let you get to me in the first place.”

At those words, Hyunwoo, who had been agonizing, shot his head up.

“……What did you say?”

Their gazes locked in mid-air.

“What did you just say?”

Hyunwoo asked, but Jooin just turned his head away without answering.

It was a mistake to let my guard down. From the very beginning, Jooin had been swayed by Hyunwoo. He would approach me as he pleased, avoid me as he pleased, and just when I was about to forget, he would approach me again and get on my last nerve.

Making an exception for him was unlike me. If I had known it would become this troublesome, I would have cut things off cleanly when he started avoiding me without any warning……

…It’s not too late even now.

Jooin stood up from his spot and walked across the mattress to stand in front of Hyunwoo. Then, picking up the bag that had fallen to the floor, Jooin muttered.

“That’s enough. Stop it. Leave now.”

Jooin slipped the bag onto Hyunwoo’s awkwardly raised arm and turned his body to face the front door. Placing a hand on Hyunwoo’s back, Jooin pushed him firmly.

“No, hyung. Wait a minute. Please listen to me…!”

Hyunwoo said desperately, turning his head, but Jooin paid him no mind and cornered him all the way to the door. Since the room wasn’t large, he was pushed to the tiled floor of the entrance before he could even try to resist.

Jooin spoke to the back of Hyunwoo’s head as he stood facing the cream-colored steel door.

“Thanks for trying to help, but I’ll handle it with the others. We don’t have anything to do tomorrow either. Let’s just make sure we don’t see each other from now on.”

“……”

“And that time, you started it. I just didn’t refuse.”

“……”

“Keep avoiding me well from now on. Just like you’ve been doing.”

Finishing his words, Jooin took his hand off Hyunwoo’s back.

It was then.

“No.”

Whipping around, Hyunwoo grabbed both of Jooin’s wrists and faced him. Then he yelled. He looked like he was dying of unfairness, as if he’d done nothing wrong.

“Why are you suddenly getting angry?”

At Hyunwoo’s words, a dumbfounded Jooin let out a sharp breath.

“Ha.”

The guy took it a step further, lowering his eyes and mumbling.

“Just a moment ago, you told me to stay for dinner. You’re scolding me so, so much just for thinking for a bit.”

It was comical, like watching a pathetic little puppy.

I have no idea how he interpreted what I said. Or if he was even listening in the first place. The irritation that had been simmering inside me shot up to the top of my head.

Taking a long breath in and out, Jooin looked straight at Hyunwoo and opened his mouth.

“Hey.”

It was just one short word, but it contained so many emotions that were difficult to put into words.

At the sound of his name, Hyunwoo, who had his head down, glanced up at Jooin standing before him.

“Wha-at……”

The aura coming from Jooin was unusual.

“……”

“……”

My sixth sense sent a warning signal. Cold sweat formed on my forehead and back. I even felt my heart, crushed by the tension, shrink.

Above all, I had a premonition that if I walked out that door now, I would never see Baek Jooin again. I have to do something. Before Jooin’s lips part again, I have to think of some way, anything, in this short amount of time.

It was then. Hyunwoo, who had been chewing on his lip, had his gaze land on Jooin’s hands that he was holding. Noticing the slightly trembling fingertips, Hyunwoo slowly let go of Jooin’s wrists.

Taking a ragged breath, Hyunwoo plopped down on the spot. With one hand on his neck and the other on the floor, Hyunwoo started coughing as if he were about to spit up blood.

“Cough, hack, cough!”

His neck, visible above his t-shirt, turned bright red from the coughing that wouldn’t stop. Jooin’s surprised expression hardened.

Bending down on one knee, Jooin checked Hyunwoo’s face.

“What’s wrong. Why are you like this.”

“Hyung, cough, I need water, cough! Water, just once, cough-.”

Leaning down to look at Hyunwoo’s face, Jooin shot up from his spot. It was difficult to just stand there and watch him suffer so much that even the whites of his eyes were turning red.

Even after Jooin left for the kitchen to get water, physiological tears welled up in Hyunwoo’s eyes from the incessant coughing.