HYUNG 26

“Hyung, I have something to say to you today.”

“Yeah. Go ahead.”

“Not right now. Later… I’ll tell you later. I’ve made up my mind now…”

Ham Dowon, who had been looking clearly into my eyes, suddenly cast his gaze down to avoid mine. Then he gripped the steering wheel tightly and glanced briefly at me as I fastened my seatbelt. I wanted to ask, “What is it now?” but I couldn’t because the car started moving.

Despite it being a weekday afternoon, there were more cars on the road than I expected. Still, we were able to move along quite smoothly without any congestion. Thanks to Ham Dowon giving me rides before, the scenery felt very familiar.

“The weather is really nice today.”

“Right. It’s a relief.”

“Yeah. It is.”

I replied slowly while looking at the green leaves of the roadside trees. As I shifted my focus, I saw Ham Dowon’s face reflected in the car window instead of the outside view. He was looking at me. Ham Dowon often stared straight at me only to quickly avert his eyes (which made me more certain he was socially awkward), but since I had my head turned, those eyes were fixed squarely on me. Because we were stopped at a red light, Ham Dowon had tilted his head slightly toward me, and his gaze was incredibly intense. Feeling a bit burdened, I pretended not to notice and looked back outside. However, that gaze kept bothering me. Eventually, I couldn’t hold back and spoke up.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…I wasn’t looking!”

“What do you mean you weren’t? You were staring the whole time.”

As soon as the light changed, Ham Dowon hurried to move the car, offering a denial that was so obvious even someone a thousand miles away could see through it. His face was beet red, he bit his lower lip hard, and his eyes wavered unsteadily.

“I’m allowed to look!”

After distorting his mouth for a moment, Ham Dowon changed his strategy. It didn’t work very well, though.

“Oh boy, so now you’re going to be shameless about it?”

“Anyway, hyung… doesn’t it make you feel good when I look at you?”

“Fine. Look all you want, go ahead.”

When I leaned my face toward him, Ham Dowon recoiled. He looked so appalled that I just stopped.

“I’m sorry. Just drive.”

“…Hyung.”

“I said I’m sorry.”

“It’s not that… let’s have lunch.”

The fact that he brought up having a meal in the midst of all that was so funny that I looked at him and chuckled. Ham Dowon still had an embarrassed expression on his flushed face.

“Why, why are you laughing?”

“No reason, you’re just cute.”

I wasn’t just saying it; he really was cute. It wasn’t because he reminded me of Soyoon, but because he himself was funny. His behavior—switching from being flustered to being shameless—and then suddenly asking to eat. He was inconsistent and unpredictable, which was exactly like Ham Dowon. That unpredictable side wasn’t bad. Rather than being tiring, it was now interesting.

“Of course I’d be cute to you, hyung.”

Right. This shamelessness. It’s not even annoying anymore. It’s just cute.

“Fine. Let’s have lunch. I’ll buy. Go to a place you want to go.”

“I don’t want to waste that chance you mentioned earlier about buying me a grand meal just on lunch. Let’s go to a place I know; I have a gift certificate I can use. My mom had some left over and gave it to me to buy a meal with a friend.”

I had no choice but to nod in agreement. As soon as my answer was out, Ham Dowon increased his speed slightly and drove forward decisively without even looking at the navigation. Then he pulled up in front of a two-story red brick building that looked like a renovated house.

Since it was lunchtime, the inside of the restaurant was bustling, but Ham Dowon was guided to a seat without a wait. He then smiled brightly as he held the menu.

“Hyung, the food here is really delicious.”

“Yeah. It looks like it would be…”

Even though it looks like every table is a couple and we’re the only ones here just as acquaintances. It seemed to be a famous dating spot. I wonder if they accept gift certificates here? If it’s something like a local love gift certificate, it might work… I don’t really know since I’ve never used one. Well, he brought me here, so he must know.

“Hyung, do you want a glass of wine too?”

“You’re driving.”

“Not for me, for you, hyung.”

“It’s okay. I don’t need to drink. I’ve never been here before, so I don’t know the menu; just order whatever you want.”

I briefly held up my water glass. It meant this was enough.

“Aren’t you choosing?”

“…I don’t think I can concentrate if you look at me like that, hyung.”

“It’s just looking at a menu, what’s there to concentrate on… Fine. I’ll close my eyes. Happy?”

I found the suddenly tense Ham Dowon hilarious. I suppressed the laughter that was trying to leak out and closed my eyes. However, since there was no word from him, I slowly opened one eye only to see Ham Dowon standing up, leaning toward me, and reaching his hand toward my face.

“What are you doing… Aren’t you picking from the menu?”

Startled by the sensation of a fingertip touching my cheek, I pushed him away. Ham Dowon looked down at me with a bewildered expression.

“Why did you open your eyes already? I don’t have that great of a concentration span.”

“What were you trying to do?”

What is with him? Did he just touch my face? I was flustered.

“Hyung, close your eyes again.”

“No.”

“Close them. An eyelash is stuck on your eyelid.”

“Ah.”

“It’ll hurt if it gets in your eye. You took a piece of dust off my eyelash before, too, hyung.”

At his tone—implying it was just a trivial matter, exactly like my past actions—I had no choice but to close my eyes. Something soft and warm touched my eyelid for a moment and then pulled away; at that instant, I slowly opened my eyes. Ham Dowon was slowly sitting back down, staring at the very tiny, thin eyelash held between his thumb and index finger.

“Your eyelashes are long, black, and healthy, hyung. They’re pretty.”

“They’re dirty, so just throw it away.”

“They aren’t dirty.”

Ham Dowon only twitched his lips as if dissatisfied but didn’t throw it away. What if it falls into a plate or a water cup and he ends up eating it? Eventually, I snatched it away, put it inside a napkin, and crumpled it up.

“I was going to keep that…”

“Keep what?!”

I thought he was joking in his own way, but that disappointed expression looked so sincere that it gave me slight goosebumps. Is he the type to be obsessed with his friends? I have no idea why he would want to keep my eyelash.

“That eyelash was uniquely petite and cute… enough that I wanted to draw it.”

“What is there to draw about an eyelash? You just make a single stroke with a fine brush and you’re done.”

Ah, it must be because of that strange trait artists have. Artists are naturally peculiar and creepy. There were many kids who weren’t actually like that but tried hard to be eccentric. It’s really hard to watch from the sidelines, but Ham Dowon seemed to be the former.

“I have good eyes. If you observe closely, you might see something. The luster unique to eyelashes that’s different from hair, the color, the texture… Yours are darker and straighter than mine, so I like them more.”

He really is like a pervert. But then again, people who like to describe things in detail often seem like perverts in that regard. Something good only comes out when you stare at it obsessively and pick it apart. Usually, though, they don’t do that with a single strand of someone else’s hair.

“I’ll give you both hair and eyelashes later, so you can compare and observe them then.”

“Is that a promise?”

I just threw the words out as a joke, but Ham Dowon took it seriously and even held out his pinky finger. No way, is he asking to make a ‘pinky promise’? Only someone like my Soyoon would do this. But unlike his creepy words, that gap where his behavior was like a child’s wasn’t entirely unpleasant; it was even laughable. In the end, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hyung, promise.”

“Yeah, fine. Promise. But only one of each. I don’t want to go bald.”

I eventually hooked my pinky with his hand, which he was shaking lightly in a persistent manner. Only then did Ham Dowon look satisfied, scanned the menu once, and called the server.

‧₊˚♪ 𝄞₊˚⊹

“Hyung, let’s have some gelato before we go.”

“We already had dessert after lunch earlier. Didn’t you drink coffee too?”

After pulling the car over near the bakery said to be run by his aunt and uncle, Ham Dowon suddenly pestered me like a child as we walked together.

“The gelato here is really delicious. And my aunt likes the ones from here too.”

“Fine. Let’s go.”

I was in a position where I was indebted to both Ham Dowon and his aunt, so I couldn’t go empty-handed, but I had been so distracted I’d forgotten. I hurried into the gelato shop.

“What’s good?”

“My aunt and I have very similar tastes; we like savory and nutty things. Rice, pistachio, macadamia, things like that. But my uncle likes refreshing things.”

“You pick out some suitable ones.”