NCBF Ch 14

Hyun Gyujin, who took a sip of the savory milk tea made without high sweetness, shook his head. Thanks to Yuwon, the bubbles that he used to think had a filthy texture felt pretty decent now.

“I went over to the guys’ house to hang out before, and back then those bastards had invited girls over.”

“…When?”

“When you went to the pool villa.”

“Ah….”

“She was a girl I saw briefly back then, and it seems she kept sending me DMs ever since.”

“…Saying what?”

Even between friends, there was such a thing as privacy, so he felt that asking so inquisitively about something like this was a bit much, but Yuwon still couldn’t stop asking questions.

“She sent messages asking to meet up. Asking to eat a meal over the weekend. Along with her number.”

“Ah….”

Yuwon knew all too well that Hyun Gyujin being popular was not something that started yesterday or today. How could he not know? Just counting the people he himself had directly seen saying they liked Hyun Gyujin was more than enough to exhaust two hands.

On top of that, whenever some kind of special day came around, Hyun Gyujin’s seat and locker overflowed with gifts, and once, a university student tutor who came to give private lessons had even confessed to Hyun Gyujin. When that incident became known, the house was turned upside down, and from then on, only male tutors were allowed to enter the house.

Hyun Gyujin was really that popular, to the point of such happenings occurring. Very much so, to the extent that even now he could feel glances casting over from a few tables here and there. Yuwon slurped up the bubble tea that didn’t taste as delicious as a moment ago. His heart, which had been fine, suddenly squeezed tight.

“So… did you decide to meet her?”

“No? Why would I meet her?”

“Are you not going to meet her?”

“Yeah.”

Watching Hyun Gyujin say it as if it were obvious, Yuwon let go of the tip of the straw he had been biting down hard on.

“Why. Do you want me to meet her?”

“That’s up to you…. If you like her, you meet her…”

“It’s not even a matter of liking her. I don’t even remember her face.”

Yuwon, taking a subtle glance at Hyun Gyujin drinking his beverage with his chin resting on his hand, took another sip of the half-remaining light purple drink. The bubble tea had somehow become very sweet again before he knew it.

∞ ∞ ∞

Because filming continued through the weekend, his parents did not come home. On Saturday evening, Yuwon went to Hyun Gyujin’s house, and they all ate a delicious dinner together. The meat was so tender that it slid down easily without even having to chew a few times. After eating the meat, he even mixed a little rice into warm, clear soup and ate it. Next, for dessert, he ate apple pie directly baked by Hyun Gyujin’s mom, and only after eating fruit as well was he able to leave the house.

“Mom, I’m sleeping at Jeong Yuwon’s house.”

Yuwon, glancing at Hyun Gyujin who followed him out claiming that it was about time for Yuwon to be scared of being alone, secretly pressed hard over his heart. More than being scared of being alone, these days he was more bothered by his heart wildly fluctuating on its own just from being with Hyun Gyujin.

“I can be by myself.”

“If I stay home, Mom nags me. And it’s about time for you to start getting scared.”

Hyun Gyujin, who kneaded Yuwon’s nape like dough, stepped off the elevator, raised the door lock cap, and pressed the passcode.

“…”

Even though his hand had fallen away, Yuwon, who wrapped his hand over his skin where the feeling still seemed to remain, took a deep breath. Somehow, it felt like it would be a night that wouldn’t go smoothly.

“Shall we play a game? Or Netflix?”

“Is there anything good on Netflix these days?”

“Wanna watch something erotic?”

“…You go home.”

“Alright, alright. Such a Confucian Boy anyway. Let’s watch a documentary, a documentary. That one’s cute. The Hidden Superpowers of Pets.”

Hyun Gyujin, who pretended to turn on a documentary featuring animals, found a binge-worthy series and pressed the button. Watching Hyun Gyujin do that, Yuwon felt like he shouldn’t be right next to him, so he busily paced back and forth inside the house for no reason.

“Ah, did you watch that drama Auntie appears in?”

“No, not yet.”

“Let’s watch that, then. Here it is.”

“Yeah, let’s watch that.”

“Come quickly. What are you walking back and forth like that for?”

“…Because I’m full. I ate too much.”

“You know my mom lives for the fun of feeding you, right? Today too, every time you ate, she went crazy with delight.”

Finally going over to sit on the sofa, Yuwon softly swatted Hyun Gyujin’s knee in a way that wouldn’t hurt, then lifted a cushion and hugged it.

“Speak nicely to Auntie.”

“Nagging here, nagging there.”

Hyun Gyujin, who let out a big, playful sigh, pressed the play button, and the opening video filled the screen.

“Wow, Auntie’s suit is really cool.”

“I miss Mom….”

Words he had hidden tightly inside his heart trickled out between his lips. Hyun Gyujin, glancing sideways at Yuwon staring blankly at the screen, leaned his body slightly, rested his head on Yuwon’s thigh, and lay down playfully.

“I’m gonna lie down and watch.”

“Why… why are you lying down on me….”

“Because Jeong Yuwon’s thigh is comfortable.”

Flustered by Hyun Gyujin suddenly lying down using his thigh as a pillow, Yuwon moved his body. Lying down with his head on Yuwon’s legs while watching dramas or reading comic books was neither a first nor unfamiliar, but that too was a story from when they were even younger than now.

Ever since entering middle school, he hadn’t lay down using his legs as a pillow like this, so it was so sudden and… his heart beat like crazy. Yuwon, forgetting even his heart that missed his mom, looked down at Hyun Gyujin who was lying down and watching the screen as if nothing were wrong.

“…”

The trembling that he had dismissed as a strange momentary sensation did not disappear even after several days passed, expanding its domain more and more. At first, it trembled only when his face came close, but next, it trembled whenever Hyun Gyujin’s hand merely touched his body, and now, just looking at Hyun Gyujin made his heart beat fast with a thump-thump.

Could it really become like this in just a few days, not even a few months? Holding the cushion tightly with his fingertips, Yuwon secretly took in only Hyun Gyujin’s face with his eyes. Even though his mom, whom he missed so much, filled the screen, his gaze kept reaching toward Hyun Gyujin. Even when he tried not to look, his gaze went down, and even when he tried not to be conscious of it, all his tactile senses gathered toward Hyun Gyujin who lay using his legs as a pillow.

“…Get up…. It’s uncomfortable.”

“I don’t want to. It’s comfortable and nice.”

Even though it was absurd that he was being stubborn while barely lying down with his long legs bent uncomfortably, in truth… he didn’t dislike it. He looked a bit cute, and also, because he knew that whenever Yuwon seemed to get lonely, Hyun Gyujin tried to sleep together like this and deliberately clung to him more, he felt grateful.

“Even if you’re comfortable, I’m uncomfortable.”

“So just relax your strength and stay comfortable. Take the tension out of your legs.”

The moment Hyun Gyujin’s hand grabbed his knee, Yuwon felt a tingly sensation surge up his leg. At the same time, his lower abdomen churned and a chill ran down his spine. Unaware of that, the touch of his hand stroking his knee continued, telling him to relax. The tips of his toes inside the white socks resting below the sofa shrank, turning pale white.

“…It tickles. D-Don’t do that.”

“Your kneecap is really small.”

The moment his warm, large hand stroked his kneecap and grasped it with his fingertips as if to check its size, Yuwon pushed Hyun Gyujin away and stood up from the sofa. Hyun Gyujin, sitting up slowly with his upper body, looked at Yuwon’s back as he sprang up and went off somewhere.

“Where are you going?”

“…To wash up. Wash up… and watch comfortably before going to sleep…”

“Yeah, that’d be better. Wash up first. I should play games until you come out.”

Yuwon, who went toward the hallway leading to his room as if escaping, randomly grabbed a set of clothes to change into, entered the bathroom, and locked the door.

“…Haa…”

There was no reason at all to be out of breath, but strangely he was out of breath. As soon as he locked the door, Yuwon bent his legs just like that, sat down, and buried his face in both knees.

“…”

Then, recalling his knee that Hyun Gyujin had stroking a moment ago, he raised his head slightly and took in the knee with its slightly protruding bone. Hundreds of times was too few, thousands of times…. No, perhaps it was a hand that had touched him up to tens of thousands of times. It wasn’t an odd act, he just grabbed his knee. But how could he be like this toward a friend?

Just like when he woke up after dreaming about Hyun Gyujin a few days ago, the space between his legs was heated up. From the moment he felt the palm wrapping around his knee move, his back, which had been standing stiff, twisted, and strength went into his fingertips. No, it might have been from the moment Hyun Gyujin rested his head on his legs.

Crazy…. Truly crazy. How can I be like this?