NCBF Ch 47

Even after reaching home and saying goodbye, Hyun Gyujin’s mood didn’t seem very good. Ah, I have to cheer him up quickly. Yuwon hurried inside his home, washed his hands clean, and changed his clothes. He then checked his room—which was always well-organized—once more for no good reason.

“…”

Should I have worn something else…? Looking into the mirror to check his ivory hoodie this way and that, Yuwon opened his drawer again. Somehow, wearing a loose knit sweater seemed like it would be better than a hoodie. Or should I just throw on a zip-up?

Absorbed in a worry he didn’t usually have and merely staring into the drawer with his eyes, Yuwon was startled by the sudden ringing doorbell and hurried to the entryway to open the door.

“Again, again.”

“Who is it?”

“Zero learning effect.”

Although he remembered the advice to ask who it was before opening, knowing that Hyun Gyujin was the only person who would come like this at this hour made him keep opening the door right away without asking.

“Starting next time, I’ll really ask before opening.”

“For real.”

“Yeah, for real. But what’s that?”

“Hamburg steak. Mom made it for me to eat with you.”

“Wow, looks delicious.”

“After eating this, help me check one thing for my tutoring homework. I substituted all the formulas, but that answer just won’t come out no matter what I do.”

Because they almost never had this kind of talk—that is, asking something related to studying—the question itself felt unfamiliar, but still, seeing his effort to study felt nice. Yuwon smiled and nodded.

“Our Gyujin studied? How admirable.”

“…Are you talking like my mom?”

“Hearing those words made it come out automatically like this.”

Yuwon, who patted Hyun Gyujin’s back as if praising him, pulled out instant rice and placed two bowls in the microwave. It seemed he should eat first, clean everything up, solve the problem Hyun Gyujin was asking about together, and then say what he had intended to say. I need to cheer him up first, so why does it feel like this is getting pushed back more and more…? Yuwon tilted his head in thought.

∞ ∞ ∞

In the end, the tutoring teacher solved the problem. Hearing the explanation that it was easy to get confused because there were two parts twisted on purpose to make them get it wrong, only now could he properly solve other applied problems without making mistakes as well.

The problem itself was no longer an issue now that he knew the whole process, but the real problem was that while solving this problem, he couldn’t properly bring up the fact that having kissed someone was a joke.

It would have been so nice if he had said it when he suggested giving up and asking the teacher after failing to solve it twice, but trying to solve it until it worked made him use up all that time. By the time he snapped out of it, Lee Junseo had already pressed the doorbell.

“…”

Glancing at Hyun Gyujin, who was staring down at the problem sheet with his chin resting on his hand, Yuwon merely pressed his lips hard with the tip of his mechanical pencil for no reason. Having never felt this way before, the thought that he wished tutoring would end quickly filled his head completely. He wanted to be alone with Hyun Gyujin as soon as possible.

“Starting next class, we’ll begin preparing for final exams together, so if there’s anything you don’t know among what you’re learning at school, make sure to check all of it. You know that right after taking finals this time, the very next thing is the 3rd year March mock exam, right? After taking a few mock exams, it’s the CSAT, so let’s prepare really hard together.”

It felt like there was still some time left before becoming 3rd years, but hearing the teacher’s words somehow made him a little nervous. Because saying that after taking a few mock exams it’s the CSAT wasn’t a wrong statement.

“That’s all for today. These are selected from 3 years’ worth of mock exam questions, picking only those with high appearance frequency. Since I selected only things that are bound to appear on school exams, solve them by next class.”

Lee Junseo, who laughed seeing Yuwon grow gloomy at the somewhat large number of problems, patted his head as if he were cute. Hyun Gyujin’s expression, still resting his chin on his hand while looking over, crumpled so that anyone could tell he was in a bad mood.

“Then see you next week. If there’s anything you don’t know while studying over the weekend, text me.”

“Yes, goodbye.”

Yuwon, who bowed in farewell at the entryway, let out a long breath as the door closed shortly after. And he quickly turned back to look at Hyun Gyujin. Seeing his face, which was clearly showing a bad mood, Yuwon felt troubled thinking he might get caught by the teacher like that, yet it also felt simply cute, causing a laugh to leak out.

“Is Lee Junseo crazy, seriously? Why does he keep laying his hands on you? Does he really need to have his wrists broken to snap out of it?”

“You speak so scarily.”

“It’s annoying. I hate that bastard touching you. I hated it before too, but now it’s really… fuck, I really hate it.”

Rather than flowing so that he could control it properly, he felt his emotions—even if blocked again and again—overflowing and gushing out like a torrent beyond what he could handle.

“I know. I know I’m being childish too, but what am I supposed to do when I hate it?”

“…”

“I’m going.”

Rather than continually showing Yuwon only this kind of childish and pathetic side, he felt it would be better to just go home. He wanted to go home for now, take a shower, melt away his annoyance, and wash it all down.

“Then! Starting next time, you sit in my seat….”

“…”

“I’ll sit in your seat. Then that won’t happen. The teacher’s arm won’t stretch out, after all….”

It was a pretty good idea. Just as Yuwon said, if he sat in the seat Yuwon usually sat in now and Yuwon sat in the spot where he sat, Lee Junseo’s hand could never reach Yuwon. Unless he stood up from his seat and approached specifically to touch Yuwon’s face or hair. Well, if he went that far, then twisting his wrist off would do the trick, so for now, following Yuwon’s suggestion seemed like a good idea.

“Is that really okay?”

“Then of course it’s okay. It doesn’t matter to me where I sit. And….”

“…”

“…To me too, your mood is the most important. So cheer up. Okay?”

It was a truly fascinating thing. The moment he saw Yuwon smiling while tilting his head to look at him, all his mood smoothed over as if he had never been annoyed in the first place.

“…It’s cleared up.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Hyun Gyujin’s large hand was placed directly on top of Yuwon’s head. Just as Lee Junseo had stroked it—no, carrying a far warmer and gentler emotion than that—only after stroking it a few times could he lower his hand with satisfaction.

“I’m going. Get some rest.”

“…Did it really clear up?”

“Yeah. It’s completely cleared up.”

“Then why….”

Hyun Gyujin quietly waited for Yuwon’s words, which snapped off right there. He was curious and wanted to hear quickly what he was trying to say, but seeing him glance at his mood hesitantly once in a while was also cute, so he wanted to keep looking at that face as well.

“…Are you just leaving?”

“…”

His head spun. The view before his eyes trembled, and his stomach churned. His fingertips felt like they were cold, yet also hot, and on top of that he felt heat surging up all at once, making it overwhelming. Looking at Yuwon, who stepped closer to stand near him first hesitatingly, Hyun Gyujin lowered his body as if collapsing and gathered the small body into a full, complete hug as it fit perfectly into his embrace.

“…Seriously driving me crazy. What do you mean ‘just leaving’?”

Yuwon, who laughed with his lips pressed against Hyun Gyujin’s shoulder, quietly raised his arms to tightly hug his waist in return. At that moment, he felt strength enter his body all at once.

“I… haven’t kissed anyone. I just played a little joke because you being startled was cute.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah. Who would I do that kind of thing with…. I was always together with you every day.”

“…If you wanted to do it, you could’ve done it as much as you wanted. It’s not something that takes hours, after all.”

“I’ve never even had a thought like that.”

He felt the strength ease out from Hyun Gyujin’s body, which had been stiffened as if tense. Because it felt just like relief, Yuwon could likewise feel that Hyun Gyujin’s mood had cleared up and feel relieved in turn.

“Ah, I have tried kissing, though.”

“With whom?”

Looking up at Hyun Gyujin, who pulled his body away again in excitement, Yuwon laughed, held his waist in return again, and rested his face against his shoulder.

“With you.”

“…”

“Doing it on the cheek, you know about it too since we did it every day when we were little…. On the mouth…. I only did it in dreams.”

“…”

“Before we started dating… because I kept having those kinds of dreams, do you know how hard it was for me? Sleeping was scary. Seeing you was a bit awkward, too.”