NTH 107

Jin made a bored face. It was an extremely unfamiliar experience for Tak Sihun to have the person sitting across from him show such an attitude. Pushed by an unknown impatience, he provoked Jin without realizing it.

“Hmm. At this rate, your boyfriend will get tired of you soon…”

At the clattering sound, Tak Sihun feigned surprise. Jin, who had been slouching in a defiant posture as if nothing that was said mattered, had straightened his back, pulled his chair forward, and was now sitting properly. He blinked his large eyes, his face looking somewhat frightened.

“Why, why do you think so?”

In that moment, the feeling that Jin was a novice at dating struck Tak Sihun’s mind. The topic that will hook Jin isn’t studying math, but relationship advice. With a relaxed expression, Tak Sihun leaned back against the backrest and idly twirled his pen.

“It makes sense, doesn’t it? Eating dinner together every single day without fail, it’s no different from being married. He’ll feel like you’re a houseplant that’s always there when he gets home. Don’t you think the feelings of wanting to see you or missing you will gradually decrease?”

“How can a person be the same as a plant? Even if I see my boyfriend every day, I want to see him again, and I miss him even now.”

“That’s not usually the case. Maybe it’s because you’re deprived of affection.”

Jin’s face turned visibly pale. Seeing right through the boy who, until just a moment ago, had acted as if he wanted for nothing, was more than just interesting; it was even cute.

If he had no friends or family, there probably wouldn’t have been anyone he could talk to frankly about his relationship. On top of that, if he was inexperienced, he was bound to get caught in the net Tak Sihun was casting.

“Think about it. No matter how delicious a food is, you get sick of it if you eat it several times in a row, right? People are like that too. The more you make the other person hunger for you, the more they’ll know your value and desire you more. The term ‘push and pull’ doesn’t exist for no reason, you know.”

Jin bit his lower lip. Seeing him fidgeting his hands anxiously, the impulse to strip him bare and devour him arose. If he hadn’t heard the next words right away, he might have thrown reason to the wind and lunged for Jin’s lips.

“I’m worried, so I’m going to ask my boyfriend right now.”

Without giving Tak Sihun a chance to stop him, Jin took out his phone and touched the call button. The other person must have answered right away, as Jin immediately began to talk.

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m still at the academy. Listen, I have something to ask, and you have to be honest. Are you, by any chance, tired of eating dinner with me every day and think you’ll get sick of me soon?”

Tak Sihun’s jaw dropped. It was truly dumbfounding. Without giving him a single glance, Jin continued his conversation with the person called his boyfriend.

“Because we eat together every single day without fail, do I feel like a houseplant in the house? Are your feelings of wanting to see me or missing me gradually decreasing? Because I don’t make Jeha hunger for me, do you not know my value and not desire me much?”

There was no fool like this fool. Laying his cards out on the table so openly like that, who wouldn’t understand his intention and answer ‘yes’? But in the midst of it all, he thought he heard the boyfriend’s name. Jae-a, or Je-a, or Jeha.

“Uh-huh… Really? Ah, it’s nothing. I just happened to hear something like that at the academy, so I was just asking. Okay. I’ll talk to you more later. I love you, too. Yeah.”

After finishing the call, Jin looked much more at ease than before. He shrugged at Tak Sihun, who was making a pathetic face.

“He said no. He said that when we’re at home together, he misses me even if I just go to the bathroom, and that he wants to see me the moment I disappear from his sight.”

“…”

“And he said if I’m going to go around picking up words like that, I should quit the academy starting tomorrow and get a private tutor.”

Tak Sihun, who had been dazed for a moment, barely came to his senses and retorted.

“If you ask so openly like that, he won’t be able to say he’s tired of you no matter how tired he is. How long have you been dating?”

“A little over a year.”

That was a reasonably stable stage. The sweet nectar had been sucked as much as it could be, and if they met every single day without fail, it was a time when a period of ennui could slowly set in.

“I have a lot of experience giving relationship advice, so I’m going to ask an important question. I’m asking comfortably since we’re both guys, so you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“What is it?”

“How many times a month do you sleep together?”

“You mean sex?”

“Yes.”

If a young and vigorous couple met every day and the frequency was less than once a week, it was safe to say the end was in sight.

“A month is…”

Tilting his head and looking up, Jin diligently folded and unfolded his fingers before finally meeting Tak Sihun’s eyes.

“About, forty times?”

Tak Sihun, who was leisurely sipping his iced Americano through a straw, sprayed the coffee he was holding in his mouth all over the table. After coughing for a long while as he scrubbed the table with a tissue, he glared at Jin.

“What kind of ridiculous nonsense are you spouting.”

“It’s true.”

“Does that make sense? There are thirty days in a month, so how can you do it forty times.”

“On weekdays, I’m too tired and my boyfriend has to go to work, so we promised to do it only once a day, and on weekends, if we don’t go out, we do it several times a day.”

It was utterly unbelievable, but judging by Jin’s attitude, it didn’t seem like a lie. But Jin didn’t seem like the type to be that sexually forward. Setting Jin aside, could his partner endure such frequent activity? This, perhaps… Holding onto his mind that was about to fall into a panic, Tak Sihun asked.

“You don’t have to answer this if you’re uncomfortable either, but is your boyfriend… a man?”

Jin didn’t answer right away. It wasn’t because he was uncomfortable, but because he was worried about Jeha’s reputation. On days when Jeha finished work early, he would sometimes come to pick Jin up in front of the academy, so it wasn’t entirely impossible that Tak Sihun might see him passing by.

If he, having learned that Jin’s boyfriend was a man, saw Jeha with Jin, and if by chance he found out Jeha’s profession and started a rumor, who knew what terrible things might happen.

However, for this question, silence was as good as an affirmation, so if he let it pass like this, it would be an admission that his boyfriend was a man. Jin chose a white lie to protect Jeha.

“Why would he be a man? She’s a pretty girlfriend. And actually, the forty times was a lie too. We do it quite a lot, so you don’t have to worry about that. I’m going to go now.”

If he left just like that, Jin would no longer attend math class, and Tak Sihun would lose his point of contact with him. Tak Sihun grabbed the edge of Jin’s sleeve as he was about to stand up.

“How about this? If you don’t give up on math, I’ll be your friend.”

“Friend…?”

Jin’s butt, which had been halfway off the chair, settled down again. Tak Sihun nodded.

“Yeah. You said you don’t have any friends.”

“That’s true, but I don’t particularly need any.”

“I think it’s because you’ve never interacted with people normally, but friends are good in many ways. You can have fun playing together when you’re bored, and you can confide your worries that are hard to tell your boyfriend.”

Jin wore a complicated expression. Compared to how he had been putting up a wall the whole time, this was a good sign. As a teacher, Tak Sihun could easily obtain Jin’s phone number from the academy’s student roster. Eyeing the latest model Apple phone held in Jin’s hand, he drove the nail in.

“I’ll contact you later, so save my number.”

After that, Tak Sihun contacted Jin from time to time. Jin would often reply reluctantly long after receiving the messages. For example, it was like this:

Sihun
Jin, did you do your homework?

Sihun
It’s the 5-year math past-problem book, from page 58 to 63

I didn’t. I’m not going to.

Sihun
Why again? If you do your homework well, I’ll buy you a delicious coffee

No

Sihun
Why? You can’t drink coffee?

No. My boyfriend told me not to accept things from others

Sihun
OMG…

Sihun
Hey, Jin. Don’t misunderstand, just listen

Sihun
Your boyfriend, how should I say this… he gives off a slightly weird vibe

Sihun
It seems a bit like he’s gaslighting you

Sihun
Are you sure you’re okay?

Jin did not reply to Tak Sihun’s last words. He was too busy doing naughty things with Jeha while enjoying a bubble bath in the oversized bathtub to check his phone until the next day. Of course, he didn’t do his homework either.

On another day, the conversation went like this.

Sihun
Jin, I read the desired university application you submitted today

Sihun
Is your desired major really pre-veterinary medicine?

Yes

Sihun
Do you like animals?

Yes

Sihun
What kind of animals do you like?

All of them

Sihun
Still, there must be something you like the most

Birds. Horses. Dogs. Cats.

Sihun
Birds and horses? That’s unusual

Sihun
But Jin. You know you have to get all level 1s on the CSAT to get into pre-vet, right?

I don’t know

Sihun
It’s pretty much the same as medical school

Sihun
And since veterinary school is in the natural sciences track, math and science are extremely important

Sihun
You have to study like your life depends on it to get in

Then I won’t go. My life is too precious.

Sihun
It’s just an expression. You still have to try

Sihun
Your grades will go up if you work hard

Sihun
Even if you can’t get into veterinary school, you should at least get into a university in Seoul to get a job

My boyfriend said I don’t have to get a job