PAO 10

After class ended, Seowon slung the bag with his organized books over his shoulder and left the classroom. Each step he took on the floor was so listless that he ended up dragging his feet.

“Ah, I don’t want to go home.”

What happened with Junghoo in the morning was bothering him. He had been annoyed that Junghoo got turned on by him, so he’d tried to tease him more, but it ended up with a strange atmosphere.

Standing still with his head buried in his bag, Seowon let out a deep sigh.

‘Why did I have to be ticklish there?’

The memory of that awkward moment was so uncomfortable. And to have shown such a pathetic side to Yoo Junghoo of all people. Right now, the most uncomfortable and most awkward person to him was Yoo Junghoo.

Even when he was a toddler of one or two, his life had been exhausting because of Junghoo’s affection, and now, three months after their reunion, he was entangled with Yoo Junghoo again.

“Is class over?”

Minhee, who had appeared out of nowhere, put an arm around Seowon’s shoulders and blew a puff of air into his ear. The shock was enough to instantly blow away his worries about Junghoo. Seowon, his expression frozen like a mannequin, pushed Minhee’s face away.

“Minsung.”

He then called for help from Minsung, who was a couple of steps away. It was a request to get Minhee, who was clinging to his body, off of him, but Minsung did not come any closer.

“Let’s go for a drink, Han Seowon.”

Receiving no help and still trapped in Minhee’s arm, Seowon immediately stopped resisting.

“A drink?”

He’d been feeling uncomfortable about going home anyway, so Minhee’s suggestion was instantly appealing.

“Your friend, too.”

If only she hadn’t dragged Junghoo into it, oblivious to Seowon’s feelings.

“No.”

Seowon refused in a single breath, as if there was nothing to even think about. If he had to go with Junghoo, there was no reason to go drinking.

“Why not? Introduce me to your friend. I’ll take care of the rest, I’m telling you.”

“Then figure out where he lives on your own and go find him. Go introduce yourself and tell him you like him.”

Seowon hadn’t even given Minhee Junghoo’s contact information. Thanks to that, Minhee was clinging to him even more, but Seowon put up a wall as if to say it was absolutely not happening.

“Isn’t that being a stalker?”

“Then you can give up.”

“Why on earth won’t you tell me? Why won’t you connect us?”

Minhee clung to Seowon as if she’d been wronged. Her shirt stretched down, revealing her left collarbone, but Seowon didn’t stop Minhee. He’d rather she ruin a shirt than create a hassle by giving her Junghoo’s contact information.

“Is it because I’m uglier than you?”

At Minhee’s strange words, Seowon’s head turned awkwardly.

“What?”

“If not that, then why won’t you do it? It’s not because you’re embarrassed of me, is it?”

“Hey, Park Minhee.”

Seowon pushed at the forehead of Minhee, who was coming up with strange reasons. The more he did, the more the shirt she was gripping stretched.

“It has nothing to do with what you look like. Junghoo’s not going to date anyone else.”

“Then I won’t even ask for an introduction. We can just have a light drink, right? If you say no to that too, I’m really going to lie down right here.”

“Ah, you’re a real psycho.”

As Minhee kept at him, Seowon grew more troubled, unable to get her off him. He was at a loss, even as passing students saw them and laughed.

“Why are you really doing this to me?”

Seowon let out a lament, unable to shake off a nuisance who was, in a different way, just as troublesome as Junghoo.

“Introduce me. I said, introduce me.”

“You’re being a pain. You’re going to get an earful.”

“So what if other people curse me out? You have to cling on like this to get anything. You know?”

“Fine. Just grab my shirt.”

Seowon simply gave up on trying to get Minhee off him.

“Huh?”

Even at Minsung’s surprised sound, Seowon remained still. It was partly because he was being held by Minhee at that moment, but he also just didn’t want to care about anything anymore.

‘Everything’s a hassle.’

“Seowon, over there…”

Unaware of Seowon’s feelings, Minsung tapped his shoulder. He was about to ask if Minsung would get Minhee off him now that he was closer, but Minsung seemed to have no intention of doing so.

“What is it…”

Seowon casually turned his head to look at Minsung, but saw that he was looking elsewhere, so he followed his gaze. At the familiar face that came into view along with it, Seowon’s eyes widened.

That familiar face strode over and smacked Minhee’s hand, which was holding onto Seowon’s clothes. Junghoo pulled Seowon over to his side and looked down at Minhee.

“What is this ugly thing?”

As Seowon was wondering how to answer Junghoo’s sudden question, Minhee, who had quickly grasped the situation, greeted Junghoo first.

“Hi. I’m Minhee, Seowon’s friend.”

“If you’re his friend, is it okay to pull on his clothes like this?”

“I wanted to buy him a shirt, but his clothes were in too good a condition.”

“So you were going to make it shabby and then buy him one?”

“Yes.”

At Minhee’s smooth response, Junghoo tilted his head and looked at her. He seemed to be trying to figure out if she really intended to buy Seowon a shirt. Seowon thought things would normally get uncomfortable in a situation like this, but Minhee’s beaming smile was the answer. It seemed that the very fact they had met, regardless of what they talked about, had made her incredibly excited.

“Make sure you buy him the shirt, but I’d like to point out another problem. Are you aware that just now you exposed Seowon’s pretty collarbone for everyone to see?”

“Huh?”

“Making it shabby can be compensated for, but compensation isn’t enough for exposing his body.”

No, my collarbone was showing for a second, what’s all this talk about compensation? Seowon clicked his tongue and tried to pull up his stretched-out shirt, but it just slid back down. It’s really a mess now. When Seowon relaxed his shoulders, the shirt seemed to stretch even more, so Junghoo came and pulled it up for him. When it went down, he pulled it up, and when it went down again, he pulled it up again.

While Seowon was sending Junghoo a warning to stop, Minhee held out her phone.

“I’ll do that. Put in your number.”

Minhee smiled sweetly and asked Junghoo for his number.

“You need to know that I’m buying it for him, right? So give me your number.”

The reason Minhee added seemed persuasive enough that Junghoo obediently took the phone and entered his number. Getting the number more easily than expected, Minhee was so happy she didn’t know what to do.

After getting her phone back from Junghoo, Minhee thought for a moment, then decided to just ask.

“Can I save you as ‘sweetheart’?”

“I have a sweetheart.”

“Who is your sweetheart?”

“I have one, my sweetheart.”

Junghoo tapped on his phone screen, then held it up as if for Minhee to see. Minhee’s gaze, which had confirmed her number was saved, moved up to check what name appeared. Her eyes, which had confirmed she was saved as ‘The one who’s buying my sweetheart a shirt’, trembled slightly before turning to Seowon. Seowon pretended not to see her asking with her eyes, ‘Is his sweetheart you?’ and examined Junghoo’s face.

His complexion, which had been deathly pale in the morning, seemed to have returned somewhat, but his lips were chapped and peeling.

“Why did you come?”

“To go home together.”

“Are you going to come like this every day?”

“I want to come every day.”

At Junghoo’s serious tone, Seowon shut his mouth.

“Um…”

He thought it was Minhee, but it was Minsung. He had interjected cautiously, but Seowon, sensing what Minsung was about to say, was about to stop him.

“Seowon was going to go drinking with us.”

“Drinking?”

At the strange light that entered Junghoo’s eyes, Seowon hid a sigh. He couldn’t bring himself to tell Junghoo, who looked sick, to go home and rest. It was because of the way Junghoo was looking at him, as if he couldn’t go anywhere if Seowon didn’t take him along.

“Do you want to come too?”

At the cautious, hinting question, Junghoo’s mouth spread into a wide grin.

“Yes.”

*

For the pub, they decided on a chicken place near the school that they frequented. The chicken was just so-so, but the place had become a regular spot because the draft beer was amazing.

“Here.”

From the moment they sat down, Junghoo pushed Seowon to the inside seat and sat down next to him. The twins ended up sitting side-by-side opposite them, and Minhee was happy to have taken the seat where she could face Junghoo. She’d said she would figure things out on her own regardless of who Junghoo liked; was she really planning to push forward? He couldn’t understand how she couldn’t take her eyes off him even after it was revealed who Junghoo’s ‘sweetheart’ was when she saved his number. Seowon decided it was best to just ignore it and turned his gaze to the menu Minsung had brought out.

“What should we order, Seowon?”

“Don’t let Minhee order. Minsung, you order whatever you want to eat.”

“Okay.”

As Seowon and Minsung were looking at the menu, Junghoo suddenly spoke to Minsung.

“So you’re Minsung.”

He didn’t seem particularly surprised, which made Seowon wonder if he’d already known Minsung’s face, but he didn’t bother to ask. Minsung, on the other hand, who was the subject of Junghoo’s gaze, rubbed his arms as if he felt a chill.

“I’m Park Minsung.”

“Right. I’ve heard your name a lot, so I remember it. I heard your name yesterday, too.”

It seemed that what Seowon had done, saying that if things really didn’t work out he could just rely on Minsung, had stuck in Junghoo’s mind. Thanks to that, the timid Minsung had a look on his face like he’d done something wrong, but Seowon said nothing and just picked up a piece of puffed rice and ate it.

“Don’t drink too much.”

Dumbfounded, Seowon looked at Junghoo as if he were a strange person.

“I’m more worried about you than myself. Are you really okay?”

“Me? I would have been fine if you hadn’t pestered me so much this morning, right?”

“What did I pester you so much about?”

“By getting turned on?”

Seowon shut his mouth as the conversation took a strange turn.

“If you really keep talking like that, I’m going to kick you out.”

“Okay.”

“Live a normal life, please.”

“What can I do when that’s so hard to do around you?”

Junghoo sighed and lowered his eyes as if asking for a break. As if that would hide his hypocritical expression.