PAO 31

Seowon shuffled around outside, brushing his damp forehead. Minsung wasn’t answering his texts or his calls. It was uncomfortable being at home, and he had to get in touch to be able to suggest meeting up…

It wasn’t as if he had come very far, though. The place where he stood staring at his phone was right in front of his house. Seowon, who was checking the messages and calls he had made to Minsung, muttered.

“Is he taking a shower?”

A sigh escaped him when he realized this guy was the only one he could call on the weekend. Still, he used to have a lot of friends he got along with quite well, but after Yoo Junghoo appeared, he had grown distant from them one by one while dealing with him.

He was just about to make a final call and, if he still didn’t answer, plan on heading to a nearby cafe to kill time.

“What are you doing here?”

Seeing the face reflected on his phone screen, Seowon inwardly blamed himself for not being able to go far, while outwardly acting as if nothing was wrong as he replied.

“…Waiting for Minsung.”

He tapped his phone to check if he had received any messages and put it back in his pocket.

“Did you guys arrange to meet here?”

Seowon just turned his head to look at Junghoo, who had come to stand beside him and ask.

“Yeah. Aren’t you going somewhere?”

“Me too. I decided to wait here.”

“For who?”

He asked reflexively, then shut his mouth. What am I even saying to a guy I’ve decided to stop caring about now.

“Hangyeol hyung.”

At Junghoo’s honest answer, Seowon’s mouth fell open, then closed. He was grateful for the kind reply, but it would have been better not to have heard it. It reminded him of his own pathetic behavior, having gone into the cafe after seeing Sung Hangyeol hugging Junghoo.

“I see.”

Whether he heard from Minsung or Junghoo went to meet that Sung Hangyeol guy, he just wished it would be settled quickly. Only then would he be able to escape this suffocatingly awkward moment. Seowon instinctively turned his body away from him and kept fiddling with his phone.

Just in case he might try to talk to him, he even downloaded and opened a file his professor had uploaded. He wanted to avoid Yoo Junghoo that badly. He wanted to talk about yesterday’s conversation even less, and he found himself wanting to ignore the way he was looking at him.

It was when he was not looking in Junghoo’s direction. Hearing a rustling sound, Seowon turned without thinking and his eyes met Junghoo’s. Junghoo, with a mint candy in his mouth, grinned and pursed his lips, sucking on the candy.

Does he really like sweet things that much to be eating them in the morning?

“It’s delicious.”

“Eat a lot of them, then.”

“It’s candy you gave me, so I’m going to savor it.”

It wasn’t candy that Seowon had given him. It was just that Junghoo had picked one of the various things he had bought.

“Do whatever you want.”

Seowon shook his head, thinking what’s the point of arguing. He could hear the sound of Junghoo moving the candy around, clinking against his teeth. After keeping his distance from me like that yesterday, he shouldn’t be approaching me at all.

“I wish I had just one more.”

“You have plenty of candy.”

“An unforgettable memory, I wish I had just one more.”

Seowon stared at Yoo Junghoo, at a loss for words. Is that something the bastard who told me not to help him with anything yesterday should be saying?

He was wondering if he was trying to pick a fight again today, following yesterday, when the sound of an engine grew closer and a familiar car stopped in front of Seowon.

“Junghoo.”

His eyes met Sung Hangyeol’s, who got out of the car, and Seowon bowed his head in greeting.

“That friend is with you too. Hello.”

Sung Hangyeol waved his hand in greeting, then turned back to Junghoo.

“Let’s go.”

At Sung Hangyeol’s gesture, which seemed to tell him to get in the car right away, Junghoo had no particular reaction. Even Seowon, who could only leave once Junghoo got in the car, looked at him, wondering why he was acting like that.

“I don’t want to go.”

“What?”

“I don’t feel like going alone anymore.”

As Junghoo stood there unmoving like a stone statue, Sung Hangyeol frowned and then looked at Seowon. It was a look that seemed to say the reason Junghoo had changed his mind probably had something to do with Seowon. Of course, it wasn’t as if Seowon had anything to say just because Sung Hangyeol was looking at him.

“I’m leaving.”

As if to let them know it had nothing to do with him, Seowon gave a half-hearted wave and turned away. Whether he heard from Minsung or not, he decided it would be better to go to the cafe. Unfortunately, the problem was that his decision was too late.

“Seowon, let’s go together.”

“Junghoo, I have plans.”

“I’m going to the beach.”

“Have a good trip.”

Seowon, who had been retorting to every word Junghoo said, clicked his tongue inwardly. His plans with Sung Hangyeol were to go see the sea?

Even with this information he learned against his will, Seowon figured it was nothing he needed to worry about, and for as much as he stepped back, Junghoo closed the distance.

“What is it.”

“Aren’t you worried about me?”

“…”

“You said you’d help me just once. Who knows if that might be today.”

Seowon let out a dumbfounded laugh. To think he would use the conversation they had yesterday in this way.

“Just for today, turn a blind eye and think about helping me. The sound of the waves rolling in, me collapsed and desperately reaching my hand out to you…”

“Shut up.”

Seowon waved his hand irritably. It was annoying enough that he said such things so casually, but he hated himself even more for listening to it and finding his feet unable to leave.

“What kind of sick bastard goes to the sea. Just go home and rest…”

“No.”

As Junghoo cut him off abruptly, Seowon’s jaw dropped in disbelief. It wasn’t because he had interrupted him, but because his tone was like a child throwing a tantrum.

“I’m sick of being cooped up now. I’m going to be running around a lot.”

Junghoo’s lips, which had been pouting sulkily, spread wide into a smile. Seowon, who couldn’t take his eyes off the change in his expression, understood the meaning of his words a beat too late.

“Were you locked up somewhere?”

“I was cooped up yesterday, and the day before too. I feel like I’ll get depression if I just stay in a house that’s closed off on all sides.”

“Who describes being at home as being cooped up. That crazy bastard.”

“If you’re not going with me, then don’t. But if I collapse, my wish will just come true.”

Junghoo coolly turned away as if his business was done. As he opened the passenger side door on his own and got in, Sung Hangyeol and Seowon were left standing there awkwardly. As they were both trying to process how to take this situation, Sung Hangyeol was the first to react.

“You can get in the back seat.”

It meant that if Seowon said he wouldn’t go, there was nothing to be done, but at the very least, he wouldn’t object to him coming along. As Sung Hangyeol also got into the car, Seowon was now left alone.

“Minsung, can you please tell me you just came out now? Then I wouldn’t have to go to the beach.”

Seowon picked up his phone. Deciding that he wouldn’t go if he heard from Minsung, and he would go if he didn’t, Seowon heavily tapped the black phone screen. Mocking his hesitant touch, the screen lit up.

“…Are you sleeping?”

Seowon, throwing a resentful word at Minsung who hadn’t contacted him until the end, trudged toward the back seat. Junghoo, who was on the phone with someone, turned his body halfway and gave Seowon a bright greeting, welcoming him.

“Yeah, sleep well and I’ll call you again.”

Junghoo’s voice as he spoke to the other person was remarkably gentle.

This moment of suddenly going to the beach, is it a big deal or not?

“Seowon, that’s the sea over there.”

At Junghoo’s cheerful voice, Seowon irritably ruffled his own hair. What in the world… It was something he did on impulse, but he still wondered if this was the right thing to do.

While Seowon was looking at the sea, Sung Hangyeol seemed to have spotted something and stopped the car for a moment.

“I see a cafe over there. Would you like anything to drink?”

“I’ll go buy it.”

Junghoo got out of the car. And then, instead of going straight to the cafe, he knocked on the window of the back seat where Seowon was.

“What do you want to drink?”

“Anything.”

“I’ll really buy you just anything, you know? Don’t say something different later.”

“…Just not a chocolate latte.”

He could have just bought him an Americano, so was there a need to say it like that. Anyway, that was the only thing that came to mind right then.

“So as long as it’s not that, it’s fine.”

The smile that appeared on Junghoo’s lips made him uneasy, so he considered going with him, but then he glanced at the cafe and nodded his head. He could see the entire interior, so if something were to happen, he would know right away.

“I’ll be back.”

Seowon watched until Junghoo went into the cafe, and once he disappeared, he turned his eyes to the sea. Looking at the sea from inside the car felt like watching a muted TV. He had come on impulse, but the feeling of his eyes being refreshed wasn’t bad. Well, it’s not the sea’s fault. This is all Junghoo’s fault for threatening him by saying he might collapse.

He knows why he brought him here. He had suddenly mentioned memories and was showing him the beach, so there was no need to take the long way around. However, he didn’t understand the reason why he, who he thought would always keep him close, had recently started drawing a line and pushing him away.

Simply because he’s sick?

“Um…”

Seowon hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth. He wasn’t sure if he should be asking something like this, so his words trailed off, but he had at least started. He wanted to ask if he knew anything, since he had seemed unfazed earlier when Junghoo was talking about collapsing and what not.

However, before he could continue speaking to Sung Hangyeol, there was a knock on the window. Startled, Seowon turned his head with a “what is it” look. Junghoo, who had knocked on the window, opened his hand and gestured for him to come out.

“Come on out. Let’s eat at the cafe.”

As if words weren’t enough, he opened the back seat door altogether. At the sound of the waves and the sea breeze, from which he had been cut off until now, Seowon briefly closed his eyes. The breeze tickling his face and the unique smell of the sea made it feel like a completely different space.

When Junghoo had suggested going to the sea, his feeling of “what sea?” changed once he actually arrived. It wasn’t bad. Once his eyes, which had been stinging from the wind, felt better, Seowon slowly opened them and got out of the car. He liked the sea, but he didn’t want to see Junghoo gloat by making it obvious, so he forced a frown onto his face.

“What’s with suddenly going into a cafe to eat.”

“I went inside and I could see the sea…”

“What’s the big deal about a cafe with an ocean view.”

Although he said that, Seowon’s feet were steadily moving forward. When he belatedly remembered Sung Hangyeol and looked back, his car was pulling into the cafe’s parking lot.