Kang Sehyun was sulking.
Yes, sulking was the perfect word for it. He wasn’t angry, but something didn’t sit right with him, so he was just slightly twisted out of shape.
Kang Sehyun: [Where are you]
Me: [Art museum]
Kang Sehyun: [You hate that kind of thing]
Me: [Sora likes it]
Kang Sehyun: [Why don’t you just date her then]
This had all started after Sora arrived.
At first, I thought it was just because my attention was too focused on Sora.
Honestly, given Sehyun’s personality, even that didn’t really make sense, but since I couldn’t think of any other reason, that’s what I went with.
I thought it was surprising and even a little amusing that even the usually blunt Sehyun had this childish side to him. But later, after meeting with the hyungs, I realized that wasn’t the reason at all.
The hyungs started teasing us and questioning the relationship between Sora and me as soon as they saw us. And from that moment on, Sehyun’s mood had been quite sour. When I said Sora was just a friend, he seemed to feel a bit better, but at the end when Jungwoo hyung, who arrived separately, paired us up as a couple again, he got annoyed all over again.
I’d once joked that if I got a girlfriend, wouldn’t he cry, but it was no longer a laughing matter. The difference was that he got annoyed instead of crying, but either way, it was clear he didn’t like it.
I’d thought that maybe I’d feel hurt too if Sehyun got a girlfriend, but I had no idea if these were thoughts that healthy men in their twenties could even have.
Anyway, Sehyun was in a bad mood. And I was making excuses I didn’t even need to make, trying to soothe him.
Me: [Sora’s an art major so she’s wanted to come here for a while. I was dragged here against my will]
The reply came quickly.
Kang Sehyun: [When does it end]
Ah. He’s over it.
Fortunately, this never lasted long. One word from me and he’d quickly go back to being the cool Sehyun. Though if he’d really been cool to begin with, he wouldn’t have gotten annoyed over something like this.
Why does he even hate it? Is it because he’s sick of dating, so I shouldn’t do it either?
No matter how much I thought about it, that was the only explanation. The reason why Sehyun, who had nothing to envy in anyone else, would oppose me getting a girlfriend.
If it wasn’t that, then he specifically didn’t like Sora, but judging from how he acted toward her, that definitely wasn’t the reason.
Kang Sehyun: [Let’s have lunch together]
Kang Sehyun: [Noona says she’ll buy us Chicago pizza]
If he didn’t like her, he would never have remembered what Sora said and offered to buy us a meal. There probably wouldn’t have even been a second meeting.
Sora readily accepted Sehyun’s suggestion. It seemed like Sora had taken a liking to Sehyun after actually meeting him too.
“You said he was prickly, but he wasn’t like that at all? He had good manners and was polite. He is a bit blunt, but I already heard that from you. Honestly, when I heard he was good-looking and rich, I thought he’d be kind of obnoxious, but he was fine.”
Of course he was. That’s why I was surprised too.
The pizza place the hyungs and I often went to was in downtown. We parked on the street and went inside, and the savory smell of food filled the air.
As soon as we entered, an unfamiliar face rushed over in one stride. The last time I’d been here was two months ago, and it seemed a new part-timer had started in the meantime.
[Welcome.]
[I think my party is already inside…]
[Ah! They’re over there.]
As expected, Sehyun, who had arrived first, had already grabbed a table and was sitting down. We ordered what we usually got, and after about twenty minutes, the staff brought out a deep-dish pizza stuffed to the brim. Even Sora, who had laughed asking if that would be enough when she saw the small size, stuck out her tongue at how full she felt after eating just one slice.
“I need to use the restroom.”
I excused myself for a moment after the food came out. Knowing Sora’s personality, she wouldn’t feel awkward even if she was alone with Sehyun anyway.
When I returned to the table, the two of them were in the middle of a conversation. Even from a distance, Sora looked excited.
“Yeah. There were quite a few back then.”
“Really?”
“I bet everyone tried at least once.”
What are they talking about?
The two were so focused on their conversation that they didn’t notice me approaching.
“Anyone who succeeded?”
“There was one person.”
“…One person?”
“Yeah.”
“But you didn’t date?”
“We didn’t date. It seemed like they were seeing each other very briefly, but then it ended. But they kept seeing each other until graduation, so maybe they’re still in contact now?”
“Hmm…”
It had only been a moment. I’d only been gone for about five minutes, but I was curious how the conversation had shifted to this topic.
“We’re not in contact.”
At my words, the two of them turned their heads toward me in unison, as if they’d planned it.
“And we didn’t date, so why are you spreading false rumors all the way here? Making such a big deal out of eating together once.”
“Oh come on, if you, who never gives anyone a chance, ate a meal together with someone, that’s dating.”
“It’s just that I couldn’t refuse when they asked in front of a lot of people. I didn’t want them to be embarrassed. But ‘seeing each other briefly’ is way too much.”
Despite my serious expression, Sora laughed playfully. On the contrary, Sehyun was the one being serious at a time like this.
“So you’d meet anyone who asks you like that?”
“Why are you twisting it like that again?”
“Then what if someone asked you to date them in front of a lot of people—”
“Would I date them? No, I wouldn’t. But why is this topic suddenly coming up? Sora, did you start this?”
“No. Sehyun asked first. He asked what you were like in high school. So I was telling him you were popular.”
Sora, having said that, poured hot sauce all over her pizza. Sehyun was staring at me blankly. He looked sulky somehow.
“Why are you suddenly curious about that?”
“I’ve been curious for a while.”
“Then why didn’t you just ask back then? You always tell me to ask you right away when I’m curious about something, but why do you do this?”
“Hey, I can ask now too, what’s wrong with that? If I asked you, you wouldn’t have given me a proper answer anyway. Sehyun knew that, so he asked me. Anything else you’re curious about? Should I tell you about when Sungha cried?”
After that, Sora gleefully shared various episodes.
Like how I bawled my eyes out in the movie theater watching a sad film, or when we had a cilantro-eating contest at our regular pho place, and other trivial, mundane stories including nicknames people had given me.
“Do you know what they called Sungha because he didn’t have a single bad rumor?”
“What?”
“Greenbelt.”
“…Ha.”
“Amazing, right? Since there aren’t many Koreans, bad rumors spread in an instant, but he lived so upright that there were no rumors to spread. So people gave him that nickname, saying they had to protect the pure Kwon Sungha.”
It was clearly a compliment, but my face heated up because of the strange nickname. Unlike me, Sehyun was listening to the story with an interested expression.
“Honestly, it’s the same everywhere, but most rumors are spread by people you know. Even small things get distorted as they pass through people’s mouths. But Sungha doesn’t easily meet anyone… You probably know this, but he seems easy-going but he’s actually quite picky.”
“A compliment followed by an insult?”
But I didn’t mind Sora saying these things. Partly because the person listening was Sehyun. Sehyun nodded as if he already knew.
“But you two still became friends somehow.”
“Right. Well, it just happened.”
“But why didn’t you date?”
“We’re too far from each other’s ideal types.”
The answer came out of Sora’s mouth in less than a second. It was an answer she’d given dozens of times because everyone who saw us asked.
“There’s absolutely no way we could ever like each other romantically. First of all, I like bad boys. Even though I know it, I just can’t fix it. That’s why I always suffer.”
It was true. No matter how much I told her not to with every person Sora dated, she repeated the same mistakes and the same regrets every time.
“And it’s impossible for Sungha to like me.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not rich.”
Sehyun let out a hollow laugh and asked me.
“That wasn’t a joke?”
“No. It wasn’t. Why would I joke about something like that?”
No matter how much I thought about it, that was all I could say was my ideal type. My conclusion was that for someone to date me when I had no financial leeway, the other person had to have financial stability.
“So you’re really okay with just being rich?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s your standard for rich?”
“Hmm…”
For me, an ideal type was both a standard for dating and for not dating, so the bar should probably be higher than just an ordinary rich person. After thinking carefully, I said the number that came to mind.
“…About 5 billion won?”
Sora, who had been listening from the side, slipped in a question.
“Isn’t that a bit low for a rich person? 5 billion won?”
“Not family money. 5 billion won in assets currently under their own name.”
“Wow. Crazy. Are you trying to date someone way older? You might as well just post a sign saying you have no intention of dating.”
Since it was a condition I made because I had no plans to date right now anyway, in a way, it was a success. Dating was the ultimate luxury for me right now.
It’s not that I thought I absolutely shouldn’t date. I just didn’t have any illusions about love.
Thinking about someone all day, yearning because of that person, being happy then sad. I didn’t want to experience becoming such a fool that I couldn’t control my emotions swinging wildly because of one person.
I didn’t even really know what it felt like to like someone.
In my current situation, that was actually a good thing.
Sehyun, who had been quietly sitting beside me, opened his mouth a beat late.
“What, that’s all it takes?”
I laughed, and Sora frowned.
“I guess he is kind of obnoxious after all.”
