“No. Thanks to you, I got to see something good.”
“See? What do you know, you bastard.”
At Wooyeon’s polite words, Jang Hyeonjun glared and said something to Jeonghan.
“Hey! But what’s this?”
“Ah, this.”
“Who’d you get it from again? Huh? I’m telling you, you’re a coffee collector.”
Hearing his words, it seemed this wasn’t the first or second time. Jang Hyeonjun looked at the cup of coffee in Jeonghan’s hand and said with a giggle. Then Jeonghan immediately crumpled the post-it note on top with his other hand and threw it on the ground, then held out the cup of coffee to him.
“Want to drink it?”
“Whoa, you’re giving it to me?”
“I don’t usually drink this kind of thing.”
“Keh, as expected of Jeonghan-nim.”
It happened in an instant. Wooyeon, who knew what must have been written on the post-it note, looked back and forth between the cup of coffee that had already passed into Hyeonjun’s hands and Jeonghan’s face. And finally, his gaze went to the post-it note crumpled and fallen on the ground.
It was an indescribable feeling. Until Jang Hyeonjun and Yoon Wiseung greeted them and moved away again, Wooyeon couldn’t focus on their conversation.
“Let’s go. We don’t have much time left.”
“Kwon Jeonghan.”
Wooyeon stopped in place and looked at Jeonghan, who had started walking first. Jeonghan looked back at Wooyeon with a puzzled face. Jeonghan hadn’t had even a moment’s hesitation when throwing it away.
“Why?”
At that face that looked so innocent, Wooyeon couldn’t say anything.
**11.**
The place Jeonghan brought Wooyeon to was an Italian restaurant near the school. On the high-ceilinged gray-toned walls, metal lights were attached here and there. Though it was near the school, it seemed more suitable for couples to come on dates rather than for college students to comfortably eat a meal.
Wooyeon entered the quiet room inside the restaurant as the server guided them. When Wooyeon and Jeonghan took their seats, the server immediately brought them menus.
“Sunbae, do you eat this kind of food well?”
Wooyeon raised his gaze over the menu to look at Jeonghan. He seemed to be keeping in mind that Wooyeon hadn’t eaten well when they went to the Korean restaurant last time. It wasn’t that he couldn’t eat it because he disliked Korean food.
In fact, if there was something unfamiliar to Wooyeon, it was rather this. Apart from the spaghetti that occasionally came out as waste from the convenience store, he couldn’t even remember well when he’d last eaten this kind of food.
“Uh, yeah.”
“That’s a relief.”
Jeonghan smiled faintly while flipping through the menu. Wooyeon’s heart fluttered unnecessarily at a smile that meant nothing to Jeonghan.
Wooyeon, who had briefly bitten his lip, gave his attention back to the menu. It was filled with nothing but names Wooyeon didn’t know, listed one after another. They weren’t spaghetti or pasta, but strange names. Moreover, the prices stuck next to them were unbelievable prices. It was just one meal, so why was the food so expensive? Wooyeon raised his gaze again to look at Jeonghan.
“Did you choose?”
“Huh? No……”
“Should I just choose for you?”
Anguish briefly crossed Wooyeon’s eyes. The reason was he was agonizing over whether to leave the choice to Jeonghan and stay out of it himself, or choose for himself a menu that would be less burdensome.
When Wooyeon awkwardly looked at the menu again, Jeonghan’s hand reached out from the other side of the table and took Wooyeon’s menu. Jeonghan and Wooyeon’s gazes mixed again.
“I’ll choose for you today. Since I’m buying.”
Jeonghan said with a smile.
“Honestly, I think we came to the wrong place.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t know it would be this expensive.”
At words that went beyond Wooyeon’s honesty, Jeonghan’s smile gradually faded. Just then, a knock sounded from outside the door, and the server from earlier appeared again. Wooyeon blinked and lowered his long eyelashes.
Jeonghan ordered from the server as if familiar with it. Bruschetta, arancini, ravioli, conchiglie. They were all words Wooyeon was hearing for the first time. The male server took the menus, greeted them, and left the room again.
“I got white wine. That’s okay, right?”
Wooyeon just nodded. Then Jeonghan propped his chin on the table and came closer to Wooyeon, saying,
“Can I be honest too?”
Jeonghan’s face, devoid of expression, had a coldness unlike usual.
“You’re the first person I’ve seen who worries about money while being with me.”
Jeonghan didn’t speak in roundabout ways. He had noticed the point Wooyeon was worrying about, and just like Wooyeon had done moments ago, he didn’t particularly hide it. Under his long eyelashes, Wooyeon’s eyes shook as if they’d met a storm.
“……You, I know you have a lot of money too.”
“If you know, try being more shameless. Why can’t you do that?”
Jeonghan said as if he truly didn’t understand.
“It feels frustrating like I’m accumulating debt. Because I can’t do this much for you.”
“Who’s the frustrated one here?”
Irritation was mixed into Jeonghan’s voice. Jeonghan lowered the hand that had been propping up his chin below the table and leaned his back against the chair.
Of course it wasn’t that he disliked having a meal with Jeonghan itself. Wooyeon also felt stifled that he couldn’t make Jeonghan understand.
Jeonghan didn’t understand the burden I feel every time I’m with him facing such expensive food like this. And he never will understand in the future either. Because that’s how he grew up and that’s how he’ll continue to live.
Jeonghan was silent for some time, and Wooyeon didn’t add anything either.
“I wish sunbae would accept what I give without complaining.”
Though he was using honorifics, it was a tone that was almost no different from a command. Wooyeon was flabbergasted.
“And sleep with you without complaining?”
“Yes.”
Jeonghan didn’t have even a moment’s hesitation before giving that answer. Wooyeon let out a small sigh and looked at Jeonghan. Why did he say such a thing when he knew it would be himself who got hurt? If he were to assign blame, it would be more constructive to direct it at himself rather than Jeonghan.
Just then, a knock sounded again. The servers who entered brought in pre-meal bread and salad, round fried items that appeared to be appetizers, toasted bread with various toppings, and white wine.
When the servers left the room, Wooyeon carefully looked over the food on the table. Honestly, it seemed like just eating this would fill him up.
“Eat first.”
Something like resignation was mixed into Jeonghan’s voice. It seemed like if he didn’t eat well again this time, he’d see Jeonghan’s cold eyes again. Wooyeon tore off a soft piece of pre-meal bread and bit into it.
“Next time we’ll go where sunbae wants, then that’s okay, right?”
At Jeonghan’s words, Wooyeon nodded while biting the bread. Just the fact that Jeonghan said that made Wooyeon feel overwhelmed for some reason. What’s so grateful about those words? Even Wooyeon himself didn’t understand.
Around the time they’d emptied all the pre-meal bread, the servers who knocked and entered again set two pastas on the table and quietly left the room. It seemed like all the food had been served.
“But, earlier.”
While stirring the conchiglie pasta, Wooyeon began. Jeonghan put down his fork and looked at Wooyeon.
“The coffee, why did you give it to Hyeonjun?”
“Coffee? Ah……”
Jeonghan’s face showed he didn’t even remember well.
“She gave it for you to drink.”
“I just didn’t really want to eat that kind of thing.”
At Jeonghan’s nonchalant answer, Wooyeon felt like he was getting hurt on behalf of that female student whose name he didn’t even know.
“……Is that all?”
“Yes. Do you need more?”
Jeonghan picked up his fork again and swallowed a ravioli into his mouth.
“I don’t like caring about such trivial things. Actually, I don’t really like that sunbae is caring about it either.”
“……So feelings like liking you are trivial to you.”
“It’s not me who likes them, so what great meaning could it have?”
Does Jeonghan even remember that female student’s face? Wooyeon readjusted his grip on the fork he’d been holding lightly. His head was complicated. Even the feelings he harbored for Jeonghan would probably be nothing more than such trivial things to Jeonghan. It felt like his insides were becoming stifled. He wanted to change the topic. He also had something to ask Jeonghan.
“Actually, the day I slept at your house, I met Seoha.”
At Wooyeon’s words, Jeonghan raised his eyes to look at Wooyeon.
“Really?”
And as if it was nothing, Jeonghan answered. It had been over ten years since Wooyeon had seen Seoha. For Wooyeon, it couldn’t not be a big deal.
When Wooyeon stopped eating and looked at Jeonghan, Jeonghan also put down his fork. Jeonghan must have known that Wooyeon was the former Yooha, and he clearly must have known that he and Seoha were brothers.
“You could have told me.”
“What?”
“That you knew Seoha.”
“Did I have to tell you about that too?”
Jeonghan’s tone was calm. Wooyeon suddenly felt like demanding why he hadn’t said anything, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud. It was obvious that this time too he would dismiss it as a ‘trivial matter.’
“Don’t think strange thoughts. It’s not like we’ve been friends all along, he’s a friend I got to know when I was studying in America.”
It hadn’t been said with that meaning, but it had become a situation like a lover interrogating someone about cheating. Wooyeon decided to stop talking about Seoha. It seemed like he’d only get hurt if he continued the conversation.
Though Wooyeon had been born just a few months earlier than Seoha, since they were born in the same year, Seoha must definitely be older, yet Jeonghan had referred to Seoha as a friend. Wooyeon guessed that their friendship wasn’t shallow.
Though he’d thought he wouldn’t be able to finish it all, perhaps because Jeonghan ate so well, the plates were almost empty.
“But sunbae, that place you’re living in now, how long are you going to live there?”
Jeonghan asked while stabbing the last ravioli with his fork. Wooyeon had long since stopped eating, full to the brim.
“Why?”
“Because I really don’t like it.”
