“I don’t.”
Lee Euishin nodded.
“I only have Kwon Yunsu.”
At the same time as the answer, the fingers gripping his shoulder gained strength. Kwon Yunsu jumped up. And after quickly organizing his assignment materials and bolting from the sofa, he pointed at Lee Euishin.
“You traitor! Evil gang! Elementary schooler! Wicked landlord! You Gollum-like bastard!!!”
“Whoa.”
“I can’t even attend school because I’m so embarrassed because of you!”
“Hey, that’s not it.”
“If anyone should be embarrassed, it’s Euishin. I should be taking your side right now, but no matter how much I think about it, that’s….”
“Goodness, is that what you say to your bestie who takes care of you like a dad?”
Ignoring the pitiful voices, Kwon Yunsu left the club room resolutely. He couldn’t understand Lee Euishin who had an acute case of eighth-grader syndrome.
Without even waiting for the elevator, he came down the stairs and left the engineering campus quickly and roughly. There were 30 minutes left until afternoon class—if he did an angry walk while cursing and tearing apart Lee Euishin, there wouldn’t be time to be bored.
“That Lee bastard!”
Kwon Yunsu put on a show by kicking the lawn for no reason. He kept thinking about the touch of the hand gripping his shoulder, and it seemed to give a meaningful warning. To whom? Why? …Who the hell are you?
“Landlord son of a bitch!”
That rotten bastard is making people flustered and causing a ruckus. If he doesn’t want to go on the trip, he should persuade with reasons point by point—his way of expressing his feelings is completely wrong. I’ll let it slide that you live however the fuck you want, but why are you infringing on others’ freedom? Why is your personality like that anyway?
“I’ll show you. No matter how stubborn you are, I’ll definitely…!”
It was then that continuous vibrations rang from the phone he was gripping as if to crush it. Looking at the screen, it was Shin Jaewoo.
[Yunsu-ya, where are you now?]
“…Taking a walk.”
After hearing laughing sounds from beyond the phone for a moment,
[Want to go make money with me after class today?]
The guy made a suggestion cool enough to blow away his anger at Lee Euishin in one shot.
***
“Kwon Yunsu!”
Kwon Yunsu standing at the back gate was frowning. Judging by how he was looking down at the phone in his hand, the situation was clear. He was debating whether to ignore contact from Lee Euishin. They absolutely promised to eat dinner together? They were really clingy bastards. Scared that others might find out.
“Sorry, I’m a bit late.”
“I didn’t wait that long.”
When he quickly approached and stood shoulder to shoulder, Kwon Yunsu put away his phone. Good job. Since he embarrassed him so openly, he should at least let him eat dinner alone.
Recalling what happened in the club room a few hours ago, Shin Jaewoo frowned. Kwon Yunsu was just somewhat angry and the other guys weren’t much different, but in his view, that was a declaration of war. No. More blatant than that,
─Territory marking.
The hand that had been stroking Kwon Yunsu’s shoulder seemed to mock him for not crossing the line and maintaining an ambiguous relationship.
He definitely lacked persistence. He didn’t know if he could surpass Lee Euishin. If the guy was properly hooked on this kid, what he saw today was just the tip of the iceberg.
But so what? Being with Kwon Yunsu was fun. He was a cute, fun, and exciting kid. For now, this wasn’t bad either. Anyway, tonight Lee Euishin would be left alone grinding his teeth, and when he found out Kwon Yunsu had been with him during that time, that handsome face would become even more worth seeing.
“You said you haven’t done part-time work, right? I wonder if I’m making you suffer for nothing.”
“Don’t you know I’m a homemaker? I’m really good at washing dishes.”
“But your hands are this delicate?”
When he gripped the wrist that fit perfectly and looked at the hand, Kwon Yunsu’s lips moved, then he pulled his hand away.
“Ugh, don’t play around like this. I’m a rubber glove enthusiast.”
It was quite different seeing the kid who was always bright like a mischievous boy looking awkward. It was like that earlier too. In ‘his’ eyes, Kwon Yunsu wrapped in the arms of the shamelessly stubborn Lee Euishin was quite… to put it politely, appetizing. Things like the flush subtly added to his white face, his gaze shaking too honestly, his lips bitten as if uncomfortable, and the look glaring at Lee Euishin. Would it be too much to call it a kind of blooming?
「Hyung, I’m going with a friend today. You can split the pay you mentioned in half, so please do that. He’s not a kid who’ll cause trouble.」
Right after Kwon Yunsu stormed out, Shin Jaewoo sent that text. He was supposed to go alone to the hastily arranged daily part-time job, but seeing what was unfolding before his eyes, money wasn’t important. If he didn’t dig into this gap, there would never be another chance. And he successfully seized the opportunity.
“That better not be an empty promise. The place we’re going to now is fancy, so they use really expensive dishes.”
“……”
“It’s run by a friend’s uncle and it’s really big. It’s in the suburbs, so we have to take the subway for an hour. Even normally there are a lot of customers, but when group reservations are booked, they’re so short on kitchen hands. I went a few times following my friend after the college entrance exam, and once I got in, they call me occasionally like this. It’s good when I need quick cash. Until I start tutoring, it’ll be useful. If you don’t make mistakes today, they’ll tell you to leave your number too, so do well.”
Kwon Yunsu’s eyes became serious as if he’d heard extremely important information.
“Let’s do well… We really have to do well.”
“Don’t be so overeager that you break the dishes.”
“Okay.”
He was even clenching his fists.
Shin Jaewoo realized anew. This guy really wanted to go to Europe. He desperately wished to go there and see the soccer stadiums, soccer players, and league matches he’d dreamed of. And he himself wanted to see Kwon Yunsu enthusiastic about soccer more than soccer itself.
“If I zone out while doing the dishes, you have to snap me out of it. And tell him I’m kind and diligent too.”
Lee Euishin must be in a difficult position too. How many guys must there have been who thought, ‘A cheerful, harmless, pretty boy—it’d be fun to hang out with this kid’?
“Are you really kind and diligent? I’m not sure.”
When he asked, bringing his face close, Kwon Yunsu retorted sullenly.
“Hey, can’t you tell from how I stick around with a bastard like Lee Euishin? I’m Buddha, or at the very least Avalokitesvara.”
Shin Jaewoo laughed loudly and threw his arm around Kwon Yunsu’s shoulder, shaking him. Then, before the guy could feel burdened, he quickly removed his hand and diverted his attention.
“Let’s grab a burger over there.”
“Sounds good.”
The boy with a good appetite, who was neither Buddha nor Avalokitesvara, nodded seriously.
“So you went to the study room all throughout senior year?”
“Got tutored twice a week, study room the rest of the time. It was more comfortable that way. You?”
“Went to academy on weekends, stayed for night self-study at school on weekdays. Stuck to Lee Euishin’s side.”
“I see.”
“…My grades shot up a ton because of him. Started going up steadily from winter of sophomore year.”
And Lee Euishin’s grades must have plateaued. That sensitive bastard actually managed to stay stuck at school all day. Shin Jaewoo smiled bitterly. The more he dug, the more effort had been put in.
On the way back after doing nothing but washing dishes for over six hours, there was hardly anyone between the Korean restaurant and the station. It was precariously close to when the last subway would stop running, but he didn’t want to rush. After all, all history happens at night.
“But you played the living Buddha in return. You must have had a hard time putting up with the prince’s personality.”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly like that…”
It wasn’t just that—that guy who’s prickly and cold to the whole world must have been different with you alone. It was fortunate he hadn’t witnessed that spectacle directly. The guys who thought it’d be fun to hang out with this kid must have witnessed what Lee Euishin did and gotten discouraged and fallen away. And only guys as bright, cheerful, and oblivious as Kwon Yunsu would have survived.
“Euishin hasn’t dated any girls since then?”
This time he asked something he clearly already knew.
“Yeah, I guess it just fizzled out.”
The fact that there was no follow-up from Lee Euishin, whose heart had gone to the bean field, and,
“But recently I went to their department lounge because Euishin said to get something from his locker, and this really pretty girl talked to me. She was the girl he went on that blind date with.”
Even the story about how the girl who still had lingering feelings for Lee Euishin wandered around near the engineering building, crossing the distant campus using the matchmaker as an excuse.
