The whispering sounds disappeared. Though students and teachers alike glanced at him furtively, there was no longer anyone who openly frowned at the sight of him.
“You lied about your age, didn’t you?”
“What are you talking about, all of a sudden?”
Seo Eunho was certain that there had been pressure from Tae Shinwoo behind how things had turned out this way.
But it was really strange. They were the same students, and no matter how much money his family had, still. How could he control the atmosphere of an entire group?
“You do whatever you want. Even the school atmosphere. What kind of high school student has this much influence?”
Seo Eunho clicked his tongue. It had become much more comfortable now that people’s gazes had been withdrawn. But it was absurd. He didn’t really want to learn firsthand just how amazing Tae Shinwoo—or more precisely, his family—was.
“It’s the product of effort.”
Tae Shinwoo just shrugged his shoulders. His tone suggested it was nothing special.
“What kind of effort did you make?”
So at his sarcastic words,
“Various things?”
A flippant answer came back.
Seo Eunho was about to say more but just closed his mouth. What would change if he knew what and how he’d done it? He felt pointlessly twisted.
Even he felt his emotional ups and downs had been severe lately. He seemed a bit sensitive too.
It wasn’t that he was stressed because of school or home. From the beginning, the only thing that could affect Seo Eunho was Tae Shinwoo.
Seo Eunho still hadn’t decided on a course of action. Whether to close his eyes tight and move forward, or maintain this relationship. He knew Tae Shinwoo wanted the former, but it was a difficult problem to choose readily.
In that case, he wished Tae Shinwoo would approach him. Seo Eunho wanted to shift the responsibility to him and leave the choice to him. So he could say it wasn’t something he’d chosen, trying to shed even a faint sense of guilt that way.
But his thinking had some merit too. The one who needed to be brave about this was the one who had a lot to lose. That way, if things went wrong, even if he resented someone, he’d resent himself.
“Ha…”
“Why are you sighing?”
“…You don’t need to know.”
Seo Eunho shook his head and passed by Tae Shinwoo. He’d never thought of himself as cowardly. But it seemed he’d been mistaken. At least when it came to Tae Shinwoo, he was a coward through and through.
“Huh? What is it? What is it?”
Raising his voice uncharacteristically, Tae Shinwoo stuck his head over Eunho’s shoulder. Seo Eunho put strength into his shoulder and pushed him away. Since he clung to him at all times without reason, now there wasn’t even a moment’s hesitation in pushing him away.
“Why does it feel like you’re getting colder as days go by?”
Tae Shinwoo whined as if that hurt his feelings. He even pouted his lips slightly. Naturally it shouldn’t suit him, but to Eunho’s eyes it looked damn cute again.
No, it wasn’t because he was wearing rose-colored glasses—it really was fine when Tae Shinwoo did it. Anyone other than himself would say the same. Of course, he had no one to ask if that was true, nor did he want to ask. Because he wanted this face to be for his eyes only.
“I was always like this.”
“No you weren’t. Before, you’d get a little embarrassed too, oof!”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
Seo Eunho just covered his face with his hand. Tae Shinwoo rolled his eyes then immediately smiled with his eyes creased.
“Want to go?”
Seo Eunho asked Tae Shinwoo without bothering to remove his hand. Following the nod, Tae Shinwoo’s gaze rolled. It was the arcade they’d come to together for the first time.
Generally, the two of them were holed up at home even after school ended and on weekends. However, for some reason, today they’d come out to the shopping district following Tae Shinwoo, who insisted they eat outside before going in.
The road they were walking for the first time in a very long while naturally hadn’t changed much. If he had to find something that had changed, it was the distance between Seo Eunho and Tae Shinwoo.
It had been so terribly awkward.
He’d worried about what to do with Tae Shinwoo and decided on this arcade. He’d wanted to come back at least once, and it seemed like good timing.
Here at this arcade, Seo Eunho had lost every game to Tae Shinwoo. Come to think of it, he still felt a bit wronged about that even now.
“You lied about it being your first time playing games, didn’t you?”
“You say I lied about everything. At this rate, you’ll say everything I say is a lie.”
Seo Eunho tilted his head. He hadn’t meant to, but somehow today he kept suspecting Tae Shinwoo one after another.
“……”
Or not, whatever. Seo Eunho quickly entered the arcade first. Since Tae Shinwoo hadn’t uttered words of refusal, he figured it didn’t matter.
The machine Seo Eunho settled at first was naturally Tekken. A competitive spirit he didn’t have before bloomed unconsciously as soon as he saw the machine.
“Should I let you win?”
Tae Shinwoo and Seo Eunho sat side by side. The machine couldn’t have gotten bigger, but it didn’t feel particularly cramped. It must be because the legs pressed closely together didn’t bother him.
Seo Eunho hit Tae Shinwoo’s leg as he spouted nonsense, then pushed the coins he’d exchanged just before sitting into the machine.
It was time for revenge.
“Wow, you’re doing it like this?”
Not long after they started the game, Tae Shinwoo opened his mouth as if dumbfounded. On the screen, Tae Shinwoo’s character was flying through the air. Seo Eunho smiled slightly and shrugged his shoulders.
“I won.”
“Are you happy winning like that?”
“Whatever it is, winning is enough, isn’t it?”
Well, he’d used some pretty dirty tricks. Like touching Tae Shinwoo’s joystick at crucial moments, or pushing him, or stepping on his foot.
As if he hadn’t expected him to do this at all, Tae Shinwoo was defeated helplessly. If he had to be precise, he hadn’t won fair and square, but why did he feel so good? Even Seo Eunho himself didn’t understand this emotion.
“One more time.”
Tae Shinwoo narrowed his eyes and pressed his body close to the machine. Seo Eunho briefly crossed his arms then nodded as if doing him a favor. The absurd laughter made him feel even more cheerful.
Without needing to see more, from then on it was chaos. Were they playing a game or having a physical fight? Tae Shinwoo no longer let himself be defeated helplessly. The more that happened, the more desperately Seo Eunho clung on.
The reason this utterly childish fight was enjoyable was probably because the person with him was Tae Shinwoo.
“Ha…”
Unlike the day they’d first come to the arcade, when they came outside, he felt incredibly refreshed. Well, in the end both his hands had been caught by Tae Shinwoo’s hands, so it had become his overwhelming victory, but it was fine as long as it was fun. Seo Eunho let out the smile that had become loose without realizing it. Tae Shinwoo, who’d been sighing briefly, soon smiled like him too.
“Noodles?”
The alley had become dusky before they knew it. Seo Eunho gestured with his eyes toward the food cart visible before them. Having come out of the arcade, he wondered if they should move along the same course as that day.
“Mmm.”
However, Tae Shinwoo’s face crumpled immediately. It was a face that showed he wasn’t keen on it at all.
“Why don’t you like it? It’s delicious.”
“Our food tastes really don’t match.”
Seo Eunho giggled softly. He was well aware of that. Because the number of times they’d eaten meals together was beyond counting on his fingers.
Generally, Tae Shinwoo didn’t enjoy noodle dishes. Actually, it wasn’t that noodles were the problem—the fact that it was a food cart seemed more off-putting.
“What do you like then?”
He had no intention of forcibly dragging someone who said no inside. Back then he’d had the mindset of “whatever happens, happens,” but not now.
“Should I cut up a steak?”
Seo Eunho asked as he moved his steps to pass by the food cart. But because Tae Shinwoo didn’t follow, he soon had no choice but to stop too.
“……”
Why?
He was about to ask, but once their eyes met, his mouth wouldn’t open. Because Tae Shinwoo was looking at him with a face that seemed genuinely delighted—no, willing—as if he’d thought of something.
Why did he suddenly become so happy? While he wondered, Tae Shinwoo opened his mouth.
“You know that’s the first time you’ve asked me that?”
“What?”
“What I like. You’ve never asked me before.”
“…Really?”
It was a lukewarm response, but Tae Shinwoo nodded as if pleased. Following the steps that drew closer, Seo Eunho looked back over quite a long period.
Come to think of it, he really had never asked. Generally, Seo Eunho ate whatever was available, and if there was something he wanted to eat, he just ordered it. He knew there were things Tae Shinwoo didn’t like, but he didn’t really know what he did like.
It was quite a shocking story. That while he knew what his own feelings were, he didn’t know a single food that he liked.
“So what do you like?”
Seo Eunho, who’d become somewhat embarrassed, asked carefully again. It could happen. Seo Eunho originally had no interest in others.
However, when it came to Tae Shinwoo, he forgot what his usual attitude was like.
“……”
Tae Shinwoo stared at him intently. At first he met his gaze pretending to be confident, but soon his eyes dropped. He always stared at people once in a while, making him not know what to do. He was definitely doing it on purpose, but he was such a fool for wavering each time.
“…Yeah, cut up a steak.”
After a long while, Tae Shinwoo answered. That time felt so long that he couldn’t even remember what he’d asked.
“Let’s go.”
Regardless, Tae Shinwoo suddenly grabbed and pulled Seo Eunho’s wrist. The hand he’d grabbed didn’t let go even after a long time had passed.
