He’d made up his mind and the problem was timing. Seo Eunho was watching for an opportunity to convey his feelings in his own way.
“I’m sleepy.”
“Sleep then.”
“What about you.”
Seo Eunho looked Tae Shinwoo up and down as he started some strange protest. What was he trying to do? Actually, there was no need to know. Sometimes Tae Shinwoo would say silly things and stick his body to him excessively. It was a ploy with an obvious purpose.
“I’m not really sleepy though.”
“Mm……”
So when he deliberately shook his head more firmly, Tae Shinwoo crumpled his face in dissatisfaction and placed his forehead on Seo Eunho’s shoulder. His hair tickled his nape as his head moved playfully.
Seo Eunho swallowed dry saliva and stared at the innocent front door. He didn’t want to avoid it, but pretending to be unbothered was still a bit difficult.
Maybe this was the problem?
It couldn’t be this difficult to just say the one phrase “I like you.” The distance between Tae Shinwoo and himself was close enough, but strangely, when they actually faced each other, the words wouldn’t come out.
Thinking about it, he didn’t seem ready to get any closer than this. Just this much already felt like his heart would burst—what about after that? What would happen after their relationship changed?
His chest area was ticklish yet tingly. The feelings he’d never experienced before that Tae Shinwoo gave him continued to torment Seo Eunho.
Of course, Seo Eunho didn’t dislike it. He just didn’t know what to do about it.
“You should be sleepy though.”
Tae Shinwoo, still leaning his head on his shoulder, now fiddled with the back of his hand with his fingertips. The gentle touching was bothersome, but he didn’t want to pull his hand away.
“If you’re sleepy, you sleep.”
“It’s cold.”
Seo Eunho chuckled at the silly joke. Tae Shinwoo was still leaning his head on his shoulder.
Nothing would change. It was just defining their relationship a bit more clearly. As not friends. If that happened, the fact that the two of them were sticking together in this spacious house wouldn’t be ridiculous. Maybe it would even become natural.
Then couldn’t he also not just receive whatever Tae Shinwoo did like this, but approach a bit closer himself?
Just thinking about it was embarrassing, but it would be nice if it became natural. Strangely, after his father completely abandoned him, Seo Eunho had nothing left to fear.
He wanted to keep being by Tae Shinwoo’s side. Whether as friends or lovers. He’d once thought being friends might be better. But friends were people whose distance could widen at any time.
The futures they’d face were clearly different. That’s why Seo Eunho wanted to create a stickier connection. Because once they just graduated high school, there would be no point of contact between the two of them.
“Actually, I.”
Tae Shinwoo’s low voice was heard, pushing through his idle thoughts. Seo Eunho nodded as if listening.
“I’m having bad thoughts.”
But at the words that followed, his fingertips flinched involuntarily. Tae Shinwoo laughed quietly and put a bit more weight on his shoulder.
He didn’t know what bad thoughts meant, but whatever it was, it seemed he shouldn’t show any flustered reaction. Unless he wanted to reveal another bad thought that had just flashed through his mind.
“Your father.”
Fortunately, Tae Shinwoo didn’t try to tease Seo Eunho. In a somewhat subdued yet warm voice, Tae Shinwoo continued slowly.
“Because he left like that, I got to monopolize you.”
The meaning of these words probably referred to the meal times that had been taken away by the occasional contact. Seo Eunho understood what he meant. Certainly, Tae Shinwoo’s words had no intention of reminding him that he’d continued to be indebted to him. It was just something Seo Eunho had thoughtlessly thought of himself.
It had become a season when the tip of his nose stung, and winter break was approaching. Once even the break passed, the 9 months they’d promised at the beginning would be over.
Now even the fact that he and Tae Shinwoo had made a contract felt distant. But the fact that Seo Eunho had received money didn’t change.
Once that period ended—no, even before it ended—Seo Eunho needed to find a part-time job. He had to stop being indebted to Tae Shinwoo too.
It absolutely wasn’t that he wanted to leave this house. But even if they weren’t equal, he couldn’t keep receiving only Tae Shinwoo’s help like this.
So he needed to start working part-time again soon. He’d closed his eyes and pretended not to know because he enjoyed his time with Tae Shinwoo so much, but in fact, it might be something he needed to do before redefining their relationship.
Strictly speaking, he should also pay rent. Then should he ask Tae Shinwoo how much he wanted to receive?
Seo Eunho, who’d been thinking alone, slightly furrowed his brow. The fact that the first thing to resolve was a money problem. And that he had to ask such a pathetic-looking question.
The statement that he didn’t care how his situation looked always became meaningless in front of Tae Shinwoo. How should he say it? But it wasn’t something he could avoid mentioning either.
“Hey.”
After a long while, Seo Eunho opened his mouth.
“Yeah?”
Tae Shinwoo was still leaning his head. His nape became even more ticklish at the slightly twisting head. Seo Eunho’s Adam’s apple moved. He didn’t want to push him away at all.
“……Winter break is almost here.”
At the slowly uttered words, the head moved again. To the point where he wondered if he was deliberately moving more because he knew he was bothered by it. With Tae Shinwoo, there was definitely that possibility.
“Don’t remember?”
“What?”
“The contract period. It was 9 months.”
Seo Eunho, who’d erased his trivial thoughts, said with difficulty. Actually, his tone was indifferent, so he didn’t know if Tae Shinwoo could gauge whether it was something difficult to bring up or not.
A moment of silence flowed between them. Seo Eunho cleared his throat and parted his lips.
“It’s still far off, but still, I need to find a part-time job before the break ends. I thought I should tell you.”
It was around then that Tae Shinwoo’s head, which had been stuck to his shoulder like a magnet, fell off abruptly. The face he faced was completely crumpled and full of dissatisfaction. Seo Eunho also crumpled his face in response, then rambled as if making excuses.
“Actually, the contract itself doesn’t make sense. It’s been meaningless for a long time. It might be better to find work from now, ah!”
Well, he couldn’t finish speaking because instead of an answer, a flick to the forehead came back suddenly.
“That’s what you’re worrying about?”
The guy who hit him out of nowhere was the one frowning instead. Of course, he knew why Tae Shinwoo was acting like this. That what he was waiting for wasn’t this kind of talk. But after getting hit, Seo Eunho suddenly felt wronged.
“Then I shouldn’t worry about it?”
As revenge for his stinging forehead, Seo Eunho struck Tae Shinwoo’s shoulder. Since quite a bit of force went into it, Tae Shinwoo’s brow crumpled tightly, perhaps because it hurt quite a bit.
“Did you hit me?”
But it was only momentary. Tae Shinwoo laughed as if absurd and jumped up from his seat. Looking like he was fully intending to attack, Seo Eunho kicked toward him.
“Let go!”
Regrettably, his ankle was too easily caught by Tae Shinwoo’s hand. Strength aside, Tae Shinwoo was damn good at fighting. There was absolutely nothing he couldn’t do. It wasn’t exactly meant as a compliment.
“How does talk about the contract come up?”
Seo Eunho slid smoothly from the sofa to the floor. Thanks to supporting himself with his hands on the floor it didn’t hurt, but it was true he felt wronged at the losing fight.
“With all that fucking strength.”
“How fortunate. That I’m stronger than you.”
Tae Shinwoo’s hand that had been holding his ankle suddenly wrapped around Seo Eunho’s waist. Before he could even recognize what situation this suddenly was, his body was lifted smoothly upward. His feet that had left the floor flailed for a moment. He couldn’t even remember how long it had been since someone had lifted him up. Seo Eunho floundered in bewilderment.
“Hey, this……”
Fortunately, Seo Eunho didn’t hang in midair for very long. Because Tae Shinwoo settled back onto the sofa, giving him somewhere to put his feet too.
“Don’t move, you’re heavy.”
“Then put me down!”
Of course, it wasn’t very welcome. Seo Eunho raised his voice uncharacteristically and floundered. No wonder, since Tae Shinwoo had directly sat him on his lap. ‘On his lap,’ mind you.
The distance had even gotten much closer. At a distance too close to have between friends, Tae Shinwoo was looking straight at him. While firmly holding both his hands so he couldn’t move them.
Even if you’re strong, still. Clearly his hands were just being held, but he couldn’t budge his body at all. Ah, whatever. Whether it was because of strength or another reason. It was a confusing feeling.
“I’ve been waiting for a really long time.”
Unlike Seo Eunho who didn’t know what to do, Tae Shinwoo had a calm face. He uttered each word clearly as if injecting them into his head.
Seo Eunho bit down hard on his lower lip then lowered his gaze. He knew. He knew too. But even knowing, he felt wronged. What he ended up blurting out toward Tae Shinwoo in a sulky tone was probably because of that.
“You could just say it first.”
He was frustrated too. At himself for being utterly unable to open his lips.
But wouldn’t it be fine if Tae Shinwoo said it first? Seo Eunho had been allowing the gradually closing distance. That should have been answer enough, but Tae Shinwoo just waited. That was sometimes frustrating. He should know that approaching first was just difficult for Seo Eunho.
“I don’t want to.”
The guy had a stubborn side about really useless things. Seo Eunho glared at Tae Shinwoo. Even though eyes that could never be called gentle bore down coldly, Tae Shinwoo didn’t care at all.
“I’m going to hear it clearly from your mouth.”
Damn bastard.
He’d thought he might be thinking that, but hearing it directly made irritation rise for no reason.
But he could understand it to some extent too. Didn’t Tae Shinwoo also need certainty?
“Don’t work part-time. Don’t worry about stuff like that. Now isn’t the time for you to worry about that.”
Seo Eunho didn’t answer. His worrying was over. He just couldn’t say it. He wanted to say it right now just as it was, but Seo Eunho held back firmly. It wasn’t something he wanted to blurt out at such a pathetic-looking moment.
“Got it?”
“……”
“Hm?”
“I got it. I said I got it. Now let go.”
At the prickly tone, Tae Shinwoo grinned.
It would have been nice if it ended right there.
“That’s right, you listen well.”
The guy regrettably had no middle ground. At the tone that became gentle as if handling a child, Seo Eunho crumpled his face tightly.
“Argh!”
Soon Tae Shinwoo’s scream rang out loudly. It was because Seo Eunho had headbutted Tae Shinwoo’s forehead.
The cause was clearly Tae Shinwoo. So Seo Eunho didn’t feel much guilt about leaving another bruise on Tae Shinwoo’s forehead again.
……Probably.
