# Chapter 16
“What? So we’ve been dating for 6 years?”
At the age of 13, Lee Jaei, who was already in a long-term relationship of 6 years, knew nothing about his own love life. Of course he knew they liked each other, but since neither had explicitly said “let’s date,” he hadn’t realized they were officially in a relationship.
Doha, who had naturally considered himself to be dating Jaei as they grew up together, was equally bewildered by this situation. For the past 6 years, he had acted as Jaei’s boyfriend everywhere they went. Whenever Jaei had to eat something he didn’t like, Doha would steal it and eat it instead so Jaei wouldn’t be troubled. He never hid or held back his words of affection or feelings of jealousy.
And every night, he slept with Jaei in his arms in the same bed. Originally, Doha was the type to fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow, but since third grade, he absolutely made sure Jaei was asleep before he would allow himself to drift off. So what exactly had Lee Jaei been thinking about all the devoted actions and expressions of affection Doha had been showing all this time?
Shocked by the revelation that he had been in a one-sided relationship, Doha exhaled roughly and questioned him.
“I even remember the date. June 22nd. You confessed first, and then I confessed too that day. That’s why every year on June 22nd, I’ve given you letters and gifts.”
At Doha’s aggrieved voice about celebrating their anniversary alone every year, the silly cat searched his memory and recalled the contents of the letter he had received on June 22nd this year.
“Jaei. I’m happy to be in 6th grade with you. I want to become middle schoolers, high schoolers, and university students together with you in the future. I’ve come to like you even more than when I was in 5th grade. After you read this letter, please tell me how you feel too. Do you like me more than when you were in 5th grade? If you’ve come to like me less than in 5th grade, I’d appreciate it if you told me why. And if you’ve come to like someone else more, please be sure to tell me. Goodbye.”
After receiving that letter, Jaei had wondered, “If Doha likes me this much, why doesn’t he ask me to date him?” In any case, thanks to that letter, he had decided to confess first.
“June 22nd was the day you carried me home on your back and then passed out, right? Were we really dating since that day?”
Doha sighed deeply with his gaze fixed on empty space. Jaei, shocked by the revelation that he had been secretly dating Ryu Doha without his own knowledge, asked with a serious face on the verge of tears:
“But why don’t you kiss me?”
“Kiss…?”
Doha blinked while looking at Jaei with eyes as round as a rabbit’s. Red circles instantly appeared on both his cheeks.
“We’re dating, so why don’t you kiss me, which kept me from realizing it? I didn’t know we were dating so I held back and didn’t kiss you, but why didn’t you do it?”
“K… kiss… k… k?”
Child Ryu Doha, who had loved Jaei with agape and platonic love, was a romantic who enjoyed watching dramas, but precisely because of this, he had never thought about doing such things with Jaei. That was something adults did, and he had planned to do it in the very distant future when their bodies had fully grown.
Jaei brought his face close to Doha, who had broken down at the thought of kissing, and asked:
“Do you dislike kissing me?”
“That’s…”
Doha couldn’t continue speaking out of embarrassment and just rolled his eyes. At that moment, loud voices of friends calling “Ryu Doha!” came from the playground. It was an urgent call for him to join the soccer match. Feeling the need to organize his thoughts, Doha snatched the king-sized snack from Jaei, hugged it to his chest, and said:
“I’ll talk to you about that at home. Hurry to piano hagwon. I’m going to play soccer, bye.”
“Huh?! You’re going to play soccer right now?”
After waving to Jaei, Doha put the snack into his bag on the stand and ran to the playground. Jaei felt great anger at Doha for avoiding the situation when the topic of kissing came up. He chased after him and ran onto the playground where the kids were aggressively kicking the ball, then grabbed Doha.
“Finish talking first, then go!”
At that moment, a soccer ball that a friend had passed to Doha flew toward the back of Jaei’s head. Doha immediately covered Jaei’s head with his palm, pulled him into his arms, and turned his body. The ball that nearly hit Jaei struck Doha’s head hard instead.
“Doha! Are you okay?”
Extremely alarmed, Jaei took Doha to a secluded part of the playground, carefully cradled his head, and suddenly began showering it with kisses. He thought such actions were okay now since they were dating.
Doha, who was squirming in Jaei’s arms receiving kisses without making a single sound of pain, peeked out with his face bright red as if about to explode, and said:
“I’m fine. Go to hagwon now.”
But Jaei dramatically slapped Doha’s back and said:
“Stop pretending to be cool!”
“I’m not hurt at all. My head is sturdy too.”
Doha, who didn’t want to lose face in front of Jaei until the end, pretended to be tough. Jaei, who had been gently stroking Doha’s head, asked mischievously:
“Not hurt at all? Then should I stop kissing you too?”
After being lost in thought for two seconds, Doha suddenly made a pitiful expression like the Little Match Girl and gently rested his head on Jaei’s shoulder.
“Ah… it hurts. I’m dizzy and it’s hard to stand.”
Jaei snickered at Doha who was pretending to be pitiful, and once again pressed his lips to his crown. He wanted to kiss Doha’s pale cheeks, but because there were people watching, he only kissed his head. Doha slipped out of Jaei’s arms, took one step back, and decided to finish the conversation they hadn’t completed earlier.
“Jaei, when we get home, can I kiss you too?”
He pointed to Jaei’s cheek carefully with his finger and asked in a plain and honest manner. Finally hearing what he wanted, Jaei smiled brightly and nodded his head vigorously. Soon, Doha’s finger that had been pointing at Jaei’s cheek moved to his lips.
Jaei pounded the piano keys twice as fast as usual. Lee Jaei, who was scheduled to have his first kiss with his boyfriend of six years tonight, pressed the keys firmly while silently screaming more than ten times. During his lesson with the teacher, he performed 1.5 times faster than normal and got his cheek pinched hard. After finishing the lesson perfunctorily, he rushed home.
Arriving home before Doha, Jaei washed himself thoroughly and combed his hair until the comb slid through, preparing himself mentally and physically. Afterward, he put on a pretty hoodie, climbed onto the bed, and waited for Doha to return.
He touched his lips, which Doha had slightly grazed with his finger earlier on the playground, and giggled. He sat a large teddy bear that closely resembled Doha on the bed facing him and practiced kissing, “mwah.” After kissing about five times, he screamed “kyak!” and happily pounded the bear’s head with his fist.
“Oh my! I kissed Doha five times!”
While Jaei was hugging the teddy bear and rolling around on the bed, Doha returned home. Entering the room and putting down his bag, Doha waved at Jaei as if nothing had happened and headed straight for the bathroom. Jaei jumped up from the bed and followed him like a puppy. Then he knocked on the bathroom door with his fist and urged Doha.
“Doha~ Doha. Come out quickly.”
“Okay! I’ll be right out.”
Doha, who had hurriedly washed and brushed his teeth, came out of the bathroom while drying his wet hair with a towel. Thinking that Doha had finished preparing for the kiss, Jaei shyly clasped his hands near his chest, closed his eyes, puckered his lips, and waited. However, Doha pretended not to see this and spoke kindly.
“I’m all washed up. Your turn.”
“Huh?”
Jaei opened his eyes and tilted his head in confusion. Doha replied nonchalantly, as if he had completely forgotten his earlier declaration to kiss at home.
“Weren’t you telling me to come out quickly because you wanted to go in?”
And then he headed calmly toward the room. Instantly dejected by Doha’s attitude, Jaei pouted his lips and followed behind him again.
“Doha, Doha.”
“Yes, yes, Jaei.”
Jaei firmly locked the door and approached Doha, who was carefully applying moisturizer to his face. If Doha was going to back out like this, he thought he would take the initiative and press his lips against Doha’s. After wiping the moisture from Doha’s hair with the towel on his head, Jaei stared at Doha’s lips and continued to open and close his own like a small fish.
Doha glanced at Jaei with an indifferent expression, then suddenly turned his head and briefly pressed his lips against Jaei’s. Caught off guard by the unexpected kiss, Jaei let out a small “kyak!” and covered his lips with his fists. While Jaei was hopping around, Doha tried his best to hide his embarrassment and act cool.
He started drying his hair with a blow dryer as if nothing had happened, but he couldn’t hide the red circles stamped on his pale cheeks. Jaei, who had been jumping around and making a fuss beside him, soon took the blow dryer from Doha’s hand, put it down, and grabbed both his wrists to make him face himself. After making eye contact, he slowly placed his lips against Doha’s. Afterward, he kissed each of Doha’s red-circled cheeks in turn.
Doha, who had been acting hard to appear cool, soon couldn’t hold back his feelings of embarrassment and joy, and exhaled a rising breath, “hoo.” Jaei gently stroked Doha’s fine hair and said to his young lover of the same age:
“Doha. Stay by my side when we grow up too. I might be high-maintenance and annoying, but please keep liking me. But actually, it doesn’t matter. Even if you stop liking me, I’m going to keep following you around anyway.”
