“When did you two become so close? Especially you, Shin Yumyeong. At the beginning of the semester, you were dying to bully the transfer student and couldn’t wait to eat him alive.”
“When did I ever?”
Yumyeong grumbled as he opened the door.
“Where else would you find a friend who takes care of a transfer student as well as I do… Right, Hakyoung?”
Hakyoung just nodded without any particular response. The dorm supervisor narrowed his eyes, suspicious that even this might be Yumyeong’s manipulation.
“Look at this. You’ve scattered all your stuff in room 10. It seems you don’t even go into room 3 anymore?”
The supervisor said that after alternately looking around both rooms. Yumyeong clasped his hands behind his back, cleared his throat, and looked into the distance. Just as the supervisor said, led by his pillow and blanket, his toothbrush, towel, charger, several pieces of clothing, and so on… all his belongings were messily scattered here and there around Hakyoung’s room. It seemed like only his traces were a blemish in Hakyoung’s room, which was always kept clean. On the other hand, his own room was neglected with only a thin layer of dust accumulated.
The supervisor patted Hakyoung’s shoulder and said.
“Ryu Hakyoung. Don’t just go along with everything, and if you don’t like it, assert yourself too. Got it? If you yield everything just because you’re friends, it’s useless.”
“Yes… I understand.”
Hakyoung just calmly nodded without expression. Right after the supervisor left the third floor, Yumyeong grumbled as he headed back to room 10.
“Yielding, my ass. I’m the one doing that. Aren’t I?”
Hakyoung, who had waited for Yumyeong to enter before belatedly closing the door, raised his head while making eye contact. Yumyeong shamelessly lay down on Hakyoung’s bed first.
“Yesterday too, when there was thunder and lightning, I slept with you. Honestly, you couldn’t have slept without me.”
“Right.”
He liked the attitude of agreeing without any particular rebuttal. Hakyoung even went one step further.
“Without you, I would have cried while sleeping alone.”
Haha! While bursting into pleasant laughter, Hakyoung headed to the bathroom.
“I’ll wash up and come back.”
The door clicked shut. Soon after, the sound of flowing water—*swoosh*—could be heard.
Hakyoung takes a long time washing up. Unlike guys who finish in 5 minutes from washing their hair to showering with just one shampoo, he could be said to be very meticulous. Perhaps because of that, his bedding always smelled good. The clean pillowcase was the same.
Rubbing his cheek against it, Yumyeong fell deep into thought.
After getting into the habit once, they’d been sleeping together every night. If he really thought about it, it was strange, but honestly, there was no sense of rejection at all.
Moreover, although he’d blamed it on Hakyoung, in truth, he was the one reaping the benefits. Since sleeping next to him who claimed to have strong energy, he hadn’t once experienced sleep paralysis. Thanks to that, he slept soundly every night. Originally, he often couldn’t sleep well at night and couldn’t wake up refreshed in one go every morning.
What’s more, unlike other guys, Hakyoung had a mild personality, so he didn’t say anything about clinging to him while sleeping. In fact, Yumyeong had a habit of hugging people while sleeping if someone was beside him. Not only Hanju, but friends who had occupied the spot next to Yumyeong on school trips, retreats, or camps until now detested him for clinging too much and would constantly push him away. There were even guys who occasionally kicked him away, so Hakyoung’s reaction was quite excellent.
‘Should I buy a big doll when break ends?’
Yumyeong chuckled. No matter how big a doll is, it can’t compare to a person’s body heat.
The reason all of this felt natural was because Hakyoung’s attitude was very plain. When was it that he said he’d become conscious if touched, but after stroking his stiff neck ‘like stroking a radish’ that time, maybe his interest had completely cooled.
To bring it up now, in truth, his pride had been hurt back then.
‘You really weren’t excited even a little? It’s not like I’m extremely ugly… Since I offered it anyway (?), if you’d liked it a bit, I would have felt rewarded and good too.’
Yumyeong clicked his tongue. It was a psychology even he couldn’t understand, but anyway, it was true that he felt disappointed. Maybe he’d simply wanted to see Hakyoung troubled…
One thing for certain was that through that incident, he’d truly realized he wasn’t Hakyoung’s type.
“Tch.”
It was when he was feeling needlessly offended. The door clicked open again.
As steam spread, Hakyoung, with his hair dampened, came out from inside. With a towel around his neck, he looked in the mirror and carefully applied something. Unlike himself who finished with just lotion, he had many steps.
It was a fact he’d learned from sleeping together every night, but Hakyoung put a lot of effort into taking care of his face. He’d thought he wouldn’t be interested in that sort of thing since he had such natural beauty, but it was unexpected.
“Apply it moderately. How much prettier are you trying to get?”
“Am I pretty?”
“Hm?”
“I’m asking if you think I’m pretty.”
“If you can’t acknowledge how you look, that’s an inferiority complex.”
When he spoke honestly, Hakyoung just stared this way. Then he muttered quietly.
“I’m worried. It doesn’t seem to work on the person I like.”
“Really…?”
Then he turned his head sharply again and looked in the mirror, starting to finish grooming himself. He could just dry his hair any way, but he styled it, parting it prettily.
After lingering in front of the mirror for quite a while like that, Hakyoung finally turned off the light and approached. At the same time, Yumyeong reached out and turned on the small lamp as he always did before sleeping.
When Hakyoung came beside him and flopped down, a nice fragrance suddenly brushed past his nose.
Another reason he didn’t dislike clinging to him every night was precisely this. No matter how bothersome or tired he was, Hakyoung never climbed into bed covered in sweat.
Yumyeong suddenly gazed quietly at Hakyoung’s profile. His face, which the vermillion-tinged lamplight flowed over, was much more three-dimensional thanks to the lighting. He was just looking at his phone screen, but the eyes reflecting that light sparkled so much it was like watching a mise-en-scène that a film director had carefully created.
Without thinking, he raised his hand and partially covered Hakyoung’s face. When he covered those pretty eyes, the bridge of his nose and jawline stood out, making his masculinity stronger. When he lowered his hand again and revealed the eyes, this time a surprisingly beautiful person appeared. Yumyeong unknowingly frowned.
He resembles someone.
Who exactly…
“What are you doing?”
Perhaps feeling his hand moving back and forth, Hakyoung looked this way.
“Stay still.”
Yumyeong reached out and pushed back Hakyoung’s bangs. When his forehead was revealed, the prominent brow bone made him feel more manly.
“Not good.”
When he messily tousled the bangs again with his fingertips, Hakyoung frowned.
“What. You look at someone’s face and say ‘not good.'”
His lips were sticking out, and his slightly wet hair became disheveled like a puppy with fur sticking out, making his face look funny. Yumyeong answered with a soft laugh.
“You look like someone…”
“Hm?”
“You look like a celebrity. Ah, what was that person’s name…”
At those words, Hakyoung’s eyes grew round and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down greatly once.
“But I can’t remember the name. I don’t know.”
“A celebrity, who?”
“Ah, I don’t know.”
“Think carefully.”
“Think about what… I got it. You secretly want to be praised, don’t you?”
“What?”
“Because I said you look like a celebrity, you’re happy.”
“Forget it. Let’s not talk.”
Hakyoung suddenly sulked and turned to show his back. His broad, right-angled shoulders, contrasting with his pretty face, rose sharply like a wall. That imbalance was both funny and cute, so Yumyeong giggled and clung to his shoulder.
“No. I’ve never seen a celebrity prettier than you.”
“…”
“It’s true. Originally, I think everyone handsome or pretty looks like a celebrity. But seeing how I can’t find a celebrity you resemble, you must be the prettiest.”
When he poured out compliments into the cute guy’s ear who sulked quite well, Hakyoung finally looked back this way while rolling his eyes.
“Really…?”
“Yeah.”
“You’ve never said that before.”
“No, from when you first transferred, I acknowledged your face. If you were a girl…”
By now, he might have asked to date.
Having thought that carelessly, Yumyeong closed his mouth.
He could have playfully blurted out the words that flashed through his mind momentarily, but somehow he felt he shouldn’t let them out.
“Mm, never mind.”
Having finished speaking anticlimactically, Yumyeong soon pulled away from Hakyoung. But Hakyoung’s gaze clung to him and wouldn’t fall away. As soon as their eyes met, Hakyoung asked.
“If I were a girl?”
Three syllables pressed down with something.
“Huh?”
“If I had been a girl…”
“……”
“Never mind.”
His deflated voice soon finished anticlimactically. Before Yumyeong could read the ambiguous emotion filling Hakyoung’s voice.
Like that, quiet silence hung around again as if nothing had happened. However, the air wasn’t the same as before. Yumyeong thought about the words Hakyoung had started to say but didn’t. Also, about the words he himself had started to say but didn’t.
I suppose so, since they’re words that have no meaning even if said.
Unable to stand the awkwardness, Yumyeong closed his eyes and pretended to sleep first. Then, as if to receive confirmation that nothing had changed from a moment ago, he squirmed and leaned his forehead against Hakyoung’s shoulder.
Hakyoung didn’t avoid it and carefully tilted his shoulder. That silent consideration felt deeply comfortable.
***
Even after that, neither of them ever brought up the same topic again.
‘What were you trying to say then?’
Somehow, it felt difficult to ask that one question again.
Of course, it wasn’t strange. Just as many frivolous jokes between them had simply passed by, the words from that day had flowed away too. So it would be fine to cover it up like that, but strangely for a while, the awkwardness of that moment kept floating around in his head. Also, Hakyoung’s eyes under the vermillion light, which had been looking directly at him.
The fact that he kept making the assumption of “if Hakyoung were a girl” probably wasn’t just because he was silly. Because it was a face pretty enough to be a waste to be attached to a male body.
The problem was whether he could have become this close with Hakyoung if she were a female student. Cowering in front of a frighteningly pretty girl was universal across all countries, so he too would definitely have only done foolish things.
