“I know! You confessed.”
“But why do you keep trying to look at my face!”
“Of course I want to see it! Someone says they like me, so can’t I look at their face a bit?”
“Don’t look. I don’t want you to. I feel like an idiot.”
“Come on, let me see.”
After a tremendous struggle of strength, Yumyeong succeeded in grabbing Hakyoung’s shoulders with cruel force and flipping his body over.
“Urk, let go!”
“Come on, just!”
Hakyoung, who had covered his mouth with his wrist, was red not just in the ears but all the way to his neck. With the pulled part of his t-shirt stretched out, goosebumps ran down Yumyeong’s spine when he met those flustered eyes.
They were truly eyes that didn’t know what to do because he liked him.
An unknowing smile spread across Yumyeong’s lips. Who knew receiving someone’s affectionate gaze could feel this good?
“How did it come to this?”
“I can’t explain it in words.”
“Since when did you like me? Hm?”
“……I didn’t want to be like this either. At first, I definitely…… disliked you……”
Hakyoung’s voice, as if about to cry, was pleasant to hear. Yumyeong lowered his head over Hakyoung’s chest.
“Kekeke……”
As he leaned his forehead there and giggled, he felt the presence of Hakyoung raising his head.
“Why are you laughing?!”
“Ke…… hahaha!”
“I said why are you laughing!”
Hakyoung sat up abruptly with a flustered face and grabbed the collar of Yumyeong, who was now laughing outright, and shook him. He liked the anxious attitude, so unlike his usually calm and serious self. Moreover, seeing him embarrassed after confessing made his heart swell. Enough that he wouldn’t mind becoming gay like this!
Lying down and laughing until he was out of breath, Yumyeong suddenly felt the impulse to say exactly what he was feeling right now. There seemed to be no reason not to. All the more so with that face fluctuating so much at his every word right before his eyes.
I think I like you too.
If he said that, how would Hakyoung’s face change again?
Yumyeong caressed the back of Hakyoung’s hand that was tightly gripping his t-shirt around the nape. The eyes of the guy looking down at him from above were fiercely focused. His mouth somehow felt dry, so he moistened his lips slightly and opened his mouth.
“Hakyoung.”
“……”
“You…… seem to be on my side.”
He didn’t know how that came out first.
He’d definitely meant to say I like you too. But what popped out of his mouth without preparation was that.
Soon realizing his own unconscious, Yumyeong smiled alone. He’d wanted to date from before. Even if the whole world turned its back on him, he wanted to experience having a relationship with someone who would be on his side, just one person.
It seemed he’d unknowingly come to rely on Hakyoung that much. Realizing that made his heart swell.
It was words with more meaning to him than saying he liked him, but it seemed Hakyoung hadn’t understood yet.
His waterlogged pupils shook bit by bit as they scanned Yumyeong’s face. He seemed confused because the words he’d just heard weren’t properly registered. Even thinking that lost face was pretty, Yumyeong opened his mouth again.
“I like you too.”
“……”
“Really, I really like you. Ah!”
Just as he thought something was covering his entire field of vision, Hakyoung pulled him into an embrace with tremendous force. Yumyeong, dumbfounded, hugged Hakyoung back. The warm cheek touching his shoulder, the heavier-than-expected weight of his partner, the fierce heartbeat felt against the chest touching his entire body as they embraced.
All of it was so lovable that Yumyeong closed his eyes softly with a smile.
“Why do you like me?”
Then Hakyoung suddenly whispered.
“Huh?”
“How did you come to like me?”
He almost burst out laughing because of the guy asking back the same thing he’d asked earlier. But since Hakyoung seemed serious, Yumyeong suppressed his laughter and answered.
“I’m not sure? And you’re the one who seduced me.”
“Do you fall for anyone who seduces you?”
“I don’t, you know?”
“I can’t believe it……”
Just as Yumyeong was about to snap back at Hakyoung for doubting his sincerity again, he felt an unusual warmth on his shoulder. His shoulder seemed to have gotten damp somehow.
Is this guy crying?
At that moment, Hakyoung sniffled quietly. The moment he realized ‘he’s really crying,’ instead of forcibly looking at that face, Yumyeong slowly patted Hakyoung’s shoulder.
“Don’t look at my face. I feel like an idiot.”
“Okay, I won’t look.”
A little later, having calmed down somewhat, Hakyoung asked again.
“Why do you like me?”
Again!
The obsession was both cute and funny. Since he seemed like he’d cry again if he responded jokingly, Yumyeong answered seriously.
“Yeah, well first your face is my type……”
“And?”
“You’re kind and prudent……”
“And then?”
“Ah, why do you keep asking?”
“Because I can’t believe it.”
While saying that, Hakyoung raised his head again. Propping up both sides of his head with his arms, he looked down at him with those characteristically prudent and deep eyes. Feeling ticklish wherever their gazes touched, Yumyeong tossed out words.
“I’m the one who can’t believe it. Are you, by any chance, that? Someone who falls in love quickly?”
“What?”
Hakyoung responded as if absurd. Yumyeong scratched here and there where it tickled and hesitantly answered.
“Originally…… you liked someone else, right? Isn’t this because we stuck together a bit during break……”
“No.”
The answer was firm. When he stared up at him, he said it strongly once more.
“I’m absolutely not someone who falls in love quickly.”
“Ah, okay.”
“Really…… there’s even proof.”
“Proof? What proof?”
At the unexpected words, Yumyeong’s eyebrows shot up. He doubted whether one could physically prove the fact of having liked someone.
“Where’s the proof? Show me.”
Then Hakyoung lowered his eyes with a somehow embarrassed air. At that face full of shyness, curiosity naturally arose.
“Then tomorrow…… go on a date with me.”
“Eh?”
“Why? Don’t want to?”
“It’s not that.”
They’d always stuck together, so calling it a date out of the blue felt awkward. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, so Yumyeong shook his head vigorously. Seeing that, Hakyoung chuckled.
“There’s something I want to show you. Let’s go to my house.”
“Huh? Right…… was it Yeonhui-dong?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Show me around your house.”
“Alright.”
Having gotten permission, Hakyoung withdrew with a proud face. Then he flopped down next to Yumyeong. As soon as he lay down, he let out a long sigh, so when he glanced to the side, Hakyoung was pressing firmly on his left chest.
“I’m nervous, so my heart hurts.”
“Kheuk……”
Since he almost let out snot along with his laughter, Yumyeong wiped his nose with the back of his hand. Not wanting to be caught looking uncool, when he turned his head with a “Ahem,” Hakyoung, who’d misunderstood in a strange direction, kept asking if he was crying. Even when he denied it, he didn’t believe him, so he had to threaten him with a “Shh” sound.
A little later, Yumyeong squirmed and sought Hakyoung’s hand.
“Hey, let’s hold hands and sleep.”
“Okay.”
Yumyeong smiled broadly. Hakyoung answers everything with “okay.”
Really on my side.
Yumyeong interlaced Hakyoung’s hand between his fingers and gripped it tightly.
Until now, he’d begged for affection and trust even from his family. Not knowing what kind of person he really was, he’d tried to become the son they wanted.
But Hakyoung was different.
He’d witnessed his very bottom, and though he once felt disgust, now he says he’s come to like him.
That heart was so precious.
Love. That word was still heavy, but this one thing was certain. In front of Hakyoung, there was no need to pretend to be unlike himself. That fact brought a strangely deep sense of stability.
Hakyoung, I won’t cling to those who don’t want me anymore.
Breaking free from all this pressure, when we someday become adults…….
***
The next morning, the first to open his eyes was Hakyoung.
Hazy at the boundary between sleep and reality, he thought about why he’d woken from sleep in that brief moment. There were no bird sounds here announcing morning, nor were there wake-up alarms coming through speakers.
Right after that, a very clear doorbell sound rang once more.
Realizing the identity of the sound that woke him, Hakyoung got up and washed his face dry. Next to him, Yumyeong, curled up like a shrimp, was sleeping leaning against him.
“Yumyeong, wake up.”
“Mmm……”
“Someone seems to be here.”
When he carefully shook Yumyeong’s shoulder, he burrowed into the blanket as if annoyed. Hakyoung, with a smile all over his face, lightly brushed his lips against Yumyeong’s temple that was exposed outside the blanket.
Then the doorbell rang once more. Curious about who had come to the empty house, Hakyoung got up. On the intercom screen he glanced at, the silhouette of a small figure was visible.
“Who is it?”
―……Yumyeong is inside, right?
Since it seemed to be someone who knew Yumyeong, Hakyoung opened the door without suspicion.
And the moment he came face to face with the person outside the door, he unknowingly opened his eyes wide. The visitor was none other than Yumyeong’s mother.
Hakyoung bowed his head politely with a slightly tense face.
“Mother, hello.”
Since she was someone he’d seen frequently while coming and going to the Jangchung-dong mansion since childhood, he could recognize her immediately. Though time’s traces had settled a bit on her face, the middle-aged woman was still dignified.
Both glad and curious whether she remembered him, just as he examined her face.
She entered the entryway without making eye contact with Hakyoung even once and without greeting. He wanted to think it was a mistake, but for behavior shown to her son’s friend, it was an excessively cold attitude.
Moreover, strangely, she didn’t move even one step from there. Standing in the entryway as she was, she called for Yumyeong.
“Yumyeong, wake up. Yumyeong.”
“Mm…… huh, Mom?”
“Get up quickly. Let’s talk with Mom for a bit.”
“Talk?”
“Yeah, anywhere is fine, so let’s go out for a moment……”
“About what? Can’t we just do it here?”
Even Yumyeong, just awakened from sleep, looked bewildered. His face seemed unable to distinguish whether his mother’s sudden visit was a dream or reality. As he yawned widely, his mother turned her head back and looked at Hakyoung.
Hakyoung wasn’t the tactless type. Sensing what that gaze was saying, he opened his mouth quietly.
“I…… I’ll go out. Have your conversation here.”
After Hakyoung left like that.
Yumyeong’s mother walked carefully along the wall and found a small device hidden in the corner of the house. Then she unwrapped the scarf around her neck and covered it.
The moment he realized what it was, Yumyeong’s eyes widened.
It was none other than a small home camera.
