The rain had already stopped so it was quiet outside, but occasionally cow sounds could be heard. Yoonjo rolled his eyes here and there thinking he should say something, then muttered.
“If you’re grateful… please definitely teach me how to drive.”
The grumbling was quite cute. Seonwoo unconsciously swept across Yoonjo’s eyes, then withdrew his hand at the sight of him flinching and trembling.
No matter how he looked at it, he was a civilian, a country youth who would have no connection with this side of things. He knew well enough that he shouldn’t carelessly touch him.
Even though he wasn’t doing acting work, Seonwoo was a celebrity. Moreover, he was an actor who would have hundreds of cameras following him the moment he made a comeback.
If even one gap appeared, scandals would stick to him like a swarm of bees and it would be natural for them to evaluate even Seonwoo’s breathing. If it was appropriate interest, he should stop right here.
But why does he keep….
Could it be that he covets the clearness without a single shadow? The greed that crushed his rational thought that he shouldn’t kept crawling up.
***
“My word…. Is Yoonjo trying to become a farmer now, doing that?”
The muttering village elder’s words didn’t even reach Yoonjo’s ears. That was because Yoonjo was picking blueberries more accurately and quickly than ever before. Usually when moving that quickly, it was common to pick ones with no commercial value or burst the ones that were too ripe and soft. But right now Yoonjo was more careful than anyone in the world.
‘I need to finish work quickly. As fast as possible!’
He had to finish all the work at once so he wouldn’t have to do evening work. Seonwoo’s words that he could teach him to drive since the insurance processing was done spun round and round in his head.
Yoonjo widened his eyes as he put plump blueberries into the basket. Because he was concentrating, deep furrows formed between his eyebrows and his lips protruded. He even looked like an ugly pufferfish, so one man who was harvesting blueberries on the opposite line muttered.
“Ugly thing.”
It was a faint sound, barely audible, but Yoonjo raised his head sharply and glared at the man.
“You’re uglier, mister!”
“My word. Can’t even think straight!”
Without even retorting, Yoonjo focused on picking blueberries again. Still, he steadily received confessions until high school and had something like fresh dates. Even if the dates were just eating ice cream while pushing swings on the playground, or taking the bus to town, going around once and coming back.
It wasn’t any different when he came to university. However, since he was too busy just getting by to do something like dating, he was busy rejecting all advances. Sometimes when he was studying in the library, things like chocolate or drinks would be placed there and he was busy eating them without thinking, but after learning the reason later, he didn’t even touch them.
There’s delicious food right in front of me but I can’t eat it. It was no different from torture, but when he couldn’t accept the other person’s feelings, it was too shameless to just pick out the good parts.
“I’m not ugly at all….”
Muttering as he tried to grab a blueberry with large berries in his hand, Yoonjo suddenly thought of Seonwoo. He was a man who had nothing to do with the blue color of blueberries, yet he thought of him for no reason. Yoonjo, who had been quietly looking at the well-ripened fruit, picked the blueberry and popped it into his mouth. When he chewed, the sweet taste filled his mouth.
“Hyung would like it if I gave him some….”
After that too, every time he saw a large-berried blueberry, Seonwoo’s bright smile passed before his eyes. In the end, while harvesting all morning, Yoonjo only thought of Seonwoo. It must be because blueberries are round. Yoonjo, who attributed it to Seonwoo’s face that seemed smaller than his palm, only dusted off his hands and left the field after harvesting twice as much as usual.
Yoonjo, who returned straight home, hurriedly washed up and came out with a wide-brimmed straw hat. As usual, Yoonjo was about to go to the next house to call Seonwoo when he saw a car approaching from not far away and stepped aside a bit. But the car just stopped right next to Yoonjo. The passenger side window rolled down and a familiar voice was heard.
“Get in.”
It was Seonwoo. Yoonjo bent down and stared blankly at Seonwoo in the driver’s seat. Unlike usual, he was dressed in a neat white shirt and even wore sunglasses stylishly. The shirt sleeves neatly rolled up below his elbows and his firm hands gripping the steering wheel particularly caught his eye. He looked quite different from the comfortable attire he usually saw.
“Woow….”
An exclamation came out naturally. As expected, a celebrity must be a celebrity. Yoonjo took off his straw hat and wriggled into the passenger seat, placing a small container of blueberries on his lap. He tried to fasten his seatbelt while holding the straw hat in one hand, but it wouldn’t pull well. As he tried to pull it with force several times, Seonwoo’s fingers dug under Yoonjo’s palm.
Before he knew it, he had come close and was leaning toward Yoonjo. When Seonwoo’s straight profile came into view, Yoonjo unconsciously held his breath. He felt unnecessarily embarrassed in case his breath might reach him. Seonwoo pulled the seatbelt smoothly and moved away, and at the same time there was a click as it locked.
“Put the hat in the back. Do you have sunglasses?”
“What? Yes. No?”
“Yoonjo-ya. Do you have them or not?”
Yoonjo, who had been stupidly watching Seonwoo ask step by step and start the car, hurriedly put the straw hat in the back seat and wiggled his fingers.
“I put the hat in the back and I don’t have sunglasses.”
“Open the glove box in front there.”
When he did as Seonwoo said, there was a black glasses case inside. When Yoonjo asked with his eyes what it was, Seonwoo only said to just open it.
“Sunglasses?”
“Try them on. I’m not sure if they’ll fit well.”
Seonwoo, who replied as if muttering, turned the steering wheel. The direction changed smoothly and the car that entered the straight road began to move refreshingly. Yoonjo looked at the black angular sunglasses hesitantly before slyly trying them on. Yoonjo, who was moving here and there to look in the mirror, carefully examined his reflection in the front windshield. Seonwoo glanced and muttered as if passing by.
“They suit you well.”
“But why sunglasses?”
“Eyes can get sunburned too, so you have to be careful.”
Yoonjo, who had been turning his head here and there while holding the sunglasses temples with both hands, paused momentarily at Seonwoo’s graceful words. Then he burst into laughter like spring sprouts popping.
“Hyung, you really have good manners. Wow, but how is it possible you’ve never had a scandal all this time? Even I, a guy, almost got excited like this.”
“There’s one thing you’re mistaken about….”
Along with the subtly felt vibration of the engine, Seonwoo’s gentle voice harmonized together. Yoonjo turned his head while holding onto the sunglasses. He looked like someone who had never worn sunglasses before.
Are all twenty-year-olds these days this cute? While thinking that and glancing at Yoonjo, Seonwoo opened his mouth.
“If I did that to just anyone, I would have scandals trailing after me. Like the Pied Piper.”
At those words, Yoonjo recalled his first impression of Seonwoo. The second time too, the third time too. Combining the memories that came out linked like sausages here and there, he reached one conclusion.
That hyung was really shy with strangers, really.
Occasionally Yoonjo thought of Seonwoo as a shy Seoul mister. It wasn’t exactly wrong either. Western features. When he kept his mouth closed, Seonwoo with his cool and urban impression made anyone think first that he was snobbish.
Upon reaching his conclusion, Yoonjo grinned widely enough to show his teeth. It was a smile resembling the always-seen bright sunny days.
“Then I guess I’m not just anyone now. I want to brag but it’s so disappointing I have nowhere to do it. Ah! That’s not to say I’m going around spreading rumors everywhere. But you know how it is, right? That feeling of wanting a bamboo forest because your heart feels stuffy?”
“Do it, brag.”
Yoonjo opened his eyes wide and stared blankly at Seonwoo, wondering what he just heard. To brag? Is he saying it’s okay to plaster SNS with Ki Seonwoo’s name? Is he in his right mind?
Unaware of Yoonjo’s thoughts, Seonwoo continued speaking while firmly looking at the front windshield with a painted smile.
“Here. If you do it in front of me, it’s fine, right? The bamboo forest, make it me.”
Yoonjo, who had been opening and closing his mouth while looking at Seonwoo’s handsome face, slightly lowered his head and rolled his eyes. A sight like a flounder that came up from some deep sea briefly caught Seonwoo’s gaze.
“How can you tell me to brag in front of you? Hyung, your self-consciousness is really…. Wow, amazing.”
At the grumbling words, Seonwoo shrugged his shoulders as if asking what the problem was. At that sight, Yoonjo kept chattering about something. Then Yoonjo, who fumbled and took out the small container he had placed on his lap, picked up one plump blueberry.
“Try eating this. I harvested it this morning and it’s sweet and delicious.”
When Yoonjo brought the blueberry to his mouth, Seonwoo hesitated before opening his mouth. When his hand briefly touched Seonwoo’s soft lips, Yoonjo was briefly startled but soon nonchalantly busily transported blueberries to Seonwoo’s mouth.
Watching Seonwoo chewing, Yoonjo smiled contentedly. He was a person who didn’t eat well, but seeing him eat fruit faithfully whenever given made him feel good.
“It’s delicious, right? Sweet, right?”
“Mm.”
Even though it was a flat remark, somehow it seemed to express that he liked it. Yoonjo silently put blueberries in Seonwoo’s mouth. While thinking he felt like a mother bird caring for a baby bird.
“Hyung, do you like wild grapes or blueberries?”
Yoonjo’s preference was wild grapes, but most people preferred blueberries. Because they were convenient to eat without seeds and in terms of sugar content, blueberries were higher. Yoonjo waited for Seonwoo’s answer while diligently transferring blueberries.
“Mm…. I think I prefer wild grapes more. They’re not too sweet… and the freshness gives a natural feeling.”
“Right! Wow, Seoul people don’t know this. When I say I ate wild grapes and hardy kiwis, everyone treats me like a country bumpkin…. When they’ll never know how freaking delicious they are….”
Yoonjo, who put another blueberry in Seonwoo’s mouth, also picked one and ate it himself. Yoonjo, who chewed and wiggled his feet, thought wild grapes were more delicious after all as he moved his hands.
