“…Think whatever you want.”
At Seonwoo’s words, Yoonjo put his arms around his shoulders. Then, burying his face in Seonwoo’s nape, he fully felt the swaying sensation. To be more precise, Ki Seonwoo’s body scent brushing past the tip of his nose, his breath flying to and sticking to his ear.
Yoonjo, who had been hanging on quietly for a while, suddenly felt something was strange. As far as Yoonjo knew, there was no such large bridge near his house.
“But where is this?”
“Yeosu.”
Yoonjo, who paused at the word Yeosu, soon let out a short “ah” as if understanding.
It seemed that the bridge they’d been saying they were building for several years had already been completed. But even so, Yeosu. The sudden change of location didn’t make sense at all. As if noticing Yoonjo’s thoughts, Seonwoo readily gave an answer.
“If I had to attach a reason… it’s recuperation, and… we came to see the night sea.”
“Are you going to keep saying recuperation, recuperation? You don’t really want to be recuperated, do you?”
When Yoonjo clenched his fist firmly, Seonwoo subtly turned his gaze toward the distant sea and added a word.
“The scenery is really nice.”
Seonwoo knew the destructive power that fist held. So he had to quickly change the subject. Fortunately, his attempt succeeded. Though it was bigger that Yoonjo knowingly went along with it, either way.
Yoonjo’s eyes moved this way and that to chase the dazzling machine sounds and rapidly moving screen. Each time the car on the screen made a sharp curve, Yoonjo’s body leaned to the side. When it curved in another direction again, Yoonjo leaned the opposite way.
It was closer to instinctive action rather than conscious. Yoonjo put strength into the hand holding the game controller and pressed the button. But on the screen, only the phrase RETIRE! was cheerfully floating.
“Ah…. I lost again….”
No matter what game he played, he couldn’t win even once. From light arcade games to kart games like this. All were Yoonjo’s defeats.
The place Yoonjo was in now was a pension. Inside the pension where he’d arrived in Seonwoo’s arms, there was a game console connected to a large TV, and as if prepared in advance, there was also a soft chair. From then on, Seonwoo suddenly said let’s play and had been defeating Yoonjo with various games until now.
He’d lost so many times now that it seemed remembering the number of defeats wouldn’t be good for brain health. Yoonjo, who lay sprawled in place, immediately turned his body to the side and looked at Seonwoo.
“Why can’t hyung do anything wrong?”
“I’m surprised you even know this game.”
Seonwoo lightly stroked Yoonjo’s hair lying down *seuk seuk*. As his fingertips swept through the hair, he strangely became languid. Yoonjo, who had been quietly feeling his touch, hesitated and then sat up abruptly.
“Beep! That’s not allowed!”
Yoonjo, who removed Seonwoo’s hand and put it down well on the floor, ruffled his hair haphazardly. Then he frowned hard and made an angry-looking expression.
“You can’t just touch me carelessly like this.”
“…Then you can hug me and sleep at night?”
“Well, that’s okay because I like you, hyung, but you can’t. You said you don’t like me.”
“I never said I didn’t like you.”
“Saying do whatever you want or saying you don’t like me is all the same thing.”
After finishing speaking, Yoonjo, who was rolling his eyes *seuk seuk* as if thinking about something, made a flower holder under his face and smiled brightly.
“I’m so pretty you want to stroke my head, so how about saying you like me even now?”
Perhaps because of the lighting, his black eyes looked exceptionally sparkly. Seonwoo pressed and pushed Yoonjo’s nose tip firmly and replied.
“No.”
“You’re going to say it’s a misunderstanding again, right? That doesn’t work. I’m completely certain.”
“Then let’s say it’s because of age.”
“Wow…. You’re someone who’ll say it’s because of age even when I’m a hundred years old.”
“You caught me.”
Looking at Seonwoo raising both hands as if surrendering in a calm tone, Yoonjo’s eyes narrowed slightly. It was because he thought he shouldn’t let it pass like this. Right here like this! One hit! With that thought, Yoonjo reached out.
“This hyung won’t do. I’m going to charge for stroking my head however you wanted, starting now.”
“Can that be converted to a price….”
*Chok-.*
Yoonjo, who grabbed Seonwoo’s fingertips and kissed them, grinned. Because of the smile, the corners of his eyes also naturally curved. When they just got out of the car earlier, the tips of his eyes were dyed red from the wind, but now, as if that never happened, they were well-ripened wheat color.
“Let’s do it with this.”
He confidently raised his eyes thinking he’d be flustered, but unexpectedly Seonwoo’s expression didn’t change at all. He just pushed Yoonjo, who had come close, away with his fingertips again and said.
“Then from now on, I’ll have to pay the price every time I stroke Yoonjo’s head.”
“No! From now on, I’ll receive payment every time you touch me.”
Yoonjo, who spoke boldly, grabbed Seonwoo’s hand and stuck and removed it like stickers on his cheek, neck, shoulder, and waist *cheok cheok*. Finally, Yoonjo, who held it tightly as if shaking hands, said confidently.
“You have to pay for all of this.”
His eyes looking at Seonwoo were extremely intense. Yoonjo clenched his opposite fist tightly and subtly raised it threateningly. At the momentum as if he’d force the sale, Seonwoo readily answered.
“Right. I should pay for this. Life has become a bit too precious to die now.”
As soon as the words ended, Seonwoo approached Yoonjo. Yoonjo unconsciously tightly shut his eyes at Seonwoo’s face gradually approaching. He even stopped breathing, worried his nose breath might burst out strangely. Seonwoo finally came to the tip of his nose.
Yoonjo, who swallowed his saliva with a gulp, very carefully pushed his lips out slightly. Will they touch or not? Perhaps because his eyes were closed, he couldn’t properly feel the distance. Thinking he should try pushing them out a bit more, Yoonjo pushed his lips out firmly.
“……?”
But no matter how long he waited, the surroundings remained quiet. When he subtly opened his eyes, he could see Seonwoo holding back laughter.
“Ah! Seonwoo hyung!”
When he shouted as if wronged, Seonwoo reached out. Grabbing Yoonjo’s hand that was shaking *bung bung* while sitting, he intertwined their hands like sliding. Seonwoo, who intertwined fingers without a single gap, kissed Yoonjo’s fingers.
“Like this, should I pay?”
In an instant, both of Yoonjo’s cheeks turned red. Yoonjo, who had been going *ppeokkeum ppeokkeum* with his mouth half-open, muttered.
“…I’ll, say it’s like that.”
At the words containing raw emotion intact, Seonwoo just laughed. The moment awkward silence was about to creep in, as if waiting, one unfamiliar sound intervened.
*Kkoreureuek-.*
At the belly clock ringing with good timing, Yoonjo rubbed his stomach. He was still holding hands with Seonwoo. Looking at his flat stomach for a moment, Yoonjo threw out words. His cheeks still had a faint flush hanging on them.
“They say even Mt. Geumgang comes after a meal… do you happen to know a restaurant nearby?”
“You ate popcorn at the movie theater.”
True to Yoonjo who ate three meals a day without fail, his belly clock was also accurate. When Seonwoo stood up, their hands naturally fell apart. Looking at that regretfully, Yoonjo said.
“Hey, that’s a snack. If there’s no place to eat, I’ll just starve for a day. Just because I’m hungry doesn’t mean I can eat you, hyung.”
At Yoonjo’s words, Seonwoo bent his waist to match eye level. Then he lightly tapped Yoonjo’s chin.
“If I give you something, do you know how to eat it?”
“I eat well anything that can go in my mouth?”
At the innocent answer, Seonwoo chuckled. There was absolutely no way to handle him. Slowly straightening his bent waist, he glanced at the window toward the yard. He’d asked them to prepare a barbecue in advance, but he didn’t know what actually happened.
“Right. Let’s see if you eat well later.”
Seonwoo, who spoke as if letting it slip, sat Yoonjo on a nearby sofa and turned his body. He tried to leave, but when he turned his head at a feeling of being pulled, Yoonjo made teary eyes and subtly hugged Seonwoo’s waist.
Thinking what kind of trick this was and about to remove him, he briefly frowned at Yoonjo’s action of climbing up along his body as is. Yoonjo, who stood up with his cheek pressed close to his chest, laughed *hihi*.
“I wanted to get up, and conveniently you’re the only support here, hyung.”
“You just want to hug me.”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Seonwoo put crutches in Yoonjo’s hands that he’d brought into the room while Yoonjo was hanging on him. Immediately removing Yoonjo from his arms, Seonwoo resolutely turned his body and went outside. Yoonjo, who had been standing blankly behind, suddenly burst into laughter.
His face hardened again. That is to say, it became that troubled expression. Recalling Seonwoo’s face, laughter kept leaking out *bisik bisik*.
***
*Chiiiiik-.*
Yoonjo, who had been watching the meat cooking, made a small wrap and pushed it into Seonwoo’s mouth. A furrow formed slightly between Seonwoo’s brows as he chewed a few times. He seemed displeased with something. Wondering what it was, Yoonjo, who was recalling the ingredients he’d put in the wrap, remembered there was garlic inside.
Are there Korean people who dislike garlic? Yoonjo, who had been pondering carefully, soon gave up. If Seonwoo doesn’t like it, he doesn’t like it, that’s all, he thought. Hurriedly moving his hands, this time Yoonjo made a wrap without garlic and put it in Seonwoo’s mouth again.
“I’m grilling for you to eat, so why do you keep putting it in my mouth?”
“Seonwoo hyung has a need to eat a bit healthier. I was shocked looking at the home refrigerator. Except for the food ingredients I brought, the refrigerator is completely empty. Ah, how about we stop by the mart and buy some ingredients when we go back? But what cut of meat is this? It’s delicious. I think Grandma would like it if I gave it to her….”
While rolling the grocery list in his head, something wet suddenly touched his lips. Yoonjo, who reflexively opened his mouth, moved his mouth diligently with round eyes at the large wrap. Both cheeks puffed up plumply, looking like a hamster trying to store food.
The wrap Seonwoo handed over was exceptionally delicious. Yoonjo put the gloves he’d briefly taken off back on and looked at Seonwoo grilling meat, then placed both elbows on the table and rested his chin.
Before he knew it, meal times like this had become not awkward. Yoonjo came to know Seonwoo’s eating habits, came to know small habits, and the moments of facing each other together were becoming natural daily life. As much as he felt this natural, was Seonwoo similar?
