“Are you not offended?”
“By what?”
Thunk, a melon Yoonjo had picked went into the rubber basket. There was no way to know when he’d picked it like that. Seonwoo observed Yoonjo’s expression and asked again.
“I asked yesterday if you like men. I was wondering if you were offended by that.”
“What… Hyung. You’ll be in big trouble if you say things like that carelessly. What kind of world do we live in these days?”
He thought he’d say he was offended, but the answer that came out was unexpected.
“Actually, I didn’t really think about it. Um… so there’s an LGBTQ club at the school I go to. The first friend I made at school is a member of that club. At first, I was like, why would there be a club like this? Ah, of course even then I wasn’t offended or anything. I was just a bit curious… Anyway, after I got close with them later, they were just people. I realized it was a bit narrow-minded to divide people you like in half by gender.”
“……”
“What’s wrong with liking men? In the world, there are even people who like dogs so much they get plastic surgery and marry dogs. When they like the same kind of person, there’s no reason to look at them badly…”
“…That’s unexpected.”
At Seonwoo’s quietly replied words, Yoonjo whipped his head up. His sweat-soaked hair briefly swayed in the air.
“What, do I look like someone who discriminates?”
“Usually people get offended when asked if they like men.”
“Ah, well… that could be the case. Actually, even as the same man, hyung is really pretty…”
“……”
“That doesn’t mean I’m gay though. Just… objectively speaking.”
Of course, he was an actor who swept across screens, so it wouldn’t make sense if he wasn’t pretty. Yoonjo stared intently at Seonwoo’s face, then nodded.
“Anyway, it’s a story from a world far from me. Someone liking someone. Should I say it’s a world belonging to a different dimension? Anyway. I’ve never properly done that.”
“Really? I guess you’ve never liked anyone. Usually at that age, there’s a lot of that.”
“Not really… I don’t think so. Do you have to like someone? I live well without doing that. I probably won’t ever like anyone. Still, hyung is pretty… so my eyes just go there…”
Having said that far, Yoonjo hurriedly added as if something came to mind.
“Ah! That doesn’t mean I have feelings for you or anything like that. Hyung is really pretty and cool, but that’s as far as it goes. And even gay people have standards. My friend said I should just live alone.”
Muttering, Yoonjo lowered his head again and started picking melons like a machine. Seonwoo also sat beside him and focused on work silently.
When Yoonjo was filling his fourth basket, Seonwoo had barely filled one. He wiped his forehead where sweat was dripping profusely. When he let out a sigh, the stuffy air felt even more vivid. As he blinked slowly, the heat welling up thickly in his eyelids seemed to touch his pupils. He really felt like he was dying. At that moment, as if it had been waiting, something cold touched his cheek.
“Hyung. We’re almost done with today’s work, so go sit in the shade outside and rest.”
“Still, I got the mid-morning snack today. I should work for what I ate.”
How could he get him to rest? Racking his brain this way and that, Yoonjo remembered an interview where Seonwoo had said he hated bugs with lots of legs, and spoke.
“Oh! There’s a caterpillar on your shoulder. It’s fuzzy and has soooo many legs.”
At the mention of many legs, Seonwoo’s body stiffened completely. He couldn’t even turn his eyes and barely managed to ask through lip movements to take it off, then soon squeezed his eyes shut. At Seonwoo’s appearance, Yoonjo burst into laughter, then just hoisted Seonwoo up and carried him, walking with big strides to put him down under the shade of a nearby tree.
“I’m kidding. Hyung, just rest. Um… later when the village chief’s wife goes in, take a ride with her. Thank you for helping today!”
Before Seonwoo could say anything, Yoonjo dashed away quickly, waved his hands energetically at the greenhouse entrance, then shouted again.
“Make sure to go home! Don’t get sick!”
Seonwoo, about to retort asking who he was treating like a weakling, stopped. For a moment, memories passed through—his back with vivid red handprints remaining, and the sight of easily moving an adult male’s body. Right, that’s possible. He’s qualified to say that… Having reached that conclusion, Seonwoo settled under the tree shade and leaned his back comfortably.
Somewhere, the sound of cicadas could be heard, and a wind carrying stuffy humidity blew. As sweat rolled down, Seonwoo roughly wiped it with a towel and looked at the clear sky. In the bright blue sky, fluffy clouds were floating vividly like a painting drawn with oil paints.
In his hand was the cool water bottle Yoonjo had given him.
“Hyung, hyung, wake up.”
His shoulder was shaken slightly. Seonwoo awakened his hazy consciousness and blinked his eyes slowly. In front of his eyes was Yoonjo. Yoonjo was absorbed in waking him up by tapping his shoulder with his fingertips. At some point, the sun had risen to its zenith, and the direct sunlight beating down on the ground was quite stinging.
Sweat was pouring down like rain. The water bottle Yoonjo had given him had been lukewarm for a long time, it seemed, as even the outside of the plastic bottle was completely dry. Surely when he first received it, it had been slippery due to condensation.
“Hyung, you’ll be in big trouble if you sleep here.”
Crouching in front of Seonwoo, Yoonjo put his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on his hands. When he grinned, his eyes folded beautifully, revealing a natural smile. With his upturned eyes, his impression should have been fierce, but somehow he only looked gentle.
“Why didn’t you go? I told you earlier to go together when the village chief’s wife leaves.”
“…Just, somehow.”
“What. Don’t tell me you were waiting for me?”
“……”
To say it wasn’t that at all, there was such a feeling ambiguously. The village chief’s wife kindly said to wake sleeping Seonwoo so they could go together, but at his words that he’d wait for Yoonjo, she left him behind and departed cheerfully. In truth, it was awkward to leave Yoonjo alone and go.
The village elders ate the mid-morning snack, worked a bit, and all left their spots when they saw the sun rising. These days, they couldn’t do farm work for long because of dangerous factors like heat waves and such. They could do it, but at Yoonjo’s threat, everyone just dusted off their hands and went out. It was work that could be done again in the late afternoon.
It wouldn’t do to farm so carelessly, but a few years ago, because of an incident where an old man surnamed Lee from the same village died in a heat wave, everyone was being careful.
Yoonjo looked at Seonwoo deeply immersed in the tree shade and smiled brightly. That he always smiled showing his teeth so clearly felt unfamiliar to Seonwoo’s eyes each time. It was because he wondered how long it had been since he’d seen such a cleanly smiling face.
Near him were always people who smiled out of courtesy, or people hoping for some gain or loss. In many ways, Yoonjo was a different type.
“Then let’s go quickly! I’ll hurry and bring the cultivator.”
All he could see was the back view, but he looked excited. Seonwoo, recalling the strength and appetite contained in that small person’s body, loosened the corners of his mouth.
“It’s good to be young.”
It was exactly the stamina that age group would have. In contrast to Seonwoo, who was exhausted and collapsed after sitting in the field for a few hours, Yoonjo looked energetic. He was a bit envious of that. That is, just a little bit.
Seeing the cultivator Yoonjo had brought, Seonwoo immediately moved his body. Perhaps having gotten used to it after riding it a few times, he naturally sat in the seat next to Yoonjo.
Whenever the rattling cultivator ran on the narrow road, Seonwoo knowingly or unknowingly looked around. At his anxious appearance, Yoonjo laughed and added.
“Hyung, I’m really the best driver. I’m Namhang village’s youngest best cultivator driver. Trust me a bit. I’ve been driving this for a long time.”
“…Since what age?”
“Um… fifteen, I think. Grandpa secretly taught me. Grandma scolded me each time, but it was already too late.”
Wondering if getting a license for a cultivator was different from other things, Seonwoo rolled his eyes for a moment, but he didn’t know anything.
“Do you have a license?”
“You don’t need a license for a cultivator. Still, I have a Class 2 ordinary license. I need to get Class 1, but in Seoul there’s surprisingly not much need to drive. It’s been a year since I got it, but there’s no use for it at all.”
It meant it was a drawer license. In contrast to that, his skill at driving the cultivator was top-notch. Each time he changed direction suddenly, he’d quickly get off, set the path the cultivator should go, and climb back on—quite impressive.
“Then you don’t know how to drive.”
“I do. I told you it’s been a year since I got my license? Should I show you my license?”
“Oh, it’s been a whole year?”
At Seonwoo’s answer, Yoonjo made a sound like “eek,” changed gears, and suddenly started to speed up. It was a different movement from yesterday when he went at a moderate pace, puttering along. When Seonwoo jumped in surprise and grabbed the backrest, Yoonjo showed a relaxed expression.
“Hyung doesn’t even know how to drive a cultivator.”
“You know that’s not used in Seoul, right?”
“This isn’t Seoul. And hyung, you shouldn’t forget that you’re sitting on the cultivator I’m driving right now.”
When he smiled eerily, Seonwoo raised both hands as if surrendering.
“I surrender. I acknowledge you as the best cultivator driver.”
“Yeeees-.”
Yoonjo, who had been grinning, suddenly hardened his face.
“Wait a minute. So you just let it slide that I don’t know how to drive a car?”
“Look ahead. If you have an accident, it’ll be a big problem.”
“Ah, hyung. Say it properly!”
Even while glancing at Seonwoo, Yoonjo controlled the direction precisely. The speed had already decreased a bit. But while they were constantly bickering, Yoonjo didn’t see a fairly sharp stone sticking out in front and stepped on it as is.
“Ugh!”
“Ahhh!”
From that impact, the cultivator swayed slightly. But the seat wrapped in rubber jolted greatly. Yoonjo quickly regained his posture, but Seonwoo bumped his head on the backrest full of holes. As he groaned and held his head, Yoonjo stopped the cultivator at the side of the road.
“Oh my… Hyung! That was almost a disaster! Oh my, let me see. Your head’s not cracked, is it?”
