# Chapter 15
Yeomin and Jiho were drinking coffee at a café near their university with the cup holders Jiho had collected. It was their private end-of-semester celebration party.
Yeomin was drinking an iced americano, while Jiho was drinking an iced chocolate with whipped cream that cost 500 won more.
As the caffeine kicked in and his mental state recovered, Yeomin declared:
“Now that the semester’s over, I’m going to get another part-time job.”
“Another part-time job? You’re already working at the PC bang. Do you like working that much?”
‘Does he think I work two jobs because I can’t sleep unless I’m working?’
It’s something I have to do to survive.
Of course, Jiho was someone who genuinely couldn’t understand such circumstances. He just seemed displeased that Yeomin was taking on more part-time work.
“I need to earn as much money as possible during the break to use next semester. A senior offered to introduce me to a tutoring position, so I decided to try it. Especially after losing the watch, I need to put this body to work.”
“How are you going to do all that with just one body? Wouldn’t it be better to quit the PC bang?”
“You said it. I wish I had about three bodies.”
Yeomin replied while sipping his coffee.
“But there’s no one as good to me as the PC bang owner. It would be a shame to quit.”
“Then who am I supposed to hang out with during the break?”
Yeomin found those words terrifyingly chilling.
‘Do I have to be with this guy all day during the break too?’
Yeomin’s expression grew more serious.
“…Are you really not going to go home?”
“I told you I left home.”
“You should go back after rebelling a reasonable amount. What if you get cut out of the family register or something?”
The two stopped in front of some exercise equipment on the walking path. Sitting on a strength training machine, Yeomin asked:
“By the way, why did you say you left home?”
“Are you only curious about that now?”
“Actually, I’m still not that curious.”
Just asking because I had nothing else to say. Yeomin acted indifferently.
Seemingly upset, Jiho said nothing and grabbed the pull-up bar next to them, hoisting himself up with a swift motion.
Yeomin watched him and clicked his tongue. Wasting energy on unnecessary things. Tsk, tsk.
“Want to try hanging too, hyung?”
“I don’t have calories to waste on that.”
“Just try it once.”
“No.”
When his suggestion didn’t work, Jiho came back down from the pull-up bar.
As he tried to jump down lightly, he missed his footing and ended up landing on his butt.
“Are you doing physical comedy? Puhaha!”
Yeomin burst out laughing at the ridiculous sight. Jiho sulked with a reddened face.
“Help me up.”
Afraid he might really get upset if teased further, Yeomin gladly extended his hand.
As Jiho grabbed Yeomin’s hand and stood up, he asked:
“How old is the kid you’re going to tutor?”
“I think they said eighteen. I’m supposed to go for an interview at their house tomorrow.”
“Is it a girl? Or a boy?”
“A boy. Seems like he’s quite good at studying. This is trouble. I need to study in advance so I don’t get exposed…”
“…Is he handsome? More than me?”
Look at what he’s asking. He knows he’s handsome and is doing this on purpose.
Yeomin deliberately played dumb.
“I don’t know?”
“Hmm.”
“Why does it matter if a male student is handsome? Why, are you interested?”
Jiho stared at Yeomin with a blank face.
“I’m interested in you.”
And then he suddenly stretched his neck forward. In an instant, he placed his lips on Yeomin’s, who had been sucking the last of his nearly finished coffee.
“…”
What was that just now? Yeomin was dumbfounded.
And 3 seconds later, having processed what happened, Yeomin jabbed Jiho’s thigh with his knee.
“You crazy bastard!”
Yeomin’s face turned as red as a hot sweet potato. Jiho looked happy even after being hit.
“Your ears are really red.”
“Haa, this lunatic…”
“Sometimes I feel like you really think of me as a pet dog you’re raising at home.”
“…”
“I’m just making you realize that’s not the case. I’m a person. I can do things like this.”
“Hey.”
Yeomin called Jiho sternly. But Jiho showed no sign of remorse. No, he even looked down at Yeomin confidently.
This guy keeps trying to get one over on me.
The bigger problem is… I can’t even act out against such a guy.
Threats like “I’ll kick you out!” that he used to make easily didn’t come out.
After fumbling for words, Yeomin abruptly turned around.
“If you follow me, you’re dead.”
Leaving behind only that ineffectual threat, Yeomin came down the walking path as if escaping.
But of course, he couldn’t really leave behind Jiho who followed like a shadow.
* * *
Joo Yeomin’s daily life was being invaded. By Seol Jiho.
Jiho, who suddenly became a freeloader in his home one day, now existed like a parasite living in his mind.
Yeomin thought more about the kiss Jiho gave him than about the watch stolen by Yeojin.
How is it that the perpetrator of such an act can sleep so soundly, while I have to be on edge about the sound of him tossing and turning?
‘I’m the owner of the house, so why am I the only one uncomfortable while that bastard is so unbothered…’
Something had gone terribly wrong.
‘So the tutoring is every Monday and Wednesday at 8 pm. Looking forward to working with you.’
In the meantime, Yeomin passed the tutoring interview and was scheduled to start classes next week. He’d only seen a photo of the student, but the impression wasn’t bad. He looked like he’d be obedient.
Yeomin thought he should use the tutoring as an excuse to bury himself in the library. He was trying to reduce the time spent with Jiho somehow.
But if plans went according to plan, they wouldn’t be plans.
“What the hell?”
“I want to study too.”
When Yeomin was about to go to the library to study before tutoring, Jiho followed along.
Even in a tracksuit with a baseball cap pulled down, he couldn’t help but stand out.
If there was any consolation, it was that the semester had ended so no one would recognize them being together.
“Walk a bit further away from me.”
Yeomin walked while maintaining distance from Jiho. But for every step Yeomin took, Jiho took two steps to close the gap.
The distance between them kept narrowing. As Jiho’s shoulder kept touching his, Yeomin became sensitive.
“Don’t stick so close. It’s hot.”
“What can I do if my shoulders are broad?”
“Just walk further away!”
“Are you telling me to walk on the road? What if I get hit by a car?”
This guy doesn’t listen to reason. Just ignore him.
As Yeomin was deliberately speeding up his pace, his body was suddenly pulled around.
“What now…”
Just as he was about to say something, a delivery motorcycle zoomed past in front of him.
Jiho cursed at the back of the motorcycle. But Yeomin didn’t feel surprised or relieved.
Because his pulse was racing too strongly from his wrist that Jiho had grabbed.
‘Is it possible… that being gay is contagious? Can it be transmitted just from a kiss? Like a cold?’
Such ridiculous thoughts even crossed his mind.
Jiho anxiously examined Yeomin’s blank face.
“Are you okay? You look really shocked. Maybe we shouldn’t go to the library and instead go home—”
“Seol Jiho.”
“Yes?”
Come to think of it, when did he become so integrated into my daily life?
Walking with Jiho, talking with him, falling asleep next to him… none of it felt awkward or uncomfortable to Yeomin anymore.
No. Rather, it had become so familiar that it was unsettling. Realizing this made him frightened.
It’s better to live without ever having had something. Losing what you’ve had is too painful.
It was right not to even dream of things you couldn’t have in the first place.
Yeomin ruminated again on the lesson engraved in his bones from the experience of having his watch stolen by Yeojin.
“I suddenly remembered an appointment, so go to the library by yourself.”
“What sudden appointment? Who are you meeting?”
“I have something.”
“Is it with Lee Taeyang?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“Are you meeting the PC bang manager?”
Jiho was really persistent. Almost like fly paper.
Tired of it, Yeomin made something up.
“It’s someone you don’t know.”
“But you don’t have many friends.”
How would you know that! Though it’s true I don’t have friends.
Yeomin glared and warned him.
“Fine. I don’t have friends so I like being alone, so don’t follow me.”
Yeomin turned away decisively. It was obvious that Jiho would be upset again, but he needed to distance himself from the guy for a while.
Right? Since childhood, he’d had an unfortunate environment, a stubborn temperament, and emotions as dry as a desert…
‘If I start liking guys on top of all that, wouldn’t my life be playing on hard mode?’
Humanly speaking, that’s a development he absolutely wanted to avoid.
* * *
Yeomin wasn’t normally this impulsive. He didn’t usually leave his neighborhood either.
But without knowing where to go, Yeomin got on the subway. He just felt like he needed to get away from Jiho.
‘That neighborhood is cursed…’
While riding the subway, Yeomin got off at a station where many people were disembarking. It turned out to be a location with a massive shopping mall.
Though he had no money for shopping, he aimlessly walked toward the crowded place. He thought he’d study quietly in a café.
But even on a weekday afternoon, the mall was swarming with customers.
‘There are so many people in the world willing to spend money.’
Yeomin entered a café in the mall and ordered a coffee.
It was a brand he’d never seen before, and an americano cost 6,000 won. He almost teared up from the wastefulness while paying.
With few seats available inside, Yeomin sat outside and took out his workbook.
Yeomin’s phone had been blowing up for a while.
[Sundoli: Who are you meeting]
[Sundoli: Who is it]
[Sundoli: Are you really not going to tell me?]
Once I started indulging him, this guy really crosses the line! Why does he need to know who it is?
Yeomin decided he absolutely wouldn’t reply. Today, he was determined to stay out late before going home.
‘If necessary, I’ll go to the PC bang and stay up all night. Manager Cha is there today, so I can pretend to help with work and get a free meal…’
As Yeomin was calculating in his head, someone rushed past his side.
The person bumped his table, causing Yeomin’s phone to fall to the floor.
“Oh my, I’m so sorry!”
“Ah, it’s fine.”
Both of them reached out to pick up the phone. When Yeomin looked up without thinking, his expression froze.
“Joo Yeojin?”
Yeojin, with shopping bags hanging from both shoulders, was trying to pick up his phone.
“Huh?”
A sigh escaped Yeomin’s lips.
How merciful of the heavens to let me meet my enemy at a shopping mall. Are you truly giving me this opportunity?
If so, I’ll personally punish Joo Yeojin today and go to hell afterwards.
