“Will you be okay? Now I won’t say I broke the jar for you.”
Hwan, who had grown this big already, asked with a leisurely and mischievous smile. Then Huiseo answered by snorting as if dumbfounded.
“You think I’d still do that now?”
Though he spoke so confidently, it was actually a completely unbelievable story.
Then and now, he only lived with books, and he never showed any sign of exercising normally. But how could that terrible klutz change overnight? In Hwan’s view—no, in anyone’s view—it was Huiseo’s firm dream.
This reality was clearly revealed in the simple dribbling that followed.
“Weren’t you speaking quite confidently?”
“…Don’t laugh.”
At Hwan’s question full of teasing intent, Huiseo glared and answered curtly.
As expected, he was absolutely no match for Hwan, who had become more skilled at using his body as his limbs had grown longer. It was even more one-sided than when they were young. Far from stealing the ball, he couldn’t even think of playing with it.
Grabbing the hesitating Huiseo’s shoulder and swinging him around like a paper doll, the sight was quite amusing. So it was natural for him to flush red on both cheeks and shout indignantly.
“Wait, wait! Grabbing is against the rules!”
“No it’s not? I’m holding you in case you fall again, you know?”
“Don’t lie!”
Huiseo’s appearance with his lower lip bitten tight from getting worked up was unbearably cute, so Hwan couldn’t help but burst into loud laughter. Really, he couldn’t help it.
Seeing him noticeably dejected about the exam, while thinking about how to comfort him, it seemed he thought of the ball he liked first. And imagining him running to get it, he was endearingly like that young child from back then, unchanged.
Not only that, but he felt loved too.
Though that might not be love in the same sense as Hwan’s love, even if that were the case. Still, one side of his chest felt proud.
This was also a fact he learned a bit belatedly, but Huiseo both then and now didn’t particularly like activities involving physical movement. As seen earlier, he was also quite clumsy. The important point was that despite this, Huiseo never once showed such signs in front of Hwan.
In their childhood, even when he fell and landed on his bottom alone like that, he kept him company until the end.
‘Such a you…’
Such a kind you.
‘How could I not love you?’
Hwan found moments like this the most agonizing.
Because he couldn’t carelessly say the lovely you was lovely.
Feeling too overwhelmed to suppress it as usual, Hwan, who had bitten his lips tightly, pulled Huiseo’s shoulder that he’d been swinging around arbitrarily and held him in his arms. Hwan’s hands holding Huiseo tightly were trembling pitifully—flutter—like his chest right now.
I like you.
Very much.
Rolling those words that made him even more anxious for not being able to say them around in his mouth, Hwan barely suppressed his feelings. Only after that could he finally bring out words that would reassure Huiseo.
“…Thank you. And I’m sorry.”
Though he’d swallowed down the words he really wanted to say, still, those feelings weren’t insincere. Even if it weren’t a situation like now, these were things he always wanted to say to Huiseo many times over. He was grateful and sorry.
Watching Hwan speak with a choked voice, Huiseo then raised his hand and calmly patted his back.
“You sure have a lot to be sorry for.”
The words spoken primly like a reproach were affectionate.
Of course, after that he returned to his original cold self and poured out far more nagging.
“That’s good enough. Think about it. What score did you usually get? Huh?”
“That’s true, but…”
“You worked hard, and seeing you work that hard, I was even moved. Isn’t that enough? Is the bet that important?”
“…Huiseo-ya.”
My goodness. He was even moved?
‘I didn’t know.’
Not missing Huiseo’s words that passed by quickly, and conversely being moved himself, Hwan’s eyes were about to well up with tears when Huiseo’s words continued a bit more.
“If you’re still that upset, there’s also the method of making another bet.”
“…Huh?”
“How about 70 points this time?”
“Uh, Huiseo-ya?”
The tears that were about to come out not only went back in but dried up completely. At the story flowing in a strange direction again, Hwan urgently grabbed Huiseo’s shoulder.
“Thinking about it again, I… don’t think I’m that upset.”
“Why? Think you can’t do it?”
“Of course I can’t do it! 70 points!”
“You said you couldn’t do it this time either but you almost did it, didn’t you?”
“Strictly speaking, I didn’t do it, right?”
The two people’s tense argument continued.
Especially Hwan was in a position where he absolutely couldn’t back down.
No matter what, to Hwan, the difference between 60 points and 70 points was, to exaggerate a bit, like the ‘human realm’ where he could somehow manage versus the ‘entrance to the heavenly realm’ that he couldn’t dare dream of. He said it was nonsense, and with the tenderness from just moments ago completely gone, he put on a serious face.
“That’s absolutely not happening.”
But Huiseo wasn’t easy either.
“You’ll do better next time, yet you’re exaggerating.”
Rather than unconditionally pushing that he must do it, that small mutter had even greater destructive power.
‘Exaggerating? Who? Me?’
While dumbfounded, thinking ‘Why do you believe in me that much?’, the back of his neck felt ticklish. Because of that, after moving his lips for a moment unable to easily speak, Hwan suddenly got angry.
“You! If I get over 70 points, what will you do, huh? What kind of thing do you think I’ll demand, having no fear!”
Though for Hwan it was quite serious advice, Huiseo burst out laughing—pffft—as if it were ridiculous. This guy still didn’t know the seriousness of the situation.
“Should I be scared to that degree?”
“Of course!”
“What do you want me to do?”
“That’s…”
Between Hwan, who said he’d tell him when the time came, and curious Huiseo, bickering continued, and Hwan’s quarters where darkness was beginning to fall became noisy with the two people’s voices.
It was a bit regrettable, but still, how fortunate that they could get past it like this without being frustrated anymore.
Hwan hadn’t completely agreed yet, but still, the matter related to this bet seemed to be wrapping up like this while looking forward to next time.
But the conclusion of this story unexpectedly flowed in a direction no one predicted at all.
“You said 59 points?”
Huiseo asked while looking at him somewhat bewildered.
“…I got 59 points though?”
Actually, Hwan was just as flustered.
However, contrary to Hwan’s claim, the math score written on the report card in his hand was 61 points no matter how he rubbed his eyes and looked again. In the unbelievable situation, both Hwan and Huiseo were completely dumbfounded.
“What on earth is this?”
Since it wasn’t a problem of getting less than expected but rather more, it was actually ridiculous to argue about it. He was also suddenly scared that if he did, they might push back with a reason like ‘administrative processing error’ and return it to 59 points. That absolutely couldn’t happen.
So according to what he carefully investigated, it seemed there had been Hwan’s ‘marking mistake.’
It was a ridiculously funny matter.
He’d boasted that calculation mistakes were nonsense and that he’d checked even simple addition and subtraction several times, but it seemed he’d made an absurd mistake when transferring answers to the answer sheet. But the fact that the answer from solving was wrong, yet the different answer he accidentally marked by mistake was correct was truly a comedy.
‘Even if you luck into it, how do you luck into it like this?’
Unlike Huiseo, who remained bewildered, Hwan, who had grasped the situation, soon couldn’t help but grin with a smile reaching his ears. What did it matter if he lucked into it? Either way, the fact that 61 points was written on the report card remained unchanged.
61 points from luck was still the same 61 points.
Hwan’s eyes sparkled as he called, “Huiseo-ya.”
“…I did it. To be precise, this guy did!”
Watching Hwan hold his hand and speak so joyfully, Huiseo couldn’t help but let out an empty laugh.
***
With Hwan’s such claim, Huiseo ended up sleeping overnight at Hwan’s quarters that very day. Because whatever the circumstances, he had surpassed 60 points and won the bet.
As Hwan had expected, the process of Huiseo obtaining permission from the imperial elders wasn’t difficult.
To get the same result, even if Hwan lay sprawled in front of the main hall for half a day and rolled left and right dozens of times, it wouldn’t even come close. But in Huiseo’s case, did he just go in and get some tea? With just about that much time, he came out having easily received the answer he wanted.
“What’s the secret really?”
He’d asked several times before, but Huiseo’s answer was always unsatisfactory.
“What other reason could there be? It’s because of you.”
‘…What did I do?’
No matter how much he thought about it, it was incomprehensible.
Meanwhile, a palace attendant came to Hwan’s quarters carrying an armful of large blankets. Huiseo ran out himself to receive them, saying “Thank you” politely, and brought them into the room.
Of course, Hwan was looking at this with displeasure.
“What’s that?”
“Blankets.”
As if he’d ask not knowing what they were.
Looking at him with such an expression, Huiseo calmly put down the pile of blankets on the floor next to the bed and answered, “Because I need them to sleep over.” Huiseo acted as if what kind of obvious thing was he asking, but Hwan absolutely couldn’t accept it.
“…So, you’re going to spread that on the floor and sleep?”
When he asked this, Huiseo looked at him for a moment with eyes looking at a shameless person. Even though it was warm ondol flooring, was he not even going to give blankets? He seemed to be thinking that.
So Hwan hurriedly exclaimed, “That’s not it!” Right, of course that’s not it, but.
When there’s my bed.
He couldn’t help but think, ‘Do we really have to do that?’
