– Baek Myeongseon, you son of a bitch!
“……”
– Ahhh, fuck!
A man’s voice rang loudly through Baek Myeongseon’s phone. Baek Myeongseon twitched his eyebrows for a moment, then held the phone away from his ear until the man stopped screaming.
“How did you even call?”
– Sob…… sniff…… fuck…… Come right now and untie this!
Baek Myeongseon held the phone away from his face once more.
– Hey, Baek Myeongseon! Aren’t you coming here right now?
“……”
Baek Myeongseon hung up the phone and looked at Baek Iseon with an awkward face, saying shyly.
“I…… have to go.”
“Ha.”
“Make sure to come to Eunseon’s second birthday party. Got it?”
Baek Iseon looked up at his older brother with an expression of disbelief and said.
“Don’t tell me, is that your lover?”
“Not yet.”
Baek Myeongseon grinned and turned around to leave. Baek Iseon was dumbfounded. As if he was in any position to say anything to anyone.
Left alone, Baek Iseon sank deeply into the sofa. A smile gently appeared on his face. He must have seen the note by now, so soon he too would receive the contact he’d been waiting for.
“Haha……”
Once he contacts me, should I act angry? Then after that, I’ll pretend I can’t refuse and accept. What will he say when he contacts me? Sorry? Or maybe, I miss you……? Baek Iseon lay sprawled on the sofa, giggling to himself.
* * *
When Baek Iseon opened his eyes again, everything around him was pitch black. He seemed to have fallen asleep right there on the sofa. When he picked up his phone to check, there were a few messages and missed calls recorded. Oh no, I shouldn’t have fallen asleep. How anxious must he have been waiting? Baek Iseon hurriedly unlocked his phone.
“Huh……?”
However, the messages that had arrived for him were all useless messages from college classmates and hoobae asking him to come out drinking. He searched through his message inbox repeatedly, but it was the same. The contact he’d been waiting for hadn’t come.
“Why……?”
He was flustered. He’d definitely handled it properly. He’d gone to his house and stuck the note in front of it with his own hands. So as not to startle him, to make him feel like things had been resolved naturally, he’d even held back his desire to knock on the door right away, make him open it, barge in and hold him.
“……Ah.”
Baek Iseon thought he knew the reason. Because Jang Juwon had a very cautious personality. He was a kid who couldn’t even properly show that he liked him, who couldn’t even properly say a single word about missing him. Given that personality, it made sense that contacting him right away would be too much. Maybe right now he’s agonizing over it tremendously? While thinking about those cruel words he’d poured out at the end.
If that’s the case, he just needed to wait.
It wouldn’t take that long. Feelings that were forcibly suppressed don’t easily fade away. No, rather, they make them burn even more fiercely. There were already numerous precedents proving this. So Jang Juwon too.
At the very least, finals. When that season came, he would definitely contact him, using it as an excuse.
* * *
But even at this point when finals were right around the corner, there had been no contact from Jang Juwon.
‘Has he lost his mind?’
How could this be possible? At this point, the one feeling anxious was Baek Iseon. He’d been checking his phone dozens of times a day and holding back his desire to storm into his house.
And now it was his limit. It had already been almost two months since he’d last held that kid. Baek Iseon’s sexual frustration pierced the sky. Of course, something else seemed to pierce the sky too.
He thought about just sleeping with someone else. But he soon erased that thought from his head. There’s no side dish bigger than the market. He’d barely held back, and he didn’t want to blow away the opportunity he’d put so much effort into like this. But if he waited any longer, he’d probably starve to death.
‘Ah. Maybe he’s waiting for me to contact him first.’
Right. That might be like Jang Juwon. Maybe every night he’s swallowing his tears while missing me. But poor Jang Juwon who doesn’t have the courage to contact me…… So as a senior, he couldn’t just leave such a hoobae alone.
Baek Iseon picked up his phone again. He’d picked it up confidently, but now that he was about to contact him, appropriate words didn’t come to mind. Damn it, Jang Juwon. Making me agonize over such trivial worries.
Baek Iseon repeatedly wrote and deleted messages for a long time. And after much deliberation, he finally succeeded in sending him a text.
Jang Juwon.
That was the entire message.
* * *
Jang Juwon was on his way to a cafe with his friends. As usual, he was watching Shin Jisu assault Choi Yeonho when his phone vibrated briefly.
“Hm?”
Jang Juwon took out the phone he’d put in his back pocket. A new message popup was displayed on the phone screen. Jang Juwon’s eyes widened.
It was a very short and concise message.
Jang Juwon.
“……”
Jang Juwon fell into thought for a moment. Why would he send him a text? He couldn’t understand the meaning of a message with just his name written on it without any business. He wondered whether he should reply or not.
“Mmm……”
Jang Juwon decided to send a reply. Since he didn’t even know what it was about yet, there was no reason to ignore it.
What is it?
A moment later, a reply came from him.
Still don’t need me?^0^ Finals are coming up soon><
“……”
Jang Juwon’s expression, having read the text, turned cold. He knew he was a selfish person. But this was going too far. Baek Iseon was disrespecting Jang Juwon right now. Even though it wasn’t his true intention, he had clearly expressed that he didn’t want to see him anymore. And yet he was contacting him so casually. He was annoyed at that insensitivity. And one more thing.
‘While he’s seeing someone…… That bastard…….’
Jang Juwon was extremely grateful that he hadn’t told Baek Iseon he liked him. Even now he was looking down on him and contacting him with obvious intentions, so if he had found out about his feelings…… It was horrifying just to think about. He probably would have hidden the fact that he had a lover and played with him while whispering sweet words to him who knew nothing. And Jang Juwon would have helplessly been played by him.
Jang Juwon began typing a reply to send him.
I don’t need you. And I didn’t say anything before, but those weird emoticons are really fucking shit.
Having finished sending the text, Jang Juwon immediately blocked Baek Iseon’s number. He was done being swayed.
* * *
I don’t need you. And I didn’t say anything before, but those weird emoticons are really fucking shit.
“……”
Baek Iseon couldn’t believe the message displayed on his phone. He tried calling him right away, but only the message that the call couldn’t be connected kept repeating.
“He…… didn’t like me?”
Baek Iseon’s flustered voice trembled. Putting together all the actions Jang Juwon had shown so far, he definitely had feelings for him. Baek Iseon’s intuition was extremely accurate in this area. It was thanks to living while receiving countless affections. So this time too, he was confident. It couldn’t be a misunderstanding.
“No way……”
Strength entered Baek Iseon’s hand gripping the phone. No way, did he get someone else in the meantime? But how……
“How could anyone else catch his eye besides me?”
Just how amazing is that bastard? Baek Iseon’s thick eyebrows shot up to the sky. His upturned eyes seemed to be blazing. Now that it had come to this, there was nothing more to worry about. He would do as he pleased. First, he wanted to see that impressive face.
* * *
Engineering Building 1, the lecture hall for Applied Fluid Mechanics. Students whose lecture had just ended began getting up from their seats and preparing to leave. Jang Juwon was also stuffing books and writing utensils into his bag. At that moment, the students near the back door started murmuring. One familiar word among the things they whispered quietly flew into Jang Juwon’s ear.
“He must have come to see Shin Jisu.”
Jang Juwon and Choi Yeonho simultaneously looked at Shin Jisu. Shin Jisu, who also seemed to have heard her name, looked at the two with a puzzled expression and shrugged her shoulders once. The three got up from their seats together and headed to the back door. And when they stepped into the hallway, what they encountered was Baek Iseon leaning against the wall.
“……”
“……”
