“Ah!”
The sensation of rubbing through clothes felt strange and his legs automatically twisted together. He thought he should have just let him grope his body instead. Before things got worse, Jang Juwon hastily pushed him away.
“That’s… haah, enough now……”
“……”
His expression was openly saying he was dissatisfied. Judging by his glaring eyes, he seemed quite unsatisfied. But a promise was a promise. Baek Iseon ground his teeth with a crunching sound.
“Then tomorrow. See you tomorrow. You’re free tomorrow, right?”
Baek Iseon emphasized “tomorrow” and checked again. Jang Juwon nodded his head. Then he stared at Jang Juwon’s glistening red lips for a long while before turning and leaving.
“Whew……”
Jang Juwon looked down at the front of his pants. At this rate, it seemed like he wouldn’t be able to sleep.
* * *
The blazing sunshine had died down. The weather had noticeably become cooler. It meant summer vacation was coming to an end. The start of the semester had approached within a day, but surprisingly it didn’t feel shitty.
Jang Juwon went over the already set second semester schedule one last time and prepared class materials in advance for tomorrow. He’d escaped from shitty Applied Fluid Mechanics, but he couldn’t be entirely happy.
‘Applied Thermodynamics……’
This time, this would be the second semester’s hidden obstacle. Still, if he got materials from Baek Iseon, wouldn’t it work out somehow? Since it came to mind, he felt like he should contact him and at least bring it up.
Bzz, bzz.
Just then, his phone rang. Thinking he really couldn’t be a gentleman, he answered the phone with a chuckle.
“Yes, sunbae.”
– It’s the last day of vacation, what are you doing?
“Preparing for tomorrow’s class.”
– Why would you do that when you have me?
Jang Juwon inwardly wanted to scream but held it in and pretended to be calm.
“Are you going to help me, sunbae?”
– You know it’s not free.
“Between us?”
– What are we to each other?
It was a casually thrown remark like a joke, but what came back was a solid fastball. Right, what are we to each other?
“Close… friends?”
– Fine, I’ll accept that much for now.
Jang Juwon’s head went blank for a moment, wondering if he should be grateful for this.
– Let’s meet briefly in the evening. Is the time okay?
“Yes.”
– I’ll come pick you up later. Come out.
“Okay.”
The call ended. Jang Juwon put down his phone and fell into thought for a moment.
What are we to each other?
That day, after hearing his confession that wasn’t quite a confession, he’d thought a lot. And now he seemed to understand that his words about seeming to like him weren’t a misunderstanding. But he’d never thought about what came after.
Anyway, they saw each other’s faces whenever they had time, contacted each other every day, and when they met he bit and sucked on him, so at this point he wondered what was different from dating. But it wasn’t a relationship that could be simply defined like that. The last wall they hadn’t crossed still existed between them. And at moments like this, that wall he’d been forgetting revealed its presence.
His heart still pounded when he thought of him. When their eyes met, a corner of his body tingled.
It was about time for a restructuring of their relationship. He became greedy to become a more certain relationship than now.
* * *
He came only after the sun had set. It was now weather that would be chilly with just a t-shirt. Jang Juwon put on a simple shirt over his t-shirt and went outside.
He got into the passenger seat naturally. The car started but he didn’t ask where they were going. He figured they’d eat, drink tea, and maybe go to his house as usual. Since it was late today, they’d probably skip the meal and go straight home. But the car kept turning onto unfamiliar roads.
“Where are we going?”
“You’re asking quite early.”
“……I thought you’d just take me home as usual.”
“I feel like I didn’t really let you have fun properly during vacation.”
“I feel like we were stuck together plenty.”
“Not just being inside the house…… I should have let you breathe some outside air too.”
“Ah.”
“Because you keep being cute……”
“I, I, when did I……”
“Every time we kiss, you.”
“That’s enough.”
Jang Juwon cut off his words. Baek Iseon held his lower face with one hand and blushed. What he was thinking showed so clearly on his face that it was embarrassing even for the person watching.
“Let’s just stop there.”
“Okay……”
“……”
“I want to turn the wheel around but I’ll hold back today……”
“You’ve really lost it, seriously.”
The car began to run along an uphill slope. As they entered a quiet road, the city scenery gradually grew distant and eventually became invisible. The occasional cars on the opposite road also disappeared at some point. The only thing illuminating the pitch-black road was a single dim headlight.
Come to think of it, he realized he still hadn’t answered where he was going. Of course, it was fine even without a destination. It didn’t matter even if it was just a drive. The time spent together with him was meaningful enough in itself.
A small tunnel appeared ahead. Wanting to tease him, Jang Juwon placed his hand on his right thigh. When he stroked it gently, he felt him flinch. The moment they entered the tunnel, his hand took on a slightly more blatant air and slowly crept upward. He turned his head to look at Jang Juwon with wide eyes. Jang Juwon grinned and said ruthlessly:
“You have to look ahead, sunbae.”
“Yeah, yeah……”
Baek Iseon, with his face burning bright red, unable to do this or that, just watching ahead seemed almost admirable.
The black night sky was spreading out in front again. As the car exited the tunnel, Jang Juwon giggled and withdrew his hand.
Suddenly Baek Iseon turned the steering wheel to the right. The car left the road, took the shoulder, and soon stopped with a screech. Baek Iseon turned his head sharply to look at Jang Juwon.
“……”
“……”
No way, because of the teasing…… Jang Juwon swallowed his dry saliva. He thought he’d done something unnecessary. Since he was guilty, he waited quietly for his words, but unexpected words were heard.
“Let’s get out.”
“Here?”
“Yeah.”
Baek Iseon got out first. Jang Juwon also got out of the car, looking around as he followed him. The black, empty road with nothing on it felt eerily frightening for no reason.
“Come this way.”
When he approached and stood next to Baek Iseon, he wrapped his hand around his waist and pulled him close. At the familiar warmth, his fear melted away like snow in an instant, and only then did the scene before his eyes come into view.
“Wow……”
The city view was spread out beneath their feet. The city lights that had felt chaotic and dizzying felt incredibly beautiful when viewed from one step back like this. The densely packed high-rise buildings looked small and cute. A smile appeared on Jang Juwon’s face. When he quietly tilted his head and leaned his cheek on his shoulder, he felt him burying his lips on the crown of his head. His heart tickled.
Bang!
Suddenly, with a loud explosion, large fireworks bloomed in the sky. Jang Juwon’s pupils opened wide and filled completely with colorful fireworks. He hadn’t gone to see them since he was young. Even as an adult, the fireworks in the sky still had something that moved his heart.
“Did you bring me here… to show me this?”
“Yeah, because it’s the end of summer. Is it too boring?”
Baek Iseon smiled blandly.
“No, I like it.”
Jang Juwon said quietly as if reciting.
Bang, boom! The fireworks began to explode in earnest. The black night sky flashed incessantly, dropping colorful petals fluttering down overhead. Jang Juwon wrapped both hands tightly around Baek Iseon’s waist and tilted his head, leaning his body firmly against his chest. Thump-thump, the pleasant sound of a heartbeat could be heard.
“Jang Juwon.”
“Yeah……”
