“Show me your face.”
“No, I don’t want to!”
When Baek Iseon tried to lift his hands, Jang Juwon shook them off forcefully and covered his face again. Thanks to Newton’s damned first law, he ended up hitting his own nose bridge with his own hand, but it didn’t hurt at all. He just wanted to die of embarrassment.
“If my lover won’t even show me his face, what am I supposed to do, hm? Juwon-ah.”
Lover. The inside of Jang Juwon’s belly clenched in a handful.
“Kgh, why are you suddenly tightening so much?”
“Shut u…!”
Thwack, Baek Iseon thrust his hips up.
“Ah!”
The hands that had been covering his face automatically floated into the air.
“Now you’re finally showing me your face.”
“Ah, ngh!”
Each time he thrust his hips, Jang Juwon’s body kept getting pushed upward. When his head knocked against the door, Baek Iseon draped Jang Juwon’s weakly swaying hands around his neck and covered his crown with one hand. Then he lowered his head and lightly bit his earlobe.
“I like you, Jang Juwon.”
He’d thought this from the beginning, but Baek Iseon’s low voice was really pleasant to hear. At the words that resonated in his eardrums, Jang Juwon turned his head. The tip of his nose touched his cheek.
“I like you too.”
Without anyone taking the lead, the two sought each other’s lips.
**6. Remnants**
That night Jang Juwon lay in bed with an excited heart.
‘I like you, Jang Juwon.’
That cautious low voice wouldn’t leave his ears. His feet tapped on their own. His flushed cheeks showed no sign of calming down. His pounding heart kept beating tirelessly.
If only tomorrow wasn’t the start of the semester, they could have spent the whole night together. His legs that had been tapping in regret drooped limply onto the mattress. Even so, the reason his swollen heart wouldn’t settle was because he knew there would be so much time to spend together with him from now on.
Bzz, bzz.
His phone vibrated. It must be Baek Iseon. He probably called to check if he got in safely. He’d been wanting to hear his voice before sleeping anyway. Not the voice echoing in his head, but his real voice. Jang Juwon answered the phone without even checking.
“Sunbae!”
He called out in an excited voice. But the other end of the line was strangely quiet. By the time he sensed that unnatural atmosphere, the other person had already answered.
– Juwon-ah.
“……”
– Have you been well? I’d like to see you……
At that creepily familiar and affectionate voice, Jang Juwon immediately hung up the phone. How did he call, I definitely blocked him. Then he suddenly remembered he’d changed phones. Fuck…… I should have changed my number too if I knew this would happen.
Bzz. His phone vibrated briefly.
*Juwon-ah. I wanted to apologize.*
It was a text message. His mood that had been so elated sank completely in an instant.
“Fuck, Ahn Jaeon……”
He muttered his name along with the curse. When he spoke those three letters of the name he couldn’t forget, his mood deteriorated to the worst. Jang Juwon pondered for a moment, then picked up his phone.
*Don’t contact me. I have nothing to accept an apology for.*
*I have to go to campus in a few days. Could we meet briefly then?*
Instead of replying to him, Jang Juwon chose to block him once again.
“What’s a graduate doing coming to campus.”
He has business at campus? He didn’t care. Anyway, he had absolutely no intention of meeting him.
* * *
The first week of the semester was orientation week, so there wasn’t much pressure. Shin Jisu took advantage of this gap to skip classes as casually as eating. She said something embarrassing about how there’s not enough time to love or whatever, words that made him cringe.
Friday afternoon had lab scheduled just like in the first semester. Professor Yang, who always opened classes on Friday afternoons, was also the enemy of undergraduates. Except for Shin Jisu who was skipping on her own, Jang Juwon and Choi Yeonho attended the lab course orientation.
Professor Yang walked into the classroom with his TA. At their appearance, the noisy classroom instantly became quiet. Choi Yeonho also closed his mouth. However, Jang Juwon’s mouth wouldn’t close. Rather, it opened even wider than when he was chatting with Choi Yeonho. His pupils shook uneasily.
“Uh…… This semester we’ll be experimenting mainly with pneumatic pressure and fluids……”
The professor droned on with tedious words. Jang Juwon lowered his head and stared holes into the syllabus. There were eyes in front of him that he didn’t want to face. If he raised his head, they might meet directly. Even though it must be his imagination, his crown strangely tingled.
The professor finally finished reciting the syllabus. At the professor’s perfunctory question asking if there were any questions, one student raised her hand high. With sparkling eyes, she asked:
“Is that person the TA?”
Mischievous giggling could be heard here and there throughout the classroom. The person who asked was also laughing. The professor glanced at the TA once, then likewise smiled slightly. He understood the student’s intention behind the question. His TA was unnecessarily and remarkably handsome.
“Uh…… This student here graduated from school with excellent grades…… got hired at a major company and recently returned to graduate school……”
As the professor droned on with his boring introduction, the students’ interest in the TA rapidly cooled. Nevertheless, the professor continued speaking. He thought this would be motivating for the undergraduates.
“So…… I hope all you undergraduate students will follow this senior’s example and devote yourselves fully to campus life……”
When the professor finally finished speaking and lightly tapped the TA’s shoulder, a greeting automatically popped out of his mouth.
“I’m Ahn Jaeon.”
In the end, Jang Juwon raised his head. Their eyes met immediately. The face he encountered after a year and a half was no different from before. Dark black hair and red lips that made his white skin stand out. Large eyes that looked hard to approach at a glance, contrasting with his large build. He was perfectly Jang Juwon’s ideal type. And he was also his first love and ex-boyfriend.
Class ended. Jang Juwon hurriedly dumped his writing materials into his bag and urged Choi Yeonho.
“Choi Yeonho, hurry up! Let’s get out quickly.”
“Huh? Oh, okay.”
Not knowing what was going on, Choi Yeonho was hurriedly packing his bag when he hit a pen with his elbow. Tap, the pen that fell to the floor received kinetic energy and began rolling forward with a rattle. Choi Yeonho, who had been reaching out to chase the rolling pen, hesitated. The rolling pen bumped into an obstacle and stopped with a thud. A black dress shoe was blocking its path. When he raised his head, Ahn Jaeon was looking down at him.
“Yeonho-ya, hi. Long time no see.”
“Hyung! Hello.”
“Juwon-ah, hi too.”
“……”
Instead of answering, Jang Juwon turned his head to avoid his gaze. Fuck. He held back the curse that was about to pop out.
“Hyung, you went to graduate school? Why?”
In contrast, Choi Yeonho warmly engaged him in conversation. Choi Yeonho had been quite close with Ahn Jaeon. When Jang Juwon was dating him, he’d introduced him to Choi Yeonho and Shin Jisu as a ‘close sunbae.’ With Choi Yeonho’s characteristic friendliness, the two had quickly become close. Back then, that had been pleasant.
“Yeah, I felt I still needed to learn more.”
“Wow…… Even though hyung got hired at a good place……”
“I know, right. But I found that I prefer studying.”
“Hyung, in that spirit, please buy us dinner!”
“Should I?”
Ahn Jaeon glanced sideways to gauge Jang Juwon’s reaction. He could see him gripping his bag straps tightly with both hands, looking like he was about to bolt at any moment, claiming he’d lost his appetite. So he struck first.
“Juwon-ah, you’re coming too, right?”
“I…”
“Hyung, why are you even asking? Of course! Right, Jang Juwon?”
“No, I…”
“Let’s go, Jang Juwon!”
Choi Yeonho, excited about the free dinner, pushed Jang Juwon’s shoulder. Jang Juwon clicked his tongue inside his mouth. He’d been caught. If it had just been the two of them, he would’ve cursed him out or kicked him to chase him away. But right now, there were too many eyes watching. Just dinner. Really just dinner. With Choi Yeonho there too, nothing much would happen.
* * *
