He’d wanted to pour out his heart and so he did. But Seo Eunho soon regretted it. Because Tae Shinwoo kept his mouth shut and didn’t give any answer.
Though he quickly returned to his original color, he’d seen everything—Tae Shinwoo’s ears reddening at his words, his inability to hide his laughter. But without words, he couldn’t be certain of the other person’s true feelings. Just as Tae Shinwoo had repeatedly said.
Seo Eunho waited a long time for Tae Shinwoo’s answer. The longer it took, the more anxious his heart became, and he even felt uneasy wondering if he’d been mistaken.
Of course not. He’d conveyed his feelings long after gaining certainty. Tae Shinwoo had continuously hoped for him to speak his heart as it was.
So why was he keeping his mouth shut and confusing him? A sense of injustice quickly bloomed.
“……What is it.”
That’s why sulky words popped out despite having just confessed.
“Nothing to say?”
Actually, he wasn’t sure what kind of answer he was expecting. Was he hoping to hear that the guy liked him too? Just imagining it made him shiver, though he didn’t know if it was from liking it or hating it.
Ah, either way, he seemed confused like this because he didn’t know what attitude to take.
Seo Eunho decided not to wait for Tae Shinwoo’s answer. Thinking about it carefully, whatever the guy said would probably be embarrassing and awkward. In the midst of it, he also thought he’d picked the wrong timing. Wouldn’t it be quite embarrassing to go into the house together like this?
But he couldn’t tell him to go back to his own house because it was mortifying, so Seo Eunho hid his embarrassment by moving his steps quickly.
“Then let’s go. I said what I had to……!”
It was then that Tae Shinwoo suddenly grabbed Seo Eunho’s wrist.
“Ah.”
He grabbed it so forcefully that his wrist stung. At the same time, Tae Shinwoo started walking. Seo Eunho was almost dragged along.
“What are you doing?”
His bewilderment at the sudden action was brief. Seo Eunho realized he was heading toward the house and asked. They were already on their way home, but he couldn’t understand why he was suddenly hurrying.
However, Tae Shinwoo didn’t answer. Walking in silence, they were soon in front of the house. The hand pressing the door code was urgent. At least that’s how it looked to Seo Eunho.
“……So?”
Bang! The front door closed with a loud sound. At the same time, Tae Shinwoo grabbed both of Seo Eunho’s arms and asked while facing him. Seo Eunho furrowed his brow.
He wasn’t angry, but the atmosphere was strange. Tae Shinwoo was looking at him with a face devoid of any trace of laughter. His unwavering eyes felt like they were burning fiercely.
“What?”
Seo Eunho tried to appear as nonchalant as possible as he answered. If he didn’t, he felt like he’d be completely swept away. He wasn’t sure exactly what he’d be swept away by though.
“You said you like me. So?”
“……So what.”
“Nothing more to say?”
His eyes sparkled with expectation. His lips were parched and he desperately wanted to moisten them with his tongue, but he felt like he shouldn’t. The tension made it feel like all his fine hairs were standing on end. No matter how hard he tried to act calm, Tae Shinwoo already had a face that showed he knew he was agitated. He moved a little closer. Seo Eunho unconsciously stepped back, but before long his back touched the front door. With no corner to escape to, the distance between him and Tae Shinwoo only narrowed further.
“So what do you want to do?”
Tae Shinwoo’s lips curved in an arc. But why did his gaze look so persistent? He’d always thought Tae Shinwoo acted leisurely, but now it all seemed like an illusion.
Seo Eunho briefly lowered his gaze, took a small deep breath, then met his eyes again. Tae Shinwoo’s gaze, which seemed never to have left for even a moment, was both burdensome and yet welcome. He thought he now understood what he wanted, why he was asking this.
“……I don’t know.”
But Seo Eunho didn’t move as he wanted. It was because he thought Tae Shinwoo was somewhat annoying for hoping that just saying he liked him wasn’t enough and that he’d take one more step closer himself.
“Why do you keep asking only me? When you’re keeping your mouth shut tight.”
He hadn’t meant to, but even to his own ears it was a grumbling tone. At that, Tae Shinwoo burst into laughter and wiggled his eyebrows. Even in the midst of it, his gaze that wouldn’t fall away was persistent.
“I told you. ……That I like you.”
Though it was a somewhat small voice, there was no way he couldn’t have heard it. Tae Shinwoo pressed his lips tight, then nodded. His lips slowly opened. Seo Eunho watched him as if entranced.
“Me too.”
He’d roughly guessed, no, been certain, but it was the first time Tae Shinwoo’s feelings had come out of his mouth. Was that why? His heart sank.
“I like you too.”
Even if it was a feeling everyone knew about, there was a world of difference between saying it out loud and not. Only then did Seo Eunho understand why Tae Shinwoo had so insisted that he speak his heart with his own mouth.
Laughter leaked out unconsciously. His heart that had sunk now pounded as if it would be coughed up through his throat. It wasn’t a bad feeling. Rather, he even thought he wanted to run around from joy, which was so unlike him.
“…….”
Seo Eunho didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to say. It was rather because he was too happy. He couldn’t manage his expression at all. He tried to lower the corners of his mouth, but his cheekbones tingled. They wouldn’t go down at all.
He now understood why Tae Shinwoo hadn’t said anything earlier too. The overwhelming emotion didn’t easily subside.
“What about you?”
To such a Seo Eunho, Tae Shinwoo asked the same thing. Seo Eunho narrowed his brow and answered.
“I keep saying it.”
“I want to hear it again.”
“……Even though you already knew…….”
Why was he asking again, so happy about what? He tried to lower his head while swallowing his next words. He wanted to keep looking into Tae Shinwoo’s eyes, but he absolutely couldn’t win. If he kept facing him any longer, he felt like he’d have a heart attack.
“I waited so long for this. It’s only natural I’d want to hear it.”
Even at the voice tinged with laughter, Seo Eunho didn’t raise his head. A sulky answer followed.
“It’s not like you didn’t know.”
Of course, hearing it directly and guessing were different. But still, since it wasn’t something he completely didn’t expect, there was no need to keep demanding like this. At this point, it seemed like he kept asking because he found his embarrassment amusing.
“As I said before, I’m the one who was clingy from the start.”
“Clingy, who was…….”
Well, he quickly learned from what Tae Shinwoo added next that that wasn’t true.
Come to think of it, that was right. From the beginning, it was Tae Shinwoo who approached him. He’d thought he was crazy for approaching so persistently when he kept pushing him away.
It hadn’t been that long ago, yet it already felt so distant that he laughed emptily.
Seo Eunho slowly raised his head. Why had Tae Shinwoo done that? Did he know it would turn out like this? Since when had he liked him?
Various curiosities arose, but there was no need to resolve them right now.
“I like you.”
The voice he’d tried to sound nonchalant was calm, but his fingertips were moving restlessly, not knowing what to do. Tae Shinwoo’s face, having heard the words he wanted, brightened. He could assert that his face smiling with his eyes folded was the coolest expression of his he’d seen. So much so that he hoped no one else would see it.
“Then, does this mean we’re dating?”
Tae Shinwoo asked with that bright face. Seo Eunho let out a short hollow laugh.
“After doing everything, what’s the point of talking about dating or not now?”
It wasn’t that he was trying to pick a fight—Seo Eunho really thought so. Actually, they’d just been late to say they liked each other, but they’d already kissed, so talking about dating or not now felt a bit ridiculous.
“Done everything? Who?”
However, Tae Shinwoo seemed to think completely differently from Seo Eunho. Judging by how he wrinkled his face and reacted to his words. Burying his puzzlement and subtle anxiety, Seo Eunho nodded. At that, Tae Shinwoo let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.
“That’s not true. Do you know how much I’ve held back?”
Tae Shinwoo’s hand grabbed Seo Eunho’s chin. Though he didn’t apply much force, his stiffly frozen head was fixed in place, only looking at Tae Shinwoo.
“Ah…….”
Without any time to think, Tae Shinwoo immediately kissed his lips. Seo Eunho, who’d expected it to touch briefly and pull away like before, was rather flustered by the tip of a tongue that entered between his lips. At the unexpected situation, Seo Eunho grabbed Tae Shinwoo’s shoulder, but didn’t push him away.
He vividly felt the corners of Tae Shinwoo’s lips rise as they touched. As the lips gently pulled away, Seo Eunho blinked his eyes which he hadn’t even realized were closed.
“There’s so much I want to do.”
To such a Seo Eunho, Tae Shinwoo said with a giggle. Without any chance to answer, their lips met again. It felt like he could hear all the pulse sounds in his body. The strength in his legs naturally wanted to give out. As if he’d noticed exactly that, Tae Shinwoo made Seo Eunho put his hands behind his neck. The distance narrowed sharply, and in the obvious position of being held, Seo Eunho only then squeezed his eyes shut.
Ah, I’m going crazy.
He couldn’t think about anything. So Seo Eunho decided not to think about anything. Strength filled the hands wrapped around Tae Shinwoo’s neck. He couldn’t distinguish whether the heat pouring out from his whole body was his or Tae Shinwoo’s. But either way, it didn’t really matter.
* * *
“Homo bastards.”
Kim Junseong looked at his phone and clicked his tongue. Looking at the photo of the guys being inseparably affectionate only made him feel disgusted.
To think he’d considered such a guy a friend. What a terrible thing. Had he been gay from the start? Could he have possibly harbored such feelings toward him too?
“Ugh.”
Just thinking about it made his body shudder. He hated it so much that he didn’t even want to be in the same class. He wanted to spread rumors about it to the whole school but…….
Kim Junseong shook his head after consideration. The photos of Tae Shinwoo and Seo Eunho walking stuck too close together to be friends became money every time he gave them. It was because some crazy woman demanded them from him.
She’d said she’d give more money if he took photos that could more clearly prove their relationship. And Kim Junseong had caught them today. He’d taken a shot of Tae Shinwoo grabbing Seo Eunho’s wrist and walking.
And the two went into the house they lived in together. Since he’d been secretly following them around so much, he’d known for a while that they lived together.
Really disgusting. Kim Junseong shuddered and pretended to gag. It was his eternal regret that he couldn’t tell anyone because she’d threatened that if he told anyone, she wouldn’t give him money.
“Should I just release them all pretending it’s a mistake?”
He really wanted to send the hot-off-the-press photos he’d just taken today to other friends, especially Jang Hoyoung who’d been backstabbed just like him. Honestly, people can make mistakes. Wouldn’t it be fine if he just said he didn’t know?
The rationalization was very easy. Kim Junseong eventually found the contact information of several friends including Jang Hoyoung. It was to send them the photos of Tae Shinwoo and Seo Eunho too.
“Ah, fuck. Which bastard……!”
However, Kim Junseong couldn’t send the photos to anyone. It was because someone who’d approached without him knowing suddenly snatched his phone away. Kim Junseong tried to get angry but ended up speechless. Actually, he didn’t even have a chance to speak.
“Mmph!”
In the middle of the street, Kim Junseong’s mouth was covered and he was dragged into a black car. He didn’t even have a chance to resist.
The car leisurely left the road. The street was only quiet as if nothing had happened.
