At the suddenly deepened skinship, Hongdan froze for a moment. After awkwardly rolling his eyes around, only when he finally met Seonha’s gray eyes that had approached right up to a span away did he hurriedly pull his body back.
“Why, why! What!”
“No, I was just wondering if you had a fever or something…”
Because Hongdan suddenly shouted, Seonha looked just as surprised. Enough that his rather sharp eyes widened into circles.
However, not long after, Seonha’s eyes curved loosely along with his lips. It looked as if he’d discovered something on Hongdan’s flustered face.
“You must be really hungry. I should hurry and grill Hongdan’s meat, right.”
Seonha changed the intensity of the skinship as Hongdan wanted. Instead of gripping his wrist, he just lightly tugged on his sleeve to seat him. Hongdan pretended to be unable to resist that feeble force and was pulled along. In reality, it was no different from going of his own accord.
“Wait just a bit. Sorry for being late.”
Seonha held his shoulder and whispered lowly. At the apology that tickled his ear, Hongdan lowered his gaze to the dining table.
Why the hell are you saying this, you idiot…
And he didn’t raise his head the entire time until Seonha personally called his name.
“Hongdan, Hongdan, look at this! This onion looks just like a heart shape. Isn’t it so cute!”
***
On Sunday morning, when it felt wasteful to just rest before the approaching weekday, Hongdan poked Seonha’s back as he was doing the dishes.
“Hey, don’t do that. Let’s go out with me.”
Seonha turned around while wearing rubber gloves.
“Huh? Where?”
…He was clearly a guy who exuded such an air of wealth that even a passing three-year-old would spontaneously ask, ‘Hyung, are you rich?’
But the sight of tacky hot pink fitted on such a Seonha’s forearm had now reached the point where it didn’t feel awkward.
Just how accustomed had he become to playing his servant? Hongdan unconsciously let out a deflated sound of laughter, then immediately cleared his throat with a cough.
“Ahem… Where else. You said you wanted to go to the library. We don’t have anything particular to do, so let’s go.”
The reason for the untimely suggestion was that he wanted to quickly shake off the unpleasantness that had been clinging to him all night. Before he realized what its identity was.
Hongdan looked up at Seonha with a resolute face. However, there was no response from Seonha, who had been the one to suggest this plan first.
“Mm…”
“What, you don’t want to? When were you jumping around saying let’s go.”
It was a slightly exaggerated statement. Honestly, he’d never been that frivolously wild. Though he did smile cheerfully as usual.
It just seemed like the current Yeon Seonha would let it slide even if he slandered him without any context like this.
Sure enough, instead of feeling wronged that he hadn’t behaved so flippantly, Seonha lightly chuckled. But shaking his head was contrary to Hongdan’s expectation.
“No, I’m fine with it. But Hongdan, you have to go to work tomorrow. You can’t because you’ll be tired. The library isn’t close either.”
“Even with traffic, it’ll only take about 30 or 40 minutes.”
“It’s okay. We can go next time. Let’s just rest at home today.”
“…”
This wasn’t it.
Because Seonha had become uncharacteristically mature, the weight in his heart that he’d tried to unload became even heavier instead. Hongdan chewed his cheek and pondered something new. He needed a plan that wouldn’t look too easy while still being able to erase his guilt to some degree.
What other places did I used to go with him?
Though he’d met Seonha in high school, it was a period when Hongdan was very busy, so aside from school and the library, no place came to mind. The places he’d gone to most often were restaurants near school, but there was no way Seonha would obediently follow him to school, which was farther than the library.
Ah, where should I take him?
Then a stale conversation flashed through his mind.
‘Have you done all that kind of stuff too?’
‘What? Arcade?’
‘Yeah. Have you?’
‘A few times when I was young? I think it’s been over 2 years since I went too. The last time was in 9th grade when I went with a fri… friend.’
‘…Let’s go.’
‘What? Hey, we have a week left until the exam, you know? Are you trying to ruin someone’s life!’
‘If your life will be ruined by goofing off for an hour or two, then it was a life that was going to be ruined anyway, Hongdan. Let’s just go for a bit.’
‘You ask so fucking prettily, damn. I’m not going, bastard!’
Would he remember up to this point?
At least that precious Young Master did enjoy taking the hand of a lowly commoner and experiencing common life, so it wouldn’t be entirely useless. Fortunately, there was an arcade within walking distance from home.
Hongdan poked the broad back once more. Seonha, who was finishing up the dishes, didn’t turn around immediately and admonished in a calm tone.
“Yeah, just a moment. I’m almost done.”
“Mm.”
Hongdan felt like a thoughtless child whining about being bored instead of helping mom with housework, but whatever. Anyway, the bastard was dying to treat him like a preschooler these days, so there wasn’t much sense of incongruity.
Hongdan obediently backed away and waited until the dishes were done. Not long after, Seonha approached while organizing his rubber gloves.
“Why?”
Whether it was because of that upright gaze, now that he was about to say it, he felt unnecessarily embarrassed. Hongdan just poked the innocent floor with his toes while beating around the bush.
“Ah, just, you know. The weather’s nice but I’m bored staying home. But like you said, I don’t want to go far either.”
“Then? Is there something you want to do?”
When Hongdan strangely didn’t make eye contact, Seonha bent down to meet his gaze. Hongdan turned his head away completely. However, he felt heat rising again in his skin, which seemed to have no intention of cooperating with its owner at all.
Fuck, I can’t go around wearing a mask at home.
“Uh uh- there’s a pretty big arcade near here. I thought all those kinds of places disappeared these days, but I guess because retro is trendy, you see them here and there? Maybe because I keep noticing it as I come and go, I want to go after a long time too. And I think you suggested going befoooore or something… You know, those kinds of places aren’t fun to go alone.”
He wondered if he’d always been this bad at speaking. For someone who made a living writing, this sentence structure. His already heated face added shame on top. It was fortunate at least that Yeon Seonha was currently half a screw loose, limited to Choi Hongdan.
The properly dazed bastard blinked for a moment, then immediately even clapped his hands in delight. This time he really jumped in place enough to shake the ground.
“I love it! Really? Are you really going to hang out with me?”
“No, it’s just that I’m bored so I’m going to play, and it’s a bit better if you’re there, so I’m taking you along as an extra or something…”
“Ah- extra or whatever! Anyway, it means you want to go with me, right? Wait just a moment, Hongdan. I’ll quickly brush my teeth and change clothes and come out!”
Thanks to that, Hongdan had also forgotten emotions like shame before he knew it. He could just lightly narrow his brow and give Seonha the usual rebuke.
“Hey, don’t be unnecessarily fussy and take your time. Anyone would think we’re going to an amusement park.”
“With just you here, it’s more exciting than any amusement park-“
“Do you want to see me throw up after feeding me breakfast? How did the kid get so disgusting?”
Of course, Seonha didn’t care and kept giggling.
Had acting turned into sincerity, or was he originally a bastard who laughed like that?
Hongdan had also stopped distinguishing the authenticity of that smile at some point. In fact, whether it was forced or sincere, it seemed like it didn’t really matter anymore. Though it was an embarrassing thing to say, it might be because the source was always clear.
Seonha, who had seemed to be entering the bathroom with such a stupid expression, suddenly stopped laughing and peeked his face out.
“Hongdan, just count up to exactly 300!”
Compared to his rather serious face, what came back was nonsense as expected.
Count to 300. Treating someone who’ll be thirty the day after tomorrow like a preschooler should be done in moderation, what is this.
He went back in before Hongdan could start nagging. Soon after, it seemed like humming was faintly flowing from beyond the shabby door with peeling paint on the corners.
Hongdan, who was still in the kitchen, let out a hollow laugh and slowly walked out.
“If it’s 5 minutes, it’s 5 minutes, what’s with 300, that elementary school kid.”
He didn’t bother going into his room to avoid the noise Seonha was making. Instead, he languidly stretched his body on the sofa and looked at the bathroom door. As he did so, a faint sense of anticipation rose in Hongdan too. It seemed he’d caught it from Seonha.
“…It will be fun.”
His lips naturally started to curl up slowly. Hongdan quickly buried his face in the sofa as if someone might see. Then he muttered in a barely audible voice, calming his unsettled heart.
“27… 28… 29… 30…”
