“Don’t mess around and get your young master self back to the dorm.”
“I’ll get caught by curfew.”
Only then did Woojae’s eyes widen round. Having just finished their meal and dessert, it was just past 11 PM. It was 40 minutes by car to school, so if he went now it would be tight. If it passed midnight, there was no way for Gye Sajun to enter the dorm. Unless he waited outside until 5 AM.
“Th-then go home!”
“If I go in at this hour, I’ll be interrogated. I want to owe you a favor too.”
Because the words about owing a favor reminded him of the incident when he’d caused tremendous trouble for Gye Sajun before, Woojae’s momentum quieted down. The fact that he hadn’t treated the guy to much pricked his conscience painfully.
“You’re going to… sleep over at my place?”
“Yeah. Is it not okay? You told Bang Minwook to come over.”
When he asked to confirm again, Gye Sajun nodded and added. He’d definitely been planning to tell Minwook to come over, but,
“Are you the same as him?”
Bang Minwook and Gye Sajun were different. If asked to explain exactly how they were different, he’d be at a loss for words, but anyway they were different. The problem was that at the question asked without a proper explanation, Gye Sajun didn’t meekly accept it.
“You asked me to be friends. He’s your friend and I’m your friend too, so why are you only discriminating against me?”
Discriminating… was it? Unlike his rebuttal full of loopholes, Gye Sajun’s words were far too reasonable. Minwook was his friend, and Gye Sajun was his friend too, so there was nothing wrong with his words. In the end, unable to find words to retort, Woojae surrendered.
“Fuck. Follow me then, if you want!”
Though it wasn’t a deflated appearance like an ordinary surrender declaration.
“This is my first time going over to a friend’s house.”
Gye Sajun, who had been following behind, made another cute remark as soon as they arrived in front of the house. He regretted it. Why did he suggest being friends or whatever to cause this trouble?
“Just shut up and follow me.”
Climbing the narrow stairs, Woojae squeezed his eyes shut. Still, he thought it was fortunate he’d cleaned. Wasn’t this the guy who’d given him looks in his dorm room as if it was filthy? If he’d brought him straight into a place full of dust, it was obvious he would have heard more annoying remarks.
Standing in front of the shabby front door, Woojae spoke to Gye Sajun, who had followed him without complaint, as if making a declaration of war.
“Come in. It’ll be small and shabby, but if you show it, I’ll kill you.”
Due to the step difference on the stairs, he ended up looking down at Gye Sajun. Probably in Gye Sajun’s eyes, he would look quite intimidating due to the backlight. Thinking that made him feel needlessly proud, yet he didn’t like Gye Sajun’s face that looked especially handsome shadowed by the lighting. His eyelashes are longer and fuller than I thought.
After taking a deep breath and entering inside, Gye Sajun followed him in. Gye Sajun, who was taller than him, with a bit of exaggeration, looked like he might touch the ceiling.
“Beanpole.”
“Then you’re a dwarf.”
“Who’s a dwarf?!”
When he huffed and glared, the guy smiled, folding his eyes. A face that left him speechless. As Woojae stood there at a loss for words, Gye Sajun moved first. And as if deciding the small sofa in the living room was his spot, he naturally sat there.
“I’m a guest, aren’t you going to give me tea?”
“Tea? What a pain in the ass.”
Needlessly irritated, Woojae rummaged through the cupboard with a sullen face. There was something in the old tea bag box. But if he served this, he thought it might cause stomach problems.
“We only have brown rice green tea but it’s past the expiration date. Want instant coffee instead?”
“Give it to me.”
There was one small box of instant coffee mix he’d received as a promotional gift a couple months ago. He was dumbfounded that he immediately said to give it to him without even refusing, but since he was a guest, he couldn’t treat him carelessly.
“Hot?”
“Can you make it cold too?”
“No. I don’t have ice frozen.”
“Then why are you asking?”
“Fuck, it’s a habit. Why.”
“You have a strange habit.”
I take back saying he’s cute. He’s definitely an annoying bastard. Woojae filled the kettle with water and placed it on the gas stove. After dumping 2 packets of instant coffee mix into each cup, all that was left was to wait.
“Can I look around the room?”
“What for? There’s nothing to see.”
Compared to Gye Sajun’s main house, which was probably as spacious as a palace, his house would be a booger itself. Still, seeing the guy who wanted to look around anyway, he found it difficult to just say no. He was going to sleep over anyway, so whatever.
“Do as you please.”
While the coffee boiled, he also needed to think about where and how to put Gye Sajun to sleep, so he decided to give permission.
On the other hand, Sajun, who had inadvertently entered Go Woojae’s house, was in quite a good mood. The modest and shabby interior of the house seemed both like and unlike Go Woojae.
At the end of his gaze hung two photographs. Two adults who were probably Go Woojae’s mother and father stood side by side smiling. The young woman wearing a wedding dress in what was probably a wedding photo had a face similar to Woojae’s but more delicate. Gye Sajun carefully took in the two people with his eyes. And thought. About Go Woojae’s origins. His stubborn-looking nose bridge was inherited from his father, and his slightly upturned, fresh-looking eyes resembled his mother.
Next was a family photo. The woman who had been wearing a dress had become a slightly aged face. The man, who had aged more than in the wedding photo, had his arm around her shoulder.
And standing next to the woman was Go Woojae, who appeared to be around elementary school age. Young Woojae was quite refreshing. He was also very short at this age, so was Go Woojae similar? Symmetrically, next to the man stood a girl who looked younger than Woojae. A younger sibling?
“Come out. The coffee’s done.”
Setting aside the younger sibling, just as he was about to look more closely at young Woojae’s face, Go Woojae shouted from beyond the door. Considering his personality, if he knew he’d been looking at the family photo, he probably wouldn’t like it very much. Sajun withdrew the hand he’d extended toward the frame and stepped out of the room.
“Drink.”
The yellowish-brown liquid in the mug was emitting warm steam. Sajun carefully received it and took a sip of the coffee that gave off a sweet smell.
“It’s sweet.”
“So does it taste bad?”
“It seems… to taste good.”
“What kind of answer is that?”
Today Go Woojae seemed to be in quite a good mood. He laughed a lot and didn’t get angry easily.
“You were so busy all the time, why did you come home this week?”
“Tomorrow is my younger sibling’s birthday, so I came to make seaweed soup. My sibling can’t come because of a quiz, so it fell through.”
He readily answered the question and showed the emotions he’d been hiding inside more easily.
“Are you disappointed?”
Sajun impulsively asked. At that question, Woojae’s eyes wavered faintly. He must be disappointed. A faint jealousy rose at the sight of him caring so much for his younger sibling.
“Don’t talk nonsense and give me the cup if you’re done. So I can wash the dishes.”
He didn’t like that he didn’t answer the question about being disappointed and immediately stood up. He drew lines as if it were some iron rule that if you took one step closer, he’d step two steps farther away.
“Should I help?”
“Help with washing one cup? Go wash up. There should be a spare toothbrush in the bathroom cupboard, so use it.”
The back that turned away looked particularly fragile today, and he wanted to hold it. Sajun looked at Woojae’s back for a moment, then headed to the half-open bathroom. The appearance of the small house where you could see the entire interior with one turn of the head felt more like a dorm than a house. The bathroom was also the same size as a dorm bathroom.
“Why are the toilet and shower in the same place?”
“That’s how commoner homes are, so just endure it.”
Even the dorm had divided spaces, but since he said it was a characteristic of ‘commoner’ homes, he had no choice but to nod obediently. He noticed tiles cracked here and there, and saw a cup with two toothbrushes stuck in it. The neatly folded towel somehow looked stiff and rough. The cucumber soap placed as if showing off was welcome. Sajun took off all the clothes he was wearing and began fiddling with the faucet of a shape he’d never seen in his life.
***
[Go Woojae, how do you turn on this shower?]
“Ah shit, he’s so high-maintenance, seriously.”
Woojae, who had finished washing dishes, roughly shook the water off his hands and glared at the bathroom. His home’s faucet was really old, so it had a different shape from the ones that came out these days, and it was a bit tricky to turn on because it was broken, but it was frustrating that he couldn’t even do that much on his own. What was he, an emperor from feudal times or something? It was when he crossed the living room with rough footsteps and flung open the bathroom door.
“Eek!”
“What’s wrong?”
Woojae screamed. Because a completely unexpected scene was unfolding.
“What are you doing standing there naked, you crazy bastard!”
Naked Gye Sajun stood tall looking at him. He raised his arm to cover his eyes in an instant, but an afterimage remained. Muscular forearms, a broad chest, distinct abs, and below that……
“Do you wear clothes when you wash?”
The voice asking dubiously was plain. As if that would be the case? You’re talking nonsense.
“At least wrap a towel around! Don’t show me your thing dangling!”
Woojae, with his eyes covered, roughly gauged the location and snatched the hanging towel and threw it. And while Gye Sajun covered his lower body, he turned around.
“Should we wash together?”
In an instant, his eyes widened at the heat that suddenly pressed in from behind. The temperature emanating from the guy standing right behind him was hot enough to seem to penetrate through the thin short-sleeved shirt. At the close distance, almost touching but not quite, that dream came to mind again and his mind began to scatter. The guy’s behavior of pitching a tent under his butt also came to mind.
“Don’t friends wash together?”
The breath touching his ear was hot.
