I didn’t exchange any more words and buried myself deep in my seat. Fortunately, the theater quickly darkened and the movie began to play.
* * *
The movie was clearly an old film from way back. I didn’t know the name, but the actor’s face was somehow familiar. It was a story about a cranky, ill-tempered weather caster who goes to cover Groundhog Day in some region and experiences an endlessly repeating day. What do they call that—a time loop? No, is it time slip? Whatever the term was, it was content related to time anyway.
Since it was a movie I’d never seen before, I wanted to focus on the content. But I couldn’t because of Joel next to me—crunch, crunch, sluuurp, sluuurp!—noisily eating popcorn and drinking, then falling asleep less than 10 minutes after the movie started.
Why was he sleeping like that after bringing me here? Why did he bring me in the first place? Why did he even come if he was going to do that? Doesn’t he care about wasting money? Tsk, I wanted to click my tongue.
“Uuugh, I slept well!”
As soon as the movie ended, Joel opened his eyes, stretched widely, and shouted. He had somehow crumpled up that large body of his and slept soundly in the narrow seat, then made a fuss while pounding his own shoulder with his fist—thud, thud, thud!
“Get that.”
Joel, who had jumped up and was doing waist stretches while swinging his arms left and right, gestured with his eyes at the empty cup and popcorn container rolling around at his feet. Son of a bitch. While swallowing the curse inwardly, I carefully gathered those two items and threw them in the trash can outside the theater. At the same time, I glared at Joel’s broad back as he walked leisurely with both hands stuck in his pockets.
“Hey, seventh.”
“Hm?”
Before Joel could turn around completely, I quickly curved my eyes and smiled brightly. Joel scrunched up his face.
“Why do you have such a stupid look on your face?”
“……”
I don’t, though…… It’s a smile people said looked good…… Adults even told me to smile more often since the sharp edge that came from my appearance would at least disappear. I’d even received several love letters saying things like, ‘When you smile, it’s like spring is coming!’ Joel Gomez’s eyes must be off.
“I’m starving to death, so follow me.”
“……You ate all that popcorn though?”
“How is popcorn a meal? It’s just air.”
Joel chuckled and quickly walked to his car, shouting at me asking why I wasn’t hurrying. I had no idea what kind of air was that heavy and greasy.
* * *
Having arrived at the diner in Joel’s car, I thought desperately, truly sincerely—I wanted to go home so badly.
“What are you going to eat?”
“I’m not eating.”
“Is a skinny body trendy among gays these days? I prefer a body with muscles and firmness though.”
Joel, who had been looking at the menu, raised his head and very explicitly looked over my body. When I pulled my coat closed, that shameless harasser giggled.
“My body is so muscular though!”
“Don’t make me say it twice and eat. Unless you want to find out what’ll happen.”
“……This one.”
I absolutely didn’t want to know what more that bastard would do. I quickly pointed at a menu item with my finger.
“Onion soup? Who eats only that? More.”
“This.”
I roughly moved my finger to the side. This time it was a food item with a picture. It was a ham and cheese omelet.
After calling over a staff member, Joel didn’t finish ordering until he’d ordered about a third of everything on the menu. The staff member who had been writing down each item went back looking fed up.
While Joel’s lengthy order was being taken, I looked down at my phone. It was because it had just vibrated. The sender was Dave.
*July, sorry I couldn’t see you this afternoon*
*I want to kiss you again*
“……”
That sixteen-year-old is really trying to tease his hyung……! But I must have smiled without realizing it.
“Why do you look like that?”
“What?”
“……”
Joel stared at me quietly, and I played dumb. I didn’t make any expression though? When I blinked with that kind of meaning, Joel, who had been narrowing his eyes, moved. He snatched my phone at a very fast speed.
“……Ha.”
“……”
Joel’s eyebrows gradually scrunched fiercely and lifted upward as he looked at the screen.
“‘I want to kiss you again’?”
It was a face where I couldn’t tell if he was angry, irritated, dumbfounded, or all of the above. Whatever it was, it made my spine go cold all the same.
“‘I want to kiss you again’? Huh? The sender, ‘Dave’? ‘Da-ave?'”
Joel’s voice grew much louder. It was loud enough to echo through the space, making the few people there glance toward our table. It was embarrassing. But without caring about my feelings at all—BANG!—Joel’s fist slammed down on the table.
“Fuck, I told you not to meet with this bastard!”
“……”
Joel glared at me with blazing eyes. The way he’s talking is a bit strange. It’s as if…….
“Look, that gay couple over there is fighting!”
“Right. That guy must have cheated with another guy. But wait, aren’t they high school students?”
“……Oh, you’re right. They look like high school students. How cute.”
“……”
At the conversation between the two women at the table across from us, I buried my face in both hands. So embarrassing…….
“Won’t you put your hands down? Fuck. I said put your hands down!”
“Please lower your voice……”
“I! Told! You! Not to! Meet! Him! Fuck!”
“Lower! Your! Voice!”
Unable to hold it in any longer, I also shouted angrily. Not knowing what to do with my fists that I’d clenched without realizing it, I slammed them down on the table just like Joel had done—THUD! But only the bones on the back of my hand that hit the thick tabletop hurt for no reason. I shouldn’t have copied him.
“……When did you start seeing him?”
After taking a deep breath that greatly expanded his ribcage and exhaling, Joel roughly disheveled his bangs. Thinking he had calmed down, I also tried to lower my voice and speak calmly.
“Not really…… It’s not like we’re seeing each other or anything……”
“Ah, so you kissed without even dating?”
Joel’s sharp gaze pierced into me again. No, your tone has been really strange since earlier…… I avoided that gaze subtly and trailed off.
“No, originally when you start seeing someone, you don’t decide that from when, do you, or don’t you……?”
I felt wronged too. What do you know! I have to raise the Romance Index so the Rotten Pineapple score goes up, so this world won’t collapse! When you die later, I’m the only one who can save you! As I thought about it, I got angry and my breathing became shallow.
“It’s not your business to interfere with!”
“Why is it not my business to interfere with? How many times did I warn you! And you said you understood! Then! You shouldn’t! Have met him!”
“Just!”
As he spoke, Joel’s voice, which gradually grew louder as if boiling inside, echoed through the interior of the restaurant. It was enough to make the server carrying food flinch. I jumped up and covered Joel’s mouth with both hands. The glances from around us grew even stronger. Though Joel seemed unsatisfied, he glared at me and huffed but didn’t shake off my hands.
“The warnings you gave me, I’m grateful for those, and it’s true I received warnings multiple times! But I never said I understood. And…… what happened with Dave wasn’t by my own will. There are unavoidable circumstances…… But I can’t tell you that……”
This is inside a drama and I’m possessed by an extra character named July Baek, and anyway I have to save this world. So somehow I ended up kissing Dave. ……Of course, I did decide to try liking him, but setting that aside for now…….
Excuses came pouring into my mind in a stream, but I couldn’t say them. First of all, who would believe this ridiculous story?
“Urk!”
Joel’s tongue licked my palm widely. I flinched in surprise and pulled my hand away. Joel, whose mouth was finally free, asked in a voice still mixed with rough breathing. But the content was absurd.
“Why, did that bastard get something on you?”
“David Evans gets something on a guy to kiss him? That David Evans?”
David Evans with his 97% popularity rating?
I smiled crookedly without realizing it. Even Joel, who hated Dave, couldn’t deny this one fact, so he shut his mouth tight. Joel repeatedly muttered curses starting with F while rubbing his dry palms over his face. After doing that for a while like a crazy person, enough to mess up his hair, he suddenly stopped his actions and glared at me.
“If you’re going to do that kissing thing…… use him and throw him away.”
“What?”
“Yeah. Don’t like this bastard, don’t give him your heart, just use him and throw him away. Just use him only to lose your virginity and throw him away. Yeah. I’ll admit he’s not bad as a first experience target, so use him only for that.”
The more Joel spoke, the more he seemed to gain conviction in his own words.
“What kind of……”
Such trashy words…… When I scrunched up my entire face, the left corner of Joel’s mouth twitched.
“Don’t tell me…… you like him, huh?”
“……No, not yet……”
“‘Not yet’? ‘Not yet’?”
“……”
Why did I say ‘yet’? I had only decided to try liking him, so it was true that I didn’t like him. ……But even though he hates Dave so much, why is he taking it out on me? Why am I catching the flak! I suddenly got angry.
“Are you my parents? My hyung? Even my parents and hyung! Don’t care whether I date men or not! Why are you making such a fuss!”
Even my family in this world doesn’t do that! They’re even waiting for me to come out!
“The problem isn’t that he’s a guy, it’s that that bastard is that bastard!”
“What’s wrong with Dave!”
“He has a bad personality!”
“You’re worse!”
Who is Joel Gomez to badmouth someone else’s personality!
But was that Joel’s weak point? Joel, who had jumped up, grabbed me by the collar. The pulling force was so strong that I, who was dragged upward, had no choice but to get up from my seat. The table shook and the napkin case on top of it fell to the floor with a thud!
