ABM CH 1

Chapter 1. That Guy Acts Strange Around Me

Woo Yeonho was a strange guy. His actions were always full of incongruities, and everything about him, down to his very words, was pretentious. The problem was that I was the only one who knew this.

With his handsome appearance, excellent grades, and a good family background, he had no worries and possessed a friendliness that spanned all ages. He was also outstanding in the arts, sweeping awards at school and external competitions. In short, he was a genius.

That was the bare minimum of how people evaluated Woo Yeonho.

As people said, there was nothing Woo Yeonho couldn’t do. If he set his mind to it, he could reach the top, and thus, he was always at the top.

Such Woo Yeonho was an alien presence everywhere. He was always surrounded by people, but his aura was different from theirs. Even wearing the same uniform and sitting in the same classroom, he stood out like a drop of red ink in a white space.

Those who admired Woo Yeonho attached all kinds of flowery phrases to him, and Woo Yeonho carried those labels around like tags.

「As expected, you’re different from us. You’re amazing.」

What was different? What was the difference between us and the guy who didn’t even bother to hide his unpleasant feelings and expressed them just as they were?

I knew the Woo Yeonho that he tried to hide, or rather, the Woo Yeonho that others couldn’t see. He smiled while feeling displeased and spoke kindly while insulting the other person. Those stupid kids didn’t even realize Woo Yeonho was insulting them and laughed along.

That didn’t mean Woo Yeonho did things he didn’t want to just because of people’s attention. Sometimes, he would turn into a self-centered jerk, to the point of being insufferable, but most of the time, his likeable face seemed to offset his unpleasantness.

Anyway, I knew. I was the only one who knew.

Woo Yeonho, his true self…

“Seongwoo yah.”

I heard a sweet voice that seemed to emit a sugary scent above my head. It was Woo Yeonho. I didn’t know when he had arrived, but he was standing behind me, leaning against the desk and calling my name as if to envelop me while I sat in the chair.

‘He said Seungwoo. Seungwoo ya.’

I never imagined the day would come when my name would come out of Woo Yeonho’s mouth.

‘How did he know my name?’

We had never spoken a word to each other. My ears were itching too much. No, more than that, isn’t this position too strange? If he had something to say, couldn’t he just call me?

Thankfully, it was early morning and no one was around. If someone had seen this scene, the girls who liked Woo Yeonho would have heard about it and I would have faced all sorts of jealousy and envy.

Since I didn’t want to become the subject of those girls’ gossip, I pulled my arms inward and hunched my shoulders to avoid touching his arm that was resting on the desk.

…Despite doing that, I couldn’t help my back from touching Woo Yeonho’s upper body.

Whether he knew my efforts or not, Woo Yeonho bent down further.

“Do you like it?”

“…Huh? Wha… what, what?”

I stammered like an idiot at Woo Yeonho’s words that cut off the beginning and end.

‘Did I look stupid?’

Although Woo Yeonho was the one who did something wrong, that was my first worry.

Fortunately, Woo Yeonho didn’t laugh or tease me. Instead, his fingers touched my lips. Along with that voice as sweet as the word itself.

“Chocolate.”

The chocolate that entered my mouth had a slight bitterness to it. After that, the sweetness that seemed to melt even my tongue made my mouth feel sticky.

Woo Yeonho’s fingers lingered on my lips for only a moment before they pulled away, but the sensation that remained there made my head blank,  making me unable to recall what his fingers felt like.

‘Were they warm or cold? Did they have calluses? They seemed soft.’

Woo Yeonho spoke in a voice tinged with laughter.

“You seem to like it.”

“Uh, um, th-thank you.”

“Cute.”

“…?”

“Want some more?”

While I was momentarily dumbfounded by his comment about me being cute, another piece of chocolate entered my mouth. Woo Yeonho sat directly in front of me, holding a tray of chocolates in one hand and a piece of chocolate from the tray in the other, waiting.

‘Even though I accepted it without thinking, why is he giving this to me? Do I look hungry?’

It’s strange. I had breakfast and I was full. Did he think I wanted it because I was looking at it? But I was looking at Woo Yeonho’s face, not at what he was holding. Oh, it’s delicious. There’s almond in it too. Does Woo Yeonho like chocolate as well? The packaging looks expensive, is it okay to eat it so freely?

As I was lost in these thoughts, I realized that I had already accepted and eaten all the chocolate Woo Yeonho had been holding.

While I ate all of it, Woo Yeonho amused himself by saying things like, “You eat well,” “Is it that delicious?” “You look cute chewing like that,” and “You look like a rabbit.” 

These were words one wouldn’t typically say to another boy, but Woo Yeonho was so good at making such remarks with a pleasant demeanor that I decided to pretend I didn’t hear them.

“I’m glad I brought it.”

“Oh… If it was a gift, shouldn’t you be the one eating it…?”

“It’s fine. I don’t like sweet things, so I was wondering what to do with it, but I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“Oh… I see… Um… Thanks… It was good…”

Woo Yeonho’s light brown eyes stared intently at me. They were so clear that I could see my stupid face reflected in them. Somehow, it felt like my image was entering his eyes, which made me feel strange. Was this how everyone who faced Woo Yeonho felt?

From that day on, Woo Yeonho often brought me food in the mornings when we were alone. Rather than just giving it to me, he would bring it and directly put it into my mouth. Sometimes it was candy, other times it was cake, cookies…

There was a wide variety. It seemed like he received them as gifts on his way to school, but Woo Yeonho not only disliked sweets but seemed to be repulsed by them. If that were the case, he could just refuse them. 

The Woo Yeonho I knew wasn’t someone who would go out of his way to do something he didn’t like. Yet, despite being a troublesome gift that only gave him the problem of figuring out what to do with it, Woo Yeonho consistently accepted them and fed them to me.

It was incomprehensible behavior. Why was he suddenly doing this to me, someone he had never even spoken to before? Did he find it amusing after trying it once? Could this really be fun?

Like most people, the sense of inferiority felt by those who don’t have everything towards those who do is a very ugly emotion. I, too, harbored that ugly feeling. 

Whether Woo Yeonho’s actions stemmed from kindness or amusement, I didn’t know, but I gradually started finding his behavior unpleasant. Although I was still confused by his fingertips touching my lips or his hand brushing my hair, it was only a momentary confusion, followed by a lingering discomfort.

So today, when Woo Yeonho brought soft jelly and pressed it against my lips as usual, I finally slapped his hand away for the first time.

The bear-shaped jelly, which had been pressed between Woo Yeonho’s fingertips and my lips, bounced off the desk and fell to the floor. It was way too springy. I quickly bent down to pick up the fallen jelly, only to regret it immediately.

What was I going to do after picking it up? I wasn’t going to eat it, and it would be ridiculous to hand it back to Woo Yeonho and ask him to throw it away. As I straightened my bent back, I glanced at Woo Yeonho, who was sitting across from me. There was no discernible expression on his face. He was just smiling.

When I observed him from a distance, I could tell immediately what kind of mood he was in by his expressions—whether he was annoyed, happy, or angry—but up close, I couldn’t read anything from his face. I clenched the jelly in my palm tightly. I went too far to the point I couldn’t say sorry. What a mess.

“…I… I don’t like jelly…”

Oh, stupid Park Seungwoo! What do you mean, “I don’t like jelly!” It sounds as if you’re whining!

“Really?”

Woo Yeonho said, smiling with his eyes. If the girls had seen it, they would have gushed about how cute it was. Come to think of it, Woo Yeonho was a very smiley person. He was handsome, and he looked even better when he smiled. While a smiling face is said to be the best way to appear likable, the problem was that all his smiles were fake. Even now, though he was smiling, he was probably cursing me inside for rejecting him. As if to prove it, the bag containing several more jellies crumpled in Woo Yeonho’s hand.

“I guess I won’t bring this again.”

It was as if he wouldn’t be bringing anything I didn’t eat.

‘Is that what he meant?’

What he just said could easily be misunderstood. If I were a girl instead of a boy, I might have the illusion that he liked me. That would be the worst kind of illusion.

While I was thinking that, Woo Yeonho started playing with my stiff, dry hair. The slow rubbing of his fingertips made my whole body feel ticklish, starting from my head. I just wished someone would come quickly. Woo Yeonho only acted like this when we were alone.

“Seungwoo yah.”

“Uh, yeah?”

This time, Woo Yeonho’s hand, which had been playing with my hair, tickled my earlobe. My shoulder jerked up in surprise. I was already puzzled over why he was touching my hair, and now I had to figure out what to make of this overt behavior. If it were someone else instead of me, I would have thought, “Oh, Woo Yeonho must like that person.”

“How do you dry your hair?”

“…What?”

“It’s all damaged. It’s such a waste.”

I blinked a few times, not knowing that I was making a dumbfounded face, and quickly swept my bangs away. For a moment, I imagined Woo Yeonho having a girlfriend. If he did, he would definitely act like this, and that thought made my heart race for a bit. It was so embarrassing and humiliating to think that if Woo Yeonho hadn’t stopped, I might have fallen into a serious delusion.

From the next day, I started leaving the house a bit later. I always left early to avoid the crowded bus, but I decided it was better than being alone in an empty classroom with Woo Yeonho.

When he got too close, I couldn’t read his emotions. I didn’t want to be swayed by Woo Yeonho’s outward appearance like other foolish people.

Woo Yeonho didn’t say much about my changed behavior. I wondered what he did with the snacks he received every day. It seemed best to either refuse them or share them with hungry classmates. Feeding someone in that manner was bound to cause misunderstandings.