ABM CH16

Chapter 16: I Hate Tomatoes, But Ketchup Is Delicious

After the rain stopped, patches of blue sky peeked through the dark clouds. Woo Yeonho, who had been smiling gently, leaned in and pressed his pretty lips to mine, just as I had wished. He must have some kind of superpower to read my mind.

Did he hear other things too, like when I sometimes called him a jerk? To be fair, he deserved it every time. Still, he’d probably feel bad if he knew. I guess I should be more careful from now on. No more swearing in front of him, and less thinking about how much I like him…

‘Ah… this feels nice.’

Woo Yeon-ho’s lips were still soft, moist, and warm. 

‘Did the other people he kissed feel this way too?’

It felt like I was floating above the ground, surrounded by fluffy pink cotton candy. If this was how a kiss felt as a joke, how much better would it be with someone you truly loved?

While I was lost in thought, his hands cupped my cheeks, pressing them gently as if he were holding warm buns. My lips kept puckering out like a goldfish’s from the pressure, making me worry about how ridiculous I must have looked.

‘I probably look so silly right now.’

Even so, Woo Yeonho kissed my puckered lips twice more.

“S-stop it…”

“Your face is so red, Seungwoo.”

“…Is it really that red?”

“Yeah. Just like a tomato.”

I don’t like tomatoes. The taste is strange, they’re too mushy, and eating them is just inconvenient… Well, they’re somewhat tolerable if you sprinkle sugar on them. My mom used to do that for me when I was little.

‘I wonder if Woo Yeonho likes tomatoes.’

While absentmindedly rubbing my flushed cheeks, I thought about it. 

“I like tomatoes.”

“…Huh…?”

“So right now, Seungwoo, your face looks really delicious.”

“D-delicious…?”

“I kind of want to take a bite.”

Woo Yeonho leaned in, pretending he was about to bite, making me quickly cover my cheeks as best as I could. 

“I-I’m not a tomato.”

“Of course you’re not.”

He said, laughing as if my reaction was ridiculous. Even though he was the one who’d made the tomato comparison, he was now acting like I was the one being weird.

‘He was the one who called me a tomato…’

I mumbled under my breath, still rubbing my heated cheeks that felt embarrassingly warm. Then, I folded up the umbrella.

Under the clearing blue sky, Woo Yeonho looked like a painting I’d once seen at an art exhibition with my little sister. Even though he was still drenched from the rain, he didn’t look pitiful at all—if anything, he looked even more striking.

With that captivating presence, Woo Yeonho spoke. 

“Tomatoes aren’t as cute as you, Seungwoo.”

***

We only parted ways after passing about two more bus stops together. Originally, I had planned to keep walking with him, but Woo Yeonho mentioned he had an appointment to get to.

‘Was it Kim Jungwoo? …Or maybe Yoon Heereum, who had messaged him earlier?’

Even though Woo Yeonho claimed he had rejected her confession, it could have easily been a lie. Maybe they would laugh about it behind my back, mocking me together, or perhaps Kim Jungwoo would join in, teasing and making comments about me.

They probably made a bet before coming to see me, perhaps about whether or not I would kiss Woo Yeonho or how many times I would. Woo Yeonho would always win those bets. 

‘Kim Jungwoo might never win one in his entire life.’

As I pondered this, I saw Woo Yeonho waving at me through the bus window. After some hesitation, I waved back.

‘I’ve never even done something like this with my actual friends…’

A ticklish, giddy feeling bubbled up in my stomach.

I kept waving until Woo Yeonho was out of sight, only to suddenly realize that I was still on the bus. Embarrassed, I quickly lowered my hand and sat down. It felt like everyone on the bus was staring at me. Thankfully, since I boarded three stops away from school, there weren’t any familiar classmates around to witness it.

‘…Waving like that probably won’t lead to any weird rumors, right?’

I kept my head down for the entire bus ride, only looking up when the bus reached my stop. The moment it did, I hurried off in a flustered rush.

Only when I reached home, I realized I had forgotten to tap my transit card when getting off the bus.

***

The first thing I did when I got home was change Woo Yeonho’s contact name in my phone. I deleted the “Woo,” leaving only “Yeonho” written above his attractive phone number.

‘Ah, I love this so much.’

I pressed my lips to the screen several times over his name, then rolled around on my bed in delight. I never imagined I’d have the chance to call him by just his name, without pretending to be close friends. But now, somehow, that possibility had become real.

Of course, this permission only lasted until Woo Yeonho got bored of his playful teasing, so there probably wasn’t much time left. Even if it ended soon, I decided to call his name as much as I could while it was still allowed. 

Alone at home, I practiced saying “Yeonho” repeatedly. 

I whispered his name while staring into the eyes of a bear plushie my older sister had brought back from the bakery. I murmured it while looking at the picture I’d saved of him on my phone. 

On my way to take out the trash, I called a stray cat “Yeonho.” Even when I saw a large dog on a walk, I silently named it “Yeonho.” 

Watching TV, I compared celebrities to him. “Yeonho is definitely more handsome than that actor,” and “His eyelashes are longer, and his lips are even redder.”

At night, I looked up the meaning of the name “Yeo-ho” on my phone. I also typed out “Yeonho, Yeonho yah, Yeonho is” in our chat and erased it over and over. 

‘It’d be nice if he messaged me first.’

That way, even if I accidentally called someone else “Yeonho,” I could just say, ‘Oops, I sent it to the wrong person, Yeon-ho!’ and play it off.

‘Will I dream about Yeon-ho tonight, too?’

***

Even the next day, I kept thinking about it, but calling Woo Yeonho “Yeonho” wasn’t as big a deal as I initially thought. 

At school, not only did our homeroom teacher call him “Yeonho,” but so did the subject teachers. Even our classmates dropped the “Woo” and called him “Yeonho,” and the snack bar lady would warmly address him as “Student Yeonho.”

So what I mean is, me being able to call Woo Yeonho “Yeonho” wasn’t some world-shattering, extraordinary event, nor did it require days and nights of practice to master. It was obvious, really. His name wasn’t made of gold or some massive diamond, so it wasn’t like I had to pay money every time I called it out.

“Right? You agree with me, don’t you?” 

The bear plushie from the bakery, named Yeonho, nodded its round head. Hugging it tightly to my chest, I took a deep breath in and exhaled heavily. Every time I did, a sense of anxiety rumbled unsteadily under my ribs.

Maybe I should just keep calling him Woo Yeonho? It’s not like I’d be the one to start a conversation with him anyway, so I’d never get the chance to call his name. 

Maybe Yeonho knew that, and that’s why he told me I could call him that—just for show. Maybe he only smiled yesterday because he found it amusing hearing me call his name for the first time…

Thinking like that made me feel endlessly gloomy, so I pressed the bear plushie named Yeonho hard against my face and rubbed it. The soft fabric, surprisingly high-quality for a cheap product, made my eyes sting with unshed tears.

Yeonho’s hands were this soft, too. And he looked so beautiful when I called him “Yeonho.” Was it really all fake? If so, he should’ve just been serious about it, making it clear that calling him “Yeonho” was out of the question. You really are a bad person, Yeonho.

…Okay, not a truly bad person, but just a little mean.

I squished the bear plushie’s face again until I heard my older sister calling from outside, telling me it was time to go. Dragging my feet, I left my room. 

I had been so preoccupied all morning with how to call Yeonho that I took longer getting ready than I should have, and I had no choice but to catch a ride with my sister. 

On the way to school, my sister did most of the talking, which mostly consisted of scolding, so I only half-listened. When we got near the school, I told her to drop me off, pretending to ignore her last-minute guilty look and another piece of advice about studying hard. Feeling sorry for nagging me so much, she even gave me her coffee-flavored milk before leaving. 

***

“Alright, everyone, check the number you picked and sit according to what’s written on the board.”

“Teacher! I’m longsighted, so if I sit in the front row, I won’t be able to see the board!”

“Wear your glasses.”

“I still can’t see, even with my glasses~ I can’t even see your face, Teacher!”

“You never make eye contact with me anyway.”

“Aww, that’s because you’re too good-looking, Teacher~”

“Then swap seats with someone on your own.”

As soon as the homeroom teacher finished speaking, the students burst out, eagerly calling out their numbers.

‘What’s even the point of doing seat rearrangements then?’

I glanced back and forth between the number I drew and the board, then turned to look at Woo Yeonho—or more specifically, the scrap of paper in his hand. I couldn’t see the number from this distance, but I kept staring anyway, foolishly hoping that we’d end up with seats close to each other.

‘Won’t someone ask me what number I got? Where is Kim Jungwoo when you need him to be nosy?’

It seemed more efficient to look for the ever-curious Kim Jungwoo than to keep glaring at Woo Yeonho’s paper. As I scanned the room, a student sitting in front of me turned around and spoke to me.

‘His name was Sanho, right?’

Last time, when I shared the snacks that Woo Yeonho had left in his desk drawer, this guy occasionally started buying lollipops and other treats from the school store to give me. He really is a kind kid.

“What number do you have?”  

‘Why is he asking what number I have?’

I spaced out for a moment, then double-checked my number before answering.  

“2, 21…”  

“Oh… too bad.”

The student sitting in front of me showed his number: 5. It really was just a bit of a pity.

‘The first row…’  

Sometimes he even ate during class; sitting in the front row would probably make that impossible. He must have been disappointed that he didn’t get my number instead. But I didn’t want the front row either, so there was no way I’d swap.

“Yeah… uh, too bad…”  

“Do you feel bad too?”  

“Huh? Oh… yeah.”  

“Wait a second.”

With that, Baek Sanho got up and started walking around the classroom with long strides, almost as long as Woo Yeonho’s.

‘Ah, he’s starting a conversation.’  

Was he going to try trading seats with someone else since it seemed like I wouldn’t switch with him? Should I also consider exchanging for a seat where I could see Woo Yeonho better? But to do that, I first needed to know what number Woo Yeonho had drawn.  

But, there was a bigger challenge before that.

‘Would anyone sitting near Woo Yeonho even be willing to swap seats with me?’

“Seungwoo, what’s your number?”  

“…! Ah!”  

“Why are you so surprised?”  

Woo Yeonho asked with a chuckle, smoothing out my bangs that had fallen to poke at my eyelids.  

“Were you thinking about me?”  

With nothing blocking my view, Woo Yeonho’s beautiful, handsome face filled my vision.  

‘Does he really read people’s thoughts or something?’  

I blinked twice, then three times, and nodded my head. Woo Yeonho tilted his head slightly and narrowed his eyes.  

“Hmm…”  

‘He usually does that when he’s dissatisfied with something. But I didn’t say anything! What’s wrong now?’  

“I’m number 22. What about you, Seungwoo?”  

“…Huh?”

“I hope it’s close.”

Woo Yeonho said, holding up his paper to show me. It clearly had the number 22 written on it. 

‘What was my number again? Was it 21? Wait, really?’ 

Still feeling a bit disconnected from reality, I checked the numbers on the chalkboard again. In the third row, in neat yellow chalk, 21 and 22 were written side by side. 

‘How does our homeroom teacher write numbers so perfectly, anyway?’ 

Regardless, the fact that my number was written right next to Woo Yeonho’s meant… 

“Next to each other…” 

I must have accidentally said that out loud. Woo Yeonho leaned in closer, and the soft strands of his hair brushed against my cheek, tickling me. I was so distracted by that sensation that I almost didn’t catch him repeating, “Next to each other.” 

When I turned to look at him, he was smiling beautifully. 

“That’s great. Now Seungwoo can look only at me.” 

Woo Yeonho had a way of saying things that could be so misleading. I nearly misunderstood again, but luckily I pulled myself back to reality. 

‘I almost took that the wrong way.’ 

The place on my forehead where Woo Yeonho had touched earlier felt like it was burning.