PCL Ch 25

“What are you doing?”

My brother asked, looking at the shopping bag in my hand. I carried the shopping bag a little higher.

I was holding a shopping bag from a well-known ice cream store. Of course, I didn’t buy it. Normally, I would have bought almost anything from a convenience store, but today I went to an ice cream store that was about to close and bought it there while walking around with Lim Dae-han as an excuse.

Lim Dae-han handled the payment again. No matter how much money he has, does he usually buys all of these things? All I’d paid for was a cola or, at most, popcorn. I considered how I would repay it.

“Bring it here.”

“Yes.”

My older brother had already consumed a glass of beer and was resting on the sofa. Three or four large beer cans were on the living room table. My brother wasn’t much of a drinker.

“What about Mom and Dad?”

My brother raised his shoulders when I asked him. Perhaps they were on their way to a relative’s house. My parents would sometimes leave the house quietly to where relatives frequently interact. I figured it would be the same today, so I set out the ice cream. My brother wriggled down from the sofa, sat on the floor, and took the ice cream out of the shopping bag. Then he frowned as he opened the lid of a large container.

“There’s only the same thing.”

“Don’t eat if you don’t want to.”

It was purely my taste. The top was decorated with mint chocolate and green tea, and my mother is an alien taste. My brother’s favorite things were lying underneath, but I pretended not to know.

“Who doesn’t want to eat?”

My older brother took out a spoon, rummaged through it, and ate the mint chocolate. You shouldn’t eat it if it doesn’t suit your taste, but once you do, it tastes like toothpaste.

Obviously, it was fun and enjoyable when I was with Lim Dae-han, but my mood subsided when I was with my brother. I can’t believe he cursed at my favorite mint chocolate. I muttered angrily to myself.

“Mint chocolate is the vitality of the people, so it’s mint chocolate.”

“Don’t say nonsense.”

I immediately shut my mouth. My brother really doesn’t know anything.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

My older brother asked me, who was standing there with a fat expression on my face. I shook my head.

“I’m not going to eat.”

In response, he pointed to the other side of me with his chin.

“Eat it.”

“No, I don’t want to…”

“Eat it.”

I was eventually forced to sit next to my brother. I had a pink spoon in my hand, but I didn’t want to eat it. And I had an ice cream bite on the way. I ate a cone one with Lim Dae-han.

I roughly scooped it up with a spoon and put the ice cream in my mouth. How does toothpaste taste? It’s sweet because of the chocolate inside and the chocolate in your mouth. My brother, on the other hand, set aside the mint chocolate, and my mother ate only the aliens. Sweet things appeal to me because they do not appear to be so. After a while of eating ice cream, he looked at me and asked.

“You.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you still friends with him these days?”

“Ji-pil? What’s wrong with him…”

“No, not him. The one I saw in front of the house a few days ago.”

“Ah.”

He was talking about Lim Dae-han. Until a while ago, I had no idea that the name Lim Dae-han, who had been kissing, kissing, and kissing until my lips were swollen would come out of my brother’s mouth. It felt like my face was heating up.

My eyes shook for a moment. But I lowered my gaze so my brother wouldn’t notice. Then I shoved a handful of mint chocolate into my mouth. Munch munch munch. I responded with an unusual pronunciation.

“Well, yeah, that’s right…He’s not such a bad kid. This is only his first impression.”

“He was smoking.”

“Have you seen it?”

“Yeah. The day I came in the morning a few days ago.”

My brother, who is a college student, has been enjoying his vacation to the fullest since late June. As a result, there were times when he drank until late at night and drove home in the morning, and I think he saw it then.

My brother’s eyes were wide open as he looked at me. It was almost as if it were floating. The hand that held the spoon was tense. Instead of making excuses, I pressed down hard on the hard ice cream.

“You also used to smoke when you were in high school.”

“…”

“It’s the same…”

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. My older brother shut his mouth when I answered it lightly. He looked me up and down with ferocious eyes. The air was cold. I’m glad he didn’t even curse.  got up from my seat, holding the spoon to my front teeth, as I sees my older brother.

“I’m going to sleep now. Good night, Hyung.”

Then, I rushed into my room as if running away. Fortunately, the scolding did not fall. While putting my hand on my chest in front of the door and relaxing my breath, I took out my cell phone. There was a message from Lim Dae-han.

Lim Dae-han: [Good night] 23:06

Lim Dae-han: [See you tomorrow] 23:15 

The feeling of being stressed out by my brother melted away with a single message. I leaned against the door and brushed my dry lips several times. I moved my fingers slowly.

Me: [I’m going to the library tomorrow] 23:17

Me: [Would you like to go together?] 23:17

Strangely, I felt as if my blood was drying up as I sent those words. The reply had arrived.

Lim Dae-han: [I’ll go as usual] 23:18

Lim Dae-han: [Good night again, hahaha] 23:19

I believe it was a little too early. On weekends, no matter how quickly a person awoke, it was still a little early to leave the house at 7 a.m. Still… Should we just go? I replied back saying okay. I’m going to wash up and sleep. I quickly unbuttoned my shirt.

***

“Can’t you study?”

I asked Lim Dae-han, who was wrapping his head. It felt good to hear the cool air conditioner wind and the soothing indie band. We weren’t in a library, but we went to a franchise cafe that opened early because Dae-han couldn’t concentrate.

Lim Dae-han frowned, then pushed the book away and fell on the table.  I wondered if he wanted to smoke because he would glance at the smoking room in the middle of the cafe. The withdrawal symptoms appeared to be severe. Still, I pretended not to notice because there was a faint scent of cigarettes when we kissed.

“…”

I pouted my lips as I couldn’t hear the answer from Lim Dae-han. Lim Dae-han patted my hand, which was gently placed on the table while lying face down.  He tapped it with his thick fingers and wrapped it around the back of his hand.

“…”

“…”

I had silently noticed. It was a Saturday morning, and despite the fact that it was a cafe, there weren’t many people there because it was in a small neighborhood. There were only a few students. Lim Dae-han, who was playing with the back of my hand, used his strength to hold my finger. For a while, he rested his head on the desk. It was extremely distracting. His body couldn’t stay still.

I looked down at the back of Lim Dae-han’s hand and shifted my gaze to the drink cup on the table. Water pooled like a shadow beneath the cup.

“Can’t you concentrate?”

When I asked the question again, Lim Dae-han shook his head.

“No.”

It was a far-fetched expression to describe Lim Dae-han, but he did seem a little cute to be honest. Despite the fact that we had moved to a cafe because he was shaking his legs, twisting his body, and staring at people who came in for no reason.

Lim Dae-han kept playing around while we sat face to face, so I couldn’t have been studying either. I finally closed the workbook that I had opened while touching the back of my neck.

“Shall we eat and go somewhere else? I’m hungry.”

Actually, I couldn’t have been the only one who was hungry. I’ve been picky about food, and I’m not particularly hungry, but I have a feeling Lim Dae-han would be hungry.

Lim Dae-han rose to his feet right away. He lifted the strawberry-shaped fan that was stuck in the workbook. Despite the fact that the heat had already dissipated due to the air conditioner’s wind, he placed a fan in front of me and gently shook it. There was a gentle breeze. I shook my head to organize my hair.

“Ki Young-hyun.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to study at my house? I cleaned up the desk.”

I wrinkled my eyebrows when he asked me implicitly, knowing his intentions. Lim Dae-han drank the drink he had already ordered a second time. I looked into the few people’s eyes and whispered in the shape of my mouth.

‘Do you want a kiss?’

When I asked, Lim Dae-han fell down on the table again. Nonetheless, he did not deny it.

***