TWYW C18

“I gave it to you to eat well.”

Embarrassed that Yuhyeon was watching him eat, Gyeoul replied in a deliberately blunt manner as he chewed the last bite of the sandwich. Finding it all so amusing, Yuhyeon let out a small laugh as he looked at Gyeoul’s face.

“Why are you smi… no, why are you laughing.”

Remembering what Yuhyeon had pointed out last time, he corrected his words and asked him.

“You can’t eat raw fish and tripe, but you eat egg rolls and sandwiches well. You really have the palate of a baby.”

“…I’m an adult….”

Gyeoul replied in a small voice, scratching his cheek for no reason.

“Alright. Adult Lee Gyeoul wrote a good report. It’ll be easy to compile.”

When Yuhyeon, who had checked the report Gyeoul wrote, praised him, Gyeoul tightened the corners of his lips that kept twitching.

“What, what are you two doing in here.”

While he was talking to Yuhyeon about the assignment, Seungwon opened the club room door and came in. He looked puzzled at the sight of Yuhyeon and Gyeoul sitting side by side.

“What do you mean, what are we doing. We’re doing our assignment.”

“Oh, right. You guys said you’re taking the same liberal arts class.”

Seungwon nodded, put his bag down opposite Yuhyeon and Gyeoul, and pulled out a chair to sit.

“Hey, what’s this, what did you eat. Is there none for me?”

Seungwon looked at the sandwich wrapper on the table and cast his gaze at Yuhyeon and Gyeoul.

“You haven’t eaten?”

“Yeah. I haven’t eaten yet. Don’t you feel sorry for me.”

“Really? Then go eat and come back.”

“By myself?”

“Senior and I have to do our assignment.”

Gyeoul answered quickly, in case Yuhyeon decided to go eat with Seungwon.

“You heard him.”

Next to Gyeoul, Yuhyeon let out a soft laugh.

“Lee Gyeoul didn’t even say a single hello. Do you only like Jeong Yuhyeon.”

“…I don’t like him.”

As Gyeoul immediately gave his answer to Seungwon’s question, he felt a pang of guilt in a corner of his heart for no reason.

“You just got me rejected by Lee Gyeoul because of you.”

“Cut the crap. Both of you, just do your assignment.”

Seungwon glared at Yuhyeon and Gyeoul one by one before taking out his phone. While Seungwon’s laughter could be heard from time to time as he watched some funny video, Yuhyeon and Gyeoul focused on their assignment in the club room.

“Ah, Jeong Yuhyeon.”

“What.”

Yuhyeon, who was almost finished with the assignment, raised his head at Seungwon’s call.

“What’s your relationship with Shin Juyeon?”

“Shin Juyeon?”

“Yeah, the goddess of our department. There are a lot of rumors about you two.”

Gyeoul was rereading the almost completed report when Seungwon’s words caught his ear. Gyeoul pretended to be indifferent, keeping his eyes on the report, but his fingertips were gradually growing cold.

“There are a lot of witness accounts. What are you doing with Shin Juyeon.”

“Doing what.”

Yuhyeon casually dismissed Seungwon’s words as if he had heard something ridiculous and turned his attention back to the assignment. Gyeoul’s stomach felt tight, as if the sandwich he had eaten earlier was sitting heavy.

Who is Shin Juyeon. Is she the woman who came to the café with him back then.

One thought led to another. And the end of that thought was a vision of Yuhyeon being in a relationship with some woman.

Fuck.

Gyeoul couldn’t understand why he was feeling so bad and fiddled with his lip, biting it to stop a sigh from escaping.

“Lee Gyeoul. Your lip.”

At Yuhyeon’s call, Gyeoul reflexively stopped tormenting his lip.

“Senior, I think we’re pretty much done with the assignment.”

“Do you have to go to your part-time job?”

“Yes.”

There was still some time before his part-time job, but Gyeoul wanted to get out of this place quickly. Having finished the assignment with Yuhyeon, Gyeoul quickly packed his things and, barely managing a goodbye, turned and left the club room. Gyeoul roughly swept his hair back, exited the main gate, and went into a convenience store. He bought his usual cigarettes and headed to a smoking area a short distance from the store. He lit the cigarette in his mouth, took a deep drag, and blew out the smoke, but the tightness in his chest still wouldn’t go away.

Are things going well with that woman. But why do I feel so shitty.

Gyeoul endlessly repeated the questions he couldn’t find answers to in his mind and dragged his heavy feet. During his café part-time job, Gyeoul’s expression was so bad that the owner asked with a worried face if something was wrong. Barely holding onto his sinking mood, Gyeoul returned home and ran into his mother, who was still awake.

“You’re not asleep yet.”

“Gyeoul, is the tutoring going well?”

His mother was so concerned about the tutoring with Yuho that she repeated the same question every time she saw Gyeoul’s face.

“Yes, I’m working hard.”

Gyeoul could only give his mother the same answer every time.

“Gyeoul, didn’t mother tell you? Working hard is a given, you have to do well.”

“Yes. I know.”

His mother was still not interested in his own midterm schedule.

“That lady from the house said we should all have a meal together sometime.”

“…All of us?”

“Yes. So you have to do well. You can’t bring shame to your mother and father, Gyeoul.”

“Yes… I’ll go to my room now.”

Gyeoul, quickly exhausted by the conversation with his mother, dragged his body into his room. Gyeoul let out a deep sigh, washed up with cold water, and sat down at his desk again, opening a book to start studying. However, unable to concentrate easily, Gyeoul picked up his phone. He scrolled down the screen and tapped to enter his message chat with Yuhyeon. Only a single photo they had taken together when they watched a movie for the assignment remained there, all alone. As he gazed at the handsome face filling the phone screen, he recalled the rumors about Yuhyeon that people were chattering about in the lecture hall at the beginning of the semester.

Fuck, it’d be weirder if a face like this didn’t have a girlfriend.

Gyeoul remembered how he couldn’t control his expression at Seungwon’s words in the club room, so he had quickly finished the assignment and fled. He felt a little worried that he had just been grumpy with Yuhyeon, who had even bought him a sandwich today. After pondering for a moment, Gyeoul mustered up his courage and left him a message.

I enjoyed the food.

Putting his phone down again and studying, Gyeoul glanced at the stubbornly silent phone several times.

Does senior go to bed early.

Muttering to himself that nothing was going right today, Gyeoul closed his book and lay down on his bed. With only an indirect lamp on, Gyeoul closed his eyes, but they shot open again at the sound of a ringtone echoing in his ears. The caller was Yuhyeon. Seeing Yuhyeon’s call filling the dark screen, Gyeoul took a deep breath and carefully pressed the call button.

—Lee Gyeoul.

As soon as he answered the call, Yuhyeon’s low voice flowed out pleasantly.

“Yes….”

—What did you enjoy eating.

“What?”

—What did you enjoy eating so much that you even sent a message.

“Uh… that… pork cutlet.”