TWYW C26

“Should I not go?”

“Yes. Don’t go.”

Gyeoul answered without hesitation.

“Why, so you can kiss me again?”

Gyeoul’s shoulders flinched when Yuhyeon brought up the story of that day. He thought Yuhyeon would just pretend not to know since there had been no contact after he impulsively kissed him.

“…No… that’s not it… no, it is… no… but can I do it again?”

“No, you can’t.”

Gyeoul’s lips pouted at the negative answer that came without a moment’s hesitation.

“Why not?”

“Kisses are for people who like each other.”

Kisses are for people who like each other. From that one proposition that came from his lips, it wasn’t difficult to infer that Yuhyeon didn’t like him. Gyeoul felt as if he had already been rejected before he could even confess.

The corners of Gyeoul’s eyes drooped dejectedly, like a puppy caught in the rain.

“Lee Gyeoul, if you’re going to make that face, just curse at me instead.”

“Fuck, this is so annoying.”

“You’re good at listening to things like this.”

Yuhyeon gently pinched and released Gyeoul’s cheek, the corners of his mouth curving softly. Gyeoul, while genuinely annoyed, didn’t miss the chance to look at Yuhyeon’s smiling face that could melt anyone’s heart. He wondered if he had no pride at all, but there probably wasn’t anyone who wouldn’t be cheered up by that face.

“Lie down. Or do you want to sleep over?”

“I have to go home…”

“Then I’ll wake you up before it’s too late.”

“So you’re not going, Sunbae?”

“Yeah, I’m not going.”

Only after getting a definite answer from Yuhyeon did Gyeoul lie down on the large bed in the middle of the room. As soon as he lay down on the cozy bed, Gyeoul’s eyelids quickly drooped, feeling his tense body relax from the whole day.

“…Gyeoul.”

“…”

“Lee Gyeoul.”

Gyeoul, who didn’t know when he had fallen asleep, barely opened his eyes at Yuhyeon’s voice calling his name. Then he saw Yuhyeon’s face looking down at him lying on the bed.

Ah, I want to kiss him. It was so fucking good.

Gyeoul’s gaze, just awakened from sleep, fell to Yuhyeon’s lips and stopped.

“Was it that good? After just touching lips and running away.”

At Yuhyeon’s words that flowed into his ears, Gyeoul’s eyes, still drowsy with sleep, quickly came to their senses and blinked.

Fuck, what is he talking about.

“…What did I just say?”

“Ah, I want to kiss him. It was so fucking good…”

Before Yuhyeon could finish his sentence, Gyeoul hurriedly sat up in bed and covered his mouth with his hand. Then, he met Yuhyeon’s softly curving eyes, and with the sensation of his lips against his palm, it felt as if the confession of ‘I like you’ would climb up his throat. However, Gyeoul had to barely press his constantly twitching lips together and hold it in.

“How’s your stomach.”

Yuhyeon grabbed Gyeoul’s wrist and pulled it down as he asked.

“It’s fine now.”

“Do you want to rest a little more before you go?”

“Uh… no… I have to go now.”

The clock on Gyeoul’s phone, which he checked, was approaching twelve o’clock. As much as he wanted to, he wanted to spend more time with Yuhyeon, whom he had seen for the first time in a while, but he didn’t know what would happen if he stayed out all night without a word, so with regret, he had to go back home. Gyeoul forced his reluctant feet to move, left the room with Yuhyeon, and stood in front of the elevator.

“Are you really okay?”

Yuhyeon, checking Gyeoul’s unhappy face, asked once more.

“My stomach is fine.”

“Then what’s not fine.”

“…I don’t want to go home.”

Yuhyeon said nothing and gently stroked the back of Gyeoul’s head. Gyeoul had the reason of his foster parents, but in truth, his desire to spend more time with Yuhyeon, whom he had met after a long time, was greater. However, he forced his steps at a time that was not permitted and got into the passenger seat of his car.

“Sunbae, when can we meet again?”

“We see each other in the liberal arts lecture.”

In two days was the day he had the same lecture as him. It wasn’t the answer Gyeoul wanted, but he managed to swallow his words of complaint.

“Why haven’t you been coming to your family’s house lately?”

Lately, whenever Gyeoul went to tutor Yuho, he always went with the expectation of meeting Yuhyeon, but he was never able to see his face.

“I had no reason to.”

At Yuhyeon’s indifferent reply, Gyeoul’s expression gradually became sullen. In the meantime, Yuhyeon’s car arrived in front of Gyeoul’s house.

“…Thank you for today.”

Gyeoul uttered a small greeting and opened the passenger door.

“You’re even good at saying thank you now.”

“I have manners too, you know.”

Gyeoul found Yuhyeon annoying and pouted his lips, glaring at him slightly.

“Go on in.”

At his words, spoken with a smile even after seeing his expression, Gyeoul could only nod his head slightly. Gyeoul, who got out of the car, stared blankly at Yuhyeon’s car as it turned around and went back the way it came. In his behavior towards him, Gyeoul couldn’t feel anything more than the kindness of a senior. Gyeoul had to feel a sense of desolation alone at the unbridgeable distance between him and Yuhyeon.

₊˚｡⋆❆⋆｡˚₊

Lately, Gyeoul had been contacting Yuhyeon quite actively. To Yuhyeon’s words to only contact him when he had a reason, he would send messages asking to eat together two or three times a week. Yuhyeon, too, except when he really couldn’t, would readily come out and eat with Gyeoul at the school cafeteria or at a restaurant near the school whenever Gyeoul asked.

Gyeoul wanted to be alone with Yuhyeon, but sometimes Seungwon or Juyeon from the same club would join them. However, there was still no particular development in his relationship with Yuhyeon. Gyeoul did his best to get closer to Yuhyeon in his own way, but it wasn’t very effective.

Today too, Gyeoul, who was working at the cafe, had his mind filled with Yuhyeon during a brief lull in customers. A deep sigh escaped him as Gyeoul, who had no dating experience whatsoever, didn’t know how to win the heart of a man, of the same gender no less.

“Is something wrong?”

At the familiar voice, Gyeoul lifted his head, and the very person who had made him sigh was standing in front of him.

“…Why are you here?”

Gyeoul’s eyes widened in surprise, but a slightly blunt tone slipped out.

“Did I come somewhere I’m not supposed to?”

“What are you drinking?”

“Chamomile tea.”

Yuhyeon ordered the same menu as last time.

“Don’t you drink coffee?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t like it?”

“It’s not that, but I have insomnia, so I don’t drink it often.”

“Really? I find that drinking helps me sleep well.”

“Right. You slept well last time I saw.”

He recalled the day he had gotten drunk on the vodka he had accidentally taken a shot of at Yuhyeon’s house and fallen asleep in his bed. Gyeoul, feeling unnecessarily awkward, scratched his cheek with his index finger and steeped a cup of the chamomile tea he had ordered.