TWYW C5

Although the lecture hadn’t started yet, a few students who had arrived early were already seated. Gyeoul put his bag down in an empty seat at the back and sat down. With a little time to spare before the lecture began, Gyeoul took out a blank piece of paper and started to randomly jot down unorganized story ideas for his major’s short story assignment.

‘Yuhyeon… woman… wind…’

As Gyeoul was writing on the paper, a familiar name drifted to his ears, and he gently lifted his head. He could hear two students sitting a little ahead of him talking about Yuhyeon. It seemed that, thanks to his looks and family background, he was already a celebrity at the university. Gyeoul had already heard Yuhyeon’s name several times in other classrooms, even though they weren’t in the same major.

Gyeoul’s hand, which had been moving across the paper, stopped at some point, and he listened in on the students talking about Yuhyeon. The conclusion drawn from their various stories was that Yuhyeon had a lot of women. It would be stranger if he didn’t, with those looks, but Gyeoul frowned, recalling Yuhyeon’s face that he had encountered on his way to the classroom.

It’s annoying.

Gyeoul, not even knowing why he was annoyed, subconsciously grumbled about Yuhyeon. In the meantime, the classroom filled with students, the professor came in, and the lecture began. Gyeoul pushed the paper he had been scribbling the novel on to the side. On that paper, Yuhyeon’s name was now written all over it.

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Yuhyeon, who had appeared before Gyeoul’s eyes in a series of coincidences for two days, disappeared as if it had all been a lie. Still, today was a day he had a class with Yuhyeon. On top of that, he had a tutoring session with his younger brother, Yuho, in the evening. Gyeoul, feeling strangely excited to a degree that he found odd himself, woke up and began getting ready for school from early in the morning. He even fussed over his outfit, something he usually didn’t think about, and paced in front of the mirror several times. He felt like a stranger to himself, but he tried hard to ignore it and left the house.

With the spring breeze lightly ruffling his bangs, Gyeoul put both hands in the pockets of his zip-up hoodie and walked toward the building where his general education lecture was held. Gyeoul was the first to arrive, entered the still-empty classroom, and took a seat near the window in the very back, just like last time. Thanks to the novel assignment that had been giving him a headache lately, Gyeoul was always writing his short story in the gaps between lectures. He preferred to write with a pencil, so his bag always contained white paper and a pencil with a finely sharpened lead. When he wrote, the scratching sound of the pencil moving across the paper became a nice background music.

Before long, students began to gather one by one, and the classroom was filled with a bustling sound. Even amidst the noise, Gyeoul didn’t lose his concentration and kept his eyes fixed on the paper he was writing on.

“Creative writing major?”

Yuhyeon put down his bag and sat in the seat next to Gyeoul. Gyeoul glanced at Yuhyeon, quickly gathered the paper he was writing his novel on, and stuffed it into his bag.

“I won’t look. Keep doing what you were doing.”

The sound of Yuhyeon’s soft laughter tickled his ear.

“No, thanks.”

Gyeoul’s eyes darted around as he fiddled with his earlobe.

“What are you so embarrassed about?”

“It’s not that.”

As Gyeoul shot a slight glare at Yuhyeon, the lecture began. He was conscious of Yuhyeon sitting right next to him, but he deliberately didn’t give him a single glance and focused on the lecture, looking only at the professor.

Before long, the lecture ended with the professor’s closing remarks, and Gyeoul packed his bag and stood up. Without a word of goodbye to Yuhyeon, Gyeoul left the classroom. With some time to spare before his part-time job at the café, he walked toward his own personal hideout.

He climbed the stairs, sat on the bench, and felt the cool breeze, falling into thought for a moment. He wasn’t deliberately trying to be conscious of him, but a corner of his heart felt constantly uncomfortable because of Yuhyeon who kept forcing his way into his mind. This is all because of his handsome face. He blamed his looks, telling himself it was because he had never seen a face like that in his life.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

“Ah, shit, you scared me.”

Yuhyeon was looking down at Gyeoul, holding an unlit cigarette in his right hand.

“Now you’re cursing, too.”

“Why are you here?”

“Do I need permission to come here?”

“You have a lot of friends, sunbae.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Yuhyeon broke his gaze from Gyeoul for a moment, flicked his lighter, and lit the cigarette.

“And a lot of women, too.”

“Women?”

Without realizing it, Gyeoul had blurted out the words he had been keeping inside. He regretted it for a moment, but Gyeoul put on a confident expression as if nothing was wrong.

“I saw you with a woman the other day. And other people said you have a lot of women.”

“The other day, when? You’re quite interested in me.”

“I’m not.”

Yuhyeon let out a small laugh and exhaled a puff of smoke.

“Do you really have a lot of women?”

“I thought you said you weren’t interested.”

“I’m not, but do you have a lot of women?”

“What are you going to do if I do?”

“Just answer the question.”

A strange stubbornness arose at Yuhyeon’s evasive attitude.

“It would be a relief if it were only a lot of women.”

“…What, you’re a real jerk.”

Gyeoul grabbed the bag he had placed on the bench, passed Yuhyeon, and went back down the stairs he had just come up. Not even knowing what had upset him, Gyeoul stomped down the stairs. Then, suddenly, his wrist was grabbed by someone.

“Is it okay to curse at a sunbae and run away?”

When he turned around, Yuhyeon was standing there, a smile on his lips as if he found something incredibly amusing.

“…I wasn’t running away. I have to get to my part-time job soon.”

“Let’s go.”

Yuhyeon didn’t let go of Gyeoul’s wrist and walked ahead. He led the way, one step ahead, as if he knew exactly where Gyeoul was going. Gyeoul couldn’t shake off Yuhyeon and followed behind him. He kept feeling like he was being swept away by Yuhyeon, but before he knew it, he had arrived at the bus stop with him. Only after seating Gyeoul on the bus stop bench did Yuhyeon let go of his wrist. Gyeoul felt a strange emptiness in his captured wrist and rubbed the area with his other hand.

“Did I grab it too tightly?”

Watching him, Yuhyeon took Gyeoul’s wrist again and rubbed it gently. Surprised by the unexpected contact, Gyeoul pulled his captured wrist away.

“Ah, it doesn’t hurt.”

Yuhyeon grinned at Gyeoul.

Is he flirting, or what? Gyeoul grumbled inwardly, but he found himself staring, mesmerized, at his smiling face. Just then, the bus he needed to take arrived, and Gyeoul got up and boarded it.

“See you tonight.”

As if he knew that Gyeoul had a tutoring session with his brother today, he greeted him first. Feeling needlessly embarrassed, Gyeoul gave a nod so small you could barely see it and continued onto the bus. After Gyeoul sat down and the bus started moving, Yuhyeon disappeared from sight, but his mind was still filled with his face.

Around the time it grew dark outside, Gyeoul finished his part-time job at the café and took the bus to the stop near Yuhyeon’s house. With his day packed with school and work, he headed to Yuhyeon’s house for the tutoring session with slightly tired shoulders.

Will I run into him this time?

Gyeoul was feeling an unidentifiable sense of anticipation. However, this feeling was unfamiliar to Gyeoul, so he ignored this strange emotion that was arising within him.

Arriving in front of the large gate of Yuhyeon’s house, Gyeoul pressed the doorbell. He heard the sound of the gate opening immediately, passed through the garden, opened the front door again, and stepped inside. The house seemed empty, and only Yuho, who was sitting in the living room, greeted Gyeoul.

Looking at Yuho, who had a different atmosphere from Yuhyeon, Gyeoul wondered if this was what Yuhyeon was like in high school. He forcefully erased the thoughts of Yuhyeon that were filling his mind again, went up to Yuho’s room, and started the class.

Yuho, who had said he wanted to go to the same university as him, seemed to have more than just an idle wish, as he followed Gyeoul’s lesson well. Yuho maintained top grades at school, so it seemed Gyeoul would have to prepare even more thoroughly for the tutoring sessions from now on.

After finishing the tutoring session with Yuho, Gyeoul left the second-floor room and went down to the living room. Yuhyeon, who had said he would see him in the evening, didn’t seem to have come home yet, as the house was quiet. Gyeoul felt a sense of disappointment for no reason, but he tried hard to ignore the feeling, said his goodbyes to Yuho, and went outside. Gyeoul trudged toward the bus stop.

“Why are you so down?”

A familiar voice came from near Gyeoul, who was walking with his head down. A black sedan had stopped right next to Gyeoul, and Yuhyeon’s face was visible through the open passenger-side window. Gyeoul was a little surprised by his unexpected appearance and wore a dazed expression.

“I’ll give you a ride home.”

“Uh… no…”

“Get in quick. There’s a car coming behind us.”

As Yuhyeon said, a car could be seen approaching from a short distance away. Gyeoul had been about to refuse, but he found himself opening the passenger door and getting into Yuhyeon’s car.

“Seatbelt.”

Gyeoul, who had been spacing out, pulled the seatbelt and buckled it at Yuhyeon’s words. Then, he shifted gears and started the car.

“Where do you live?”

Gyeoul entered his home address on the large screen between the driver’s and passenger’s seats. Yuhyeon glanced at the screen once before fixing his gaze forward.

“You didn’t have to give me a ride…”

“You should have said that before getting in the car.”

“No, you were the one who said something about a car coming up behind us.”

As Gyeoul replied in a slightly raised voice, as if it were unfair, Yuhyeon let out a laugh.

“I was kidding. If you had said no, I would have forced you in anyway.”

Gyeoul put on a needlessly sulky expression and looked out the car window. In truth, though his eyes seemed to be looking outside, he couldn’t stop his gaze from repeatedly drifting to Yuhyeon’s reflection in the glass.

“Sunbae.”

“What is it.”

“Where were you coming from?”

Yuhyeon, who had been dressed comfortably when they met at school, was now dressed up as if he had just been on a date. It was a question that had popped into Gyeoul’s mind the moment he saw him.

“Why. Afraid of where I might have been?”

“Were you meeting a woman?”

“I thought you said you weren’t interested in me.”

“Forget it. I won’t ask.”

“I wasn’t planning on telling you anyway.”

Gyeoul shot a sidelong glare at Yuhyeon, who was annoying for not yielding a single word. As if he were genuinely hurt, he whipped his head around, rested his arm on the passenger side windowsill, and looked outside. He could hear laughter right next to him, but Gyeoul steadfastly kept his eyes fixed out the window.

“You’re sulking again.”

“I’m not sulking.”

Gyeoul replied, still not turning his head.

“You are sulking.”

“I said I’m not sulking.”

“But you are.”

“I said I’m not sulking.”

“But you are.”

“I really said I’m not sulking!”

Gyeoul turned his head and glared at Yuhyeon with displeased eyes.

“You’re finally showing me your face.”

At Yuhyeon’s smiling face, his eyes curving, Gyeoul’s sharp glare quickly softened.

“Do you know you’re so fucking annoying, sunbae?”

“No. I fucking don’t.”

“Sh… You’re doing it right now.”

With Yuhyeon’s low laughter, his car came to a stop in front of Gyeoul’s house. Gyeoul immediately unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the passenger door, and got out.

“I had dinner for my father’s company business.”

Just as he was about to close the passenger door, Gyeoul paused, holding the door, at Yuhyeon’s belated answer.

“So don’t sulk.”

“For fuck’s sake, I said I’m not sulking!”

At Yuhyeon’s words, which kept teasing him, he slammed the car door shut and went into his house. Still feeling his laughter tickling his ears, Gyeoul rubbed the back of his ear, trying his best to compose his reddened face.