WYK 2

“Seo Jeong-yoon. Eat quickly. Hurry. Hurry. Hurry. Hurry.”

Min-soo pounded the table with his fork. It was his way of pressuring Jeong-yoon, who always ate slowly. Jeong-yoon kicked Min-soo’s leg under the table. This naughty bastard. Always making a fuss during meals.

“Hey, I’m going to lose it, seriously.”

“Why are you eating school food as if it’s a fancy hotel meal?”

“Then go first.”

At that, Min-soo lowered his head and took out his cell phone. It seemed he decided to spend some time rather than criticize Jeong-yoon or leave the table first.

Finally, Jeong-yoon’s pace with the fork became more leisurely. While picking up the meatball, he sneakily glanced at the adjacent table. Chae-heon was also eating slowly, just like him. Jeong-yoon had always been told, “If you eat so slowly, you’ll have a hard time in the military,” but no one ever said that to Chae-heon.

Though he felt a bit competitive as he listened to them make petty comments about slow eaters, he felt more at ease knowing Chae-heon ate at the same pace as him.

Lowering his gaze that had been sneakily watching Chae-heon, Jeong-yoon muttered to himself inwardly.

‘Even the way he eats is handsome.’

Even though he had seen his face for years, he couldn’t stop stealing glances at it.

Coincidence was really hard and mysterious. Whenever he regained his composure, he found himself in the same group with Chae-heon, and whenever he turned his head, Chae-heon was right beside him. Furthermore, they ended up attending the same university and being in the same department. Perhaps, because they were so close, it became even more difficult to suppress his feelings.

The unrequited love that he suffered from throughout his school days. Of all things, why did it have to be for a man, and moreover, a man as exquisite as a flower on a cliff… He couldn’t help but feel self-reproach, wondering why he had to fall for someone like that. Despite that, there was an overwhelming urge to reach out and look at him.

He had never intended to be greedy, which was why he secretly hoped that once he entered college, his feelings would fade away. However, the entangled connection resurfaced, and his intense unrequited love was still in full swing.

‘Come to think of it, it’s such a strange coincidence. It’s amazing, really.’

Jeong-yoon nodded inwardly. However, what was even more intriguing was that it wasn’t just a coincidence. Despite knowing and spending time together for so long, their relationship still felt awkward.

Back in high school, it was fine to play games and hang out with friends like Jeong-bae and Sang-cheol all night, but when it came to Kang Chae-heon in front of him, it was a different story. Even having a meal together felt awkward.

He couldn’t stop looking at Chae-heon. Jeong-yoon looked down at the plate as Chae Heon slowly raised his head. It was one thing to steal glances, but directly meeting his gaze still made him feel a bit embarrassed.

***

Lying on the designated spot on the sofa in his shared room, Jeong-yoon kept tapping the screen of his phone. On the phone’s display, his game character for the adventure game he started last week was jumping around here and there.

‘Ah, come on! Please!’

Jeong-yoon hurriedly shouted in his heart. However, the sparkling gem was snatched away by an approaching mysterious character, leaving him with only disappointment.

‘Snatching and leaving! You sneaky jerk! I worked hard to dig the ground and you just come and snatch it away when the box opened? I guess there are a lot of item thieves. Maybe I should spend money and buy a premium shield.’

Seo Jeong-yoon dropped the cell phone roughly and crouched down.

He felt lonely and annoyed by his failure to get the item. Black leather crumbs fell from the worn couch whenever he moved. Min-soo flicked the dust from Jeong-yoon’s face.

“Hey, today’s the last day to apply for the farming experience program.”

“Yeah.”

“Hurry up and apply.”

“Why?”

“Because today’s the last day.”

“I’m not going. It’s not even vacation, why would there be a farming experience program during the semester?”

Jeong-yoon turned away with a disinterested expression.

“Jeong-hyeok’s cousin runs an apple farm, and the people who work there are suddenly deported to their home country, so they say there is a shortage of workers. So we decided to go for volunteer work.”

“Oh, I see. Well, have a good trip, Kim Min-soo.”

“We’re going to Chungbuk.”

“Alright. I guess the apple orchard isn’t in the heart of Seoul.”

Jeong-yoon replied nonchalantly. Despite his indifferent attitude, Min-soo continued to talk.

“Also… Mi-hee is going too.”

He whispered in Jeong-yoon’s ear. Jeong-yoon pushed Min-soo’s face away with an annoyed expression.

“Yeah, I’ll tell Mi-hee to be careful and have a safe trip.”

“What? Mi-hee is going! You should go too! What about me?”

Min-soo complained with a frustrated expression. Finally, Jeong-yoon chuckled.

Kwon Mi-hee. She was rumored to be the prettiest girl in their department, and it was obvious that the participation rate of male students in this farming experience program would be very high due to the hidden intentions of approaching her. And considering Min-soo’s intentions, like other male students, Jeong-yoon could easily guess what game he was playing now.

Among Kwon Mi-hee’s closest opposite-sex friends in the department was Jeong-yoon himself. Min-soo knew that very well.

‘He’s definitely using me to get closer to Mi-hee.’

Jeong-yoon stretched out on the couch, and then suddenly stopped and looked up at Minsoo.

“Hey. Who else is going with Mi-hee?”

“Jae-sun and Ga-eun are going too.”

“Not the girls.”

He couldn’t bear to ask directly if Kang Chae-heon was coming as well, so carefully circled around and asked. Min Soo gave him a look, wondering why he was asking about those guys. What did it matter if those guys were going?

“Sang-cheol, Jung-yoon, and Sol-beom… Oh, Sol-beom doesn’t go. And Wook-hwan and Chan-woo said they were going too..”

Kang Chae-heon. He had hoped to hear that name and eagerly waited with his ears perked up, but his name never came up.

Although Chae-heon seemed to be quite enthusiastic about the department activities, in reality, he rarely participated. There were many cases where he went to a drinking party saying ‘I’ll pay,’ but he left his card behind and disappeared.

Jeong-yoon felt somehow relieved. She had long stopped paying much attention to the meaningless list of male students’ names.

“I’m not going.”

“Why not!”

Because Kang Chae-heon wasn’t going. But he couldn’t give such an answer.

“Just because. I’m going to sleep, so don’t talk to me.”

Jeong-yoon pushed Min-soo’s waist with his knee and crouched down. The commute to school was long, so on a day like today when he had a class at 9:00, he would feel extremely exhausted. It was happening right now. As he surrendered himself to the sofa, he started melting away lethargically. At that moment, Min-soo, who had been sitting by his head, began to gently shake his shoulders.

“Hey, are you sleeping? Let’s go. Huh?”

“…”

“I just saw you wince. Don’t pretend to sleep.”

“…”

“Let’s go, okay?”

This persistent bastard. What’s the big deal if I’m not going? Mi-hee and I became friends on our own. Jeong-yoon closed his eyes even tighter and pretended not to know. However, Min-soo was a friend who was more persistent than he thought.

“You’re my closest friend. What if I feel lonely and start crying? What will you do then? Huh? What if I break down and make your heart ache?”

That’s some shitty shit…. He wanted to say something back, but he couldn’t because he was pretending to sleep.

When Jeong-yoon didn’t budge, Min-soo soon changed his persuasion line.

“The Shining Wind Blade.”

Jeong-yoon’s eyelids twitched slightly. Min-soo grinned.

“The Shining Wind Blade. I’ll give it to you.”

Jeong-yoon slowly opened his eyes.

The Shining Wind Blade, huh? It’s not even a paid item; you have to accumulate a lot of vitality to receive it.

Jeong-yoon stared at Min-soo with a face of disbelief. His eyes were shining very brightly, as if he had never slept.

“The Shining Wind Blade. …Are you really going to give it to me?”

“Yeah. Really.”

“… Let’s go, farming. I will dig and plow the field.”

“You don’t have to dig or plow the field. You’re just going to pick apples.”

“Okay. I will try my best in anything.”

Jeong-yoon put his hand on Min-soo’s shoulder and nodded, showing his determination to pick apples and work hard.

And so, Jeong-yoon exchanged his weekend for an item worth 200 gold at the auction house. Even he couldn’t help but think he was quite an easy person to please.