WYK 36

The place they arrived at was a small restaurant by the lakeside.

It was a wooden building with a high ceiling and a very large chandelier hanging from it. It looked expensive at first glance. The glittering crystals and gold patterns dotted around added to the luxurious feel.

And the price written on the menu was as expensive as the expensive-looking chandelier.

Jeong-yoon pretended nothing was wrong and took down the menu. Now, no matter what menu Chae-heon chose, he was ready to say, ‘Please give me the same thing.’ He felt like he had to mooch off Kang Chae-heon today.

Honestly, Jeong-yoon’s family wasn’t poor either. Rather, thanks to his father’s professional job, they were close to being well-off. But still, he was just a student, relying on allowance. It was probably unreasonable to spend this much on one meal.

Suddenly, he wondered if he always had to come to places like this to match Chae-heon. Sometimes he wanted to eat a 7,000-won pork cutlet or ○ Skin Robbins ice cream. Would Kang Chae-heon like those places too? Well, he had been to the military and would probably eat anything. He seemed to enjoy the cafeteria food as well. Just looking at the menu made him feel guilty.

What did Chae-heon think of Jeong-yoon’s expression? Chae-heon tapped the table and spoke.

“Seo Jeong-yoon.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you still feel burdened by me?”

“No. Not at all. Nope.”

Jeong-yoon shook his head vigorously. The denial came out desperately. Not burdened. In fact, he was not just comfortable but excited.

He was a bit nervous, but it was more like excitement than discomfort.

Worried that he might seem too obvious in his denial, Jeong-yoon cautiously observed Chae-heon’s expression. Fortunately, it seemed like Chae-heon hadn’t caught on to anything. Jeong-yoon smiled brightly again.

“I’m here to mooch off you without feeling any pressure.”

“Sure.”

“I’ll enjoy it.”

“Got it.”

Chae-heon nodded his head affectionately as if he were caring for a child.

At that moment, a marble tray appeared with a small glass of wine and various berries on skewers.

‘Even though we haven’t ordered yet, they bring this out. Nice.’

Jeong-yoon observed Chae-heon ordering the menu while eating fruit. He didn’t want to fidget or open his mouth awkwardly. He had his pride. It was his first time here, but he would act like he had been here ten times.

As soon as the menu order was finished, the waiter left. Jeong-yoon tasted a little of the sherry wine and took out his wallet as if he remembered something.

“This.”

He handed Chae-heon 55,000 won. It was the 50,000 won and an additional 5,000 won he took from Chae-heon’s wallet when he brought him home drunk. Mooching was mooching, but paying was paying. When Jeong-yoon handed him the money, Chae-heon accepted it first.

“Split it? It’ll be more than this.”

Chae-heon looked at the bills and said something Jeong-yoon couldn’t tell if he was joking or serious.

“No, I said I’d mooch off you. That was what I took when I went to your place.”

“…”

“… But it sounds a bit weird. But it’s not like I stole it… I didn’t have money for the taxi, so I just took it from your wallet. I didn’t mean to steal, but you weren’t in a state to give permission, so I had no choice.”

As he spoke, it sounded even stranger. Doesn’t he really seem like a thief who took money out of Chae-heon’s wallet? Where should he start explaining? He was about to seriously think about it when Chae-heon put money into his wallet and said.

“Don’t worry. No misunderstanding.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

“I don’t care if you take my entire wallet.”

For a moment, Jeong-yoon looked at Chae-heon’s expression to see if he was being sarcastic. However, he looked so serious when he said that, so Jeong-yoon decided not to think too much about it.

“Anyway, it seems like you can’t recognize anything when you’re drunk, huh? Even if I took everything from your house, you wouldn’t have noticed. I like your computer, I got a bit greedy.”

“Then take it.”

“… Thank you, but it’s a bit heavy for me to carry.”

“Then I’ll buy it and have it delivered.”

…Is he serious? Jeong-yoon blinked at Chae-heon’s words. Since earlier, he couldn’t tell if Chae-heon’s words were jokes or sincere. While Chae-heon was generous in opening his wallet to others, he wasn’t so generous with him. Moreover, offering to buy a computer.

Jeong-yoon stared at Chae-heon’s composed face and cautiously spoke up.

“You don’t have to buy it. And you know everything I said was a joke, right?”

“I know.”

“…Okay.”

“Okay.”

Chae-heon acted kindly as if he were dealing with a child.

This feels strange for some reason. The Chae-heon who made strange jokes with a nonchalant face and the Chae-heon who acted affectionately as if coaxing him were both unfamiliar to him.

Jeong-yoon nodded awkwardly, wiggling his hands under the table. Meanwhile, butter and bread arrived. It was miraculous timing when he didn’t know what to do.

Suddenly, Jeong-yoon’s mind flashed back to his past, when he condescended to Chae-heon by buying him a hamburger steak from a rest area. He was a bit surprised by the addition of extra rice. Feeling embarrassed, he tightly gripped the glass.

“Seo Jeong-yoon, eat.”

Chae-heon just offered Jeong-yoon a basket of bread and offered him a friendly invitation.

***

After finishing their meal, Chae-heon and Jeong-yoon took a stroll around the nearby lake. There wasn’t much conversation. The lake was beautiful. The sky was beautiful. They talked about such trivial things while mostly walking in silence over the dry cobblestones. It was a peaceful atmosphere with children on scooters whizzing by and couples with arms linked passing by.

After circling a couple of times, the sun was almost setting. It was time for the blue surface to be dyed with the red hues of the sunset.

“Let’s go now.”

Chae-heon said, looking at his wristwatch. The warm afternoon sun shone over his profile.

Jeong-yoon looked at that face as if he were fascinated and mechanically nodded. They then rode in Chae-heon’s car and went home. Somewhat surprisingly, that was the end of their day.

Before Jeong-yoon knew it, the car had entered the apartment complex. The parking lot was somewhat deserted.

‘It feels like I’m hanging out with Kim Min-soo.’

Except for the excitement and happiness, it was no different from hanging out with Min-soo. The only difference was that he didn’t go to the pasta restaurant Min-soo liked. Instead of playing games with Min-soo, he walked around the lake with Chae-heon. That was the only difference.

Chae-heon parked the car in front of the apartment and got out first. Jeong-yoon also followed suit.

“Thanks for the ride.”

Chae-heon nodded his head and gestured towards the building as if telling him to go inside.

“Be careful.”

Jeong-yoon wondered if this was really the end, but he obediently went inside. At the same time, He suddenly laughed a little at Chae-heon’s words earlier. Was there anything to be careful about? This was right in front of his apartment building.

If anyone needed to be careful on their way home, it was Chae-heon. After all, he had to navigate the congested streets of Seoul to get home.

Jeong-yoon keyed in the code for the common front door and then glanced behind him. Chae-heon was still standing there. Jeong-yoon waved at him awkwardly and went inside. His stomach felt funny, and she felt a flush of heat behind his neck.

***

As soon as Jeong-yoon entered the house, his older sister, who was applying a mud mask, jumped up from the sofa.

“What have you been doing! Is it a date?”

“…No.”

Jeong-yoon thought for a moment and shook his head. Was it a date? He didn’t know. It didn’t feel like hanging out with friends either. Was this how casual sex partners interacted? His mind suddenly felt muddled.

‘Why didn’t anything happen today? I went out without thinking much, but now that I think about it, it’s a bit strange..’

After happily frolicking outside at Chae-heon’s call and returning home, Jeong-yoon immediately fell into confusion.

Was he misunderstanding something? Was Chae-heon suggesting they become sex partners? Or perhaps he meant to start a relationship?

But no matter how he thought about it, it didn’t make sense. Who in their right mind would touch someone and suggest they start dating? It was just a one-time thing. Interpreting that behavior as dating was an overanalysis.

However, even though Jeong-yoon thought it was not the case, when he remembered Kang Chae-heon’s behavior today, he had vain hope in the slight possibility of ‘dating’.

It was when he fell into such unknown thoughts.

“Hey!”

Thanks to Jeong-seon screaming next to him, Jeong-yoon was quickly pulled back to reality.

“Seriously, it wasn’t a date?”

“I said no.”

“The way you left, it seemed like you were meeting someone you were dating.”

“I told you it wasn’t. The person I met today is just a friend. Not even a girl.”

“…Oh, okay.”

At those words, Jeong-seon lay down again with a disinterested expression on her face.

Jeong-yoon looked at his older sister with a look of disbelief and then went into the bathroom. Perhaps because he felt relaxed, but he felt like his body was melting away in the shower.