HARD 16

“…I didn’t look.”

“You seemed curious. It’s okay to be curious.”

“Will you tell me everything?”

“Nope. Whatever I feel like.”

Go Woonha smiled playfully. The answer, which could have been perceived as selfish, was buried under the sound of his laughter.

“Did you already know the person who’s doing my hair?”

“Well. Yes.”

It seemed Cha Gyuwon was very curious if he was Woonha’s friend. Go Woonha considered whether it would be better to be honest.

But then again, didn’t he already know what kind of relationship I had with his brother?

More importantly, Cha Gyuwon seemed so happy to be out with him that it felt like a good idea to gently push him away once to maintain some distance.

“It was a similar relationship to the one I had with your brother, Mr. Cha Gyuwon.”

Cha Gyuwon, who had been looking at his own knees, lifted his head.

Go Woonha, feeling the gaze piercing the space next to his face, hummed, “Hmm.”

In the meantime, the car pulled up to a hair salon that was small but had everything it needed.

Go Woonha, for a very rare—no, for the first—time, almost said something because the atmosphere was awkward. For example, ‘I have many relationships like that,’ or, ‘You don’t mind this kind of thing, do you?’

But there was no reason for him to say such things. Both were obvious excuses, and what’s more, they were cowardly to the point of being pathetic. He refused to become shabby and pathetic because of Cha Gyuwon.

“Let’s get out.”

At Go Woonha’s words, his thoughts now cleanly organized, Cha Gyuwon got out of the car.

Just that alone made the space feel instantly empty. He was really quite large. Come to think of it, Cha Gyuwon didn’t use that body of his properly. He wished he would just press down on him completely, but even after coming, he would move to the side, making him a piece of cake in a painting. For now.

I’ll have to teach him well, according to my tastes.

“Go on in first. I’m going to have a smoke and then come in.”

Cha Gyuwon hesitated.

Ah, is it hard for him to be alone in an unfamiliar place with an unfamiliar person?

The back of Cha Gyuwon as he finally turned away somehow looked dejected. Go Woonha tossed away the cigarette he had just lit without a single hint of regret and followed him.

“Hyung. I’m here.”

He said, opening the door for Cha Gyuwon, who was just tightly gripping the doorknob from behind.

Just then, Hwani came out from inside. Hwani was his stage name; he said his real name was so, so tacky that he wouldn’t tell it to anyone unless they were his lover. Therefore, Go Woonha naturally did not know his real name. In truth, he wasn’t even curious. He had only thought, is there anything tackier than the stage name ‘Hwani’?

“Hey. You haven’t changed a bit.”

Hwani snapped.

“Well, it’s not like we haven’t seen each other in ten years, so it’s only natural I’d be the same.”

“Are you the one getting the haircut? It doesn’t look like it’s been long since you cut your hair.”

“No. Not me.”

Go Woonha looked behind him, then let out a hollow laugh when he saw no one was there.

“Just a moment.”

He opened the door and came out to see Cha Gyuwon standing at the corner of the building, catching his breath.

Go Woonha stood in front of him and lit a cigarette.

“Do you smoke?”

Cha Gyuwon shook his head.

“Then you shouldn’t. Don’t even start. If you start doing bad things to overcome something you don’t like, you’ll only get good at the bad things.”

“…I’m not usually like this, but my bangs, I can see clearly in front of me….”

“So that’s what it is.”

Go Woonha flicked the ash.

“Then let’s not cut it.”

“Pardon?”

“If that’s what’s protecting you, Mr. Cha Gyuwon, why cut it? Don’t cut it.”

“Still… we came all this way.”

“Don’t do things you don’t want to do, even if it means enduring it. That’s not why I brought you out. And anyway, you made it all the way out here.”

Go Woonha’s eyes crinkled as he patted Cha Gyuwon’s butt.

“So commendable. Go brag to your hyung Gyu-han when you get home today.”

“……”

“Wait a minute. Then I’ll just give him the bag and….”

“I’ll go in.”

Cha Gyuwon suddenly said, clenching his fists. Go Woonha watched with interest, thinking that the size and shape of that clenched fist were quite intimidating. He had no intention of doing it, but he really couldn’t do something like a fist fuck with this guy’s hands.

“I told you not to push yourself.”

“No. I want to try.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Go Woonha tilted his head, his eyes crinkling. Then he mumbled with the cigarette in his mouth.

“Mr. Cha Gyuwon, you’re such a model student.”

His gaze, his low voice, the fingers and lips holding the cigarette. Cha Gyuwon felt the sexual desire he had learned from Go Woonha rising within him. And he mistook that sexual desire for excitement and confidence.

“I’ll go in first.”

Go Woonha put out the cigarette and took a portable ashtray from his pocket to put the butt in.

“Is it more comfortable when someone is in front of you?”

It had been like that at the dinner, and at the entrance too. It was something Cha Gyuwon hadn’t even been conscious of.

Just as he said, Go Woonha went ahead and opened the door, and Cha Gyuwon, once again, took a deep breath while looking at his back, and then entered.

Inside, Hwani, who had been busy contacting people who knew Go Woonha to spread the word, lifted his head at the presence.

“My goodness….”

And he covered his mouth when he saw Cha Gyuwon standing tall behind Go Woonha.

He looks so… so scary. Did he pick up some kid who went to jail in the early 2000s? Go Woonha, you crazy bastard. You’ll eat anything and everything, even someone like that. Did you just look at his body? I can’t even see what his face is like.

Hwani looked at Go Woonha with cold eyes. Go Woonha, noticing what he was thinking, didn’t correct him but instead grinned and sat Cha Gyuwon down in a chair.

“Hyung. Trim his bangs a bit for me. But don’t cut them too short, and make it softer overall. And his curls are pretty, so I want to keep the texture.”

“Uh-huh…. Huh?”

Hwani, who had been nodding, saw Cha Gyuwon’s face revealed under the bangs Go Woonha had slightly lifted, and his eyes shot wide open. His eyeballs literally looked like they were about to pop out.

“Can’t we just chop it all off?”

Hwani said, unable to take his eyes off Cha Gyuwon in the mirror. He was looking down, unable to meet his own gaze in the mirror. He thought his hair was thick and curly, but his eyelashes were also dark and long, and curled up prettily. Even the eyes that were barely visible were incredibly pretty, and his lips, though not sharply defined, were full and well-shaped, to the point that his handsomely drawn T-zone and eyebrows seemed to serve only to add glamour to his pretty face.

“Let’s cut it.”

“I told you no.”

Go Woonha stopped Hwani, who was practically about to pounce.

“He’s pretty, right? I understand how you feel, hyung, but he’s so pretty it’s better to cover him up a bit.”

Cha Gyuwon’s heart started to pound at Go Woonha’s words, which he heard from close behind him.

“I trust your skills, hyung. Got it?”

Hwani shot Go Woonha a glare that wasn’t hateful, then picked up his scissors.

“You go over there. You’re in the way.”

“Alright.”

Go Woonha didn’t just obediently step back; he sat down in the empty seat next to him.

“I told you to go?”

“Ah. I brought you a gift, hyung. A grand opening gift. I’ll show it to you in a bit.”

“…Is it expensive?”

“A little? You’ll like it, hyung.”

At those words, Hwani forgot all about trying to keep Go Woonha far away and started humming, hmm hmm.

“But why is your hair so stiff? You need a shampoo first, customer. Please get up.”

Cha Gyuwon hesitantly got up from the seat. For a moment, Hwani’s eyes gleamed again at the large body that cast a shadow over the top of his head, but Go Woonha headed to the shampoo room ahead of Cha Gyuwon.

“Hey, why do you keep following me?”

“I’ll give you a hint. It’s a bag.”

“…Is it the new collection?”

Every time Go Woonha changed the subject, Hwani was distracted. Naturally, Go Woonha made his way into the shampoo room. Cha Gyuwon knew why he was doing that, and he bit his lip hard.

He was right. He was an angel.

👟

Go Woonha asked if he could step outside for a moment, saying he had a call to make.

Cha Gyuwon was nervous, but he had adapted somewhat while getting his hair cut after the shampoo, so he nodded for him to go ahead.

As Go Woonha went outside, Hwani suddenly stuck his head out to the side and made eye contact through the mirror. Cha Gyuwon avoided his gaze, then met it again.

“How did you two meet?”

“Ah…. We knew each other through my older brother.”

“Through your brother? So, did your brother introduce you? Or was it the three of you? Together?”

The three of them together? Cha Gyuwon thought he was talking about the dinner and paused for a moment before nodding.

At that, Hwani clicked his tongue.

Mr. Cha Gyuwon, I didn’t see you that way, but you play around just like your face suggests…. Hearing him mumble that, he asked back.

“Why…? Does it not… suit us to eat together?”

Wasn’t Gyuwon already worried that he seemed too mismatched and inadequate for Go Woonha? His face darkened in an instant. At that, Hwani mumbled, ‘Eat…?’ and soon realized that Cha Gyuwon had misunderstood him and hastily tried to fix it.

“Ah, no! Ah, you ate. E-at. Uh-huh. Uh, is this length okay? Is it alright?”

“…Yes.”

His sudden flustered attempt to smooth things over was very strange. Cha Gyuwon tried his best to calm his uneasy heart and glanced at Go Woonha outside the window. He was smiling. Who was he talking to on the phone? Go Woonha always had a smile on his face and smiled really well, so it was probably nothing, but it kept bothering him. I shouldn’t be like this….

Cha Gyuwon’s expression and the direction of his gaze all came into Hwani’s view. Hwani’s eyes sparkled. Oh, look at this.

But at the same time, he felt a sense of pity.