BHB 75

Yeowon looked down at the top of Jeon Chaemin’s head, who couldn’t even look at him, and asked.

“… Since I first saw you at the entrance ceremony…”

At the voice that seemed to shrink away, Yeowon was even more shocked. It was already a story from years ago, even before he went to the military.

“But this isn’t me questioning either…” Yeowon didn’t hide his slightly awkward expression as he scratched the back of his head and moved his lips, “I clearly saw you rolling around with Taegang not long ago.”

Jeon Chaemin’s hand began to tremble even more extremely.

“… And yet you say you like me?”

It was a bit hard to believe. From the moment he first heard that confession. It would have made more sense if Jeon Chaemin had said he liked Taegang.

“Th-that’s…”

“Perhaps you’re confused about your feelings because we’ve been running into each other a lot lately…”

“It’s not like that…!” As if his feelings were being denied, Jeon Chaemin finally raised his head and looked at Yeowon with eyes full of resentment. “With Taegang…”

He hesitated for a long time. He seemed to have a story he couldn’t tell, hesitating endlessly with a troubled face. As the pause lengthened, the sound of students gathering in the corridor began to be heard. It meant the class time was approaching. Feeling it was a waste of time to continue, Yeowon shook off the hand clinging to his clothes and turned away.

“I’ll go to the office.”

He had conveyed his intention adequately. From the beginning, it was an emotion he couldn’t understand. Especially if it was from the entrance ceremony. Saying he liked him while having sex with Taegang? It didn’t make sense logically.

This time, Jeon Chaemin didn’t stop him. As long as he couldn’t answer Yeowon’s question, he probably couldn’t stop him now. Even if he explained, nothing would change. Because Yeowon had no intention of accepting Jeon Chaemin.

**

Although he had no intention of accepting, he couldn’t help feeling troubled. The thought that something was going seriously wrong overwhelmed him frighteningly.

“So, is it going well?”

Yeowon carelessly gazed at the man sitting across from him as he downed his drink, feeling uneasy. He had come to meet right after class ended at the invitation for a drink, but….

“What’s going well?”

Do Yeongjae, who found out about the meeting with Baek Seungha, had tagged along like a leech. Baek Seungha said he didn’t mind, but Yeowon was a bit disappointed. He had wanted to drink quietly today, but that was impossible with the talkative Do Yeongjae around.

“You know, that thing.” Baek Seungha looked at him intently with a playful smile. 

Yeowon laughed as if it was nonsense and quickly downed his second drink.

“Is it fun?”

Yeowon could immediately understand what Baek Seungha was asking. It hadn’t even been a week since they had that conversation about ‘unrequited love’. But Baek Seungha seemed to find that conversation quite interesting, unable to take his eyes off Yeowon, full of curiosity.

“Other people’s love stories are always entertaining, you know.”

“What? Han Yeowon, are you dating?! Wow, who?!”

With such a loose tongue. When Yeowon glared at Baek Seungha with slightly resentful eyes, he shrugged nonchalantly with his characteristic refreshing laugh.

“Ah, I’m not.” Yeowon brushed off Do Yeongjae, who was clinging to him, with an annoyed face.

“You’re not hiding anything from me, are you? Huh? Even you meet Baek Seungha hyung  without me.”

“Hey, if you think about it, I’ve known this hyung longer than you have.”

“Still, you met again because of me, so you should include me when you meet―!”

“We would have met again even without you, you know?”

“Baek Seungha hyung, you always refuse when I ask to drink, but you’ve already drunk with Han Yeowon how many times?”

Both Yeowon and Baek Seungha looked quite annoyed at the noisy complaining.

“I don’t like you because you’re noisy.” Baek Seungha said bluntly, waving his hand. 

At the firm answer, Yeongjae pouted as if he was really hurt. Finding it childish, Yeowon let out a laugh and grabbed the bottle next to Baek Seungha. As he was pouring the drink into his glass, a persistent gaze followed from the opposite side.

“Did you get hurt?” Baek Seungha asked curiously, noticing the band-aid on the back of Yeowon’s hand. 

It was none other than Yeongjae who answered excitedly, “Hyung, didn’t you know?”

Yeongjae started blabbering about what had happened a few days ago, making a fuss. It was already the tenth time Yeongjae had talked about that day’s events instead of Yeowon. Fortunately, Yeowon didn’t have to tire his own mouth.

“… So that bastard was waving around a box cutter, and Yeowon got hurt here. But because it was Yeowon, it’s just this much, if it had been someone else, it could have been much worse. Seriously.”

Yeowon shook his head as he chewed on some dry snacks, seeing Yeongjae exaggerate as if he was telling some heroic tale.

“So.”

A much lower voice cut in. Yeowon, who had been mindlessly chewing on nuts, looked at Baek Seungha with a slightly surprised face. It was a voice he hadn’t heard in a long time. Baek Seungha’s characteristic playful tone disappeared like magic if he was even slightly uncomfortable.

“What happened to that bastard?” Baek Seungha asked, his eyes flashing with intimidation like in their school days. Although he usually pretended to be nice and smiled playfully, Baek Seungha was someone who had as many, if not more, bad rumors about him as Taegang. Even the trash Choi Youngdoo trembled before him.

“You didn’t just let it go, did you?”

Yeowon replied calmly, continuing to put snacks in his mouth at the quiet interrogation, “I hit him a few times, well.”

“Just that?”

“He fainted after a few hits.”

“… Getting stabbed just because you’re a bit older. Han Yeowon, you’ve really gone soft.”

“I’m telling you, it was really just a light scratch.”

“Should I take care of him?”

Yeowon burst into laughter at the phrase he hadn’t heard in a long time. “Wow, that’s so cheesy.”

But the atmosphere wasn’t entirely joking, and Yeongjae was just watching carefully from the side. He seemed slightly intimidated by the usually jovial big hyung suddenly acting threatening.

“You’re scaring the kid.”

As Yeowon put his arm around Do Yeongjae’s shoulder and spoke good-naturedly, Baek Seungha looked at the slightly stiffened Do Yeongjae and let out a deflated laugh.

“Hyung was really wild when he was young, right?”

“Hey, look at the tattoos on my back.”

“I suspected as much.”

“He’s as big as Taegang.”

“Is Taegang a bit bigger?”

“My body is more toned though.” Baek Seungha joined in the casual conversation between Yeongjae and Yeowon. 

Yeowon clicked his tongue once and scanned Baek Seungha’s body overall. Although he was wearing a shirt, it was possible to estimate to some extent. Since he already knew Taegang’s naked body, he didn’t need to imagine… No. Nevermind.

Lost in habitual thought, Yeowon cleared his throat briefly and responded indifferently, “You don’t know this, but Taegang’s body is like rebar.”

At this brief, honest answer, Do Yeongjae looked at him with displeasure. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What now?”

“You’re saying it like you’re bragging about a lover—”

“Want to get hit?”

“Why don’t you have any sense of humor? Don’t you know what a joke is?” Do Yeongjae smiled and patted Yeowon’s shoulder repeatedly. 

His nose bridge wrinkled visibly at the subtle, emotional punch. Does it hurt? When he clenched his fist and smiled back, Do Yeongjae’s gestures quickly stopped. 

Baek Seungha, who had been silently watching their bickering, let out a faint laugh as if finding it quite funny and casually threw out a question. Though casual, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, “So, how’s Taegang doing?”

“Well, he’s the type who’ll do fine without others worrying about him.”

“He still goes crazy trying to kill me whenever he sees me.”

“Right. When did you two start not getting along?”

“I don’t remember us ever getting along from the start.”

“Come on. Taegang even got a tattoo following you.”

“It’s interesting that you simply thought he did that because of me.”

“No, I once told him that your tattoo was cool too.”

“I know.”

“But I guess it looked cool to him too, because not long after, he drew a picture on his arm…”

“So you’re the one who said it was cool.”

The reminiscing words suddenly stopped. Unable to understand the sudden confirmation, Yeowon’s brow furrowed. 

Baek Seungha added once more,”It wasn’t that I looked cool to him, but that you said it was cool.”

‘… Ah. So that’s how it is.’

Yeowon’s lips parted slightly and remained open.

“I guess he wanted to look cool to you.”

“…Ah, that’s gross.”

Suddenly feeling hot, the words burst out irritably from embarrassment. Unsure why he felt even hotter, Yeowon wiped his heated face and gulped down water roughly.

“Why would Taegang go through the trouble of cutting up his arm to impress this guy?” Do Yeongjae, who had been listening along, burst into laughter and retorted as if it were ridiculous. 

It was a fair point. Yeowon simply agreed, nodding his head briefly again.

“If it were a woman, maybe. But isn’t he the type who doesn’t try to impress anyone?” Do Yeongjae asked, recalling the cold and seemingly merciless Taegang. 

It was something they all agreed on. At least, those who had known Taegang for over a year did. But unlike Yeowon, who silently agreed, Baek Seungha let out a small sneer. As if it had come out unintentionally, he quickly erased his smile and stroked his chin.