BHB 2

Yeowon couldn’t erase his cold expression despite everyone’s confused atmosphere. He was never good at matching people’s moods, and when he felt bad, he could never hide it. It was worse during his school days, but now he was at least trying to hold back. After all, he was now a proper adult who had completed his military service as an army sergeant.

“What’s this, did you two fight?”

Sensing an unusual chill from Yeowon, Yeongjae widened his eyes and quietly asked. His arm naturally returned to rest on Yeowon’s shoulder.

“…No.”

It wasn’t a fight. He just felt unilaterally disgusted. The important question was ‘why’ he felt so disgusted.

“What is it, what is it? I find it so entertaining when you two fight.”

Yeongjae’s eyes sparkled as if asking about an exciting lover’s quarrel. Just as Yeowon sighed and was about to naturally push Yeongjae away-

“Hey. When did you get here?”

A low voice, contrasting with his delicate face, gently echoed. Turning his head, Yeowon saw Lee Taegang walking towards them from the opposite direction, alone, without Senior Jeon Chaemin.

“When did you get here??”

Yeongjae was the first to question Taegang’s presence. He was still leaning on Yeowon with his arm around him.

“Earlier.”

“Did you sign up for a new elective?”

“No.”

“Then why are you here? You don’t have any major classes today either.”

Yeowon thought it was a spot-on question. It was true. If Taegang had no major or elective classes in this department building, there was no reason for him to be here. He wasn’t the type of diligent person to faithfully come to school when he had no classes. His long, unkempt hair and tattoos peeking out from his clothes showed how unruly he was.

“Why so curious?”

Taegang smiled faintly, skillfully evading the question.

Normally, this wouldn’t have been a conversation worth paying attention to, but today it not only stuck in Yeowon’s ear but also made him assign meaning to it. The reason Taegang came to school unnecessarily was to have sex with Senior Chaemin. Taegang’s nonchalant smile felt ridiculous.

“Going to eat?”

Taegang shifted his gaze and naturally put his arm around Yeowon’s shoulder. Of course, Yeongjae’s arm fell away. Despite Taegang’s inconsiderate action that seemed to deliberately push away his arm, Yeongjae didn’t look surprised. Taegang always acted as if Yeowon’s shoulder was his rightful place.

“…”

Yeowon stared intently at Taegang’s face without answering his question. He overlapped his heated face from earlier with his extremely calm face now. He barely held back a sneer at how different he looked, almost like he had a split personality.

The face that had been fiercely excited was now peaceful to the point of nonchalance. As if nothing had happened. It was a face that no one could possibly suspect had just finished intense sex moments ago.

“What? Is there something on my face?”

Taegang touched his face and gave a puzzled look at Yeowon’s piercing gaze.

Yeowon let out a scornful laugh at his brazen face. It was infuriating to think he had been deceiving him so shamelessly all this time. Beyond infuriating, an unprecedented feeling of betrayal boiled up from the pit of her stomach.

“Get off.”

Yeowon swallowed his laughter that kept escaping and spoke coldly.

“What?”

Taegang furrowed his brow as if he had misheard.

At that moment, the mood of the group around them suddenly sank.

“You’re always leaning on me and acting up.”

“……”

“It’s disgusting.”

Yeowon pushed away Taegang’s arm and walked ahead, leaving everyone standing there in shock. If he faced Taegang any longer, he felt he might confront him in front of everyone. Ask him how long he’d been in that kind of relationship with that senior. And why he hadn’t said anything to him.

And what annoyed Yeowon most was the fact that he was angrier than he had expected. He was so angry at the fact that this uncontrollable feeling of betrayal was surging through him like this.

But was it really just because of that? Yeowon moved forward with fierce steps, his face contorted in confusion.

Yeowon, who arrived at the student cafeteria first, ordered something random at the kiosk. His only thought was to eat quickly and get to class. He needed to calm this agitation with that mindset. Before Taegang appeared, it was just a shock. Amidst the shock and inexplicable dirty feeling, seeing Taegang’s nonchalant attitude made his stomach churn. He found it galling how skillfully he avoided the subject despite having just been intimately involved with someone.

Lost in thought, he only realized he had ordered soft tofu stew after receiving his food. Yeowon sat down and scooped up a full spoonful of rice. He had forgotten he was hungry, but he ate with extra force on purpose. It felt like that might help calm this dirty feeling a bit more.

Han Yeowon and Lee Taegang’s story began when they were 7 years old. More precisely, it started when Taegang moved into the detached house next door. It was a wealthy neighborhood famous for being in Gangnam’s 8th school district where parents were obsessed with education, and there, Yeowon was the only anomaly. A kid who didn’t listen and only liked to play.

For a neighborhood famous for its school district, Yeowon’s parents weren’t particularly enthusiastic about education. They were just nouveau riche who hit it big with their own business and simply wanted to live in a nice house in a neighborhood that symbolizes wealth.

Befitting the 8th district, kindergarten was naturally an English kindergarten. It was a famous place where children learned the alphabet before Korean, but Yeowon hated it. He detested sitting at a desk every day listening to English songs and reading English fairy tales. After all, energetic young children need to move their bodies.

When they moved from a two-room villa to a detached house, what Yeowon liked most was having a yard to run around in. He could play soccer, basketball, any ball game without worrying about bothering others.

But there were no friends to play with. Before moving, he had several friends to run around with. At the playground, they would play together even without knowing names, but this place was different. After kindergarten, everyone was taken home by their parents, and only children of parents who were close to each other played together.

Yeowon’s parents, who were just ordinary nouveau riche, were like mutants among those who had been wealthy since birth. Although they faced subtle discrimination, Yeowon’s parents, who weren’t particularly enthusiastic about education, didn’t care much. They were always busy with work and came home late, and even when they did come home, they were always drunk and incoherent.

It was when Yeowon was feeling lonely that Taegang moved into the empty house next door. Into the house famous for being the biggest and most expensive in the neighborhood.

“Tell me.”

While briefly recalling old memories, someone took the seat across from Yeowon. The one who sat down with an intimidating aura was none other than Lee Taegang. As he sat in the chair, the three or four roll chains hanging around his neck clinked together, making a cheerful sound. A jingling sound. It was Taegang’s favorite brand of necklace. That everyday sound had seemed strange earlier. He had heard those necklaces clinking as Taegang moved back and forth, bending that senior over like a dog. That familiar, cheerful sound.

“What.”

Yeowon lowered his gaze as that scene came to mind again and scooped up some rice.

“What do you mean what. You’re angry right now.”

“What are you talking about. Don’t make me talk, I’m eating.”

Yeowon irritably picked up some side dishes and shoved them into his mouth. Watching this scene with bewilderment, Taegang let out a deflated sigh.

“Hey, Han Yeowon.”

Taegang’s voice deepened at Yeowon’s cynical response. At his lowered voice calling his name, Yeowon stared intently at Taegang while chewing a mouthful of food. They had fought countless times since they were 7 years old. It was inevitable when two boys spent so much time together. During their teenage years, they had even thrown punches over trivial things and gone more than a month without speaking. Each time, Taegang would make that same face.

A face that looked deadly serious. A somewhat anxious face.

It seemed like if Yeowon pushed any harder, they might fight again. Yeowon hadn’t decided yet. Whether to ask Taegang directly, or wait until he spoke up. It felt like he could determine his course of action based on that decision, but since he hadn’t made up his mind yet, he kept snapping at him.

As Yeowon gulped down a glass of water and set it down, Taegang called his name again. “Han Yeowon.”

“Why do you keep calling me.”

Only after nearly finishing his food did Yeowon respond. But he couldn’t look directly at Taegang’s face. Just seeing his face kept bringing that scene from earlier to mind.

“Tell me what I did wrong.”

Taegang also seemed to be holding back. Until this morning, they had woken up in the same bed, shared breakfast, and gotten along well, as usual. But now with this sudden cold treatment, he appeared quite bewildered and a bit pissed off.

“What did you do wrong?”

Yeowon chose to pretend not to know as he swallowed his food. He thought he needed to calm down first.

“Are you kidding me?”

Though Taegang seemed properly offended when he denied his behavior, Yeowon stubbornly continued to feign ignorance and spoke up.

“Sometimes, you just piss me off.”

“What?”

“You keep putting your arm around my shoulder. I get that you’re tall, but when you lean on me like that, it bruises my pride sometimes.”

It was an absurd excuse, but Taegang frowned in confusion and stared at him suspiciously.