Vol. 1 Chapter 6  

“Did you kick it on purpose?”

I didn’t know that Daehan would talk to me at that time. I also never thought he would remember that time.? Lim Dae-han shook his head once. But it was Dae-han’s words later that really struck me.

“I didn’t do it on purpose, but I kicked it without realizing it.”

“That was on purpose! Why are you looking at people taking off their clothes?”

“I can see you. What should I do?”

“You said you’d been watching me all along!”

Pervert. Dae-han’s eyes widened as I chewed my words quietly. But in the end, he didn’t say anything. So did I.

After a while, we continued on our way. Lim Dae-han has been speaking to me as if he was attempting to change or improve the atmosphere.

“Before that, I already knew you.”

“I knew you too.”

He was famous. The son of Jaecheon-dong. He was very famous among the arrogant and flamboyant bullies. To be honest, the first thing I thought when I saw Dae-han was, “Oh, he’s really handsome.” It was even weirder because he was tall and bulky. And honestly, this was quite funny because he was a little different from other bullies. First of all, there was nothing vulgar about him. I’d never seen Dae-han interact with others so easily, even when there were men and women around him. He was preoccupied with talking to the people who were close to him. At least that’s how it seems to me. I don’t know how it was actually.

“… Let’s go.”

We went out on the main road. There weren’t many cars, but there were still quite a few. Hmm, Dae-han said. Then I pointed with my hand.

“That’s my apartment over there.”

“You tried so hard not to tell me about me. Why did you change your mind?”

“I’d like to accompany you to the main gate.”

“Do whatever you want.”

Lim Dae-han pouted his lips instead of pretending to be cool. I looked at it from the side but pretended not to know.

When I arrived at the apartment complex’s front door, I turned around and looked up at Dae-han.

“Goodbye.”

When I said goodbye, Lim Dae-han replied, “Goodbye,” with a disappointing face. It was a tone I’d never heard before. It looked awkward. It was kind of funny, and a small smile appeared on my face, but I quickly concealed it and said.

“Then I will go.”

I was about to walk away from him when he called me.

“Ki Young-hyun.”

When I turned my head to the voice, Dae-han tilted his head from side to side and then said.

“Please date me.”

“…”

“I’ll pick you up in the morning and I’ll take you home at night.”

“…”

“I’ll buy you a PXNIC and give you AngX every day.”

“…” “I’ll massage-”

“I hate massage.”

My shoulder would break again.

Lim Dae-han’s voice was very serious. Rather, I am not sure what to do. I licked my lips and then moistened them with my tongue in embarrassment. Then, after slightly lowering my head, I touched my cheek and chin for no apparent reason. I was unable to respond in any way.

As I moved slowly to my apartment, I eventually said, “Goodbye,” and then turned around. A large bell rang in my heart. At this time last year, I had concluded that Dae-han had been interested in me for at least a year. We were in the same class and we didn’t talk to each other until now, but he suddenly confessed. And then I had a thought. Would I have held his hand if he had suddenly reached out asking to be friends instead of confessing? Obviously not.

“…”

I turned my head slowly. Lim Dae-han did not leave but instead smoked a cigarette in the corner of the front door.

I guess he has endured it.

“Because it doesn’t matter… .”

***

Lim Dae-han: [I’ll be there by 7:10 am] 6:58 am.

Lim Dae-han: [About yesterday…] 7:08 am

Lim Dae-han: [Are you still sleeping?] 7:10 am.

“…”

What I saw the moment I woke up was the message from Dae-han. The time I woke up with Dae-han’s last message was 7:10. Originally, the alarm that have been set at 7 o’clock did not go off. I have to leave my house at 7:20 a.m. I need to be in the classroom by 7:50 a.m. I had to arrive 45 minutes early at the back gate to avoid being late.

“Oh!”

I jumped out of bed and called Dae-han right away. If you’re going to pick someone up, don’t you usually say it the night before? He only told me this morning? Would he have waited if I was the type to rush to school? Such rashness should not occur.

Ddu- Ddu- Ddu-

The sound of the connection was also heard for a moment when Dae-han’s low voice went over the phone and come to my ears.

– Why?

There was no the usual ‘Hello’. I trembled with humility at the tone of the question, asking if there was anything to say. I calmly took my cell phone in both hands. I looked through the school uniform hanging in the closet with my eyes.? I’ll start by changing my clothes, washing my face, and eat…

“…Are you near my house?”

Actually, I didn’t even have time to call. I quickly changed my plan.? I had only changed my clothes and washed my face… It’s unfortunate, but let’s skip breakfast and go straight to lunch later.

– Yeah. I’m almost there.

Lim Dae-han, who had no idea how I felt, responded calmly.

“Uh, uh, will you wait for me?”

– Why do you think I come here?

Please don’t leave me with questions. I was like, “Ah, ah, ah…” I stammered on my own for a while and finally got out of the room

“Okay. Yeah, I’ll go out. Wait a little bit.”

I hung up the phone and changed quickly. I was busy packing my bag with a toothbrush in my mouth and carrying it on my shoulder. Even though I was worried about Dae-han who was waiting outside, I suddenly felt unfair. I never asked you to pick me up! I stomped my feet out of resentment.

.

Despite being a college student, my older brother usually gets up early because he has a lot of first classes, so he raised his voice while holding a spoon.

“Hey, don’t bother me early morning.”

“Uhm.”

The sound clumped up because I was biting my toothbrush. My mother, who was leisurely sipping coffee and watching the morning news, asked carefully, “Young-hyun, did you wake up late?” and comforted my brother, “Young-han, don’t bother you brother from the morning.” My brother, who was very weak to my mother, threatened me with a twitch of his nose. While I was nervous in front of my brother, I was busy moving my hands to brush my teeth and getting ready for school.

“I’m going.”

As expected, if I woke up late, I should prepare quickly and leave early. Normally, I would have left exactly at 20 minutes, but today I left at 18 minutes. Many people took the elevator in the morning and stopped sparsely through the floor. I was hungry and hugged my stomach. Should I go to the store later? I moved my legs for no apparent reason in the midst of a lot of thoughts.

I put my head out the window while waiting for the elevator. It was the main gate if I walked straight from my apartment. It wasn’t that far away, so I could see what was going on in front of me.

Dae-han was standing there. As if he wasn’t embarrassed, he smoked a cigarette in the morning while wearing his school uniform. He was big and tall, so he didn’t look like a student. Even if a student smokes in the morning, no one can say anything if it was Dae-han. Dae-han seems to have taken something from his pocket.

I couldn’t tell what he did because I couldn’t see the details. He rubbed his hands together as if washing them before stuffing them back into his pockets. “…What is he doing?”

Ding-

The elevator door opened as I was muttering to myself, and I went inside without hesitation.

On the way out of the building and to the main gate, Dae-han noticed that I had come out and approached me.

“Hi.”

Lim Dae-han greeted first. He looked awkward yesterday, but not so much today. Nonetheless, he said hi and averted his gaze because he was self-conscious.

In fact, I didn’t greet my friends that often either. Just like children of my age, they were the same kind, “You here?” and “I’m going.” I was feeling awkward and shy yesterday, so I said, “Goodbye,” and parted ways, but I didn’t realize Lim Dae-han would say hi first.

“Oh… Hi.”

I bowed my head because I was embarrassed for some reason. I raised my palm slightly and clenched my fist. Lim Dae-han and I walked out of the street without saying anything. I didn’t have much to say because I wasn’t close to him, and the fact that we didn’t know anything about each other made it even more awkward. Come to think of it, Dae-han was the one who talked to me first yesterday. I was walking just looking at the street for no reason, but then Dae-han touched my head.

“Your hair is sticking out.”

“Oh.”

I washed my hair the night before and combed it while washing my face in the morning, but it didn’t seem to go away. I immediately turned my body to the side after placing my hand on the side that Lim Dae-han had touched. He licked his lips and lowered the corners of his lips with a vigilant expression.

And we went our way again. Lim Dae-han asked what time I woke up, and I said I usually woke up at 7 a.m., but I overslept today. And when he asked what time I usually leave, I told him I’d be off at 7:20 a.m. In response to my reply, Lim Dae-han said that he would come at 7:15 a.m.? There was no choice but to question the words.

“From now on?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I’m coming to pick you up.”

“It would be difficult.”

“What~?”

Lee Dae-han stretched his tongue. It was mixed with a cutesy voice. The conversation was soon cut off again. After walking for a while without saying anything,? Lim Dae-han stopped in front of a convenience store.

“I’ll stop by for a second.”

I checked my phone. The time was right at 35 minutes.

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Lim Dae-han went into the convenience store. I tapped the front of my shoes on the floor without going inside. Should I just follow him and buy something to eat? When I thought about it, Dae-han already came out. There was a drink in his hand. It wasn’t an apple-flavored drink in a plastic bottle that was popular at the canteen, but rather a peach-flavored drink with only 2% or 3% flavor, which was insufficient.

I’d been drinking since the morning, and Dae-han handed it to me while I was thinking.

“Why do you give this to me?”

When asked, Lim Dae-han touched his chin for no reason.

“I said I would buy it for you.”

“Ah….”

It was best not to say anything. I also took a step because I couldn’t always receive it.

“Then I also…”

Dae-han grabbed my forearm with one hand and stopped me as I was about to walk to the convenience store.

“Who asked you to buy it? Let’s go to school.”

“…I never asked you to buy it either.”

“Ah, come on! Let’s just go.”

Lim Dae-han responded harshly. His voice rose at that moment, and he immediately pulled me. Dae-han’s face was distorted on one side. The lips were crooked and the eyes were pressed.

I meekly nodded my head. Only then did Lim Dae-han, who had grabbed my forearms firmly then relaxed, and said.

“I’m not angry.”

I didn’t either…

But I couldn’t open my mouth because I didn’t know when he’d change his mind and start flipping. Instead, I just fiddled with wet beverage bottles.

***