Summer season side story

4. Our Summer

Bzzzt.

 

At the brief vibration of his phone, Eun-ho, who had been washing dishes, pulled off his rubber gloves.

 

Are you coming to hang out at the pub today?

 

He frowned and read the message again, but it made no more sense the second time. On top of that, the number wasn’t even saved in his contacts. Deciding it was probably spam, he was just about to put his rubber gloves back on when another message arrived.

 

Ah, it’s me, Lee Su-jin. We drank together at the sports festival. I’m in Do-hyeon’s year!

 

The face of a lively girl with short hair suddenly flashed through his mind. He also vaguely remembered himself, surrounded by drunken chatter, readily typing out his eleven-digit phone number when she asked for it.

 

Eun-ho moved his fingers and replied.

 

Pub?

 

The read receipt appeared immediately, but no answer followed. As he stared down at his phone, the screen suddenly changed, and the eleven digits he had just seen appeared in large numbers.

 

He answered the call, wedged the phone between his shoulder and ear, then slipped his hands back into the rubber gloves.

 

“Hello?”

 

[Oh, you picked up! Hi! Have you been well?]

 

“Yeah. I suppose.”

 

He had noticed it last time too, but she had an easy, shamelessly natural manner, as though she were talking to an old friend. Completely unfazed by Eun-ho’s awkward, indifferent tone, the girl carried on.

 

[Didn’t Do-hyeon tell you anything? Our festival starts this week!]

 

He hadn’t heard anything about a festival, never mind a pub. He suddenly remembered Do-hyeon telling him earlier that he had no particular plans when Eun-ho asked what he was doing today.

 

“…No. He didn’t.”

 

[Ah, really? Maybe he was embarrassed to tell you… Today a few of the Business Administration classes are running a pub together. The seniors have been going around, absolutely determined to get Cha Do-hyeon to bring in customers. I wonder what happened with that.]

 

The last part sounded almost like she was muttering to herself. But Eun-ho hadn’t missed the words bring customers in, and his curiosity was piqued.

 

“Bring customers in?”

 

[Yeah. Our pub’s theme this time is Animal Farm. Everyone’s convinced that if we gather up the good-looking guys and dress them as animals, getting customers will be easy. They’re making a huge fuss about earning enough money to replace the sofa in the department room.]

 

The moment Eun-ho heard the words "animal" and "dress up," the plate in his hands almost slipped.

 

Heat suddenly rushed to his face. He glanced around quickly, but fortunately lunch service was over, and there were only a few people left in the kitchen.

 

Eun-ho adjusted his grip on the plate and cleared his throat.

 

“…So they’ll wear things like animal-ear headbands too. And tails.”

 

[Yeah, I suppose so?]

 

“But Cha Do-hyeon actually agreed to do that? He doesn’t seem like the type.”

 

[Hang on, I’ll ask again!]

 

The Cha Do-hyeon Eun-ho knew wasn’t the sort of person who went around chatting pleasantly to people without a specific reason. On top of that, even if they replaced the sofa in the department room with a brand-new one, Do-hyeon was the kind of person who probably wouldn’t sit on it even once.

 

Eun-ho could confidently say that he wasn’t altruistic enough to sacrifice himself for something that offered him absolutely no benefit.

 

From the other end of the phone, he faintly heard Su-jin call, “Unnie, unnie! Did you manage to catch Cha Do-hyeon?”

 

All Eun-ho was doing was waiting for an answer, yet his face kept getting hotter, and his mouth grew dry.

 

A squirrel tail and a headband with little ears kept floating before his eyes.

 

Had some kind of incurable trauma been carved into his soul?

 

Pointless thoughts circled his mind.

 

[Oh! I just asked. Cha Do-hyeon said he’ll help too!]

 

The fact that Do-hyeon hadn’t told him any of this vanished completely from Eun-ho’s thoughts. So did the memory of being so violently hungover only a few days ago that he’d sworn he wouldn’t even look at alcohol for a while. There was only one thing filling his head now.

 

Cha Do-hyeon was going to walk around campus wearing animal ears and a tail.

 

Eun-ho firmly put down the dish he had been washing, pulled off his rubber gloves and draped them over the edge of the sink. Then he adjusted his grip on the phone.

 

“What time does it start? I’ll come too.”

 

Su-jin laughed at the determination in his voice and said she would send him an image showing where the pub booth was, then hang up.

 

Eun-ho stared into space and wet his lips.

 

It wasn’t enough that the bastard had treated him like a squirrel—he had even shoved an acor… no, that ridiculous thing up—

 

If the same bastard was now going to dress up like an animal himself, there was no way Eun-ho could miss it.

 

He felt like he wouldn’t be satisfied until he saw Do-hyeon standing in front of everyone looking utterly ridiculous with his own eyes.

 

I hope he gets something like a rabbit.

 

They could paint the tip of his nose round and make him wear a headband with long ears.

 

Eun-ho poked his head out and checked where his parents were. Fortunately, they seemed completely occupied with preparing for the evening service. He quietly pushed the remaining dishes into the corner of the sink and crept towards the back door of the restaurant.

 

He was carefully opening it when he made eye contact with his mother, who was trimming meat with a large knife.

 

“Yeo Eun-ho! Where are you going?!”

 

Eun-ho bit his lip.

 

Ah, whatever.

 

Then he bolted.

 

Looking at it now, the banners he had seen during the sports festival must actually have been put up for the university festival. Campus was chaotic, with food trucks, event booths and advertising banners set up everywhere. Students heading home after class mixed with outsiders who had come to enjoy the festival.

 

Eun-ho checked the map Su-jin had sent him and headed towards the lawn in front of the stage, where the pub booths were supposed to be. There was a performance underway, but judging by the relatively small crowd, whoever was onstage didn’t seem to be a celebrity.

Thank God.

 

If the place had been any noisier than this, Eun-ho would have turned around and gone home, Cha Do-hyeon in an animal costume be damned. Under the long rows of large tents, banners and menus hung, looking handmade. The cheap red plastic tables and blue chairs you might normally see outside a convenience store were packed with people.

A man wearing a bright red royal robe was showing menus to passers-by. When his eyes met Eun-ho’s, he smiled and gestured for him to come inside. Eun-ho shook his head with an uncomfortable expression and hurried past. He walked past pubs with all sorts of different themes, following the map towards the Business Administration booth.

Ahead, he suddenly spotted what looked like real straw scattered about, along with decorations resembling the huge oak barrels used to make wine. Unlike the booths belonging to the other departments, this one looked as though it had been decorated with a fair amount of money, which perhaps explained why so many of the tables were occupied.

 

As he approached, sure enough, a huge tent labelled "Business Administration Pub" came into view. The atmosphere was far more hectic and boisterous than he had expected, and Eun-ho faintly frowned.

 

“Learn while you drink—random…!”

 

Shouts from drinking games and bursts of laughter echoed from all directions. Eun-ho had no desire to squeeze himself among people who were already half-drunk before sunset, and he was considering turning around and going home after all when he heard a familiar voice. Someone lightly grabbed his arm from behind.

 

“What the hell! If you were here, you could’ve called me. Why are you just standing around watching?”

 

Eun-ho pulled his arm free and turned around. The moment he did, he found himself looking at Su-jin, who was dressed rather strangely. He forgot even to greet her and simply raised an eyebrow.

 

“…What is that?”

 

“This? It’s a horse! Can’t you tell just by looking?”

 

The huge thing perched atop her wavy bob was unmistakably shaped like a horse’s head. More precisely, it looked closer to a stuffed toy than a hat. Its eyes, gathered near the top of its long brown face, had a vacant expression, while long strips of material hung between the ears like a mane.

It wasn’t that Eun-ho had asked because he couldn’t tell there was a horse’s head sitting on top of hers. He had heard animals and expected something like rabbits or cats. Seeing Su-jin grinning happily despite looking as though she was carrying out some sort of punishment, Eun-ho closed his mouth again.

 

“Come on, come on. This way. There’s an empty seat over there!”

 

Su-jin led him farther inside, weaving around the people rushing about. The table she chose wasn’t far from the makeshift kitchen. Like the other pubs, a laminated menu sat on top of the blue plastic table.

 

The first thing Eun-ho noticed was the jagged handwriting across the top.

 

Four legs good, two legs bad!

 

Does that mean you’re supposed to get so drunk you crawl home on all fours…?

 

Judging by the customers at the next table, who were loudly banging on the tabletop while laughing and shouting, there hardly seemed any need to print it in huge letters on the menu.

 

Eun-ho was examining the dim photographs beside the food names when Su-jin snatched the menu away.

 

“You’ll eat anything, right? Sit here. I’ll bring you something.”

 

He wasn’t particularly hungry, so Eun-ho simply nodded.

 

“Try calling Cha Do-hyeon! We sent him out earlier to bring in customers, but I don’t know why he still hasn’t come back. Don’t tell me he’s skiving off somewhere?”

 

“Lee Su-jin! Come here for a second!”

 

“Yeah! Coming!”

 

Su-jin, who had been talking almost entirely at him rather than with him, shouted a reply to whoever had called her.

 

Then, without even giving Eun-ho a chance to ask anything, she hurriedly added,

 

“As you can probably tell, I’m actually in charge of the whole pub. God, I’m losing my mind. Just stay here for a minute, okay?”

 

A few sets of disposable wooden chopsticks and paper cups were dropped onto the table before Su-jin disappeared behind a partition. Everything had happened so quickly Eun-ho barely had time to process it. Only after he found himself sitting alone, staring blankly at the blue plastic table did he finally have enough breathing room to look around.

Under the huge tent marked Business Administration Pub, several portable gas burners sat on long tables. People wearing horse-head hats similar to Su-jin’s were constantly shaking frying pans. None of them looked particularly happy.

 

Standing in front of a flame on such a hot day would already be miserable enough. Having to wear that ridiculous horse head as well…

 

Their expressions were entirely understandable. Eun-ho called Do-hyeon as he turned his gaze towards the grassy area packed with tables. Someone who looked like a Business Administration student moved between them with a notepad, taking orders, while others busily carried disposable plates of food and green bottles of alcohol.

 

A few students had even squeezed in beside groups of customers who appeared to be friends, laughing and drinking with them. Eun-ho held the ringing phone to his ear and quietly observed everyone. Then he suddenly noticed something odd and frowned.

 

He had clearly been told the theme was Animal Farm and that everyone would be dressed up. Yet most of the people squeezing through the narrow spaces between the tables were simply wearing rolled-up shirts and slacks. He had expected at least animal onesies, even if they didn’t go as far as theatrical costumes. No matter how he looked at them, they resembled the sort of smart date outfits women supposedly liked far more than animals on a farm.

 

The only unusual thing about them was the small pink lump attached to the top of each person’s head.

 

Eun-ho narrowed his eyes as he watched a man in a black suit walk past the next table.

 

On closer inspection, the decoration on his head looked like a pair of little pig ears.

 

“Hah.”

 

A short, disbelieving laugh escaped him.

 

No rabbits.

 

No cats.

 

Not even monkeys.

 

Every one of them was neatly dressed, with a pair of half-folded pig ears on their head. He probably wouldn’t even have realised what they were supposed to be if it weren’t for the round, curled pink tails casually attached to the backs of their trousers. He hadn’t come expecting one animal in particular, but they weren’t remotely as ridiculous as he had imagined.

 

Compared with the humiliation Eun-ho had suffered, this was nothing more than something you might see at a nursery-school performance. Eun-ho clenched his fist as though that fluffy squirrel tail were still in his hand, then shook his head with a sigh. Well, I suppose this is about as far as normal people would go when they think of dressing up as animals.

Shoving an animal tail between someone’s arse cheeks probably wouldn’t even occur to an ordinary person as an option. His face inexplicably heated again. Eun-ho abruptly turned his head and glared at the screen, which showed that Do-hyeon still wasn’t answering.

 

“Did you try calling Cha Do-hyeon?”

 

Su-jin reappeared in front of him carrying several disposable plates and bottles of beer. Eun-ho had assumed she would drop off the food and leave immediately, but instead she naturally sat down and opened a bottle. She tilted it over a paper cup, filling it with pale, fine foam.

 

“…Yeah. He didn’t answer.”

 

“Ah, he hasn’t run off because he couldn’t be bothered, has he? I deliberately sent him towards the Nursing Department to bring people over!”

 

Eun-ho pictured Cha Do-hyeon standing there in black slacks and a shirt, one hand in his pocket. Even with interested gazes flying towards him from every direction, he would probably be wearing that easy, unconcerned smile of his.

Something twisted unpleasantly inside Eun-ho.

He quickly changed the subject.

 

“The animals you dressed as are unusual. I thought it’d be cats or rabbits or something.”

 

“We thought about that too, but it didn’t feel very original. And another department might do the same thing. So we decided to theme it after the novel Animal Farm! Business casual, with pink pig ears and tails. Isn’t it unusual?”

 

A novel where pigs walked around neatly dressed? He had never heard of anything like it. But Su-jin was speaking as though it was obvious he would know what she meant, making it awkward to ask. Eun-ho nodded with a doubtful expression.

 

“Cha Do-hyeon’s dressed like that too?”

 

“Yeah. Of course.”

 

At Su-jin’s confident smile, Eun-ho let out a short sigh.

Even if they painted Do-hyeon’s face pink and taped his nose upwards, it was obvious what people’s reactions ,would be if he was dressed like that.

Rather than becoming a laughing stock, he would only attract more attention.

Interested, admiring gazes would probably cling to him from every direction.

“Why do you suddenly look like that?”

Thanks to Su-jin’s puzzled expression, Eun-ho realised he had clenched his fist tightly.

He quickly relaxed his hand.

Then he shook his head from side to side, trying to scatter the thoughts that kept slipping away from his control.

“It’s nothing.”

Without thinking, Eun-ho lifted the paper cup of beer towards his lips, only to lower it again at the last moment.

The memory of the hangover he’d suffered the morning after his squirrel humiliation a few days ago was still painfully clear in both his body and mind.

Besides, for some reason, he simply didn’t feel like drinking today.

Instead of beer, Eun-ho wet his lips with the water that had grown lukewarm on the table.

Su-jin, on the other hand, appeared ready to start drinking properly.

She shouted towards the kitchen, “I’m taking a quick break!” and set the horse-head hat down on the empty chair beside her.

She began complaining about one hardship after another.

The festival schedule had been delayed, so the weather was far too hot. At least they weren’t wearing hanbok like the History Department next door. Things like that.

Eun-ho sipped his water, only half listening, when his gaze suddenly fixed on a familiar silhouette in the distance.

Cha Do-hyeon was walking towards them while looking down at his phone.

“…That’s what those customers said, I’m telling you.”

“Are you even listening?”

His frame looked slightly broader than when he wore his school uniform.

The shape of his forearms beneath his rolled-up sleeves.

The long thighs whose outlines became visible with each stride.

The cool expression on his face, tinged with faint irritation.

Unable to tear his eyes away, Eun-ho lightly licked his lips.

He quietly watched Do-hyeon approach.

Then it suddenly occurred to him that everyone here could see Cha Do-hyeon looking like this.

A fierce thirst struck him without warning.

The sort of endless thirst that felt as though nothing could ever quench it.

“What… Oh! Cha Do-hyeon didn’t run away after all!”

Noticing where Eun-ho was looking, Su-jin spotted Do-hyeon and waved energetically.

Only then did Do-hyeon lift his eyes from his phone and look towards them. For an instant, surprise seemed to cross his expressionless face. Then one eyebrow rose immediately. His footsteps drew closer, but Eun-ho didn’t feel like greeting him with his usual smile.

He looked away and picked up the paper cup in front of him. Before the beer could reach his lips, however, Do-hyeon caught his wrist and gently pressed his hand back down onto the table.

“How did you end up here?”

His tone wasn’t much different from usual, yet it sounded unusually cold.

Eun-ho’s mood immediately soured at being treated like an unwelcome guest. And the fact that that was the first thing Do-hyeon had said irritated him even more. Eun-ho shook off his hand, snatched the paper cup back and gave a humourless laugh.

“Why? Am I somewhere I’m not allowed to be?”

“…”

At Eun-ho’s hostile tone, Do-hyeon frowned.

Su-jin, sitting between them, apparently failed to notice the strange atmosphere and cheerfully cut in.

“I invited him! You didn’t even tell Eun-ho to come to the festival, did you? I got his number at the sports festival, just in case.”

Do-hyeon’s already blank expression tightened almost imperceptibly. But he gave nothing away. He simply pulled off the pig-ear decoration from his head and dropped it onto the table.

“Yeo Eun-ho. Let’s go.”

“Hey, Cha Do-hyeon! You definitely promised you’d help for two hours today, remember? If you leave now, don’t think I’ll forget that favour you asked me for!”

“Get up. I’ll take you home.”

Su-jin, completely ignored, stared at him open-mouthed. But Do-hyeon’s gaze remained fixed solely on Eun-ho. There was something in those unwavering eyes that felt like patience being forced down and tightly restrained.

Whenever Eun-ho visited campus, including during last time's sports festival, Cha Do-hyeon always seemed to try to send him home quickly. It was almost as though he didn’t want other people to see the two of them together.

 

Why?

 

“Yeo Eun-ho.”

 

…Because he’s embarrassed by me?

 

The thought came so abruptly and irrationally that a bitter sneer slipped from Eun-ho’s lips. Instead of answering, he lifted the paper cup of beer. Keeping his sharp gaze fixed on Do-hyeon, he tipped the cup towards his mouth. Do-hyeon stared at him without expression. His eyes abruptly sharpened.

His prominent Adam’s apple moved once, and then his large hand shot towards Eun-ho’s face. He snatched the paper cup straight out of Eun-ho’s hand. Without hesitation, he threw its contents into his own mouth.

“Lee Su-jin. Don’t give him alcohol.”

The softened paper cup collapsed and lost its shape inside Do-hyeon’s large hand. He stopped another student passing with an icebox and took a 500 ml bottle of ice-cold water.

Condensation already coated the plastic bottle when Do-hyeon set it down beside the lukewarm bottle that had been sitting on the table—and directly in front of Eun-ho.

Eun-ho smiled bitterly and ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek. He was in a bad mood. A very bad mood.

“Hey. If there’s something you don’t like, stop glaring at me like that and say it.”

“No. We’ll talk at home. Get up.”

Eun-ho stared at the droplets running down the clear plastic bottle. Then he reached out. Not for the water, but for the brown beer bottle behind it. He tilted it over a fresh paper cup. But before the pale foam had even filled half the cup, the bottle was taken away.

Do-hyeon looked steadily at Eun-ho with a blank expression, then turned the bottle upside down in mid-air. The remaining beer poured onto the grass, already flattened beneath countless shoes. Eun-ho gave an incredulous laugh as Su-jin cried out in horror.

“Hey, Cha Do-hyeon! Are you insane?”

Their cold gazes collided in the air. This wasn’t what Eun-ho had imagined when he came here. But somewhere in a hidden corner of his mind, a sharp thorn had worked its way free, sending ripples through him.

Logically, he knew Do-hyeon was behaving like this because he remembered how badly Eun-ho had suffered from his hangover a few days ago. But that didn’t stop his lips twisting or the mocking words from spilling out.

“Hey, you drink and have fun with your classmates all the time, so why are you telling me I can’t?”

“Am I embarrass—”

Eun-ho abruptly stopped himself and bit hard into his lower lip.

Are you embarrassed by me?

His pride wouldn’t allow him to finish the question.

When Eun-ho shut his mouth and looked sideways at him, Su-jin, who had been watching cautiously, laughed awkwardly and tried to intervene.

“Hey, hey, why are you two making things so terrifying? And Cha Do-hyeon, seriously. Eun-ho isn’t a kid. Aren’t you being a bit overprotective?”

She clearly meant it as a joke, but the reaction was so icy it became embarrassing.

Fortunately, before the atmosphere could grow even colder, someone called for Do-hyeon from behind.

“Hey, Do-hyeon! Can you come over here and help us move this?”

Eun-ho looked away first. The tension stretched between them loosened slightly. Lowering his eyes, he fiddled with the paper cup before speaking almost under his breath.

“…I wasn’t planning to drink much anyway. Go do what you need to do. I’ll wait until you’re finished.”

Do-hyeon stood there silently, looking down at the crown of Eun-ho’s head.

Then, without a word, he turned away.

Across from Eun-ho, Su-jin finally let out a sigh of relief.

Eun-ho lowered his head even further and bit his lip.

“Wow. I’ve never seen Cha Do-hyeon look that terrifying before. Why is he like that with you?”

That was the wrong question.

It shouldn’t have been, Why is he like that with you?

It should have been:

Why did you suddenly act like that?

Eun-ho admitted that he had been seized by a sudden rush of emotion and had deliberately acted in a hostile manner. But admitting it didn’t make the tight, suffocating ache in his chest disappear.

Instead of answering, he simply fiddled with the bottle of water Do-hyeon had left behind. The cold condensation ran over his fingers and down into his palm, leaving long slippery trails behind.

As though trying to break the awkward atmosphere, Su-jin began calling other people over to the table one by one. Those Eun-ho had met during the sports festival recognised him with bright smiles and gradually took seats. Another table was pulled alongside theirs. Empty bottles began multiplying. And as they did, everyone’s voices grew louder. Eun-ho refused the offers to pour him alcohol and sat quietly in the corner of the table, trying to sort through his thoughts. Then a loud conversation from beside him began drifting into his ears.

 

“No, this hyung was just as bad when he was in the lower years. He kept saying he was going to change majors. Right?”

 

“Yeah. I only came here because I heard it was one of the easiest degrees to get a job with. I didn’t even really know what the department taught.”

 

The people chuckling amongst themselves and drinking were apparently final-year seniors who had come over together after class to help the younger students make some money. That explained why the expressions of the students sitting nearby had suddenly darkened. One after another, they began excusing themselves, saying they needed to get back to work. Eun-ho alone continued listening to the older students’ conversation.

 

“Hey, how many people actually enter university already knowing exactly what they want to do since secondary school? Most people get into whatever course their grades allow, then try different things afterwards and find their path. What was his name again? Yeon-jun? Didn’t he start that company with people he met through an entrepreneurship club?”

 

“Yeah. Apparently their idea was good enough that a company offered to invest.”

 

“Don’t you remember? He was the one making a massive fuss about how the subject didn’t suit him and saying he was going to retake the university entrance exam.”

 

The people laughing together somehow looked especially grown-up. Even though they weren’t completely certain about their futures, Eun-ho envied them for at least having thought about the general direction they wanted to take. Suddenly, he realised the name of the emotion that had boiled up inside him earlier.

 

Inferiority.

 

“Jun-woo, what happened with you joining Professor Yoon’s lab?”

“Fortunately, we talked it through, and I think I’ll be going to Germany with the professor. I’m just not sure whether it’ll be from next semester or next year. Apparently the professor even offered a first-year student an undergraduate research position.”

“Professor Yoon approached them first?”

The man with wavy hair widened his eyes as though he had just heard something shocking.

The man wearing glasses drained the drink in front of him and continued speaking.

“Who?”

“Ah, you’d know her if I told you. He asked me to introduce him to someone privately. My unnie’s really busy these days, so normally she wouldn’t have time, but since it was Cha Do-hyeon, she agreed to meet him today on the condition that he helped out at the pub.”

Cha Do-hyeon had asked to be introduced to someone…?

And that someone was a woman?

“Hah.”

A short, disbelieving laugh escaped him.

Logically, it probably wasn’t the sort of meeting between a man and a woman that immediately came to mind. Eun-ho was sure there had to be some other reason he didn’t know about.

That didn’t make him feel any less fucking awful about it. With his expression stiff, Eun-ho said goodbye to Su-jin and left first.

──── 📘📘 ────

Two sets of footsteps echoed through the alley outside Eun-ho’s home, now dark with night.

With only a dozen or so metres left before the entrance to the apartment building, Eun-ho stopped.

The footsteps that had followed him all the way from the university stopped as well.

Still staring straight ahead, Eun-ho spoke.

“…Cha Do-hyeon. How long are you going to keep following me?”

A short sigh sounded behind him, followed by the sense of someone drawing closer. Eun-ho remained facing forward. Something heavy settled against his shoulder.

Do-hyeon’s forehead.

“…If I get angry, I feel like we’ll just end up fighting more.”

His soft hair brushed lightly against Eun-ho’s neck.

“And if I back down first, I don’t even know what I’m apologising for.”

Eun-ho lowered his eyes and said nothing.

Do-hyeon’s voice continued, low and slightly husky.

“I wasn’t planning to take part in the pub or any of that, so I didn’t tell you about it.”

“And I wanted to leave quickly because I didn’t like you being there with everyone else.”

Why didn’t you like it?

The question reached the tip of Eun-ho’s tongue, only to disappear again. There was no way Cha Do-hyeon would ever say he was embarrassed by him. But Eun-ho was afraid that even the slightest hesitation might show on his face.

“What do I have to do for Yeo Eun-ho to stop being angry?”

Eun-ho knew perfectly well that Do-hyeon wasn’t the one who ought to be backing down. The cause of all this was Eun-ho himself. But when even he couldn’t fully understand what he had been feeling earlier, explaining it to someone else was almost impossible.

It felt as though a mass of emotions he couldn’t put into words had hardened somewhere around the pit of his stomach. It was suffocating.

Eun-ho turned around and lightly pushed Do-hyeon back. Then, carefully choosing the most casual words he could think of, he asked with a deliberately blank expression,

“Is there anything else?”

“Hm?”

“Is there anything else I don’t know about?”

Do-hyeon stared at him as though studying his face. His brow creased slightly, as though trying to work out what Eun-ho meant. Eun-ho avoided his gaze and looked off to the side.

“…Never mind.”

“I’m sorry about earlier too.”

“Yeo Eun-ho.”

Do-hyeon’s expression grew more rigid. Eun-ho worried his lower lip between his teeth and quickly turned away. His arm was caught immediately, but he twisted lightly and pulled himself free.

“You’ve got class tomorrow. Go home.”

“…”

“I’ll call you.”

Eun-ho started walking towards the apartment building.

Do-hyeon didn’t follow.

That was a relief.

What Eun-ho needed right now was time to think about these strange feelings of inferiority and inadequacy he had never experienced before.

He could vividly imagine Cha Do-hyeon standing behind him, watching him leave.

That was precisely why he didn’t turn around.

──── 📘📘 ────

Regardless of how heavy his heart felt, time passed quickly.

The restaurant remained busy, and the days passed in much the same way, with no major incidents. But today had been filled with bad omens from the moment Eun-ho woke up.

On his way to work, a bicycle had suddenly shot out of an alley and startled him so badly that he fell flat onto his backside. Now, standing at the sink, Eun-ho irritably dropped the grill plate he had been scrubbing.

No matter how hard he rubbed with the scourer, the burnt-on stains refused to disappear. But when he poured hot water over them, the silver surface quickly appeared beneath the water.

If only the thoughts stuck stubbornly inside his head could be washed away that easily.

Eun-ho stared blankly at the clean grill for a moment before picking up the scourer again.

It had already been a week since he started avoiding Cha Do-hyeon, using the excuse that the restaurant was busy and he had no time. Do-hyeon’s unusually quiet patience was probably nearing its limit by now.

Eun-ho had spent the entire week thinking through every possibility, yet the unanswered questions simply kept floating around in his head. And today was Saturday, the busiest and most hectic day of the week.

In other words, it was also the day Cha Do-hyeon was supposedly being introduced to some woman. Eun-ho kept telling himself it was probably nothing. So why did his eyes keep drifting towards the clock?

When he noticed it was nearly time for the staff’s lunch break, Eun-ho pulled off his rubber gloves. Then he heard raised voices from outside the kitchen. When he went out, he saw several people standing beside one of the tables.

“No, I’m telling you to just bring the owner over. They say the customer is king, so what sort of service is this? The air conditioning is giving me a headache. I only asked you to turn it off while we eat. Is that really such a difficult request? Hm?”

“Sir, as I’ve explained several times, there are other customers in the restaurant, and because of the heat coming from the grills at each table, we need to maintain a suitable temperature. If the air conditioning is making you uncomfortable, we can move you to another table or bring you a blanket.”

“What, so you expect me to wrap myself in a blanket while grilling meat? Forget it. Just bring the owner over. Honestly… what would an employee know?”

One of the older women who worked in the dining area stood there with her hands clasped together, clearly flustered.

Another employee had joined her because the situation seemed difficult to handle alone, but today’s problem customers appeared particularly challenging.

If Eun-ho’s mother had been there, she probably would have shouted at them to stop finding ridiculous things to complain about and leave if they didn’t like it.

Unfortunately, both of his parents were away.

The customers who had been eating were beginning to glance over with uncomfortable expressions, and the staff members’ faces were growing darker.

If somebody needed to take responsibility, Eun-ho was probably the best option available. He let out a short sigh and walked over.

“Didn’t you hear me? Stop sending employees over here and bring me the owner, now!”

“Talk to me.”

“You’re the owner?”

“Let’s say I am.”

Eun-ho stepped in front of the people, pointed angrily at the staff, and stood there with a slight slouch.

The troublesome customers, apparently surprised by how young the supposed owner looked, eyed him suspiciously from head to toe.

“What kind of service is this? Even places far worse than this don’t treat customers with such arrogance. It’s not as though we asked for something difficult. Is it really acceptable to treat customers like thugs?”

If asking a barbecue restaurant to turn off the air conditioning in the middle of summer isn’t difficult, I suppose nothing in the world is.

Eun-ho gave an incredulous laugh at their ridiculous argument. His head was already a mess, and dealing with people like this on top of everything else was quickly getting on his nerves.

“To be fair, our staff were far too polite to treat you like thugs.”

Eun-ho picked up the menu sitting in front of them, walked to the entrance and pulled the door open. Then he jerked his chin towards the street.

“This is what treating you like thugs looks like.”

The customers’ faces flushed red at the insult. They stood up and glared at Eun-ho, breathing heavily as though they were about to explode.

“Get out before I report you for disrupting the business.”

They glared at him and threatened in harsh voices that they were going to put everything online. When Eun-ho sarcastically told them to go ahead and post as much as they liked, their eyes narrowed sharply.

He watched them storm out without the slightest regret, then returned to the kitchen.

The staff who had been watching began whispering amongst themselves.

“Goodness, it’s been a long time since we’ve had customers that bad.”

“Exactly. Mrs Park, don’t let it bother you. Eun-ho, you did well. I feel better just watching that!”

As Eun-ho sat down at the table where the staff meal had been prepared, the aunties threw comments his way one by one.

Feeling slightly embarrassed, he scratched near his eyebrow before picking up his spoon.

“Here, here. Eat plenty. Yeon-suk made this acorn jelly herself with acorns she picked up in the mountains. It’s slightly bitter, but delicious.”

Eun-ho’s chopsticks froze when he saw the plate pushed towards him. The glossy brown acorn jelly had been tossed appetisingly with sliced cucumber and fresh-looking lettuce.

Yet he couldn’t bring himself to reach for it.

He looked away and lightly bit his lower lip.

His face flared hot.

“You like this. Aren’t you eating any?”

It had been one of his favourite foods since childhood, but a terrible premonition suddenly struck him that he might never eat it again.

Eun-ho gave an awkward smile and moved his chopsticks towards another dish.

──── 📘📘 ────

“Yeo Eun-ho!”

Eun-ho had been washing dishes while looking up at the clock on the wall more often than at the plates in front of him.

With a loud smack, his back suddenly bent forward.

“Argh!”

He spun around.

The furious face of the restaurant owner—his mother—was right there.

“Ow! What the hell?!”

“Yeo Eun-ho, what did you say to those customers earlier, hm? Is ‘Get out’ something you say to a customer?”

“Ah! Ow! That hurts…!”

Smack, smack.

Her palm came down on him from every direction.

Eun-ho raised his arms to protect his stinging back, sending soap bubbles dripping from his rubber gloves.

“They were making ridiculous complaints! You think I did it because I was bored?”

“I’ve told you before, even a nightmare customer is still a customer! They asked for the owner, so why did you go out there, hm? Is this your restaurant? If you’re going to do whatever you want, go open your own place!”

“Ah! Mum!”

Still wearing his rubber gloves, Eun-ho twisted and squirmed beneath the relentless barrage of slaps.

After having his back smacked for quite some time, he finally turned around and pressed himself against the wall. His mother planted both hands on her hips and glared at him.

“Ah, stop hitting me! If you hit me again, I’m reporting you for workplace bullying!”

“Oh, really? Go on, then! Report me! Just remember you’ll be fired before you get the chance!”

The other employees watching nearby gave Eun-ho awkward smiles.

“Goodness, our boss is rather violent…”

Someone muttered under their breath.

Eun-ho straightened up, eyes narrowed and lips jutting out in annoyance, then instinctively glanced at the clock again.

The short hour hand pointed to five.

All at once, his irritation, resentment and pent-up frustration surged. It wasn’t as though he had picked a fight with innocent customers. One of the staff had been struggling, so he had stepped in to help, and this was how he was treated?

Eun-ho angrily tore off his rubber gloves. He was already thoroughly sick of standing in the kitchen all day fighting dishes coated in baked-on grease.

He slapped the gloves down beside the sink and grabbed his phone.

“Fine! Fire me! And if you don’t pay me properly for everything I’ve worked up until today, I really will report you to the Labour Office!”

“Oh, really? Finish those dishes! Where do you think you’re suddenly going?”

“I’m going to do whatever the hell I want, so hire yourself another part-timer!”

Leaving behind the other staff members, who were watching the whole spectacle with entertained expressions, Eun-ho stormed out of the restaurant.

Standing in the middle of the pavement, he sent Su-jin a message.

Hey. Do you know where Cha Do-hyeon is meeting the person you said you were introducing him to?

The read receipt appeared immediately, but there was no reply.

Eun-ho stared at his phone and waited. Even that soon became too frustrating, so he abruptly called Do-hyeon instead.

“Hey, Cha Do-hyeon! Where are you? We need to talk.”

[…Now?]

Soft music could be heard behind Do-hyeon’s puzzled voice.

A café.

Eun-ho immediately started towards the busy shopping district. His phone vibrated briefly with a new message. He quickly read it.

Café DM by the crossroads! But why?

It wasn’t far from here. Eun-ho immediately changed direction and headed towards the café. The pedestrian crossing ahead had just turned green, its electronic warning beeping repeatedly.

[I’m out right now. I’ll come to your place in an hour.]

“No, forget it. Just stay where you are.”

[What?]

“I’ll come to you.”

He ended the call abruptly and started walking. His pace grew faster and faster. His hurried walk became a power walk, then eventually a run. The long row of shops blurred past him. His harsh breathing tightened painfully around his lungs.

The patience he had maintained for the past week had finally run out today. He was done ignoring the situation and pretending not to know what was happening. He had already learned last year that avoiding things only made everything more difficult.

Instead of spending another week worrying and thinking alone, he should simply ask.

Did Do-hyeon find the person Eun-ho was now embarrassing?

Did he think Eun-ho looked pathetic for doing nothing after graduation except washing dishes in the family restaurant?

Had he ever thought Yeo Eun-ho was lacking compared with Cha Do-hyeon?

The café where Do-hyeon was supposedly meeting someone came into view ahead. One entire wall was made of glass, leaving the interior clearly visible. A couple sat at a table by the window.

Eun-ho pushed harder against the pavement and accelerated. He was already breathless from running for the first time in ages. His heart pounded violently, pumping heated blood throughout his body.

As the café came closer, he realised that one half of the good-looking couple he had spotted was Cha Do-hyeon. Heat didn’t merely spread through him; his eyes practically caught fire. His resolution to calmly ask all the questions he had rehearsed instantly turned to ash.

The woman sitting opposite Do-hyeon looked somewhere in her mid-to-late twenties. She looked slightly tired, but she had striking, glamorous features. And irritatingly enough, she looked incredibly good sitting beside Cha Do-hyeon.

Now that Eun-ho had finally admitted to the jealousy he had spent so long denying, it became frighteningly easy to lose his head.

He yanked open the café door.

Pleasant jazz music flowed into his ears.

Breathing hard, Eun-ho marched towards the table where Do-hyeon and the woman were sitting. His eyes were fixed fiercely on the back of Do-hyeon’s dark head. He could feel the woman opposite looking at him questioningly, but he ignored her and stopped directly beside their table.

His resentment had risen to the top of his head. It felt as though every trace of rational judgement had shut down. Eun-ho simply dropped a bomb.

“Excuse me, noona. He might look perfectly normal on the outside, but he’s a fucking lunatic. You’d be better off staying well away from him.”

Do-hyeon, who had been turning something over in his hand, abruptly looked up. His eyes widened. Whether from surprise or confusion, he looked unusually innocent, as though he genuinely couldn’t begin to understand what was happening.

A vein practically throbbed in Eun-ho’s forehead.

“Hey, Cha Do-hyeon. This isn’t fucking right.”

“…Yeo Eun-ho?”

“If you seduced someone, then fucking… take responsibility.”

“What…?”

“You think it’s fun sitting here flirting with somebody else? Hm? Fuck, because of you, I’m probably never going to be able to eat acorn jelly again for the rest of my life!”

His anger rose gradually, like a colour deepening through a gradient, until his eyes narrowed into sharp triangles. Do-hyeon finally seemed to understand what was happening. A faint smile slowly spread across his face. Unfortunately, that only poured fuel on Eun-ho’s rage.

Eun-ho grabbed Do-hyeon hard by one shoulder.

“You’re laughing? Is this funny to you?”

“Eun-ho, wait. I think you’re going to regret this.”

“Regret it? Hah. You really are unbelievable. Why? Are you embarrassed by me? Is that why you’re always trying to send me away?”

“Ah…”

“Hey. You’re the one who seduced somebody who was living perfectly well on his own. You think you can just pull out whenever you feel like it now and I’ll happily let you? If that’s what you were thinking, wake the fuck up, you bastard. You might have started this on your own, but you’re not ending it on your own. I’m not letting you go.”

Do-hyeon’s expression turned strange at Eun-ho’s breathless declaration.

No answer came.

Silence fell over the table.

Then a high, clear female voice cut through it.

“Er… sorry to interrupt your lovers’ quarrel, but can I leave first? I’ve got a parcel arriving at the workshop.”

Eun-ho turned his head. The woman was gathering her belongings. Displayed across the iPad she had been fiddling with were photographs of all kinds of rings. Only then did Eun-ho finally have enough presence of mind to look around properly. He noticed the small jewellery boxes scattered across the table and stupidly parted his lips.

“…Rings?”

Jewellery boxes?

“Sorry. I’ll contact you again if I need anything else.”

The woman laughed.

“No, it’s fine. I deal with couples coming in to choose wedding rings all the time. I’ve seen much worse than this.”

Everything except one box in front of Cha Do-hyeon disappeared into the woman’s bag.

A delayed sense of disaster washed over Eun-ho.

He flinched and bit his lower lip.

The woman gave them an awkward smile and a small bow before getting up and leaving the café. Eun-ho stood there like an idiot, opening and closing his mouth.

Do-hyeon looked up at him. A subtle smile lingered on his handsome face.

“Do you think you could let go of my shoulder now?”

Eun-ho desperately wanted to hit that smirking face just once. He hated himself for losing his mind, completely misunderstanding the situation and charging in without checking anything. If there had been a mouse hole nearby, he would gladly have crawled inside.

His grip slowly loosened from Do-hyeon’s shoulder.

“Let’s go.”

Do-hyeon slipped the box on the table into his pocket and stood. Cool, firm fingers closed around Eun-ho’s hand, which had been left hanging awkwardly in mid-air.

──── 📘📘 ────

Sunlight scattered across the water like spilt paint. The orange and yellow light of a late-summer evening at seven reflected over the river, glittering brightly.

A blue aeroplane crossed the grapefruit-coloured sky, leaving a long white trail behind it. Instead of taking Eun-ho home, Cha Do-hyeon had brought him to the banks of the Han River.

Couples on dates were scattered around, enjoying the evening, while a large dog raced across the grass with a flying disc in its mouth.

Eun-ho was watching a middle-aged man unfold a camping chair and cast a fishing rod directly beside a sign that clearly said NO FISHING when something cold and metallic tapped the back of his hand.

He startled and caught the can of beer Do-hyeon was holding out.

Do-hyeon sat beside him and opened his own.

Psssh.

The hiss of carbonation sounded through the peaceful surroundings. The sharp fizz washed pleasantly down through Eun-ho’s chest. The evening breeze had become noticeably cooler, gently brushing through his hair.

The grass beneath his hand pleasantly tickled his fingers.

“Yeo Eun-ho.”

Cha Do-hyeon spoke first.

Eun-ho didn’t answer.

He simply watched the river flow. There was a rustle beside him. Then Do-hyeon’s familiar perfume moved closer, and something hard touched the tip of Eun-ho’s finger. He looked down at their overlapping hands. A plain silver ring now sat on a finger that had been bare moments ago.

Something tickled inside him. The tightness that had made his chest feel blocked for the past few days.

“That woman earlier is Lee Su-jin’s older sister. She’s a well-known jewellery designer. Her schedule is completely booked, so I had to ask for a private appointment.”

 

And Eun-ho had caused that entire scene without knowing any of it…

 

The memory threatened to become humiliating all over again, and without realising it, Eun-ho tightened his grip on the beer can.

 

“There’s one design she’s especially famous for. The inside of the ring—the part that touches your finger—has a raised pattern engraved into it.”

 

“If you wear it for long enough, the shape leaves an imprint on your skin.”

 

Do-hyeon lightly rolled his own ring around in his palm. There was nothing decorating the outside, so it didn’t particularly look like a couple’s ring. But sure enough, a small symbol protruded from the inside.

 

“Actually, I wanted to put my name there.”

 

“So that even if you took the ring off, the name Cha Do-hyeon would stay imprinted on your skin.”

 

“…”

 

“On your finger. Your stomach. The back of your neck… Honestly, if I could, I’d mark every part of you that other people can see, so everyone would know you belong to me.”

 

“But I can’t do that.”

 

His low voice, almost as though he were talking to himself, mingled with somebody’s distant laughter.

 

Completely at odds with the quiet, gentle, peaceful scenery, Do-hyeon calmly said something frankly terrifying.

 

Then he gave a small laugh.

 

“I’ve never once thought you were lacking.”

 

“And I’ve never thought you were too good for me, either.”

 

“You’re my standard. There’s nothing else I could measure you against.”

 

Do-hyeon held out the ring in his palm.

 

“So just keep being exactly as you are.”

 

“No matter what you look like or what you do, loving you is my job.”

 

Eun-ho stared at him quietly before reaching out and taking the ring. As he held it between his fingers, Do-hyeon extended his left hand. Eun-ho gently rubbed the inside of the ring with his fingertip. The little heart-shaped pattern that would eventually leave its mark on that long finger. Eun-ho gave a quiet laugh and lightly took Do-hyeon’s hand.

 

The unfamiliar sensation of metal catching against his left ring finger whenever he moved was strangely welcome.

 

There were two things Cha Do-hyeon had overlooked.

First—

 

Cha Do-hyeon always made Eun-ho want to become a better person than he was now.

 

And second—

 

“Cha Do-hyeon. You think you’re the only one who has thoughts like that, don’t you?”

 

Do-hyeon lifted his face. Eun-ho could feel him studying his expression. Rather than explain, Eun-ho merely smiled faintly and slipped the ring onto the end of Do-hyeon’s pale, slender finger. Because Yeo Eun-ho wanted to leave marks saying "mine" all over Cha Do-hyeon, too.

 

“I just stormed out after telling my mum to hire another part-timer, you know? As of tomorrow I’m unemployed, so I thought I’d come up with a new life plan.”

 

Holding the ring, he pushed it firmly down onto Do-hyeon’s ring finger. The reddish glow of sunset settled warmly across the silver metal. Eun-ho looked up and met Do-hyeon’s eyes. The moment their gazes met, Eun-ho squeezed the hand he held and grinned.

 

“Which department at your university has the lowest entry requirements?”

 

The corners of Do-hyeon’s mouth slowly lifted.

 

Their fingers intertwined.

 

Ring touched ring.

 

The languor of a late-summer sunset settled around them like an embrace.

 

Layer upon layer of insects chirped through the grass, with the faint cry of cicadas drifting from far away. Wild grass that had grown wherever it pleased, reaching as high as their shins, trembled in the breeze. Do-hyeon pressed their joined hands together and leaned closer. Lowering his eyes when his face was only inches from Eun-ho’s, he murmured,

 

“There are people over there. If I kiss you, are you going to hit me?”

 

Eun-ho gave an incredulous little laugh and lightly grabbed Do-hyeon by the collar. Their lips met in the next instant.

──── 📘📘 ────

 

Birdsong sounded unnaturally loud.

 

Frowning, Eun-ho sat up, his whole body strangely stiff.

 

Then he saw Do-hyeon sitting directly in front of him and blurted stupidly,

 

“…What?”

 

“What do you mean, what? It’s break time.”

 

Break time?

 

What kind of nonsense was that?

 

Eun-ho rubbed his eyes, but the scene remained exactly the same. And why the hell was Do-hyeon wearing his school uniform again?

 

His white summer shirt was neatly buttoned all the way up, and the checked pattern inside the collar caught Eun-ho’s eye.

 

“Didn’t you leave your uniform at your parents’ place?”

 

“Parents’ place? What are you talking about? Are you still half asleep?”

 

“Ah…”

 

Eun-ho frowned and looked around.

 

Do-hyeon wasn’t the only one in uniform.

No.

 

Everyone in the room was dressed exactly the same way.

 

…Classroom?

 

Only then did Eun-ho look down at himself. Over his black short-sleeved T-shirt, his summer uniform shirt hung half-unbuttoned, and the name tag on his chest hung crooked. Slowly, he raised his head. His eyes met Cha Do-hyeon’s puzzled gaze.

 

“…”

 

“…What the hell? Is this a dream?”

 

“You really are still half asleep.”

 

Do-hyeon, who had been sitting backwards on the chair in front of Eun-ho’s desk, shook his head and lifted himself slightly. He brushed something out of Eun-ho’s hair before sitting back down. 

 

The thin fabric swaying before Eun-ho’s eyes felt unfamiliar. So did the smooth surface of the desk beneath his palm, its sensation somehow only half as vivid as reality.

 

It hadn’t actually been that long. Yet everything felt strangely nostalgic. The scene that had once been so familiar it was boring now made him happy simply to look around. The pale jade curtains fluttering at the windows, who knew when they had last been washed. The framed class motto above the blackboard, which had probably been hanging there forever. The faint, patchy traces of writing left across the green board. Eun-ho slowly turned his head, taking in every corner of the classroom.

 

The last place his eyes settled was Cha Do-hyeon’s face. Now that he realised this was a dream, Eun-ho belatedly grinned and leaned back. He hooked his arms over either side of his chair and lifted his chin as though looking down at Do-hyeon. A disbelieving laugh slipped from those well-shaped lips.

 

“What’s this about now?”

 

The gaze studying him was both gentle and steady. So this is how he used to look at me. The belated realisation lightly brushed through Eun-ho’s thoughts. When Eun-ho simply stared without answering, confusion appeared on Do-hyeon’s face.

 

Eun-ho quickly shook his head.

 

“Hey, Cha Do-hyeon. What are you doing after school today?”

 

“What do you want to do?”

 

“Want to go to a PC café and play games?”

 

“Sure.”

 

“Actually, no. Let’s go home, order pizza and read comics.”

 

“Fine.”

 

His attitude said he didn’t particularly care what they did, but Eun-ho no longer found that disappointing.

Because now he knew.

 

What they did had never mattered to Cha Do-hyeon.

 

What mattered was that they did it together. 

 

The two of them.

 

Together.

 

Heat gathered deep in Eun-ho’s throat, accompanied by a faint thirst.

 

His chattering lips fell silent.

 

He slowly looked over at Do-hyeon sitting in front of him, as though trying to carve this exact version of him permanently into his memory.

 

Seeing Eun-ho suddenly go quiet, Do-hyeon raised an eyebrow. A long arm reached out. A firm palm settled against Eun-ho’s forehead.

 

“You’re acting strange today.”

 

Seeing the bare hand, with neither bracelet nor ring, stirred up a completely unreasonable dissatisfaction inside Eun-ho. He took the hand resting against his forehead and slowly lowered it onto the desk.

 

Do-hyeon’s gaze lingered for a moment on their joined hands.

 

“Cha Do-hyeon, what’s the date today?”

 

“What?”

 

“It’s probably somewhere around your birthday, right?”

 

Judging by the season he could vaguely sense beyond the window, it was probably some summer day before the weather had become unbearably hot. Not that it really mattered. He could invent an excuse if he needed one.

 

Eun-ho rummaged through the desk drawer looking for his pencil case. All his hand encountered were pieces of discarded bread wrappers and badly crumpled textbooks.

 

With no other choice, he took a pen from the pencil case of the student beside him. Holding the cap between his teeth, Eun-ho caught Do-hyeon’s hand.

 

“I’m giving you a present, so sit still.”

 

Do-hyeon watched him with curious eyes. He lifted their tangled fingers and teasingly brushed the side of Eun-ho’s finger, earning himself a sharp glare.

 

Eun-ho gave him a brief warning look and adjusted his grip on the pen.

 

The blunt tip touched Do-hyeon’s skin. A crooked black line stretched around his finger, half as a joke and half completely serious. Only after two thin lines had circled his finger entirely did Eun-ho lift the pen.

 

Between them, he boldly drew the same little heart symbol that had been raised inside their couple’s rings. He capped the pen and released Do-hyeon’s hand. Then he looked proudly down at Do-hyeon’s left hand, spread flat across the desk.

 

“There. Your present.”

 

The crudely drawn ring sat awkwardly around Do-hyeon’s ring finger. Do-hyeon stared silently at it, then lightly licked his lower lip.

 

His eyes slowly lifted.

 

Eun-ho met the direct, unwavering gaze without looking away.

 

“…What is this?”

 

“Proof.”

 

“What?”

 

“Proof that you’re mine.”

 

The corner of Do-hyeon’s mouth curved into an expression that wasn’t quite a smile. He studied Eun-ho even more intently than before. Eun-ho took the scrutiny easily and continued.

 

“You don’t know it yet, but I’m going to get stressed more than once because of all the people who show interest in you.”

 

“So I feel like I deserve at least this much.”

 

“…You’re the one who hasn’t fully woken up, so why does it feel like I’m dreaming?”

 

Eun-ho grinned at Do-hyeon’s wary expression. A warm, humid breeze drifted in from somewhere.

 

The bell marking the end of break echoed through the classroom and along the corridor.

 

The simple electronic sound felt absurdly welcome.

 

Eun-ho slowly pushed back his chair and stood.

 

“The bell’s gone. You should get back to your classroom, Cha Do-hyeon.”

 

“Where are you going?”

 

“I’m going to find my place too.”

 

Their eyes locked. Before Eun-ho could even take a step, his arm was caught. For some reason, there was something like unexplained anxiety in Cha Do-hyeon’s eyes.

 

“You’re not going somewhere else, are you?”

 

“Cha Do-hyeon.”

When Eun-ho didn’t continue immediately, the hand around his arm tightened. He looked from Do-hyeon’s wavering eyes to the strangely desperate hand holding him. Then Eun-ho twisted his wrist. He slipped his own hand into the opening that appeared in Do-hyeon’s grip. Threading their fingers together, Eun-ho squeezed tightly.

 

“Don’t worry.”

 

“No matter where I go, my destination will always be beside you.”

 

The wind pouring through the windows suddenly grew unnaturally strong.

 

The pale jade curtains whipped wildly through the classroom, obscuring his vision.

 

Eun-ho lowered his head slightly.

 

Once more, he looked at their tightly clasped hands.

 

And at the crooked ring drawn around Cha Do-hyeon’s left ring finger.

 

His lips curved gently upwards.

 

Meeting Do-hyeon’s eyes, which stared silently at him, Yeo Eun-ho slowly shaped the words with his lips.

 

Hurry and follow me.

 

I’ll be waiting.

 

In the middle of our summer that would last forever.

— End of Summer Season Side Story —