Chapter 42: Yugalyeon(4)

“Watch a movie, create a light atmosphere while eating. If they say let’s call it a day, pretend my stomach is upset and suggest a walk in the park, then go to the zoo. And after that…”

As I muttered the plan I had been simulating in my head since last night, like an incantation, fighting the cold sensation in my hand holding the phone, he arrived.

“Hello.”
“You’re late.”
“Yes?”

That man, who let out a dumbfounded voice without even knowing what he had done wrong, looked truly pathetic.
He wasn’t even handsome, and his personality was like that too. He’s probably never even been on a date.

“It’s exactly on time.”
“So what? You should be at the meeting place at least 10 minutes early. Don’t you know that every little thing determines your impression? Imagine if Seolha unni had arrived first. Wouldn’t she think, ‘Ah, this person isn’t looking forward to hanging out with me,’ and feel disappointed?”
“No, why are you suddenly bringing up Seolha here?”

Did he think he was hiding it well? It was truly infuriating.

“Unni’s story is just an example. Anyway, it’s the minimum courtesy to the person you’re meeting. And even if it’s not that, you should come early in case you get caught up in an unexpected incident. Really, this is the most basic of basics.”
“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

That person took out a small notebook from his pocket and started meticulously writing down what I had said.

“No, you can just remember it, do you have to write it down every time?”
“I might make a mistake again if I don’t.”
“Shut up, and from now on, don’t take out that notebook in front of people. It looks really weird.”

When I snatched the notebook, he looked like a child whose toy had been taken away.

“Your clothes… well, they’re okay. Just keep dressing like that from now on, okay?”
“Thank you.”

It wasn’t that bad, but I thought it would be better to style him according to unni’s taste.

“Is that all?”
“Yes?”
“Isn’t it common sense to say something when someone has dressed up for a special occasion?”

Honestly, saying something like that between friends would just be creepy, but if I didn’t say it like this, that person wouldn’t even give unni a single compliment.

“Ah, ah. Yes, the cardigan is very nice. Maybe it’s because it’s ivory, it has an autumn feel, and the combination with the denim pants gives it a rough yet chic look that seems to match Garyeon-ssi’s image well.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, so don’t overdo it like that with unni later.”
“Yes.”

He was a man with a real talent for making people feel embarrassed.

“Sorry I’m late!”

While I was bickering with him like that, unni arrived.

“Hey, is it too weird? It’s weird, right? I just did as Garyeon told me.”

That day, unni was peeking at that man like a scared hamster, with her head down. I didn’t like that.

“Unni!”
“S-Sorry.”

Really. Why are you making excuses when you can just be confident?

“Seolha, what about your glasses? Didn’t you forget them because you were in a hurry?”
“Ah, it’s okay. I’m wearing contacts. No, I just felt a little tired of always wearing glasses? My hair is similar too. I’m not really trying to dress up.”

That person was staring at unni with a completely dazed expression. His mouth was so wide open that he looked like he would start drooling if he just stood there.

I get it. How would he feel when unni, who always wore a bun, round glasses, and a black tracksuit, had transformed into a different person overnight?
Anyway, it was worth it, decorating someone who didn’t want it.

“Hey, why aren’t you saying anything…? I-Is it really that weird? Was it better before?”

That man finally opened his mouth, as if he had come to his senses after I nudged him in the side.

“No, no, no. It’s good. It’s really good.”
“You don’t have to lie.”
“It’s not a lie. The dress, and the jacket over it, they really suit you. And—”

That person started spewing a torrent of creepy compliments at unni, who was fidgeting with the hem of her skirt with a sullen expression. I told him not to do that!

“Th-That’s enough… Okay, stop.”

But since unni liked it so much, I decided to just let it be.

“Forget it, let’s go. You said we have to exchange some merchandise… or something before we go in. The movie’s going to start soon.”
“Ah, right!”

I regretted bringing it up. The two of them, who had been exuding a pinkish atmosphere even though it was awkward, suddenly changed their expressions at the mention of the movie and ran towards the ticket office.

Well, it was cute, in a way that was very them.

“So maybe that’s what it means? The protagonist, who hated his father to death, will eventually end up walking the same path.”
“I thought he would have turned himself in in the next scene.”
“Really? But then the foreshadowing from before…”

It’s not right to do that even when we’re here to eat. Especially in a restaurant with a calm atmosphere.
The couple sitting next to us was glaring at us, I thought I was going to die of embarrassment.

“Then, since we’ve eaten, shall we call it a day?”
“Yeah, I feel like I want to think calmly at home today too.”
“Right, I’m going to sort things out while looking at the community too.”

And when the words ‘call it a day’ came out of unni’s mouth, I was truly dumbfounded. Why was she making such a proud face when she hadn’t done anything?
And that man too, what? Thinking calmly? When he should be trying to stay longer?

This is why they haven’t made any real progress in over half a year.
I grabbed the arms of the two who were about to head to the subway station and decided to take them to a nearby park.

“Unni, why are you trying to end things on your own when you called me out? I’m still bored. I even canceled all my other plans to come here.”
“G-Garyeon. Listen to me.”

Flustered, unni whispered a few pathetic reasons in my ear, but I didn’t listen.
After that, I planned to force them to be together by walking around the park, taking pictures at the zoo, or something.

“Hey… Unni, the sun is setting, let’s just go home—”
“Okay, okay. Just watch Dojin get it right.”

After actually doing it, I realized that I wasn’t much of an outdoor person either.
In fact, from the middle, I was at my wit’s end, being dragged around by unni, who had gotten her engine started, to take sticker photos and go to shooting ranges.
If she was going to have so much fun, why had she been so quiet until now?

“Wow, Dojin, you’re a really bad shot. Ah, you missed again.”
“I told you to be quiet. I can’t concentrate.”
“Stop making excuses and just hit it. Let’s go home. No, aren’t you going to the army next year? What are you going to do?”
“…Um, Garyeon-ssi? I know it’s a joke, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t cross the line.”

To make matters worse, things started to go in an unexpected direction.

“Forget it. Just relax your shoulders.”

Why, was it when I, with the sole intention of going home, grabbed that man’s shoulder and was shaking him back and forth? That’s when unni said this.

“But you two, you don’t know each other’s names?”
“Yes?”
“What?”
“No, you’ve been calling each other ‘that person’ since earlier.”
“That’s… well.”

Come to think of it, that was true, but calling that man by his name now felt a little…

“It’s just more comfortable that way.”
“Don’t be weird and call each other by your names. You’ll be hanging out together from now on anyway.”
“Yes? N-No! And what do you mean, we’ll be hanging out like this from now on…”

I was planning to just help out today and then naturally fade away.

“Huh? You’re the one who said we should hang out like this, Garyeon. I was wondering if it would be okay at first, but it was really fun. You had fun too, right, Dojin?”
“Yeah, well…”

It’s not that it was fun because I was with you, it was fun because I was with unni! Because unni was so shy, we haven’t been able to spend this much time together until now!

“Uh, unni. I. Right, you said you wanted to see that person hit the target.”
“Ah~ That’s okay now, so hurry up. Now, call each other by your names.”

Just a moment ago, she was stuttering, unable to say anything, and now she’s all excited…!
Well, unni was the type to be strangely shy at first, but once she got going, she would rush forward without thinking about her surroundings. That’s how we became friends too.

“Dojin, you too.”

But it’s not right to be like that in a romantic relationship. It might look cute once or twice, but if you keep doing it, you’ll just end up being called annoying.

Look at that, that man is flustered too. As if he’s not a complete novice at dating. His talent for making the atmosphere awkward is truly first-class.
I was worried about unni, so I couldn’t leave her alone. I had no choice but to change my plan.

“Forget it, just call me Garyeon comfortably. It feels weird and old to be called ‘ma’am’ by someone older than me.”
“Still, that’s a bit.”
“Ugh, unni is going to keep nagging until we do it anyway, so let’s just get it over with.”

But I shouldn’t have done that.

“Ga-Garyeon, ah.”
“Yes, Dojin-hyung. Now are you satisfied, unni?”
“No, no. What’s with the ‘hyung’? It’s so impersonal.”
“No, unni, don’t tell me you want me to.”
“Call him oppa. Don’t be so distant.”

Even if unni was being annoying, I should have resisted. I didn’t know then.
That just by changing someone’s title, so many things could change.

“O-Ooooh, o—”
“Come on, it’s not that hard. Say it. ‘Dojin-oppa~’”
“…That’s enough for today.”

Now that I think about it, the title ‘that person’ was a psychological barrier I had set up myself to avoid getting closer to him.
I should have distanced myself somehow then. From him, and from you, unni.

But by the time I came to my senses, I was already used to calling him oppa and the three of us going somewhere together.

That’s right, at some point, I started pushing aside my initial purpose and purely enjoying hanging out with the three of them.
It was refreshing to go to places and do things I hadn’t been able to do before. It was fun to see oppa’s dazed reaction every time we did something. And I liked seeing unni’s happy smile as she teased him.

As time passed, Dasom unni and Minseo unni joined, and the club room became even more lively. I really couldn’t sleep at night, looking forward to going to school every day.

Ah, I want to be with these people forever. If the two people I really like get together, and we don’t drift apart even after graduating, and we can meet up like this sometimes, I’ll be so happy.

I was always thinking that.
Yes, I was…

Why did I do that?

On a day when it was raining so hard that it was difficult to go anywhere, we decided to watch a movie in the club room.
As soon as class was over, I bounced into the club room and saw oppa sleeping soundly on the sofa.
I knew he hadn’t been able to sleep properly for a few days because of his final assignments, so I didn’t try to wake him up.

So I sat down a little away from him and was fiddling with my phone when I suddenly felt an impact on my thigh. It was oppa.
I was a little surprised, but I decided to stay still, afraid of waking him up if I moved.

At that moment, a familiar smell wafted up my nose.

Come to think of it, I haven’t been able to smell it lately since we’ve been spending most of our time together. I felt a slight sense of longing and looked at oppa’s face.
His atmosphere had changed drastically in the past few months, but his face was still ugly and had a hint of unpleasantness.
I never imagined I would become friends with someone like this when we first met.

Suddenly, a playful impulse took over, and I started poking his face here and there with my finger. Every time I did, oppa would let out a foolish groan and flail his hands in the air.
Was he having a nightmare? He looked so foolish, no matter how many times I saw it.

Yes, really foolish.

And then I lowered my head and brought my lips to oppa’s.

“…?”

It was impulsive. Spontaneous.
I was the one who did it, but I myself had no idea why I had acted that way.

“…Hmm.”

Oppa’s eyes fluttered open.

“Sorry, I just closed my eyes for a moment… What time is it? The movie wasn’t canceled because of me, was it?”

I jumped up and ran out of the club room as if fleeing.

“Garyeon?”

Soon, a violent wave of nausea washed over me.

“Ugh.”

I threw up. Everything, all of it…

The strange sensation I had never felt before, the faint heat rising from my lips.
I was dizzy. My heart was pounding, and in my mind, crimson lips, beckoning me like a temptation, floated around.

“Garyeon, are you okay? What’s with your face?”

I dragged my stumbling body back to the club room, and unni and oppa, with worried expressions, rushed out.

“I’m just a little under the weather. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been sleeping well lately? Haha…”

I tried to laugh it off, but every time I looked at unni’s face, I somehow felt a sharp blade piercing my chest…
I couldn’t keep my balance. I collapsed.

“Garyeon!”

Oppa rushed over in a single step and caught me, so I wasn’t hurt, but as I was held in his arms, for some reason, I couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down my cheeks.