Just A Friend

#40

“Hey, are you sulking?”

It wasn’t about asking the date after all. He had hoped it wasn’t, but it turned out to be just that. While gently shaking Kang Jihan’s shoulders, Nam Seonwoo desperately racked his brain.

‘How many days… has it been?’

They agreed to date the day before school started, so now it’s roughly… Wait. Why do I have to be counting the days?

Suddenly, a sense of injustice welled up. Which high school student goes around counting the days they’ve been dating? Moreover, they were seniors. Seniors busy counting down to the college entrance exam.

He felt an urge to smack that stubborn back of the head, but he held back. It was the first time he had seen Kang Jihan with such an… expression, so somehow it felt like he should act this way now.

So he leaned close to Kang Jihan’s ear. The shoulders that hadn’t budged no matter how much he shook them now trembled slightly. Trying his best to use a ‘kind’ voice, Nam Seonwoo whispered a lie.

“Looking at the calendar earlier was just a joke. Of course I know.”

There was no movement. But he could tell Kang Jihan was listening intently, so he waited a bit, and sure enough, a reaction came soon. Kang Jihan slowly raised his head and stared at him. It was a suspicious look.

“How many days has it been then?”

He had succeeded in soothing him for now, but now he had to guess correctly.

He could roughly estimate how many days it had been, but there was no way to know the exact number. As the silence lengthened, Kang Jihan frowned as if he had expected this.

Think, Nam Seonwoo. Think. Your opponent is just a high schooler.

Given that he specifically asked about today, it must be some special day. Like an anniversary. But what kind of anniversary would you celebrate in the early stages of dating?

…No way.

“Twenty… two?”

Unbelievable. It was correct.

Seeing Kang Jihan’s face brighten instantly, Nam Seonwoo recalled a very old, dusty memory. Was it in middle school? Girls would go around collecting 200 won from classmates, calling it “two-two”. He didn’t understand it then, but everyone celebrated the 22nd day of dating. He had thought it ridiculous to celebrate such a thing… and now his so-called boyfriend was celebrating that very thing.

Kang Jihan gestured to Park Gyuhyeon. As Park Gyuhyeon approached timidly, Kang Jihan held out his hand saying “200 won,” and Park Gyuhyeon handed over 200 won with a bewildered face… Watching this scene, Nam Seonwoo couldn’t help but let out a deflated laugh.

Kang Jihan, now in a good mood, stood up from his seat. And as if out of habit, he asked:

“Ice cream?”

Kang Jihan often bought snacks for him during lunch breaks. Remembering how he had never complained about Nam Seonwoo only studying during lunch breaks, he thought it was good that he had appeased him. Compared to this gratitude, he could certainly handle complaints like “how could you not know what day it is today?”

Instead of answering, Nam Seonwoo stood up with him. To get some fresh air, to spend time with Kang Jihan, killing two birds with one stone.

The school store, which they hadn’t visited in a while, was too crowded. With the sports festival overlapping, the already terrible smell of teenage boys was even more overwhelming. As Nam Seonwoo’s face soured, Kang Jihan went and bought ice cream on his own.

Sharing the soon-to-be-discontinued ice cream that had somehow become their regular menu, the two sat side by side in the stadium stands. The playground was dusty from the aftermath of the sports festival, but it was full of people practicing here and there for the afternoon games.

Nearby, basketball practice was in full swing. Nam Seonwoo let out a small sigh of admiration at the sight of them sweating profusely with their shirts off despite the autumn weather. Just as he was thinking “ah, youth is nice indeed” and biting into his ice cream, Kang Jihan suddenly moved down to sit in front of him. Even though he had only moved down one level, his large frame blocked nearly half of Nam Seonwoo’s view.

“Hey. I can’t see, you know?”

Even when Nam Seonwoo tapped Kang Jihan’s back with his inner knee, this rock-like guy just pulled his body back to sit closer. The sudden closeness of his shampoo scent made Nam Seonwoo’s lips twitch. By now, it wasn’t hard to understand why this guy was acting this way.

“You’re thinking unnecessary thoughts again, aren’t you?”

“…”

The stubbornly unturning back of his head was cute. Resisting the urge to pat it, Nam Seonwoo pointed at the shirtless guys exercising.

“Think about it logically. Would I like looking at that sort of thing? I’m not a pervert.”

Besides, he clearly had his preferences. Rather than those insignificant board-like bodies, he preferred something a bit thicker. For instance…

Nam Seonwoo glanced down at his own thighs. Due to Kang Jihan sitting so close, his two thighs were naturally spread apart.

‘Yeah, it should be about this thick.’

Nam Seonwoo, who had been nodding unconsciously, suddenly stopped. Along with the self-reflection that he had just thought something quite perverted, a sense of self-loathing washed over him. It seemed he had become a bit strange since that time in the infirmary.

He must have lost his mind. What was he thinking about a high schooler… As he shook his head and was about to eat his ice cream:

“You really don’t have any hair.”

So that’s what he had been staring at. Embarrassed, Nam Seonwoo tried to pull his legs back, but Kang Jihan’s head turned to follow. Up to that point was fine. Even Park Gyuhyeon had closely examined his arms and legs, wondering why he had so little hair. But touching openly was a different story.

“Hey, that tickles.”

Even though he tried to pull his leg away, it wasn’t easy as his calf was caught in one of Kang Jihan’s hands. Kang Jihan, feeling the texture in his hand, asked:

“Is it naturally like this?”

“Do you think I would have shaved it?”

As the hand moved closer to the back of his knee, a shiver ran down Nam Seonwoo’s spine. The fine hairs on his leg seemed to stand on end, and as Kang Jihan stroked them with his thumb, he suddenly asked:

“Are other parts hairless too?”

“…What?”

At the bewildered response, Kang Jihan looked up. Nam Seonwoo’s face was red with shame. Kang Jihan, looking a bit puzzled, only stopped his caressing of the calf a few seconds later.

Hugging both legs tightly to his chest, Nam Seonwoo stuttered:

“Y-you, j-just now, what did you s-say…”

“…”

“…”

Hastily covering his mouth with the hand that had been in the air, Kang Jihan averted his gaze. Then he quickly turned his body forward. His ears, clearly showing his embarrassment, were already bright red. So Nam Seonwoo couldn’t continue speaking either.

The awkward silence was covered by the noise from the playground. The gazes of the two, desperately facing forward, followed the basketball they had no interest in. Just as it felt like every second was passing too slowly, the pre-bell rang like a savior.

“…Let’s go.”

Kang Jihan stood up silently.

As Nam Seonwoo was about to enter the building, he noticed the homeroom teacher gesturing from the direction of the command post. Seeing the bundle of documents in his hand, it seemed he was going to send him on an errand, but Nam Seonwoo was rather glad for it.

“G-go in first. I have an errand.”

Kang Jihan nodded. Usually, he would have insisted on going together, but this time he walked towards the main entrance without complaint. …Judging by how the same side arm and leg were moving together, he seemed quite out of it.

After seeing Kang Jihan go inside, Nam Seonwoo finally moved. As he ran to the command post, the homeroom teacher gestured for him to come up. He clearly didn’t want to come down to the playground where all sorts of balls were flying around.

Just as he was about to turn back towards the playground, there was a loud “thwack” sound from diagonally behind, and something came flying rapidly. There was no time to dodge.

“…!”

Intense pain struck his head, and for a moment, all the sounds in the world were filled with ringing. Beyond the splitting headache, murmuring voices sounded above his head.

“…woo-ya, Nam Seonwoo!”

It was the homeroom teacher’s voice. When he barely opened his eyes, he saw the sky. The people surrounding him were constantly shouting something. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it was noisy. As he turned his head in irritation, he saw Kang Jihan at the edge of his vision.

The guy who had appeared small in the distance was suddenly close by after just one blink. Kang Jihan’s face didn’t look good. He tried to blink again, but his vision flickered to black.

*

*

Finding oneself standing in an unfamiliar space was not a particularly pleasant experience.

Nam Seonwoo frowned. A gloomy atmosphere hung over the unlit parking lot. It wasn’t just because it was a parking lot, but there was a unique eerie feeling that the space gave off.

His reflection in the car window showed him dressed in a black suit. Being in a university hospital parking lot dressed in black from head to toe meant he was here for someone’s funeral.

When was this?

Just then, a phone ring sounded. It was a ringtone he had set briefly in his early twenties. Why was he hearing this now? Unlike his stiffened mind, his body naturally pulled out the phone as if flowing with water.

“Hello?”

His mouth moved against his will. The voice that came out was indeed his own. The voice coming from the other end of the receiver was also his parents’.

-Son, what are you doing? You’re not at your apartment?

“What? When did you return to Korea?”

-There’s Hyeonjeong’s wedding this time, remember? That’s why we came back! You know your mom, I always go when kids around us are getting married.

She said they had hurriedly set the date due to premarital pregnancy, it was a double celebration with news of a grandchild at the only son’s wedding… Mom’s excited voice filled the quiet parking lot.

-Anyway, I’m so envious. I’m this happy going to someone else’s child’s wedding, how happy will I be at our son’s wedding?

At the dreamy voice, the ‘Nam Seonwoo’ reflected in the car window scratched his cheek. It was a face that looked uncomfortable.

He remembered now. When this was.

It was a day when his heart was already heavy, and his mom’s call made him even more unsettled. But it was a day when he couldn’t even speak irritably to his mom.

Usually, he would have retorted, asking why he should be getting married already, but somehow on this day, he couldn’t. It was because Kang Jihan’s mother’s smiling face, that memorial photo, kept floating before his eyes.