Spark Chapter 1.1 - Spark

The owner of ‘Sprout Store’, the grandmother, passed away.

While she was alive, Sprout Store’s Ms. Kim Mal-soon was a hero and savior to the neighborhood delinquents. It was thanks to her dim eyes, which had long been afflicted by presbyopia. She couldn’t distinguish between a youthful face and a much more mature one, so she would cheerfully sell alcohol and cigarettes.

There were a total of six middle and high schools near Sprout Store, and every problem student who attended them bought their alcohol and cigarettes from Sprout Store. Go Baekwoo, a third-year at Wonseon High School, was no exception.

Sunday, 5:30 AM. He quieted his footsteps, worried he might wake his mother who had gone to sleep late in the evening. Go Baekwoo may not have been a model student at school, but at home, he was a praiseworthy son. However, no matter how stealthily he walked, his bare soles stuck to the vinyl flooring, making loud slap, squelch noises. The old, warped room door, having endured many long years, groaned with a creak even when pushed just slightly. He couldn’t disturb his mother’s deep sleep just to go out and buy cigarettes first thing in the morning. He regretted not buying some last night.

Sprout Store was a twenty-minute walk from school and ten minutes from his home. Go Baekwoo ran a hand through his hair, which looked like a magpie’s nest, as he passed through the alley.

He walked, dragging his slippers, then grabbed the front of his T-shirt and flapped it as he looked up at the sky. Even though it was early, the sun was already blazing. He wondered how hot it would get during the day. He hated the heat.

Planning to get a haircut next week, Go Baekwoo continued walking. At the corner of the alley, Sprout Store came into view.

Having developed a strong nerve from dealing with all sorts of troublesome customers who visited the ‘Promise Coffee Shop’ that his mother ran, he rarely got flustered. But Go Baekwoo, who had slid open the door and entered the store, was a little surprised by the new face he immediately encountered.

“…”

Lee Cheol-yeong, who had taken over for Ms. Kim Mal-soon—the woman who had guarded the counter through rain or shine, all year round—glared at Go Baekwoo, who was standing there dumbly without even pretending to browse for items. It was obvious. Since his mother passed away and he took over the store, he had dealt with several punks like this one. Looking at him, he was quite tall and didn’t need to grow any taller, but his pretty face was still not fully mature. His skin was fair, making him look like the son of a well-to-do family; he should be studying instead of messing around… anyway.

“Cigarettes or alcohol?”

Lee Cheol-yeong asked, his tone clearly aggressive, and simultaneously slapped his own thigh with a flyswatter as a warning. Smack! Go Baekwoo narrowed his brow and parted his lips.

“Where is the grandmother?”

“I take it you knew my mother?”

Knew her? Of course. Wasn’t she the grateful person who had supported the drinking and smoking life he had diligently maintained since becoming a high school student? On top of that, the grandmother was exceedingly kind, often giving him rice cakes, tangerines, and sometimes even telling him to stay and eat a meal. She would call him a ‘handsome young man’…

“A little.”

Their relationship was deeper than could be described by ‘a little,’ but Go Baekwoo saw no reason to explain every detail to a strange man, so he kept his answer brief.

It seemed pretty clear that this kid, who was still wet behind the ears, had come to buy either alcohol or cigarettes, but Lee Cheol-yeong couldn’t just scold someone who claimed to know his mother, so he put the flyswatter down. Then, he fiddled with the radio, changing the channel that had been playing the latest pop songs.

“…Last week.”

The answer Go Baekwoo had been waiting for came when the radio channel settled on a news broadcast.

“She passed away.”

“Excuse me?”

Passed away, last week?

He was surrounded by guys who couldn’t live without alcohol and cigarettes every day, so there was no way he wouldn’t have heard the news if the grandmother had passed away last week. Ah. No, he thought he might have heard something about ‘the Sprout grandmother this and that’ while drunk.

Then again, Go Baekwoo didn’t have to buy alcohol and cigarettes himself since his so-called friends would often bring them as offerings, so his visits to Sprout Store were relatively infrequent. Except on weekends like today, when he didn’t want to see his friends and just wanted to lounge at home, savoring a hangover.

“…I understand.”

A dead end.

Go Baekwoo prayed for Ms. Kim Mal-soon’s soul and left Sprout Store, which he would never visit again.

Now what? Go Baekwoo fiddled with the lighter in his track pants pocket as he looked up at the sky, which seemed to have gotten even brighter in the meantime.

The fact that he was the only son of the Promise Coffee Shop was common knowledge, so he couldn’t buy cigarettes near his house. It was a real pain to meet up with his friends just to bum a single cigarette. A few faces came to mind, but they were the types who, if he asked them to buy some, would also bring along alcohol and pester him to drink with them. A pain, again.

…If a familiar path is blocked, you have no choice but to forge a new one. Go Baekwoo turned his back on the direction of his house and started walking. Still, thanks to being one of the tallest, not just among his friends, but in the entire school, few people took him for a teenager. He should be able to buy cigarettes anywhere.

Starting with the news of the Sprout Store grandmother’s passing, his luck today felt terribly ominous, but he wandered the alleys, hoping it was just a baseless fear.

Last year, a girlfriend he had briefly dated lived around here. Go Baekwoo scanned the neighborhood he had only visited once, retracing his memories. No, it was too trivial a past to be embellished as a memory. His ex-girlfriend was a year older than Go Baekwoo and was attending Wonseon Girls’ High School at the time, but they broke up after just three weeks of dating. Go Baekwoo was the one who initiated the breakup. Just as the relationship hadn’t been special, the reason for the breakup was also dull. He started dating her because she asked, but he just couldn’t develop any feelings of affection.

What if I run into her?

The worry, which wasn’t really a worry, was fleeting.

Was it this spring? The ex-girlfriend, whom he hadn’t even run into by chance after the breakup, had suddenly shown up at the coffee shop.

‘Why are you here?’

To Go Baekwoo, who was being harsh without even a greeting, she had said.

‘I’m moving down to Busan. I came because I wanted to see your face… just one last time before I go.’

After that, Go Baekwoo hadn’t dated anyone. It was the first time since hitting puberty that he had gone more than a month without a girlfriend. Should he say he was sick of dating? It was a pain to have to pretend to like someone when he didn’t even know what liking someone meant. It also felt unfair to be called a bad guy every time they broke up, when he didn’t think he had done much wrong. He was the type to make it clear to the other person when they started dating. ‘I don’t like you, is that okay?’ he would ask. Then they would all quickly reply ‘It’s okay,’ only to transform into someone who was very not okay when the time came to break up. Those situations were truly difficult.

His mother was the only person whose resentment he had to listen to and whose tears he had to wipe away. His mother, who had many sorrows and many tears, had raised him alone without a husband, so she deserved to be cared for by him, but his past girlfriends did not. In any case.

Casting his flowing thoughts onto the ground, Go Baekwoo passed through unfamiliar alley after unfamiliar alley and eventually came to a sudden halt. Two characters were reflected in his light brown eyes, which sometimes led him to be mistaken for being mixed-race.

Cigarettes

At the entrance leading from one alley to an even narrower and shabbier one. It was a spot where you’d wonder if any customers ever came. The place, which looked similar to a small corner store like Sprout Store, didn’t even have a sign. Only the two characters for ‘Cigarettes’ were written in red on the grimy glass of the sliding door.

It says cigarettes, so they must sell them.

Go Baekwoo pushed the sliding door, which had yellow tape messily stuck over its cracked glass. Screech, creak…

The interior was dim. The sunlight pouring in through the open door was all that lit the inside. A few specks of dust floated lazily through the shafts of light hanging in the air like a faint aurora. The tiny space would have looked full with just a few items, but it was empty, as if there was nothing much to have in the first place. Still, thankfully, there were cigarettes. But what good were cigarettes if there was no owner?

Did they go out of business?

Go Baekwoo awkwardly scratched the back of his head and stared blankly at the haphazardly displayed cigarettes. Then, just as he was thinking, ‘What if I just take the cigarettes and leave the money behind,’ it happened.

Screee, thud! The scrape of metal followed by a dull thud broke the silence. It was the sound of a sliding door opening or closing. The door behind him was wide open and hadn’t moved, so it must have come from somewhere else.

Go Baekwoo shifted his gaze toward the sound and soon found its source. In a shop as small as a mouse hole, shifting his gaze only meant moving it a handspan or two, though.

He had been so preoccupied with the thought of cigarettes that he hadn’t even noticed there was a small side room in the corner of the shop.

“…Hah, shit…” someone muttered from inside the side room. Judging by the voice, it was a young man.

A long calf stepped down over the high threshold.

“…”

The man, his face hidden as he bowed his head deeply and clutched his forehead, sluggishly slipped his right foot into a slipper. Then his left foot… It took quite a long time for the man to put on his slippers and stand up. But it didn’t take long for the man’s shadow to cross Go Baekwoo’s feet.

Go Baekwoo raised his gaze from the floor upwards.

The toes protruding neatly from the front of the slippers were well-aligned. The calves, which he had thought were long when he saw him coming out of the side room, looked even longer and leaner now that he was standing straight. His thighs, though seemingly thin, were defined with muscle and half-hidden by short shorts. His bare upper body was slender and toned. And the face that was revealed as the neatly shaped fingers were pulled away was…

His eyes met the man’s.

“…”

“…”

A situation where he had come face to face with an unexpected customer who hadn’t made a sound. The man raised one corner of his mouth in a short smile and asked.

“Cigarettes?”

“…”

Go Baekwoo nodded his head a little late. He stared at the man who, after asking, didn’t sell him any cigarettes but instead took one out for himself.

Click, click…

His gaze followed the man’s jawline as it tilted at the same time the lighter flint spun. He stole a glance at the lips that were briefly heated by the orange glow before soon exhaling a long plume of smoke.

The flame sparked in an unexpected moment.

Nineteen. It was the day he heard the news of the Sprout Store grandmother’s death. It was the day he had ended up in the neighborhood where his ex-girlfriend used to live, just by following his feet. It was, really, a damn unlucky day. If his luck had been better that day, he might not have been able to smoke, but he also wouldn’t have met Cha Hongjo.

…So recalled Go Baekwoo, who was no longer a boy.

🔥

His smoking had increased recently.

Having finished getting ready to go out, Go Baekwoo crumpled the empty cigarette pack and stuffed it in his pocket. He intended to throw it away outside, since his mother might burst into tears if she found a cigarette pack in the trash can. He needed to buy a new pack anyway, so it was two birds with one stone. It wasn’t a bother.

Some people said they smoked three or four cigarettes instead of one because life was tough, but there was no grand reason for Go Baekwoo’s increased smoking. There was only a fundamental excuse, so trivial it was close to an instinct. He had to quickly smoke the cigarettes he had on hand in order to buy a new pack. Now, not from Sprout Store, but from the ‘Cigarette Shop.’

Three weeks had passed since he learned of Sprout Store’s Ms. Kim Mal-soon’s death. During that time, Go Baekwoo had visited the Cigarette Shop two or three times a week without fail. Three or four times seemed too many, so two or three.

He couldn’t always buy cigarettes at the Cigarette Shop.

He was about six months away from turning twenty.

The man, who hadn’t asked his age but was probably a year or two older than him. Go Baekwoo only bought cigarettes when that man was watching the store.

When the man wasn’t there, a middle-aged man or woman would be sitting at the counter, and on those days, Go Baekwoo would just pretend to browse lightly before leaving the shop. He could probably get away with insisting he was an adult, but he was afraid that if a problem arose, he wouldn’t be able to visit the store again. Because then he wouldn’t be able to see that man.

Since their first meeting, that man strangely wouldn’t leave his mind.

Go Baekwoo thought that he had come to admire that man from the day he first saw him. For a nineteen-year-old boy, feeling more than necessary excitement or longing for someone of the same gender could only be explained as ‘admiration.’

Their first meeting. Since then, they had only seen each other a few more times. The conversations they exchanged were.

‘Cigarettes?’

‘…Yes. 88 Lights.’

As simple as that.

He still didn’t know the man’s name or age. He didn’t know his personality either. He could only guess based on his relaxed expression or his indifferent way of speaking, tossing out words here and there. His job, his tastes… he hadn’t heard anything. And yet, to feel an attraction to the man. It was a strange thing.

He might have been captivated by his appearance. After thinking it over, that was the only reason he could come up with.

The man’s looks could make even a shabby cigarette shop in a run-down neighborhood look like a scene from a Hong Kong movie. He wouldn’t be out of place playing the lead role in an actual movie.

What was his real job? Unlike his appearance, he didn’t seem to be an actor. A movie featuring a face like that couldn’t have gone unnoticed. How old was he? He didn’t look entirely young, nor did he look mature, making it difficult to guess his age by sight. What was his personality like? They say you can’t fathom a person’s inner self even after ten years of friendship. He felt it was too late. He grew impatient. He wanted to know that man.

“…”

Walking the path that his feet now moved along on their own after nearly three weeks, without even having to think, Go Baekwoo pictured the man’s face and swallowed dryly.

What’s wrong with me?

His prominent Adam’s apple bobbed up and down on his long neck.

No matter how handsome that man was. Handsome people were a dime a dozen. Besides, no matter how handsome someone was, he had never had the experience of his mind and chest growing hot just by looking at a man… When he relieved his age-appropriate urges, the person who faintly appeared in his heated vision was always a woman.

Go Baekwoo recalled the faces he’d seen in movies, imaginary lovers, or the girls his age and the noonas he had actually dated, one after another, before running his palm roughly through his short-cropped hair.

The hand that had been on the crown of his head soon slid down and dropped with a thud. Go Baekwoo slowly raised his head, which had been facing the ground. He had almost reached the Cigarette Shop.

Cigarettes

I’m going to ask for his name today.

Staring at the two red characters, Go Baekwoo clenched his fist with determination, then unclenched it and pushed open the sliding door.

Whether it was morning, midday, or evening, he stepped into the perpetually dim place and immediately turned his face toward the counter.

It was empty. The counter being empty meant the man was watching the store today. The mister or lady he encountered instead of the man were always sitting at the counter. Unlike them, the man was sometimes lazing about in the counter chair, and on other days, like the first time, he would slowly emerge from the side room in the corner of the shop only when he heard someone enter.

Go Baekwoo shifted his gaze toward the side room and took a step.

A faint voice leaked from within.

“…Hey, that tickles.”

It was a woman’s voice.

“I think… someone’s outside…”

After the whisper, there was the click, click sound of a lighter being lit. There was movement.

A sticker with a dizzying, repeating rose pattern was stuck to the sliding door on the inner side of the shop. That door opened loudly, as if mocking the secret whisper from a moment ago. Creak, thud!

Go Baekwoo’s eyes met with the man who appeared at once. Because the man was standing tall inside the side room, which was about a handspan higher than the shop floor, their eye levels were roughly even.

The man, who exhaled cigarette smoke with a twist of his lips, was dressed as usual in just a pair of short shorts. His hair was a complete mess. As if he had just been lying down.

He must have been lying down. Definitely…

The moment the door opened, he caught a glimpse of a woman behind the man’s thighs. Although it was the beginning of summer, it wasn’t yet hot enough to be dressed so lightly.

Narrowing his brow, Go Baekwoo drew his gaze back up to stare at the man again.

“Cigarettes?”

The man, his eyelids drooping lazily as if overcome by sleepiness or lethargy, asked as he removed the cigarette from his lips. Go Baekwoo ran his tongue over his lips, then rolled them inward, and then bit his flawless lower lip as he gave a short nod. In that time, the man found his slippers and stepped down from the threshold. Both Go Baekwoo and the man moved sluggishly.

The man walked past Go Baekwoo’s shoulder to the counter and, without asking, naturally picked up a pack of ‘88 Lights.’ Since he came once or twice a week and always bought this brand, the man no longer bothered to ask. However.

“Not that one.”

Go Baekwoo said, taking a bold step toward the man.

The man sluggishly put the ‘88 Lights’ back and sat down on a backless blue plastic stool to smoke his cigarette. After taking three or four drags and exhaling, he looked up at Go Baekwoo and asked.

“Then what can I get you.”

“That…”

Go Baekwoo glanced at the cigarette held between the man’s lips.

“The one you’re smoking, hyung.”

“The one I’m smoking…”

The man smiled faintly and offered the cigarette he had just taken a drag from to Go Baekwoo.

“Here.”

“No…”

His face flushed hot in an instant. Go Baekwoo swept his palm over his burning face, from his forehead down to his chin.

“I meant, I wanted the same kind of cigarette as that one.”

As Go Baekwoo mumbled, the man clutched his stomach and laughed, the cigarette still between his fingers. The laughter wasn’t loud, but to Go Baekwoo, it sounded as deafening as a clap of thunder.

“Ah…”

The man, who still hadn’t lowered the corners of his mouth after his burst of laughter, was about to bring the cigarette to his lips but paused. He raised his gaze sharply and looked intently at Go Baekwoo.

“You’re cute.”

Then he took two more quick drags of the cigarette. Go Baekwoo rubbed his right cheek, then, realizing his action was that of someone who had been embarrassed, shoved both hands into his pockets.

The man tilted his head back, scattering the gray smoke, and carelessly dropped the butt onto the shop floor. Is that okay? Go Baekwoo fidgeted with the hands in his pockets, watching the man’s actions. Then, the man took out a new pack of cigarettes. ‘Rose.’ It was a brand famous for being favored by a renowned Go master, but it didn’t quite suit the man’s image.

Go Baekwoo held out the thousand-won bill in his hand. The man took it and placed a few coins on the counter.

Before collecting his change, Go Baekwoo tore the cellophane off the long cigarette pack and placed one between his lips, trying his best to act nonchalant under the gaze that was fixed on him the whole time.

“By the way.”

Go Baekwoo stopped his hand just as he was about to light it, at the man’s opening words.

The man, who had propped his elbow on the counter and was resting his chin in his hand, asked.

“How old are you that you’re calling me hyung.”

“Nineteen.”

Go Baekwoo briefly hesitated about revealing his age when buying cigarettes, but decided it wouldn’t matter to a man who sold them without checking IDs in the first place, and answered. At his answer, the man, who had been looking down, opened his eyes a little wider.

“We’re the same age.”

“Excu— what?”

Go Baekwoo, who was about to light his cigarette this time for real, almost dropped his lighter.

“—year I was born. Me too.”

“…Really?”

🔥

Behind the neighborhood stood a mountain, and at the entrance to a hiking trail, there was a single wooden sitting platform. The platform was never empty, always filled with people. During the day, the elderly would gather to discuss the stories of their lives or play Go, and at night, delinquent youths with nowhere better to go would gather to smoke and drink.

Go Baekwoo had gone to the cigarette shop in the morning, helped his mother, who was busy with the coffee shop, with some chores in the afternoon, and only headed to the platform, which was basically his hideout, as evening fell. His so-called friends were already gathered.

“It’s Baekwoo!”

“Yo, Bbaek-woo.”

“Baekwoo! You’re here?”

“Yeah.”

Go Baekwoo, greeting his friends who were welcoming him so warmly in a perfunctory manner, perched on the edge of the platform. At that, the kids who had been filling the platform naturally shifted to the side to make room. In the newly spacious spot, Go Baekwoo plopped down, lying on his back and putting his hand in his pocket. He felt the pack of ‘Rose.’

“Baekwoo, you should’ve come earlier. Fucking Kim Gitaek, that bastard earlier…”

Kim Yonghee, the most talkative of the group, started chattering away as usual. The rapidly spoken words went in Go Baekwoo’s left ear and out the right. Let him chatter all he wants. Go Baekwoo took out the ‘Rose’ pack and put a cigarette to his lips.

“…and then Wang Yeon-hee… Ah, a light, a light.”

The chattering, which seemed like it would never stop, came to an abrupt halt at a single action from Go Baekwoo. Kim Yonghee, who had been rummaging through his own pockets, put on an urgent expression and asked the kids around him if they had a light.

Actions were more effective than words. Instead of giving the lighter to Kim Yonghee, the kids lit it themselves and held it out toward Go Baekwoo’s face. Go Baekwoo, without even checking who was offering the light, tilted his chin and lit the end of his long cigarette.

The cigarette burned, and his thoughts lengthened.

Cha Hongjo, the man had said.

It was when the ‘Rose’ had burned all the way to the filter, and he had no more excuses to stay at the cigarette shop. Cha Hongjo stood up as if he had no intention of spending any more time with a customer whose business was finished. At that fleeting action, Go Baekwoo grew as anxious as if his feet were on fire. His lips moved on their own.

‘Your name…’

Cha Hongjo, who had been about to leave the tiny counter area, stopped and turned his head toward Go Baekwoo.

‘What’s your name?’

‘…’

As if his three-syllable name were some great secret, Cha Hongjo didn’t answer right away, instead tilting his head with a deliberately pensive expression. Whether he knew about Go Baekwoo’s burning impatience or not. As he had mostly done, Cha Hongjo parted his lips with frustrating slowness.

‘Cha Hongjo.’

Cha Hongjo, Hongjo, Cha Hongjo. Go Baekwoo engraved the three syllables he had finally received onto his tongue, secretly rolled them around, and then swallowed. From his esophagus down to his lower abdomen, everything felt fiery, like he was downing whiskey on an empty stomach. Eventually, his heart began to pound at an unusual speed, as if he were drunk.

‘Your school.’

He had resolved to ask only for his name, but now that he had opened the door, he wanted to find out everything he could. The start had been difficult, but the second time was easy.

‘Cheongdae High.’

‘Cheongdae High?’

That couldn’t be right. Go Baekwoo momentarily harbored a doubt at the unfiltered answer. It was only natural, as he knew quite a few guys at Cheongdae High School. And Cha Hongjo was the type to stand out. No, more than just standing out, he had the looks and an aura that would draw attention wherever he went. If he attended Cheongdae High, it was likely he would have heard his name at least once. But hadn’t he heard the name ‘Cha Hongjo’ for the first time today?

‘Did you transfer, by any chance?’

Go Baekwoo, who had put his brain to work for the first time in a long while for something other than studying, arrived at that conclusion. Indeed, if Cha Hongjo had been a Cheongdae High student for all three years, there was no way he wouldn’t have known.

It seemed he hadn’t been wracking his brain for nothing. At Go Baekwoo’s guess, Cha Hongjo straightened his head and lifted his eyelids wide. Although his face was close to expressionless, Go Baekwoo noticed that Cha Hongjo was surprised.

‘How did you know?’

Cha Hongjo asked back. That question meant that Go Baekwoo had hit the nail on the head, just as he had predicted. Go Baekwoo, who didn’t hide his smile filled with pride and delight, replied while rubbing the back of his own short-trimmed head with his palm.

‘Just seemed like it.’

Due to his habit of not drawing out his words with anyone, all the lengthy explanations were omitted. But Cha Hongjo didn’t press or ask any further.

At the sight of him turning his back so coolly it was almost disappointing, as if they had finished all they had to say, Go Baekwoo once again grew impatient and hurriedly called out to Cha Hongjo.

‘Hongjo… Cha Hongjo.’

What is it this time. Cha Hongjo’s gaze as he turned to look at him seemed to be coldly muttering just that. At that gaze, Go Baekwoo spat out the words that had been hovering in his throat without hesitation.

‘There’s a wooden platform at the entrance to the mountain behind Wonseon-dong.’

Because a boiling nineteen-year-old doesn’t freeze over from a mere glimpse of coldness.

‘Tonight, you want to come?’

‘…’

Cha Hongjo’s body, which had been facing the side room, turned back to face Go Baekwoo. Two steps. Because Cha Hongjo had moved, the space between the tips of their feet was now only a few centimeters. At the sudden proximity, Go Baekwoo swallowed dryly.

‘You.’

The smell of cigarettes and soap wafted from Cha Hongjo.

‘Are you hitting on me right now?’

He couldn’t say no.

No, that’s not it.

Since Cha Hongjo was another guy, it had to be a no, and he had to say no.

But Go Baekwoo remained silent.

A mumble was heard.

‘Now I’m even getting hit on by a bastard with a dick.’

‘…’

Thus, the conversation was cut off, and Cha Hongjo disappeared into the side room.

“…”

If he hasn’t come by now, he’s probably not coming. Go Baekwoo looked up at the sky, which had shed the sunset and was now cast in black shadow, and pulled out another ‘Rose.’ The cigarette pack he had bought this morning had become light in the meantime. He intended to smoke them all before morning came. That way, he would have another excuse to go to the cigarette shop.

“Bbaek-woo, is something wrong?”

He was naturally taciturn, but today Go Baekwoo was especially quiet, so his friends would ask him the reason every so often. On top of chain-smoking, his face was lost in thought. Anyone could see it was the face of someone full of worries, so they couldn’t just ignore it.

Truthfully, if Go Baekwoo had been just some average guy, they would have ignored him whether he was worried or not, but the kids watched Go Baekwoo’s expression. It was because they wanted to get even a little closer to Go Baekwoo, from whom they felt a high and solid barrier for some reason, even while hanging out together. It was because Go Baekwoo was the leader of the delinquents in this area, including Wonseon-dong. There was nothing to lose by getting on the good side of the leader.

To be a little more honest, even if he wasn’t the vanguard of the delinquents, there was nothing wrong with building a friendship with Go Baekwoo. The kids kept glancing at Go Baekwoo’s face, which was staring only at the sky. As if they were looking at a treasure so rare and precious that they were careful even to look at it, for fear it would wear away just from being seen.

The kids, who were appreciating a face they saw almost every day as if it were new, all said the same thing in unison. How can someone look like that? That lucky bastard. He’ll either become a gangster or a TV star. He’s already caught the eye of some scary hyung-nims, so he’ll be a big shot even if he becomes a gangster, but he also had the looks to gain nationwide fame as a TV star. In any case, he was a guy who would make it no matter what he did, so it was better to stick close to him while they could and remain in Go Baekwoo’s memory.

“Huh? Come on, tell us, what are friends for? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing’s wrong.”

Go Baekwoo flicked the cigarette butt, which had been reduced to a quarter of its original size, far away and sat up from his lying position. He was thinking of going home, no, to the coffee shop and helping his mother. Since it didn’t seem like Cha Hongjo was coming, staying any longer would be…

a waste of time.

“…”

The chatter, which had been filled with pointless jokes and explicit profanity, suddenly stopped. The abrupt silence signified either caution or awe. Everyone, including Go Baekwoo, shut their mouths and stared in one direction. Go Baekwoo’s eyes, which had been heavily pressed down by boredom, regained their vitality and began to shine.

Cha Hongjo had come.

A gentle breeze blew, as if welcoming the first customer. Cha Hongjo’s jet-black hair fluttered. As if the hair covering his eyes was a nuisance, he combed his bangs with his straight fingers. His carefully shaped forehead and slightly frowning brow were revealed. Following his gaze down the high bridge of his nose connected to his brow, there were his healthy-colored lips. The fine shape of his mouth was raised crookedly on one side, as if in a sneer.

Blink. The eyes that held Go Baekwoo were hidden by his creased eyelids.

“Hello.”

When their gazes were deeply locked, Cha Hongjo, who had shed his sardonic smile and was now smiling gently, waved his hand in greeting.

“…”

The ordinary greeting strikes his solar plexus like a special confession.

Go Baekwoo, deliberately putting the ‘Rose’ pack into his pocket as he lowered his head, composed his potentially excited expression before finally facing Cha Hongjo squarely.

“…You came?”

“Yeah.”

Cha Hongjo, the cause of the silence, said in an unfiltered tone.

“There’s alcohol.”

Cha Hongjo approached. Go Baekwoo shifted his body slightly to the left. The guy who had been sitting to Go Baekwoo’s right also moved back. Cha Hongjo sat down in the quickly made spot as if it were a matter of course.

“Pour me a glass.”

He gestured with his chin toward the soju bottle while staring intently at Go Baekwoo.

🔥

A glass filled by Go Baekwoo’s own hand should have been for himself and no one else. The kids, mulling over the rule they had arbitrarily established among themselves, glanced at Go Baekwoo and the uninvited guest with eyes full of astonishment. Go Baekwoo, their idol Go Baekwoo, was pouring a drink for a guy he’d never seen before.

“…Do you know who that is?”

“How would I know…”

They whispered in voices soft enough not to be heard by Go Baekwoo and the uninvited guest, trying to grasp the situation, but the more they watched, the deeper their confusion grew. The confusion soon led to jealousy and resentment toward the guy receiving a drink from Go Baekwoo.

Who the hell is that guy?

And who was Go Baekwoo? When he had just entered high school, at a drinking party he had been called to by the second and third-year sunbaes, he had been ordered to fill their glasses.

‘Putting on airs like a sunbae when you can’t even drink on your own.’

He was a person who had dared to rebel. It was truly a huge scene that day. From the other kids’ perspective, his behavior was incomprehensible. What was so hard about pouring a damn drink? On the contrary, by filling the sunbaes’ glasses, they could suck up to them and strengthen their bonds, which would be a good thing…

In any case, as Go Baekwoo continued to fill only his own glass, the third-year sunbae with the worst personality flipped the table. As if that didn’t matter, Go Baekwoo, who had been tilting his glass, was promptly kicked in the head. As the glass Go Baekwoo was holding flew through the air, splashing soju, he shot up to his feet, and a brawl broke out.

We’re fucked.

All the first-years watching the scene probably had the same thought.

The situation came to an end when some ‘hyung-nims’ who were over twenty suddenly stormed in. The hyung-nims, after hearing the whole story, didn’t scold Go Baekwoo, contrary to the second and third-years’ expectations. Instead, they reprimanded the upperclassmen.

‘Is it right to order someone’s precious son to pour you a drink?’

‘Hyung-nim, back in my day…!’

‘Is your day the same as now? Hey, and look at that guy’s face.’

‘…’

‘Does he look like he should be filling anyone’s glass?’

‘Shiiit… He’s the coffee shop owner’s son. I’ve seen him pour coffee before, so wouldn’t he be good at pouring alcohol too?’

The sunbae who had asked that question was beaten to a pulp by the hyung-nim’s fist, which was wrapped in a gold necklace. Several of his teeth fell out, and his already ugly face became like a trampled block of fermented soybeans.

‘You know, if you hit someone with a gold rope wrapped around your fist, gold just pops right out. Look.’

The hyung-nim picked up the gold tooth that had popped out of the sunbae’s lips and put it in his pocket, then picked up a rolling soju bottle and a large, palm-sized glass from the floor, and went to Go Baekwoo.

Gulp, gulp… The guys watching the glass being filled with soju all swallowed dryly. Just looking at it was bitter. Go Baekwoo, now you’re really fucked.

Eventually, the hyung-nim held out the glass full of soju to Go Baekwoo. He didn’t say a word about drinking it. Go Baekwoo, too, quietly took the glass, opened his red, torn lips, and drained it all in one go. The hyung-nim, who looked nothing like someone in his early twenties, watched Go Baekwoo gulp down the alcohol and laughed heartily.

After that day, no sunbae ever ordered Go Baekwoo to pour them a drink, and Go Baekwoo never tilted a bottle for anyone else either. A rumor circulated that it wasn’t just because of that incident, but that Go Baekwoo actually had a formidable backer, so even the ‘hyung-nims’ couldn’t touch him recklessly.

Whether the rumor was true or not, the current situation of him pouring a drink was shocking in itself. The kids felt a sense of humiliation, as if their pride was being crushed.

Regardless, Go Baekwoo himself, with a placid expression, was busy refilling Cha Hongjo’s glass as soon as he emptied it. All while suppressing his excitement and exhilaration behind a feigned composure.

“I thought you weren’t coming.”

Cha Hongjo, who had tilted back the soju glass while gazing at Go Baekwoo who said this, wiped his lips once with the back of his hand and grinned.

“Are you happy I came?”

The empty glass was held out, and it was filled.

“Yeah.”

“I’m happy too.”

Go Baekwoo raised his eyes from the precariously shimmering alcohol and met Cha Hongjo’s gaze.

“A pretty boy is pouring me a drink.”

“…Come again. We hang out here often in the summer.”

The cigarette shop, the wooden platform on the mountain behind Wonseon-dong. No matter where they met, Go Baekwoo averted his eyes from Cha Hongjo’s, which were swimming with intoxication, and belatedly filled his own glass.

🔥

Go Baekwoo was thoroughly drunk. He had lost all track of time drinking with Cha Hongjo, a person whose name, age, and school he had just learned, clinking glasses over and over as if they were childhood friends.

After that, he was on his way home. At dawn, the cool early summer morning breeze had long since sunk beneath the ground. Was it because the wind was lingering on the ground? Go Baekwoo felt his steps were unusually light. His body moved forward even before he swung his legs. The scenery rushed past even though the soles of his feet hadn’t touched the ground. Whoosh, whoosh…

Yes. I am levitating right now. I am walking on clouds.

…So, Go Baekwoo thought. Unaware that it wasn’t the wind, but Cha Hongjo carrying him.

While Go Baekwoo was gliding home, using his drunkenness as wings, Cha Hongjo adjusted the dead-drunk lout who was bigger than him on his back and muttered a curse.

“Hah… shit.”

Should I just throw him down?

The consideration was fleeting. Right away, Cha Hongjo threw Go Baekwoo down. When the lanky guy fell, a sound loud enough to be heard echoed through the dark alley. But the guy, who was soaked in alcohol, didn’t seem to know he was rolling on the ground. Judging by the fact that he wasn’t in pain and was even grinning.

“Hey.”

Cha Hongjo, with drunkenness hanging heavy on his eyelids, kicked Go Baekwoo’s shoulder blade with the tip of his foot.

“…”

There was no answer. It was only natural. Go Baekwoo had already fallen fast asleep, using the paving stone as a pillow.

“Hah.”

Cha Hongjo, letting out a breath that sounded like both a sneer and a sigh, soon bent his knees and sat down. Go Baekwoo, who was lying on his side facing him, came closer and filled his vision. The sound of his even breathing touched his eardrums as if it were the only noise in the world.

Cha Hongjo, who had been staring down at Go Baekwoo, poked Go Baekwoo’s cheek with the tip of his straightened index finger. Poke, poke.

“Hey.”

Poke, poke. He poked him twice more.

“Pretty boy.”

“…”

Judging by his current state, it seemed the pretty boy wouldn’t wake up even if he were slapped squarely across the cheek.

Cha Hongjo, giving up on waking Go Baekwoo, turned around and plopped down on the ground, using Go Baekwoo’s firm torso as a backrest. It was more comfortable than he had expected.

He had thought Go Baekwoo was a strong drinker because he kept pace with him, downing his drinks so well. Unlike his delicate face, his frame looked sturdy, and as he drank, instead of turning red, he only got paler, so he hadn’t thought he would become dead drunk so quickly.

All bluff…

Cha Hongjo, looking down at the sleeping face of the sprawled-out Go Baekwoo, chuckled and reached his hand back to feel around Go Baekwoo’s thigh. It was to find cigarettes. His own had run out long ago from being smoked.

Eventually, Cha Hongjo pulled out a crushed cigarette pack from between the firm thigh and the tight-fitting pants and put a cigarette to his lips. He used his own lighter. In the alley, dimly lit by the orange streetlight like ramie fabric, the flame Cha Hongjo lit burned the end of the cigarette and died out.

He had left home with the intention of not going back tonight. Since it was well past midnight, the resolution was from yesterday, though.

Cha Hongjo looked down the steeply sloping alley. Roofs painted with a verdant darkness. Which one among them was the pretty boy’s house?

He couldn’t sit out on the street until the morning sun rose. Even if he was living a shabby life in a poor neighborhood, sleeping on the street was a no. It was because Cha Hongjo hadn’t been living as the eldest son of a dirty cigarette shop for very long.

“…”

After chain-smoking three cigarettes, Cha Hongjo decided to wake Go Baekwoo up. He wasn’t sure if he would wake up since he was in such a deep sleep. If he had known this would happen, he should have asked the guys at the platform for the pretty boy’s address. Though, considering how they had glared at him with disdain, it didn’t seem like they would have told him willingly.

Spoiling the taste of his drink, he really couldn’t understand why the pretty boy hung out with such ugly-as-shit bastards instead of pretty girls who suited him.

Continuing that thought, Cha Hongjo patted Go Baekwoo’s cheek with his palm. Slap, slap.

“Pretty boy, wake up.”

“Mmm…”

“Hah.”

Cha Hongjo let out a dry laugh as he stared at Go Baekwoo, who was rubbing his cheek against his palm.

Does he think I’ll go easy on him because he’s pretty?

If you invite a guest to your neighborhood, you should see to them until the very end.

Cha Hongjo brushed the eyelashes that lay like a black velvet carpet over Go Baekwoo’s pale cheekbones with his pinky finger.

Right, it’s the fault of the one who passed out first.

Cha Hongjo slid the tip of his pinky from Go Baekwoo’s cheekbone to the tip of his chin as if tracing it, then opened his palm and raised it. It was a face too precious to hit, but he couldn’t think of any other way. He himself was drunk too, just not passed out like the pretty boy, so he didn’t have the capacity to think it over. Without a shred of hesitation, his palm cut through the air and, finally, with a smack!, sharply struck Go Baekwoo’s cheek. The effect of the violence was excellent.

“…”

Cha Hongjo, whose eyes met Go Baekwoo’s as they flew open, split his lips in a wide grin and asked.

“You awake?”

Go Baekwoo, who seemed to have not yet grasped the situation even after being slapped, simply blinked his eyes with one of his previously paper-white cheeks now stained red, and replied belatedly.

“…Yeah.”

As Cha Hongjo had read from his expression, Go Baekwoo was indeed bewildered by his situation. He was sure he had been drinking with Cha Hongjo at the platform, but now he was collapsed on the alley floor coming down from the mountain.

…Fuck, alcohol is the enemy.

Go Baekwoo, whose face flushed after guessing the turn of events, wanted to get up right away, but he couldn’t budge because of Cha Hongjo, who was leaning against his abdomen as a backrest.

“If you could just get up…”

Since he couldn’t stay like this forever, he was about to ask him to move first. But Cha Hongjo, who had been looking down at Go Baekwoo and smiling as if watching an amusing spectacle, opened his lips first.

“Where’s your house?”

“…Huh?”

“Your house, where is it.”

🔥

The first floor was ‘Promise Coffee Shop.’ The second floor was the home where Go Baekwoo lived alone with his mother. The third floor had been occupied by the landlord, who moved to Seoul half a year ago, and had remained vacant ever since, as they couldn’t find a tenant.

Go Baekwoo confirmed that the lights were off from the first to the third floor, then turned around. He silently waited for Cha Hongjo, who was leisurely following him, and spoke when they were close enough to converse in low voices.

“Want to smoke before we go in?”

He normally disliked smoking near his house, but the crack of dawn, when few people were passing by, was an exception. Go Baekwoo had a habit of smoking a cigarette right before entering his house whenever he came home after drinking late.

Cha Hongjo wordlessly pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Go Baekwoo also put his hand in his pocket, but the ‘Rose’ he had surely tucked away was nowhere to be found. Just as he was wondering if he had dropped it when he fell on the street, something was offered to him.

Go Baekwoo glanced at the single ‘Rose’ cigarette held out in front of him, then raised his gaze to meet Cha Hongjo’s.

“…Thanks.”

Just as he reached out, thinking how unlike him it was to say thank you for a single cigarette, Cha Hongjo pulled the cigarette back. Then, he placed both cigarettes between his own lips. Go Baekwoo stared blankly at Cha Hongjo, his outstretched hand still in the air.

Cha Hongjo flicked his lighter, tilting his head and covering his chin with his palm before revealing it. Two ‘Rose’ cigarettes, held between lips as red as the burning passion of nineteen, were now lit. One of them, caught between Cha Hongjo’s fingers, was moved near Go Baekwoo’s lips.

“Take it.”

“…”

Go Baekwoo leaned forward slightly and parted his lips. Cha Hongjo stuck the cigarette between them. Where Cha Hongjo’s fingers had been, Go Baekwoo’s fingers took their place.

It was an act carried out naturally, without any agreement, but this kind of gesture was usually something you did when hitting on a girl. It was absolutely not something guys did with each other.

Go Baekwoo felt he couldn’t look at Cha Hongjo and averted his eyes, but Cha Hongjo himself simply curled the corners of his lips and smoked his cigarette while staring intently at Go Baekwoo.

Unless they were with a chatterbox like Park Cheolho, it was natural for two guys to have little to say to each other. So this silence should have been normal, but Go Baekwoo found the stillness floating between him and Cha Hongjo incredibly uncomfortable. Yet, he couldn’t suddenly improve his poor conversation skills, which was frustrating.

“Don’t you… have to go home?”

It was the only thing Go Baekwoo could come up with after much deliberation, by which time his cigarette had burned down to a quarter of its length.

“That’s none of your business.”

But Cha Hongjo replied with raw, unfiltered words, then asked.

“You got ramen at home?”

“Ramen? I don’t know.”

“If you don’t, then never mind.”

Cha Hongjo flicked away his finished cigarette with his fingers. Go Baekwoo took what would be his last drag and glanced up.

…Do I have any, or not?

He rarely ate at home, so he had no way of knowing what was there. He wasn’t particularly fond of ramen either, so it was highly likely he didn’t have any.

I should’ve bought some if I knew this would happen, ramen…

Moreover, the problem wasn’t just the ramen. As Go Baekwoo stubbed out the cigarette butt he’d thrown at his feet, he had to recall just how messy his room was.

“It’s… a little dirty, is that okay?”

In the end, he had no choice but to ask Cha Hongjo, as if confessing.

“All guys’ rooms are like that.”

Cha Hongjo muttered nonchalantly and stretched. And he thought a carefree thought.

It’d be perfect to have some ramen and then sleep, but judging by pretty boy’s face, I probably won’t see a single noodle strand. I’ll just wash up and crash, he thought.

While Cha Hongjo was having such thoughts, Go Baekwoo walked on, enduring his pounding heart. He was thinking of the underwear he’d tossed around carelessly, or the porn video he’d half-heartedly hidden in a corner…

Past the coffee shop’s main entrance, up the stairs that began at the corner of the building, to the second floor. Opening the steel door led to Go Baekwoo’s home.

Go Baekwoo turned the key he’d inserted into the keyhole. Click. It was a time when his mother would still be asleep, so the noise was quite noticeable.

What time is it now?

To greet the regulars who came to the coffee shop for their morning coffee every day, his mother woke up around six in the morning, washed up, and went down to the shop.

“…”

It was now just a little before six in the morning. Go Baekwoo checked the clock on the living room wall and sighed in relief internally. It was a close call. If he had come home any later, he would have run into his mother. His mother knew he went around drinking despite being a high school student, but he couldn’t just reek of alcohol in front of her first thing in the morning. Even if he was a delinquent, he had a sliver of conscience left.

Passing through the living room, which was attached to the kitchen, Go Baekwoo turned his head and gestured to Cha Hongjo with his eyes.

“The bathroom is next to the kitchen, and this is my room.”

He didn’t bother introducing the room near the front door, as it was his mother’s.

Cha Hongjo didn’t comment on being in someone else’s house or ask any questions, just gave a single nod.

Having finished the brief tour of the house, Go Baekwoo stepped across the linoleum floor, its worn seams held together with long strips of brown tape. The moment he grasped the handle of his room, which he soon reached, the presence of Cha Hongjo standing behind him felt even heavier, pressing down on him.

‘All guys’ rooms are like that.’

That’s true…

Go Baekwoo rationalized by repeating Cha Hongjo’s casual remark to himself. At the same time, he turned the doorknob.

“…”

As soon as he entered the room, Go Baekwoo kicked aside the blanket blocking his path and scanned the small room, pinpointing things that were out of place. First, he quickly removed the underwear hanging on the desk chair. No, ‘hid’ was a more fitting description.

After tidying up the embarrassing items in a short amount of time, Go Baekwoo’s eyes darted around, looking for the porn video. He couldn’t see it anywhere, as if he had hidden it somewhere without realizing it. In such a cramped room, if he couldn’t see it, there was no way Cha Hongjo would find it.

Only then did Go Baekwoo breathe a sigh of relief and turn to look at Cha Hongjo, who was standing tall behind him.

“Want a change of clothes?”

It was summer, so it wasn’t cold, and since it was just two guys, there was no need to change. Cha Hongjo, who had been about to head straight to wash up in his underwear, crossed his arms instead of answering, grabbed the bottom of his T-shirt, and pulled it off in one motion. Then, he hooked his fingers into the waistband of his pants. At that moment, a troubled look crossed Go Baekwoo’s face.

“What.”

“My mother’s outside.”

“Ah.”

It had been so quiet he thought no one was home.

Letting go of his waistband, Cha Hongjo held out his hand to Go Baekwoo. In response, Go Baekwoo opened a plastic drawer and took out some clothes for him.

“My mother will be leaving in about an hour.”

Cha Hongjo took the clothes from Go Baekwoo, who seemed to be making excuses for some reason. A white T-shirt and navy training shorts. He hung them on the back of the chair where the black underwear had been draped before, and brought his hand to the fly of the pants he had half-taken off.

At the same time, Go Baekwoo, who had taken out his own clothes from a lower drawer, straightened up. And he found himself standing face to face with Cha Hongjo. He needed to change, but the moment his gaze landed on Cha Hongjo, his body froze.

Go Baekwoo’s eyes followed Cha Hongjo’s hands as they undid the fly of his dark blue jeans. Pop. Even with the simple motion of unbuttoning, the blue veins on the back of his hand twitched. When he pulled down the zipper, the veins stood out, continuing all the way to his wrist. The pants were coming down… Cha Hongjo had no hesitation in revealing his bare legs. It was natural. It would have been more unnatural for a guy to be hesitant about undressing when there were just two of them.

Finally, with an unnatural movement, Go Baekwoo turned his back to Cha Hongjo. His Adam’s apple bobbed and his chest pounded, just like when he had stolen a ten-won coin from his mother’s wallet as a child. For a moment, he forgot what he had been about to do. Right, he was going to change clothes. Just like Cha Hongjo.

While Go Baekwoo was in turmoil over the sight of someone of the same sex undressing, Cha Hongjo had already changed. It was more constricting than being in his underwear, but the clothes the pretty boy gave him were loose and comfortable enough. By the way, the pretty boy was being awfully slow. He wondered if he’d gone to perform some ritual while he was changing, as he was only now starting to take off his shirt.

Just put them on quickly and find some ram… Oh, nice body.

Cha Hongjo, clutching his hungry stomach and about to click his tongue at Go Baekwoo’s slow movements, forgot all his thoughts and let out a whistle at the sight of the bare torso revealed before him. Whew—.

“I’m fucked.”

At the low voice, Go Baekwoo, who was in the middle of pulling down his pants, froze for a brief moment.

“What kind of workout do you do.”

“…Boxing.”

It was a question he heard often, so he was able to answer immediately with less fluster. Anyway, he never imagined that Cha Hongjo, who had been so quiet, was watching him.

“You compete?”

“Just… a hobby.”

Go Baekwoo pulled on a new T-shirt at “just,” and changed his bottoms even more swiftly at “hobby,” then habitually patted his pockets. A cigarette… Come to think of it, he’d lost his earlier, and even if he had one, his mother was about to get ready to go down to the shop, so he couldn’t go out to smoke. His throat was parched.

“…Want some water?”

Go Baekwoo asked after turning to face Cha Hongjo again, needlessly scratching under his prominent Adam’s apple, which stood out in stark contrast to his elegant features. At that, Cha Hongjo, who had plopped down on the floor, looked up at Go Baekwoo and opened his mouth.

“What about the ramen.”

“Ah.”

Right. He’d forgotten.

“I’ll go check.”

“Sure.”

Cha Hongjo replied, lying down flat on his back and propping his head up with his forearm. His gaze came to rest on Go Baekwoo’s neck, which was now bright red from the scratching.

“…”

Is it because I’m drunk? Even if he is a ‘pretty boy,’ I’m getting turned on by looking at the neck of a guy with a dick.

Cha Hongjo closed his eyes, mocking himself.

🔥

Pathetically, there was no ramen in the house, let alone noodles.

Go Baekwoo left the house with his mother, who was just heading down to the shop, and ran to the supermarket. Fortunately, the supermarket near his house opened around the same time as the coffee shop.

He had sprinted there and back to buy two packs of ramen, but when he returned, he couldn’t sense any presence from the room. Worried, he peeked in to find Cha Hongjo fast asleep.

Feeling a sense of futility, Go Baekwoo tiptoed out of the room, tossed the two packs of ramen carelessly aside, and lay down on the living room floor. He was still tipsy. Sleep washed over him. But he didn’t have the confidence to sleep next to Cha Hongjo.

…No. Why couldn’t he? They were both guys.

Go Baekwoo, who had been lying on his back with his arm as a pillow, shot up.

Was this churning feeling towards Cha Hongjo admiration for another man, or was it…?

Was the reason he was going back to his room now an act of defiance born of confusion, or was it…?

Unable to face the true nature of the emotions driving him, Go Baekwoo opened the door to his room, where a stranger was sleeping.

“…Ah.”

But Cha Hongjo was looking up at him with wide-awake eyes. To be precise, they weren’t so much wide-awake as they were heavily soaked in sleep or alcohol, but in any case.

“You weren’t sleeping?”

“I was.”

Giving an answer that could be either truth or lie, Cha Hongjo moved over slightly, pulling the pillow with him as if to make space. Then he patted the empty spot with his palm, tap, tap, as if telling Go Baekwoo to lie down next to him.

Go Baekwoo, unable to do anything, just blinked and opened his mouth.

“…Want some ramen?”

Cha Hongjo, who had been watching Go Baekwoo with his head propped on his hand, flopped his face into the pillow and rubbed his forehead and eyes with a rough hand. His annoyance was palpable in that small gesture.

Is he mad because I took so long to buy the ramen?

Cha Hongjo, having wiped away the emotions Go Baekwoo couldn’t quite pinpoint with a dry wash of his face, soon returned to his usual bland expression and mumbled in a husky voice.

“Lie down.”

“Huh?”

He asked again, but Go Baekwoo had clearly heard and perfectly understood the command thrown at his feet.

Cha Hongjo assumed Go Baekwoo had understood him and didn’t elaborate further, lightly patting the empty space beside him again.

“Together.”

“It’s too small. I’ll just sleep in the living room…”

“Lie down.”

Go Baekwoo instinctively pulled out an excuse disguised as consideration, but was cut off before he could finish.

“So we can enjoy the movie.”

Cha Hongjo’s hand shot out from under the blanket. It didn’t take long for Go Baekwoo to identify the object in his grasp. It was the porn video that he couldn’t find when he had searched every nook and cranny.

“…”

“Ah, my arm is falling off…”

Cha Hongjo waved the black videotape, which had no title, and just as he said, let his arm drop limply onto the blanketed floor.

With a look of utter trouble on his face, Go Baekwoo glanced from the videotape to Cha Hongjo’s arm. His gaze then traveled up the straight line of his neck, visible above the stretched-out collar of his T-shirt, to his eyes, which were as moist as if they’d been soaked in kaoliang wine.

Even though half-hidden by his drooping eyelids, their piercing glint had not lost its brightness. Go Baekwoo was captivated.

“…That thing.”

“Why the hell are you acting coy.”

“…”

“Like some guy who’s never even jerked off.”

Thud. The videotape, tossed low, landed near the tips of Go Baekwoo’s feet. Looking down at it, Go Baekwoo let out an inaudible groan.

Coy. It was a word he had never heard in his entire nineteen years of life.

Jerking off. Being a young man full of vigor, he did it regularly. Until three years ago, he would even gather with his friends, put on a porn tape, and do it together. There was no shame. Back then, he and his friends were all just beasts with black hair. Of course, it wasn’t much different now.

The problem, however, was that Cha Hongjo was different from anyone he had ever met, past or present.

“…”

As Cha Hongjo had said, if he held out and didn’t play the video, he would likely be seen as a weirdo who acted coy around other guys and had never even jerked off. He had no choice. Bound by Cha Hongjo’s gaze, Go Baekwoo bent down with a creaking motion. And he picked up the porn tape.

He had borrowed the tape from Park Youngtae a few days ago but hadn’t watched it yet, so he didn’t know the content. Not that porn tapes have much content, but… he was worried about the level. Park Youngtae was an expert in pornography and had a large collection of rare videos from unknown sources, which he willingly lent out to those around him. And now, a tape that had passed through who knows how many hands was in his own.

Go Baekwoo turned on the television, which was slightly larger than his palm. He also switched on the VCR and pushed the neatly laid videotape into the slot. The tape was sucked in.

“…”

Still in a kneeling position, Go Baekwoo awkwardly approached Cha Hongjo. He couldn’t bring himself to face Cha Hongjo, so his gaze was fixed downwards.

The slender legs with bare skin exposed up to the thighs where the hem of his shorts had ridden up… Go Baekwoo averted his gaze to the opposite side, cleared his throat, and leaned his back against the wall to sit side by side with Cha Hongjo.

The video had just started playing. Fake moans, belonging to no one, began to fill the room. The room was dim despite the early morning, thanks to the drawn curtains. The flesh-colored hues emanating from the television screen were the only light warming the room.

Quietly lowering his eyes, Go Baekwoo stole a glance at Cha Hongjo. Lying on his side with his arm for a pillow, Cha Hongjo was staring intently at the screen with sleepy eyes. And then.

“This is awesome.”

Two naked Western men and one woman seemed to be exploring each other, then quickly pressed their bodies together. At the same time, Cha Hongjo muttered. Peeking sideways, he saw that the hem of Cha Hongjo’s T-shirt had ridden up slightly. Go Baekwoo swallowed dryly past a throat that felt like it had thorns in it. At the same moment, Cha Hongjo’s hand, which had been resting on his own waist, suddenly descended onto Go Baekwoo’s thigh.

On the screen, the three men and women were going at it all at once. It was a sight Go Baekwoo had never witnessed in his life. The porn videos he had seen until now had only featured a man and a woman.

“…”

It would be lame to make the excuse that ‘this video isn’t mine, I borrowed it from a pervert named Park Youngtae.’ Lacking conversational skills, he couldn’t come up with anything to lighten the mood. Go Baekwoo fell silent, biting his lower lip and just fiddling with the edge of the blanket under his thigh.

This is difficult. In front of him, pornography far beyond the normal scope was playing; next to him lay Cha Hongjo; and a hot hand was gently stroking his thigh.

The stimulation surrounding Go Baekwoo at that moment was far too immense for a nineteen-year-old brimming with vigor to endure. It was more than enough to make the blood rush down there.

This is dangerous. If Cha Hongjo’s hand moves up even a little more…

“Ah, fuck.”

It was just as the hand, which had gone down to his knee, came up to a precarious point. Cha Hongjo, suddenly cursing, shot up. Go Baekwoo’s gaze, which had been fixed on the television as if to avoid Cha Hongjo, returned to its place. And.

“Ugh…”

“Hey, pretty boy.”

Cha Hongjo, grabbing Go Baekwoo by the neck and pushing him against the wall, whispered in a soft, low tone.

“That thing isn’t really doing it for me right now.”

At those words, his throat tightened. Go Baekwoo narrowed his brow and looked at Cha Hongjo.

“Because of your fucking face.”

Cha Hongjo lowered his gaze from Go Baekwoo’s face, the corners of his eyes turning red, downwards.

The long, white neck, turning red in the shape of his hand. But with the prominent Adam’s apple that didn’t hide his masculinity and its not-so-slender lines, it fell quite short of his ideal type. He stared intently at that neck. Cha Hongjo pressed down firmly with his thumb. Go Baekwoo immediately parted his lips and groaned in pain, Gasp, but he had no intention of letting up.

“So you’re gonna have to take some responsibility, pretty boy.”

“…”

Go Baekwoo remained still, even though he was more than capable of stopping Cha Hongjo.

“Don’t worry, I don’t have a hobby of getting my dick sucked by guys.”

Glancing over Go Baekwoo’s nape, which was turning redder and redder in his grip, Cha Hongjo grabbed the waistband of his pants and pulled them down.

“I’m just borrowing your face, just your face.”

“…”

His pants and underwear fell together below his thighs, and Go Baekwoo’s eyes followed them down.

A penis, standing erect between thighs split with long muscles. It was a private part he had himself. Yet Go Baekwoo’s eyes shook with bewilderment, as if he were seeing a man’s for the first time. His eyelids, half-covering bloodshot eyes, trembled faintly. If his eyelashes had been just a bit longer, they would have fluttered enough for the other to notice.

Finally, Cha Hongjo wrapped his veiny hand around his erection, which stood poised in the air.