My Only One Chapter 1.4

Just then, a vibration sounded from his pocket. Jinseo, who sensed it was Jeonghan without even checking, pressed the volume key to decline Jeonghan’s call.

At that moment, Hajun’s hand suddenly came in and touched Jinseo’s lips. Startled, he pulled his body back, and Hajun, looking at Jinseo with narrowed eyes, opened his mouth.

“You didn’t put on the ointment? The one I gave you.”

“…I was so busy getting ready.”

Jinseo thought it was a relief that the place was dark. It was because he had felt a rush of heat to both his cheeks the moment Hajun’s hand had touched him. Hajun, saying hmm, was silent for a moment, then he propped his chin with one hand and gazed at Jinseo.

“You didn’t throw it away, did you?”

Jinseo shook his hand vigorously, denying it.

“Of course not. I put it on the nightstand. I didn’t mean to forget…”

His words trailed off again at the gaze that was staring intently at him as he made clumsy excuses. He wouldn’t think I ignored his sincerity after he went out of his way to take care of me, would he…

Jinseo, who was watching Hajun’s expression, carefully opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry. I’ll put it on right away when I get home today.”

“Jinseo.”

His breath caught for a moment at Hajun’s affectionate call. Barely coming to his senses and spitting out a “Yes?” Hajun’s lips quirked up slightly.

“Who said I’d send you home?”

For a moment, Jinseo was so stunned he didn’t know what kind of expression he was making. He already bewitched people just by being nice to them, but now had he decided to use his beautiful looks as a weapon too?

Just then, the drinks and snacks they had ordered arrived. It was a good opportunity to avoid Hajun’s gaze. Jinseo immediately turned his eyes to the food being set out on the table.

In front of Hajun was whiskey, and in front of him was a sweet lemon highball.

“You like that, don’t you? Last time you only drank that instead of beer.”

“Ah… Yes, that’s right. I like it.”

It seemed he had seen him sipping only highballs at the general meeting at the beginning of the second semester this year. He had ordered the menu so skillfully without even asking, so he had thought only food reflecting Hajun’s tastes would come out.

The food filling the table now felt different. For snacks, there were nachos, cheese cubes, and crackers. As if he knew that he didn’t enjoy heavy food with drinks, it seemed he had ordered all things that could be eaten simply.

His heart kept fluttering for no reason. Hajun was an affectionate person to everyone. It probably wasn’t just him that he was paying this much attention to.

Jinseo recalled things related to Hajun one by one, and remembered that the first day he had met him was at the general meeting at the beginning of the year before last.

At that time, Jinseo, who had no close friends, had attended the general meeting with the intention of trying to have a proper school life. In the boisterous atmosphere of the bar, when he had naturally sat in a corner seat at the table, the person sitting opposite him was Hajun.

Unlike him, who was too timid to talk to anyone, there were many people who flocked to Hajun’s side. He treated his close friends with a smile that was pleasant for people to see.

‘Hey, Jung Hajun. You’re finally here? What were you doing, holding yourself back for a year? What a waste of time.’

‘Still, I didn’t extend my leave of absence. I came back quickly because I missed you guys.’

‘Anyway, you’re only good at lip service.’

He glanced at Hajun’s face, who was laughing, haha, while talking with his friends.

Looking at him, he had thought he was the type of person he could never become close to. It was because he had arbitrarily decided that there was no way such a bright person would want to be close to him.

It was when he was quietly sipping only beer, feeling the boisterous atmosphere.

‘Alright, shall we give a toast?’

The department president, who was occupying the head seat at another table, jumped up and shouted. The people who had been talking with Hajun returned to their respective tables to get their own glasses. The moment he awkwardly lifted his glass in response to the president’s command, his eyes met with Hajun’s, which were a lighter color than others.

He stared at that face blankly without realizing it. He was handsome, but perhaps because his features were delicate, he also looked pretty. He had a strong, androgynous image, literally. Just then, Hajun opened his reddish-tinged lips.

‘…Is there something on my face?’

At his question, he hurriedly lowered his gaze. A sense of shame surged, and feeling the heat flush his face, he immediately spoke.

‘Ah, no, it’s not that,’

Before he could even explain everything, he felt an impact on his right forearm. Because of that, his body swayed greatly, and he dropped the beer glass he was holding.

‘Oh…!’

‘Hey, crazy! Hey, I told you not to push.’

As he half-rose because of the liquid that had spilled on his thigh, the man sitting next to him spoke to the person who had pushed him with an embarrassed expression. It was just then that his mood had soured at the man’s attitude, which lacked a proper apology.

Hajun approached Jinseo and took his left forearm with a gentle touch. And he, who had pulled Jinseo from his seat, immediately let out a sigh and opened his mouth.

‘Your pants are all wet…’

‘Ah, it’s okay,’

‘If you make a mistake, you should apologize.’

Hajun immediately demanded an apology from the man in the seat next to Jinseo.

‘Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose.’

The atmosphere instantly turned cold. Jinseo, who didn’t want to make a big deal out of just spilling a beer, opened his mouth toward the man who was offering an unsatisfactory apology.

‘It’s okay. I can just wash it when I get home.’

And it was also awkward because he was the first person to step up for him in a difficult situation. In the end, he wiped off the beer roughly with a dishcloth that Hajun handed him, expressed his thanks, and was about to go home due to the unpleasantness.

As soon as he stepped out of the bar door, Hajun followed him. Soon, he looked down at him and asked.

‘What’s your name and phone number? Ah, I’m Jung Hajun.’

After a short conversation, they were in the same year, but he, who had taken a year off, was one school year above him. He was excited by the first exchange of phone numbers and names outside of a group project.

When he typed his phone number into his phone for him, Hajun opened his mouth with a smiling face.

‘We’re in the same department, let’s see each other often.’

As if to prove those words, he ran into him again in the classroom. He remembered that at that time, Hajun had even gotten the laundry money from that man and given it to him. Since that day, he had often become involved with Hajun. He, perhaps noticing that he was the only person he knew at school, would always approach him first whenever there was a group project and readily offered to do it together. Jinseo, who had been an outcast, couldn’t refuse Hajun’s suggestion.

Jinseo, who had no way of knowing what was in Hajun’s heart as he took care of him, initially just felt grateful to him. However, as that period grew longer, and as he saw Hajun’s affectionate sides one by one, his actions couldn’t help but pile up in his heart. It didn’t take long for his gratitude to transform into a different emotion. Thinking so, the present, where he had come to a bar alone with him, felt like a dream.

In the end, he didn’t have the confidence to look at the face of the sunbae he had a crush on as if nothing were wrong. He hadn’t even had a sip of alcohol yet, but his face was flushed. Along with that, the sound of his heart beating pounded in his head.

In the end, as soon as the waiter left and he had a toast with Hajun, he drank the alcohol quickly. It felt like only drinking would ease his tension.

Less than ten minutes after all the menu items had come out, Jinseo, who had finished a glass, was tipsy. It was a low-alcohol highball, but Jinseo was originally a lightweight.

Hajun, who was staring at Jinseo, called the waiter and ordered another highball for him. And looking at him with his eyes half-closed, he laughed softly.

“Have you been having a hard time lately?”

At Hajun’s question, Jinseo said a short hmm, then shook his head from side to side.

“No. It’s just always the same.”

“But why did you drink so fast? You’re already drunk.”

At Hajun’s worried tone, Jinseo narrowed his eyes.

“…It’s because of you, sunbae.”

It was a heartfelt sentiment that came out with the drunkenness.

Even though it was a small mumble, as if he hadn’t missed it, Hajun, without erasing the smile on his lips, asked Jinseo back.

“Why is it because of me?”

At Hajun’s question, Jinseo chose silence. Was he really asking because he didn’t know… Then again, he had never properly expressed his feelings for Hajun, so it was natural that he wouldn’t know. Just then, the highball Hajun had reordered arrived. Toward the waiter who was checking to whom he should give the drink, Hajun immediately pointed to Jinseo with his fingertip.

As soon as the highball came in front of him, Jinseo grabbed the glass and chugged it down, setting the glass down with a loud noise. The heat from the alcohol enveloped his entire face.

At Hajun’s gaze, which was directed straight at him, Jinseo was momentarily overcome with emotion. This, too, was because of the alcohol.

The thought suddenly occurred to him that if he ever escaped from the suffocating house, he wanted to live with Hajun. In Jinseo’s life, Hajun was a one-of-a-kind existence, and if it weren’t for him, he would not have known a life where he looked forward to tomorrow.

No one had ever shown him unconditional affection like Hajun had.

Now, against his will, he was drinking on his own. In the meantime, perhaps worried about Jinseo who was only drinking, Hajun personally broke off a piece of nacho into a bite-sized piece and put it in Jinseo’s mouth. Jinseo, who had casually accepted it, munch, continued to speak while chewing.

“Sunbae, what if. Really, what if.”

“Uh-huh, what if.”

“If you were to live alone, too.”

At Jinseo’s long-winded preamble, the corners of Hajun’s mouth went up. With a playful expression, Hajun said.

“I’m already living alone now, though?”

“…You are?”

I didn’t know that… Jinseo muttered while continuing to chew the finely crushed nacho in his mouth. After thinking to himself for a moment, he opened his mouth again.

“Then… what if I live alone.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to live with me?”

It was a sentence he would never have been able to utter if he were sober. Hajun didn’t react at all. As the silence continued for a while, the rumbling music suddenly grew louder.

Jinseo’s expression was momentarily colored with bewilderment. It was because he realized what he had said in his drunken state. Jinseo, feeling his heart drop, immediately waved his hand from side to side.

“Ah, I mean. Just because living alone is lonely. But I don’t have any plans to live alone yet…”

“Okay.”

“…Pardon?”

“Let’s live together.”

It was an affectionate voice and an expression that didn’t look like he was joking. The moment his eyes met his very serious gaze, Jinseo’s eyes widened.

Hajun, who was looking at Jinseo, who couldn’t continue his words, continued.

“I was lonely living alone, too.”

“Ah…”

“I think it would be fun to live with Jinseo.”

“Uh, sunbae.”

It felt like he was sobering up in an instant. He had been swept up by his emotions and had inadvertently let his inner thoughts slip out. Of course, he had thought Hajun would refuse by appropriately beating around the bush with other words. Or think of it as a joke. But for him to accept his suggestion so readily. He was dumbfounded.

He wondered if he had answered vaguely to humor his drunken self, so he examined Hajun’s expression, but there was not even a hint of awkwardness on his face.

Just then, Hajun picked up his glass. While Jinseo had been drinking boldly, Hajun himself had not been touching his drink much. Soon, he held out his glass in front of Jinseo.

“Shall we have a toast to commemorate living together?”

Hajun’s drink sloshed. It was as if he was firmly establishing that what he had said was not a lie. Jinseo dazedly lifted his half-empty glass. And he lightly tapped Hajun’s glass.

A clink—sound was heard, and Jinseo tilted the glass to his lips. Because he was so happy. Because it felt not like reality but a dream, his heart was beating non-stop. His pounding pulse kept touching his throat. So, unlike before, the alcohol got stuck in his throat.