Paper Friendship Chapter 20

“Hey, you know. That….”

I said this very quietly. Then Choi Juoon slightly frowned, saying, “Huh? What?” Because it was an embarrassing topic, my voice was still quiet, but I mumbled it louder than before.

“What do I do when I, like, hold arms with Joo Sunhye… when that happens?”

“What about it?”

“Just…. you know, when you both get embarrassed.”

“You idiot.”

Choi Juoon laughed shortly.

Is it funny? Even to me, I think it’s funny. I thought about stopping, but because I genuinely needed Choi Juoon’s help, I continued.

“Just when that happens…. how do you act naturally? Like, lowering your arm….”

I thought Choi Juoon would keep joking around, but the answer that came back was more serious than I thought.

“Then don’t hold arms. Say, ‘Let’s hold hands.’ Tell her that.”

“….”

I glared shortly at Choi Juoon, who was acting as if he had no interest with his gaze fixed on the TV. You bad bastard…. I listened to his worries with all my heart and soul…. but he’s making it obvious that he finds this boring.

“But there’s no way she doesn’t know that, right?”

Finally, Choi Juoon muttered sarcastically. I didn’t say anything and just sipped my alcohol.

Choi Juoon doesn’t like Joo Sunhye. No, he dislikes her. I had guessed it, but this time I knew for sure.

I don’t like Joo Sunhye talking badly about Choi Juoon, and I don’t like Choi Juoon talking badly about Joo Sunhye. I genuinely want to report this to a dating advice show. My best friend and my girlfriend, what should I do? … Something like this story….

Anyway, since I received this and that advice from Choi Juoon, I also wanted to show my appreciation in my own way.

“Should I give you a massage?”

“Where.”

“Your hands.”

Choi Juoon readily held out his right hand. I changed my posture to sit cross-legged and bowed my head to focus. Recalling the memories of Joo Sunhye doing it for me, I pressed here and there firmly. Then Choi Juoon said in a voice that sounded pleased.

“You’re good at it.”

“Joo Sunhye did this for me.”

Ah, I realized I’d slipped up as soon as I said it. Choi Juoon’s finger twitched slightly. Choi Juoon, perhaps feeling embarrassed himself, downed his drink.

“But I studied it by watching YouTube.”

I thought this was a pretty good recovery for my part. I kneaded his hand for a long while like that. I felt Choi Juoon’s gaze from above. And soon, he reached out his hand and tickled my hair.

Usually, there are many times he touches it like this, but today, it’s a bit…. greasy. Is it because I’m drinking that I feel this way? Or is it because Choi Juoon is drinking? My chain of thought stopped due to Choi Juoon’s words.

“Lee Juun, you’re only applying to universities in Seoul, right?”

“I… I was going to go according to my grades for now, but…. yeah, I’m going to apply to schools in Seoul.”

“You’ll get into a university in Seoul, right? Lee Juun. You must absolutely apply only to schools in Seoul.”

Yeah. I answered vaguely. Then Choi Juoon grabbed my hand tightly, telling me to answer properly. So I lifted my head, met Choi Juoon’s eyes, and nodded.

“….”

Even though the hand massage was over, Choi Juoon seemed to have something more to say. So, thinking I shouldn’t stop now, I asked for the hand I had been holding again. I focused on Choi Juoon’s hand once more and pressed firmly. Choi Juoon moved the hand that had been touching my hair, touched my ear, and muttered.

“I.”

“Yeah.”

“Dislike that you and Joo Sunhye are dating.”

“…Huh?”

I stopped the hand I was massaging.

Choi Juoon must have felt it, too. Is this, also, the same vibe as that flight attendant thing from earlier? The alarm is going off in my head. Beep, beep…. I opened my mouth, moving my hand very slowly again.

“…Why?”

“Because seeing you with Joo Sunhye looks better than being with me.”

Choi Juoon said it calmly. Unlike him, as soon as I heard those words, my body became numb. What does this… mean?

At that moment, Choi Juoon gripped my hand tightly, just like before. But if there was a difference, it was that—whether it was the temperature of Choi Juoon’s hand or the temperature of mine—the two hands we gripped together were incredibly hot.

“Let’s stop here for now.”

Choi Juoon said as he slowly stood up from his seat. Choi Juoon left, and I remained seated for a long time. Strangely, I couldn’t lift my head. My heart is thumping. My face contorted. I thought it was fortunate that my face was red because I drank alcohol today. That was because the heat from my hand was spreading throughout my whole body.

Hearing the sound of water in the master bedroom’s bathroom, I also stood up from my seat and muttered.

“What’s up with him?….”

Washing my face and wiping it with a towel, I realized it for sure. My head was genuinely heavy. I barely made it out of the bathroom and lay down on the sofa. As soon as my head hit it, it was hard to keep my eyes open. Footsteps approached from afar.

“Sleep in the bed.”

Choi Juoon said, shaking my shoulder weakly. I got up, barely keeping my eyes open, and followed him.

The place we arrived at was Choi Juoon’s room, and a small yellow stand lamp was turned on in the room. I threw my body onto the bed. And I said with my face buried in the pillow.

“Thaaank you….”

And Choi Juoon lay down next to me.

I was surprised, and my eyes widened a little. Choi Juoon lay down next to me. Choi Juoon pushed me, telling me to move to the side, as if it were nothing. I moved to the side in a daze. Of course, I thought Choi Juoon slept in the master bedroom’s bed.

The bed wasn’t on the small side, but it was slightly cramped for two people over 180cm tall to sleep in. I sat up, wondering if he meant for me to go back to the sofa. Then Choi Juoon told me to sleep and pushed me back down.

I was too tired to argue, so I just closed my eyes. I was soooo tired. Choi Juoon turned off all the remaining lights. Even the small amount of light disappeared. I barely moved my mouth.

“Thank you. Good niiight….”

“….”

There was no answer. Our skin was touching. But maybe because I was tired, I didn’t feel greatly uncomfortable or anything like that. Just as I was truly falling asleep, Choi Juoon muttered in a low voice.

“Let’s live together when we go to college.”

“Uh….”

“But if my girlfriend comes over, you have to go outside.”

“Uh….”

“I’ll give you motel money.”

“Uh….”

“It’s a promise.”

“Uh….”

Even after that, Choi Juoon kept saying something off and on. I was basically asleep. Did I answer? I could feel Choi Juoon touching my hand. I didn’t even have the strength to resist.

Then, Choi Juoon stroked my hair and said in a voice filled with laughter.

“You’re really cute.”

I.

At this time.

99.9 percent.

Confirmed.

This bastard, Choi Juoon, likes me.

Hey…. you like me, right.

You like Lee Juun!!!!!!!!

As I pretended to be a bit drunk, the suspect finally revealed his true colors. That’s right. The suspect had been waiting for me to get drunk. The statute of limitations hasn’t expired yet, though…. What a naive guy.

I wanted to arrest the criminal Choi Juoon right now, but I was so tired I really couldn’t move a single finger. I decided to think about all this tomorrow and talk about it then. Then the criminal laughed, and now he was touching my cheek, muttering something to himself.

Yeah, enjoy the present. Carpe… something or other…. It’s not that I don’t know it. With the ticklish feeling on my face as if a mosquito had bitten me as the last thing, I logged out of the world for a while.

∞ ∞ ∞

I could feel my eyes were swollen. Because there were blackout curtains in the criminal’s room, I didn’t even have a sense of what time it was. I barely raised my body and pulled back the curtain slightly.

“Ugh….”

Light poured in. The criminal wasn’t in the seat next to me. I reached out my hand to look for my phone nearby. But no matter how much I fumbled, I couldn’t find my phone. Only then did I begin to think about what time I had stopped using my phone yesterday.

Going out to the living room, I looked at the clock, and it was past 1:30 PM. The criminal was still not there. Looking at how quiet it was, it seemed like I was the only one in the house.

Looks like he ran away. But this house is the criminal’s house. The criminal will surely return.

My phone was on the dining table. I picked up my phone with a light heart. There was a huge pile of notifications while I was sleeping. Did something happen in the middle of the night? As I recognized my phone with Face ID, a preview of the messenger app popped up.