A Scorching Day Chapter 13

A few facts Ki Joon learned while trailing after Yoon Gawon.

First, Yoon Gawon has a small appetite.

Whether it was eating a snack in the morning, eating the school lunch at midday, or when he’d pestered him after school and dragged him to the snack bar for tteokbokki—Gawon ate only a very small amount.

When asked why he ate so little, he’d answer, “I’m full.” And then he’d turn the question back on Ki Joon: “How can you eat so much?” Staring at him with genuinely curious eyes.

Ki Joon liked Gawon’s face as he stared at him with wonder. Just looking at it made a laugh burst out of him, enough to make him smile foolishly without realizing it.

“What’s your favorite food?”

“Hmm…”

If someone asked Ki Joon that, he could rattle off a hundred things without hesitation. But Gawon agonized over that simple question for quite a while.

“…I’m not really sure. I just… I just eat whatever.”

The answer that came back was barely that. Ki Joon was stumped. That won’t do. If he knew what he liked, he’d planned to use that as a way to invite him out to eat it. After a moment’s thought, Ki Joon, undeterred, beamed and asked back.

“Then let’s narrow it down? Korean food, Western food.”

“…Uh…. …Wes…tern?”

His tone of reply somehow sounded utterly unsure. But that alone made Ki Joon’s eyes light up.

“Pasta? Pizza?”

“…I like both.”

“Okay. Then Japanese food, Western food?”

“I… don’t really know.”

Every time a question was thrown at him, Gawon seemed to grow more flustered. The sharp, haughty tone Ki Joon had once thought he had was gradually losing its edge.

He didn’t know why asking about such a simple thing as food preferences would make him so deflated, but not wanting to make him uncomfortable, Ki Joon decided to stop at a reasonable point. He could just feed him various things from now on and learn gradually. Thinking that made Ki Joon even happier.

Second.

Yoon Gawon is nothing like other boys.

Every guy Ki Joon knew was sweaty, thick and solid-bodied, and rough in speech. But Yoon Gawon didn’t fit any of those three categories.

He didn’t smell of sweat; rather, he smelled of soft laundry detergent, and his body was as soft and delicate as a girl’s. Once, when Ki Joon happened to grab his forearm, he was so startled he let go immediately. It was so thin and so… squishy.

He was like a sweet-smelling soap doll. One that looked like it would crumble if squeezed even a little bit. As a result, Ki Joon naturally found himself being careful around Gawon. For instance, he stopped doing the rough shoulder grabs or headlocks he habitually did with other guys.

His voice was also gentle and soft. His way of speaking… sometimes it seemed like he was deliberately trying to sound sharp, but to Ki Joon, it still never felt sincere.

Third.

Yoon Gawon smiles more than you’d think.

Usually, that kid walked around with a fierce look in his eyes. At first glance, his expressionless face seemed cold and distant.

That wasn’t the fake bravado like other guys putting up a front. It looked more like defense. Sunny, the kitten who’d been abandoned by its mother and wandered the streets alone, had exactly that look in its eyes.

But if you stuck by his side and pestered him persistently, there were moments—even Ki Joon couldn’t predict them—when the strength in Gawon’s triangular eyes would suddenly melt away. And then he’d wear the faintest of smiles. Like a small rainbow secretly cast over a pond.

Ki Joon loved those moments of discovering that small, colorful spectrum. So he’d pull out all sorts of topics and amusingly tell him things that might make him laugh. The night before, he’d even found himself thinking about what story he could tell him tomorrow.

To think he’d agonize over funny things to say just to see another guy’s smiling face—this was something he’d never done once in his entire life.

Lastly, Yoon Gawon is…

…pretty.

Even he thought he must be crazy. Calling a guy pretty. Thanks to Yoon Gawon, Ki Joon had fallen into deep contemplation for the first time in his life. The sexual identity he’d never once questioned in his eighteen years of life was about to be shaken to its roots.

But anyone who saw Yoon Gawon would have no choice. Yoon Gawon was, truly, pretty in a way that didn’t resemble a man at all. No, he was even prettier than the girls who had confessed to Ki Joon. And those girls had all been rumored to be the prettiest in school, or in the area.

Long, almond-shaped, slightly aloof eyes. Eyelids that looked endlessly thin and fragile, and lashes that curved beautifully like a crescent moon, long like a child’s. A nose that was slightly rounded at the tip yet had a distinct bridge. Lips that were a little thin, moist as if steeped in deep red color.

His skin looked as soft and white as fluffy cotton. His hair was black, as if he’d never dyed it once. The neatly cut, unadorned hair was plain, yet it gave him an even more alluring impression.

And, the nape of his neck. The white, slender curve rising above his school uniform collar…

The line from behind his ear down to his neck was so pale it looked almost sickly white. Sliding your gaze just a little from his beautifully shaped earlobe, the neckline that looked as fragile as a young animal suddenly stole your attention.

It was dizzyingly precarious, and thus even more bewitching. Every time he saw the subtle sensuality in the movement of his neck, like a dancer’s, Ki Joon felt a burning thirst for no reason. His own thick Adam’s apple, already mature like a young man’s, would waver helplessly whenever he stood before Gawon, swallowing dryly.

Thrown bare before such unfamiliar sensations, Ki Joon chose not to panic but to explore. He wanted to understand the reason for his own confusion. He wanted to know the name of the gentle, wave-like emotion slowly washing over him. And he wanted to know more about Yoon Gawon.

But that kid wasn’t easily giving him access to his side.

“No.”

When Ki Joon offered to walk him home, Yoon Gawon shook his head without hesitation. When asked why not, the only reply was the cold answer, “I never bring anyone home.”

“Who said anything about you cooking me ramen? I just said I’d walk you to your front door.”

“I said no.”

Ki Joon tried to wheedle and grin, but on this point, nothing worked. He secretly stuck out his lip, but only to himself.

Just when things seemed to be going smoothly, Gawon would be a step away again. When Ki Joon coaxed him gently and took two steps closer, Gawon would shove him square in the chest with his palm. Yoon Gawon was not that easy.

Compared to the beginning, when he bristled like a hedgehog, they’d made great strides—now they ate together and went to the snack bar—but Ki Joon had no intention of being satisfied with that. He only wanted to approach slowly, so that he wouldn’t feel burdened.

Because Yoon Gawon clearly didn’t dislike him. Though his mouth said no, his eyes gave a different answer. And even after pushing him away, he’d look at his own hands with a dazed expression….

When he’d rescued Sunny, the kitten had torn Ki Joon’s outstretched forearm to shreds. Even after being fed and sleeping warmly in a safe place, the small cat kept its claws out for a while. Until it fully recognized that it was in a trustworthy and safe place.

Of course, Yoon Gawon wasn’t Sunny. But Ki Joon could vaguely sense that the two soft creatures were essentially alike. Just as Sunny had endured all sorts of hardships on the street, wounds could be read in Yoon Gawon’s eyes and actions. He could see a darkness whose depths he himself couldn’t fathom.

This wasn’t a hasty conclusion drawn from a few clues. It was closer to instinctive perception than judgment. He couldn’t clearly explain the reason himself, but he kept seeing parallels between that kid and himself.

Gawon and he were clearly the same. In something people often call texture or color. Just as he’d sensed Sunny, trembling alone and defenseless in pitch-black darkness, was similar to him, Ki Joon was certain that Yoon Gawon was a person like him.

There was no precise basis. It was just that his instinct was telling him so. Ki Joon, accustomed to judging others by intuition, trusted his instinct.

And the correctness of Ki Joon’s guess was soon proven.

On the day Manager Hwang, his father’s closest aide who had looked after him since childhood, visited the main house for the first time in a while. He treated Ki Joon familiarly, as always, and suggested they have breakfast together.

Manager Hwang would report back to his father that he was doing well without any trouble. Though it was called protection, his visits were actually closer to surveillance. Nevertheless, Ki Joon greeted him with a genial smile. Manager Hwang was more of a father figure to Ki Joon than his own father.

After having breakfast together at a nearby soup restaurant, it was a little past eight. When Manager Hwang offered to drive him to school, Ki Joon hesitated slightly. He often waited for Yoon Gawon on the way to school and walked to the classroom together.

He quickly sent Gawon a text and got a reply: [On my way to school.]. Ki Joon looked at Manager Hwang’s face again. After taking in the large scar on his face, and the tattoos covering his neck and hands, he quietly typed out a message: [I’ll wait for you in the classroom.]. He didn’t want to startle Gawon.

“Joon. Do your best at school. Don’t make the boss worry, got it?”

Manager Hwang said, clicking the turn signal as he gripped the steering wheel. Ki Joon smiled wryly.

“He worries about me? I didn’t know that.”

“Hey, hey. Don’t say that.”

Their deep, low voices exchanged in the car.

“I know you’ll handle yourself well, but… just in case. Don’t go getting into fistfights or anything.”

“…”

“The boss has his eye on you. He’s even asking me to find out how you’ve been lately, how much you’re training, and even if you’re entering any competitions.”

“Why go that far? Doesn’t that busy man have anything better to do?”

“Hey. Watch your mouth. Oh, and keep what I said a secret from the boss.”

Manager Hwang looked at Ki Joon affectionately and parked in front of the school. Ki Joon flashed him a grin, gave a small bow, and got out of the car.

At the convenience store next to the school, he bought three chocolate milks and three breads. Two for himself, and one he planned to give to Gawon. Since Yoon Gawon liked the big milk bread with strawberry cream the most… if he had his way, he’d buy the whole display, but that kid said he was full after just one.

With a cheerful face, Ki Joon bought the snacks and left, then ambled through the school gate. A few students who had already arrived filled the classroom.

Yoon Gawon wasn’t there yet. Ki Joon greeted the guys who acknowledged him and hurried to the lockers. He could have put it on his desk, but today he wanted to leave it here. Like a surprise.

The moment he cheerfully opened Gawon’s locker, Ki Joon drew in a sharp breath.

“…Uh….”