Black & Grey Vol. 3 Chapter 9 - Main Story End

When Jungeol teased him, Yoochan pouted and replied, “I wouldn’t mind if my name was on the back of Hyung’s head.”

“I bet you wouldn’t,” Jungeol responded coolly. “You won’t see the back of my head anyway.”

“Well, Hyung won’t see the back of my head either…” Yoochan trailed off, suddenly remembering Jungeol pinning him down the night before. He sheepishly rubbed his nose.

“…Oh, I guess Hyung sees it a lot.”

Yoochan blushed and laughed, patting the sofa cushion next to him. Jungeol pushed off from the wall and sat down beside him. Yoochan glanced at Jungeol’s curly hair and asked, “What tattoo do you have on your head?”

“A mandala.”

“I want to see it.”

Jungeol leaned down, and Yoochan eagerly looked through his soft hair to see the mandala tattoo.

“When did you get this?” Yoochan asked, curious.

“When I was in the US. It wasn’t from my mentor, and the others don’t know about it yet,” Jungeol replied, sitting up straight.

Yoochan nodded, then suddenly grinned and grabbed the hem of Jungeol’s t-shirt. “…I want to see your other tattoos too.”

Jungeol smiled and took off his shirt. Yoochan pressed his lips against Jungeol’s broad chest, tickling him with his tongue, but Jungeol grabbed his chin and pulled him into a kiss. Yoochan wrapped his arms around Jungeol’s muscular body, kissing him passionately before pulling away briefly.

“Don’t go anywhere,” Yoochan said, his voice emotional.

Jungeol looked at him sadly, then leaned in and whispered in his ear, “I won’t. I’ll stay right here.”

Yoochan closed his eyes, feeling Jungeol’s warm hand on his waist, unaware of the promise Jungeol was making.

* * *

Five days had passed since Yoochan enlisted. The weather had turned chilly, and the tattoo shop had switched from air conditioning to heating. The manager had even worn a fancy burberry coat and black shoes to work that morning.

Jungeol was at his station, revising a design due next week, while listening to the chatter of Jiwu’s friends who had come to visit the shop. He frowned, not quite satisfied with his work, and reached for his bag on the bed. Instead of cigarettes and a lighter, he pulled out a pack of green nicotine gum. Yoochan had made him start preparing to quit smoking before his enlistment, so Jungeol had cut down on cigarettes and replaced them with the gum. He popped a piece into his mouth, looking displeased.

He tried to focus on work, but the loud music played by Jaehyeok and the noise from Jiwu and his friends outside were distracting. Jungeol slightly opened the curtain and asked the manager to quiet them down. The manager nodded and walked over to the sofa, rolling up a tattoo magazine and smacking the sofa cushion loudly.

“Hey, hey, keep it down! If more than three of you show up, I’m kicking you out, got it!” the manager shouted.

“Yes, Noona,” Jiwu’s friends replied quietly, but soon started chattering again.

Jungeol shook his head and habitually reached for his phone next to his tablet, then frowned at his own action. Jaehyeok had commented that Jungeol seemed surprisingly calm for someone whose boyfriend had gone to the army, but in reality, Jungeol had been restless for the past five days. He kept checking his phone and then remembering that Yoochan was in the army.

He couldn’t focus on his backlog of work, feeling empty and unmotivated, probably due to nicotine withdrawal. He considered having a cigarette but then remembered Yoochan’s appearance just before enlistment. Yoochan had a buzz cut and wore a cap. He had said goodbye to his parents, joked with his judo club president, and chatted with his friends. Finally, he stood in front of the tattoo shop crew.

— Hyung, I’m really going now.

For the first time, Yoochan wavered in front of Jungeol. When Jungeol nodded, Yoochan desperately held back his tears, his lips quivering as he quickly turned his body and wiped away his tears.

Jungeol’s heart sank at the sight of Yoochan suddenly crying his eyes out, as if a faucet had been turned on. For the first time seeing this side of Yoochan, Jungeol forgot about Yoochan’s parents and reached out to Yoochan. However, just before Jungeol could grab Yoochan, someone called out to him loudly. At first, Yoochan looked confused, but then he recognized the face and pointed excitedly.

— Oh? You… what’s your name again? Mintae, right? Mintae, isn’t it? Wow, it’s been ages. About 5 years, right?

Despite crying like he had just experienced a tragedy, Yoochan hugged his middle school friend he met in front of the training camp and exclaimed with excitement. Then he turned around, his tear-stained red eyes showing and waved wildly at Jungeol.

— Jungeol Hyung! You have to write to me! I’ll be waiting for your letters!

In front of family, university friends, and the training camp instructor, Yoochan pointed directly at Jungeol and said he must send letters, then happily entered the training camp with his middle school friend.

And for six days until today, there had been no contact from him. Jungeol felt uneasy, hearing that calls were allowed on weekends. He thought he could hold off on smoking today, but it seemed impossible. Just as Jungeol gave up on quitting and took out a cigarette from deep in his bag, his phone rang loudly from the bed.

Relaxing his frozen expression at the unknown number, Jungeol answered the call.

“Hey, Yoochan.”

[Hyung! You’ve been waiting for my call, right? But we can only talk for 5 minutes each.]

Faced with the tight 5-minute time limit, Jungeol was momentarily taken aback but then responded calmly.

“How are you? Any discomfort?”

[I’m fine. Hyung. Don’t worry. Everyone here is nice and the atmosphere is good. Oh! I met two people I know here. One is my middle school friend, and the other is a friend of a university friend. Isn’t that amazing? They are both hilarious, so it’s really fun.]

Listening to Yoochan’s chatter, Jungeol finally felt at ease and laughed. It seemed that what he had been missing wasn’t nicotine. Without a chance to feel depressed, Yoochan’s cheerful voice made him miss Yoochan greatly.

[What did you do for the past 6 days, Hyung? Were you bored without me?]

“Yes, I was bored.”

[Me too. It’s boring without you, Hyung.]

“But you said you had fun meeting your friends earlier.”

Jungeol teased, and Yoochan responded with a playful exasperation.

[I want to tell you all the fun things over the phone, but it’s sad that I can’t. When the lights go out, I miss you, and it’s a bit lonely being apart.]

“Really?”

[I’m serious. A few days ago, Mintae told a really funny story. I wanted to tell you as soon as I heard it, but I’ve forgotten it all now.]

Jungeol smiled quietly at Yoochan’s whining. Then Yoochan’s voice came through with a touch of regret.

[Ah, I think I have to hang up now. I’ll go back in, Hyung.]

“Yes.”

As Jungeol reluctantly said yes, the call seemed to end, leaving silence between them. Jungeol felt the heaviness return to his heart. He seemed to have something he wanted to say to Yoochan, but the urgency of Yoochan’s voice made him forget it all.

Just as Jungeol was about to remove the phone from his ear in disappointment, he faintly heard Yoochan’s voice.

[Did you hang up? Did you hang up?]

Quickly pulling his thumb away from the end call button, Jungeol put the phone back to his ear.

“No, I haven’t hung up.”

[Oh, thank goodness. Hyung, there’s something I forgot to tell you.]

“Yes, what is it?”

In response to Yoochan’s urgent voice, Jungeol also answered urgently. Yoochan seemed to check his surroundings and then whispered softly.

[I love you….]

“What?”

[I mean, I love… I LOVE YOU!]

“…….”

[I really love you….]

In a voice that seemed to be conscious of those around him, Jungeol was momentarily taken aback by the halting words but then understood and chuckled. Yoochan then asked, “Hyung, don’t you have anything you want to say?” Jungeol thought it was fortunate to be able to say what he couldn’t earlier and smiled as he answered.

[…Huh? Hyung, what did you just say….]

Click.

As if he never imagined he would hear the same words he said from Jungeol himself, Yoochan was so flustered that the call ended with him in a daze.

Though he couldn’t see the reaction directly, Jungeol felt much more at ease after the call. Feeling embarrassed by the direct expression of affection he hadn’t used in a long time, Jungeol rubbed his lips with the back of his hand and took a deep breath as he turned on his tablet screen.

Although he saw the design page he had been drawing until just before, Jungeol suddenly felt like drawing something else. He took a photo of his right wrist with his phone, sent it to his tablet, and displayed it on the screen. Holding a pen, Jungeol thought of Yoochan and began to add something over the letter “U.”

There was no sense of obligation to wait.

The only thing he desperately wanted was to meet Yoochan even a little more.

Jungeol moved his hand, recalling Yoochan’s glances, expressions, and unique way of speaking. Unlike the other designs that had been blocked for days, this time his hand moved freely. The drawing quickly took the rough shape of a Hyungtae. Jungeol wore a comfortable smile at the thought of the black and gray tattoo the two of them would someday get in the same place in the same pattern.