Chapter 51

“What?”

“You’re saying you don’t know what happened between us, we don’t know anything about each other, and this is your first time with a man, so it’d be too awkward to date me.”

“.......”

“I can teach you what happened. If there’s anything we don’t know, we can tell each other. And as for it being your first time with a man... you can get used to it. It’s both our first time.”

He reached that conclusion as if it were simple.

“...No, I’m saying I was spouting bullshit, so ignore it?”

“Bullshit? Wow, I like that even more.”

Kwon Mieon smiled brightly.

“I like dogs.”

...This was driving him insane!

“I’m g-going.”

This was all because Kwon Mieon had pointlessly babbled about responsibility and whatever else... and because he had worded something in a way that made Mo Yeonhoo misunderstand something he did not even need to misunderstand!

He felt heat rising in him for no reason. Mo Yeonhoo shot up from his seat and got ready to leave. If he stayed here any longer, he would only ramble on with even more nonsense, not stop.

Thud!

Of course, his escape attempt was easily suppressed by Kwon Mieon. Kwon Mieon lightly caught the wrist of Mo Yeonhoo, who was trying to leave, and pulled him toward himself.

“Yeonhoo.”

Then he made a wronged face, and Mo Yeonhoo flinched.

“I was joking. You’re leaving?”

Still holding his wrist, Kwon Mieon looked up at Mo Yeonhoo with a mild, pitiful expression. With his bangs swept away, his clearly revealed features looked mournful.

Kwon Mieon blinked slowly and tightened his grip on Mo Yeonhoo’s wrist.

“You’re really leaving?”

Unlike that pitiful face, the strength pressing around his wrist was not gentle at all. Even so, Mo Yeonhoo could not easily shake him off. Of course, there was a reason for that.

“I don’t have any friends....”

Look at that expression.

“I really want to get close to you, Yeonhoo, and I have so much to talk about.... I still haven’t even told you what happened that day....”

The other person was a junkie. People who used drugs were only harmful to keep around. That kind of junkie was clinging to him in a creepy way, so he had to push him away.

Is he going to cry?

Why did his eyes look so watery? Looking at him, Mo Yeonhoo remembered the dog emoticon Kwon Mieon had sent while they were exchanging DMs on StarGram. Three little black beans that had looked especially moist....

“......You really don’t have friends?”

“No.”

Kwon Mieon nodded as if he had been waiting for the question.

“That’s why I was so glad when I saw you. We had so much fun talking back then, and then I met you again here....”

“.......”

“Of course, I’m hurt that you forgot you said you’d take responsibility for me and hit on me too.......”

That probably was not something I said in that meaning....

“But from your StarGram, you seemed to have a lot of friends....”

When Mo Yeonhoo said that, remembering the countless followers on Kwon Mieon’s account, Kwon Mieon froze for a moment. Then he made an even sadder face.

“They’re all people I don’t know. Look at my account. I’m telling you, the only things I follow are my company and you.”

Looking at the phone Kwon Mieon held out, it was true. On his following list, there was no one but one agency and Mo Yeonhoo’s private account.

Is he serious?

Mo Yeonhoo was still suspicious, but the more he listened, the more Kwon Mieon’s words seemed to have a point.

On StarGram, he really did only follow two accounts. And after exchanging contact info, he had messaged Mo Yeonhoo all day too....

“Yeonhoo.......”

Mo Yeonhoo was still suspicious that Kwon Mieon might be a junkie, but he could not simply push him away. Even if he decided he was uncomfortable and should keep his distance, when he saw that face....

“Yeonhoo?”

He started wondering if Kwon Mieon had gotten into drugs because he was lonely, because he wanted to fit in with Seunghwan Lee’s crowd.

He doesn’t seem like a bad kid.

Mo Yeonhoo fell into thought for a moment. When Kwon Mieon was pleading this much, a cold refusal did not come easily, and more than anything, those eyes were so shiny they kept bothering him.

“You... roll up your sleeves. Let me see your forearms.”

“What?”

“Hurry.”

At Mo Yeonhoo’s urging, Kwon Mieon tilted his head, then rolled up his left sleeve and held out his arm. Mo Yeonhoo was briefly startled by how especially large and thick his hand was, but soon, like a doctor, he took Kwon Mieon’s wrist seriously and examined it closely.

“The other side too.”

Kwon Mieon looked bewildered, but he obediently held out his arm. Only after confirming that both arms were clean did Mo Yeonhoo’s brows ease a little.

They’re really clean. Did he quit?

Then was that why he kept opening every car door? Because of withdrawal side effects...?

“Yeonhoo?”

As Mo Yeonhoo only stood there with a strange face, Kwon Mieon called him again. Mo Yeonhoo, who had been standing there holding both of the other man’s arms, saw that innocent, guileless face staring at him and finally cleared his throat.

He did not look like he was on drugs, and right now, it seemed like he was doing this because he was lonely.

“......Then let’s be acquaintances.”

Thinking of it as saving one person who had gotten so lonely he had even broken the law did not feel so bad.

“Acquaintances?”

At the first positive answer he had received, Kwon Mieon’s eyes sparkled as he asked back.

“Friends?”

“Yeah, friends.”

“So we’re starting as friends?”

“Starting”? The nuance was strange.

“...I guess?”

When Mo Yeonhoo nodded in confusion, Kwon Mieon smiled.

The moment his lips rose and his eyes curved, Mo Yeonhoo once again could not take his eyes off that face.

“This is my first time making a friend, Yeonhoo.”

He was pretty. The two beauty marks drawing closer around his smiling eyes, and that face blooming even more brilliantly when he smiled.

He was pretty even at a glance, so Mo Yeonhoo stared blankly at that face again before flinching and pulling back.

For an instant, Kwon Mieon’s body tensed slightly, as if he would rise from his seat at any moment.

Thump.... But when Mo Yeonhoo sat down, Kwon Mieon relaxed as if that had never happened.

“Let’s eat now. This too, and this....”

Then he abruptly picked up food with the tongs and placed it on Mo Yeonhoo’s plate. Unlike Mo Yeonhoo’s side plate, which quickly piled high, Kwon Mieon’s own plate was empty.

“You eat too.”

When Mo Yeonhoo jerked his chin at it, Kwon Mieon paused for a moment.

“Did you just take care of me, Yeonhoo?”

He smiled so happily. His bright face, as if he truly liked this moment, made Mo Yeonhoo feel awkward for no reason, and he lowered his head.

“Should we go to a café after we finish eating? I found a place.”

“I’m going home.......”

“I’ve never gone to a café with a friend before.”

“...Really?”

“And this is my first time eating with someone like this too.”

“......Oh, I see.”

“Yeonhoo? So we’re going to a café?”

“No, I’m just going ho—”

“...Of course. I suppose going to a café with a friend is too much for someone like me.”

“.......”

“I understand. Yeonhoo.......”

“............Where is it?”

“Yeonhoo!”

*****

By the time he came out after showering, it was already dark outside.

I didn’t mean to hang out this late.

Originally, he had planned to keep him company briefly and then part ways.

“Yeonhoo... you’re leaving?”

But whenever Mo Yeonhoo showed even the slightest sign of getting up from his seat, Kwon Mieon’s expression turned gloomy. In his own way, he seemed to be trying not to show it by lowering his head slightly, but that only made Mo Yeonhoo feel more uncomfortable.

And honestly....

How friendless does someone have to be to act like that?

By the end, Mo Yeonhoo had felt a little sorry for Kwon Mieon.

Kwon Mieon had tried to pay for the meal and even the coffee, so when Mo Yeonhoo somehow managed to pay instead, he said it was his first time a friend had bought him something.

Judging by the way he had attentively taken care of Mo Yeonhoo the whole time they ate dessert, he did not seem like that bad a kid.

My impression of him really changed a lot.

His first impression had been junkie, and his second impression had also been junkie, so he had been uncomfortable and disliked him. But now....

K >. .

rnjsaldjs47

XX/XX 9:12 PM

Yeonhoo, I had so much fun today.

This is my first time hanging out with a friend like this.

When are we meeting next?

If this was not a dog, what was it?

Mo Yeonhoo stared blankly at the DM from Kwon Mieon. Honestly, they had not talked all that much at the café either.

They had just sat there blankly, both of them, and every so often... exchanged conversations that were truly nothing special.

What did we talk about?

Nothing in particular remained in his memory. They had talked about that much useless nonsense, and yet Kwon Mieon had reacted with focus, as if he did not want to miss a single word Mo Yeonhoo said.

Kwon Mieon was strange. Sometimes he smiled wide like a dog, but at other times only the edge of his mouth curved in a faint smile, and that suited him better.

“Yeonhoo. So what happened after that? Yeonhoo?”

When he clung to him with that face, calling “Yeonhoo,” “Yeonhoo,” it subtly got on Mo Yeonhoo’s nerves.

Ah, this feels weird.

It felt even stranger because he had never hung out with other guys in such a ticklish way before. Since he had many friends who loved drinking, bars were more familiar to him, and even when they met at cafés, they usually left quickly.

But with Kwon Mieon, as if they were on a date, he had stayed in the café drinking coffee the whole time, having trivial conversations he could barely remember now.

Of course, he dodged whenever I tried to ask what happened that day.

What bothered him was the fact that whenever Mo Yeonhoo tried to bring up the situation from back then, Kwon Mieon would gently steer the topic elsewhere. For someone who had actively said he would teach him what happened that day, Kwon Mieon had gradually zipped his mouth shut, so Mo Yeonhoo was curious.

“I think I could do it with you.”

But something else was bothering him more, so he had not been able to ask further. Mo Yeonhoo needlessly rubbed hard at the back of his hair, which was still not fully dry, and replied.

Yeah, let’s meet again sometime!!

But almost as soon as he sent the reply, it changed to read, and DMs came pouring in.

It’s you lol

Did you get home safely??

Then more messages followed, leaving him no time to reply.

If you’re saying we should meet again, that means you’ll meet me again, right?

When?

After thinking it over, Mo Yeonhoo tried to refuse indirectly.

I’d like meeting you again!!

But I’m busy these days haha T_T

Ah..

I see...

Then I’ll have to eat alone again..

Why alone???

Because I don’t have anyone to eat with...

That’s why today was so fun

No, seriously... why did this kid have no friends like this....

(emoticon)

When Mo Yeonhoo saw the gloomy-looking dog flop down and wag its tail furiously while the word “Lonely” appeared above it with a dramatic thud, he smiled slightly.

What is this..., he really uses ones that look like him.

Before, he had thought the dog emoticon Kwon Mieon used did not suit him, but now he thought he had done a great job finding something that looked like himself.

Let’s meet soon haha

Really?

(emoticon)

lololol good

What do you want to eat this time?

Should we go to another area?

I’ll bring my car

When the softened Mo Yeonhoo eventually sent a favorable reply, messages came flying in again as if Kwon Mieon had gotten excited.

Mo Yeonhoo watched them and smiled, then froze. His reflection was visible on the computer monitor, which he had not yet [N O V E L I G H T] turned on.

“......I must be insane.”

Why the hell was he smiling at Kwon Mieon’s messages?

Mo Yeonhoo straightened his face for no reason.