“My son, you can sleep more now.”
Words must have spread that you teach so well that he offered so much money. Patting his bum, Heewoon glanced at his delighted mom and said in a low voice.
“…It’s really nice.”
It didn’t make sense that a university student, even if he was from a prestigious university, would be offered so much money for just tutoring, or that a wealthy student would join a group tutoring. But his mom didn’t know that. At times like this, it was really fortunate that she was ignorant about this stuff.
“How much did they give you?”
When his mom asked, Heewoon hesitated for a moment before answering.
“…350,000 won.”
Watching his mom utter words of how fortunate this was, Heewoon’s throat tightened. He felt guilty about hiding the actual amount of money from his mom. But in many ways, it was much better this way.
If his hatred for his mom surfaced once again, he wasn’t sure he could bear it this time.
“Don’t look for more tutoring jobs, Heewoon. Just stick to this one, okay?”
His mom’s eyes were a bit teary as she said it with a smiling face.
“Yeah.”
Heewoon really, didn’t want to hate his mom.
***
“Hyukjin Sunbae took a semester leave.”
Heewoon’s hand paused as he was taking out a book from his locker.
“Really? Was he injured that badly?”
“Seems like it. I take the same accounting lecture with that Sunbae. I used to want to hit him whenever he borrowed my assignments, but now I feel a bit sorry for him.”
“Is this his last semester? But…”
The voices grew fainter. Heewoon’s hand resumed pulling out the book from his locker. The snacks he piled up in front of the books in the back made a rustling sound. Heewoon closed the locker door and held the book tightly against his chest.
He walked straight to the classroom. As he entered through the back door, he stood there and stared at the back of Kangwoo’s head. Kangwoo was sitting with his book on the seat next to him.
“Excuse me, I’m passing by.”
“…Ah, sorry.”
Heewoon bowed slightly and walked forward to avoid the people. Soon, he was right next to Kangwoo’s seat.
“Sunbae, you came.”
Kangwoo greeted gently, putting away his book.
“Hi.”
Heewoon greeted softly and pretended to start reading his book. It was a relief that soon enough the professor entered the classroom.
“I’ll call attendance. Well, Kim Yewon-.”
“Yes-.”
Heewoon tore his gaze away from the book and stared at the professor. He gently touched his throat, worrying that his voice might not come out. Since the attendance call started from the seniors, his turn came quickly.
“Woo Heewoon-.”
“Yes!”
Heewoon responded cheerfully. He met the professor’s eyes and then straightened his back confidently.
“Ah.”
However, he heard laughter from beside him. He turned to look, and Seo Kangwoo was resting his chin on his arm, laughing. Heewoon looked at him questioningly, and Kangwoo shook his head.
“Lee Hyukjin-.”
“Professor, Hyukjin Sunbae took a semester leave.”
“Ah… Alright.”
The professor marked something on the attendance sheet. Heewoon lowered his head and fixed his gaze back on the book. When Kangwoo raised his hand to confirm his attendance, Heewoon flinched for a moment but didn’t lift his head.
“Today, Group 9 will be presenting, right? Come up and start.”
The presenter went to the front, and the screen displayed a PowerPoint slide. Soon, the lights went off. Heewoon was absentmindedly looking at the tense presenter on the stage when Seo Kangwoo wrote something on the corner of his book.
After he finished writing, his elegant hand moved slightly.
‘I don’t like playing hard to get.’
It was written neatly.
“…?”
Heewoon looked at Kangwoo’s face and pursed his lips, not knowing what to say. He simply nodded his head.
Kangwoo reached his hand out again and wrote something with his pen.
‘Did you sleep well?’
Heewoon was about to nod his head, but then he thought Seo Kangwoo might continue being like this, so he jotted down a small answer right under it.
‘Yeah.’
Kangwoo smiled a little and lowered his pen down. Judging by the fact that he was looking ahead, it seemed he wouldn’t doodle anymore.
Heewoon stared at the three sentences written in the corner.
‘I don’t like playing hard to get.’
‘Did you sleep well?’
‘Yeah.’
It was fortunate that the book was already filled with messy notes, so he couldn’t resell it anyway.
***
Walking side by side with Seo Kangwoo in the corridor, Heewoon felt occasional glances on them. So, he walked a bit faster than Kangwoo.
“You used to follow me around and gaze at me.”
Kangwoo easily caught up with Heewoon and said that.
“Huh?”
“I’ve been thinking about this, but it seems like you’re playing hard to get with me lately, Sunbae.”
“…”
‘Playing hard to get’ wasn’t the kind of phrase applicable in this situation. Seo Kangwoo, seemingly unbothered by Heewoon’s possibly weird expression, looked down at his own face and casually asked.
“Are you getting bored with me since we already hooked up?”
Heewoon was startled and looked around nervously. Fortunately, they were far from the lecture rooms, and the corridor had only a few people. Ignoring his surroundings completely, Kangwoo’s gaze was fixed solely on Heewoon’s face.
“No, it’s not…”
While observing Heewoon’s obvious flustered expression, Kangwoo quietly added.
“Lately, when I see you looking elsewhere and act nervous, I think of this.”
Heewoon glanced at the lockers at the end of the corridor. Kangwoo’s words were soft and slow.
“Maybe I should grab him by the hair and hit him a few times. Then he’ll start sobbing and begging me not to hit him. Maybe I’ll take him to the bathroom and make him dick my cock. The look on his face as he sucks my dick hard asking not to get hit would be a real turn-on.”
“…”
Well, these kinds of thoughts.
With a stiff expression, Heewoon looked up at Kangwoo. Their eyes met, and he smirked. He let out a ragged breath before speaking.
“…I won’t play hard to get.”
“I don’t even know how that term came about.”
Kangwoo nodded as if seeking agreement.
“Yeah.”
Heewoon weakly agreed.
Without realizing it, they had reached Heewoon’s locker. Heewoon opened it while keeping a watchful eye on Seo Kangwoo, fearing he might actually do what he just said. He put his books inside. Due to the snacks he had piled up, there was another rustling sound.
“What’s that?”
“Huh?”
Nervous, Heewoon was startled and asked back.
Kangwoo slightly tilted his head and peered into Heewoon’s locker. Inside the small locker, there were books standing, and in front of them, there were several bottles of drinks with lids, along with some snacks and chocolates.
Kangwoo’s gaze reached Heewoon, who was tidying up the snacks. At that moment, a large veiny hand appeared next to his pale hand.
Rustle. Kangwoo picked up a small piece of chocolate in his hand. Heewoon watched his hand through the corner of his eye. Tearing off the wrapper, Kangwoo made a small sound.
“Ah.”
He fed the chocolate into Heewoon’s mouth. Startled, Heewoon looked up at Kangwoo, but his gaze was intense and persistent, so Heewoon ended up accepting the chocolate. He closed his mouth and chewed, and while watching Heewoon, Kangwoo murmured softly.
“You’re not even a squirrel.”
“…”
“Are you storing up before winter?”
There was a faint trace of laughter in Kangwoo’s seemingly indifferent voice. The sweet, bittersweet taste of chocolate lingered in his mouth. After swallowing the chocolate, Heewoon hesitated before replying.
“I thought you might find it annoying if you get too many notifications…”
Saying that, he closed his locker and averted his gaze, as if his courage had suddenly faltered. Then, as if realizing something, he looked up at Kangwoo again. Kangwoo grinned and lightly poked Heewoon’s cheek.
“It’s not annoying at all.”
“…”
“It’s so fun to think about you buying and eating stuff like this.”
Kangwoo toyed with the chocolate wrapper in his hand. While looking at the wrapper, his eyes downcast, Kangwoo chuckled softly. Heewoon gazed at Kangwoo’s face, just above his cheekbone.
“So use the card often, a lot.”
“…”
Seo Kangwoo’s words were perplexing. Heewoon couldn’t quite figure out which parts were sincere. He didn’t even understand what was fun about him buying and eating chocolates.
“You look stupid now.”
Kangwoo chuckled slightly and took a step ahead. Heewoon followed, and Kangwoo muttered as if to himself.
“Sunbae doesn’t even send me any text. At least, notifications like that make me think of Sunbae.”
“…”
Seeing Heewoon’s lips pursing, Kangwoo commented.
“Just answer ‘yeah’.”
“Yeah.”
Kangwoo smirked as Heewoon nodded and answered.
“Are you going straight home after class?”
As they walked outside the building and headed towards the parking lot, Kangwoo asked. It seemed he wouldn’t call Heewoon over for dinner tonight.
“No, I’m planning to go to the library.”
Heewoon had told his mom he had tutoring on Mondays and Wednesdays. So, he would need to stay outside until around 10 pm, and he thought he could study in the school library for a while before going home.
However, Kangwoo suddenly looked directly at him and reached out his hand. Startled because of the earlier conversation, Heewoon flinched and moved his neck back.
“But it’s not the exam period now.”
The hand that Heewoon thought might slap his cheek gently brushed his head instead.
The sky above Seo Kangwoo’s head was an unusually vivid shade of blue. The slightly smiling face, so reminiscent of those days when he had liked Kangwoo, was quite vexing.
“You can go out and play from time to time.”
“Yeah.”
“Where would you like to go?”
“Huh?”
Heewoon, who was used to answering Kangwoo’s questions unconditionally, asked back. He blinked a few times before speaking dazedly.
“Where should we go?”
Kangwoo burst into laughter. After tousling his hair, he put some thoughts and spoke in a throaty sound.
“Watching a movie would be nice, or reading a book in a cafe wouldn’t be bad either… We should do something Sunbae likes.”
“Yeah.”
The hand above his head lightly ruffled his hair and pulled away.
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