Side Story 3: Daily Life
Every morning, Heewoon spent quite a long time in the dressing room. In the past, when his clothing options were limited, he could just wear whatever was there. But now, from T-shirts, trousers, jackets, shoes, to bags, there were too many options.
“Hmm, I’ll just go with this.”
In reality, even with many choices, his hands almost always chose the same outfit. Heewoon took out a beige jacket he had set aside and the most comfortable jeans and T-shirt. It was when he was pulling down the pants.
Kangwoo, who had opened the dressing room door and walked in, found Heewoon facing him as he stepped back while taking off his pants. Without hesitation, Kangwoo walked over and put his hand on Heewoon’s hip.
“Ah! You scared me.”
Kangwoo removed the startled Heewoon’s pajama top. Heewoon tried to quickly pick up the T-shirt he had laid on the floor, but Kangwoo was faster. He enveloped Heewoon and enjoyed the bare skin under his palm. After stroking the red marks created on Heewoon’s sides the previous night, he whispered.
“Have a good day at university.”
“Yeah. You too, have a good day at work.”
“Yes.”
Kangwoo smiled in response and let go of Heewoon. He left the dressing room, and Heewoon put on his clothes.
While putting on the jacket, he yawned. He felt tired. Perhaps because he went to bed late last night. They had gone to bed late together, but Kangwoo looked perfectly fine, it made Heewoon feel unfair.
Occasionally pressing his temples, Heewoon left the house. Checking if nothing was left in his bag, he noticed a sleek black car. The back window slid down smoothly.
“You haven’t left yet?”
“I wanted to give you a ride.”
Get in. Kangwoo said. Heewoon, getting into the car, immediately took out his printouts. He had planned to study on his way there, this worked out well.
“Are you having a quiz today?”
“Yeah.”
Heewoon replied, not taking his eyes off the printout. Although there was a momentary hint of disapproval in Kangwoo’s eyes, he didn’t disturb Heewoon and looked out the window.
“Oh, right, Kangwoo. I have a group project meeting in the evening.”
Suddenly reminded of it, Heewoon raised his head to look at Kangwoo. Kangwoo, who had been looking out the window, turned his gaze to Heewoon.
“Aren’t your classes supposed to end at 3 pm today?”
“Yeah. I plan to go after spending some time at the library.”
“What about dinner, then?”
“I’ll eat at the cafeteria.”
Kangwoo didn’t say much after that. That meant he gave his permission.
It had been a month since Heewoon returned to school. At first, it was a bit challenging, possibly because he had taken a semester off. He was even surprised to find it difficult himself.
Now he had adapted to the routine. After finishing the midterm exams, he thought about joining a job seeking study group. Although he hesitated to ask Kangwoo about it, considering his past experience with TOEIC study, Kangwoo would probably still let him join.
Ever since the incident before the trip to Hawaii, Kangwoo had never gotten angry. He hadn’t even sent cold glares or shown irritation.
Instead, sometimes, even when Heewoon unconsciously expressed his annoyance, Kangwoo just laughed it off, muttering, ‘Are you throwing a tantrum now?’
“All right, everyone, close your books.”
At the professor’s words, Heewoon put the printouts he had placed on the desk into his bag. He continued to mumble to himself in the shape of his lips, trying not to forget the content, as he received the exam paper.
***
The exam went quite well. It was a highly weighted written exam, and Heewoon started it off well. Considering he had received an A+ on a report submitted a while ago, he might be able to get a good grade.
If he had been obsessed with grades last year was because of the scholarship, now it was because of job seeking concerns. Heewoon’s attitude was different from the juniors who complained about job worries. When thinking about employment, Heewoon felt more anticipation than despair.
Occasionally, Heewoon felt like he had been reborn. The future had always been gloomy, and he had often wanted to abandon his false hope. But now, it was the opposite. Just imagining what he could do made him feel better.
And, whether it was assignments or presentations, he was achieving much better grades than he did last year when he put in so much effort. Heewoon thought his past self from last year was pitiful.
After finishing the morning class, Heewoon went to eat at the cafeteria. Then, he took a photo and sent it to Kangwoo.
It hadn’t been long since he started this. A few days ago, he had seen a junior sending a picture to his girlfriend by chance and decided to try it. And, Kangwoo liked it a lot.
‘What’s this?’
As soon as he sent the picture, Kangwoo called.
‘I thought you might be curious about what I had for lunch.’
‘Oh… you’re indeed learning something good at university.’
It was a voice full of laughter. After wishing each other to have a good lunch, the call ended, and since then, Heewoon continued this act.
He also received pictures from Kangwoo. It was a traditional Korean meal. Examining the photo closer, Heewoon tried to imagine how many people were there and how many chopsticks were on the wide table. The actual reason he sent meal pictures to Kangwoo might actually be because he was curious about who Kangwoo was eating with.
After attending the afternoon class, he bought a cup of coffee. Red leaves were falling everywhere. He intentionally stepped on the fallen leaves while heading to the library.
Heewoon took a seat and quietly opened a book. Since the day before yesterday, he had started studying for the exams, but this time, it was great that there weren’t too many materials. Oddly, everything seemed to be flowing smoothly, as if helping Heewoon. Thinking that Kangwoo was the cause of it, Heewoon smiled faintly.
After studying for a while, he went to the restroom. When he came back, there was a chocolate bar and a sticky note on his desk.
[I want to get to know you!]
With a short message, a phone number was written below. Heewoon looked around, pushing the chocolate away and returning to his studies.
After a while, he was focusing on his book, but someone kept touching his arm. Though it could have been an accidental brush, it was bothering him, so he moved his chair slightly away. The person next to him let out a laugh.
Feeling the person next to him must be an odd one, Heewoon distanced himself a bit more, turning his body diagonally. He was completely turned away from that person.
At that moment, a note flew onto his book.
Without even reading it, Heewoon pushed the note away. The person next to him laughed again. This time, the person even grabbed Heewoon’s arm. Feeling uncomfortable with that, Heewoon turned his head, his brows furrowed.
“Oooh?”
Heewoon opened his eyes wide. Kangwoo, covering his mouth with a hand on his chin, was looking at him. The corner of his mouth that protruded beyond his palm was pointing upward.
“Since when…?”
Unconsciously, Heewoon made a loud sound, then looked around. The note he had pushed away earlier was visible. Its contents were, ‘Do you want to go eat dinner?’, and Heewoon wrote beneath it.
When did you arrive?
Kangwoo tilted his head to read it, then wrote below Heewoon’s words.
Just a while ago.
Then, he pointed to the top sentence. Heewoon looked at the clock. 5:50 PM. When did it become this late?
‘Let’s go out.’
Kangwoo motioned with his lips. Heewoon nodded and picked up his bag. He put two books, a notebook, and a pen into his bag and left his seat. Something pulled on his wrist, and he looked down to see Kangwoo with a chocolate bar on his hand. The chocolate with a sticky note attached to it.
‘What’s this?’
Heewoon shook his head. Kangwoo stood up with the chocolate and followed Heewoon, throwing it in the trash bin next to the door. Heewoon went out first, and Kangwoo glanced around the library before heading outside. When his eyes met Heewoon’s in the corridor, he smiled softly.
“You like chocolate but you didn’t eat it. Good job.”
Kangwoo’s hand patted Heewoon’s head.
“From now on, don’t eat things others give you.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s right.”
Kangwoo messed up his hair and put his arm over Heewoon’s shoulder.
“How did you come here?”
“I wanted to have dinner together with you.”
Only then did Heewoon notice that Kangwoo was holding a shopping bag.
“The restaurant I had for lunch has meal boxes.”
Heewoon thought Kangwoo must have bought those meal boxes after having lunch. However, when he accepted the meal box while sitting at the tree table in front of the library, he widened his eyes. The bottom of the meal box, quite extravagant for a disposable container, was warm.
“You went back there to buy this?”
“Yes.”
Kangwoo answered casually as he put down the utensils. After staring at Kangwoo’s face, Heewoon looked down at the box.
“The taste was quite good, so this one should be worth eating too.”
Heewoon nodded slightly later. The meal box had about ten large and small compartments. There were various side dishes, bulgogi, cheese shrimp, croquettes, and japchae. The variety was so extensive that Heewoon was unsure of what to eat. Heewoon lifted his head with a satisfied expression after taking a bite-sized croquette. It tasted good.
While Heewoon was sampling each dish, he felt Kangwoo’s gaze. Heewoon raised his head curiously. Kangwoo reached out and lightly pinched Heewoon’s protruding cheek.
“…Why?”
“Just because.”
Kangwoo withdrew his fingers. When Heewoon continued to stare, Kangwoo patted his head twice.
“I don’t hope for anything else. I just want you to eat well and stay healthy like right now.”
“Yeah.”
He only realized that what he just heard was a bit strange after he replied. Kangwoo chuckled when Heewoon wrinkled his forehead.
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