“What do you need help with?”
“The person you like…… you know.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m, uh, planning to help you out a lot. Since you’re my friend and…… she’s my friend too…….”
At that moment, Go Yeol slowly leaned his upper body down toward Jingi.
His broad chest blocked Jingi’s view, and his long arm reached out to grab Jingi’s hand.
His hand was thick and solid, as expected of a guy who exercised.
The calluses on his palm were clearly felt.
Jingi couldn’t bring himself to look up and stared down at the flower.
His heart was pounding loudly.
It felt like a warning alarm was ringing in his head.
‘This is different from what I thought.’
At that thought, which had burrowed deep into his mind, Jingi tightened his grip on the flower.
Go Yeol’s hand was still cold.
A bizarre silence, one that shouldn’t exist between friends, seemed to wrap around and tighten itself around their bodies.
“Who is the person I like?”
“……Joo, Joo Unyoung…….”
‘Is it not?’ he almost asked back.
Upon hearing the answer, Go Yeol frowned and tightened his grip on Jingi’s hand.
It was strong enough that the back of his hand, clutching the flower, began to ache.
He gulped.
He was terrified of Go Yeol’s silence.
He was afraid of what he might say next.
“Jingi.”
“Y-yeah…?”
Go Yeol murmured his name a few more times in a low, heavy voice unlike anything he had used before.
The atmosphere grew heavy, and despite it being a midsummer night, the breeze felt cold.
When Jingi finally looked up to meet his eyes, Go Yeol opened his lips.
“Why would I…… like them?”
“……Wh-what?”
“I don’t like them.”
‘Liar, that’s a lie.’
He’s just saying that because he doesn’t want to admit a man likes a man.
Jingi’s eyelids fluttered, and he shifted his gaze away as if he didn’t want to hear it.
In the original story, Go Yeol loved Joo Unyoung deeply.
It was a feeling too profound for an eighteen-year-old, one that couldn’t be defined simply by the word “like.”
That was why he had started with the premise that Go Yeol liked Joo Unyoung.
He had carefully scrutinized every one of Go Yeol’s behaviors and assigned meaning to every look he sent toward Joo Unyoung.
That was why he had believed Joo Unyoung was drawn to Go Yeol as well.
“Th-that’s a lie. I won’t go around spreading rumors. I think it’s possible for a man to like a man. So it’s okay to just tell me.”
“No. There is someone I like, and yes, they are a man. It’s just not them.”
He was nervous.
Go Yeol was firm and full of conviction. Jingi didn’t want to believe it.
Maybe he just hadn’t realized his feelings yet.
Or, perhaps, in the original story, he actually started liking him late.
But Go Yeol was saying right now that he had someone he liked, and that the person was a man.
“Re, really?”
When he asked cautiously, Go Yeol nodded.
As he licked his dry lips, Go Yeol let go of the hand he was holding. Jingi asked again.
“Then…… who is it? I, I need to know that to help you…….”
“You can’t help me.”
The streetlight hit one side of the guy’s face as he tilted his head.
His face, half-drenched in light, was looking at Jingi quietly.
Jingi looked down at the flower in his hand and swallowed dryly.
‘No way, me? I-I couldn’t be, right? I, I’m the main gong. No, I was the main gong.’
He had occasionally seen stories in fantasy or romance fantasy where an extra becomes the protagonist.
Like the male lead liking the villain or something.
But wouldn’t this change the genre if this guy liked me?
The original story was supposed to be about four men fighting over Joo Unyoung…… and it ends up like this?
He’s a gong, I’m a gong, and gongs can’t end up together, can they?
“Th-then, uh. Good luck.”
His shoulder ached from gripping the flower in his hand too tightly.
He had put too much force into it.
After blurting that out awkwardly, he felt a prick of conscience.
Anyone could see that this situation was no different from Go Yeol confessing his feelings to Jingi.
No, it was more like he was issuing a warning.
A warning not to be mistaken.
“But I still like them.”
“Th-that… what do you like so much about them?”
Asking why someone liked him was quite embarrassing and shameful.
Jingi bowed his head, glancing through his hair at Go Yeol, who had returned to his original spot.
“I liked them from the start. As a friend.”
“Yeah…….”
“But now, it’s just… everything. I like everything about them. I get anxious when they’re not in my sight. I hate it when they play with others.”
A bit like a child, Go Yeol spilled out his feelings directly.
He could see the darker skin of his cheeks flushing red.
Despite that, he felt Go Yeol’s intense, steady gaze with his calm expression.
Jingi, with his eyes cast down, didn’t know what to do with the situation and started shaking his leg without realizing it.
“Where, since when, or why—even I don’t know. I just like them.”
“…….”
“We were friends for so long, it’s strange, isn’t it.”
When he reached out and took his hand again, the skin that was always cold was now warm.
It was ticklish.
Jingi turned his gaze to the sky, trying to ignore the scent of shampoo wafting from Go Yeol.
He couldn’t look the guy in the eye.
“I’m most afraid that if they refuse, we won’t even be able to be friends anymore.”
He could feel the heartbeat thumping in Go Yeol’s palm.
The guy was pulsing with it, shouting silently with his whole body that he liked him.
Jingi glared at the black, starless city sky.
‘Damn it, this bastard is unmistakably in love with me.’
It definitely wasn’t a misunderstanding or narcissism.
The pink energy radiating from beside him made it hard to breathe.
……Damn it, damn it. What do I do about this?
The inside of the bus was extremely noisy.
The homeroom teacher was pacing back and forth, counting the students and calling those who hadn’t arrived yet.
Annoyance left a deep furrow between his brows.
Jingi sat pressed against the window, letting out a long yawn.
Dark circles had formed under his weary eyes.
And just as promised, Baek Jaehui, sitting next to him, poked him in the waist.
“What did you do all night that you couldn’t sleep?”
“I slept fine…….”
“Bullshit. What were you watching? Let me see too.”
“What do you mean, watching?”
Because he’d heard a confession that wasn’t quite a confession on Saturday, he hadn’t been able to sleep.
It was the same on Sunday.
As soon as he opened his eyes, Go Yeol’s flushed face would pop into his mind, and curses would fly out.
It wasn’t that he hated Go Yeol’s feelings.
Since there are countless unrequited relationships, he could just reject them if confessed to.
But he didn’t want to cut off the guy who had become his first friend after coming here.
Besides, the fact that one of Joo Unyoung’s prospective partners had vanished was also troubling.
Jingi, cracking his stiff neck from side to side, pressed the side of his head against the window again.
His high nose bridge and dense features were reflected in the glass.
It was his own face, but he had to admit, he was handsome enough to fall for.
It was a wonder Go Yeol had only seen him as a friend until now.
It was easy to understand Go Yeol’s heart.
Looking in the mirror, he found himself nodding in agreement.
‘If I were gay, even I would’ve fallen for a face like this.’
What if he had possessed Joo Unyoung instead?
He probably would have transferred schools immediately to avoid the guys who liked him.
Of course, he would have brought along Choi Jingi, who was a good friend and a good lover, too.
Thinking about that, he wondered what would have happened if he had transferred right after possessing Choi Jingi.
He wouldn’t have any problems to solve, nor would he be caught up in troublesome romantic drama.
He might have felt a bit uncomfortable about what would happen to Joo Unyoung, though.
“Hey, give me some snacks.”
“Already?”
“Yeah. What did you buy?”
Jingi looked blankly outside before moving sluggishly to pull snacks out of his bag.
As he brought out a variety of things—potato chips, Banana X, Home X Ball, and egg cookies—the guy quickly snatched the Home X Ball.
Jingi glanced at the Pepero he had hidden inside and locked his bag.
“How did you know I liked this?”
“Like I bought it knowing that. Ah, my neck hurts.”
Ignoring the overly excited Baek Jaehui, he was massaging the back of his neck when he saw Go Yeol and Joo Unyoung boarding the bus together after finishing their dawn practice.
As soon as Joo Unyoung spotted Jingi, he smiled brightly and waved, but upon seeing Baek Jaehui, his eyes narrowed.
“What’s this? Why are you on our class’s bus?”
“I switched seats.”
“Then go to the seat of the guy you switched with.”
“Don’t wanna.”
“Then go to your own class.”
“Don’t wanna.”
A childish argument ensued.
He could feel Joo Unyoung glaring at him. Jingi tucked his head inside the curtain and clung to the window.
He felt uncomfortable looking Joo Unyoung in the eye because he felt guilty about one thing.
‘I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentional, but I’ve stolen one of your men…….’
“Jingi. Are you going to sit with this guy?”
“Mm-hmm.”
When he answered with muffled pronunciation from inside the curtain, Baek Jaehui laughed heartily.
“See that? See that? Losers, go away.”
“Ah, seriously.”
Even without looking, he knew Joo Unyoung’s face must be distorted.
Joo Unyoung, who hadn’t yet given his heart fully to Go Yeol, would find it quite difficult to be stuck sitting next to Go Yeol.
In fact, in the current situation, he should have quickly seated Baek Jaehui next to Joo Unyoung to help them connect.
But Jingi didn’t have the confidence to sit with Go Yeol.
Pushing Baek Jaehui away to sit with Joo Unyoung seemed like it would make the guy go wild in the current atmosphere.
In the end, Baek Jaehui, who had captured the bag full of snacks—and thus Jingi—kept tapping Joo Unyoung, who sat behind them, with a delighted face.
Jingi emerged from the curtain and glared at the arrogant Baek Jaehui.
All they got from sitting together was a bag of snacks, but the guy seemed to love it.
His beaming face looked incredibly excited.
