One of the 100 things I wanted to do before I die has been checked off.
Jingi felt a modest joy, his mood brightening instantly at the thought of biting into two sausages.
He waited nervously in case his homeroom teacher called him, when suddenly, someone from behind wrapped their arms tightly around his shoulders.
“Are you going to eat sausages?”
“Oh, uh, yeah. Aren’t you eating anything?”
“I don’t really feel like it.”
It was Joo Unyoung.
Jingi brushed off his startled heart and turned his head back to the front.
Joo Unyoung was sucking on a lollipop, his body pressed right up against Jingi’s shoulder.
Just like before, the guy was always eating strawberry-flavored candy.
Not strawberry milk, just straight strawberry.
Fortunately, it wasn’t long before their turn came.
Jingi ordered two sausages, asking for one to be packed without sauce and the other slathered in it.
His boldness in ordering two instead of just one made his chest feel tight.
In his previous life, even a single convenience store sausage was too expensive, so he would agonize over it and give up every time.
The employee processed his order with practiced hands, paid, and immediately began grilling the warmed-up sausages.
He moved slightly to the side, waiting for them to reach his hands, when he heard whispering voices from behind.
“Should I ask for her number?”
“Nooo, don’t you think she has a boyfriend?”
“Usually, the good-looking guys don’t. I’m telling you, they don’t get snatched up just because it looks like they have someone, like you think.”
Jingi immediately glanced at Joo Unyoung.
The guys around them were nothing but average, so the conversation must have been about Joo Unyoung. He was indeed handsome.
He had that pretty, kind image that girls these days liked, and he was tall, too.
He was definitely the ideal groom-to-be.
“Thank you!”
As soon as the sausages came out, Jingi smiled brightly and bowed his head.
He hooked the bag onto his left wrist and took the one covered in sauce with his right hand.
He held the paper, which was wrapped to prevent the sauce from dripping, in one hand and took a big bite.
The outside was grilled just right, the casing peeling off with a crisp snap, revealing the soft flesh inside.
As he popped it into his mouth, it was hotter than he expected, so Jingi blew on it with a, “Whoo.”
Joo Unyoung was now leaning his cheek against him, with only one arm draped over his shoulder.
Meanwhile, Jingi rolled the sausage around in his mouth to cool it down, then bit down into it all at once.
The texture of the casing popping was fun.
The parts that had been scored to grill properly were slightly rough, and the inside was salty with just the right amount of meat chunks, making the texture interesting.
“Is it good?”
“Mmh, ih’s good. Wan’ a bih?”
“Yeah.”
You acted all cute just because you wanted to eat this, you fox.
I didn’t think you’d literally ask for just one bite.
Jingi held up the sausage to Joo Unyoung’s mouth.
His cherry-red lips parted, and the thick sausage slipped right in.
The sound of him biting down in one go was very clear.
“Good, right?”
“Yeah.”
In the process, a bit of ketchup got on his lips.
Jingi raised his hand and wiped Joo Unyoung’s mouth.
Then, he sucked the sauce off his finger with his tongue.
It was sweet and sour—delicious.
Even if his palate had been tamed by the expensive, high-quality food at home, nothing could beat MSG.
He blew on the remaining sausage as he ate it, feeling Joo Unyoung’s gaze on him.
Jingi hurried his steps toward the bus, but because Joo Unyoung stopped dead in his tracks, his upper body swayed.
When he looked back, the guy was smiling softly.
“You’ve got some on you too.”
At those words, Jingi stuck out his tongue and licked his own lips, and again, those pretty, fox-like eyes curved into crescents.
Joo Unyoung wiped the side of Jingi’s mouth with his thumb, just as Jingi had done, and licked it off with his red tongue.
It was… strangely suggestive.
“Do you like sausages that much?”
“Huh? U-uh. I love them.”
“It’s sweet.”
He was glaring so viciously this morning, yet here he was, smiling brightly again.
Jingi felt very strange about that; he licked his lips and stared at the back of Joo Unyoung’s head as he walked ahead first.
He could see his homeroom teacher standing in front of the bus, waving his hands as if telling them to hurry up.
Why do I feel bad?
Jingi agonized over it, then convinced himself it was because Joo Unyoung had stolen a bite of his sauce.
He knew that wasn’t it, but he just decided to believe that.
Jingi slept soundly until they left after stopping at one more rest stop.
It didn’t matter that the kids in the back were playing games or shouting and hitting each other.
Exhausted from fatigue that he didn’t know when he had accumulated, his eyes kept fluttering shut even when they announced they had arrived.
“Are you a newborn baby or something?”
“Yaaawn…”
Perhaps wanting to hang out since they were sitting together, Baek Jaehui pouted with a bored expression.
Still, he only grumbled; when Jingi said his neck hurt, he massaged the back of his neck coolly.
His mouth was sharp, but his actions were exactly like a puppy.
Jingi straightened his shoulders and let out a groan.
“You’re good at massages.”
“Just get up. Everyone else has gotten off.”
“Ah, I don’t wannaaa get up.”
When he whined like a child, Baek Jaehui sighed on purpose and helped him stand up.
Then, the two guys sitting behind them slowly stood up as well.
As if they had been waiting.
Thinking that 18 was the age where you even go to the bathroom together, Jingi followed behind them.
It was a school trip, after all, so the place they arrived at was some kind of performance hall.
After Class 2 and Class 7 sat down in order, the teacher counted the students and sat in the very front row.
The outdoor performance hall was cool and secluded, thanks to the breeze.
The park was huge, and the performance was… a Nanta show.
Wait, there’s a Nanta show on a high school trip?
Jingi had also watched this for free in his previous life.
It seemed they must have given a discount to the accommodation or something similar.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sat a bunch of high school boys, who were dying to unpack their bags, in a place like this.
The four of them took seats in the middle, with Joo Unyoung and Go Yeol sitting on either side of Jingi.
Baek Jaehui grumbled loudly about something, but thanks to Joo Unyoung covering the guy’s mouth, there was no more to hear.
Jingi wasn’t fully awake yet, so he was getting into a comfortable position, thinking he should sleep more, when he suddenly saw Go Yeol curled up as much as he could.
His eyes widened.
“Yeol, are you hurt somewhere?”
“No.”
“……Then why are you doing that?”
He thought he was doing that because he was in pain, but he said no.
It was kind of funny to see a giant hedgehog curled into a ball.
“So the kids in the back can see. …And it’s cramped because of my legs.”
Jingi looked back and saw guys around 170cm compared to their own 180cm+ height.
Most of the kids were like that.
Perhaps because he had been in the 170cm group until recently, a wave of pity washed over him.
Still, all four of them had longer legs, so their sitting height wasn’t that tall; they just had to stretch their legs out long in the chair.
However, Go Yeol was 190cm, so he had to hunch his upper body for the kids behind him to be even remotely comfortable.
Honestly, he wondered if there were even kids who would watch the Nanta show that diligently.
Jingi patted Go Yeol’s back without a word.
The guy blinked with a questioning face.
“No, I just thought being tall is also a struggle.”
Of course, he didn’t think so at all.
It’s better to hunch over, isn’t it?
Would being small be better?
There weren’t many occasions where he had to hunch over anyway.
When going to a movie theater, he could just sit in the back row.
Whether it was reincarnation or possession, Jingi, who had gained a new life and escaped the life of a 170cm loser, hummed a little tune and rested his chin on his hand.
He was staring blankly at the empty stage with nothing to do when Go Yeol suddenly spoke.
With his legs shoved inward and his elbows resting on his knees, his eyes as he looked up were gentler than usual.
“Did you rest well over the weekend?”
“Huh? Why?”
It was an unexpected question he didn’t usually ask, so Jingi tilted his head, and the guy frowned ever so slightly.
Only then did he realize what he was talking about.
Go Yeol had turned his words around, but he must have known it was no different from a confession.
And that Jingi had noticed it, too.
“Well, I slept well.”
“Is that so?”
“……Yeah.”
Things he had coolly forgotten while sleeping began to creep back into his mind.
The words about being afraid that even their friendship would end.
It was bizarre that, despite that, he was still bringing him things like dolls and flowers.
So, right now, he’s saying he wants to start by having a ‘some’ (flirtatious) relationship with me?
He meant that he would start quietly and Jingi could push him away if he didn’t like it, since they would stay friends.
That was clearly what he meant by those words.
Otherwise, there was no reason to pour out his feelings.
However, Go Yeol was a precious friend to Jingi as well.
When he was possessed, Jingi inherited most of the original memories.
Only the important things were neatly tucked into his brain.
And of course, Go Yeol was included in that.
Perhaps because of that, he was more comfortable with Go Yeol than with the other kids, and while spending time with him, he learned what a friend was and why having someone by your side was a source of strength.
Go Yeol didn’t have much to say, but he was a good friend just by being there.
To be honest, he felt anxious because things were flowing differently from the original story.
Before he could think seriously about Go Yeol’s feelings, Go Yeol’s heart might go to Joo Unyoung just like in the original.
Of course, Jingi was heterosexual, and the idea of dating Go Yeol didn’t even cross his mind.
Therefore, regarding their relationship, he wanted to think about it and answer more seriously because he knew the weight of those feelings.
You never know.
He was a heterosexual, but since he had entered a homosexual’s body, he might grow to like him.
So, he was worried about just pushing him away by saying let’s stay friends without knowing how things would turn out.
In his previous life, the reason he didn’t date even once wasn’t just because he was busy; it was also because Jingi was uncomfortable sharing affection with ‘someone.’
First of all, he had never seen the same sex as a dating partner, and he didn’t like giving up his side to the opposite sex, either.
He was always busy, and since he was going to be busy, a future where he lived swamped by work and stressed about money was clearly painted, so he had neither the time nor the heart to date.
Because he was a precious friend, and because he couldn’t know how the novel’s plot would unfold.
If he could, he wanted to give a serious answer.
He didn’t want to flatly refuse and hurt him.
“Just watch the performance.”
Jingi said bluntly to Go Yeol, who was staring fixedly at him, and turned his head.
He felt like he couldn’t breathe.
Go Yeol’s unexpected confession, helping Joo Unyoung find his match, and thinking about the plot of the novel and what would happen next.
He wanted to forget about it for a while.
Still, since this was his first school trip, including his previous life, he didn’t want to spend his time just worrying.
Jingi sighed softly as he pushed his hair back, and this time, his eyes met Joo Unyoung’s.
Of all things, he was sitting between two guys who made him uncomfortable.
Jingi cried inwardly, thinking he should have switched seats quickly when Baek Jaehui was grumbling.
……Baek Jaehui, I miss you.
