“Are you okay with the motion sickness?”
“Ah, yeah. I’m fine if I sleep.”
“That’s a relief. Did you finish the sausage?”
“Yeah.”
Though Baek Jaehui had stolen half of the sausage he’d packed, he had managed to finish it.
Well, if he’d eaten any more than that, he would definitely have woken up from his nap because of the nausea.
As he pressed his thumbs and fingers against his cheeks and looked down, Joo Unyoung naturally wrapped an arm around his waist.
“Jingi. Have you ever drank alcohol?”
“No? Why?”
“Baek Jaehui says we should drink.”
“Whoa, he brought some? They said they were going to check our bags before we unpacked.”
“I don’t know the details, but he said not to worry about it.”
“Oh……”
As expected, if one path is blocked, a second method appears.
Realizing they were talking about him, Baek Jaehui poked his head out from the side and flashed a clever grin.
The way he gave a big thumbs-up was hilarious.
A while later, the performance began.
Honestly, it was much higher quality than the stuff he saw in elementary school, so it was actually fun.
But not wanting to admit to himself that he was enjoying it, Jingi glanced at the stage while pretending to be bored.
Of course, the high school boys, who lacked any shred of focus, were busy chatting and laughing among themselves.
At least the guys sitting in front were watching the stage with a conscience the size of a grain of rice.
Once the performance ended, the homeroom teacher and the class president brought over several large boxes and handed out lunch boxes.
Receiving a meal packed with two hearty meat side dishes, soup, and a dessert, Jingi walked toward a tree.
The chairs at the performance hall and the park benches had already been occupied by other kids.
The four of them agreed to go under a tree that had shade.
Naturally, this was for Jingi, who was weak in the heat.
“Ah, it’s so hot.”
Honestly, while watching the show, he had debated running away a few times.
Why did the school have to schedule this in this weather, making them get baked under the sun?
They could have watched the performance in the evening, so why did it have to be at this time?
He didn’t know how many curses he had hurled in his mind.
“They say we’re going to a museum after eating this.”
“What museum?”
“Dunno. I only took a quick look earlier, so I don’t remember.”
Baek Jaehui, who flopped down onto the ground, pouted his lips.
“Wouldn’t it be less trouble if they just let us play on our own? Honestly, think about it. It’s only uncomfortable for the teachers if we all have to go around together for group activities. They have to count the kids every day, and wait whenever one kid whines about going to the bathroom. Shouldn’t we just play on our own and show up on time?”
“Then there’d be no point in a school trip. The parents would oppose it even more. If anything happens, the school is responsible.”
When Joo Unyoung looked at him with a pathetic expression, Baek Jaehui frowned before loosening his expression.
“That’s true, too. Ah, damn. Forget the museum, I just want to have fun.”
“We have free time in the evening, so let’s go play at the beach then.”
“Ugh… but they only give us two hours.”
While the two were talking, Jingi went into the shade, hugged Go Yeol’s arm tightly, and rubbed his cheek against his back.
He had thought only Go Yeol’s hands were cold, but his whole body was cool.
It was like hugging a freshly frozen block of ice. It helped that he was sturdy, too.
“Jingi, eat.”
“I’ll… in a little bit…”
As he stretched his arms out long to hug him from behind, Go Yeol blocked him.
Thinking he might be uncomfortable because he was hot too, Jingi was about to pull back, but Go Yeol stood up slightly, sat Jingi between his legs, and completely covered his back.
“Wow, amazing.”
“Are you cool?”
“Oh! This is seriously amazing, totally cool.”
I wish I were a bit smaller right now.
Go Yeol looked uncomfortable eating because of him.
Jingi opened his lunch box lid, scooped up a bite for himself, and then scooped another with Go Yeol’s spoon to feed him.
“I’ll eat fast and get out of your way.”
“No. Take your time.”
The portion was definitely large for a quick meal.
It seemed like he’d ordered a double portion, as it was packed full of rice and side dishes.
Jingi opened the soup bowl, took a sip of the cold cucumber soup, and then used his spoon to scoop up a large piece of meat.
Seeing the perilla leaves, it seemed meant to be used as wraps, but that was too much work, so he chewed the meat while dipping a leaf in ssamjang and popped it into his mouth.
Either way, since he was eating it together, there was no difference, right?
Just then, Joo Unyoung, who had been finishing his lunch quietly and cleanly, opened his mouth.
“Are you that hot, Jingi?”
“Huh? Yeah.”
“But… the other kids are watching, so it seems a bit…”
Joo Unyoung persuaded him softly.
When he looked around after hearing that, he really did see kids glancing over this way.
Jingi felt a bit sad to leave the embrace of Go Yeol, his personal living refrigerator, but he stepped out.
Was it a bit much?
Even though they’d cling to each other if they had someone with a cool body temperature, too.
Grumbling, he moved to the next seat, ate his meat wrapped in kimchi, and shoveled a huge scoop of rice into his mouth.
Chewing away, he thought about how rich schools definitely have different lunch boxes.
Just as he finished chewing, Joo Unyoung shared a few pieces of meat from his own lunch box.
“I don’t eat much meat. You eat this, too.”
“Uh-huh…”
He nodded while chewing and discovered Go Yeol’s slightly reddened cheeks.
He didn’t have to turn his head to know.
He didn’t have eyes on the side of his head like a mantis, but he could still see it.
‘Ah, damn it.’
I forgot.
After being possessed, he’d forgotten because he’d clung to Go Yeol often, using the excuse of being hot.
The voice of Go Yeol, who had sat next to him on a bench under the few streetlights and given him a purple flower, filled his mind.
At the buzzing, rising, and falling voice, Jingi shook his head vigorously.
‘I shouldn’t give him any room. No room at all.’
“Th-thanks, Unyoung.”
“Huh? For what?”
“The meat. Thanks for the meat.”
‘Get a grip.’
Jingi slid his butt away from Go Yeol and went to sit next to Joo Unyoung.
The guy laughed, his eyes curving into crescents, asking why he was so thankful and if he liked meat that much.
“I didn’t know, but you have a bit of a childish palate, Jingi.”
“……I like meat regardless of whether I’m a child or not.”
“That’s true.”
Joo Unyoung glanced down at Jingi’s lunch box.
Unlike the meat side dishes, which were almost entirely eaten, the vegetables remained as if they were brand new.
Moreover, it looked as though he’d meticulously picked out only the onions from the stir-fried pork.
It was obvious that even the few black beans in the white rice had been pushed to one side.
“Do you hate vegetables?”
“No, I don’t. I just didn’t reach for them, that’s all.”
“Is that so?”
He hurriedly used his chopsticks to gobble up the kimchi.
Joo Unyoung’s words were true. Jingi didn’t particularly like vegetables.
The same went for beans.
At school, they taught that bean rice was a ‘perfect food’ and that you had to eat the beans and rice together so you wouldn’t have any nutritional deficiencies, but Jingi hated beans.
Couldn’t missing nutrients be replaced by other foods anyway?
“You should eat the beans, too. That’s how you grow taller.”
“I’m already tall. And you’re shorter than me, aren’t you?”
“There isn’t much difference, is there?”
Three centimeters.
It was only a three-centimeter difference, but honestly, that small gap changed the impression significantly.
Jingi glared at Joo Unyoung and picked up a bean to eat.
The bean mashed softly and remained in his mouth like crumbs.
“Damn it, it tastes bad.”
“Still, you have to eat everything to grow. You’re not even exercising these days.”
“That’s true, damn it. You aren’t playing soccer with me, either.”
“It’s because it’s hot. We’ll do it again when it gets cooler.”
Baek Jaehui chimed in. Then, he scanned Jingi’s lunch box and giggled.
“Whoa, you left all the onions, beans, and peppers? Look at how you even slipped and left the cabbage and carrots.”
“Ah, damn. Why are you stealing looks at someone else’s lunch box?”
“Is it going to wear out if I look at it? Huh? Does the food disappear if you look at it?”
The guy moved his finished lunch box aside and crawled over with both arms.
Because he was teasing him while twitching his eyebrows, Jingi picked up his lunch box and spun his body away.
“Hey, if you’re so confident, show it.”
“Get lost, you psycho.”
“Hey, your height is barely 180. You need to grow more. Huh? Choi Jingi, you’re in the 170s when you take your shoes off.”
“I am not! I was 180 when measured without shoes!”
Avoiding the hand that was poking his side, he took his lunch box and ran away to the tree on the other side.
Thanks to that, he had to stay in the sunlight for about 0.5 seconds.
“Ah, Choi Jingi is so funny.”
“Shut up.”
“Measure your height in front of me later. I’ll check if it’s 179.9 or 180.”
“Go ahead, see for yourself.”
As he sat in a cross-legged position and shoveled his rice into his mouth, Baek Jaehui panted from laughing.
‘Why don’t you just uproot the tree while you’re at it.’
Jingi grumbled, then turned his gaze to Joo Unyoung, who was clearing away his empty lunch box.
And then, he slowly returned and sat next to Baek Jaehui.
“Hey, but isn’t it a bit much to talk like that in front of a guy who isn’t 180?”
“What? Is there a guy who isn’t 180?”
“The guy with yellow hair who’s looking at his phone right now is in his mid-170s.”
“Whoa. Is someone in the 170s even a man?”
Joo Unyoung, who had been looking at his phone, whipped his head around.
It was a bit scary, but a sense of mischief rose up.
Jingi chuckled and popped a few more pieces of meat that Joo Unyoung had given him into his mouth.
“That’s what I’m saying. I still have time to grow, but honestly, isn’t it right to assume that the kids in their 170s aren’t growing anymore?”
“Yup. It’s pretty much over. The tall kids keep growing, but the small ones don’t. Seriously, last year, this guy who was like 165 or something was running his mouth about how he was going to grow, and he’s still not even 170.”
“Ah, honestly, anyone under 180 isn’t a man.”
“Agreed.”
Baek Jaehui, who had stretched out his arms, tapped Jingi’s hair.
A leaf, which he didn’t know when it had attached itself, fell off.
“I haven’t finished growing yet, though?”
“That 160 kid said the same thing.”
“And it’s not like I’m small right now, either.”
“That 160 kid said that, too.”
Joo Unyoung leaned his back against the tree and narrowed his eyes.
Jingi and Baek Jaehui, who had developed a taste for teasing, giggled and laughed.
“Unyoung, you’ll probably graduate without even hitting 180.”
“Right, honestly, if you’re eighteen now, you’re done growing.”
“They say you grow a lot in your first and second year of high school, don’t they? Didn’t you stop growing for a year and a half?”
“Yeah. Want to bet?”
The two, who had been teasing Joo Unyoung while even wrapping their arms around each other’s shoulders like childhood friends, widened their eyes.
It was because Joo Unyoung had gathered up even Jingi’s empty lunch box into a bag and stood up abruptly as he approached.
Without sitting on the ground, Joo Unyoung rested his arms on his knees, brought his face close, and leaned in.
“Let’s bet on 190. On whether I’ll grow or not.”
