Joo Unyoung watched the frozen Jingi with confusion, but Jingi couldn’t explain. He had to stay silent in the study hall, and he couldn’t fathom how much the fragile Unyoung would be frightened by this horrifying realization.
“Jingi, aren’t we going?”
But they’d have to face it once anyway. If he really was a bad guy, he’d be waiting in the lobby even after all this time. With trembling hands, Jingi packed his bag, put it in the upper locker, and turned the key.
‘Joo Unyoung is smaller and prettier than me, so he’s in more danger. Even my forearms are thicker than his. I have to protect him.’ He swallowed hard and carefully pushed his chair in.
“Let’s go now.”
He nodded, swallowing again. Like a secret agent, Jingi gave Unyoung’s shoulder a firm tap.
Joo Unyoung seemed puzzled by the gesture but laughed softly as he led the way. Even though he was covered by a hat and mask, the way his eyes crinkled was incredibly beautiful.
Jingi stood there for a moment before rushing to follow. He slapped his own cheeks, but the image of the fox-like eye-smile between the black hat and platinum hair kept flashing back. He couldn’t even bring himself to laugh at how he was being charmed even in this situation.
‘Damn it, why is he so pretty?’
‘It’s okay to use the word ‘pretty’ for a friend, right? It’s just a fact… it should be fine.’ He wondered if he’d turned gay just because he’d ended up in a BL novel. He’d never had a single thought like this in his past life—well, mostly because he’d never seen a guy who looked like that. Jingi had to thump his chest with his fist to calm his frantically thumping heart.
The door opened. Jingi stuck close to Unyoung’s back and scanned the area. The moment the door shut, the man from earlier stepped out from a corner of the lobby with a wide grin.
“You brought your phone! And here I thought you didn’t like me… Oh, you have a friend? Wow, your friend is tall too.”
The man’s eyes sparkled as they turned toward Joo Unyoung. He scanned him up and down, muttering, “The friend has a good build, too.”
‘Crap, it wasn’t a delusion. It’s real, it’s really happening…!’
“Unyoung, run!”
Jingi grabbed Unyoung’s wrist and sprinted like a madman. As they lunged toward the stairs, he glanced back. He saw the man, who had been standing still, starting to approach.
“Jingi?”
“Run, Unyoung! That guy, ‘pant’, just… run!”
The man tilted his head and followed them down the stairs. To Jingi’s ears, his question of “Hey, what’s wrong?” sounded like “Stop right there, you brats.”
‘You crazy bastard! ‘The friend has a good build’? He really is an organ trafficker! Why else would he be trying to get a well-built man’s number in a place like this? And even waiting for this long!’
“Jingi, Jingi…!”
“’Huff, puff!’ Fast, faster!”
The man, halfway down the stairs, finally stopped. ‘Crazy psycho.’ Jingi’s skin crawled with fear. There was a reason that article was on the front page of Naver. It was a warning.
‘How can a person be like that? Just because someone is handsome doesn’t mean their organs are! How many clueless kids has he lured in like this!’
As soon as they hit the first floor, he sprinted to the counter. The two employees stared in confusion at the pair tumbling down the stairs.
“There—there! On the third floor! There’s a psycho, ‘huff’, he looks like a delinquent, ‘huff’!”
“Jingi, calm down first.”
“M-my organs. I’m still… I’m still okay.”
“What? Are you okay?”
In his frantic state, Jingi didn’t notice that Joo Unyoung’s complexion hadn’t changed at all as he patted Jingi’s back. After gasping for air, Jingi chugged the cold water Unyoung handed him. “Want more?” Unyoung asked. Jingi shook his head vigorously and pointed upstairs at the staff.
“Up there! A guy with really damaged bleached hair and tons of piercings! He was touching me and saying I have a good build and demanding my number. It’s definitely something bad! I think something terrible is going to happen!”
“Pardon?”
“No, I mean…!”
If he blurted out “organ trafficking” right away, they’d look at him like he was crazy. Jingi bit his lip and waved his hands frantically, trying to get them to kick the guy out.
“He was threatening me, demanding my number! And—and when I typed one in, he called it right away to check! We have to call the police!”
“…Sir? Customer, please calm down…”
The two employees looked at him with matching expressions of concern. It felt like they were treating him like a crazy person, and he felt like he was going to explode from frustration. ‘Are they just oblivious? I said he asked for my number! I said he told me I have a good build!’
“No, ah, seriously…! I’m saying it’s organ trafficking!”
The moment he clung to the counter, squeezed his eyes shut, and yelled it out, the room went silent. Or rather, it had already been quiet, and now the atmosphere turned icy. The employees’ expressions turned subtle, and Joo Unyoung stared at Jingi without a word.
‘But it’s true, I know it’s true.’
Like people watching someone scream “Landmine!” after stepping on dog poop, they let out a small, incredulous laugh. The sound echoed through the wide lobby. Heat flooded Jingi’s face, making his neck burn.
But in Jingi’s head, programs like ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ or ‘Curious Story Y’—which he’d watched religiously in his past life—were playing. People are always in the most danger when they let their guard down! Things happen in the places where you think they never would!
Not knowing how to express this suffocating feeling, he buried his face in his hands. Then, Joo Unyoung grabbed his shoulders and turned him around.
Seeing Unyoung’s sharp, serious face, Jingi felt a spark of hope—’He believes me!’—and opened his mouth to speak. But Joo Unyoung asked first.
“Did he touch your body? Where? Your butt? Your chest?”
“U-uh? No, my shoulder.”
“Here? ‘Fuck’, isn’t he just a pervert? Let’s eat later; I’m dealing with that guy first…”
“No, Unyoung! I’m telling you, it’s dangerous!”
“Really? Then I’ll go alone.”
“You—you can’t go alone!”
The tables had turned with this first-time display of anger. Jingi began to feel the employees’ gazes stinging his skin.
“Why? Do you actually like that guy?”
“No, wait, hey! What are you talking about? Why would I!”
“Then why didn’t you say anything when he asked for your number?”
“That’s because I was scared! And I told you, don’t go alone!”
“Why?”
The employees behind the counter now looked slightly horrified. Organ trafficking aside, Jingi felt like he was going to die of embarrassment. This was a serious problem, but in everyone else’s eyes, it was devolving into a lovers’ quarrel between two guys!
“Because you’re smaller than me! And prettier! You’re in more danger!”
It felt as if the sound of a bell was tolling from a great distance. ‘Dong, dong, dong.’ Congratulations on being gay. Just as he was about to step into the elevator, Joo Unyoung turned his head with a startled expression. Jingi spun around even faster than before and bolted toward the exit.
He channeled the memory of the first and last time he’d ever run a relay race in the third grade, gritting his teeth and giving it his all.
