Even so, Joo Unyoung wanted to stay friends with Jingi.
And they had been getting along well.
Jingi hugged the good-natured guy’s neck tightly and playfully planted a kiss on his cheek.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“Hey, can’t you even take this? Aren’t we friends, huh?”
“…Do you know how much I’m holding back…”
He poked his side to ask what he was holding back, but what he felt wasn’t fat, but very firm muscle.
Jingi was a little shocked that Joo Unyoung wasn’t just a skinny guy.
If he really worked out, his physique would probably double if he got any taller.
Jingi pointed to a family restaurant he saw nearby.
“Shall we go there?”
“Yeah, let’s.”
Joo Unyoung knew that he was pretty and good-looking.
It would be a lie to say he didn’t know about the gazes that had been fixed on him since he was young, unlike other people.
There were countless people who confessed their feelings to him.
There were so many he couldn’t count them on his fingers, so the emotion of love was nothing more than annoying and troublesome to him.
Of course, he didn’t show it on the outside.
Because he had to be a fine son to his parents, he acted as if he had been perfect since birth.
He endured even when he was angry, and he smiled even when he was annoyed.
His grades were always in the top tier, and he took proper care of his appearance.
Then he met Choi Jingi.
The initial Choi Jingi was perfection itself.
From head to toe, he was a model human being with nothing lacking.
As if he had stepped out of a drama, he used his handsome looks to be universally and moderately kind to everyone.
Joo Unyoung was curious about that, so he watched Choi Jingi.
As a result, he realized that Choi Jingi wasn’t enduring it.
He was insensitive.
Because he wasn’t affected by what people gave him, his emotions weren’t shaken, and he maintained a top-tier rank in his grades, fighting for 1st and 2nd place with him.
He didn’t even try for it.
He was just perfect from the beginning.
The object he had been watching like that began to spark a sense of possession before he knew it.
He didn’t know if that was a feeling of liking him, or if it was truly jealousy of his perfection.
But whether he liked Choi Jingi or liked his perfection, Joo Unyoung thought it was love.
Because he was a more perfect person than anyone else, he could accept that emotion.
The closer he got, the more he felt that Choi Jingi had a human side.
And when he thought he had completely seduced him, Joo Unyoung gave Choi Jingi a confession that wasn’t quite a confession.
As if he were giving him an opportunity, as if he were in a superior position.
[Jingi-ya, do you like me?]
However, Choi Jingi refused with a face as white as a sheet, as if the feelings he had felt because of him had been shattered.
It felt as if his months of pursuing him and his efforts to get into Choi Jingi’s line of sight were vanishing like foam.
Joo Unyoung was a little angry.
That he didn’t like him, and that his months of hard work had been met with such a hollow answer.
After rejecting the confession, Choi Jingi kept showing sloppy sides of himself, perhaps feeling sorry. He wasn’t perfect like before.
But it didn’t matter.
No, rather, he laughed, thinking that his shell had finally been peeled off.
If Choi Jingi was an onion wrapped in layers, he would peel him back until the soft flesh at the very center was revealed.
As the days went by, he made Joo Unyoung angry, but for some reason, that was enjoyable too.
After that confession, one change occurred in Joo Unyoung.
He liked that Choi Jingi was no longer perfect.
The time when he was drawn to him because he was perfect was considered a separate issue, like when he had turned his gaze toward someone else entirely.
No, the Choi Jingi of the past and the Choi Jingi of the present were like different people.
His actions were like that, and so were Joo Unyoung’s emotions.
The feeling of just wanting to hold a perfect Choi Jingi in his hands had disappeared.
He wanted to mess up his neat face, make him cling to him, and make him shed tears.
He wanted to hold the Choi Jingi from after the confession in his hands and make him completely his.
He wanted to lock him in an open birdcage so he couldn’t leave on his own.
He hoped that even in the wide-open cage, he would not leave his side.
He wanted to pin him down, climb on top of him, and kiss his weeping eyes.
Especially every time he tried to escape from him.
Joo Unyoung liked giving back as much as he was angered, and his trap was thin and dense like a spiderweb, leaving the prey no choice but to jump in on its own.
Of course, he didn’t want to escalate things in a way that was disadvantageous to him.
He didn’t want to take him by force, either.
Hiding in the corner like a spider and waiting for the prey to jump in was a thrilling thing.
To him, patience was like a tray of sweet desserts.
They had walked into the restaurant at random, but it turned out to be quite a posh place.
As Jingi chewed his steak, a thought struck him: Oh, wait.
Baek Jaehee. What was he supposed to do about that poor, friendless kid?
The second round must still be in full swing, so Jingi sent him a quick text: [We’re just eating now.]
What if he said he was hungry and demanded to eat again?
The timing of his match ending would be awkward.
Jingi looked down at the plump, juicy steak and licked his lips.
Since the guy had just finished exercising, he would definitely want to go to a place like a pork belly restaurant.
It would be a huge shame to pick that over eating more of this steak.
“Here, have this.”
“Thank you. You have some of this, too.”
Right on cue, Joo Unyoung placed three slices of meat on his plate.
The texture looked delicious, with a faint pink blush in the center.
Jingi, who had been salivating, offered his own in return, but Joo Unyoung declined, saying, “No, it’s okay, I’m full.”
Suddenly, his pile of food had increased.
Jingi let out a soft groan and took a bite of the salad.
The lettuce was crisp and moist, with a fresh fragrance.
‘I don’t know, I’ll just eat first and think about it later.’
It was Baek Jaehui’s fault for creating a promise that hadn’t existed in the first place.
Though he was a “gold spoon” now, just a few weeks ago, Jingi had been a guy living in a single-room flat, struggling to get by on one meal a day.
He’d never eaten steak unless a friend bought it for him.
And even then, it had been cheap, lackluster stuff that cost maybe 15,000 won a plate at most.
“Is it good?”
“Yeah. It’s delicious.”
“Eat plenty.”
Jingi nodded, savoring the soft, chewy texture.
Every time he chewed a neatly cut piece, a savory, rich flavor filled his mouth.
Even back when he used to buy “45% off Hanwoo” sales at the mart and think, ‘The texture is different!’, it couldn’t compare to this.
Just as he was letting himself drift away on a wave of pure happiness…
