Before dating your childhood friend, test them first chapter 9

The movie theater was packed with people. Given that it was a popular movie on a weekend evening, it wasn’t surprising.

As expected, most of the audience came in pairs, mostly couples. There were a few families, but there seemed to be no other friends like me and Yejun.

Though Jiho had anticipated this, he felt more embarrassed than he had imagined.

While Jiho was sipping on soda and looking around, the lights in the theater dimmed.

“It looks like it’s about to start.”

As Yejun spoke, the surrounding lights went out, and the previously buzzing theater fell silent in an instant.

After a brief display of production companies and investors, the screen showed a scene of a boy and girl in summer uniforms under lush, green trees.

The movie started with the two childhood friends engaging in playful banter as they walked to school.

The film was a typical youth romance, filled with clichés. Despite not being particularly fond of romance, Jiho found himself gradually getting absorbed into the story.

“I can’t be friends with you anymore.”

“What… what do you mean?”

“I like you.”

About an hour into the movie, the plot reached a climax as the male protagonist confessed to the female lead.

Jiho often scoffed at such clichéd scenes, thinking that such things were unrealistic.

He couldn’t understand how one could see a childhood friend, whom they’ve seen through thick and thin, as anything more than a friend. It seemed impossible.

But… why was he thinking of Ahn Yejun at this moment?

As the movie approached its climax, Jiho’s feelings grew increasingly restless.

Watching the female lead struggle between seeing the male lead as a friend or a lover mirrored Jiho’s own complicated feelings.

He wasn’t at a crossroads himself. He had told Yejun to forget about what happened, and had managed to brush off the talk of marriage he had brought up.

But maybe it was because the male lead persisted even after being rejected once. Jiho found himself unconsciously projecting his and Yejun’s situation onto the characters.

While trying to focus on the movie, Jiho’s hand and Yejun’s hand touched inside the popcorn bucket.

“…”

“…”

Their eyes met in the darkness.

The moment their eyes met, Jiho froze. It felt like he was caught in a spider’s web, unable to move.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t looked at Yejun in the dark before.

It was because the memory of that night flashed vividly in his mind.

No, it wasn’t just a simple memory. Yejun’s flushed face from that night looked almost identical to the face he was seeing now.

The only differences were that they were in a movie theater instead of a bed, Yejun was dressed neatly, his hair wasn’t disheveled, and his face wasn’t flushed with excitement.

Just those differences.

Recalling the memory of sleeping with a friend should have been repulsive.

Yet, strangely, a heat gathered in Jiho’s lower abdomen.

‘Damn it, what’s wrong with me?’

Was something wrong with his body? Was it too stimulating because it was his first time being with someone?

As he rolled his eyes in confusion, Yejun suddenly leaned closer.

His hand, which had been touching the popcorn bucket, now covered Jiho’s hand.

His approaching face seemed to move in slow motion, like in a movie.

Why was he getting closer?

Why did he look so serious?

Why did his lips look so moist and plump today?

As their faces drew so close that he could feel Yejun’s breath, Jiho snapped back to his senses and leaned back.

He quickly pressed his back against the seat and stared at Yejun, who looked puzzled.

“Jiho, what’s wrong?”

“Hey, why the hell are you suddenly getting so close?”

“I just wanted to talk quietly. Don’t you think it’s interesting?”

“…”

He looked like he was about to do something.

Maybe Jiho was overreacting, as Yejun looked genuinely puzzled.

‘Why did he stare at me so seriously if he was going to talk about something so trivial?’

Although Jiho had a lot to say, he didn’t want to reveal that he had been aware of Yejun’s presence. As he coughed awkwardly and turned back to the screen, Yejun continued.

“You spilled your soda.”

“Huh…?”

Jiho looked at the soda in his hand.

Unnoticed until now, soda had spilled and soaked his pants.

It seemed to have happened when he leaned back so quickly.

It had soaked his pants enough that he should have noticed sooner.

Maybe he was too shocked to notice right away.

If it were just water, he could leave it to dry, but soda would become sticky if left alone. Jiho started to get up, placing his hand on the armrest.

“I need to go to the restroom for a moment.”

“I have wet wipes.”

Yejun said, grabbing Jiho’s wrist.

He even carried wet wipes. How prepared. Walking around during the movie would have disturbed the audience.

Reluctantly, Jiho sat back and waited for Yejun to hand him the wet wipes.

Before that, he tried to put the soda in the cup holder, but Yejun did something unexpected.

Instead of handing over the wet wipes, Yejun started wiping Jiho’s wet pants.

As Yejun’s hand naturally touched his thigh while wiping, Jiho grabbed Yejun’s wrist in shock.

“Hey, what are you doing…!”

“You’ll disturb others. Be quiet.”

Yejun warned Jiho as he whispered louder than usual.

Though he tried to keep his voice down, the person sitting next to them glanced over, looking annoyed.

‘No, seriously… I’ll do it myself.’

Although those words were on the tip of his tongue, Jiho clamped his mouth shut, mindful of the person beside him.

Who cleans someone else like this just because they spilled a drink?

Jiho nervously watched Yejun’s hand, worried it might accidentally touch something more sensitive.

* * *

After the movie ended, Jiho headed straight to the restroom.

He wanted to wipe off the sticky soda but also relieve the tension that had built up in his lower abdomen.

The touch on his thigh had been gentle and without any ulterior motive. But Jiho’s heart was the problem.

Seeing Yejun and having those strange thoughts, and then experiencing such an action, made it hard to just be thankful.

‘Have I become a pervert…?’

Lately, it felt as though he was suffering from pent-up frustration, and he couldn’t help but link every action of Yejun’s to something sexual.

‘This definitely wasn’t the case before… It was strange.’

To calm himself down, Jiho washed his face with cold water and exited the restroom, only to spot Yejun leaning against the corridor wall, staring at his phone.

Even just looking at his phone, Yejun managed to attract attention. People whispered, wondering if he was a celebrity and saying he looked familiar.

It was absurd, but understandable.

As Jiho stared at him, Yejun seemed to sense his gaze and looked up. Upon confirming it was Jiho, Yejun’s expression softened, and he approached him.

“There’s a good samgyeopsal (pork belly) place nearby. Let’s go eat there.”

Jiho had been curious about what Yejun was so intently looking at on his phone.

Was he searching for a good samgyeopsal place?

It was almost laughable that such a clean-cut person would be so serious about finding a place to eat pork belly.

Jiho let out a chuckle.

“How can you be hungry after eating so much popcorn?”

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“No… I didn’t mean it like that. Let’s go.”

Jiho wondered if Yejun really had a biological clock that worked perfectly or if it was just his youthful energy.

They had polished off a two-person set of popcorn and drinks, yet just because it was dinner time, Yejun was hungry again.

Nodding absentmindedly, Jiho picked up his phone, which he had set to silent mode for the movie. There were several missed call notifications on the screen. The caller was…

“…The landlady?”

It was from the landlady to whom he paid monthly rent.

They weren’t on bad terms, but they weren’t close enough to exchange calls for no reason.

As Jiho frowned, trying to figure out the reason, the phone buzzed again. It was another call from the landlady.

Seeing that she had called multiple times, it seemed like something urgent.

Did he forget to turn off the gas? Not lock the door? A burglary?

“I need to take this call for a moment.”

After guessing at various possibilities, Jiho excused himself and answered the phone.

“Hello?”

― Student, why haven’t you been answering? You’re not home; where are you?

“Sorry. I had my phone on silent in the movie theater. What’s the matter?”

― Well, it’s just that…

She hesitated, as if trying to say something difficult.

The pause was brief, but Jiho could sense her unease.

‘What on earth was she trying to say? ‘

Jiho leaned in, straining to listen, when the landlady dropped a bombshell.

― I need you to move out by the end of this month.

“What? What do you mean…?”

Move out suddenly?

What was she talking about?