Harmonious Love

Yang Qi Thief (13)

“What’s he saying? He’s always like this. He always grabs all the good stuff first. Except for course registration.”

“Young-won does have that side to him. Except for messing up course registration.”

Even Kim Jung-hyun nodded in agreement with that statement. Tae Young-won pretended not to hear.

“Ah, I’ve really been curious about this for a long time. Does that guy have to see this first too?”

Tae Young-won turned his head to look at Mo Yeon sitting next to him. Then he raised the corners of his mouth and said mischievously.

“Are you going to keep looking only at me?”

“Ah, that’s even more annoying. Do you remember when something similar happened before? You know, during Ji-won’s birthday…”

As the topic of conversation shifted to criticizing the annoying Tae Young-won, Mo Yeon suddenly felt curious.

Was he always this skilled at lying?

Tae Young-won also seemed curious about Mo Yeon’s face. But Mo Yeon had desperately covered his face, so he hadn’t seen it.

‘You haven’t seen it anyway, sunbae.’

He was blocking it because he had just recently learned that Mo Yeon was uncomfortable in this situation. Unlike what was known, Tae Young-won could be sharp towards people outside of school and knew how to package himself with lies when necessary. And honestly, Mo Yeon was grateful that he was now lying for Mo Yeon’s sake.

After alternately looking at the three people who were in the heat of arguing, Mo Yeon decided to just drink the juice placed in front of him.

It’s fortunate that it went over well. It could have been really awkward.

After the flow of conversation diverged, they continued their chat among themselves for a while. While the seniors were chattering, Mo Yeon felt bored. And naturally, as time passed, he felt increasingly uncomfortable. He just couldn’t get used to being in such a noisy environment.

“Come to think of it, what happened with Ji-won’s application from back then? I think it’s about time for the announcement.”

“The results came out a while ago, she didn’t make it. I heard she was really devastated because of it. Says the only places she wants to go won’t accept her.”

“Ah…”

As Mo Yeon was fiddling with the paper and lowering his head, Tae Young-won’s fingers touched his hand resting on his leg.

“…”

The fingers that had slipped into his slightly open palm slowly intertwined with his.

Why is he doing this?

Although the long-awaited contact was welcome, the surprise was greater at the moment. When he gently raised his head, the two were still engrossed in their chatter.

And beside him, Tae Young-won was looking at him with his chin resting on his hand.

“Then should we just not bring it up and go drink instead?”

“That sounds good too.”

Listening to the noise that now sounded like background music, Mo Yeon blankly focused on the sensation touching his hand. His mind was a bit complicated.

Is this natural for these people? What exactly are people from the same school to Tae Young-won? Just a few months ago, he had misunderstood Mo Yeon’s nosebleed as coveting his ‘thing’.

“…”

However, he was feeling a temptation completely opposite to the sense of discomfort he rationally perceived.

It seems there’s really no helping it when it comes to contact with Tae Young-won. It seems like the decision to do the presentation with him was a hundred, no, a thousand times the right choice. Mo Yeon looked at their intertwined fingers as if entranced, then raised his head.

Tae Young-won was quietly staring at Mo Yeon while stroking the soft inner flesh of his fingers. When their eyes met, the pleasant tickling sensation felt much more alien. It was more secretive, and it was an unclear sensation for Mo Yeon.

As Mo Yeon stared blankly, Tae Young-won whispered softly as if speaking with his lips.

‘Should I tell them to leave?’

Mo Yeon’s eyes widened at the unexpected words. Was he not the only one treating the two as unwelcome guests?

For a moment he tried to pull his hand away, but forgetting everything, he focused on reading Tae Young-won’s lips.

‘You seem uncomfortable.’

The eyes hidden behind his hair blinked quickly. Now that he thought about it, Tae Young-won had touched his hand to check his mood.

Tae Young-won had been considering Mo Yeon’s feelings all along. He knew that Mo Yeon wasn’t used to this kind of noisy situation.

Most people would say they’re fine in this situation. That was probably the correct answer. But Mo Yeon honestly nodded rather than saying something he didn’t mean to Tae Young-won sunbae even at this moment.

Tae Young-won mouthed “I understand” and grinned. As if they had created their own signal.

“Hey guys, we’re going to work on our project now.”

“Oh, sorry. Let’s get going now.”

“It’s already this late. It was fun meeting today. Bye!”

Mo Yeon couldn’t understand what was so fun in such a short time, but he bowed slightly to Han Chae-yeon who was waving goodbye with a smile.

“Isn’t he cuter than you’d think?”

The words she threw at Kim Jung-hyun as she turned away were just as puzzling as her saying it was fun. It felt like people’s goodwill was somehow felt just by having Tae Young-won next to him.

…Could this also be the power of yang energy?

“The kids are a bit crazy, right? Shall we do what we were planning to do now?”

“Yes.”

He clenched his fist, feeling as if the part where their now-separated hands had touched was still tingling.

If such contact was natural for him, Mo Yeon thought, even knowing it was greedy, that he’d like it to happen more often. If so, he could endure any discomfort like before.

Mo Yeon had been feeling unfamiliar emotions recently. While he used to be solely focused on yang energy, lately he secretly enjoyed other things as well. He liked being taken care of by Tae Young-won and enjoyed eating delicious food together. Honestly, spending time together under the pretext of the project wasn’t that uncomfortable anymore, which made him feel this way even more.

And realizing this, Mo Yeon felt a bit perplexed.

“I think I understand why Han Chae-yeon is acting like that.”

“…Pardon?”

Mo Yeon raised his head at the sudden voice.

“When you’re always around similar people, you sometimes get tired of it. It’s strange, but you start feeling a sort of boredom towards the people around you, even if you’re not in a relationship.”

“…”

“But you’re not like that. Maybe because you’re a character I’ve never seen before… I’m sorry to say this to you, but even your reaction in the bathroom was actually interesting. It’s something I’ve never seen from others.”

Mentioning the bathroom, Tae Young-won chuckled as if recalling something. While Mo Yeon was flustered by the sudden mention of an embarrassing memory, Tae Young-won’s gaze swept over him. His grinning face was playful.

“So I find it fun too, hanging out with you.”

“…”

Tae Young-won finds hanging out with me fun.

It wasn’t a matter of fun for Mo Yeon to say “me too” in response. It was more a matter of survival, if anything.

Mo Yeon was the person who knew best how Tae Young-won would change the moment he discovered Mo Yeon’s true identity. Perhaps the closer they got now, the bigger the problem would become. Imagining the moment when the time bomb would explode, Mo Yeon felt a chill run down his spine and quickly turned his head away.

“…Let’s quickly do what we were doing.”

Mo Yeon said coldly. He deliberately turned his gaze to the data screen on the laptop.

Click. Click. Only the sound of the mouse echoed between the two. And the gaze that had been staring at Mo Yeon was slowly withdrawn after a moment of silence.

***

During a major class, the professor’s monotone voice and the sound of individual note-taking filled the air. As Tae Young-won was listening to the lecture, he suddenly looked down at the black pen he was holding.

The pen, which seemed to be an unusual shape rather than a common mass-produced item, had a subtle sheen all over its body. However, judging by the faded gloss in the middle section, it showed clear signs of use.

After rolling it in his hand and fiddling with it for a while, Tae Young-won gripped the pen familiarly again. His gaze also returned to the front where the lecture was in full swing.

It was the pen that Mo Yeon had lent him last semester, which he hadn’t returned for half a year.

After the approximately two-hour class ended, Tae Young-won and Kim Jung-hyun headed for the back door. Han Chae-yeon was waiting for them at a table in the cafeteria. However, before they could even exit through the back door, Tae Young-won’s attention was caught by something.

The black cat that lived near the back door was one that had occasionally appeared there since before Tae Young-won took a leave of absence. It had been about two weeks since he last saw it. Since it wasn’t a cat that showed up every day, he approached it with a feeling of welcome.

The cat meowed and approached with its tail straight up. Tae Young-won’s eyes curved gently as he knelt down on one knee.

He seemed familiar with it, gently stroking its chin and petting its small head. Tae Young-won often smiled when dealing with people, but now his smile was much more relaxed than usual. After petting it for a while, the cat even rolled over and exposed its belly.

Amazed by this sight, Kim Jung-hyun also sat down. It might look odd to see two big guys doing this, but even to Kim Jung-hyun, this black cat was really cute the more you looked at it, despite the initial startling effect of its black fur color.

“How did you become friends with it?”

“Huh?”

It was a question Kim Jung-hyun suddenly asked after watching for a while.

Ah.

Realizing the meaning, Tae Young-won thought about the question for a moment. The contemplation didn’t last long.

“I gave it some food, and then gently petted it, and it seemed to like that.”

“No, not the cat. I mean Mo Yeon, that guy.”

At those words, Tae Young-won silently raised the corners of his mouth. It was a reaction that was hard to read.