Just A Friend

#17

As if resisting the drowsiness covering his consciousness, he repeated those words for a long time. After the sleep-drunk muttering, silence followed for a moment. As he was about to sink into the stillness devoid of pencil scratching or echoing voices, a low voice was heard.

“You talk as if you’ve experienced it.”

The voice that cut through his drowsiness was so low that instead of waking him up, it seemed to pull his consciousness further down.

“Girlfriend?”

After a while, the deep voice was heard again.

“How long did you date to say that?”

“…”

“Are you still seeing her?”

The endless voice felt like an unwelcome guest disturbing his sweet sleep, and Nam Seonwoo grumbled, furrowing his brow. Why are you talking so much? You weren’t like this before.

“If you’re going to sleep, change your clothes first.”

“Shut up…”

As hands grabbed his shoulders, Nam Seonwoo clutched the blanket tightly as if resisting. But his body was pushed back with ridiculous ease. As his back hit the bed with a thud, his heavy eyelids slowly lifted.

Kang Jihan was covering the ceiling. One furrowed eyebrow gave him a slightly welcome feeling, as it had been a while. As he blankly stared at the clear line of the eyebrow, a light sigh fell on his cheek.

It tickled, making him laugh. But the more he laughed, the more Kang Jihan’s face hardened. Not knowing why it was so funny, Nam Seonwoo unconsciously raised his hand to that face.

“Smile a little.”

As he pressed hard where the dimple used to be, the face became comical. While he was giggling, suddenly his collar was grabbed.

…Collar? Wait, why the collar…

“Take it off.”

…What?

That’s when the sleepiness completely vanished. Nam Seonwoo blinked with his eyes wide open. And he thought. Did I swear in my sleep just now? But if I did, he would have hit me. Why is he telling me to take it off?

“N-no, I don’t want to.”

“I said take it off.”

“I said no!”

His head, unable to understand the current situation and context, went blank as if overloaded. But Kang Jihan looked like he was about to take off his shirt at any moment. Nam Seonwoo tried to resist, holding Kang Jihan’s arms with both hands, but as the resistance prolonged, Kang Jihan completely climbed onto the bed.

“Hey, t-talk to me. Why are you doing this…”

“Because you won’t listen.”

As one hand pressed down on his shoulder and the other reached for his shirt collar, Nam Seonwoo’s hand finally moved.

“Are you crazy, you pervert!”

Nam Seonwoo glared at the pushed-away face, breathing heavily. But Kang Jihan looked perplexed.

“Pervert?”

That made it even more confusing. The look that seemed to ask what he was thinking made it feel like Kang Jihan was accusing him of being the pervert. It felt unfair.

“Trying to undress a perfectly normal person is perverted, what else would it be?”

“…”

With his hands clasped over his chest as if guarding his clothes, he looked like someone about to lose their chastity. The strength left Kang Jihan’s hands. Taking advantage of this, Nam Seonwoo pushed the blanket away with his feet and moved far away from him.

Looking at the messy bed, Kang Jihan sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He asked,

“Aren’t you staying over?”

Nam Seonwoo was still tense. Because now, everything this guy said sounded suspicious. But since they had shared a bed before, it was inevitable that it would sound that way. Nam Seonwoo retorted sharply,

“Why would I, I stay over with you?”

Kang Jihan, who was about to say something, closed his mouth again upon seeing Nam Seonwoo hugging a pillow like a shield. After pondering Nam Seonwoo’s words for a while, he finally spoke.

“I’m not sleeping here.”

“…”

At the oddly misaligned conversation, Nam Seonwoo slowly raised his body that had been curled up behind the pillow. He too, mulled over the recent conversation and thought.

What kind of conversation is this?

Just as Nam Seonwoo was about to speak, having finally grasped the situation, a knock broke the awkward silence.

“Seonwoo? Is everything okay? Auntie’s coming in.”

Their heads turned as the door opened cautiously. Baek Heeyeon, despite hesitating at the gazes focused on her, maintained a gentle smile and said,

“I heard loud noises, did you two perhaps fight…”

Her gaze fell on the bed. Nam Seonwoo’s messy hair and shirt clearly showed the intense confrontation that had occurred. The gazes of the three connected silently in the air.

“…I guess not?”

“M-Mrs. Baek!”

Nam Seonwoo jumped up, adjusting his collar as he ran to Baek Heeyeon.

“Kang Jihan, he, he tried to forcefully undress me!”

“Oh my.”

“I was sleeping, and suddenly he grabbed my collar and with a really scary voice, said he’d kill me if I didn’t take it off…”

“You’re dead.”

Something suddenly covered Nam Seonwoo’s head. It was a white T-shirt and navy sweatpants.

“If you’re awake, change your clothes.”

“See that, Mrs. Baek… I was so scared. Waaah.”

Baek Heeyeon laughed brightly at the cute voice. Knowing her son’s neat personality, she could easily understand that the current situation was the result of her son’s patience running out. Letting him lie down in his school uniform for hours was already pushing it.

“Alright. It’s too late now, so stay the night. Have breakfast before you leave in the morning.”

Nam Seonwoo looked at Kang Jihan sulkily. Although he had acted playfully on purpose to break the awkwardness, his heart wouldn’t calm down.

Kang Jihan and a bed. It was a combination that made him defensive. Especially when he was pinned down earlier, he really thought his brain would freeze. The only way to calm his still-racing heart was to get out of this space as quickly as possible.

“No, it’s okay. I should sleep at home.”

Nam Seonwoo hurriedly packed his school bag. Seeing him preparing to leave, Baek Heeyeon asked him to wait a moment, went to the kitchen, and soon returned with her hands full. They were containers of side dishes.

“You seemed to enjoy the meatballs earlier, so I packed some. I also included kimchi and soup, so you can have a simple breakfast in the morning.”

No matter how many times he refused, it was useless. Knowing that at this point, it was more polite to accept gratefully than to refuse, Nam Seonwoo thankfully received the daily provisions. However, he politely declined the offer to be driven home.

“Really, you don’t need to drive me. It’s my neighborhood just a short walk away. I’m sorry for imposing so late.”

“Then Jihan, why don’t you walk him to the front?”

As if he had already planned to do so, Kang Jihan silently put on his shoes. Under the warm yellow light, Nam Seonwoo bowed repeatedly to Baek Heeyeon and left the house with Kang Jihan. The already quiet residential area became even quieter as the lights went out.

There was no particular conversation between the two as they walked along the sparsely lit street lamps. Although the silence wasn’t uncomfortable, Nam Seonwoo, slightly conscious of what had happened earlier, waved his hand and said,

“I’m going. Go back in.”

Without waiting for a response, he turned around and walked, checking the notifications on his phone. Most were spam messages, but there were also some from Park Gyuhyeon.

[Bak-gyu: Hey, what happened???? Why didn’t you come to evening study?]

[Bak-gyu: I heard there was a disciplinary committee meeting, what’s going on? Did you really fight with the kids from Class 3????? ]

[Bak-gyu: Did you win? lol]

Having been in meetings at the teachers’ office all day, it seemed rumors had already spread everywhere. Just as he was about to press the keypad to give a brief reply,

“Did you save it?”

“Ah geez, you scared me.”

The voice coming from right behind him almost made him drop his phone. Nam Seonwoo, who barely managed to catch his phone in mid-air, turned around. Kang Jihan, whom he thought had gone back home, was shamelessly peering at his phone screen.

“Save what?”

“The number.”

“No, we see each other every day anyway, why would I…”

Nam Seonwoo trailed off, remembering he had thrown away both the note from the hospital and the secret santa letter. At those words, Kang Jihan looked down at the phone screen again. It showed Park Gyuhyeon’s messages, someone they “see every day.”

“Ah, I did. I did, okay? But how far are you planning to follow me? Go home now.”

Nam Seonwoo said, snapping his phone shut. But what was held out in front of him was another phone.

“Enter it.”

As Nam Seonwoo stared blankly at Kang Jihan’s phone, Kang Jihan kindly added,

“I couldn’t save it.”

“…Here. Happy now? Can you please go home?”

After returning the phone with the number entered, Kang Jihan immediately put it to his ear. The dial tone sounded unusually loud in the quiet neighborhood, and soon Nam Seonwoo’s phone lit up. The screen showed an unsaved number.

“…”

Kang Jihan’s gaze lingered there too. Their eyes met in the air. Under the gaze that seemed to ask why he hadn’t saved it, Nam Seonwoo finally grumbled and entered the owner of the number.

Kang Jihan. The three characters were saved at the top of the contact list. Somehow, it hurt his pride. But he couldn’t remove the ‘Kang’ either… As he glared at the phone screen, Kang Jihan asked,

“Where’s your home?”

Nam Seonwoo answered grumpily.

“We’re almost there. See that playground? Our apartment complex is over there, so please go home now, okay?”

“Okay.”

Kang Jihan nodded, looking in the direction Nam Seonwoo pointed. Unlike the residential area, quite a few apartments in the complex still had lights on at this hour. Kang Jihan stared at Nam Seonwoo, who was holding an armful of side dish containers, and spoke.

“Take care on your way back.”

And a little later, he awkwardly added,

“…See you tomorrow.”

Those words felt strange to Nam Seonwoo too. He quickly turned his head to look back in the direction where Kang Jihan had been standing, but he was already far away. Nam Seonwoo, who had been blankly staring at that retreating figure, scratched the nape of his neck.