Yes, It’s Me. The Obsessive Side Top

#047

“Is Grandmother not here?”

“She went to the village community center. But Sun Woo. How can you still not greet your hyung even after seeing me? It’s been an extremely long time. I think this is the first time I’m seeing you since you were in high school. Is this your friend next to you?”

“Yes.”

“Hello.”

“Yeah. Wow, are you a celebrity? How can a person look like this? No, is this the same person?”

Sun Woo seemed to dislike continuing the conversation with him and blocked me as I was about to answer, holding out the pot. The other person was expressing his joy with his whole body, in contrast to Sun Woo’s behavior.

“What’s this?”

The person who took the pot asked with wide-open eyes.

“It’s loach stew. Grandmother told us to give it to you. Then we’ll get going.”

“Ah, wait a moment, just a moment. I’ll give you one of the watermelons our grandmother brought today.”

He quickly went into the small storage next to the house and brought out a watermelon the size of a human head. Ignoring Sun Woo’s hand reaching out to take it, he held it in his arms and stood next to us.

“What’s this? They say birds of a feather flock together. Sun Woo, even your friend is as handsome as you? I’m jealous, dude.”

He didn’t seem to have any intention of handing over the watermelon, saying that, and gestured forward with his head.

“Let’s go. I’ll also greet Grandmother while I’m at it.”

Sun Woo avoided his gaze and sighed.

“Alright.”

It was strange to see Sun Woo showing his original personality. This was exactly the feeling I got when I first saw him. Then at some point, he started taking good care of me, and it turned excessive and he started acting weird. Thinking that I had opened the cold lock on Sun Woo’s heart like this, I felt a bit proud in one way. How did I open it? When I thought about it, all I could remember was drunkenly kissing him and telling him to sleep together while sleep-talking. If you put it that way, you could say I gained Sun Woo’s heart with my body. …Damn it.

“Ah! This car?”

He made an abrupt remark, pointing to his car parked in the yard. No one even asked, but he suddenly tried to explain about his car. I’m not even curious though?

“I bought it to commemorate my salary increase this year.”

Because he stopped to explain the car, I had no choice but to look at him, and Sun Woo sighed as if it was starting again.

“Ah, is that so?”

I reacted to his boasting. It’s not polite to say nothing when someone is talking. Sun Woo may have thrown manners out the window, but I’m still a person who learned etiquette, so I smiled kindly. I could feel Sun Woo looking at me dissatisfied, twitching his lips, but I looked at the person bragging about his car with a friendly smile. It’s understandable to want to show off when you get a new car.

“I thought I might have overdone it a bit. But I’ll earn much more in the future. An employee at a large company should drive a car like this at least, don’t you think?”

“Wow, so you work at a large company?”

“I get scouted by several places, and somehow the company found out and raised my salary.”

“You must be very capable.”

“Hahaha. I’m somewhat like that. If the company wants to keep me, they have to let me stay. What can I do? You guys will also have to graduate and get a job. If you need anything, ask me. I may look like this, but I’m an employee at a large company, you know? You can’t meet someone like me anywhere else. You guys.”

“Ah, yes.”

“If you’re Sun Woo’s friend, do you also go to A University by any chance?”

“Yes.”

“Getting into a good university isn’t everything. After graduating, the university is just one line of spec, you know?”

I do know that, but he seemed to have a tendency to subtly look down on people. It was the top university in Korea, so it wasn’t something to be lumped together as just one line of spec.

“What’s important is knowing how much you can discipline yourself. In my days…”

Wow, I actually get to hear “in my days”. Seeing someone say that was so fascinating that my eyes must have been sparkling, because he continued talking with even more excitement.

“I showed my good sides to my seniors and built connections. I also chose my friends carefully and only kept those who could be helpful to me by my side. I realized life doesn’t just get better by existing. You get back as much as you put in the effort yourself. So you should also choose your friends carefully.”

He said that to me and glanced at Sun Woo. What does he want me to do, really? I can see why Sun Woo is ignoring him. The person had a style of endlessly boasting. His story continued even while walking. Since Sun Woo didn’t answer, he kept directing his words to me who was responding, and it felt like my energy was being drained rapidly. Sun Woo, if you knew this person was like this, you should have given me a little hint too. I want to cover the mouth of my past self who kept answering to be polite.

“You shouldn’t just live life recklessly. Take this advice from a senior in life to heart.”

“Ah. Yes.”

“Don’t get envious looking at my car and thoughtlessly buy a car when you don’t even have the ability, putting on only a flashy exterior. These days, there’s a term called ‘car poor’, right? They’re really out of their minds, don’t you think? How can they drive a car when they don’t even have money? I heard there are young kids who live in monthly rentals but drive foreign cars.”

“I guess there are people like that.”

“You guys should never do that. There are kids trembling because they don’t even have money for gas, so why are they buying a car? They should save that money and spend it on something more substantial. It took me 5 years to buy that car too. But compared to others, that’s still very fast, you know?”

“I don’t know. If that’s fast.”

“Oh my, our little ones, really. If there’s anything you don’t know, ask me. I’ll teach you very well. It’s nice to have a life senior, isn’t it?”

I don’t think I’ll ever ask him anything. Perhaps his mouth was itching to talk, because as soon as he found someone to listen, he poured out words like a flood. To the point where I wanted to snatch the watermelon from his arm and tell him to get going.

Enduring his noise pollution, we arrived and entered Grandmother’s front gate.

“Why are you so late?”

Kim Shin ran to me with a grin. At the appearance of an unfamiliar person, Kim Shin asked with his eyes as if asking who he was.

“I think he’s the grandson of the neighbor’s grandmother.”

I spoke quietly so only he could hear.

“Really?”

“He came along to greet.”

“But why is he doing that over there? Not coming in?”

When I looked back, he was looking at the two cars parked in the yard with a surprised face, alternating between them. It was Kim Shin’s car and mine.

“Sun Woo. What are these cars? They’re not your cars, right? Right?”

He asked Sun Woo with a glaring gaze, and that gaze seemed to contain the meaning that it absolutely couldn’t be his. Come to think of it, this person seems to have an inferiority complex towards Sun Woo. That’s why he was desperately appealing about himself.

Everyone earns money when they go out into society, but he packaged it as if it was his own heroic tale. He wanted to talk about how he was better than Sun Woo in any way possible, to the point where it was pitiful. And of course his circumstances would be more affluent than Sun Woo’s. How can a second-year university student and a 5-year working adult be the same?

“They’re my cars though?”

At Kim Shin’s words, he looked at Kim Shin and then at the car again, making a dumbfounded sound.

“Car poor?”

“What’s that? Car poor?”

Kim Shin tilted his head as if he had heard that term for the first time in his life. The premise that car poor people drive cars worth billions was wrong to begin with. Grandmother, who came out at the commotion, welcomed him.

“Oh my, when did you come? Did you come to hang out at Grandma’s house?”

“Ah, hello. Grandmother.”

“Yes. You have a good physique.”

“…”

He hesitated and handed the watermelon to Sun Woo, then awkwardly greeted and left the yard. His back looked miserable, drooping as if he had been hit hard by reality.

“What’s car poor that he’s talking about?”

Kim Shin asked me, curious about that term.

“Well. It’s a word you’ll never hear in your life.”

At night, Sun Woo ended up coming into the room, saying he would sleep together. Seeing the three pillows placed without any gaps, it felt like my breath was caught in my throat. With this, three large men would have no choice but to lie down stuck close together to the point of feeling each other’s body heat.

Now the only thing left was who would sleep in the middle. Sleeping in the middle seemed like it would be really uncomfortable… Unexpectedly, the owner of the middle spot was easily decided. Sun Woo volunteered to sleep in the middle.

Kim Shin didn’t seem to have much interest in the sleeping arrangement, saying okay and carefully examining my neck. Then his hand stroked my nape. Of course, Sun Woo stopped him right away, but he was still showing his typical sly smile.

“Ha Jin. Are the countryside mosquitoes strong? It’s turned really red.”

“Is that so? It was itchy earlier, so I scratched it.”

“Really? It’ll leave a scar. Don’t touch it anymore.”

“Okay.”

Damn it, Sun Woo. You left a proper mark.

As expected, it was cramped and uncomfortable with the three of us lying down. I tried sticking to the wall as much as possible, but it was still narrow. It seemed even more so because Sun Woo was stuck right next to me… I slightly lifted my head to look towards Kim Shin’s side, and it was very spacious. When Kim Shin’s eyes met mine as he looked at the empty space next to him, he smiled as if it was absurd.

“I didn’t know Sun Woo would be so considerate of me. Look at him sticking to Ha Jin as much as possible in case I feel uncomfortable because it’s cramped. I’m completely touched.”

“Sun Woo. I think you can move to the side a bit.”

Even when I pushed Sun Woo with my body, he didn’t budge at all. Rather, it looked like I was rubbing against him, so I stopped pushing. If we divided the room in half, Sun Woo and I were crammed into one half, while Kim Shin was using the other half very leisurely. Even when I expressed dissatisfaction with the inefficient use of space, Sun Woo remained silent.

“There shouldn’t be any mosquitoes today. Ha Jin’s skin is clean, so marks like that show up well.”

“There won’t be mosquitoes. Sun Woo lit a mosquito coil earlier.”

“I guess so.”

Kim Shin smiled brightly and closed his eyes. I also lowered my head, and when I closed my eyes lying down, Sun Woo’s arm wrapped around my body. Thick veins popped up on my forehead, but I just stayed still. Sun Woo wasn’t someone who would listen to me anyway, and even if I screamed here, it would only make my throat hurt. He might even do something worse out of spite. Sun Woo was more than capable of that.

I thought I would fall asleep trapped in Sun Woo’s touch, but I heard Kim Shin’s voice along with a rustling sound.

“Ah, there’s something I didn’t mention.”

Kim Shin, who laughed softly, continued.

“I’m a light sleeper. Sun Woo.”

His voice, laced with laughter, had dropped lower.