Romantic Gangster

#20

The September night air after summer’s end, Seo Ji-woo’s white nape that kept drawing his attention, and the occasional bursts of laughter—all of these were so different from what Hyun-joon usually encountered that they felt new and increasingly intriguing.

Could he feel this good every day if he just went to school? Could he eat with Ji-woo daily, chat during breaks, and continue being together like this after school? Just by going to school and sitting in the classroom?

“…”

While “just because” was the only answer he could give to the question “why,” Hyun-joon wanted to go to school tomorrow.

Because he was curious about tomorrow’s Ji-woo.

For now, that was enough.

* * *

After showering, wearing only underwear and a loose t-shirt, Hyun-joon took out a spare school uniform shirt crumpled in the closet and hastily hand-washed it. Worried it wouldn’t dry by morning, he roughly dried it with a hairdryer and hung it on a drying rack. This should be enough for it to be dry by morning, needing just a quick iron before wearing.

After dealing with the uniform, Hyun-joon immediately lay down on his mattress and set an alarm. It had been so long since he’d gone to school on time that he wasn’t sure what time he should go. So he set the alarm for 7:30 and put down his phone.

“…”

Should he style his hair a bit tomorrow? Though it might not seem like he cared, if he styled it in a way that could only come from really putting effort in, would Ji-woo think he was incredibly handsome again?

‘Thanks for walking me home.’

Hyun-joon tossed and turned in the darkness, remembering Ji-woo waving goodbye and thanking him for walking him to his house.

‘I was laughing so much while talking to you that I forgot I had to send you home halfway.’

Doesn’t laughing together mean the conversation is really fun and enjoyable? If he forgot to send him home… doesn’t that mean he really likes being with me? He said I’m handsome, forgot to send me home because we were laughing… He cares about me not graduating if I don’t go to school, tells me to come to school to see him…

“…”

Does Seo Ji-woo like me?

It seems right. This isn’t a misunderstanding, it’s obvious. It can’t be wrong. He said he waited at the convenience store because he thought I’d come, right? He lets me come close to smell his pheromones, stays still when I get close to smell…

“Ah, crazy.”

Suddenly feeling hot, Hyun-joon kicked off the thin blanket and sat up abruptly. He couldn’t sleep, couldn’t stop thinking about Ji-woo, and felt so hot he thought he might go crazy.

“…”

What should I do now? Should I just naturally continue like this and very naturally start dating?

Damn, dating Seo Ji-woo. Holding hands with him, hugging him, shit, even kissing? Ah, damn. Just thinking about it made him feel like he could smell the castella scent. Hyun-joon slapped his heating cheeks hard enough to sting a little and shook his head, trying to stop his increasingly lewd thoughts.

What if he suddenly says he likes me, that he likes me so much he’s going crazy? Should I just accept right away? I mean… I don’t dislike it. He is pretty, and cute too, and well… he keeps catching my attention, so dating might be okay.

“…It’s so damn hot.”

Hyun-joon pulled off his t-shirt and tossed it aside, lying back down to stare at the ceiling. He needed to sleep to go to school early, but he couldn’t fall asleep. He was going crazy with Ji-woo’s smiling face in his mind.

…I wish morning would come quickly. So I can go to school.

“…Damn.”

He must be crazy after all.

* * *

Waking up before his alarm, Hyun-joon ironed and put on his now-dry school shirt as expected, then spent quite a long time styling his hair to look natural yet cool before leaving home. Seeing Ji-woo—that was his only reason for going to school, so he didn’t bother packing textbooks or anything. He just slung a backpack over one shoulder for style.

As he was about to descend the stairs from his rooftop room, he saw a round head below. Even though he couldn’t see the face or a name written on the head, he knew it was Seo Ji-woo.

Hyun-joon was so surprised to see Ji-woo in front of his house that he froze, unable to move. Sensing his presence, Ji-woo slowly looked up.

“Oh?”

Seeing Ji-woo’s surprised face, Hyun-joon descended the stairs and let out an incredulous breath.

“Hey, this is my house. I should be the one surprised, why are you surprised?”

“I didn’t expect you to come out so early. I was going to wait five more minutes and then go up if you didn’t come out.”

“Why did you come here?”

“I thought you might suddenly not want to go to school, so I came to take you.”

…See, I told you. He came all the way here at the crack of dawn because he wanted to see me and go to school together. He really does like me.

Hyun-joon, filled with excitement, tried to control his mouth that kept threatening to break into a smile and glanced at Ji-woo.

“Ah, I told you I’d go to school.”

“Still, you might have changed your mind while sleeping.”

“…But coming here first thing in the morning?”

“Why? Do you dislike me coming?”

“Who…! Dis…like? I don’t dislike it, I was just surprised because you came without saying anything. I understand your feelings, but I need to prepare mentally too, so wait a bit more patiently.”

“What mental preparation? You need mental preparation for this?”

“Of course. Well, I’m thinking positively… so, um… don’t worry too much. Most likely, hmm, I’ll… do as you want.”

Hyun-joon, having indirectly expressed his decision, cleared his throat unnecessarily and started walking.

“But you seem like a really straightforward type. How worried were you about me not going to school to come here and wait from the morning?”

“I think if you just go to school every day for a week, you’ll adapt to some extent. So I thought it’d be good if I helped for at least a week.”

“Still, you don’t have to look after me that much.”

“I’m planning to do everything together until you adjust to school.”

Until I adjust to school? What does that mean? Ah, is he suggesting we flirt while doing everything together during the week I’m adjusting to school?

It wasn’t immediately easy to understand, but it wasn’t incomprehensible either. Isn’t he just using the time to adjust to school as an excuse to keep being together, because it might seem strange to suggest doing everything together outright? Nodding, Hyun-joon stole glances at Ji-woo’s fine hair that swayed slightly with each step.

With every step, a clean, soap-like scent wafted from Ji-woo. It wasn’t his natural scent, but probably from the soap he used when showering in the morning… but even that scent suited Ji-woo so well that Hyun-joon’s gaze was drawn to him with each step.

If every morning could be this fresh and pleasant, he felt he could manage going to school until graduation.

Because Seo Ji-woo would be there to walk with him like this every day.

* * *

As Ji-woo had said, after going to school for exactly 7 days despite it being a bit bothersome, getting up in the morning became a bit easier, and Hyun-joon found himself setting an early alarm before bed, unconsciously thinking he had to go to school tomorrow.

These days, Hyun-joon felt like he had become quite a decent nineteen-year-old. He wondered if he had ever lived such a ‘student-like’ life before.

He used to think it was better to oversleep during school hours, play games, or do debt collection work to earn big money that was hard for students to make, but lately, that thought had changed a bit.

He realized that belonging somewhere and being able to do things ‘together’ was quite enjoyable. More precisely, it was good to do things with Seo Ji-woo.

So, after preparing to go to school for the 8th consecutive day, Hyun-joon left home. He hurried towards school. Even though there was nothing urgent, he just kept wanting to get to school quickly. Even while thinking he was being ridiculous, his mind was full of thoughts of Ji-woo from the morning.

In fact, thinking about it, they weren’t doing anything special. Just attending classes in the same classroom, going to the school store or vending machine during short breaks, eating lunch, buying ice cream or drinks and aimlessly wandering around the school, then attending more classes and going home together—it was just a predictable, routine schedule, but it was so much fun.

Arriving at school, Hyun-joon entered the classroom and looked at Ji-woo’s seat first. Perhaps because he came a bit early, Ji-woo wasn’t there yet. Ah, should I have stopped by his house on the way, saying I just happened to pass by? He always came to my house to go together, am I being too inconsiderate? Will he feel hurt?

Thinking he should pick Ji-woo up tomorrow, Hyun-joon went to his seat and pulled out the chair to sit down. Although the other students still seemed a bit tense when they entered the classroom, it was already the 8th day, so it was much better than at first and not something he needed to worry about particularly.