Romantic Gangster

#56

“No, it’s true. I don’t lie, you know.”

Hyun-joon finally smiled at Ji-woo, who nodded with his lips tightly pressed as if it were true. He quickly climbed the stairs two at a time and wrapped his arm around Ji-woo’s shoulders.

“Hey, I’m letting you off easy because you’re pretty. You’re trying to solve everything with your face. Is being pretty everything, huh?”

“Someone might hear.”

“So what if they hear? They’ll just be super jealous. They don’t have Seo Ji-woo, but I do.”

Every time Hyun-joon’s voice, seemingly in a great mood, reached his ears, Ji-woo felt happy. It felt good to sense how much he liked him, and it was nice that he poured out those feelings without hiding them. His heart was pounding fast, and even though they had just arrived at school, he wanted to leave right away and go to Hyun-joon’s house.

It was also troublesome that he kept thinking about wanting to kiss continuously, just as Hyun-joon had said. What would happen if Hyun-joon knew it was true?

“What should we eat for dinner?”

“You’re already choosing dinner?”

“Is that too much?”

“Yeah… a bit? I think we could think about it when we’re going home later.”

“I’m really letting you off because you’re pretty.”

“What’s that? It’s really weird.”

Ji-woo laughed softly at the contextless reply, and met Hyun-joon’s eyes as he grinned along. Hyun-joon’s large hand rested on top of Ji-woo’s head, and his fingers soon gently tousled his hair.

It was a moment where nothing but happiness could be felt.

* * *

It was a day where one hour felt like ten. Hyun-joon, who had barely endured school in time that seemed to flow impossibly slowly, snatched Ji-woo as soon as the final homeroom ended. These days, Choi Young-jae seemed to be having a pretty decent flirtation with the girl Hyun-joon had introduced him to before.

He didn’t stop by the convenience store every day like before, and when school ended, he would immediately leave the classroom with a giddy expression. Hyun-joon felt grateful to Young-jae for the first time for moving as he wanted. He slung Ji-woo’s heavy bag over one shoulder and put his own empty bag on Ji-woo’s shoulder.

“The bag feels weird because it’s too light.”

“There’s something even weirder than that.”

“What is it?”

“I feel like I’m going to die wanting to kiss you right now. How did I live without doing it until now? It’s so strange. How did I endure it?”

“We can’t do it now. We’re at school.”

“We did it this morning. And we did it on the street yesterday.”

“…That was…”

Hyun-joon grinned at Ji-woo, who couldn’t make a logical rebuttal, and lowered his head to tap his own cheek. Ji-woo looked around and shook his head, seemingly deciding it was absolutely impossible at school.

“I’ll do it when we get home.”

“Ah, you’re pleading with your face again. I’m letting you off because you’re pretty.”

“When did I do that?”

“You’re doing it right now.”

Hyun-joon kneaded Ji-woo’s cheek as if he was kneading rice cake, then stood a step away from Ji-woo as if giving in.

“Let’s go. Let’s get your clothes from your house and buy some food for the weekend on the way. There’s nothing to eat at home.”

“Okay, let’s do that.”

“What should we eat for dinner? We don’t have much time, so let’s eat something simple, and have a late-night snack after the convenience store closes. Ah, I’m getting an appetite after a while. I need to manage myself more strictly now.”

“Why? Your body is already great.”

Hyun-joon couldn’t hide his smile at Ji-woo’s compliment and turned around to walk backwards, facing Ji-woo.

“Really? You think my body is great? You can see how good it is even through clothes, even though you haven’t seen it properly?”

“Yeah. You look different from other kids. Even wearing the same uniform, it seems to suit you better… You look cool even just wearing a T-shirt and pants.”

“Cool? Like, you really like it every time you see it?”

Ji-woo nodded, smiling at Hyun-joon who seemed to be in an extremely good mood. Seeing him unable to hide his smile at the compliment and asking various things happily, Ji-woo found it cute and wanted to give all the answers he wanted. Of course, it was also true that he was really cool.

“If it looks like that over clothes, what do you think it’s like under them? Want to see later tonight?”

“…Your body?”

“Yeah. We’re dating, so it’s okay to look, right?”

“…No, it’s okay. Who suddenly shows their body just because they’re dating? And we haven’t even been dating for a full day yet.”

“There are many people who get married after a month of meeting.”

“That’s them, and this is us.”

Ji-woo shook his head as he watched Hyun-joon, who had quickly flown to a place he couldn’t match even though he had tried to go along with what he wanted.

“…Would you look if I said I’d show you my body?”

“Yeah.”

Ji-woo burst out laughing as he watched Hyun-joon answer immediately without even thinking. It was absurd, but also cute to see him grumbling. He suddenly remembered Young-jae’s words that it’s over when you find the other person cute. Back then, he didn’t understand what it meant, but now that he was experiencing it, he seemed to know exactly what it meant.

“So when are you going to show me?”

“I’m not going to show you.”

“Why. Why ask such things if you’re not going to show…”

Hyun-joon was playfully grumbling while poking Ji-woo’s soft cheek when he reflexively turned his head at the sound of a loud horn from the crosswalk. A black car approached and stopped where Hyun-joon was standing.

“Hey, Hyun-joon. It’s even nicer to see you on the street.”

The back seat window rolled down and Baek Ju-seung’s face appeared. It was quite a sight to see him wearing a flashy shirt with luxury brand logos that anyone could tell was gangster-like, his hair slicked back with wax, smoking cigarettes in the car. Hyun-joon couldn’t understand why he was embarrassing him by pretending to know him instead of just going on his way.

“Why have you been so scarce lately? Without you, things aren’t working out. No matter how I look, there’s no one who works as cleanly as you.”

“I’ve been a bit busy.”

“Because of school? I heard you’ve been going to school regularly these days, seems it’s true? Seeing you in a school uniform feels strange. It’s like I’m making you do something you shouldn’t.”

Hyun-joon glanced at Ji-woo’s face standing beside him as he watched Ju-seung laughing as if enjoying the sight while exhaling cigarette smoke. He didn’t look displeased, but he seemed a bit bewildered, perhaps because he couldn’t quite grasp what the situation was. Why wouldn’t he be? Suddenly a gangster appears on the street and starts talking to them.

“Want to come out tomorrow? I’ll specially pay you more. It’s a big job, so I’d like it done quickly and cleanly.”

Normally, he would have been tempted by the offer of more money, but not now. This weekend was the first one since he started dating Ji-woo, and even if it wasn’t, nothing gave Hyun-joon as much satisfaction these days as being with Seo Ji-woo. Also… he didn’t want to get involved with the gangster in front of him right now, even if it was embarrassing for Ji-woo.

“I’m a bit busy this weekend.”

“Don’t be like that, come out for a bit tomorrow and just take a look. It’s a really big job. You’ll regret it? I’ll call you, so answer… Is that your friend next to you?”

Hyun-joon disliked Ju-seung’s dark eyes moving to look at Ji-woo, so he stepped sideways to shield Ji-woo with his body.

“I wondered why you suddenly started going to school. Is this right?”

Hyun-joon frowned as he watched Ju-seung waving his pinky finger, suppressing his rising irritation. He didn’t want to show an ugly side in front of Ji-woo. He thought it would be best to endure the irritation a bit and send him away quickly.

“Please go.”

“You brat, look at that temper. This job is really big, so don’t regret it and answer the phone tomorrow. Have a good time.”

Ju-seung threw his cigarette out the window and giggled, rubbing his two palms together. Hyun-joon was thinking of reaching into the car and tearing that mouth if he said just one more word. There’s a limit to patience, after all.

“I said go.”

“Alright, alright. I’m going, I’m going. Your friend have a good time too.”

Ju-seung finally tilted his head to greet Ji-woo standing behind Hyun-joon, and quickly closed the window as an unpleasant gaze fell on him. Only after seeing the car drive off did Hyun-joon release the tension in his clenched jaw.

He felt several times more embarrassed to face Ji-woo than when he was wrongly accused and scolded by the PE teacher. At least the PE teacher was a teacher, but Baek Ju-seung was a loan shark and a gangster. And not a good quality one at that.

Such a guy stopped his car on the street and deliberately spoke to him. And in a friendly manner as if they knew each other very well. If he had been alone, he would have been a bit annoyed but would have let it pass, but Ji-woo was beside him.

It meant that not only did he see it, but Ji-woo saw it all too. That face giggling while smoking cigarettes and wearing clothes with countless luxury brand logos printed on them.

He felt it would have been better to be misunderstood and slapped by the PE teacher ten more times. Then at least Ji-woo would have pitied him and maybe even gotten cute revenge on the PE teacher… But now there was no answer. He felt like if he turned his head, Ji-woo would be looking at him with a face that said he was pathetic.

…What should he say if Ji-woo asked who that was? If he casually said it was a hyung he worked with, wouldn’t Ji-woo think it was strange? Was there any possibility that someone could look at Baek Ju-seung’s face and not think he was a gangster?

“Hyun-joon.”

“……”

“Lee Hyun-joon.”

Hyun-joon, who had been standing still like a statue, lost in thoughts about how to deal with the depths of embarrassment, came to his senses when he felt his arm suddenly shaken and reflexively turned his head. As soon as he turned, his eyes met Ji-woo’s, who was looking up at him. He needed to casually say let’s go quickly, but his mouth wouldn’t move.