"Hyung, you're not a baby, you can't just sit on any random floor. Things get on you."
Yugyeong said this, tossed his white PE uniform top down like a mat, and sat Chaheun on top of it.
"Wait, isn't that your uniform?"
Regardless of what Chaheun said, Yugyeong nonchalantly folded himself onto the top he'd laid down and glued himself to Chaheun's side.
Chaheun stiffened his expression and looked at Yugyeong. Baek Yugyeong, apparently loving being stuck to him this much, sneakily wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned his head on his shoulder.
Bullshit, this is a scheme. How does he never miss an opening. Persistent bastard.
At the thought, he almost moved to the side, but seeing Yugyeong's PE top already covered in dirt, he just sighed.
...More importantly, this kid.
Chaheun scanned Yugyeong stuck to his side, feeling something strange.
Why is he breathing like this?
Yugyeong beside him had tossed away his PE top and was wearing only a thin short-sleeve, but his chest wasn't rising and falling visibly. Perhaps having just exercised, his large, solid chest was staying still without any movement. Like someone holding their breath.
"...?"
Feeling Chaheun's gaze, Yugyeong's eyes turned to Chaheun's face. He seemed to spot the small split at the corner of his mouth, fixed his gaze on the lips, then pressed the spot with his finger.
"Ah!"
"Ah, sorry. But hyung... did you fight with someone?"
Saying he'd fallen didn't seem meaningful, so Chaheun just answered honestly.
"...Just, with my brother."
"...Huh... I see. Your hyung has that kind of personality, huh?"
"That's just brothers for you."
"...Aww~"
Before Yugyeong could bring it up further, Chaheun beat him to it.
"Baek Yugyeong."
"What? That you like me so much? Yeah, I like hyung too."
"...I won't complain about you sticking close, so don't ruin your clothes like this."
"..."
"Do you have spare clothes? It's still too cold for short sleeves."
Chaheun looked at Yugyeong's short-sleeve worriedly. Was there a spare inside, he was checking that.
Glancing at his side, the corner of Yugyeong's mouth was going up and down thinly.
"Hyung, do you like me that much? Enough that I can stick to you anytime?"
"...Ugh..."
"Proposals are my job though. If hyung does it, I get sad."
Sidling in, wrapping his arm around Chaheun's waist and clinging while whining, made Chaheun want to smack him just once. Unable to physically overpower him no matter what he tried, Chaheun asked in a defeated voice:
"You're such a neat freak?"
"Well, isn't it weird to sit somewhere others have walked all over without knowing what's on it? So hyung, don't just sit around either."
"...You're right. But you."
"Yeah?"
"I knew this already, but you really do give off young-master vibes."
Given how boys their age normally rolled around on the ground, this creature who wouldn't even sit down had to be a fastidious cat-like being. Chaheun looked at Yugyeong like he was some strange creature, then huffed a dry laugh.
"Yeah, wouldn't hyung prefer rich me to poor me, though?"
At the unexpected words, Chaheun lost his voice briefly.
"Hey."
"Ah, hyung, I'm heading to foot volleyball. You'd better watch me. If you look at other kids, I'll sulk."
"...What are you going to do if you sulk."
The worst you can do is be annoying.
"If I sulk I'm going to get comforted by hyung. In your classroom--"
"..."
Chaheun grew uneasy. What, stick around all day? Come to the classroom and everything?
That'd be pretty annoying.
Baek Yugyeong had, for a while, actually been listening and not entering the classroom, but now he might be provoked into annoying territory, so his eyes narrowed.
"I'll crouch in front of the classroom and cry."
"..."
If you're told not to come in, at least you're playing at listening.
Funny kid.
Imagining a big-framed guy crouching and crying did make him huff a dry laugh. Chaheun laughed emptily, then... since he looked pretty cute, he reached out and mussed up his hair once. The pale wheat-colored strands rustled slightly.
"Whether you're rich or not doesn't matter, I have no intention of dating you, but rich or not, you're a decent kid. Anyway..."
"..."
"Sadly since we're on different teams I can't cheer you on, but I'll be watching. Do your best."
Baek Yugyeong lost his voice and just stared at him. The deep cream-colored eyes sending an intense gaze felt almost oppressive.
"...Baek Yugyeong?"
Even being called, he didn't respond, just blinked while looking, like a cat. Maybe it was because the corners of his eyes turned up.
...?
Then, without giving Chaheun time to block, Yugyeong braced one hand on the ground next to Chaheun's leg and his face closed the distance in an instant. Something soft touched his cheek.
"Since hyung says he won't cheer, I figured I'd take it in advance."
Baek Yugyeong's exquisite face was still close. He soon narrowed his eyes into crescents and hooked up the corners of his mouth.
"I'll be back. If we win, on the lips."
What just happened.
After freezing there stupidly, only once Yugyeong was almost at the stairs did Chaheun grasp the situation and shoot to his feet.
"Baek Yugyeong!!"
"Hyung! If you call so loudly, Yugyeongie is embarrassed!"
Chaheun grabbed the back of his neck.
...My insides are burning up, seriously.
One thing's for certain. That bastard definitely has an older sibling above him. And with a significant age gap.
Because otherwise, no way a grown high school boy calls himself by his name in the third person.
Chaheun tried to force the thought in a positive direction, but the fact that he'd been kissed by a high school boy was so hard to believe he had to scrub his cheek with his hand.
...It stings. The gaze.
...What is this?
Chaheun's eyes rolled sideways at the bundle of stares from his side that were unmissable.
...Girls? Second-years?
He could see students clustered together on the bleacher steps beside him. Of course, those kids weren't openly staring, but the way their gazes kept sneaking over stung. Maybe they thought he wouldn't notice, that self-centered thinking typical of their age was cute in itself, but he found himself wondering what those stares meant.
...What is it? Are they looking at me like, "There's a guy who's not even playing foot volleyball, just lazing around"?
Just as Chaheun was seriously considering, at the girls' near-scream-like sounds, Chaheun immediately looked forward.
Ah, Baek Yugyeong.
Chaheun then began to focus on the foot volleyball match already in progress.
Apparently they'd picked four representatives from second and third years to compete, and Baek Yugyeong, one of the four, seemed to have already scored again.
Earlier, a score, this time, another score by him. Is he playing alone?
With that tall, refreshingly long build and having placed second in kendo back in the day, he must be someone naturally good at using his body.
...Weird. I was good at judo but I'm terrible at foot volleyball...
...He had memories of getting collectively beaten up by the guys he did it with in college. On a still-cold spring MT, they'd played "loser jumps in," and thanks to Chaheun's three consecutive trolling moves, his whole team got dumped into the icy spring sea. He'd caught a cold from that too, and he'd never looked at foot volleyball again after.
But that guy really is good.
Others were good too, but Baek Yugyeong stood out. If there was a textbook example of a golden boy who was good at everything, it was him.
Must be nice.
Watching Baek Yugyeong's dominant performance from afar for a while, mindful about sitting on his uniform top, Chaheun quietly got up, shook out the PE top, and folded it.
...I'll have to wash it and return it.
Expecting Yugyeong to dash over once the game ended, he tried to put some distance between them, but seeing Yugyeong surrounded by girls after the game, Chaheun took the PE top and headed toward the classroom.
"You're not wearing your inner jacket either. That's one point."
"..."
Caught at the school gate, Chaheun watched the discipline committee member finding even his blazer and thought internally, tough guy, while managing his expression. He'd racked up 3 penalty points from the big-framed kendo team student on the morning path.
Meticulous and cold. Does this kid do kendo AND discipline committee? Tough bastard.
Even though he could've let it slide, he stubbornly deducted 2, and even peeled off the cardigan to check whether the blazer was underneath, watching this, Chaheun grimaced.
The problem was that he'd overslept in the morning, forgotten his tie, and half-asleep put on familiar slippers instead of sneakers. Unfortunately, because inside was a full-grown adult and not a student, he wasn't used to this regimented life.
But usually they don't catch third-years...
Last time he'd gone to school in similar shape, that time's discipline committee member had scanned Chaheun's nametag and just told him to be careful going forward. Apparently there was an unspoken understanding among the mostly second-year discipline committee to let seniors slide, but this student in particular was unforgiving.
Feeling a little wronged, he checked how well-dressed the boy himself was, and found there simply couldn't be a student this immaculate from head to toe, and lost his words.
Admirable. Persistent...
He knew a person who had been appointed as a teacher shouldn't think like this, but really, this male student was persistent.
He's probably a strict principle-follower and thoroughly rational...
...When you grow up, do something like a doctor or a judge. Impressive kid.
Contemplating how many points before he'd have to do community service hours, Chaheun trudged into the school.
