Kim Hajun

Friday was so amazing, but Saturday morning felt miserable. It wasn’t just because I knew I wouldn’t be able to see Jisu Hyung today with him back to helping out at his parents’ restaurant on the weekends. That much was just bearable. But what really sucked was that I needed to head out now to practically cheat on him.

I ultimately didn’t tell him about the double date situation. I couldn’t, not with everything we had done together yesterday. Plus, if I had told him, I probably would’ve lost all motivation to go, and Hyunwoo was really counting on me. He sent me over ten messages last night telling me I could not back out on this once in a lifetime chance no matter what.

It was boyfriend versus best friend, a dilemma in which I couldn’t win no matter who I chose. The best I could settle on regarding my inescapable position was this. It would only be a date if I made it out to be one. Hyunwoo was already a lost cause, but that didn’t mean I had to go into this with the same mindset as him.

Today would simply be a friendly gathering of two boys and their two school seonbaes. It would end at nothing more than that as well, at least for me. It probably shouldn’t end that way for Hyunwoo, though.

I was the last to arrive at the station out of the four of us. I bowed to Jiwoo Seonbae and her friend. “Hello, I’m sorry for the wait.”

Hyunwoo glared at me. He was the first one here, arriving a very safe half hour earlier than scheduled.

“It’s no problem,” the friend replied, unable to make direct eye contact with me.

Jiwoo Seonbae introduced, “This is Kim Hayun. She’s my class friend.”

Hayun Seonbae said, “I don’t know if you remember, Hajun, but we met that one time you came with Hyunwoo to our classroom.”

I jogged through my memories and, to my surprise, found her. “Oh, right. You were the one who said you’d vote for me if I ran for student council president.”

“You remember,” she said, unable to hide her shy smile.

I wasn’t sure whether she was acting like this because she was legitimately nervous or if it was just for show. Ever since I started dating Jisu Hyung, girls became even harder to figure out than before.

Jiwoo Seonbae pointed out, “Kim Hayun and Kim Hajun. Your names are only one letter apart.”

Hyunwoo gave her two thumbs up. “Very keen of you, Jiwoo Noonim! Ever the sharpest member of the student council! And might I add that both of our names end in the same—”

Jiwoo Seonbae pushed his butting head away with a finger, sighing. “Don’t overdo it, lackey. Follow along silently, will you?”

“Yes, noonim! I mean—” Hyunwoo zipped his mouth and quickly caught up with Jiwoo Seonbae’s fast walking pace.

On the other hand, Hayun Seonbae’s speed was much slower than mine. She was much shorter than me, too. While I was nearing 182 centimeters, she had to have been 160 at the tallest. It would’ve seemed rude to make her catch up with me, so I had to fit her pace.

“Hajun, are you good at watching horror movies?” Hayun Seonbae asked as we approached the movie theater.

I should’ve known. Halloween was just around the corner. Of course, the movie Jiwoo Seonbae bought tickets for would be a scary one. I wished Jisu Hyung could’ve been next to me instead of her to hold my hand like last time. Although, it wouldn’t have been probable anyway with Jiwoo Seonbae and Hyunwoo around.

I realized my current status to the rest of the world as a single straight boy and nodded. “Yes, I’m fine with horror movies.”

“That’s a relief,” she sighed. “Then, would it be okay if I held on to you like this during the movie?” She wrapped both her arms around one of my own.

Her arms felt so short compared to Jisu Hyung’s— “Um, sure, whatever you want…”

I had to stop thinking about my boyfriend during this date that wasn’t supposed to be a date. My focus should be on making sure this seonbae did not have any feelings for me by the end of the day because I was dead sure I didn’t and wouldn’t ever have any for her.

Speaking of dead, the movie we ended up watching was a zombie flick. Fortunately for me, there were only a few tame jump scares, and the rest of the horror aspect of the film centered around the gore, which wasn’t even that gruesome. Unfortunately for me, Hayun Seonbae was seriously the worst at watching scary movies, to the point where I almost got fed up with her constant yelping. Not to mention, my arm went numb by the end of it due to how hard she squeezed it for dear life.

And this was why I preferred guys. At least their voices weren’t as ear-piercingly high as this seonbae’s squeals were. I missed Jisu Hyung’s smooth medium-pitched voice. The way he moaned into my ear was so perfect. The sweet memories of yesterday were starting to arouse me at a time and place I most certainly should not have been aroused at.

I kept bringing my mind to such dangerous territory… It was all because of Jisu Hyung. I wanted to be with him right now so fucking much.

The four of us walked out of the movie theater, together this time. It turned out Hayun Seonbae had no problem keeping up with Jiwoo Seonbae’s fast walking. That was evidence enough that she definitely was putting up some sort of flirty front around me. I didn’t find it attractive. And now, I truly had no reason to fit her needs anymore.

“Am I the only one who’s hungry right now?” Jiwoo Seonbae asked.

Hyunwoo raised his hand. “I’m hungry, too!”

Hayun Seonbae joined in on the hand-raising. “Me, too!”

While I didn’t raise my hand, I also replied, “Me, too.”

Jiwoo Seonbae said, “There’s a really good fried chicken place around here where I can get us a ton of free side dishes.” She smirked. “I’m pretty close with the owners.”

Hyunwoo’s eyes lit up. “Noonim, you are incredible!”

Hayun Seonbae giggled. “Well, then. Lead the way, Jiwoo.”

I followed along quietly, wondering when I could leave this gathering and go see Jisu Hyung. This all seemed like such a waste of a weekend. The two of us could’ve spent this time being alone together in his bedroom again. Well, he still had his shift at his parents’ restaurant, but I could probably convince him to come home a bit early today.

 I wanted him so damn much.