“So, was it true or not?”

Yuel had his head down and his hands tightly clenched into fists. He didn’t know why he had to answer this guy’s question at all. That past was best left buried deep and never brought up again.

“Come on, why aren’t you saying anything? Cat got your tongue?”

Yuel took a deep breath. “I think you should—”

“Is there a problem here?” Edin asked behind the two boys.

Though his hands were full with drinks and snacks, he was ready to let all of them go in order to protect his frightened classmate. At least, that was the vibe he got from how pale Yuel’s face was.

The moment the unnamed boys turned around, they took a step back at how much taller Edin was compared to them. Edin smirked, further intimidating them.

“I asked if there’s a problem here.”

“Uh, n-nope,” stuttered the boy who was interrogating Yuel just a moment ago.

“Hey, let’s go, man,” his friend said.

“Yeah…”

Yuel looked up, and the sight of Edin’s face got things clicking in his head. He muttered under his breath, “So that’s why…”

“Woah, wait for me!” Edin called out when Yuel rushed off.

Even though Edin’s legs were longer, Yuel’s walking speed was much faster. Edin had to pace himself to catch up to Yuel in front of their classroom. He followed him inside where no one else was present. And with this privacy, Yuel decided to confront the boy about what was on his mind.

“You know about my past too, don’t you?” he asked bitterly.

“Huh?” Edin blurted out in surprise.

“Why else would you ask if I had a boyfriend? You were trying to make fun of me, weren’t you? You’re just like everyone else.”

“What? No, that’s not it.”

“Then, what is it? Do you like me or something?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“I knew it— Huh?” Now Yuel was the one who was surprised.

“I like you,” Edin said in all seriousness.

If Yuel had trouble understanding this boy before, he might as well be speaking to an alien at this point. “But I’m a guy.”

“Does that matter? I think you’re way prettier than any girl I’ve ever seen.”

“W-What?”

“You’re really pretty.”

Yuel stumbled back, not believing what he was hearing right now. Edin was at his desk to put down the stuff he had gotten at the store. He placed a can of soda, a bag of potato chips, and some cream-filled bread on Yuel’s desk.

Opening the packaging for his own bread, Edin said, “Don’t just stand there. Come and have lunch.”

Yuel took another step back, not comfortable with the idea of sitting next to an incomprehensible boy who apparently also liked him. He wanted to ask if he actually liked him in a romantic sense or just as a fellow classmate, but he was afraid to hear the boy’s answer.

“Do you want me to feed you?” Edin offered, to which Yuel was even more terrified to hear his answer.

“No. I’m… going to go use the bathroom.”

“Want me to come with you?”

“No, please don’t.”

“Okay. Come back soon.”

Yuel wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon. In fact, he would be spending the rest of the lunch hour searching around school for a good hiding spot for all the lunchtimes to come.

. . .

“Since it’s the first day, there’s no yaja, so enjoy your true last day of freedom, everyone,” Ms. Kim said, dismissing the class for the day.

(*Yaja: time after school when students stay in class to study, usually mandatory for third-years)

The room quickly emptied out as students either headed home or to a hakwon. Yuel fell in the former category. He grabbed his empty backpack and got up.

(*Hakwon: cram school)

“Hey, wait,” Edin called out, scrambling around to pack his bag with a few books and his hakwon homework.

But by then, Yuel was already out of the classroom. He practically ran down the stairs and out of the building. He didn’t stop pacing until he was a safe distance away from school. Thankfully, Edin didn’t come running after him. At least he wasn’t that crazy.

But that got Yuel thinking. Just why was he so desperate to get away from that boy?

“I like you.”

Yuel shook his head. There was no reason for him to take that statement at face value. Edin could have just been a really good liar or perhaps someone who liked to pull ridiculous pranks. How was Yuel supposed to know? He had only met the boy today. And he made sure not to say a word to him after lunch, to which Edin didn’t force him to talk, either.

People tended to act friendlier on the first day anyway. And Yuel was a new student, at that. Edin was sure to leave him alone sooner or later.

However, there was one person who wouldn’t leave him alone no matter what. Even if Yuel was physically away from him now, he was still haunted by the thought of him.

Yuel stared at the new text that had just arrived on his phone.

[Kyungwon Hyung: Hi, Yuel. How was your first day of school?]

Yuel noticed the crosswalk signal turn green and returned his phone to his pocket. Though Kyungwon would know he had read his message, Yuel wasn’t going to send him a reply.

. . .

“I’m home,” Yuel said out of habit, but the house was empty.

Yuel had to remind himself that he was living with his dad now, who often had to work late at the office. Both of his parents were quite well-off, his mom running her own English hakwon while his dad worked at a big tech company. But these jobs often took out a lot of their time, which resulted in many days of Yuel having to eat dinner by himself.

However, that was before Kyungwon had entered his life back in middle school. He was the reason Yuel now had a habit of saying, “I’m home.”

Quietly, Yuel entered his new bedroom and lay on his new bed. He came to live with his dad just a week ago. His excuse to his mom was that his dad lived very close to Seoul, which would make things more convenient when he needed to visit colleges in the city for entrance exams. It wasn’t a lie since it was still technically one of his reasons.

Yuel’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and saw an incoming call.

[Kyungwon Hyung]

Yuel knew that if he answered this call, he would be going against the true reason he was back in his hometown. And yet, a call was so much harder to ignore than a text. He sighed and pressed “Accept.”

“Hello?” Yuel said slowly.

“Hi, Yuel,” Kyungwon greeted in the same bright and warm voice that never failed to make Yuel’s heart skip a beat.

Even now…

“Hi, Hyung…”

“Did you have a tough day at school?”

And yet another thing that made Yuel’s heart flutter.

Kyungwon always knew how he was feeling and cared enough to ask about it. It sometimes made Yuel wonder if he simply liked Kyungwon as a kind parent figure of sorts, since his actual parents were rarely around. But then again, there was no way he would imagine himself making out with a parent. Even though Kyungwon really was one now…

“Oh, sorry. Hold that reply,” Kyungwon said. “I think Sori’s calling me. Yeah, Sori?”

Yuel heard Kyungwon’s footsteps get farther and farther away from the phone. But they soon got closer again, this time accompanied by lighter taps from the feet of a three-year-old.

“Yuel Oppa,” Sori slurred, having just woken up from her nap.

(*Oppa: used by females to address an older brother or any older, usually close male)

“It’s amazing how she knows to wake up the second I start talking to you,” Kyungwon said with a chuckle. “She really loves you.”

“Hi, Sori,” Yuel said, forcing himself to sound much happier than he did when he was solely talking to Kyungwon. “Did you have a good nap?”

“Yeah,” Sori replied with a yawn.

“I think you might need some more sleep,” Yuel teased.

“Uh-uh. I wanna talk to you, Oppa.”

“Let’s talk about your day later, then,” Kyungwon said. “I should get dinner started for Sori.”

“Alright, Hyung,” Yuel replied, though unsure if he would ever tell Kyungwon about his uncomfortable first day at school.

“Sori, talk to Yuel Oppa while I make you dinner, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy. Oppa, did you go to school?”

Yuel smiled. Sori had been asking him that every day since he moved away. She was one of the reasons he had no choice but to still take Kyungwon’s calls. And today, he could finally give her the response she wanted to hear.

“Yeah, I did.”

“Ooh,” Sori sang with fascination. “Did you have fun?”

Yuel paused for a moment, thinking about everything that happened today. With a certain peculiar boy in mind, he replied, “Yeah… I guess.”