“Hamin? Seong Hamin? Hey, dumbass?”—Pause—“Baby?”

“W-What?!” Hamin blurted out, coming out of his daze and staring wide-eyed at the boy seated in front of him. “What did you just call me?”

“I called you a dumbass.”

“No, after that.”

Euiheon looked at him with a straight face and said, “Ba—”

“Never mind! Don’t say it! That word is banned from now on!”

“Aren’t you the one who says it the most, though?”

“I-I didn’t say it once this week!”

“Exactly. You’re being really weird this week.”

Hamin said nothing back. His friend was right. He went the entire week barely talking to Euiheon and straight-out avoided him when he could. This was the longest he had gone without touching him once. He had no clue how he used to put his arm around Euiheon’s shoulders or even hug him without any hesitation before. What could’ve gone through Euiheon’s head during all those moments?

Hamin buried his head in his hands, feeling the warmth rising in his cheeks. He was reminded of his conversation with Yuel on Monday.

“I think you need to figure out what that kiss meant to you.”

It wasn’t just the kiss that was the problem anymore. Hamin thought about every bit of physical contact he had shared with Euiheon until now. He had always assumed they were meaningless, that they were just lighthearted gestures from one friend to another. But he now knew that they probably weren’t meaningless to Euiheon. And that got Hamin wondering if they meant something to him, too.

Hamin realized that he was never that touchy with any of his other friends. Just the thought of hugging Edin and calling him his “baby” made him die a little inside. So then, why was Euiheon different? Why was Hamin able to treat him specially?

Could it be because they had known each other practically all their lives? In that case, Hamin ought to have seen Euiheon more as his brother than anything. But even though Hamin was an only child, he couldn’t imagine ever being that close with a sibling.

Which brought him back to that kiss. The kiss he didn’t exactly hate…

“Okay, you go through your existential crisis or whatever,” Euiheon said, standing up. “I’m going to get lunch. You’re not coming with me, right?”

“No—”

“Yes, you are,” Edin said, plucking Hamin out of his seat by the armpits like he did with his cat.

“Hey, what the hell?” Hamin snapped.

“I’m tired of you stealing Yuel’s lunch and disturbing our alone time. Stop being awkward with Euiheon and go have lunch with him.”

“I-I’m not being awkward with…”

Hamin stopped his sentence there, feeling he’d be too shameless to deny it. Of course he was being awkward with Euiheon. And he had no clue how long he would have to continue being so.

“Look,” Edin said, “whatever happened between you two, you need to talk it out.”

Yuel remained in his seat because he felt it’d be best to keep himself uninvolved. That matter had nothing to do with him, after all. But as much as he wanted to zone out and not even listen to the boys’ conversation, it was hard to ignore Edin potentially making things worse.

After talking to Hamin alone, Yuel got the sense that he was greatly confused. Having been there himself, Yuel knew such feelings were delicate and required a lot of time to process. Nothing should be rushed, especially not forcibly so by a friend.

“Edin,” Yuel called out from across the classroom. “It’s fine. I don’t mind Hamin eating with us.”

Edin looked at Yuel and immediately backed down. “Oh, okay…”

“Alright, I’m leaving,” Euiheon said, heading for the door.

“Wait!” Hamin said. “You know, you’re right, Edin. I should talk to Chewie.”

It was clear from the past few days that Hamin wasn’t going to be drawing any conclusions contemplating things on his own. He had never been the type to do much deep thinking anyway. He much rather preferred to face matters head-on.

Euiheon didn’t wait for him and left the classroom. Hamin chased after him, feeling a burst of adrenaline. He was more determined than ever to finally clear things up with his friend.

But a racing heart was all that was left of him by the time he sat with Euiheon in the cafeteria. He couldn’t get over the nervousness constricting his throat. He could barely swallow anything, feeling like he would choke on it. So instead, he quietly picked at his rice the entire time.

“Are you not hungry?” Euiheon asked.

Hamin lifted his head to see that Euiheon was already nearly done with his food. “Oh, uh, nope…”

Euiheon stuffed the last spoonful of rice into his mouth and stood up to return his tray. Hamin got up with him and dumped the food he had only taken two small bites of.

“Let’s stop by the store,” Euiheon said.

“What?”

It was odd for Euiheon to be the one to suggest they go there for once.

“Just follow me, idiot.”

“Okay…”

Hamin really didn’t have an appetite, so he let Euiheon buy whatever he needed on his own. Euiheon returned with a popsicle in his mouth and a small black plastic bag filled with various snacks. Hamin took one quick peek at Euiheon’s lips sucking on the chocolate ice cream before turning away. He couldn’t understand how his friend was so calm right now.

“So, when are we going to talk?” Euiheon asked.

Hamin grew conscious of all the other voices around them in the hallway. “We can’t talk here. Let’s go somewhere else.”

Hamin took Euiheon to the same spot where he and Yuel had their talk last time. Once again, there were barely any other students around. But instead of facing one another, the two boys leaned against the building side by side. They watched several cars drive past them beyond the fence. After the tenth one, Euiheon was done with both his popsicle and waiting for Hamin to speak first.

“Ham, are you going to talk or not?”

“Right, I will. I just… needed a second to get my thoughts together.”

Normally, Euiheon would have replied with something like, “You don’t even have any thoughts in that brain of yours to get together.” But hearing the seriousness in his friend’s voice kept him from making any snarky remarks.

Hamin took a deep breath. “Alright, so I’ve been acting a little weird this week.”

“Clearly.”

“But I don’t get how you haven’t been.”

“Why would I have to act weird, too?”

“Are you serious?” Hamin pushed himself off the brick wall and stood in front of Euiheon. “How can you be this chill with me after what happened on Saturday?”

Euiheon looked at him blankly for a second before straightening out his glasses. “What happened on Saturday?”

“Huh? What happened? Don’t you remember?”

“Remember what?”

Hamin paused, wondering why the thought had never occurred to him. Euiheon was completely drunk that night, so of course there was the possibility that he had blacked out and had no memories of anything.

“Ha, ha, haha!”

All Hamin could do was laugh hysterically at the week he had spent anguishing over something Euiheon didn’t even remember. Then, he could have just acted himself the entire time and put the matter behind him. It would have been like the kiss had never happened.

But it was strange. Hamin should have felt happy that he didn’t have to confront Euiheon about what they had done anymore. And yet the fact that Euiheon wasn’t the slightest bit aware they had kissed didn’t sit quite right with Hamin, either. It was almost as if he was a little disappointed—

“Hahaha!” Hamin let out another loud laugh to quiet his thoughts.

“What is wrong with you?”

“You really don’t remember anything about Saturday night?”

“I remember getting really drunk watching you play that stupid game with those two girls. And when I woke up, it was morning.”

“Okay, good. Great!”

Hamin pulled Euiheon in for a hug, the first hug in what felt like forever. This was the familiar feeling he had missed. Perhaps the reason he enjoyed hugging Euiheon so much was because the boy just fit perfectly into him, like he was meant to be hugged by him.

“Did something else happen that night?” Euiheon quietly asked with his cheek squished into Hamin’s chest.

Hamin shook his entire body, shaking Euiheon with him and nearly knocking off his glasses. “Nope, nothing at all. It was just a misunderstanding.”

Feeling a little dizzy, Euiheon muttered, “A misunderstanding, huh?”

+ Deleted scene: Euiheon tossed the bag full of snacks on Hamin’s desk after they returned to their classroom. They were all Hamin’s favorites. The hungry boy finished everything before lunch was over.