I Liked It First

Chapter 3

Doyeon immediately turned his head. Hyunoh looked expressionless, and the way he bit into the chestnut bread with the green trees as his background beyond the glass resembled advertising models for bakeries.

But “lackey”? Lackey.

Doyeon seemed to be the only one who heard Hyunoh’s whisper.

He stared at Hyunoh blankly as he smiled and moved his mouth silently.

La—ckey.

Was he trying to drive the point home?

Doyeon hated how his eyes were smiling and how his lips were smirking.

He wanted to snap back, but he was distracted by Kangbin’s fuss trying to get a proper YouTube video. He spilled his drink during the ruckus, which naturally had Doyeon cleaning up after him.

“Doyeon, you’re the only one for me...” Kangbin whined as he rubbed his forehead on Doyeon’s shoulder.

Doyeon staggered when Kangbin’s huge body leaned on him. He dragged Kangbin, who refused to release him, and threw the tissues in the trash. He realized the moment cleanup was done that Hyunoh Gong wasn’t wrong to have called him a lackey.

He’d opened Kangbin’s tteokbokki cup, opened the sauce packet, opened the other snack, wiped his table, and cleaned up after his spilled drink.

From an outsider’s point of view, he probably looked like the lackey to a bully.

He even registered for the class president election because of Kangbin too. That sounded just like a kind, stupid lackey who did whatever the other asked for.

Doyeon went over what he must have looked like to Hyunoh.

Kangbin Baek was the son of a wealthy family. For that reason alone, Doyeon’d seen many kids try to be Kangbin’s friend since middle school. Of course, Kangbin knew what they were after and never gave them the time of day, but there were more than one who approached him with other thoughts in mind.

Hyunoh Gong probably experienced the same, since he was obviously someone who was from the top of the social pyramid based on his actions and words. He was said to be wealthier than Kangbin Baek. He probably had to deal with countless whining flies.

So... I’m one of those flies in Hyunoh Gong’s eyes… One of those kids who linger around a rich kid by being very, very nice.

It was a reasonable thought, and Hyunoh probably thought he was disgusting or something.

Was that why he reacted so rudely when Doyeon congratulated him on becoming the class president back then and when he chatted about Hyunoh’s height? Was it because he looked like he was sucking up to him?

Doyeon felt angry.

He wasn’t a fly. Kangbin was the one who began to linger around him first, wanting to be friends! Kangbin was the one who asked to be his friend!

And why was Hyunoh Gong’s world so twisted? He only congratulated him on his position and said a few words about his height!

Doyeon shoved Kangbin’s head away. It was weighing him down.

“Go away. You’re filthy.”

“It’s three degrees Celsius today. You have goosebumps right here.” Kangbin poked Doyeon’s neck.

Doyeon swung his arm to shove him off. “Nah, I’m just freaked out by sticking this close to you.”

“Oh my god, I’m so hurt...” Kangbin muttered as he acted like a wounded creature.

Doyeon ignored him and cleaned the table. He had just about had it with the crumbs Kangbin was spilling everywhere.

The four finally left the store when lunch drew to a close.

Kangbin Baek and Sunwoo Hong ran forward trying to throttle each other. Hyunoh was walking along the shade of the trees with his hands in his pockets.

Doyeon approached him. “Hey.”

“What?”

He hated Hyunoh even more for his question. He also didn’t like how Hyunoh looked down at him from his high vantage point.

“It’s not what you think.”

“What?”

“I’m not his lackey.”

“Oh, then his servant?” There was a hint of disgust in his voice as he smiled.

Doyeon sighed to himself. Slave, if anything. He wasn’t rich enough to offer Kangbin Baek anything, especially not money.

“I’m just Kangbin’s friend. That’s why I take care of him. We’re not in that kind of... whatever you’re thinking.”

“Right.”

“I’m not sticking next to him because he’s giving me anything. We’re just friends.”

“Right, I get it.”

Hyunoh ended the conversation there as though he didn’t care.

Doyeon noticed he wasn’t interested in him at all. They were walking together, but Doyeon finally realized he was nowhere within Hyunoh’s boundary. To Hyunoh, Doyeon was no one but Kangbin’s little plaything that he didn’t want to talk to.

Whatever. He can think whatever he wants. I’ll be a penniless servant. Who cares?

Doyeon gave up on making excuses for himself. There was no point. Even if he did, the misunderstanding would last, and they weren’t about to be friends anytime soon.

He pulled out his earbuds and shoved them in his ears. He entered his own world that was apart from the one outside.

He felt more comfortable with a wall between himself and Hyunoh.

* * *

When school ended, the four left the school gates screaming and shouting.

They had been talking about the game tournament they watched together that weekend for five minutes when their paths parted.

“Hey, we’re going!”

Hyunoh, Kangbin, and Sunwoo took one side. Theirs was the street lined with after-school tutoring centers.

Doyeon waved Kangbin and Sunwoo off. “Bye.”

He didn’t bother meeting Hyunoh’s eyes.

Like always, Hyunoh turned around without a word. Doyeon secretly sent his middle finger up at his back and began to walk toward his house.

It was an old house barely ten minutes from the split street. Two motorbikes were blocking the entrance. He slid past them, walked all the way up to the third floor, and took off the chicken shop’s newsletter.

“Aeyoung, how was school?” he asked joyfully as he walked in.

The kitchen was right in front of the entrance. There, Aeyoung was working on her homework alone at the kitchen table.

“Oppa~!”

Aeyoung swung her legs under the table and smiled at Doyeon.

Doyeon closed the glass door to his room, changed, shuffled his bag away, washed his hands, and sat right next to his sister.

“Ooh, Aeyoung, were you working on your homework? Did you wash your hands when you got home?”

“Yup. I washed my hands with soap, and I brushed my teeth too.”

“Really? I didn’t even have to tell you! Oh, you’re so smart and good.”

When he stroked Aeyoung’s head, she shrunk her neck and giggled.

Doyeon moved quickly in front of her.

He picked up the eraser dust gathered on the floor in front of Aeyoung, wiped the water marks on the kitchen table, and did the dishes his mother and sister had left behind. Finally, he began to braid her hair again, as it was only half done.

Doyeon was making sure not a hair was out of place when he suddenly clicked his tongue.

This is why he misunderstands. This is exactly how I take care of Kangbin. No wonder he thought I was his lackey.

He was determined not to care, but he still felt upset.

“Oppa, I don’t get this either. How does that become two?”

By the time Aeyoung’s notebook pages had run dry of answers, she slid her homework to him.

Doyeon began to explain slowly.

“All right, look. Remember how you learned that ones more than ten hop over to the tenth position? Well...”

Until last year, Doyeon attended a tutoring center, but he stopped when the new year began. He wanted to take care of Aeyoung for a while, who just entered second grade of primary school.

He wanted to make sure she wore neat, clean clothes and had her nails cut. He wanted to have her smell like soap, since they didn’t have any scented things around the house. He wanted to make sure her homework was done, that she always had her supplies, and that she wasn’t lagging behind academically.

Since they only had one parent, there were people who regarded them with stereotypes.

“That Doyeon kid, I heard he doesn’t have a father...”

“Yes. His mother is always busy. I called his parent for a meeting, but I was told she could only be contacted after 10 P.M.”

“Oh, really? Then who takes care of the children? I did think their clothes didn’t suit the season sometimes. Does their mother not care? I heard the child is smart.”

Doyeon faced similar comments when he was little.

His mother tried, but it was hard for her busy, tired hands to reach every corner of the household.

So Doyeon always had to prove he was a good, upright child in the midst of judging eyes.