I Liked It First

Chapter 5

Doyeon blinked. He was holding the box in his arms in disbelief.

He thought for a second that Hyunoh might have been tricking him by handing him an empty box to throw away, but the weight told him it was full.

Hyunoh was already making his way down the other street after saying his piece. Doyeon sprinted after him.

“Hey! What—What are you doing?!”

Hyunoh glanced at Doyeon chasing after him. “You wanted it badly, no?” he asked nonchalantly.

“Not that badly. I just wanted to stock up back home,” Doyeon refuted him.

It didn’t work on Hyunoh. “You can have it. I don’t eat a lot of snacks.”

“Then why did you try so hard?”

“Because I wanted to win.”

“What?”

“Because I have to.”

Hmm... Doyeon glanced at Hyunoh again. There was a touch of coldness to his blank face.

Does he... really have an illness that kills him if he loses to someone?

He seemed uncaring about everything all the time, except when it came to competitions. It was interesting to see him try his all when it came to winning.

Hyunoh continued on his way without another word. Like always, they didn’t say their farewells.

Doyeon watched him walk farther into the distance. As he hugged the box of treats, he noticed how Hyunoh’s tall, broad back disappeared under the streetlamps.

He wanted to send another middle finger, but he was holding onto the box, and... well, he had to hold it.

“Oh, I forgot to say thanks.”

Doyeon trudged back to his house. He had been so surprised by the sudden kindness that he forgot to say thank you.

He had to, even if Hyunoh probably threw the box at him because he didn’t want to carry it back home.

“Aeyoung! I won some snacks today!” Doyeon shouted happily the moment he opened the door.

Aeyoung rushed out from the living room, the TV flickering behind her, and swung onto Doyeon’s waist.

“You’re the best!”

He felt proud as he watched Aeyoung dig through the snack box.

* * *

Late at night, around the time tutoring centers closed, Hyunoh hummed to himself as he walked down the quiet street.

Besides the few expensive cars that passed down the street of luxurious, well-fenced mansions with stone walls, there wasn’t a single person in sight.

He slunk up the hill that felt more like a graveyard and pressed the bell to his house, which sat on top of the hill. It looked down on all the other houses. Then he smiled at the security camera hanging in front of his door.

“It’s me.”

Clunk.

The cold sound of metal scraping against metal issued before the gate opened.

He trekked over the pebbled path of his garden that was illuminated with dim lights and stepped inside through the front door. A child ran at him from the reception room.

“Oppa!”

“Minhae, you weren’t sleeping?”

The child was his little sister who just turned eight, Minhae Gong. She was his little sister from another mother, so she shared half of his blood.

Hyunoh reached out, gathered Minhae up into his arms, and kissed her cheek twice. Then he began walking into the house with his bag in one arm and Minhae in the other.

“Why weren’t you sleeping? It’s eleven. You’ll get scolded.”

“But dad’s home!”

Hyunoh’s smile disappeared.

He stopped in front of the stairs to the second floor and turned around. He didn’t know when the man appeared, but a man with his features was standing behind him with an arrogant expression.

“You’re late.”

“Yes, my tutoring class ended late. How was your business trip?” Hyunoh lowered Minhae and bowed.

His father had returned from his long business trip in Germany.

Minhae remained with Hyunoh, clinging to his waist.

“Good. I heard you graduated at the top of your class and became the commencement speaker for your high school?”

“Yes.”

“I heard you became class president again, too. Good job.”

“I was lucky.”

His father’s eyes immediately turned cold.

“Hyunoh, there’s no such thing as luck in this world. You were lucky enough to be born into this family. If you still can’t win despite your circumstances, you are the one at fault. You are the one lacking.”

Hyunoh quietly waited for his father to continue.

“Win. You must always stand above others, even for the smallest things. If you are my son, you must.”

“Yes.” Hyunoh nodded without much feeling.

He wished Minhae goodnight and went up to his room on the second floor. The moment he turned a corner and closed the door behind him, Hyunoh released a long sigh. There was a long silence.

Hyunoh tugged the tie off his neck and stood in the dark room in silent frustration.

He closed his eyes and listened to the noises outside: the sound of leaves rustling, the sound of the wind sweeping through their garden, and the sound of cars honking somewhere.

After a long time, Hyunoh opened his eyes, turned on the lights, and walked into the bathroom.

* * *

A few days later, Doyeon and Kangbin carefully opened the door of the clubroom, just in time for club activities.

“Is this a botanical garden...?”

The first thing they walked into was sunshine pouring into the entire clubroom. Then, they saw green plants lining the room’s edges and window sills. Outside the large windows were green leaves shaking with the wind, which made them feel like they stepped into a forest.

“Hello.”

“Oh, hello.”

There were around fifteen upperclassmen in the room, and they all seemed as kind as the plants they were surrounded by.

The two had registered for this club on a whim on Pi Day.

During the event, some sophomore and junior students had set up a stall to advertise their club when Doyeon’s attraction to a flower was caught on their radar.

“Do you want to join? You do have to join a club at some point. It’s a requirement. We’re the Plant Club.”

“Oh, no, I was going to join the Board Game Club...”

“Our club eats chicken and pizza every Thursday. The principal is crazy for plants, you see, so he funds our snacks more than enough.”

“Where’s the registration form?”

He was seduced by chicken and pizza. That day, Doyeon dragged Kangbin into club registration because he didn’t want to do it alone.

“Hey! You decided to join the same club I joined, so I registered for you.”

“What? Which club?”

“A club that eats chicken and pizza every Thursday. Sounds good, right?”

“There’s a club like that? That’s amazing!”

Kangbin looked happy then, so Doyeon had felt proud of himself.

Doyeon followed the upperclassman inside toward the leftmost desk. There were two new members waving their hands at him.

“These two are new, too. You two wait. We’re waiting for one more student.”

Do we get to eat chicken once that person arrives? Doyeon stared at the clubroom door with sparkling eyes. The new kid must have been wandering somewhere because it was taking quite some time.

He answered the upperclassman’s questions, like his name, his hobbies, and other stuff, until the door opened.

Chicken! Doyeon raised his head, then tilted it to the side.

Huh?

“Hello.”

The student’s face was familiar and had an easygoing smile.

Hyunoh Gong. Why was he here?

“There we go. Hyunoh’s here.”

The sophomore, Seohwan Im, greeted Hyunoh. Their natural interaction showed they knew each other.

Doyeon felt strange. He had already seen enough of Hyunoh in class. Did he have to see him here, too?

Regardless of Doyeon’s feelings, Kangbin greeted Hyunoh with enthusiasm.

“Ooh! Hyunoh! Are you here for the chicken too?!”

“Chicken?”

“And pizza!”

“Um... yeah.” Hyunoh smiled, seeming annoyed.

Doyeon held his forehead. Kangbin, please. You’re embarrassing…

Suddenly, a girl emerged behind Hyunoh’s back.

“Hello.”

There was a little commotion at the back from her greeting. Doyeon’s eyes grew wide.

Seyoung Shin. Wasn’t she famous? He heard she was a K-pop trainee in the past and that she still had a bunch of social media followers. He knew she was quite popular in school.

Was she friends with Hyunoh? That had to explain why she came with him.

Hyunoh was led to a seat by the sophomore and sat across from Doyeon. Seyoung naturally sat next to Hyunoh, since she’d come with him, and the way she pressed her shoulder to Hyunoh’s made them look like close friends.

Or more…? Were they a couple?

“Doyeon, you’re here, too.” Hyunoh smiled at him the moment he sat across from Doyeon.

Doyeon turned his head and sighed. Desk mates in class, desk mates in club.

“I’m tired of you, too.”

“Why do you keep following me around? Do you like me that much?”

“I was here first, dude...” Doyeon growled, gritting his teeth.

He really, really didn’t like Hyunoh.