Seung-ho leaned forward, and the heavy fabric of his hood dropped over his eyes. The yellow lamp cast a dark shadow across his face. 

Hyo-bin felt the sudden heat radiating from his clothes, and stopped moving.

Seung-ho couldn't breathe when their noses almost touched. He kept his fingers over Hyo-bin's hand.

"Don't do it," Hyo-bin said quietly.

He stared directly at Seung-ho's lips, and he did not pull his hand away. He fought to keep his breathing steady in the narrow space between them.

"Why?" Seung-ho asked.

He tilted his covered head down, and his warm breath hit Hyo-bin's skin.

"Because we can't. And I haven't forgiven you," Hyo-bin said.

He waited for the final inches to close, and his stomach dropped as he anticipated the contact. Seung-ho stayed perfectly still under his hood.

"I never apologized, did I?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," Hyo-bin said. "That's why you're an asshole. Why are you all over me, Seung-ho?"

"Am I not allowed to miss you?" Seung-ho said. "You didn't miss me at all?"

"I miss you every day," Hyo-bin said. "But when I look back, missing you doesn't even feel uncomfortable, let alone painful."

Seung-ho buried his face in Hyo-bin's stomach. He pressed his cheek against his shirt, and he did not move.

"Please forgive me," he said quietly. "I was only nineteen. I didn't even know how to deal with anything."

Hyo-bin touched his hair. The last time Seung-ho had curled up in his lap like a cat, they were in high school and everything was different.

"It's okay. There was nothing you could've done anyway," he said quietly.

"Ya, can I kiss you?" Seung-ho asked, not lifting his head from his stomach.

"What? No, asshole. Don't act all needy," Hyo-bin said.

Seung-ho lifted his head and looked directly at him.

"I don't like you hanging out with Soo-bin," he said.

"I don't give a fuck," Hyo-bin said. "Soo-bin's my good friend, and he's not some sellout like you."

Seung-ho pulled his head back.

"Yaa, what kind of thing is that to say?" he asked.

Hyo-bin leaned forward and held his face.

"Aigoo, did that offend you, Seung-ho?" he asked. "I've said worse."

Seung-ho laughed.

"No, I just wanted you to feel sorry for me," he said. "Ya, you wanna swim?"

"Actually… you wanna sleep?" Hyo-bin asked.

"Together?" Seung-ho asked loudly.

"Yeah," Hyo-bin said. "We can sleep together if you want. Like… in highschool."

"Wanna lie here on my chest?" Seung-ho asked.

Hyo-bin did not answer. He slid closer on the couch and put his head directly on his chest, then wrapped his arms around him.

Seung-ho grabbed the blanket and pulled it over them. He rested his hand on Hyo-bin's shoulder, then leaned his head against the side cushion and closed his eyes.

Now two giant swimmers were lying on top of each other on the narrow couch. And Seung-ho could not remember the last time he had felt this happy in years.

—

Seung-ho opened his eyes. 

It was around five in the morning, and the living room lamp was off. Hyo-bin was not there.

The wooden door at the end of the room stood open, with light spilling in from the stairs.

Seung-ho pushed the blanket off his legs and walked through the door. After going downstairs, he entered the pool room.

Hyo-bin was swimming laps alone in the water. 

Seung-ho stood by the tiled edge and watched him. He watched how effortlessly Hyo-bin moved through the water. And his speed was hard to believe.

Hyo-bin finally broke the surface. He breathed heavily and turned around.

When he saw Seung-ho, he smiled.

"Didn't wanna miss the practice chance," he said.

"I'll make something to eat and come back," Seung-ho said.

Hyo-bin went back to swimming laps.

—

Seung-ho returned to the pool room with a tray of food. He had made tea and brought grilled meat, rice, and various side dishes for breakfast.

Hyo-bin stayed in the water and looked at him.

"Ya, get in," he said.

"Still got morning wood," Seung-ho said. "You really don't want this."

Hyo-bin laughed loudly. He climbed out of the pool, dried himself completely with a towel, then pulled his hoodie over his head and sat on a lounge chair. He helped Seung-ho set the tray down on the small table and began pouring the tea.

Seung-ho placed meat and an egg over Hyo-bin's rice.

"Wanna do something after we finish the project?" he asked.

Hyo-bin handed him his tea.

"I gotta head home," he said. "Who knows how my father's doing."

Seung-ho picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks and brought it to Hyo-bin's mouth.

"Eat this," he said.

Hyo-bin pulled his head back and laughed.

"Get a grip, idiot," he said. "What am I, a baby?"

Seung-ho looked directly at him.

"Eat it, Hyo-bin," he said, offering the meat again.

This time, Hyo-bin just opened his mouth and ate the meat from his chopsticks.

"We've only got a few topics left," he said. "Let's leave once we're done, okay?"

"Alright, Hyo-bin-ah," Seung-ho said quietly. "Whatever you want."

—

Seung-ho leaned over the glass table and stared at the laptop. 

The afternoon sun heated the living room, and he pulled the strings of his heavy hoodie. Hyo-bin hit the keyboard loudly next to him. He sat in his shorts with his hood pulled completely over his head, and he kicked his plastic slipper against the table leg. Half the day had passed with them fighting over the presentation slides.

"Your font choice is trash," Seung-ho said.

"I make the fucking slides, so I pick the font," Hyo-bin said. He clicked the mouse, and the screen changed. "If you don't like it, you type."

"You type faster," Seung-ho said. He kicked his slipper against Hyo-bin's chair leg. "Make the title red."

"No," Hyo-bin said. "Red looks cheap. We're keeping it black."

Seung-ho reached out to grab the mouse. Hyo-bin slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch my mouse," he said.

"It's actually my mouse. Ya, you missed a typo on slide fourteen," Seung-ho said.

"Where?" Hyo-bin asked, and he clicked back a few pages.

"Right there," Seung-ho said. He pointed his finger at the screen. "You spelled 'analysis' wrong. Are you an idiot?"

"Shut up."

Hyo-bin fixed the word and saved the file. They had spent hours fighting over background colors and transition effects since the morning. Seung-ho liked to complain about everything, but he had actually provided good data for the content.

"I'm gonna do the talking during the presentation," Seung-ho said. "You just click the mouse."

"Why?" Hyo-bin asked.

"Because my voice sounds better," Seung-ho said. "You mumble when you get nervous."

Hyo-bin turned to look at him. The heavy fabric of his hood hid the top of his face.

"I don't mumble," he said. "I have a higher grade point average than you. The professor likes me more."

"Yeah, because you sit in the front row and suck up to him," Seung-ho said.

"Ya, at least I show up to class," Hyo-bin said.

"Yeah, right," Seung-ho said. "And when you show up, you cause a scene and get us in trouble."

He closed the laptop and pushed it across the table. He stood up from his chair and adjusted his shorts.

"Ya, look," Seung-ho said. "Don't you think we're really good?"

Hyo-bin touched his hood and pushed his hair out of his eyes.

"We used to be like that, so what are you surprised about?" he asked. "Ya, I really missed competing with you too."

Seung-ho walked over to him and crouched down, then turned his body around to face him.

"What else did you miss, Hyo-bin?" he asked quietly.