LA0S | Chapter 19

“Seeing you two together is such a treat for the eyes. It’s like… I feel more at peace somehow,” the guy in the red cap suddenly said.

Lee Jinha turned his gaze from Kim Chayoung’s twisted smirk to the guy in the red cap.

“Even when Chaeyoung hyung is alone, he stands out. But together with that sunbae… it’s seriously amazing.”

“Right?” Shin Youngmin chimed in, backing up the red cap’s comment.

“Turns out they’re high school classmates. From the same school. Isn’t that crazy?”

“Really? I bet you both got confessed to a lot. Was it a co-ed school? Tell us some stories.”

The red cap was as shamelessly curious as Shin Youngmin. Are all art school kids like this?

“I wasn’t that popular. I didn’t get many confessions.”

Lee Jinha couldn’t help but snort at his own comment. He could feel Kim Chayoung’s eyes on him but ignored it, popping a piece of kimchi into his mouth instead.

“Ah, hyung, don’t lie.”

Red cap countered as if he couldn’t believe it. The rest of the group joined in supporting the red cap. With that face, saying he wasn’t popular— who would believe that?

“It’s true. Everyone just saw me as a comfortable friend. I ended up giving a lot of relationship advice, really.”

“No way. Uh, there. Is what Chaeyoung hyung saying true? You were classmates, so you must know.”

Red cap tilted his head, looking puzzled, then turned to ask Lee Jinha.

After a dramatic soccer game where a last-minute goal had turned the tides, Kim Chayoung started talking to him frequently. He even shook Lee Jinha awake while he was sleeping. Despite Lee Jinha’s annoyed reactions, Kim Chayoung didn’t care. The guy who had grabbed his shoulder suggested they go to the canteen together.

“It’s a hassle.”

“Hassles can be overcome. Like, right now, for instance.”

What is he talking about?

“I don’t want to go alone. It’s boring.”

By then, Lee Jinha had somewhat figured out what kind of person Kim Chayoung was. With just a gesture from Kim Chayoung, a truckload of friends would join him.

“Go with someone else.”

“I want to go with you, Lee Jinha.”

Kim Chayoung smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. The flesh below his eyes and above his cheeks softly indented, forming what one might call “Indian dimples,” which made him look even more youthful—an amusing thought, given he was over 180 cm tall. But Kim Chayoung was just like that.

People who talk so casually like that were remarkable, in a different sense.

Eventually, Kim Chayoung managed to cajole the reluctant Lee Jinha into going to the canteen with him. There, he swept almost every pastry into his basket. At a glance, there were easily over ten packets. He handed half of them to Lee Jinha.

“This is for coming to the canteen with me.”

“Is this all? Hardly enough, considering I even gave up sleep for this.”

Lee Jinha grumbled, and Kim Chayoung laughed out loud. He laughed just as he looked—a strange expression but no better way to describe it.

Children warring over the popular menu items all turned to stare at Kim Chayoung. After laughing for a while, he wiped the corners of his eyes with his fingertips.

He offered three peach-flavored drinks.

“From now on, I’ll take care of this. Satisfied with this?”

As days passed, Lee Jinha found himself increasingly in Kim Chayoung’s company. He never left him alone, always dragging him along wherever he went.

During this time, Lee Jinha realized that Kim Chayoung was more popular than he had thought. He was frequently called out during lunch or after school for confessions.

The whole class would buzz whenever Kim Chayoung was called out, with whispers like, “Isn’t that so-and-so from that class? She liked Kim Chayoung too?” even if Lee Jinha didn’t want to hear them.

I know for a fact it’s more than a handful, and he says he wasn’t confessed to?

“I don’t know. We weren’t that close.”

Lee Jinha cut off the red cap sharply. His blunt tone silenced the group for a moment. Ha, as if finding it absurd, Kim Chayoung chuckled through his teeth. Lee Jinha, undisturbed, shoved the rest of his rice into his mouth.

Red cap started again in a fluster.

“Anyway, Chaeyoung hyung, you’re really popular now. A girl I know even asked me to introduce her to you…”

Thump! Lee Jinha stood up abruptly. His chair made a louder noise than expected as he pushed it back. He could feel all eyes on him.

“I’m done eating. I’ll be going now. Enjoy your meal.”

He left the cafeteria without waiting for a response, having hardly managed to eat properly. It was a waste of a meal he wouldn’t be able to afford again for a while.

✥

After his afternoon classes, Lee Jinha packed up his bag. Ignoring Yoon Sejin’s coaxing to go to the club room, he left the classroom. As soon as he stepped out of the building, his phone rang. He checked the caller ID and pressed the answer button.

“Lee Jinha speaking. …Yes, that’s fine. Thank you.”

He ended the call, but his phone rang again before he could put it away. Surprised that there was more to be said, he answered immediately.

“Hello?”

[Did you answer? Did the call go through?]

“…”

Why would someone ask if their own call had gone through? Lee Jinha checked his phone screen belatedly.

「Kim Chayoung (Contest Illustration)」

He would have ignored the call had he known it was Kim Chayoung—a slip-up.

[Are you really there? Is Lee Jinha there?]

“I’m hanging up.”

[Wait, just a second! Don’t hang up. I have something important to say. It’s really important.]

Lee Jinha paused, sensing the urgency in the voice coming through the receiver.

“What is it?”

[Um, well… that is… I’ve reviewed the storyboard for up to episode 3, and it looks good to proceed as is, but what do you think?]

“If the storyboard’s approved, you handle the next part.”

[If you’re not busy…]

“I’m busy.”

This time, he pressed the end call button without hesitation.

The echo of the voice lingered in his ears. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he’d last spoken to Kim Chayoung directly. After their recent reencounter, they had only communicated through text or seen each other in person.

When they were…sort of dating, he used to live by his phone. They stuck together at school, and when apart, they naturally talked on the phone until his phone was hot to the touch.

Whew. Lee Jinha exhaled a short breath.

✥

“Is this the place? Gwanak-ro 234, …77?”

He double-checked the address on his app and pressed the doorbell. The firmly shut front door opened, revealing a person stepping out.

“…”

Really, should I be doing some kind of ritual at this point? Otherwise, how could such ‘coincidences’ keep happening?

Lee Jinha stared blankly at Kim Chayoung, who had come out to greet him.

“Wow, you actually came.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Anyway, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Kim Chayoung shook his head. The last time they had seen each other was during that ‘coincidental’ encounter in the cafeteria two days ago. Two days was a bit short to say “it’s been a while,” especially since they were supposed to meet again tomorrow whether they liked it or not.

“Do you ride your motorcycle often? Isn’t it dangerous?”

His unwelcome concern was unwelcome.

“Whether I ride a motorcycle or pull a rickshaw is none of your business.”

Delivery work was something Lee Jinha did when he needed quick cash. He wasn’t a courier for multiple stores, just delivered for one he had previously worked at.

The owner got to pay less in delivery fees, and Lee Jinha made some pocket money. He had agreed to work just a few hours that evening. Little did he expect to be delivering to Kim Chayoung’s place…

Wait a minute.

“Do you live here?”

The place Kim Chayoung lived in wasn’t in this district, as far as Lee Jinha remembered. He had been surprised the first time he went to Kim Chayoung’s house, not knowing much about his background then.

He had expected that Kim Chayoung was well-off given his casual spending habits, but not to the extent of living in a place with polished marble floors instead of the scorched linoleum he was familiar with.

But back then, how well Kim Chayoung lived didn’t interest him.

“Um, it’s technically my studio.”

“Classic rich kid. Even has a studio to himself.”

“Why do you sound like such a twisted pretzel?”

Kim Chayoung teased Lee Jinha, who had made a biting remark.

“Well, pretzels are tasty, aren’t they?”

Kim Chayoung added a cryptic comment to the silent Lee Jinha.

“What nonsense.”

Lee Jinha laughed hollowly and handed over the pizza box he had been carrying.

“37,000 won. You’re paying by card on-site, right? Hand it over.”

He pulled out the card reader and held it out to Kim Chayoung.

“How long do you deliver? It can’t be long if it’s after school, maybe an hour or two?”

“Customer, I’m busy. I have other deliveries backed up.”

Lee Jinha snatched the card that was pinched between Kim Chayoung’s fingers and swiped it.

“Enjoy your meal.”

Beep-beep-beep went the machine as he handed over the receipt with a soulless greeting.

“Hey. Lee Jinha.”

As he turned to leave, Kim Chayoung called out to him. Lee Jinha only turned his head to look back.

“Be careful. Watch front, back, and sides. And follow the signals. Your hands are red, wear some gloves.”

Do I look like a kid? Instead of answering, Lee Jinha pushed his helmet onto his head. As he rode his motorcycle out of the apartment complex, Kim Chayoung was still standing by the entrance.

The motorcycle stopped at a traffic light. Hesitating for a moment, Lee Jinha glanced in the rear-view mirror. Kim Chayoung was still there, watching him. It felt as if their eyes met through the tiny mirror.

Kim Chayoung didn’t let it end with just that day.

The next day, the day after, and again the following day, Lee Jinha ended up delivering to Kim Chayoung’s studio. He had been tagged as the preferred delivery person because “the last delivery guy was nice,” according to Kim Chayoung. Consequently, Lee Jinha had to face him for three consecutive days.

“Any chance you’ll order from a different place?”

“I just ordered what I wanted to eat.”

“Hey, you.”

Lee Jinha gestured towards the box Kim Chayoung was holding.

“You don’t like pizza.”

Though Kim Chayoung would eat just about anything, pizza had never been his favorite. He could eat it, but he’d once said he wouldn’t spend his own money on it.

During the nearly two years they’d spent together, Jinha hadn’t so much as gone near a pizza shop because of him. And now, suddenly, he was ordering pizza three days in a row?

“People change, depending on the situation. There’s no rule that the past and present should be the same. In four years, a lot can change.”

Lee Jinha had no comeback to the explanation of a changed palate.

“Then, planning to change the delivery time?”

“No.”

“You know there’s a prepayment system, right?”

He wanted to just leave the delivery at the door and go, but the payment had to be made on-site. One of them had to give up for it to end.

“I know. But so what?”

As expected. Lee Jinha knew he wasn’t exactly the most pleasant person himself, but Kim Chayoung’s stubbornness was a match for his.

Anyway, just think of it as stepping in shit and move on.

“Feels like stepping in shit, doesn’t it?”

Still, the guy had a knack for hitting the nail on the head. Kim Chayoung laughed as Lee Jinha stood there, unable to say a word.