OTC Chapter 23

It was a slightly high-pitched voice, the kind that anyone would find pleasant. 

Eunkyo instinctively turned and immediately recognized the person who had called out to Jaeheon. 

It was the same girl who had tapped Lee Jaeheon on the shoulder at the club after the video screening after-party. Her face, full of the clear, fresh vibrancy unique to those in their early twenties, was as pretty as a famous idol’s, making her hard to forget.

Dressed in a short, midriff-baring shirt and loose jeans, her long hair flowing, the girl trotted over and casually slipped her arms around Jaeheon’s.

“Oppa, why is it so hard to see you? Did you quit the club? Haksu oppa didn’t say anything about that.”

“I’ve been busy.”

There it was again. Lee Jaeheon was instantly surrounded by people. The girl’s friends, who had followed behind, exchanged glances with Eunkyo and tilted their heads.

They probably recognize me from somewhere. I feel the same way.

“I’ll get going then.”

“Let’s go together.”

Suddenly, her arm was grabbed. Eunkyo, once again, naturally pulled away from Jaeheon’s hand. Rejected again, Lee Jaeheon’s expression hardened.

But she didn’t want to be absorbed into that world. She knew that the moment she stepped into that bright, energetic world, it would become gloomy.

“It’s a busy time at the cafe. You should chat with your friends.”

At her obvious excuse, the girls’ expressions changed instantly. 

“Ah! I remember who you are. You’re the unnie who works at Haeda! Are you here for a delivery? Wow, you work so hard.” 

One of the girls, clapping her hands together, spoke to her warmly. Eunkyo politely told them to come visit the cafe and turned away.

The chattering sounds faded behind her as she walked down the hill. She quickened her pace. Conflicting emotions churned within her. One voice told her that this was Lee Jaeheon’s true self, while another whispered, but even so….

The problem was that both of these conflicting emotions were unfamiliar and uncomfortable.

Is this… jealousy?

She’d had the same thought before. That a girl like that suited him perfectly. That he would be better off with a bright, soft, and fresh girl his own age. That he was too good for someone like her, worn down by reality, thirsty for daily survival rather than fiery love or romance.

After walking for a while, she stopped, a self-deprecating laugh escaping her lips.

Lost in thought, she had taken the wrong path. She had already passed the exit and was near the student union building. Close to the main stage where the festival would be held, signs with  the names of the clubs and department names were being set up at each tent.

“Haah…. Get a grip.”

She looked around blankly and was about to turn back when one of the students gathered in a group ran towards her. 

“Excuse me!”

The girl stopped Eunkyo and, with an excited face, pointed to where the people were gathered.

“We’re the mystery club, and we’re adjusting the difficulty of our quiz, so we need help from someone outside the club. Could you help us just this once? Please? Unnie?”

“Ah, that…. Mystery?”

“Yes! We’re going to have a live event where we give a prize to the person who solves the quiz and then uses a single stroke to get through this maze here. But we can’t get a good sense of the difficulty level just by ourselves.”

Eunkyo accepted the paper the girl offered. It was a sheet with a few quiz questions and a maze.

Persuaded by the girl’s persistent request, she finally headed to the table.

“Wow! Thank you, noona!”

“Thank you, unnie!”

“But this seems difficult, do you think regular people can actually solve it?”

“Noonim, do you like mysteries?”

More formal term than noona.

Questions poured in from the students. Eunkyo placed the quiz on the table, picked up the red marker that was there, and easily answered the questions.

The students’ eyes widened, and she heard murmurs of “See, I told you it was easy!” from here and there.

Her marker, moving smoothly as she wrote down the correct answers, stopped at the maze. While the previous questions were too easy, the maze seemed impossible to solve with a single stroke.

“It seems like you failed at balancing the difficulty….” 

She muttered to herself. 

At that moment, a large shadow fell over her back, and a hand enveloped hers holding the marker. Eunkyo held her breath. Eunkyo held her breath for a moment.

Lee Jaeheon, leaning over her with his arm around her shoulder, their cheeks almost touching, calmly moved the marker. 

“They actually made this a question?”

His scent, his breath, the faint smell of cigarettes mingled on her back and neck. Eunkyo kept her surprised gaze fixed on the paper, watching only the red line as it traced its way through the maze in one continuous stroke.

“This is way too easy.”

“Aack! Jaeheon hyung, that’s cheating! You’re not supposed to do it!”

“At this rate, we’ll run out of prizes. Increase the difficulty. Seriously.”

As she inhaled, he straightened up, and her head lifted with him. The curious gazes of the students felt like needles pricking her skin. As he removed his arm from her shoulder, he clicked his tongue and abruptly took her hand. 

“Let’s go, sunbae. I’ve been looking all over for you.”

She tried to twist her hand free again, but flinched at his fierce whisper. 

“Where are you going to run off to if I let go?”

“No, but…”

“Ah…. Do you want that?”

The sky was clear, the sun was hot, and the gazes of the people around them were burning. Eunkyo, with a look that clearly asked why are you doing this here?, nudged Jaeheon’s arm. He chuckled and turned her head by grabbing her chin.

Her eyes landed on an enormous stuffed puppy offered as a prize by the mystery club. Honestly, she wasn’t sure if it was a bear or a dog, but it was as tall as she was and looked heavy, proudly occupying the 1st place spot.

“Song Jihoon, increase the difficulty. And how do I get that?”

“You have to solve it first, obviously. We’ll time it and give it to the person who solves it the fastest. We’ll contact the winner before the festival ends, and if they don’t answer, we’ll give it to the second-place winner.”

“What if I want to take it now?”

“Ah, come on!”

The two of them seemed quite close, talking and laughing comfortably.

Unbelievable…. 

She covered her smiling lips with the back of her hand. Then Jihoon, with his unusually large eyes, placed a normal-sized teddy bear on the table and pointed at the quiz. 

“This one has increased difficulty. If you solve this now, I’ll give you this.”

At those words, Lee Jaeheon looked down at Eunkyo and asked, “Would you be okay with this one? I want to give you the big one.”

“No, I’m really okay. I don’t need it….”

“Hmm.”

Shrugging, he pulled her into his arms again. Holding her from behind, his eyes gleaming, he placed the marker in her hand.

Eunkyo took a deep breath and bit her lip.

“Ready!”

With the start signal, Lee Jaeheon grabbed her hand and started filling in the answers. Cheers erupted, and the students’ laughter filled the gaps. 

But Eunkyo couldn’t think of anything else. The feeling of his cheek against hers, the moisture of his hand covering hers, and the warmth of the man’s body conveyed through her back made her heart pound as if it would burst.

“Oh!” 

Jihoon shouted, seeing the marker go way off course.

“Oh, oh, oh! It’s a fail!”

Her mind snapping back to the present at his cry, she lowered her gaze and saw a red line drawn straight in the wrong direction, not towards the exit at the end of the maze.

Wondering how this happened, she turned her head and saw the tips of Lee Jaeheon’s ears, cheeks, and neck flushed as if they were on fire as he covered his face with one hand.

“Sunbae.” 

He whispered quietly, just loud enough for her to hear. In the midst of the distracted gazes of the students laughing and chattering, delighted at Lee Jaeheon’s failure…

“You know I’m a crazy bastard, right?”

“…What?”

“Fuck, why is my heart racing like this?”

“Huh?”

“I want to kiss you right now.”

When Lee Jaeheon sets his mind to something, he does it.

Eunkyo was startled and pushed his face away. At that, he was pushed back, gritted his teeth, then smiled faintly. Sensing the strange atmosphere, he waved goodbye to the students, then took her hand and started walking.

This time, she couldn’t help but follow.

Strong sunlight peeking through the branches overhead created a net-like pattern of shadows. With every step she took, as if being led by him, curious gazes gathered and dispersed repeatedly.

“Where are we going? Look, people are watching. Let go of my hand.”

“The condoms are supposed to arrive this week.”

Ah.

Her steps became slow and sluggish, and her face flushed red with heat.

Lee Jaeheon turned to her, laughing, and for a moment, Eunkyo saw someone else’s face overlapping on his.

It couldn’t be….

That kid’s last name was Seo, and this guy’s is Lee.

Besides, that kid was small, skinny, and had pretty eyes.

“So…. Where are we going?”

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

Is it really okay to just barge in here?

Eunkyo followed Lee Jaeheon into his studio on campus. The sculpture studio was different from the Western painting or design studios she was familiar with.

The space, filled with all sorts of materials, resembled both a factory or a pottery studio. Lee Jaeheon, stepping inside, seemed to blend in perfectly, as if he were one with the space.

“I spend almost all day here. Come here.”

As Eunkyo, who had been standing there dumbfounded, approached, he sat down on a stainless-steel workbench and abruptly pulled her into his arms.

Suddenly trapped in his embrace, Eunkyo covered her face with her hands and sighed deeply.

“Don’t do this outside, please. What will your friends think if they see us?”

He leaned his forehead against hers, a look of displeasure on his face, and nibbled on her index and middle fingers. 

“What do you think they’ll think?”

“They’ll think it’s strange, of course.”

“So what’s strange about it? I don’t have a girlfriend, and I’m not kissing another guy.”

“It’s just not appropriate.”

At her firm words, Lee Jaeheon raised his head. Seeing a flicker of annoyance in his disdainful gaze, she realized he didn’t like what she said. 

“You still see me as a child, sunbae.”

At his sarcastic remark, Eunkyo lowered her hands from her face. 

“You are young. Honestly, you are a child.”

“Ah, so that’s why it was so fun to sleep with a child? You seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.”

Eunkyo’s eyes flashed at his crude and blatant provocation. 

“Watch your mouth. We haven’t slept together yet.”

“You sucked my dick. That’s the same thing. Should I have made you swallow too…?”

“Haah, what I meant was…”

“So, should I date girls my own age then?”

Her tightly clenched fist loosened. She silently raised her head and gazed into his darkened eyes. He leaned down, kissing the bridge of her nose and her upper lip, and continued, “I never asked you to date me, sunbae. I only asked you to kiss and have sex with me.”

“So?” 

Her fingers, pushing his face away as he kept kissing her, met his teeth. 

Then he bit her hard.

“I’m asking if you’ll have sex with me without complaint if I date those girls. You keep trying to associate me with them, aren’t you just doing that to feel better about yourself, sunbae?”