SAV Chapter 21

Even though he often suddenly brought his face close to mine, I wasn’t startled. However, I couldn’t help being surprised by the embarrassingly intimate words whispered slowly but clearly into my ear for the first time in my life.

 

“You crazy bastard, you call that talking…!”

 

I pushed against his chest and gave him a serious look. How could someone with such a pure and pretty face casually spout such embarrassing things? Kim Juyoung was both fascinating and creepy.

 

“You said you were grown up. You’re the one who said it first.”

 

“What does being grown up have to do with that, you lunatic!”

 

“Come on, let’s do it. Hmm? Let’s do it.”

 

Kim Juyoung wrapped his arms around me and shook me back and forth. It made me so dizzy I almost gagged. Reluctantly, I nodded to his request about wanting to exchange secret diaries with a trustworthy friend, saying he had many concerns since manifesting that were too embarrassing to talk about. Yet he wouldn’t stop shaking me. I pushed him away, telling him I agreed so he could stop.

 

After finishing at the checkout and leaving the bookstore, I asked Kim Juyoung, who was humming a tune:

 

“Should we include Jeha too? He’s tight-lipped, after all.”

 

I thought since the two of them were destined to be protagonists together, wouldn’t it be better for them to date based on affection rather than hostility? If Choi Jeha and Kim Juyoung built a connection now and got to know each other more deeply, they could become lovers based on love rather than necessity.

 

But Kim Juyoung turned serious and refused.

 

“No. Just the two of us.”

 

Kim Juyoung’s reactions whenever Choi Jeha came up suggested they were less than strangers. Then why did Kim Juyoung always appear and help Jeha in times of crisis, comforting him? Despite seeming to dislike him so much. It made no sense to me.

 

The relationship between Kim Juyoung and Choi Jeha seemed far more complicated than what I’d read.

 

“Are you going straight home?”

 

Kim Juyoung asked.

 

Looking at the time, it was ambiguous-neither early enough to stop by home first, nor late enough to go directly. So we stopped at a café near the shopping area where academies were concentrated. We decided to hang out there until academy time and then part ways.

 

“Welcome!”

 

When we opened the café door, thanks to Kim Juyoung’s exceptional looks, everyone’s eyes immediately turned toward us. If I’d known him in real life, he’d be one of those friends I wouldn’t want to be seen with.

 

My already unattractive face would look even more cephalopod-like by comparison.

 

When I first saw Kim Juyoung, I was inwardly amazed that someone could be so pretty. “Pretty” wasn’t enough-he was beautiful.

 

Perhaps because of this, his popularity in this world was considerable. To what extent? Even while choosing books at the bookstore, people constantly asked for his contact information. Not only that, but students at the bus stop also asked for Kim Juyoung’s social media or phone number.

 

Some people approached already knowing who he was.

 

“What would you like to drink?”

 

As I stood in the corner pretending to be one with the shadow of a pillar, Kim Juyoung smiled brightly and asked. I quickly took out my wallet from my bag.

 

“I’ll have…”

 

“I’ll pay.”

 

Kim Juyoung gently pushed away my wallet with his palm.

 

“Why would you pay?”

 

I asked, eyes wide. I hadn’t done anything today to deserve Kim Juyoung buying me coffee.

 

“Just because I want to?”

 

“They say you get a stomachache if you accept things without reason.”

 

“Who says such nonsense…”

 

“My mom.”

 

“Whatever my mother says is always right, so I have to listen. Let’s each pay for our own.”

 

“You’re such a good child who listens well to your mother,” Kim Juyoung said, patting my head as if I were a kid. Then he draped his arm over my shoulder like an armrest, asking what we should eat. Despite being only slightly taller than me.

 

“Aren’t you going to move it?”

 

“Move what?”

 

Kim Juyoung blinked his innocently wide eyes.

 

“Are you using me as your armrest because I’m short?”

 

I was already annoyed with my small, slender build, and I glared at him wondering if he was making fun of me. He grinned and slightly lowered his head. As his lips aligned with my ear, he whispered in an amused voice:

 

“176 cm isn’t short. Besides, you’re big in other ways.”

 

“Ah. What the hell are you saying, seriously.”

 

I couldn’t spit in his cheerfully smiling face, so I shook my shoulders vigorously to dislodge his head. Finding something incredibly amusing, Kim Juyoung clutched his stomach and cackled at my reaction. It seemed he was experiencing his second manifestation of horniness rather than powers.

 

I elbowed him away, telling him to stop teasing me, but he scurried right back and clung to my arm.

 

“Customer number 89, your two iced Americanos are ready!”

 

When the employee called out, Kim Juyoung released my arm and headed to the counter. When I offered to carry the drinks, he gently pushed me away, telling me to go find us seats.

 

Having no reason to refuse, I went and sat in a corner. Moments later, Kim Juyoung approached with two coffees, smiling brightly.

 

Two guys at a café didn’t leave much to talk about.

 

So I silently looked out the window, sipping my coffee through the straw. I knew Kim Juyoung’s gaze occasionally shifted from passing pedestrians to me, but since he was always a bit strange, I didn’t bother asking why he was looking.

 

After quite some time, Kim Juyoung broke the silence.

 

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

 

I turned to look at him.

 

When he blinked, his densely packed, long eyelashes seemed to flutter. I thought he was pretty, but that was it.

 

“I wasn’t thinking about anything. Just watching people pass by.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Dolcha.”

 

“What?”

 

“Since it’s just the two of us, can I call you ‘jagi’ (honey)?”

 

“What?”

 

That came out of nowhere.

 

I’d seen close friends in school call each other “jagi,” but I never expected to meet a guy who would actually use that term for another male-especially me. The coffee I’d just sipped began to bubble uncomfortably inside me from the awkwardness.

 

But Kim Juyoung looked even more surprised than I was.

 

His expression showed he hadn’t anticipated my negative reaction at all.

 

“What… did you forget already?”

 

Kim Juyoung said in a hurt tone.

 

With my good memory, there’s no way I would have forgotten something Kim Juyoung said, which meant this must be something that was discussed with the real Cha Eunseong.

 

I needed to understand what was going on.

 

“My memory’s been a bit hazy lately, sorry, did we make some kind of bet?”

 

“You said you didn’t like being called ‘Dolcha,’ so we did a random draw to decide what to call each other.”

 

Cha Eunseong, this bastard had done something unnecessary.

 

“Honey” seemed a hundred times better than “Dolcha.” I couldn’t understand why he’d done something so thoughtless without considering the person who might possess his body, making things awkward.

 

“Ah… did we?”

 

I stirred the ice in my cup with my straw, responding lukewarmly.

 

“We landed on ‘honey,’ but you said it was embarrassing in public, so we should only use it when we’re alone. What the hell, it hasn’t even been a few days and you’ve already forgotten.”

 

Kim Juyoung, who had been grumbling, suddenly thrust his face toward mine. Then he stared at me intently with clear eyes.

 

“Who are you?”

 

Startled by Kim Juyoung’s unexpected question, my hand stopped stirring the straw. I quickly put the straw in my mouth to moisten my throat, which had gone dry from shock.

 

“You forgot about visiting me at the hospital too. And now you don’t remember this promise either.”

 

Kim Juyoung’s gaze shifted to my cup.

 

“You said you hated Americano because it tastes like herbal medicine…”

 

Kim Juyoung tilted his head slightly.

 

“Is this one of those possession things that’s trending in web novels?”

 

“*COUGH!*”

 

I choked.

 

The coffee I’d been drinking sprayed out, soaking Kim Juyoung’s clothes and face across from me. Startled, I grabbed the tissues from the tray and hurriedly stood up, reaching for his face.

 

“Ah. What the hell. Have you lost your mind, Cha Eunseong?”

 

“Sorry, I’m sorry! What should I do, did a lot get on you? Why would you say something so ridiculous…”

 

Kim Juyoung straightened his posture and brushed the coffee off his clothes. I couldn’t reach him to help wipe it off because the table was too wide.

 

I quickly got up and sat down next to him.

 

“I’m really sorry. Did a lot get on you?”

 

When I offered to wipe the coffee off his clothes, he casually entrusted his face to me.

 

“Not my clothes, my eyes.”

 

“Huh?”

 

He tightly closed his eyes that had been perfectly fine just a moment ago.

 

“It got in my eyes.”

 

He whined that it stung and hurt, asking why I wasn’t wiping it quickly. I looked around. There were people glancing our way, but they weren’t looking strangely at us. Kim Juyoung was saying nonsense about how I’d have to support him for life if he went blind, so I had no choice. With a sigh, I folded a tissue and gently dabbed at his eyes with the clean side.

 

While I was wiping, Kim Juyoung’s mouth, which normally spouted nonsense, stayed prettily closed.

 

“Better? Open your eyes. Does it still sting?”

 

At my words, Kim Juyoung slowly lifted his eyelids. His clear brown eyes shone brightly as they looked at me.

 

“You’re really bad at this. Give me your hand.”

 

Kim Juyoung held out his hand. I placed my hand, still tightly clutching the tissue, on his, and he gently wrapped his fingers around mine, pulling it to dab lightly around his eyes with the edge of the tissue.

 

His hands were softer than Choi Jeha’s, but his body temperature was cooler.

 

Each time he pressed down, my wrist would brush slightly against his lips.