Romantic Gangster

#36

“It’s not like that. These days, Hyun-joon has been helping me with something, so we’ve been sticking together more. I’m the one unilaterally receiving help. Hyun-joon is helping me because he’s kind, so if he gets misunderstood like that… I think he’d feel bad.”

The owner’s movement of dishing out another plate of braised chicken stopped momentarily at Ji-woo’s words. His face looked as if he had heard something unbelievable.

“Kind? Helping? Hyun-joon is helping you because he’s kind?”

“Yes.”

The owner, who was about to say something more as he looked at Ji-woo, who seemed to have a different understanding of Hyun-joon than others, shook his head and finished dishing out the braised chicken generously.

He felt there was no need for him to intervene in the fresh romance of young kids. He wondered why someone so quick-witted at work was so oblivious in this area, but anyway, that was Hyun-joon’s burden to bear.

“Hyun-joon must be having a hard time.”

“Yes, he takes care of me every day, and even though it must be difficult to help like that, he doesn’t show any sign of disliking it and takes better care of me than I do. I feel so sorry and grateful. That’s why I’m trying to do better.”

Oh my… Our Hyun-joon must be really frustrated. The owner burst into laughter again as he looked at Ji-woo, who seemed genuinely grateful and sorry to Hyun-joon.

* * *

After having lunch with the owner and stopping by a cafe, Ji-woo chose a vanilla latte at the owner’s insistence to pick what he wanted to drink, despite saying it was okay. Thanking the owner for the higher-than-usual daily wage, delicious lunch, and even buying coffee, Ji-woo agreed to come by to hang out sometimes even when there was no work, and headed home.

Although he didn’t usually enjoy coffee, the vanilla latte he drank once in a while was sweet and made him feel good both while drinking and afterward.

Somehow, just drinking coffee from a cafe while going home made him feel like an adult, which added to the good feeling. Of course, he knew it was a bit childish to think that way because of something like this, but he still liked it.

At home, he cleaned more thoroughly than on weekdays. Ji-woo, who cleaned the old house that didn’t show much improvement despite cleaning while drinking the increasingly bland coffee, took a shower and turned on the TV. It was the TV his grandmother used to watch when she was alive, and although it was a very old model, it still worked well, so he would turn it on sometimes when he wanted some kind of sound in the house.

After working part-time, eating, coming home to clean, and even showering, it was only 2:50 PM. What time does Hyun-joon finish? Come to think of it, they had only agreed to have dinner together without deciding when and where to meet. Ji-woo sat leaning against the wall and picked up his phone.

“…”

Entering the messenger app he mostly used with Choi Young-jae, he saw Hyun-joon’s name in the friend list. He had called him once before after getting his number from the pool hall owner when he couldn’t find him anywhere, but this was the first time sending a message.

When he pressed on the name to open the message window, Hyun-joon’s profile picture appeared larger.

Oh… This is from that day when those weird customers came a few days ago.

Although his face wasn’t clearly visible as it was a mirror selfie, the photo itself looked very cool, probably because he was so handsome and stylish.

“…”

Did he take this at home that day? Is there a full-length mirror near the entrance…? While thinking about various things as he continued looking at the photo, Ji-woo unconsciously zoomed in on Hyun-joon’s face, then startled, exited the profile page. He felt like he was doing something strange, looking at someone else’s profile picture alone.

Although it was a picture meant to be seen… he felt like he had secretly peeked at Hyun-joon, as it probably wasn’t set to be zoomed in and looked at for a long time.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Ji-woo pressed the 1:1 chat as originally intended and sent a message to Hyun-joon.

[Let me know when you finish work later]

[Let’s decide where to meet then]

Thinking he might be disturbing him, he was about to exit the messenger after saying just what he needed to when a short vibration sounded. Ji-woo quickly pressed on Hyun-joon’s message dropping down from the top of the screen to check it.

[Hyun-joon: Are you done with work?]

[Yeah, I’m home now]

[Hyun-joon: I think I’ll be done around 5 PM at the earliest]

[Hyun-joon: I’ll message you when I’m done later]

[Okay]

[See you later]

After finishing the brief conversation, Ji-woo put down his phone and looked at the TV screen. He hadn’t even seen him directly, just looked at the small face in the profile picture and exchanged a few words via message, but somehow he felt a bit ticklish somewhere.

“…”

Why do I feel this way? It’s strange… Trying to focus on something else to escape this indescribable strange feeling, he couldn’t concentrate on the drama content on TV or the homework he had to do by Monday.

His heart kept feeling like it had grown larger than usual, filling his mind tightly, and Hyun-joon’s face kept flickering in his thoughts.

‘Looks like Hyun-joon likes you, Ji-woo.’

This was all because of the pool hall owner’s unnecessary words. Since hearing that, he kept thinking about Hyun-joon. It wasn’t that he really thought Hyun-joon liked him, but it was both fascinating and concerning to think that they might look like a special couple in others’ eyes.

Click.

At the end of his prolonged thoughts, the lead in his mechanical pencil broke. At that small sound, Ji-woo lowered his gaze to the broken lead, then focused on his hand holding the pencil.

“…”

A few days ago, after going home holding hands to face the pheromones more effectively, they had been holding hands every day on the way home. Of course, he didn’t think it was strange. It was just doing as the teacher had told them.

But the problem was that, whether due to Hyun-joon’s pheromones or not, when holding hands, his breathing kept getting faster, and he kept thinking he wanted to be even closer. After the day he had unconsciously leaned his head on Hyun-joon’s shoulder on the way home a few days ago, he had thought he should pull himself together, but after facing Hyun-joon’s pheromones, his body kept leaning towards him without realizing it.

Even when the pheromones were contained in front of his house, and their interlocked fingers separated, losing the warmth he had been holding in his hand, he felt very… regretful.

He knew it was only natural for an omega to be attracted to an alpha’s pheromones, but approaching too overtly had become Ji-woo’s recent concern.

If I keep doing this, it’ll be troublesome for Hyun-joon too…

Ji-woo, who let out a small sigh, put down the pencil he was holding and lay down on the printouts.

In the darkness before his eyes where no light entered, the image of Hyun-joon from the profile picture came to mind. And that image didn’t disappear for a long time.

* * *

When he lifted his head, the room was dark. Feeling sleep suddenly leaving him, Ji-woo picked up his phone to check the time.

PM 6:55

He was sure it was just past 3 PM the last time he checked, but now it was almost 7 PM. And below the time, there were several message notifications and missed calls. They were all from Hyun-joon.

[Hyun-joon: I’m done now]

[Hyun-joon: Want to come out now?]

The first message came at 4:50 PM. Ji-woo bit the inside of his lip hard and quickly checked the messages piled up below.

[Hyun-joon: Why aren’t you looking at your phone?]

[Hyun-joon: Are you sleeping?]

[Hyun-joon: Are you really at home?]

[Hyun-joon: Hey, did something happen to you?]

The messages that had been coming about every 10 minutes were then piled up several per minute after that.

[Hyun-joon: Why aren’t you answering the phone?]

[Hyun-joon: You’re really sleeping, right?]

[Hyun-joon: It’s the first time I’ve ever hoped so desperately that someone’s just sleeping at home]

In between those, there were over twenty missed calls marked at one-minute intervals. It was absurd to think that he had slept soundly for over three hours without hearing any of those sounds.

[Hyun-joon: I came to your house]

[Hyun-joon: It seems like you’re sleeping]

[Hyun-joon: I’m really worried]

[Hyun-joon: Come out as soon as you see this]

The last message came five minutes ago. As soon as he saw that, Ji-woo quickly got up and rushed to the entrance. Barely slipping his feet into his sneakers, he left the house and went out to the common entrance on the first floor, where he smelled the acrid scent of cigarettes. Turning his head at the sound, he saw Hyun-joon standing in the usual place where he always waited for him.

“I’m sorry… I must have fallen into a really deep sleep.”

Hyun-joon threw the cigarette he had been holding in his mouth to the ground and stepped on it to extinguish it. There were too many cigarette butts on the ground to count at a glance.

“Hey.”

Honestly, he had nothing to say even if he got scolded. It was natural to hear harsh words when he had slept obliviously past the promised time without even setting an alarm.

Hyun-joon, with a hardened face, detached himself from the wall. As Ji-woo was about to open his mouth to apologize again, seeing Hyun-joon take a big step towards where he was standing, Hyun-joon’s words flowed first, echoing in the quiet alley.

“I was worried.”