Just A Friend

#12

In truth, he couldn’t say he was asking because he already knew the answer. Kang Jihan doesn’t play games. So of course, he wouldn’t be able to. But Nam Seonwoo had succeeded in provoking Kang Jihan as planned.

The two went back to the computer room and turned on each of the more than thirty computers, looking for one with the game installed. Unexpectedly, the installed game wasn’t the ball bouncing one. It was a relatively new game where characters from fifteen years in the future were riding. It even had internet access.

For a moment, Nam Seonwoo thought about sending an SOS to Park Gyuhyeon, but he decided against it. Even if he told him, the guy couldn’t break into the school, and if the teachers found out, it would only cause trouble.

Nam Seonwoo carefully explained the game controls to Kang Jihan, who was sitting awkwardly.

“Use the arrow keys to control, and Shift for drifting. No, idiot! Not that Shift, this one.”

When Nam Seonwoo chuckled at Kang Jihan trying to press the right Shift with his left hand, looking so stupid, he received a sharp glare. Surprisingly, it wasn’t scary at all. Nam Seonwoo continued to tease while personally setting Kang Jihan’s hands on the keyboard.

“I feel guilty, like I’m trying to make a newborn baby who can’t even walk play a game. Should I go easy on you?”

“Not necessary.”

At the blunt response, Nam Seonwoo inwardly stomped his feet. It was too much fun. He didn’t know teasing this guy could be so enjoyable. Of course, it might be partly due to his young age, but it was completely different from the image he had during his school days.

But Nam Seonwoo’s smile didn’t last long. Kang Jihan’s car, which he claimed was his first time, easily passed Nam Seonwoo’s, and while Kang Jihan reached the finish line several seconds earlier, Nam Seonwoo’s character pathetically hung its head just before the finish line. Nam Seonwoo quickly closed the defeat screen and said,

“You’re not bad. I didn’t expect to lose even with one eye closed.”

“…”

“How about it, want me to show you how it’s really done?”

Kang Jihan answered by pressing the ‘Ready’ button.

Every time Kang Jihan took the lead, Nam Seonwoo grumbled. He talked more than when they were playing badminton, muttering about ‘beginner’s luck’ and ‘errors’. But seemingly unaware of himself, Nam Seonwoo chattered endlessly as if his mouth had burst open.

However, the second round ended without even reaching the finish line. As Nam Seonwoo glared at the monitor, Kang Jihan switched the screen for him and asked,

“For real?”

“…”

Finding it amusing that Nam Seonwoo was tightly pursing his lips, unlike during the game, Kang Jihan rested his chin on one hand and watched him. Nam Seonwoo moved the mouse indifferently.

“This is boring. Let’s do item mode. The real competition in this game is with items, you know.”

Nam Seonwoo changed the room settings and even pulled Kang Jihan’s mouse over to press the ready button. Even he thought it was petty not to tell Kang Jihan the item use key, but Nam Seonwoo nonchalantly started the game.

Every time he threw a water balloon or fired a missile at Kang Jihan who was still in the lead, Nam Seonwoo’s eyes crinkled with joy. Unable to contain his excitement, he even pounded the desk with his fist while laughing.

“Ah- Kang Jihan can’t do anything, right? Where are you even going, driving backwards?”

“Be quiet.”

Kang Jihan, who had belatedly found the item key, started to counterattack.

“You dodge all the items, right? Easily avoiding them! … Hey! Where’s your sportsmanship?”

As soon as he saw the character overtaking him, Nam Seonwoo grabbed Kang Jihan’s arm. It wasn’t something someone who talked about sportsmanship should do, but the physical interference continued. Nam Seonwoo pushed Kang Jihan with his shoulder as if driving with his whole body rather than the keyboard, and because of this, Kang Jihan’s upper body was tilted diagonally as the game continued.

Nevertheless, the result was the same. Faced with another defeat, Nam Seonwoo muttered with a gloomy expression.

“One to zero.”

“It’s three to zero.”

“In item mode, it’s one to zero. Ready up.”

In the second round, Nam Seonwoo now blatantly interfered by squeezing his butt into Kang Jihan’s chair. As they struggled to push each other off the single chair, the rattling chair finally tumbled backwards. Kang Jihan, now standing, stared at Nam Seonwoo incredulously, but Nam Seonwoo continued to physically block him from reaching the keyboard. The moment Nam Seonwoo overtook Kang Jihan and reached the finish line, he jumped up and cheered.

“Did you see that? You saw it, right? You brat, how dare you act up-!”

Nam Seonwoo, bursting into laughter with a flushed face, looked extremely happy. Jumping around as if he had won a gold medal after barely winning one game was incredibly childish, but Nam Seonwoo didn’t care and continued to show off.

“If I were fifteen years… no, five years younger, I would have wiped the floor with you from the first round. You know that?”

“Fifteen years would make you four years old.”

Nam Seonwoo turned his head at the voice tinged with laughter. Kang Jihan was smiling. Although it was just one corner of his mouth lifted, there was no mockery in it.

“You must have been really good at games when you were four, huh?”

Seeing that smile, Nam Seonwoo suddenly felt extremely embarrassed. He cleared his throat and quickly raised the fallen chair.

“Let’s stop now.”

“Why? You seem to be enjoying it.”

“Me? This childish thing?”

Nam Seonwoo feigned indifference as he turned off the computer. He had thought the heat he felt was from the computer, but now he could feel the residual heat on his face. It seemed he had gotten too immersed.

As he was fanning his face, Kang Jihan abruptly asked,

“Are you feeling embarrassed now?”

“Ah, you’re really chatty all of a sudden.”

“…Me?”

Nam Seonwoo’s eyes were drawn to Kang Jihan like a magnet at the laugh that resembled a short sigh. The mouth that was always tightly closed was now wide open.

‘What, why…’

He couldn’t forget the moment he first saw Kang Jihan’s smile like that. It was the day he thought they had become a bit closer. It was a winter day just a few days before the college entrance exam.

‘…Why is he smiling like that? We’ve only known each other for a few days.’

It felt strange. Although he had resolved not to get involved, somehow he felt like he was getting tightly entangled with Kang Jihan. Getting locked in the school, riding the motorcycle at high speed…

‘No. What entanglement? What have I done, have I started liking him again?’

That was just a friendly smile between friends. There was no need to be bound by the meaning he had attached to it when he had a crush on him ages ago. Nam Seonwoo tore his gaze away from that mouth and reminded himself.

‘Right, friends.’

It’s not entanglement, we’re just classmates. Being friends was… okay.

“Stop smiling, man.”

He hit Kang Jihan’s shoulder hard for no reason. Feeling like he had to do something to avoid awkwardness, Nam Seonwoo turned off his computer and Kang Jihan’s in turn. As the childish game music that had filled the computer room disappeared, a sound that hadn’t been audible before could be heard. It was the sound of rain. The raindrops hitting the building were quite intense.

They moved to the auditorium. They thought there might be mats or something to lie down on, but the vast auditorium was just piled with metal chairs. Thinking it would be better to sit on the floor than on the chairs, Kang Jihan leaned against one wall and sat down.

Nam Seonwoo opened a nearby window. The pouring rain seemed like it would continue all night. The night air coming through the window was cool.

“Don’t you need to contact your mother?”

Kang Jihan shook his head. He seemed used to his mother being away from home often. After a brief silence, Kang Jihan spoke.

“What about you?”

“Me? Well, there’s no one at home anyway.”

Feeling Kang Jihan’s gaze, Nam Seonwoo quickly added,

“Both my parents are abroad for work.”

For a moment, curiosity about Kang Jihan’s father arose, but that curiosity was washed away by the sound of rain. It would be impolite to ask unless he brought it up first.

Nam Seonwoo sprawled out on the floor. He pulled over some drawing paper piled in the corner to use as a pillow, and it felt nice, like lying on a wooden platform. The atmosphere resembling the drowsiness of a summer night naturally brought on a yawn.

“Let’s catch some sleep here and sneak out when the security guard comes on duty.”

The school uniform is really convenient at times like this. It won’t even show that I stayed out all night. His mumbling voice was gradually tinged with sleepiness.

Suddenly, he wondered what had happened to Kang Jihan’s part-time job. In his previous life, Kang Jihan had been caught with his motorcycle by the head of student affairs and was forced to quit his job. This time, it seemed he hadn’t been caught yet. But if he had signed up for night study, had he quit his job? Nam Seonwoo yawned again and mumbled,

“By the way, where did you always go when you skipped night study?”

“Part-time job.”

Although he already knew this, Nam Seonwoo didn’t expect Kang Jihan to answer so casually. Don’t people usually want to hide it? Maybe he had assumed too much.

Stunned by his own question, Nam Seonwoo took a moment to choose his words. There were many things he could say. For example, he could have naturally followed up with curious questions like what kind of part-time job it was, or if there was something so urgent that a high school senior needed to work. But he knew that could be rudeness disguised as interest.

“…A place that hires high school students must be really safe.”

So what came out of his mouth was more like nagging. Kang Jihan didn’t say much either.

“Are you going to college? What major are you thinking of?”

“A major that makes a lot of money.”

It was an immature answer fitting for his age. But the reason it couldn’t be dismissed so easily was because of Kang Jihan’s expression as he said those words. Nam Seonwoo stared intently at his face shrouded in darkness.

“If you make a lot of money?”

You make a lot of money. But you don’t look very happy.

“What are you going to do with it?”

Suddenly, he realized he had never asked why the Kang Jihan from his previous life was so focused on work. So he asked belatedly. Thinking this much of a question would be okay.

Kang Jihan just looked out the window without saying anything. But Nam Seonwoo now knew too well what his silence meant. It wasn’t that he was ignoring the question or didn’t want to answer. It was just that his side profile, lost in thought, looked so heavy, unlike a nineteen-year-old, that Nam Seonwoo couldn’t bring himself to ask any more.