Overlooking Your Eyes

“The snack bar’s not open yet, is it?”

“They usually start setting up earlier than you’d think.”

Though Yeong-won had arrived at school early every day since the start of term, he’d never gone to the snack bar in the morning. As he descended the stairs, he tilted his head slightly to check if the lights were on. Just as Yoo Seon-woo had said, the snack bar lady was busy arranging the display.

“You boys are here early! 1st place, when did you start hanging out with Seon-woo? Weren’t you always with that cheeky friend of yours?”

“We ended up in the same class this year.”

“And got close in just one day?”

“Yes.”

Watching Seon-woo smiling and chatting with the snack bar lady, Yeong-won turned his focus back to the refrigerated section. He grabbed an apple-flavored Picnic drink and a packet of apple jam cookies from the bread rack without even glancing at anything else.

“That’s all you’re getting?”

“Yeah.”

“You were holding that yesterday too.”

“You remembered?”

“I don’t forget things I’ve seen once. It’s both a blessing and a curse, it means bad memories stick around a long time too.”

The earnest tone in Seon-woo’s words made Yeong-won nod. For once, he could completely relate. They were alike in this way.

“I’m the same.”

Seon-woo, who had been examining the bread rack, turned his gaze toward him. There was something delicate about the sight, Yeong-won’s small, slender hands clutching just a drink and a single packet of cookies, his words sincere in their agreement.

“It’s useful for studying, but it’s awful for everything else. I hate remembering things I wish I could forget.”

The memory of strangers in polished shoes rushing into his home to slap red stickers on everything, his mother crying with a resigned expression, and his father looking pale as if on the verge of collapse, it all lingered in his mind. Those repeated scenes played on an endless loop. Yeong-won remembered every detail.

“You don’t have many good memories?”

“…No.”

Yeong-won was blunt. He’d never been good at hiding things. Even when the truth embarrassed or wounded his pride, he couldn’t bring himself to lie or evade.

“What kind of bread do you like, then?”

The sudden question made him glance at the array of bread before them, taking in the variety. He liked sweet things, the kind that were almost overwhelming on the tongue.

“I like sweet stuff, like condensed milk cream bread, this one with the sugar coating on top, and waffles with syrup inside.”

As he spoke, Seon-woo picked up each item he mentioned, adding a can of unsweetened coffee and a Picnic drink to his collection. Then, he pulled out his wallet. When Seon-woo gestured toward the items in Yeong-won’s hands, he froze for a moment.

“All of that too, please.” Seon-woo told the cashier.

“No, I can pay for mine.”

“I suggested we come, so I’ll cover it.”

Truthfully, the gesture was a relief. What might seem like pocket change to others was money Yeong-won had to stretch carefully.

“…Thanks.”

Yeong-won’s quiet thanks was met with a smile from Yoo Seon-woo, who opened his can of coffee and took a sip. Holding a strawed Picnic drink, Yeong-won headed back to the classroom. Having something to drink helped ease the awkwardness of walking in relative silence.

The sweetness of the drink lifted his spirits, giving him a small boost of energy. When they returned to the still-empty classroom, Yeong-won set his things on the desk, placing the food he bought in the space above his workbook.

“Here, eat this too.”

Seon-woo sat down beside him, placing a bag of bread and a Picnic drink on Yeong-won’s desk. Inside the bag were several of the pastries he liked.

“All this? What about you?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Then why’d you buy so much?”

“For you. That’s why I asked earlier, what you liked.”

There was no real reason behind the gesture, but it didn’t feel unwelcome. Maybe it was because everything in the bag happened to be things he liked.

“Thanks.”

“Didn’t think you’d be good at saying that.”

“…Well, I am. It’s only fair to thank someone when they deserve it.”

Yeong-won picked up the condensed milk cream bread, carefully tearing open one side of the plastic wrapper. It was something he indulged in every now and then, though it was one of the pricier snacks at the school store, so he couldn’t afford to have it often. Just the sight of it made him imagine the sweet flavor spreading across his tongue. Taking a small bite, he immediately felt his mood lift. After a second bite, he held the bread out to Seon-woo.

“Try it. It’s good.”

Seon-woo looked at the offered bread while sipping his coffee. Realizing something, Yeong-won turned the bread so the side he hadn’t bitten into faced Seon-woo.

“I didn’t touch this part.”

“I wouldn’t mind if you did.”

Seon-woo gently took hold of Yeong-won’s wrist, turning the bread back to its original position, and bit into the side Yeong-won had been eating. Only then did he release his wrist, leaving Yeong-won to awkwardly turn away, unsure how to process the moment. He focused on his workbook but couldn’t stop feeling slightly flustered. Despite the strangeness of it, the sweetness of the bread still made him happy.

“This bread kind of reminds me of you.”

“What?”

Before he could press further, Seon-woo’s voice interrupted again.

“Your friend’s here.”

Looking up, Yeong-won spotted Kim Hyun-jin entering the classroom with another student, striding toward the back with his usual energy.

“Yeong-won! Wow, you got stuck in the back row? That’s gotta suck, you hate sitting back here.”

Pulling out an empty chair in the front row, Hyun-jin plopped down. With an awkwardly robotic wave, he greeted Seon-woo.

“Hi?”

Watching Hyun-jin’s obviously forced interaction, Yeong-won chuckled softly.

“Hi, Hyun-jin.”

Seon-woo replied, his tone kind and warm as if addressing the snack bar lady earlier. His demeanor was markedly different compared to when it was just the two of them. Yeong-won couldn’t help noticing the contrast in how Seon-woo behaved around him versus others.

“Wow, did you win the lottery or something? What’s with all the bread?”

“Seon-woo bought it for me.”

“Oh, of course. Mind if I have some?”

Without waiting for an answer, Hyun-jin grabbed a waffle and glanced back and forth between Yeong-won and Seon-woo. Yeong-won turned to Seon-woo, silently waiting for his response. Even though the bread was given to him, it didn’t feel right to share it without first checking with the person who had paid for it.

“If you want to share, go ahead.”

The ambiguous reply made Yeong-won hesitate, but after a moment, he nodded at Hyun-jin, who eagerly unwrapped the waffle, opened the syrup packet, and began dipping the waffle pieces.

“Ah, nothing beats sugar on an empty stomach.”

“Why didn’t you eat breakfast? You usually do.”

“Ugh, those jerks ate all the side dishes again, then had the nerve to act like it’s fine. I got so mad I just stormed out. Please, pray those idiots move into the dorms next semester. I can’t live with them anymore.”

After venting about his brothers and wolfing down the waffle in three bites, Hyun-jin dipped the last piece generously in syrup and held it out toward Yeong-won, knowing full well how much he loved syrupy waffles. Without hesitation, Yeong-won leaned forward and took the piece, his lips parting as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Ah, now I feel alive. I was starving to death. Thanks for breakfast!”

Hyun-jin chatted on for a while longer before heading back to his own classroom as more students began filing into the room. Yeong-won put the remaining bread and the apple jam cookie he’d bought into his desk drawer, neatly gathering the wrappers and syrup packet into the plastic bag for disposal.

“Do you always eat everything that’s given to you like that?”

“What?”

“So… disgustingly.”

Yeong-won froze. Did he really hear that? He replayed the words in his mind, trying to rationalize them into something else, but there was no mistaking what Seon-woo had said.

Seated upright with perfect posture, Seon-woo stared straight ahead, his expression devoid of the usual friendliness. That fleeting, detached look on his face, something Yeong-won had only seen briefly on rare occasions, made the words sting even more.

“You’re one to talk. You ate something I already bit into earlier.”

“That was me holding back from being even more disgusting.”

“What are you even talking about?”

A smile spread across Seon-woo’s face, but it wasn’t his usual warm one. It felt forced and hollow. Yeong-won let out a frustrated sigh, realizing something for certain: this smile was fake.

“Aren’t you going to explain what you meant? I asked you a question.”

“People are watching, Yeong-won. Smile.”

After being told not to sulk, despite having every reason to, Yeong-won reluctantly turned his focus back to his desk, deciding he didn’t have the energy to deal with whatever Seon-woo was playing at.

But the damage was done. The morning routine he’d carefully planned had already unraveled, and the frustration weighed heavily on him. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to push through, determined not to let his mood derail his studies any further.

“Alright, everyone, take your seats. Let’s have our temporary class president introduce himself!”

The homeroom teacher’s cheerful voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Taking another deep breath, Yeong-won stood up, willing himself to suppress the lingering unease and frustration.

“Attention. Bow.”

A soft greeting filled the room as everyone spoke in unison. Yeong-won sat back down, staring blankly at the problems he hadn’t been able to solve earlier in the morning. Normally, he would have breezed through them by plugging the numbers into formulas, but the words from earlier kept replaying in his mind, disrupting his focus.

‘Disgustingly.’

Seon-woo’s voice echoed incessantly in his head. For someone who had claimed to have a good memory, throwing out such cutting words felt like an intentional cruelty.

“This is the application form for evening self-study. Fill it out and hand it to our temporary class president, Yeong-won, by Friday. If you don’t turn it in, I’ll assume you’re participating. If you’re opting out, you’ll need a proper reason and parental confirmation. Don’t forget to include the reason for not attending. President, make sure to collect them all by Friday lunchtime.”

“…Yes.”

Yeong-won replied curtly, watching the homeroom teacher leave. Opening his desk drawer, he pulled out one of the untouched pieces of bread and the apple-flavored Picnic drink. Without hesitation, he placed them on Seon-woo’s desk.

“…You bought them, so do whatever you want, eat them or throw them away. And from now on, don’t talk to me.”

“Why?”

The audacity of Seon-woo, acting as though he didn’t know the reason, made Yeong-won scoff in disbelief. Straightening his posture, he fixed his eyes ahead, refusing to acknowledge Seon-woo further.

“…I don’t want to talk to you.”

Yeong-won didn’t bother hiding his feelings. In that moment, he truly disliked Seon-woo. The unsolicited kindness from yesterday had already been hard enough to process, but the abrupt shift in demeanor today, topped with those infuriating words, left him fuming.

Seon-woo was a distraction, a distraction from his studies, from his routine, and from the focus he had worked so hard to cultivate. Even Hyun-jin, for all his teasing and antics, respected what studying meant to him and never disrupted him when it mattered most.