BMGSN 7

“Hello? Is this the police?”

“Ah, f*ck! Wait, just a second!”

“I caught someone pickpocketing on the bus, but we’re a bit far away right now. Could you come? I’ll tell you the stop name and the bus number I just got off.”

“Hey, hey! You bastard, fu— no… I mean, it’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!”

The male student, after clearly stating the bus stop name, turned his head toward Jinki, who had been standing there blankly.

“Are you okay? You’re a second-year, right?”

“Ah, yes… yes.”

“I called the police, so you can relax. I’ve got actual footage, too. Do you want to come with us? Or do you want to give me your number and go home?”

Holding the phone that had been held out to him, Jinki could not do anything. He filmed it? From that angle? On top of that, he said something about stealing a wallet, but Jinki had not actually lost anything. As Jinki hesitated, the male student threw the office bag hanging from the man’s right arm at him.

“Search it. The wallet will be in there.”

Caught off guard, Jinki hugged the bag to his chest, nodded, and opened it. And sure enough, he found the wallet. His mind went white for a moment. It seemed the guy had checked the pockets, realized there was nothing, and then rummaged through the bag.

“Found it?”

“Yes, yes…”

“There’s video evidence, so you can take that. And give me your number.”

Staring blankly at the phone that was extended again, Jinki hurriedly entered his number at the low voice urging him on. The male student took the phone, called it on the spot, and checked that it had been entered correctly. Meanwhile, the man, restrained by only one arm, spewed all kinds of curses and made a scene, insisting he had not stolen anything.

A new character… who was he?

There was no way a mere extra would be that good-looking. Even if Jinki did not remember him, he should have existed somewhere in the novel he had read. But no matter how much he thought about it, he could not recall a character with such unfamiliar features and faded-looking blond hair.

For a moment, the third sub-gong who appeared last crossed his mind, but Jinki quickly dismissed it. That guy appeared the latest in the original work and was not described in detail beyond his three-syllable name. Besides, he was not the type to help a stranger in passing.

And in his past life, the villain to whom he had said, “Try writing him worse,” to the author Kim Hyeyeon was precisely that guy.

“What’s your name?”

“J-Jinki.”

Because he had not expected to be asked his name, Jinki stumbled over his lips as he answered. Various colors began pricking into the blank white haze inside his head. My name, my name… right, Choi Jinki.

“Which Jinki?”

“Choi Jinki…”

After kicking the man who was still causing a scene in the shin, he tapped the phone screen again with his other hand. He had a kind, gentle-looking face, but his grip strength did not match it, and the thief’s complexion looked far from good.

“F*ck, okay, I get it, so just—!”

“Jinki-ya, I’ll contact you when everything’s done. I’ll handle it so you don’t have to come, so don’t worry. It must’ve been rough, but just think of today as stepping in shit and forget about it.”

“Ah, um… yes. Thank you.”

“Straighten your shoulders. Is your home far?”

“No, it’s close by.”

“Good. Then get going. The police car’s coming.”

A police car really was approaching. It felt like something straight out of a novel, detached from reality. Though people did say reality was stranger than fiction…

After watching the two of them walk toward the police, Jinki moved his feet. He was still dazed. He glanced at the unfamiliar number displayed on his phone, then lowered his hand. At that moment, the phone rang. It was Joo Unyoung.

* * *

By the time Jinki arrived at the playground Unyoung had called him to, the sun had nearly set, dyeing the sky a violet hue. Unyoung was leaning against the horizontal bar, and when he spotted Jinki, he waved his hand. Approaching the empty swings, he waved again.

“You came, Jinki-ya?”

“Uh…”

“Sit.”

The swing he gave a light tap to swayed gently from side to side. When Jinki sat down, Joo Unyoung rocked his own swing and let out a deep sigh.

“Jinki-ya, am I making you uncomfortable?”

At the sudden question, no, the words he must have been waiting for, Jinki flinched without realizing it. Even though he knew he should answer honestly right here, seeing Unyoung’s wounded expression made it hard for him to open his mouth.

Was that why he had not spoken to him all day today? Even during lunch, going off alone…

Unyoung, who had been still, blinked his long eyelashes a few times and then held out his hand.

“Give me your hand.”

After hesitating, Jinki held out his left hand. Joo Unyoung tightly gripped his wrist and fiddled with his palm. He pressed down on it, joint by joint, comparing it to his own similarly sized hand, then let out a sigh as if all the strength had drained from him.

“Why am I making you uncomfortable? Because I asked you something like that? Then are we not even friends anymore now?”

“……”

Jinki could not answer. As if he had steeled his resolve, his lips felt sewn shut as well.

“Yeah, I guess it would be uncomfortable. You never had any interest in me, and I was the only one misunderstanding things.”

His chest prickled with a stinging ache. Originally, if things had followed the original story, Joo Unyoung would have ended up with Choi Jinki.

Creak, creak. The sound of the swaying swings rang strangely, like a huge gust of wind brushing past a slightly open window.

He tapped the firm yet springy rubber ground and gripped the swing’s handle. With what had just happened earlier added on, Jinki was not in his right mind, and Joo Unyoung seemed at a loss about the situation. The hand that had been taken was still firmly held.

There were many reasons people came to hate others, but most of them started from something trivial. Because they ignored them, because they did not like them, because they made them misunderstand.

And Jinki didn’t really dislike Joo Unyoung. He had no such intentions, and he didn’t want to be in that kind of relationship with Joo Unyoung. If he were to force himself into dating him, the ending would only turn out worse.

So he did not want to toy with him using false feelings.

“Can’t we just go back to how things were before?”

When he raised his lowered gaze, Joo Unyoung met his eyes with drooping eyelids. It was painfully clear how the eyes that always shone brightly were visibly trembling with unease.

“It’s okay if you don’t like me. I just want to stay by your side, even as friends. …My feelings for you, I’ll just sort them out on my own.”

Jinki looked at the hand being held and slowly replied, “Okay.” He did so even though he knew that pushing him away firmly would be what was best for him. Jinki thought he was doing something bad. If he truly cared about Joo Unyoung, he should not even remain friends with him.

Agreeing to his request was hypocrisy. It was something he was doing just to make himself feel a little more at ease.

As he lightly tapped the firm yet springy ground with the tip of his foot, the boy laced their fingers together. When Jinki unconsciously twisted his wrist, Joo Unyoung gave a bitter smile.

“What’s with you… We’ve always linked fingers like this.”

“Sorry… I was just startled.”

“It’s okay.”

Strength went into their tightly interlocked fingers. Holding Joo Unyoung’s hand, he rocked the swing. His left arm swayed back and forth, and the skin pressed together felt hot.

At first, he thought he could simply avoid Joo Unyoung.

But the novel had already progressed to a certain point, and Joo Unyoung liked Choi Jinki. It was not intentional, but Joo Unyoung did not know that the person he loved was gone, and Jinki was hiding that fact. Joo Unyoung did not know that he had come from another world, not this one.

Even if he told him, it was obvious that he would not believe it.

In the distance, a couple holding hands walked past the playground. The man with glasses smiled as he brushed the woman’s hair aside, and the woman pouted, grumbling softly that it would mess up her hair. Even so, it was obvious they liked each other so much that they did not know what to do with themselves.

Joo Unyoung must have hoped for something like that. In the original story, Joo Unyoung would have begun a special and unique love where both sides liked each other at the same time. 

“Unyoung-ah.”

“Yeah.”

The flowers had fallen, and as the sky dimmed, it signaled the time of the moon. Ding, ding, ding. It felt as though the sound of the school bell could be heard. Daytime was over, and now it was time for the small moon to rise and look upon the world.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.”

Jinki offered a sincere apology. And then he made a decision. He decided to help Joo Unyoung so that he would not have to struggle alone.

“Unyoung-ah.”

“Huh?”

He swallowed hard.

“I’ll help you meet a good person.”

He could not become Joo Unyoung’s partner. But he could be a Cupid of love all the same. More than that, in the original story, were there not three—no, two gay characters who liked Joo Unyoung.  

“Huh?”

“You’re pretty—no, no. You’re kind and a good person! It’s okay. You can meet a good person. I’ll really help you. I mean it.”

The original Choi Jinki would not have said something like this. But now was not the time to worry about that. It did not matter even if Joo Unyoung noticed that he had changed. Jinki tightly grabbed both of Joo Unyoung’s hands. He widened his eyes and stared straight into the other’s startled pupils.

“You’re pretty. And you’re kind and a good person.”

Jinki tightened his grip on the hands he was holding. As if telling him to trust only him, he put strength into his gaze and even nodded his head. Joo Unyoung, looking flustered, could not move at all.