MY 11

“Ah. I don’t know, I’ll think about it.”

Won Wooje collapsed onto his desk again. Han Seolwoo, who had been lost in thought, shook his shoulder weakly.

“…It’s not too late to start now. You can manage your school records, and if that doesn’t work out, you can just go through the regular admissions.”

It was a lie. It was already late to start now. However, Han Seolwoo wanted Won Wooje not to give up entirely until the very end. Even if it wasn’t a four-year university, he felt like he had to get him into at least a two-year college. Didn’t he need to graduate from university at the minimum to match the starting line of social life with everyone else?

“I’ll help you.”

“… .”

“Let’s study together. Okay?”

Han Seolwoo coaxed him seriously. He looked down at Won Wooje with eyes full of deep concern. Won Wooje, who had been staring up at him blankly after slowly opening his eyes, suddenly burst into a snicker. “Cute brat,” he muttered, tapping Han Seolwoo on the cheek. Then he quickly closed his eyes and laughed again as if he were enjoying himself.

At that handsome smile, Han Seolwoo froze like ice. The tips of his ears were instantly dyed red.

“Wooje-ya.”

Suddenly, Choi Sangyoon approached from behind.

“Yeah.”

“Blind date with a girl, go?”

Won Wooje, answering sluggishly, glanced at Choi Sangyoon.

At the conversation that shifted in an instant, Han Seolwoo opened his workbook again. That damn blind date with a girl. A girl. Those guys never seemed to get tired of talking about girls.

This kind of thing happened every day to Won Wooje and Han Seolwoo. There was nothing to worry about. Anyway, Won Wooje was the type of guy who had no interest in such artificial meetings.

“Is she pretty?”

At the unexpected question, Han Seolwoo’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“She’s fucking pretty. Would I even bring it up to you if she wasn’t?”

Choi Sangyoon said confidently. Won Wooje, who was lying face down, tilted his chin while loosening the corners of his mouth into a smile.

“Photo.”

“Hold on.”

“Oh, Wooje-ya, what’s the occasion? I guess you’re feeling it lately?”

“I just want to see her face.”

The kids stirred at Won Wooje’s first positive response. Won Wooje, raising his stiff upper body, kicked out at them, telling them to shut up and just show him the photo.

“Older, younger? What do you like?”

“What. Is there an older one too? Is she a college student?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“Let me see.”

Won Wooje replied nonchalantly. Han Seolwoo quietly maintained his composure and solved problems. Perhaps his eyesight had worsened from looking at books so much, as the letters didn’t enter his eyes well. Or maybe his concentration had dropped because he came without eating breakfast.

“Here.”

Choi Sangyoon held out his phone screen. Won Wooje, slightly narrowing his eyes, looked at the phone screen. A silence full of tension flowed.

“How is it?”

“She’s pretty.”

At the low voice, Han Seolwoo’s heart sank.

“Oh, pass?”

“Where does this noona say she is? Should I head out now?”

“Crazy bastard.”

Choi Sangyoon chuckled at the sly behavior of Won Wooje getting up while grabbing his school uniform jacket.

Slowly lifting his gaze, Han Seolwoo looked at Won Wooje’s face. As always, he was smiling mischievously with one corner of his mouth raised.

Irritation surged up inside him involuntarily. Where is there time to meet girls right now? He’s busy enough just studying, so what’s with the girls? Is this the time for you to be forced to meet someone?

“Where is there time to meet girls.”

Han Seolwoo muttered. At the sudden words, the kids’ attention gathered. Even after speaking, Han Seolwoo, his back stiffening, narrowed his eyes.

“…I’m telling you to study, study. You don’t even know what an asymptote is.”

“Ah— shit, the scholar has arrived again. Guys, bring the palanquin for him.”

As Won Wooje waved his hand around, Choi Sangyoon cackled and laughed.

“Seolwoo only speaks the truth, though.”

“Yeah, the truth that deserves a beating.”

“Seolwoo. Do you want me to set you up too?”

Choi Sangyoon threw the question out casually. Han Seolwoo’s eyebrows shot up.

“There are fucking plenty of girls for you guys. If I look for them, they’d probably be lined up all the way outside the school gate.”

Choi Sangyoon laughed and fumbled with his phone screen again. Han Seolwoo, who had been staring blankly at his workbook, slowly turned his gaze. His eyes met Won Wooje’s, who was looking at him. Won Wooje, with the corners of his mouth still raised, was watching him.

“Are you crazy?”

Won Wooje spat out. Han Seolwoo, his eyes furrowed, replied distastefully.

“…What.”

“What do you mean, a blind date? Study, you motherfucker.”

Won Wooje kicked his chair. Han Seolwoo’s chair shook from the dull kick. Han Seolwoo let out an incredulous gasp. He was flabbergasted by the double-standard way of thinking where it was okay for himself but not for others.

“It’s okay for you but not for me?”

“Now you’re saying something obvious again.”

“What is obvious?”

Han Seolwoo’s eyes grew sharp along with the irritated question.

“Aigoo, because I’m a lowborn and you’re a total scholar. Even if a lowborn rolls around on the dirt road in a pit of shit, the scholar has to pass the civil service exam with top honors. What the hell are you still looking for, you bastard?”

Won Wooje snatched Choi Sangyoon’s phone away. Han Seolwoo’s eyes narrowed at his forced argument.

“…I can date while studying too.”

Han Seolwoo, turning his head back, muttered while pressing down hard as he wrote. Force went into the hand tightly gripping the mechanical pencil.

“Right, right, that’s not hard.”

“Cut the bullshit. You want to die?”

“Why are you being like this, Wooje? Seolwoo needs to lose his virginity too. How long are you going to keep him tucked away like a princess?”

Choi Sangyoon laughed lewdly. Won Wooje’s brow furrowed violently.

“Where is this ten-centimeter small-dick bastard barking about being experienced like it’s something to be proud of?”

“Hey, I told you I’m not ten centimeters!”

“Yeah, I’ve already seen it all.”

“Ah, this is so unfair. Look at this. This guy is so full of pride just because he’s big.”

“Yeah, your thumb.”

“Ah, damn it.”

Choi Sangyoon fumbled with his pants as if it were unfair. Then, Won Wooje kicked him in the butt and chased him away.

“Get lost because you smell like a whore, you idiots.”

At Won Wooje’s order to leave, which had erased all traces of laughter in an instant, the students noticed the mood and cleared out on their own. The surroundings became quiet as the noise quickly moved over to the next row of desks.

Han Seolwoo, having calmly closed his notebook, slowly lifted his gaze. He stared at Won Wooje, who was already fiddling with his phone under the desk.

“What now.”

Feeling the gaze, Won Wooje asked without even looking. Han Seolwoo looked at him with serious eyes.

“…Did you do it?”

“What.”

“Did you do it too?”

“What are you talking about.”

At the ensuing silence, Won Wooje jerked his head up. He looked at Han Seolwoo, who was talking nonsense, with questioning eyes.

“…Have you, that, tried it too… .”

His red lips parted as he hesitated. The inside of his mouth was drying up. His Adam’s apple pulsed greatly as he swallowed hard. An emotion of unknown origin wavered in his light-colored eyes.

“Are you asking if I lost my virginity?”

“… .”

“Crazy.”

Won Wooje chuckled. He looked at Han Seolwoo, smiling for a long time as if something was so amusing, before saying with a meaningful face.

“You’re curious about that?”

Han Seolwoo swallowed. Then, with a grave face, he slowly nodded his head.

“Come here.”

Won Wooje gestured secretly as if telling him to lean his ear in. As Han Seolwoo leaned his body toward him, Won Wooje leaned his upper body forward. In the moment his body stiffened with tension, warm breath touched his ear.

“Chastity before marriage.”

At the voice whispering lowly, his heart thudded. Simultaneously, a stinging pain landed sharply on his forehead. Han Seolwoo, who had been hit with a sudden flick to the forehead, let out an “Ah!” and grimaced. Tears welled up automatically.

“Don’t even think about fooling around anywhere.”

He pushed his chair back with a screech and stood up.

“If I catch you throwing your body around carelessly, you’re dead and you’re dead. Okay?”

Won Wooje, who pointed at his own eyes with two fingers, pointed straight at Han Seolwoo. Then he made a slicing motion across his neck. Han Seolwoo, who had been hit with a sudden blow, was dazed. He looked at Won Wooje, who was walking out the back door with long strides, with an incredulous face.

Han Seolwoo, who had been scolded out of nowhere, was unable to focus on class. The teacher’s instructions sounded like meaningless Buddhist chanting. Not a single thing entered his ears. It was all because of Won Wooje.

Han Seolwoo’s human relationships were extremely narrow. Let alone a close female friend, he didn’t have any friends who were girls at all. It was because he had lived his life feeling neither the necessity nor the discomfort of such things.

But Won Wooje was different. He had many acquaintances regardless of gender or age. Despite having attended the same elementary, middle, and high schools, he had noonas he knew, friends who were girls, and had even had relationships that were something like “some” or not. The one who had personally witnessed those things was also himself.

The part that made Han Seolwoo’s mood uncomfortable was exactly this. Come to think of it, it was contemptible. It felt unfair all of a sudden that Won Wooje, who used to have a fit if even the word “girl” was mentioned, had been doing everything he wanted to do outside. The more he thought about it, the more absurd it became.

‘What do you mean, girls.’

‘Do it when you go to college.’

‘Study.’

‘Stop bullshitting and just study.’

The nagging old-fart remarks he always carried around felt particularly offensive. Even though he himself did this and that, everything under the sun, he acted like a strict village schoolmaster only toward him.

Why had he only realized this now? Why had he lived like a dog receiving snacks, doing whatever he was told? Of course, there were times he felt grateful to Won Wooje for acting as an iron wall against annoying things because he wasn’t interested in the opposite sex, but actually, thinking back on it… .

He did everything he wanted to do and made it so I couldn’t.