By Zephyria 
“All three of you were excellent.”
Kim Yeong stood up, conveyed words of encouragement, and led the applause. Cheers for the three people rained down on the playground. However, there was only one winner. The result was obvious without even looking.
It was Kim Ju-won’s victory.
Despite the fact that Kim Ja-myeong, including the Teachers and children of the main office, and even the operation support staff voted for a fairer evaluation, the victory or defeat was decided by an overwhelming difference in votes.
In the end, whether they knew the meaning or not, people’s ‘eye for talent’ was the same.
It would be, unless they were fools.
A more complete stage.
It was an obvious choice.
However, surprisingly, Kim Ja-myeong was also included among the few people who chose ‘Ahn Seo-myeong’.
To that unexpected choice, Kim Ja-myeong replied like this.
“I saw Hee-eona.”
It was an enigmatic statement, but somehow, only Kim Ju-won’s expression subtly changed.
As if he understood the meaning.
“Wow, that was fun.”
“Seo-myeong was good too, but Ju-won is the best!”
The adults left first, and the children who remained for cleanup forgot what they were doing and surrounded Ki Jae-eon, busy showering him with compliments.
“Jae-eon oppa surprisingly looks good in makeup. Pretty!”
“Hey, is saying ‘pretty’ to a guy a compliment? Ah! Hyung, you are handsome.”
“Ah, uh-huh. Thank you.”
“Hyung, what else can you do besides acting as a lover?”
“Let’s do it with me later too, oppa!”
It was in the middle of the boisterous chatter.
“Hey, hey, the kid is tired.”
Kim Ju-won, who had already changed his clothes, slipped Ki Jae-eon out from among the children. He grabbed Ki Jae-eon’s wrist, naturally hid him behind his back, and waved his hand at the children, telling them to clean up.
“Go away, shoo, shoo.”
“So annoying.”
“Are you crazy?”
“You’ve got nothing to fear now that you’ve won?”
“You’re ugly~.”
“Hey, saying ‘ugly’ in the middle is just a personal attack. Which bastard was it!”
At Kim Ju-won’s threat, the children laughed and ran far away.
Only the two of them were left in the place where the ruffians had swept through.
“Seriously, they’re worse than Evil Spirits. Those guys… someday I’ll have to perform exorcism on them all, geez.”
Ki Jae-eon, who heard Kim Ju-won’s grumbling, slightly raised the corners of his lips. Heh, a quiet and neat smile that resembled him perfectly. Especially today, he was wearing rouge and beautiful Hanbok to play ‘Hee-eona’, so he looked several times more elegant.
“You, you worked hard.”
“You too……”
The two people faced each other and complimented each other.
“Hyung, you were good.”
At the continued compliment, Kim Ju-won closed his mouth. Because I wanted to look good to you, because I wanted to be with you, because I wanted to be your partner. There were countless reasons why I tried, but I couldn’t bring myself to say them. At least Kim Ju-won wasn’t the one who was qualified to say those things so casually.
It was at that moment.
Ki Jae-eon’s gaze slightly shifted away from Kim Ju-won.
Eyes looking around as if searching for someone.
Kim Ju-won instinctively realized.
‘Ah, again.’
His heart pounded.
“Jae-eon-ah.”
When anxiety grows, people lose their prudence.
Sure enough, his mouth called out to the other person on its own.
A straight line that wasn’t planned.
“I……”
At the same time, sunlight poured down on his shoulders.
So hot, so intense that he wanted to cry.
“I, I like you.”
Yes, sunlight that resembled his own heart.
“I really like you.”
Ki Jae-eon’s gaze turned back to him.
Even before the joy of regaining the attention that had been taken away, Kim Ju-won belatedly understood how reckless and uncool his confession was.
It really wouldn’t be a waste to give it the title of ‘the worst confession of a lifetime’.
Was that why?
“I like hyung too.”
The answer that came back without hesitation was also the worst.
Ki Jae-eon’s heart, which was smiling brightly, was exactly ‘friendship’, nothing more and nothing less.
‘Ah, a friend.’
The meaning of the simple answer was also simple.
There was no need to worry for long or deny it.
‘Friend.’
Ah, so I can only be a friend.
‘……No turning back.’
As soon as he acknowledged the fact that there was no possibility, the strength in his shoulders slowly dissipated. The heart that had been pounding with ‘maybe’ in the back of his mind also fluctuated greatly in a different sense. The unrequited love he had held in his heart was also crumpled messily. Perhaps it would be difficult to regain its original shape in the future.
‘It hurts more than I thought.’
At the stinging pain, Kim Ju-won forced a smile. He was worried about whether he would cry, but thankfully he didn’t.
However, the forced smile didn’t provide any comfort. It felt like a hole had been punched in the center of his chest, and bitterness flooded into the empty space like a tide.
“……Yeah.”
Kim Ju-won nodded with a slightly uncomfortable smile. It was a gesture of ‘Okay, I understand’.
But his heart wasn’t cool either.
Knowing it would hurt, Kim Ju-won opened his mouth with the feeling of constantly touching the hangnail next to his fingernail because it bothered him.
Deliberately, deliberately.
“……You like Ahn Seo-myeong too, right?”
He asked a pathetic question.
He knew it was pathetic and pathetic, but he couldn’t stop.
‘Just, I want the same answer.’
That was all he wanted.
[Yeah, I like him.]
He wanted that kind of answer.
The same way he answered him easily.
But he was wrong.
Ki Jae-eon didn’t answer right away.
Instead, he just quietly stared at him. At that changed gaze, Kim Ju-won forgot how to breathe.
Ah, the expression is so different just because the person he thought of has changed.
‘It’s a confirmation kill.’
There is a saying that silence is affirmation.
At one time, he doubted ‘how can you know the meaning if you don’t say it’, but now he understood.
People speak the truth with their eyes.
That’s why they don’t bother to make a sound. Because it’s unnecessary.
It was the same now.
Ki Jae-eon gave his answer with silence.
However, the owner of the affirmation he gave wasn’t here.
It didn’t take long to understand that fact.
Suddenly, everything felt futile.
The joy of winning, the excitement he had been feeling… all of it faded away.
Like the sound of applause scattered into the air, it crumbled miserably under the sunlight.
It was like a sudden farewell that came without even saying goodbye.
“……”
It was so strange.
He was the one who won the match, he was the one who heard the words ‘I like you’… so why did it feel like he had lost everything?
‘No, I did lose.’
Even so, he forced himself to smile. To be exact, it was a bluff. He pretended to be normal, pretending to be nonchalant. That was the most manly thing he could do right now.
“You’ll catch a cold if you don’t cool down. Go and change your clothes quickly.”
The voice that was holding back the pain was vaguely similar to a tired voice. Lucky him. Kim Ju-won chuckled.
“Ah……. Then, I’ll excuse myself.”
Ki Jae-eon answered and turned his body.
However, the speed at which he turned around was quite fast.
It was a gesture of wanting to see someone as soon as possible.
“Yeah. Don’t be late for dinner.”
“Yeah, ah!”
Ki Jae-eon, who had been walking for two or three steps, suddenly stopped. Then, he suddenly turned his head and shouted towards Kim Ju-won, who was standing in the center of the playground. Ju-won hyung! The face that turned around shone brightly in the sunlight.
Bright smile with the corners of his eyes curved brightly and his front teeth slightly revealed.
“I’m taking Seo-myeong with me, I’ll be going!”
An excited energy was embedded in his voice.
A shyness that Ki Jae-eon himself didn’t know was shyly spread across his face.
The moment he saw that bright smile, Kim Ju-won despaired once again.
Completely, without even a small hope.
‘I got dumped.’
Kim Ju-won had lost this match.
‘I saw Hee-eona.’
Why Teacher had cast his vote for Ahn Seo-myeong.
The reason was simple.
The man Hee-eona loves is Yanggeum.
Yes, that’s right.
‘The person Jae-eon wants to be with… wasn’t me.’
No matter how much better he danced or acted, the one who ultimately receives Hee-eona’s choice would be the real Yanggeum.
“……”
Kim Ju-won slowly lowered his head.
He hoped that no one would see his expression right now.