By Zephyria 
Perhaps he was defined as a human so frail that he couldn’t be left alone for even a single moment.
As Eun-ha wore an awkward smile, a hand slid around his wrist. Fiddling with it, Yeon-jun spoke as if he were deeply dissatisfied.
“Why is your body so frail?”
“……I admit my image is a bit like that, but I wasn’t the only one this time.”
“I heard you were the sickest. That you were severely dehydrated.”
Information had reached him through friends who had asked if Eun-ha was alright, saying that he was the biggest concern. Having nothing more to say, Eun-ha fell silent. He wanted to say, that I suffered so much is my own fault… but knowing it would be like adding fuel to the fire, he chose not to utter it.
“…Let’s go now.”
While Eun-ha spoke calmly and expressionlessly, staring straight ahead, Yeon-jun fell into thought for a moment. He tapped the steering wheel with his fingertips, and in an instant, a strange light flickered in his pupils as he continued to think. Like someone who had just come up with a great plan. Or someone making a resolution.
* * *
By early evening, as Eun-ha’s condition improved, he found himself buried under a barrage of messages from friends. The group chat was buzzing, and the number of private messages was considerable. The content was all similar: things regarding his relationship with Yeon-jun.
Since their relationship had been publicly revealed to some extent, he had expected this, so he wasn’t particularly surprised. He had long been accustomed to friends who flirted or pestered him at every opportunity, so he had learned to just brush off most chaos. This time, too, he felt that things would work themselves out somehow.
However… there was one thing weighing on his mind.
“…….”
As evening turned toward night, Eun-ha, sitting at the island kitchen table eating a late dinner, stopped his spoon and looked across. There sat Yeon-jun, watching Eun-ha eat. Yeon-jun looked back at him, asking with his eyes why he was staring. After a moment of hesitation, Eun-ha spoke.
“Yeon-jun.”
He didn’t quite know why the eyes meeting his gaze became so firm at that call.
“No.”
“…No what?”
“You have to eat more, Hyung.”
“…….”
Following the doctor’s advice to avoid stimulating foods for the time being, Eun-jun had been eating porridge. He had barely taken about five spoonfuls.
But goodness, that tone—it was like scolding a preschooler throwing a fit over a meal. Forgetting what he had intended to say, Eun-ha let out a hollow laugh, bewildered.
“I’m sorry, but I’m an adult. I’m eight years older than you.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean you’re an adult in every aspect.”
……Huh? Eun-ha raised an eyebrow at the quite provocative remark, his lips curling in genuine absurdity. Despite that sharp gaze, Yeon-jun didn’t seem to mind much and instead looked at Eun-ha’s bowl as if prompting him.
“That’s not what I was going to say.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. In the first place, I’ve only had five spoonfuls—”
“Hyung is the kind of person who would say they’re full after that much.”
“I’m not that bad, you know?”
A sense of injustice surged. Who did he take him for? When Eun-ha raised his voice in irritation, Yeon-jun finally smiled slightly, trying to smooth things over. “Then why?” the barely twenty-year-old asked. Eun-ha glared at him for a moment before eventually giving in. Right. As he said, he was eight years older than this kid…
Fiddling with his water glass, he brought up the subject.
“Those kids I saw earlier.”
“Your friends, Hyung?”
“Yeah.”
“Yes.”
“…They all found out.”
“Found out what?”
“About us.”
As if processing the meaning of the words, Yeon-jun remained still for a moment before his eyes widened slightly.
“…Did you tell them, Hyung?”
For some reason, his voice sounded excited, causing Eun-ha to let out a quiet, voiceless laugh. What on earth was he talking about?
You were the one who told them… you practically advertised it yourself…
There was no way he would have spoken first. That was a matter directly linked to coming out.
Eun-ha tended to be extremely cautious and sensitive about revealing, directly or indirectly, that he was gay. After suffering all sorts of violence from his father over that issue and being kicked out as if his family registry were being erased, anyone would have become that way.
Even if the social atmosphere had changed significantly compared to the past, Eun-ha remained entirely skeptical about coming out. That was why the events at the hospital this morning continued to bother him. Although it was discovered because Yeon-jun himself made it so obvious…
It wasn’t intentional. Moreover, it was a discovery that wouldn’t have happened in the first place if they hadn’t already known Eun-ha was gay.
“I didn’t tell them; it just happened to be found out.”
“Ah—”
“So, I thought you might be uncomfortable.”
“Uncomfortable?”
Yeon-jun simply tilted his head, as if the concept were difficult to understand.
“I like it.”
“……Like what?”
“Just… your friends knowing about us.”
Muttering this, Yeon-jun rested his chin on his hand. His fingertips subtly touched his own earlobe. Noticing the transparent redness around it, Eun-ha let out a soft “ah” of realization. It was clear what the boy was thinking. With cheeks nearly flushed red, the boy continued.
“Then it’s like… officially stamping it? Like it’s become a real thing.”
Right. I suppose it has become that. It was precisely because he was uncomfortable with that that he had refused Im Sujin’s nagging to introduce the guy just yesterday.
“I’m really okay with it.”
“…….”
“And I’ll continue to be okay.”
“What’s okay?”
“No matter who I tell.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Can I tell people too?”
“Tell what?”
Eun-ha’s expression turned stern, as if warning him not to even think about doing such a thing. Setting aside who he intended to tell.
“This isn’t something to be thought of so lightly.”
“Should I think of it as something difficult?”
“Of course you should… What if the person you tell thinks poorly of it? What if they can’t understand and look at you with disdain—”
“Then that’s a good thing. I wouldn’t like a person like that anyway.”
“…….”
Eun-ha stared at Yeon-jun with a sense of strangeness, as if looking at a species fundamentally different from his own. For some reason, he had a vague feeling that even if Yeon-jun spoke carelessly about his orientation, nothing bad would happen.
Well, if they were that kind of person, wouldn’t they have already cut ties with this boy, regardless of their relationship…
His thoughts cleared. Soon, Eun-ha, becoming indifferent as if telling him to do whatever he wanted, picked up his spoon. While stirring the porridge, which was still nearly untouched, he suddenly spoke.
“Leave my name out of it. I have absolutely no desire to be revealed to the people around you.”
“Ah. But that’s the important part.”
When Eun-ha looked at him, wondering what he meant, Yeon-jun made a pouty face as if it were a great pity.
“Bragging that Hyung is my boyfriend…”
“Bragging my foot.”
Responding coldly on purpose, Eun-ha scooped up some porridge to finish his meal. With that, the situation ended. In the cozy silence where only the sound of the distant TV flowed, they continued their evening.