By Zephyria 
It was a short while later that Park Sang-jun appeared at the cafe.
“Sang-jun, over here!”
Park Sang-jun’s eyes widened as he recognized Jae-gyeom at a glance.
“Huh? Are you that Ji-hye fan from back then?”
“It’s a long story, but we’re friends now. He knows that Eun-kyung and I are dating, too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. His name is Kim Jae-gyeom. Darling, say hello. This is Park Sang-jun.”
“I’m Park Sang-jun. Nice to meet you.”
“Hello…”
As Jae-gyeom gave an awkward greeting, Park Sang-jun spoke with a smile.
“We meet again, huh? You spoke casually back then, but today you’re using formal language?”
Jae-gyeom scratched his forehead and looked at Shin Ji-hye, asking, “D-did I?” He had been completely wasted at the time and was out of his mind. Even now, his memory was hazy. That said, he couldn’t exactly start speaking casually right away when they had only just met again. Seeing this, Shin Ji-hye quickly stepped in to settle the situation.
“We decided to be friends regardless of age. So you two should just speak comfortably with each other.”
“Right.”
Perfect. Jae-gyeom readily accepted the proposal.
“S-should we?”
Just as Park Sang-jun nodded as if pushed along, Shin Ji-hye fired a question straight at him.
“Sang-jun, what did you do when you first had sex with your current boyfriend?”
Startled by the blunt and fiery question, Park Sang-jun looked utterly bewildered.
“Wait, is it okay to bring this up as a conversation topic the moment we meet?”
“Why not?”
Shin Ji-hye giggled, her face showing that she found this incredibly amusing.
Unlike Shin Ji-hye, who spat out words with unfiltered boldness, Park Sang-jun was a fairly gentlemanly type. On behalf of the awkward Jae-gyeom, Shin Ji-hye briefly explained the situation to Park Sang-jun. In short, Jae-gyeom was worried about how to progress physically with his first boyfriend.
After listening intently to the short story, Park Sang-jun nodded as if he understood.
“Hmm… so he doesn’t seem to have any intention of sleeping with you? I see…”
Fiddling with the back of his neck, Park Sang-jun asked cautiously.
“By any chance, what are your positions?”
“What is that?”
“Are you a top or a bottom?”
“What is that…?”
“…Eh?”
The two of them looked at each other, both bewildered.
“Hey, he won’t understand if you put it like that.”
At that moment, Shin Ji-hye intervened, tapping Park Sang-jun’s arm. Park Sang-jun was flustered. No matter how young he was or how new he was to this, he had never met such a complete novice in his entire life.
“He’s an old soul. Sang-jun, you be understanding.”
“He looks way younger than me, so what do you mean by ‘old soul’? What is that supposed to mean?”
Jae-gyeom shot Shin Ji-hye a sharp glare. Realizing her slip, Shin Ji-hye suddenly pretended to fix her makeup, humming to herself and playing innocent. Tilting his head, Park Sang-jun brought the conversation back.
“I mean… well, you know how guys do it, right?”
“I know. Roughly.”
“Hmm, then… do you… want him to put it in you, or do you want to put it in him?”
With an expression that seemed to say, ‘Why is that even a question?’, Jae-gyeom answered without hesitation.
“Of course I should be the one putting it in.”
At that moment, Shin Ji-hye, who had been sipping her drink through a straw, froze.
“Kyahaha! Hahahaha! Hahaha!”
She suddenly began to burst into laughter, stomping her feet. Neither Park Sang-jun, who didn’t know who Jae-gyeom’s partner was, nor Jae-gyeom himself, understood why Shin Ji-hye was suddenly laughing so hard.
“Why are you laughing?”
Shin Ji-hye couldn’t even speak properly because she was laughing so much. Whatever it was that was so funny, she eventually had tears in her eyes. After folding a napkin a few times, she looked up and dabbed her eyes to keep her makeup from smudging before continuing.
“Ha, you’re seriously something. This is the first time I’ve laughed like this all year.”
“So what’s so funny?”
“You’re the one putting it in? To him? Does that even make sense?”
“Why…? What doesn’t make sense?”
Jae-gyeom asked defensively. Shin Ji-hye felt that if she could, she wanted to record this conversation and play it for Yoon Tae-hee. Because the Yoon Tae-hee she had seen with her own eyes was absolutely not the kind of person who would be pinned down by anyone.
“Wait? No, hold on…”
Shin Ji-hye rolled her eyes for a moment.
“No, I take that back.”
Come to think of it, Yoon Tae-hee was the kind of person who, when Jae-gyeom offered his gall bladder, would actually look for a knife and hold it in his own hand.
“If you say you’ll do it, he’d probably just obediently let himself be pinned. Because he’s not sane.”
Jae-gyeom narrowed his eyes, not understanding what she meant, and asked Park Sang-jun.
“Is he asking who plays the man’s role and who plays the woman’s role?”
“No, no. If you approach it like that, it gets a bit dangerous. This is strictly a matter of preference…”
“How is that usually decided?”
Park Sang-jun sighed, looking troubled, wondering where to even start explaining.
“Have you two ever talked or consulted about this?”
“No, we haven’t.”
“Then how did you reach that conclusion?”
“Because I’m the Hyung… and I’m more manly, and stronger.”
At that, Shin Ji-hye intervened, crossing her legs with a look of sheer disbelief.
“Hey. Are you picking a fight opponent? What does that have to do with sex positions?”
As Jae-gyeom looked bewildered, Park Sang-jun said in horror,
“Keep your voice down!”
“Hey, what does it matter? Everyone in the world does it; being shy about it is what’s tacky.”
“Oh boy, Ji-hye. Lower your voice…”
“There’s no one here anyway. It’s just us, so what’s the big deal? Sex, sex, sex~”
“Ah, you crazy bastard. Do you act like this when you’re with Eun-kyung too?”
“Nope. I don’t do this in front of Eun-kyung.”
Park Sang-jun shook his head in exasperation and spoke to Jae-gyeom.
“Just ignore her…”
“Okay…”
“Actually, usually people just know naturally without talking about it. There’s such a thing as atmosphere and vibe. But you said this is your first relationship, right? Since it’s your first time, you might not know.”
Continuing his explanation, Park Sang-jun asked, “What kind of person is your boyfriend?” Jae-gyeom fell into thought for a moment. What kind of person… he didn’t know how to describe him. After rolling his eyes, Jae-gyeom replied.
“Tae-hee is like a magnolia flower.”
The gazes of both Shin Ji-hye and Park Sang-jun landed on Jae-gyeom simultaneously.
“…”
“…”
What? Shin Ji-hye spoke as if she had a thorn stuck in her throat.
“…What flower? A magnolia?”
He seemed lush yet modest, modest yet precarious, and while precarious, he had a neat and resolute feeling. There was a fragility and pathos to him, as if he might suddenly scatter and melt into blackness, rolling at one’s feet if one looked away for a moment. At the same time, that felt beautiful, and it made one want to treat him with care. There were also times when he felt intensely mysterious, as if he would wither and drop away instantly if treated carelessly.
Shin Ji-hye and Park Sang-jun looked at each other in silence.
“That’s why I feel like I need to protect him.”
When he thought of Yoon Tae-hee, he wanted to protect him and embrace him. If there was something dangerous or if someone picked a fight, he wanted to step in and solve it for him; if they were eating together and there was something Yoon Tae-hee couldn’t eat or disliked, he wanted to eat it for him. Of course, he knew the guy wasn’t actually that weak, but once an impression is formed, it’s inevitable that he felt the desire to protect him.
“…”
“…”
Jae-gyeom read the expressions of the two, who seemed troubled, not knowing how to react.
“I’m not one to talk, but I think you’re seriously insane too…”
Shin Ji-hye threw her arms up near her shoulders and shook her head.
“Ji-hye… you don’t have to go that far… Since we like each other, it’s natural that he looks pretty in my eyes… You’re the same when you think of Eun-kyung…”
“Are you crazy? How dare you compare him to Eun-kyung? You only say that because you don’t know that bastard.”
“Well, of course I don’t know him.”
“He’s the kind of guy who wouldn’t even blink if a knife was held to his throat. And yet, a magnolia flower? This is truly absurd.”
Just as Shin Ji-hye was tapping the table in disbelief, her phone suddenly rang. The caller was her girlfriend, Eun-kyung. Shin Ji-hye hurriedly grabbed her phone and jumped up from her seat.
“Eun-kyung is calling! I’ll go take this, you two keep talking.”
With that, Shin Ji-hye quickly scurried out to the terrace.
“Ung, Darling~. Whyyy? I’m out having coffee right now.”
Once Shin Ji-hye left to take the call, the noisy table became deathly silent.
“…”
“…”
It was a stillness as if a typhoon had just swept through.
“Where were we?”
“You said Tae-hee is like a magnolia.”
“Ah, right.”
Park Sang-jun nodded.
I see, that kind of type…
If that were the case, it made sense why he would avoid sleeping together. Having heard the image of Yoon Tae-hee only through Jae-gyeom’s words, Park Sang-jun had already formed his own arbitrary image of him in his head.
Like a magnolia, someone who makes you want to protect him… probably fragile?
“I think I know. The reason why that person is avoiding sex.”
“What is it?”
Park Sang-jun spoke as if he had completely figured it out.
“Isn’t it just because he’s scared?”
Jae-gyeom’s eyes snapped open.