Sweet Shot

#34

His elegant fingers scrolled through the call history. As soon as he tapped the phone-shaped app, he deleted a contact that had been saved just minutes ago. It was Hee-jae’s number that she had given him earlier. Ah… Ha-min sighed to himself, his lips parting slightly. It seemed he didn’t like having his girlfriend’s number. Was that why he had been so curt with her? Ha-min couldn’t help feeling bitter, even though he tried not to.

“Ha-min.”

He called out to me again after deleting the contact. His voice was still gentle.

“Yeah?”

He hadn’t called my name many times today. I looked up at him eagerly, unreasonably happy at his affectionate call.

“Go change your clothes now.”

At those words, Ha-min realized he was still wearing these embarrassing clothes. The fact that he kept mentioning the clothes until the end meant he really didn’t like them. Ha-min hurriedly moved with a reddened face.

**

Having finally changed back into his original clothes, Ha-min took a deep breath of relief. Really, it had been such a long day. It had been a while since he’d had such a long day. After changing, he felt suddenly exhausted. He carefully folded the clothes he had worn and placed them gently in the shopping bag, thinking he should return them to Eun-soo.

When he came out of the university building wearing his original checkered shirt and beige cotton pants, he saw Tae-rim smoking a cigarette. It seemed he hadn’t left yet. Ha-min quickened his pace at the sight of him still not having gone home.

“Ha… You haven’t left yet?”

Ha-min asked breathlessly as he ran up to Tae-rim. Tae-rim, who had been leisurely smoking, curled up the corners of his mouth.

“Did you want me to leave?”

At the playful question, Ha-min shook his head vigorously. His expression, which had been cold all day, had somewhat softened. Ha-min swallowed a sigh of relief internally.

“It’s not that… You just seemed in a bad mood today….”

So he thought he would have just left. He had called his name fewer times than usual, and it was hard to find his usual gentle voice. It had been an uncomfortable time throughout.

“Was I?”

But he responded as if it was news to him. He exhaled cigarette smoke a couple of times and discarded the butt. Soon after, his calm voice was heard again.

“I’ll take you home.”

It wasn’t a suggestion asking if he wanted a ride, but a statement. Ha-min awkwardly touched his face, saying, “Ah…”

“I have somewhere to go….”

Tae-rim’s eyebrows raised slightly.

“Tae-in has a performance… Woo-kyung and Chae-rin are going too.”

“Ah….”

He made a small sound as if he just remembered at Ha-min’s words. Tae-in had said he would come to his performance too. But it seemed he had forgotten.

“Tae-in said you were coming too.”

“I don’t really like noisy places.”

“He said if the response is good, he’d make a studio….”

“I was going to make one for him anyway.”

At his nonchalant reply, Ha-min realized his guess was right. Tae-in had called him a cold-hearted results-oriented person, but Ha-min didn’t think so. He was always a magnanimous person who pretended to give in and granted everything. Plus, he had a generous heart.

Ha-min scratched his cheekbone with an awkward face. The performance time was approaching.

“I should get going now….”

“Leaving hyung behind?”

Conflicting emotions clashed – the urgent feeling of needing to leave quickly and not wanting to go. At the playful question, Ha-min awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“Then… do you want to come with me?”

“I said I don’t like noisy places.”

He spoke almost petulantly, unlike his usual self.

“They said he’s really good….”

“More importantly, Ha-min.”

As Ha-min was trying to speak, he interrupted. Ha-min immediately responded with a “Hm?” his eyes widening.

“What’s that?”

He suddenly nodded towards the shopping bag Ha-min was holding. Ha-min answered with an awkward smile.

“Oh… the clothes I wore earlier.”

“Give it to me.”

He abruptly held out his hand.

“This… why?”

“So I can throw it away.”

“Huh? Ah, no. It’s not mine. I have to return it.”

“Tell them I threw it away.”

He casually blurted out something unreasonable. Was it really that strange…. Ha-min felt a bit wronged.

“…Was it that weird?”

Ha-min asked timidly with an awkward smile. He knew it didn’t suit him, but everyone had said it was fine. It didn’t feel good to hear it was terrible from the person he wanted to look good for.

He laughed languidly.

“A bit.”

And then a tactless comment popped out. As soon as he finished speaking, he took a step closer. A shadow fell over Ha-min’s face.

“Showing shoulders.”

“…..”

“Showing chest.”

He recited each part he didn’t like while raising his hand. His large hand touched Ha-min’s face. Ha-min’s back stiffened at the sudden contact. Unaware of this reaction, he calmly touched and rubbed Ha-min’s face. He rubbed vigorously as if erasing something and then removed his hand. On his detached fingerprint, makeup was faintly visible.

“Even wearing powder….”

Ha-min’s face burned. Ah, being pointed out for even wearing makeup made him even more embarrassed. He really felt like he had become the flirtatious person Tae-rim had called him. Ha-min quickly opened his mouth to make excuses.

“It, it’s just because the others said to try it once….”

“….”

“I won’t do it again….”

He was afraid Tae-rim would think strangely of him. He felt ashamed, thinking he might look like he was desperately trying to appear impressive.

Tae-rim pulled up the corners of his mouth at Ha-min’s hurried excuses. His eyes curved into half-moons. A smile appeared on his face that had been bored all day. He raised his hand again and stroked Ha-min’s hair. He gently rubbed the crown of his head, then moved down to the back of his head, fiddling with his hair. Because of this, Ha-min could feel his cool touch on the back of his neck as well.

“Okay.”

“….”

“Good boy, Ha-min.”

His voice was satisfied too. Only then did Ha-min feel relieved. At the same time, he felt pathetic. He felt so pathetic for not wanting to appear disliked by him.

**

Eun-soo roughly put down a crate full of empty bottles behind the tent booth. The department’s pub was literally booming. Despite the backache from unexpected sales, she thought it was still okay. She stretched her back fully. This is all thanks to Ha-min oppa. I should buy him a meal. Eun-soo turned around in a good mood. Now she just had to go in and quickly tidy up the tables before going home. Just as she was thinking that, she saw a dark figure leaning against the wall. Startled, Eun-soo narrowed her eyes, wondering who it was.

“Oh? Are you leaving now?”

It was Tae-rim smoking a cigarette. He was the protagonist of today’s incredible sales.

As she asked with a brightening face, he quietly answered.

“Yeah.”

He gave a short answer and took another drag of his cigarette.

“Where’s Ha-min oppa?”

Eun-soo brought up Ha-min, not knowing what else to say. The atmosphere was quite different from when he was with Ha-min, making her feel uncomfortable.

“Changing clothes.”

Well, at least he answers properly. Eun-soo thought to herself as she put on her best social smile.

“That’s a shame. Ha-min oppa really looked pretty today.”

The Ha-min she had dressed up really looked good. He was someone with striking looks despite his poor fashion and hunched posture. She had no doubt he would shine even more if dressed up properly. It was disappointing to hear he was already changing back into his unfashionable clothes.

“Eun-ji.”

Suddenly, Tae-rim called out to Eun-soo. Eun-soo furrowed her brows.

“It’s Eun-soo…”

Ignoring her correction, he continued speaking.

“Did you delete the photos?”

At the question that brought up the forgotten beginning, Eun-soo looked blank for a moment before clapping her hands. She took out her phone and showed him her SNS where she had deleted all the photos.

“Ah, yes. I deleted them.”

“….”

“I was going to delete them after today anyway, but Ha-min oppa looked so good.”

“I see, thank you.”

Tae-rim smiled at Eun-soo’s words. However, he didn’t look grateful at all.

“Ah, I have a selfie of Ha-min oppa.”

Tae-rim, who was about to leave after finishing his business, stopped in his tracks. Eun-soo’s casual remark as she scrolled through her gallery piqued Tae-rim’s curiosity.

“Want to see? It’s super cute. Seems like it was his first time taking a selfie.”

Eun-soo chuckled and held her phone screen up to Tae-rim’s eyes. On the screen was Ha-min’s face smiling with an honest expression. It was a photo taken exactly from the front, without any consideration for angle. He was smiling stiffly with his clear eyes wide open. His fair cheeks were flushed, probably from embarrassment. His two fingers were half-extended as if he was caught between deciding whether to make a V sign or not.

“It’s totally funny, right? I should send it to oppa later.”

At her words, giggling as if it was cute, Tae-rim rolled his tongue inside his mouth. Then after a brief pause, he spoke.

“Can you send it to me too?”

Eun-soo looked at Tae-rim with a puzzled face at the sudden request.

“Pardon?”

“….”

Instead of answering her question, Tae-rim just smiled.

“Ah… sure, whatever.”

Eun-soo nodded with a somewhat disgruntled face. It was hard to refuse when he was smiling like that. Rather, that smile felt like unspoken pressure.

As soon as they exchanged numbers, Eun-soo sent Ha-min’s selfie. After receiving the photo, he put his phone in his back pocket and added:

“Oh, and.”

“Yes?”

“If anything happens in the future, please call that number.”

At his politely spoken words, Eun-soo nodded obediently, saying, “Ah, yes.” But what kind of thing? Why? She held back the questions she wanted to ask. Because as soon as he said that, he left without any lingering. He must really care about him. Eun-soo turned around without giving it much thought.