Why Do You Keep Staring?
To get from our school, Cheongsol High, to the bustling downtown area, you had to catch a bus for about ten to fifteen minutes.
The moment we boarded, I spotted two empty two-seaters and was about to sit down with Woo-jin when—
"Woo-jin, let's sit over there."
"Sure."
He plopped down out of nowhere next to Yu-na.
That crazy alpha male.
What about me, the guy left standing? You can't just claim a seat like that and abandon your best friend.
I was still standing there, frozen, staring at the two of them when—
"Sit here."
"...Oh. Sure."
Jung Se-hee had calmly taken one of the other two-seaters and was looking up at me, gesturing to the seat beside her.
I blinked slowly for a moment, then shrugged and dropped down next to her.
This is.
So awkward.
Se-hee, seated beside me, had her wireless earbuds in and was gazing out the window. After a moment of scanning our surroundings in the awkward silence, I let out a short breath, pulled out my own earbuds, tucked them in, and started some music.
As the familiar melody eased my nerves, I closed my eyes and leaned back comfortably against the seat. Without even realizing it, my fingers began tapping a rhythm against my arm, and after a little while, I felt someone nudge my shoulder.
Ah, noise canceling.
I'd had noise canceling on from the start—she must have been trying to get my attention for a while even though we were sitting right next to each other.
"What's up?"
I pulled one earbud out and turned to Se-hee, who was looking at me. She pointed at my phone.
"Do you like that song?"
"...Yeah, it's one of my favorites."
Apparently my phone screen was on, and she could see exactly what I was listening to.
"That's amazing. Hardly anyone knows this song."
"Right? Even my friends asked me what it was the first time they heard it."
It wasn't that I had some hipster complex. I liked the songs everyone listened to just fine, but I also had a hobby of hunting down good music now and then. So I knew a decent number of songs most people had never heard of.
Judging by her reaction, Se-hee seemed to be a pretty big fan of this artist.
"Give me one of your earbuds."
"...Huh?"
"Give."
"Here."
Her tone carried a strange, quiet force. I wiped one of the earbuds on my shirt and handed it over, and Se-hee burst into a short laugh before slipping it into her ear like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"This song is so good. It's a shame nobody knows it."
"That's why I threaten people into listening to it."
"Pfft—what does that even mean?"
"I'm serious."
Se-hee kept my earbud in until the song was nearly over. She made it look so natural that I just went along with it, chatting with her as if this were completely normal.
"I'm looking forward to the next one."
"...Uh, I wouldn't get your hopes up."
I had no idea what was coming next either. My playlist had close to five hundred songs on shuffle.
When I answered like that, Se-hee gave a light laugh and waved it off.
"Just kidding."
She'sreallyone of those socially gifted types, huh.
The way she chatted so easily with someone she'd just met, the way her smile came so effortlessly...
Well.
They do say pretty girls always have good personalities. What was it—something about how people who grow up bathed in love can't help but turn out sweet? I felt like I'd heard that somewhere before.
I was mulling that over when I noticed something and got up from my seat.
"Ma'am, please take this seat."
"Oh my, thank you... young man."
An elderly woman with a slightly hunched back had boarded the bus.
Nobody in the front seats had offered to give one up. Everyone had their earbuds in, pointedly pretending not to see her—so I stepped forward first and guided her into my seat.
Se-hee watched me for a long moment, then pointed at her ear—the one with my earbud in it.
"You don't mind if I keep listening?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
I was still listening with the other one anyway.
After giving up my seat, I stood in the aisle in front of it, gripped the handrail, and quietly looked out the window.
Honestly, I wanted to glance around.
But there was a stare boring into the side of my head so intently that I couldn't bring myself to move.
Ugh.
Did I get something on me?
Why does she keep staring at me?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"You take care, young man."
"You too. Get home safe."
When we reached downtown, we got off the bus. Before stepping down, I'd bowed my head politely to the grandmother, who'd smiled at me so warmly, and now I pulled out my earbuds and tucked them into their case.
"Where should we go?"
"Food. I'm starving."
"...Works for me."
"Same here."
At Woo-jin's suggestion, Se-hee and I both nodded our agreement. Yu-na apparently had no objections either, and she nodded and started walking.
"Wanna go there? Pasta?"
"...Fine, pasta it is."
Woo-jin grumbled at Yu-na's decisiveness but fell into step beside her all the same. The two of them naturally paired off, leaving me walking with Se-hee, and we struck up a conversation.
"This one's good too."
"Oh, right, I like this one."
"You know it?"
"Yeah, I heard it a while back and forgot about it."
As it turned out, our taste in music was surprisingly similar. Mostly older songs, or quiet ballads—the mellow stuff.
"Have you heard this one?"
"No, first time. I'll check it out later."
Se-hee, apparently thinking along the same lines as me, was typing the songs I recommended into a memo on her phone. Watching her, I felt a strange little surge of pride.
The other girls I knew didn't care much about music, and even An Woo-jin preferred hype tracks to ballads, so I'd never really had anyone to talk songs with.
It felt, somehow, like running into a kindred spirit after a long time.
"You really love listening to music, huh."
"Yeah. I like taking walks alone with my earbuds in."
Se-hee seemed to enjoy all kinds of genres, too. Walking alone with music playing—honestly, that sounded pretty nice.
I should try that sometime when I've got nothing to do.
I liked walking well enough myself, so I made a mental note to give it a shot.
"Give me your number."
Still lost in that thought, I looked down to find Se-hee holding her phone out to me.
"Let's recommend songs to each other."
She said it so casually, with a perfectly unbothered expression, that I just as matter-of-factly took her phone and typed my number in.
"You send me some too."
"Yeah, if anything comes to mind."
She called my number, confirmed her own popping up on my screen, then slid her phone into her pocket with a nod.
Hm. I'mgladI've got a music buddy now.
With that thought, following Woo-jin out here was starting to feel like a pretty good call.
"Han Jihun, hurry up."
I'd been chatting with Se-hee, a faint smile on my face, but I turned at the sound of Woo-jin's voice up ahead and nodded.
"Coming."
"Se-hee, you too... Huh?"
Once Woo-jin and I caught up and we headed into the pasta place, the voices of Se-hee and Yu-na trailed in behind us.
"Se-hee, you—"
"Quiet."
Leaving the two of them to their whispered scuffle, we grabbed an open table.
I'd had my fair share of pasta.
Seol-ah and I used to eat out together all the time, after all.
Woo-jin and I sat side by side, and once Se-hee and Yu-na were settled into the booth across from us, we started flipping through the menu.
"One pasta each?"
"Hmm, how about you two get one pasta and one other dish and split it?"
"Yeah."
"Should we do that too?"
"...Just order your own. I'm not sharing a plate with you."
Se-hee and Yu-na seemed to have settled on one pasta and one steak to split, while I shut down Woo-jin's proposal without a shred of hesitation.
"We'll each get a pasta... and one side for the table to share. Sound good?"
"Sure."
It was going to add up to a decent chunk of change, but cheap compared to what wireless earbuds cost. Since breaking up with Seol-ah I hadn't had much to spend money on, so my allowance had piled up nicely.
And besides the allowance, my parents always left behind a fair bit of cash telling me to eat a proper breakfast, so it wasn't exactly a strain.
"Are we ordering way too much?"
"Better to leave food than run short. And honestly, we'll finish all of it."
I answered Yu-na's worry with a small laugh.
Nobody should underestimate the appetite of teenage boys at their peak. Yu-na heard me out, scanned me from head to toe, and nodded.
"Yeah, we'll be fine!"
"...What."
Why did you look me up and down before agreeing to that? I said don't underestimate us, but somehow that felt insulting.
At my muttered complaint, Woo-jin dropped a hand on my shoulder and declared, proudly:
"Never underestimate Han Jihun's appetite."
"...So you eat well, huh?"
"You gotta eat to grow."
Eating a lot wasn't exactly something to brag about, but it wasn't a flaw either, so I just nodded and let it go.
"You're short because you don't eat, An Woo-jin."
"...Hey, I'm tall for my age, okay? You're just a freak of nature."
Teasing Woo-jin, who was a bit shorter than me, I let the conversation flow naturally from there.
"Jihun, how tall are you exactly?"
"I was 176 back in third year of middle school, I think. Haven't measured since, so who knows."
"Whoa, you really are huge."
I was noticeably taller than most people my age, so the topic of my height came up everywhere I went. Woo-jin was tall too, but standing next to me, his height never even entered the conversation—that's how bad it was.
"Being tall isn't what matters. What matters is having long legs."
"Aren't my legs longer than yours?"
"Yeah, but you're tall."
"...What is that even supposed to mean."
When I fired back at Woo-jin, who was crossing his legs and holding court like some aristocrat, he just laughed it off with practiced ease. I stared at him in disbelief, and Yu-na burst out laughing as she watched the two of us.
"You two are really close, huh."
"...We are."
Se-hee also wore a faint smile, watching us with what looked like quiet amusement.
I shook my head at the two of them.
"I have to drag him everywhere. Take your eyes off him for a second and he goes off the rails."
"...Why are you still telling that story?"
"Huh? What story?"
Yu-na's ears practically perked up at our exchange. Woo-jin, looking embarrassed, let out a long breath and shook his head firmly. Watching him squirm, I smiled.
"Go ahead and tell it, then."
"No way. That's prime blackmail material."
"Oh? So I should be the one to tell it, then?"
"...Hyung, I'm begging you. Please don't. Yu-na's mouth is a leaky faucet as it is...!!"
"What?! What is it?!"
Amid the warm, rowdy laughter, my eyes met Se-hee's, fixed steadily on me.
She quickly looked away, turning toward Yu-na.
Watching her go, I blinked slowly for a moment, then turned my gaze back to Woo-jin and kept talking.
"So, back in elementary school, this guy..."
"HYUNG. I'M SERIOUS, NO!!"