Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Dating Written as Dating, Read as Sex
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Three days after reuniting with Yerim.
After school, at a café.
Me, Seo Jinhyuk, and Yoon Do-hyun. The three of us were gathered together.
At a time when even one more minute or second with Yerim felt too short, the reason we'd ended up like this trio of peppers was...
"Guys. You know that thing...?"
Yoon Do-hyun had said he had something important to talk about today.
"...What is it."
Seeing Yoon Do-hyun with an uncharacteristically serious expression made me tense up without realizing it.
Yoon Do-hyun slowly opened his mouth.
"Actually, dating... is written as 'dating' but read as 'sex'..."
"Ah, fuck."
Tricked again, damn it.
I couldn't believe I'd postponed my date with Yerim just to hear this bullshit.
I held back the urge to flip the table right then and stood up from my seat.
Glancing to the side, Seo Jinhyuk was just resting his chin on the table, not moving a muscle.
"Hey, Seo Jinhyuk. What are you doing? Let's go."
"......"
"...? What are you doing, seriously?"
"...Don't you think it's worth hearing out at least once?"
"......?"
"............"
"You fucking bastard, what the hell are you saying right now!!! You, you don't mean...??"?
"C-Calm down. I haven't done it yet, you punk!"
"Yet? Yeeeeet?????????????"
I grabbed Seo Jinhyuk's collar and shook him like crazy, wondering what the hell I'd just heard. He smacked my hands away, yelling "Help!" like his life depended on it, but...
I just couldn't hold back.
"Hey, hey, Han Woojin, you crazy bastard! Calm the fuck down."
"Does this look like something to stay calm about? The guy dating my little sister wants to hear about how dating is sex???"
"...Sigh, yeah, that's pretty intense. Hey, but sooner or later anyway..."
"Soonerrrr???"
"Ah, you crazy siscon bastard. Look at your eyes rolling back. Can't even talk. Hey! Was I the only one who wanted to talk about this?"
The guy who'd set off this whole mess was now yelling like he was the victim.
"Hey, be honest. Isn't it about time we had a talk like this!? We're all guys, what's the big deal?"
Yeah. Guys with girlfriends can chat about their girls now and then.
I wasn't saying I didn't get what Yoon Do-hyun meant.
Just...
— Seo Jinhyuk is my little sister's boyfriend, fuck.
I knew that, just like me, Han Sea would one day hold hands with her boyfriend, kiss, and go even further... ugh, that day would come.
But I didn't want to know who she was doing it with or when.
Especially if that boyfriend was my close friend?
Fuck.
Yoon Do-hyun, being an only child, couldn't understand siblings' feelings at all.
Until now, we'd never pried into each other's dating lives because we each had firm views on relationships and didn't meddle.
But the biggest issue was...
Me and Seo Jinhyuk.
Whatever we said to each other was a critical hit.
[I held hands! -> With my sister?]
Our algorithm was like that—what the hell were we supposed to talk about?
I...!
Really, truly, didn't want to know even a tiny bit about what my little sister did with my friend...!!!!!
"...No, why are you trying to talk about it with us? Don't you have a ton of friends?"
"Han Woojin, you think having a girlfriend means you've got everything? Hey, do you know how rare it is for guys our age to have girlfriends?"
...Fair point.
Thinking that in some world line where I didn't get picked up by Yerim, I'd still be single made it click.
"...Aren't you sorry to your girlfriend? It's okay to go around saying stuff like sex...?"
"Hey, even I wouldn't just blab about it thoughtlessly after dating my current girl for years. I got her permission first, punk."
"She allowed that?"
"Yup. She said spreading it around makes it so I can't even think of breaking up with her."
"Whoa..."
That's the mindset you need to keep a 10th relationship going this long.
I couldn't help but admire it.
I'd thought Yoon Do-hyun had free-spirited relationships, but turns out he was tightly leashed.
"Hey, no matter how you look at it, your girlfriend seems way scarier than Yerim?"
"Nah, no way."
Yoon Do-hyun's expression, like my joke was ridiculous, left me speechless.
Still, as long as everyone was happy, right?
"Anyway! Forget me— you guys spill too. I already told you everything? Me and my current girl had our first time."
"...And after that?"
"Isn't the first time the hard part?"
Seo Jinhyuk, who'd been quiet, asked curiously, and Yoon Do-hyun smirked like it was pathetic.
"That smug face makes me wanna kill you..."
"No, so what are we supposed to say?"
"Progress."
Yoon Do-hyun cut straight to it, squinting slyly.
"You guys—how far have you gone?"
At that, I instinctively glanced at Seo Jinhyuk, and he did the same, our eyes meeting in the middle.
...Fuck.
Hated to admit it, but...
—I'm curious, fucking curious.
I really, really, really didn't want to know about my little sister's dating history...!
But on the other hand, I was dying to know how far they'd gone.
Dating wasn't a race or anything.
—But pride's a thing.
We're kinda the senior couple compared to them? Falling behind feels a bit... off...!
Yoon Do-hyun's a beast who's dated 10 times, fine, but I didn't want to lose to this face-only guy.
So curiosity and aversion swirled into chaos in my heart.
Seo Jinhyuk was probably the same.
Pretending otherwise, but his eyes were full of it.
A suffocating psychological battle ensued.
Gauging each other.
Hey, you say it first.
Fuck off, you say it first.
A silent shouting match.
As the standoff dragged on, Yoon Do-hyun finally snapped.
"Hey, can't you just say it straight up? Grow some balls, seriously!"
"Look at this guy talking like it's not his business. Hey, imagine your little sister. It ain't easy, for real."
"I don't have a little sister, punk."
"Then your mo..."
"No, you asshole Seo Jinhyuk."
"...Fair. Sorry."
"Nah, I thought it was pretty apt."
"Han Woojin, that guy's a real psycho."
Still.
This was something you couldn't empathize with unless you used blood relatives as the metaphor.
Seo Jinhyuk's sudden low blow wasn't great, but I got it.
"...Sigh. So. You won't say?"
"...I'll say if Seo Jinhyuk does."
".........Me too, if Han Woojin does."
"You first."
"Yeah, you first."
"Fuck off, all of you."
Yoon Do-hyun looked exasperated at our high-level convo that no senior could call normal.
"Ha... I looked forward to us eventually having this talk when we got together. But it's just eunuchs."
"Sorry for being eunuchs. Tell us more."
"Fair. How'd it happen? No, how'd the mood lead to... that?"
"Seo Jinhyuk, you asshole. What're you gonna do knowing?"
"No, let us hear it, you bastard Han Woojin."
As me and Seo Jinhyuk bickered, Yoon Do-hyun ignored us like it was routine and spoke.
"...Honestly, I didn't expect it that day either. But what makes this big bro smart as hell."
We stared, urging him on, and he grinned before continuing.
"I always carry condoms in my wallet. Prepare for the worst. You know that, right punks?"
"...You always carry them?"
"Of course. You never know when. If you have a girlfriend, you gotta carry 'em always, dude. You gonna be like, 'Ah, I don't have any. Mind if I run to the convenience store? Hehe' when the moment hits? Yeah, right, like she'll wait."
........................Sigh.
This time... Yoon Do-hyun might actually be right.
"That day too, she said her house was empty so come over, like usual. We were hanging out normal, but something... the vibe was different?"
"...The vibe? How?"
Before we knew it, me and Seo Jinhyuk were swallowing hard, glued to his words.
"Well..."
"Well?"
"From here on~ it's paywall, you slave wage punks. Wanna hear? Spill yours too."
His smug cackle cutting off at the best part made my fists shake.
But I couldn't argue.
Which pissed me off more.
"...Fine. You did it, we can too."
"Fair. We'll do it when the time comes."
"Do it? You punk?"
"Ah, Han Woojin, you psycho—even when I take your side, you freak out."
"...Tough nuts. You guys hit the convenience store on the way home anyway, mouths shut tight."
"........."
"........."
Me and Seo Jinhyuk shut our mouths in unison.
...You too? Our eyes said it all.
"But I saw in some survey, the most memorable thing is the first kiss."
"...Fair. I don't think I'll ever forget it. That moment, her expression..."
"............?"
"............"
"............???"
".................."
"Hey, Seo Jinhyuk. Stop moving. W-What did you just say...?"
"I-I gotta go, urgent business. See you guys lat—kyaaah!!! Yoon Do-hyun, let me live...!"
"Pfft, hahahaha! Ah~ Seo Jinhyuk's hilarious for real. No way I'd think you'd actually bite."
That day.
I learned the one thing about my little sister's dating progress that I was curious about but didn't want to know......