To Become a Good Boyfriend (2)
The classroom was neatly divided between the model student faction, who were listening intently to the homeroom teacher's lecture, and the sleeping faction, who were slumped over their desks. Jihyeok, of course, belonged to the former. With his exceptional brain that could absorb information after hearing it just once, he didn't bother taking notes. Instead, he focused entirely on listening.
—Thud.
"...Huh?"
That is, until his girlfriend in the next seat tossed a piece of paper at him.
Jihyeok picked it up, unfolded it, and found a neatly written note.
Boyfriend. What are you doing?
He figured he should reply, so he scribbled a message in the empty space and passed it back to Yuna. It wasn't long before another note came flying.
I'm listening to the homeroom teacher's lesson. Since I can just take it in through my ears, I'm not writing anything down.
There's something I don't understand. Could you explain it to me?
Jihyeok thought it would be easier to just raise his hand and ask the teacher if she had questions, but since class was already in session and explaining it to her wasn't difficult, he gladly decided to help.
"Where is it?"
"Here. This problem."
Whispering softly enough that the teacher wouldn't hear, he easily helped Yuna with the part she was struggling with.
"Wow... I got it right away."
"Really? That's a relief."
"My boyfriend is so cool. I almost fell for you all over again?"
"...Stop teasing me."
"Why? Are you getting shy?"
"...Yeah."
At home, compliments like this were common for Jihyeok, but hearing them from Yuna felt strangely ticklish and embarrassing. Yuna reached out and gently ruffled his hair, clearly enjoying his reaction.
"Thank you so much~ Boyfriend~ I guess I'll have to give you a reward later."
"Ugh... I'm glad I could help..."
Watching Jihyeok squirm with embarrassment at her touch, a mischievous spark lit up in Yuna's eyes.
"Jihyeok. Stay still."
"...Huh?"
She moved her hand from his hair to his cheek and slowly leaned her face closer to his.
"...Huh? W-wait... We're in school..."
They were so close now that just a little more and their first kiss would have happened right in the middle of class, creating quite the memory. Their breaths mingled. Jihyeok's heart pounded wildly as he squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for what was coming.
But even after some time passed, he felt nothing on his lips. Slowly, he opened his eyes.
What he saw was Yuna holding up a note that read [Bleh~], barely holding back her laughter.
Jihyeok realized he'd been completely had. The tension that had flooded his body drained away, and he slumped forward onto his desk.
"...You scared me half to death..."
"Did you think I was going to kiss you?"
"...Y-yeah."
"We've only been dating for a short time, and you're already thinking about that~ My boyfriend is surprisingly aggressive, isn't he?"
"...Wouldn't anyone think that in a situation like that?"
"Is that so?"
After that exchange, Yuna kept pulling playful pranks that involved light physical contact, barely managing to hold in her laughter at Jihyeok's reactions. The heart-stopping teasing continued until Jihyeok finally couldn't take it anymore and passed out on his desk.
"...What the? What's wrong with Jihyeok?"
When class ended, their classmates noticed his state and asked Yuna about it.
"Hmm~ Who knows? I think he just got tired during the lesson and fell asleep?"
The person responsible for his condition didn't bat an eye as she lied through her teeth, so everyone completely bought it.
"Hmm... I see. Oh! By the way, you two started dating yesterday, right?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"What made you confess? What do you like about him?"
"...There are so many reasons, it might take a while. Is that okay?"
"Start with the biggest one!"
When her classmate pressed her, Yuna looked at the sleeping Jihyeok and spoke from the heart.
"Every time I look at Jihyeok, my heart flutters. It's like I fell in love at first sight."
"Love at first sight?"
"Yeah. Even seeing him sleeping like that right now, he's so cute I just want to kiss him."
"Ugh... That's so cheesy."
The boys, who had no immunity to this kind of talk, rubbed the goosebumps on their arms and practically fled the classroom.
"I'm so jealous of Jihyeok... Having Han Yuna as his girlfriend..."
"Hehe~"
Yuna let out a short laugh, and one of the girls nearby suddenly asked something unexpected.
"So how far have you two gone?"
"...Huh?"
Yuna and a few of the other girls looked flustered.
"You're asking that already?"
"Aren't you curious? These days even middle schoolers kiss after just ten days of dating."
"...That's probably because those kids aren't getting proper education."
"That sounds hot enough to burn up."
"Their common sense is what's burning up."
Amid the varied reactions, only Yuna was seriously pondering the question. It reminded her of the skinship prank she'd pulled in class earlier, and she wondered what would have happened if she'd actually gone through with it.
"So? How far have you gone?"
When the persistent girl asked again, Yuna answered honestly.
"It's only been two days since we started dating. I think it's better to take things slow... Though if Jihyeok wants to, I'm fine with anything."
While spending their days like an adorable, lovey-dovey couple would be wonderful, Yuna also thought that once they were both adults someday, she wanted to love Jihyeok passionately—like a hot summer following a refreshing spring.
Hearing Yuna's surprisingly mature answer, the classmates decided that since she'd put it that way, the only thing left for them to do was cheer for the relationship to last. They returned to their seats.
Soon it would be lunchtime, which might have had something to do with it. After the morning classes ended and lunchtime approached, Jihyeok woke up with a groan.
"...Ugh, how long was I out...?"
"You're awake? Boyfriend?"
"...Yeah. What time is it...?"
"It's already lunchtime. You must have been really tired. You were out from second period onward."
"I stayed up late last night looking some stuff up..."
"What were you searching for?"
"...It's nothing."
"You were looking up how to be a good boyfriend, weren't you?"
Struck right in the heart of the matter, Jihyeok awkwardly averted his gaze. Yuna looked at his obvious expression and gave a small laugh.
"It's okay to say you like me or that you love me sometimes, you know?"
"It's a boyfriend's dilemma. No matter how much a girlfriend says it's fine, once you start dating, you can't help but want to see her smile because of you. It's the same for everyone."
"Is that how it is?"
"Yeah."
Seeing Jihyeok go this far for her sake, Yuna thought once again how lucky she was to have confessed to him and started dating.
By the time their conversation wound down, about forty minutes remained of lunch. Yuna stood up, pulled an eco-bag from her school bag, took Jihyeok's hand, and said,
"I made lunchboxes instead of eating cafeteria food today. Let's eat together!"
"Lunchboxes? You didn't mention anything..."
"Think of it as your girlfriend's surprise event~ Come on, let's go!"
She led him to a secluded flower garden tucked away in a quiet corner of the school where not many people passed by.
"I didn't know there was a place like this at school..."
"I only found it recently too, so I don't know much about it. It just seemed like the perfect spot for the two of us, so I thought we'd check it out!"
"I see... Since looking at flowers is best after eating, should we eat first?"
"Yes! I made one for you too, so eat up~"
"Thanks. Oh, before that."
Jihyeok pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and spread it out where Yuna would sit.
"It looks like the flowers are well maintained, but since it's a wooden bench, I don't want you to get pricked by any splinters."
"Thank you so much~ Boyfriend~"
"It's nothing."
Yuna sat on the handkerchief he'd laid out and took out two lunchboxes from the eco-bag. She handed him the blue one she'd prepared for him.
"This one's for my boyfriend~ Eat well~"
"Yeah. Thanks."
Yuna took out her own pink lunchbox along with utensils, gave one set to Jihyeok, took out her own, and neatly set the eco-bag aside.
Jihyeok clasped his hands together and said, "I'll eat well," before opening the lid.
Inside Jihyeok's lunchbox were meatball-like dishes, a perfectly balanced salad in its own compartment, and heart-shaped ham and cheese fried rice that stood out beautifully. It looked like she'd walked quite quickly, yet the presentation was flawless. It must have taken tremendous effort to keep everything looking this perfect.
Impressed once again by his girlfriend's cooking skills, Jihyeok scooped up a big spoonful of rice, put it in his mouth, and chewed.
"...It's delicious."
"Really? I wasn't sure about your tastes, so I worried a lot about what to make. I'm glad it suits your palate~"
Hearing his praise, Yuna smiled with satisfaction and began eating her own lunchbox.
"Mmm~ It's good, as expected!"
While they diligently emptied their lunchboxes and chatted about little things, Yuna picked up a piece of fish cake from her box with her chopsticks.
"Jihyeok. Ah~"
She held it up to his mouth as if to feed him.
"...Huh?"
Not quite catching on to her intention, Jihyeok just stared at her blankly.
When he showed no sign of opening his mouth, she urged him again.
"I'm trying to feed you~ Just take one bite!"
"Oh... Okay. I'll eat it well."
I could just eat it myself, Jihyeok thought, but he wasn't dense enough to refuse when his girlfriend wanted to feed him. Still, it was so sudden that he bit down hard enough to nearly chew the chopsticks too.
"It's just your girlfriend feeding you. Why are you so nervous?"
"It's my first time being fed by someone of the opposite sex besides family, so I got flustered for a second."
"Really? Then I guess I'll have to keep feeding you until you get used to it?"
"...Go easy on me."
Yuna seemed satisfied as she looked at the slight indentations on the chopsticks and said,
"...If I put my mouth on these same chopsticks, wouldn't that be an indirect kiss?"
"...Cough?!"
The moment he heard the words "indirect kiss," Jihyeok started coughing as if he'd choked.
"Cough! Hack!"
"Aigoo~ Why is my boyfriend so weak to skinship~"
"We've only been dating for two days..."
"Oh? I asked our classmates, and apparently middle school couples kiss by the tenth day?"
"...That's because those kids learned wrong."
"Is that so~?"
When Yuna deliberately dragged out the end of her sentence in a teasing tone, Jihyeok looked at her and said,
"...If you want to, I won't stop you, but we've only been dating for a short time to do something like k...issing. Let's do that a little later."
"So you're saying we'll do it eventually?"
"...Yeah. You know, Yuna, it seems like you really enjoy teasing me."
"It's because my boyfriend's reactions are just too much fun~"
"Haaa... I don't think I'll ever get used to this."
"Don't worry~ I won't rush things too much."
"...Can I believe that?"
"Of course~!"
The prank he'd fallen for during morning class replayed automatically in his head, but Jihyeok firmly believed that a boyfriend who couldn't trust his girlfriend should never exist.
"...Okay."
After that, they ate the lunch Yuna had made and talked about each other. To become an even better couple. To become a lovely and adorable couple that no one would envy. They spent the time getting to know one another.