Why Does Anyone Like Sports Day?
"I really don't get why anyone likes sports day."
Seriously. Why?
I nodded along enthusiastically, agreeing with every word out of Seo Jio's mouth.
"It's hot under the sun, you sweat, it's loud, it's chaotic."
Exactly. Exactly.
"They should just screen movies in the classroom instead. The kids who want to sleep can sleep, the ones who want to study can study. How much more rational could it get?"
"I think the exact same thing."
It was as if he'd taken my thoughts and strung them into sentences word for word, and I couldn't hold back my admiration.
And so it went for a while — Seo Jio grumbling, me agreeing.
"Ha. Well, the film festival's coming up soon, so I guess I'll just think about that and push through."
I looked over at Seo Jio, sprawled out on the grass with a lazy expression on his face.
"You said the film festival is this weekend, right? And sports day is next week."
"Yup. I've already booked everything — the lodging and all the restaurants too."
"Thorough as ever."
"Of course. It's my chance to prove my worth. I have to prepare carefully."
Completely at odds with his usual sloth-like demeanor. The genuine pride in his voice left me dumbfounded, but I laughed anyway.
"Thank you. Thanks to you, I finally get to go to a film festival. I've never been to one before."
"......"
Without Seo Jio, I probably wouldn't have even known such an event existed. Even going alone would have meant a mountain of preparation — and he'd surely have found it a hassle to make room for me on top of everything else.
No matter how complicated my feelings about Seo Jio were, expressing gratitude was a separate matter entirely.
But why was he making that face?
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Have you ever fed a stray cat?"
Where did that come from?
"No."
"There's a stray cat that lives in front of my officetel. At first it wouldn't come near me even when I called, but once I kept bringing it food and treats, it started coming around."
"And?"
"Right now feels like that cat sitting on my lap for the very first time...."
What on earth was he talking about?
When I gave him a look that clearly asked if he was off his rocker, Seo Jio snorted a laugh.
"Anyway, I'm glad you don't seem to hate talking with me. I haven't crossed the line anywhere, have I?"
"No."
"Then I'll make my exit here. Enjoy the peace and quiet a little longer."
Seo Jio stretched his arms high and got up. Watching him rise without a hint of hesitation, I spoke up.
"Seo Jio."
"Yeah?"
"I never meant to be arrogant. If I upset you before, I'm sorry."
"Huh??"
He looked genuinely puzzled, so I pressed on.
"You know that thing I said before — about going too far, about knowing my place. I mean, it's true you were pretty pushy early on, but it's also true that I said more than I should have."
"....What is this. I feel like the stray cat just gave me a kneading session too."
Don't tell me the stray cat is me.
The moment I dropped my serious expression at his absurd reply, Seo Jio broke into a loose smile.
"Amazing. I didn't know you knew how to be sweet with me."
"I'm not acting sweet. I'm just apologizing."
"Getting embarrassed over the strangest things — that's fascinating too."
I was not embarrassed. I let it go.
When I shook my head, Seo Jio laughed and poked me on the cheek.
"Fine, fine. But I really did cross the line. You had every right to be angry, so don't worry about it. Anyway — I'm really going now."
And with that he hopped to his feet and drifted away, cool as anything.
'You've got grass all over your back, you know.'
I didn't feel like brushing it off for him.
I turned my head back and gazed quietly at the flowerbed. Then I opened my mouth.
"Are you planning to hide there all day?"
".....How long have you known?"
Noh Bihyuk sheepishly emerged from behind the pillar. It was impressive, honestly, that he'd thought a body that size could stay hidden.
"Looks like you two got pretty close."
"Eh, so-so."
Things hadn't started off well between us, but they were fine now. We got along well enough.
I studied Noh Bihyuk's face, which seemed to have something it wanted to say.
"Bihyuk."
"What?"
"You're my best friend."
Widened eyes turned toward me.
"Wha— what's with the sudden—"
"I just wanted to tell you."
To be precise, it felt like something I should tell him.
Because he seemed to be getting anxious.
'I've never spent time with other boys besides him, after all.'
Seong Ijun and Nam Inhoo were older, so to Noh Bihyuk, Seo Jio must have been the first real rival for my attention. He'd approached me with his own motives too, so naturally he'd worry that his share of the perks might start shrinking.
That was all it was. I couldn't come out and say it the way Seo Jio had, so I'd said it sideways instead.
Whether my meaning got through, I couldn't tell, but the face in front of me didn't look too bad.
"Well... yeah. Thanks. A little cringe, though."
Who wouldn't cringe? After I'd gone out of my way to say it, too.
Noh Bihyuk scratched his forehead for a moment, and a few minutes later his usual sly grin returned.
"To be honest~ Bihyukie already knew. You'd have been so bored without me."
"Yeah, probably."
"Could you at least put some sincerity into your face for once? You act like this only at times like this, despite being such a great actor."
I grabbed the hand of this grinning menace as he poked my cheek — poke, poke, poke — and pushed it away. That hurt, you jerk.
By then his voice had already bounced back to its usual brightness.
"Oh, right. I've been taking what you gave me."
"Don't forget to keep up with it. Sehyun-hyung was saying he takes that stuff too."
A few days ago, I'd brought Noh Bihyuk some joint supplements. Ever since I'd tried dancing myself for the Lukke shoot, I'd been worrying about him.
"Sehyun-hyung says you should take care of things before they become problems. Especially joints — once you hurt them, recovery is slow, so be careful when you practice."
"Okayyy~ don't worry."
His airy, careless answer did not inspire confidence. That was why, when the question came back around — had I really signed up for the soccer event? — I hastily changed the subject.
'Please, let sports day end quickly.'
Thankfully, the film festival came before sports day.
Jinbae had parked the car in the express bus terminal lot, and he turned to look at me with an anxious face.
"Are you sure it's alright for me not to come along?"
"Yes. Take this chance to get some real rest, hyung. You haven't used any of your vacation days properly in ages."
"I'm really fine, you know. I could keep my distance and follow you without getting in your way."
"I'll have the hat and mask on the whole time, so don't worry. It's just watching movies with a classmate and coming back. That's it."
We'd had this exact conversation yesterday, but his face looked so worried that I went through it all over again. He'd even installed an app to track my location in real time — how could he still be this anxious?
"I'm off, then."
"Have a safe trip, sir!"
With one last energetic bow, I climbed out of the car.
Pressing my cap down low, I entered the terminal. As expected, the weekend crowd was a sea of people.
Finding Seo Jio among the many, many heads was easy. There he was, standing tall.
"Seo Jio."
"Hey, Yeonjae. You're fully armed. Aren't you hot?"
Hot. Very.
I looked enviously at Seo Jio, smiling away with no mask on his face whatsoever.
"It's a premium bus, so there are curtains you can pull. Get comfy inside. Come on, let's go."
"Thanks."
With people streaming in every direction, it was prime territory for getting lost. Thankfully, Seo Jio made an excellent guide. He found the right bus without a hitch, we made the most of a proper stopover at a rest area, and we arrived safely in Jeonju.
By the time we'd dropped our bags at the front desk of our lodging, it wasn't even noon yet.
"You must have been to Jeonju a lot."
"Huh? This is my first time here."
At the unexpected answer, I looked up. The face across from me was utterly sincere. Well — it wasn't as if there was anything to lie about.
"I told you. These two days are my chance to prove my worth, so I prepared thoroughly."
"......"
He really didn't have to go this far.
I was starting to feel like some unscrupulous businessman shamelessly exploiting a penniless kid.
"Shall we start with lunch? I booked our movie for 1:40."
"Sounds good. Lunch is on me."
"Whoa. Then we're eating something expensive."
His relaxed eyes crinkled into a soft smile. The face that had looked so insufferable just days ago now seemed almost endearing, in its own way.
'No matter how I think about it, the nickname Bambi is too good for him.'
At this point, wouldn't "Lee the Reed" be a perfectly fitting new name for me?
After watching three films back to back, I made my decision over dinner.
'From now on, I am Lee the Reed.'
The lazy face across from me no longer grated on my nerves.
No — if anything, I found him oddly admirable now.
"Which one did you like best out of today's picks? Let's say it at the same time. Mine's—"
"The second one."
"The second one. Whoa. We're in sync."
He laughed, all loose and boneless, like a overripe tomato melting in the sun. The films must have really moved him too, because his face was flushed with excitement.
We talked about the movies until the pizza we'd ordered went cold and hard — the scenes that had stuck with us, which actor's performance we'd loved most, the conversation pouring out of us like a fountain.
The mood stayed warm all the way back to our lodging.
Right up until we noticed the room had only one bed.
"......Yeonjae. Why are you looking at me like I'm some shameless pervert?"
I sighed at his flustered expression.
"I'm pretty sure there were double rooms available."
"I'm a student, you know...? Given the cost of lodging, this was my limit."
He was fake-crying and wailing how could you, and I couldn't bring myself to sigh again in front of him, so I held it in. I had no intention of making a fuss about sharing a room with another guy.
'The problem is that I need to wake up before dawn and practice.'
Being somewhere unfamiliar meant I had to practice all the more rigorously. If I didn't burn off enough Misfortune Factors, I could end up dragging Seo Jio into something terrible.
'I was planning to do at least two hours.'
I wasn't genuinely some tyrant of a boss, and I had no intention of letting him shoulder the lodging costs alone. I'd planned to tell him I'd pay him back afterward — should have mentioned it from the start.
"Is it that you can't sleep with someone else? I could sleep out in the hallway."
"It's not that."
The orphanage director had always let me have a room to myself, so sleeping beside someone wasn't something I was used to. Still, with Noh Bihyuk constantly crashing at my place, I'd built up a certain tolerance.
'I'll just go practice in the bathroom.'
Tomorrow held even more movies. To stick to a schedule carved up by the minute, I couldn't afford to wake him up needlessly in the middle of the night.
I set my phone to vibrate and held it in my hand.
"Goodnight, Yeonjae."
"You too."
The unfamiliar bedding rustled at the slightest movement. For all my suspicion that sleep wouldn't come easily, I was meeting the Fog within minutes.
Seo Jio gazed quietly at Lee Yeonjae's sleeping face.
'What is with this kid, being so soft....'
It had been Seo Jio who'd declared he'd prove his worth, and he'd been confident he could. But he'd realized long before the film festival: Lee Yeonjae had already accepted him. He was the kind of kid so starved for affection that he'd let his guard down over a handful of exchanged words.
All that tension he'd felt facing down that sharp-eyed glare now felt like a distant memory.
'Well, good thing I stuck to the plan for the festival.'
The kid who'd drifted past crowded booths with bored eyes had come out of the movies absolutely glowing. And how passionate he'd been during their conversations — it was hard to believe this was the same person who used to answer in clipped one-word replies.
'At this point, I could stay by his side a while longer, right?'
Thankfully, the kid was softer than he looked. Maybe the day would come when Seo Jio got to profit off Lee Yeonjae too.
With those thoughts drifting through his head, Seo Jio fell asleep as well.
How many hours had passed? He was woken by the rustle of bedding.
He was still blinking, trying to work out what was happening, when Lee Yeonjae rose silently from the bed.
"Where are you going?"