Chapter 53: 39-2

"Okay." He sends me one last bright smile before letting go of my hands and heading back to work. I watch him for a bit as he talks with Hansoo, both moving quickly and routinely, Jaewook now not phased one bit by the work he does. Even though Hansoo is a pain in the butt, I can't help but smile as I see the two laugh together. . . . Oh my god. I'm having a moment as I sit on a bench in a dress, flowers in hand. One of those out-of-the-blue flashbacks that make you realize just how fast time is flying by. That flashback is seeing Jaewook at the bar, assuming he was drinking alcohol although it was definitely water, and scolding him like a kid. Now, maybe ten months later, I'm waiting for him to leave the school graduation ceremony so I can congratulate him, congratulate him as his girlfriend. How did this all even happen? I don't have time to collect my thoughts before a wave of students leave the building, laughing excitedly and taking pictures with friends and family. I stay where I am, just keeping an eye out for that familiar face. When I see it, I lock my gaze on him. His mother walks beside him, mouth never stopping as she talks excitedly. At least she's happy, at least she's proud. "Why aren't you going to see him?" My heart jumps at the sudden voice behind me. I turn to see Hansoo sitting beside me now, dressed in handsome but casual clothes and holding flowers. "You're here?" "What a nice way to greet me. Yes, I'm here. I don't know if you've realized but Jaewook and I are friends." "You are?" I joke, because I do know this already. In reality, Hansoo is the only real friend Jaewook has. "Why does he befriend people older than him?" I suddenly wonder. Hansoo just shrugs his shoulders. "He's either too mature for his age or likes to be babied. I vote for the latter." "Both. He has a weird duality thing going on," I say as I look back towards him. He has an annoyed grin on his face as his mother takes photos. At this point, most of the students possess the same tired smile. After a while, Jaewook talks to his mother and she nods her head. He surprisingly gives her a warm hug before waving a goodbye. Then he looks around the area, the sun blinding him as he searches for us. Hansoo waves a hand and Jaewook immediately smiles and heads over. I get up and make an effort to congratulate Jaewook first, hitting Hansoo with my arms in the process. "Hey—" "Congratulations baby, I'm so proud of you," I say into Jaewook's neck as he wraps me in a hug. "Here," I hand him my flowers. That silly bunny-like smile adorns his face. "This feels weird, shouldn't it be the other way around?" "No, flowers for my flower boy, it's perfect." A fake gagging noise sounds from behind me. "Okay move aside before I puke." Hansoo lightly pushes me and hands Jaewook his flowers. He grows awkward, as guys sometimes do, running a hand through his hair and shuffling his feet. "Congratulations," he says. "Thank you hyung." Hansoo's eyes seem to appear out of nowhere from the use of the honorific, poking from behind the full skin of his eyelids. "Don't get used to that," I remind him and Jaewook laughs. Then we start walking towards the nearest subway stop. But I realize something—an extra set of footsteps that I was not expecting to follow us. I turn around. "Where do you think you're going?" Hansoo's surprisingly big eyes are shown once again, like a turtle's head peeking out from his shell. "Me? I'm going with you, didn't Jaewook tell you?" I cock my head to the side in confusion. "Uh—" Jaewook rubs the back of his neck. "He didn't," I say with my arms crossed. "Welp, now you know!" Hansoo yells out excitedly, those black eyes once again disappearing as he wraps his arms around both of us, him in the middle. "Get off—" I mutter as I try to duck away from him. The night goes much like this. Hansoo and I bickering, or rather him teasing me, and what suddenly turned into a competition between the two of us. We challenge who can eat the most meat—of course, Jaewook is immediately disqualified because we all know he'd win easily—and we fight for Jaewook's attention. He seems to enjoy it for a while, especially when I call him "Jaewookie" and feed him food. But he's clearly wearing out now as he ignores us. And then something I did not expect happens. Jaewook asks for a beer. Despite my worried looks and me asking if he's sure, he nods and nods. "Like you said, I'll never be like him," he softly says to me, his eyes encompassing so much desire, desire to put an end to his fear once and for all. So I let it go. "I'm right here okay? You can stop if need be." To our new knowledge, the ordering of beer sparks life into Hansoo, and we quickly learn that he has an apt for drinking. A lot.