Chapter 2 – <1000>

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Ryu Jihye, Department of French Language and Literature: Sunbae, something urgent came up, so I have to cancel our appointment. I’m sorry.

22:37

Got it.

23:49

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Sangwoo sent a reply and put the cell phone down. There had been two changes to the cancellation of his Friday evening appointment. First, he was able to get to the work studio on time. The other change was..

“I have to get rid of them, though.”

He blankly stared at the movie tickets that were on the desk. They were goods worth 10,000 won.1 The tickets that Jaeyoung had slipped under his door two months ago expired this Sunday. Even if he had been drunk when he lost the gaming console Jihye had given him, he didn’t think it was enough to just buy her a bowl of udon after receiving something worth 130,000 won, so he had planned on giving her the tickets.2 However, their appointment had been canceled, so his plan had been ruined.

‘If that’s the case, I’ll have to sell them.’

However, considering the events and connections he had on Friday, there were only two people he could sell tickets to – Choi Yuna and Jang Jaeyoung. Moreover, between the two, it was better to sell what he had received from Jaeyoung (moreover after fighting over it) to Yuna than to sell it back to him.

What Jaeyoung had said to him at the time, came to Sangwoo’s mind as if he had searched a database with the word ‘movie.’

‘Do you wanna go watch a movie?’

‘Huh? I ask you to go watch it together. I was going to give you a ticket to go watch it by yourself.’

‘Go watch a movie with me.’

‘Hey, you asshole. Was asking you to go to the movies with me awful enough for you to skip class?’

‘What kind of ancient mindset is that? I can watch movies just fine with men. I even went yesterday.’

It was a memory from the day when Jaeyoung had come to the PC Room with a laptop that lacked a RAM-card, the day he had felt sexually attracted to him for the first time, and the day he cursed at him in front of his door.

“You seem to like movies.”

In retrospect, he had sung along with movie soundtracks. That was the moment he came up with a way of disposing of the movie tickets without selling them. After contemplating it for a bit, Sangwoo decided to push for a second option.

At midnight, he checked his emails and opened the folder with the work that Jaeyoung had sent him. He gave feedback on a few things that he didn’t like, sent a reply, and shut his computer down. He turned off the lights, went under his duvet, and closed his eyes.

return 0;

“The person who sits there, where did they go?”

Jaeyoung, who had just greeted Sangwoo using his eyes, as he was in the middle of working, spun his chair around at the question. The T-shirt with a hexahedron inside a cube with another hexahedron inside looked interesting. Then, there was a look on his face that expressed that there was something he was unhappy with.

“That’s what you’re asking me without even greeting me?”

“You looked busy, so I didn’t.”

“If I look busy, then why would you ask useless questions?”

“I apologize. Please keep working.”

Sangwoo felt a little frustrated after being attacked out of the blue, but he thought Jaeyoung had made a reasonable point, so he dropped his guard. When he set up his laptop and his mouse and sat down, Jaeyoung asked, “What do you want with Yuna?”

“I had some business with her, but since she’s away, it can’t be helped.”

“With kind of business?”

“I was going to sell something.”

“Sell it to me.”

Sangwoo frowned and made eye contact with him. Jaeyoung tended to be persistent and get the answer he wanted to hear whenever the mood was like this. He decided it would be better to spill it rather than waste time.

“The movie tickets you slipped under my door. They expire this weekend.”

Jaeyoung made a twisted smile. That was the reason he didn’t want to say anything to begin with. It was uncomfortable for both of them. Sangwoo told Jaeyoung before the latter would fail to control his emotions and curse at him or get annoyed.

“You’re not gonna buy it, right?”

“That’s what you’re asking?”

“Then.. Do you want to watch a movie?”

Jaeyoung furrowed his eyebrows. He looked as if he didn’t understand what he was saying.

“Never mind if you don’t want to,” Sangwoo said and turned towards his computer.

He could hear the wheels of his chair moving.

“The two of us?”

Sangwoo nodded silently. He could feel the other person’s eyes staring at his profile, so heat was building up on his cheeks. Jaeyoung kept doing that for quite a while, then he blurted out, “Isn’t it disgusting between men?”

Sangwoo glared at the monitor. At the time, he had sincerely thought so, and his mindset hadn’t changed since then. However, he didn’t have any justification to say that anymore.

“I’ve done worse than that now, so.”

“Since you shat already, it doesn’t matter if you fart now?”

“Really, that metaphor.. Like I said, if you don’t want to, forget it. I’ll put it up on ‘Used Kingdom.’3

Jaeyoung became quiet. Sangwoo logged in to a used goods website, wrote a title for the post, then the other said, “Reserve tickets for Jeongryun-dong. I’ll pick you up in front of the PC room at 10 tomorrow.”

Sangwoo’s fingers stopped while entering the price. They were merely words of a time and a place, but his heart was pounding as if it had heard something infuriating.

‘It’s not a big deal.’

Choi Yuna wasn’t in the work studio, so as a second option, he decided to give it to Jaeyoung. He had recently drawn a picture on his arm, even given him a bite of a dumpling, and he must have made a profit of around 10,000 won.

He shut down the tab which displayed the used goods website, and the main page of a multiplex appeared in the new tab. Sangwoo’s finger diligently clicked on the mouse. It was something he was doing for the first time since November four years ago when he had a girlfriend.

“Choose. 1st: The Revival of Superman. 2nd: The Spies’ Younger Sister. 3rd: Pyupyu and Kyukyu. 4th: Hot Hot Hot.”

“4th one, Hot Hot Hot.”

“Did you choose it because you know what it is?”

Sangwoo stared at the bright red poster and then turned his head towards Jaeyoung as if he were pathetic. He had returned to his seat at some point, and he shrugged his shoulders with an innocent expression.

“I don’t know. It sounds like an erotic movie, so sounds good.”

“I’ll reserve tickets for The Revival of Superman. It’s the top selling one.”

“Yes. Do you as you wish, my lord. What would your servant know?”

He selected the time, the amount, the seats, and then he paid. Sangwoo rapidly proceeded with the reservation and then quickly spoke.

“I reserved seats for The Revival of Superman. Jeongryun-dong International Cinema. 10:35 p.m. Salon 5, L13 and L14.”

“Thanks for informing me, Siri.”

“..”

That’s how Sangwoo not only just kissed a man, but also went to the movies with one.

return 0;

When he finished his part-time job on Saturday, Sangwoo informed the manager of his plan of only working until May, considering his schedules for the game production and the final exams. The manager seemed regretful, so he poked him about why he was so busy that he ended up being delayed for 10 minutes. To make up for it, Sangwoo took the stairs after asking him to finish work 10 minutes earlier next time.

Jaeyoung’s car was parked on the road when he appeared outside. It was a hatchback with a stripe design on it. The white boxy car, which looked just like a refrigerator, had red mirrors and a red rooftop. The owner of the car was leaning against it while looking at his phone.

Jaeyoung was wearing light gray pants and a white shirt that Sangwoo was seeing for the first time. He couldn’t see his earrings or his glasses, and he was wearing a watch and a leather bracelet on his wrist, because his rolled up sleeves made them visible. It was hard to tell what exactly it was, but his hair seemed somehow different from usual. Sangwoo, who had stopped and just stood there for a bit, started walking again.

‘How do I look?’

For the first time in his life, his own clothes bothered him. Sangwoo’s gaze slowly went over his black sneakers, old, worn-out jeans, and his navy blue shirt. His walking pace slowed a bit, and then accelerated again.

‘I’m just meeting Jaeyoung, so why do I have to care?’

Sangwoo approached the front of the car in a slightly bad mood. Jaeyoung raised his head and smiled at Sangwoo.

“Hi.”

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

“It’s our first date. I’m excited.”

“Don’t say weird things and just get in the car.”

Jaeyoung ignored Sangwoo’s words and fully opened the passenger door. Sangwoo hesitated for a second when he urged him to get in.

It was the first time he had ridden in the car since That Day.

“Your glasses?”

“I didn’t wear them.”

“Then should I drive?”

“Nope.”

“I have a Class 1 Driver’s License.”4

“I’ll drive.”

He quickly walked to the driver’s seat, opened the door, and sat down. Sangwoo glared at him and saw the digital watch displaying 10:12 p.m. The movie started at 35 minutes past 10, and it would take at least 10 minutes to get to Jeongryun-dong. If they kept delaying here, they’d be late. He didn’t have any choice but to close the door by the passenger seat.

When Jaeyoung fastened the seatbelt, he slightly supported his arm on Sangwoo’s headrest and turned the steering wheel while looking back. He was merely reversing the car, but Sangwoo’s gaze moved towards Jaeyoung’s collarbones, which were revealed underneath the shirt with two undone buttons. There was a vein popping out from his neck that stretched from his jawline. Sangwoo felt dizzy as he absentmindedly studied Jaeyoung’s profile. Then, he made eye contact with him as he changed gears again.

“When you don’t even notice the real tricks,” Jaeyoung murmured while staring straight ahead again. They were words he couldn’t grasp no matter how many times he went over them. Sangwoo still felt anxious.

“You’re worried that I won’t be able to drive well since I’m not wearing glasses, aren’t you?”

He spoke as if he had entered and left Sangwoo’s mind, so Sangwoo nodded.

“What’s my eyesight?”

“Slightly shortsighted at 0.7 with astigmatism.”

“I can see all signs well at that point.”

“You have insurance, right?”

“I won’t ask you to pay for any repairs.”

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