Chapter 11: The Hidden Space

From a distance, he could see Jun-ho sitting on the bench, reading a book. Bathed in the intense afternoon sunlight, completely absorbed in his reading, he looked like a still cut from an art film.

Min-hyeon wasn’t close enough for his footsteps to be heard yet, but he walked as quietly as possible, even holding his breath. Half of him didn’t want to disturb Jun-ho, who was focused on his book, and the other half wanted to sneak up on him and surprise him—just as Jun-ho had done to him last time.

“You’re here?”

“Whoa! How did you know? I came completely silently, without making a sound.”

Min-hyeon’s humble dream of startling Jun-ho was crushed before he’d even taken five steps. As if he’d already known Min-hyeon was coming, Jun-ho closed his book without a trace of surprise and smiled, meeting Min-hyeon’s eyes. Deflated, Min-hyeon plopped down beside him.

“Hyung, have you been waiting long?”

“What would you prefer?”

Jun-ho’s eyes glinted mischievously. Flustered, Min-hyeon asked back, “Huh?” and Jun-ho, with an exceedingly kind expression, repeated the question.

“Would you prefer that I arrived a long time ago and waited for you for ages? Or that I just got here too, so I haven’t been waiting long? I’ll do whichever you want.”

“Uh, well?”

As Min-hyeon’s eyes darted around, unable to answer easily, Jun-ho let out a small laugh.

“Why are you thinking so seriously about something so trivial?”

“Right, right. Haha.”

For some reason, whenever he talked with Jun-ho, he didn’t feel like himself. With anyone else, he would have responded more cheekily—but even knowing it was obviously a joke, he ended up seriously contemplating it.

“But really, how did you know I was coming? You seemed completely focused on your book.”

“Just… a feeling.”

Then he flashed a grin. It wasn’t as if Min-hyeon had only seen Jun-ho’s smiling face once or twice, yet his ears still felt warm for no reason.

It’s hot. Whenever he was with Jun-ho, his face flushed and he got hot easily. Min-hyeon fanned himself.

“I see. Oh, what book were you reading?”

Instead of answering, Jun-ho handed him the book directly. For some reason, the title on the thick cover was written in English. Min-hyeon quickly flipped through the pages. The pages were densely filled with English as well. It didn’t look like a particularly interesting book—just text, no photos or illustrations. Min-hyeon skimmed the page where Jun-ho had placed his bookmark.

“Wow. Hyung, you’re good at English too. This looks really difficult.”

With an awkward smile, Min-hyeon returned the book to Jun-ho.

“By my age, everyone can do at least this much.”

“…I don’t think my English skills are going to improve that dramatically in a year or two.”

The heavens were truly unfair. Min-hyeon pouted. Smiling, Jun-ho patted Min-hyeon’s shoulder.

“Shall we get going soon?”

“Did you reserve a seminar room again today?”

“No, somewhere else today.”

“Somewhere else? Where?”

“Follow me and you’ll find out.”

Jun-ho took the lead and began walking with long strides. Min-hyeon hurried after him. Jun-ho’s stride was as long as his legs—with each step, he surged forward. Min-hyeon moved his feet busily to keep pace beside him.

Following the walking path that curved around the humanities building toward the main building, there was a small side path in the middle. Jun-ho turned straight into it.

“I’ve seen this path while passing by, but this is my first time actually coming this way.”

“That’s probably true. Most people don’t have a reason to come here.”

At the end of the side path stood a modest temporary building. Jun-ho entered naturally. Min-hyeon hesitated for a moment, then followed him inside.

Contrary to how it looked from outside, the interior of the temporary building was quite spacious. There was a folding cot by the sunlit window, along with a sofa, a table, a desk, bookshelves, an air conditioner, a refrigerator—even a small pool table.

If he hadn’t come here himself, he probably couldn’t have imagined that the inside of a temporary building on a university campus could look like this. It was filled with so much life that it seemed out of place in the ivory tower of academia.

“Where is this?”

Min-hyeon looked around, glancing here and there. Jun-ho had already gone to the sofa and settled in, gesturing for him to come.

“My personal space.”

“Your personal space?”

Min-hyeon looked at Jun-ho, who was lounging comfortably on the sofa, with a shocked expression. Was it even possible for an ordinary student to have a personal space like this on campus?

“Hyung, are you secretly the chairman’s son or—… Ah!”

Instead of answering, Jun-ho stood up, pulled Min-hyeon over, and sat him down beside him. The bare skin exposed below Min-hyeon’s shorts touched Jun-ho’s slacks. Min-hyeon’s body went rigid. Every nerve in his body was focused on Jun-ho’s thigh, pressed against his own. Goosebumps rose on his skin. Jun-ho’s body temperature was much cooler than his own, yet for some reason, he was intensely aware of it.

Whether he knew Min-hyeon’s state or not, Jun-ho calmly pulled out his laptop from his bag. As he bent down to pick up a charging cable from the floor, Jun-ho’s thigh pressed even closer against Min-hyeon’s.

Every time Jun-ho moved slightly, his firm thigh rubbed against Min-hyeon’s through just a thin layer of fabric. Min-hyeon subtly shifted his body to create some distance. If he left it like that, he felt like he’d start feeling strange.

After barely making enough space for one fist between them, Min-hyeon quickly pulled out his own laptop and placed it on the table. Instead of putting his bag on the floor, he hugged it tightly. Covering his upper body with the bag made him feel somewhat relieved. Seeing him clinging to the bag as if it were a lifeline, Jun-ho made a peculiar expression, as if holding back laughter.

“This place is really cozy and nice. The sofa is super soft too.”

Before Jun-ho could say anything, Min-hyeon quickly preempted him by pointing his chin at the large and small photos decorating the white walls.

“There are so many photos. Did hyung take all of them?”

“Most of them.”

“Hyung, how do you… you’re good at photography too. Is there anything hyung can’t do?”

“Well, what do you think?”

“God was always unfair. I have a feeling there’s nothing you can’t do.”

Jun-ho burst out laughing at Min-hyeon’s serious expression.

“I do have something I can’t do.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll have to find that out for yourself. And then you can help me.”

“I don’t know what it is, but if hyung can’t do it, can I really?”

“You can. So promise me you’ll help later.”

“Yes! I’ll do my best!”

Jun-ho smiled, his eyes crinkling beautifully, then suddenly reached out and snatched the bag from Min-hyeon’s arms.

“Now put that down and let’s get to work on our project. If you break curfew, your scary hyung might show up and drag you away.”

Jun-ho wore a playful expression, but Min-hyeon couldn’t laugh along easily. Just as he’d said, if he went past 7 o’clock, Min-woo would undoubtedly contact him immediately.

“Okay!”

Min-hyeon rubbed his now-empty hands on his pants for no reason and turned on his laptop.

Thanks to focusing on the project without distractions, they finished before 6 o’clock. Min-hyeon, who had unconsciously tried to save the file with the same name as the one he’d finished alone—”Final_The Decisive Moment_Kim Junho_Choi Minhyeon”—let out a short gasp. A notification appeared saying the file name was already in use.

“You had another final version?”

At Jun-ho’s question, Min-hyeon rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Well, actually… if hyung didn’t come to school by tomorrow, I was going to roughly finish it alone and at least submit it…”

“Really? You should have told me. Let me see.”

Jun-ho leaned toward Min-hyeon and reached for the mouse pad. Flustered, Min-hyeon tried to block his hand.

“Ah! Wait! Hyung! No, hold on! I really just threw it together! It’s completely terrible! It’s not worth looking at!”

“The more desperately you try to stop me from seeing something, the more I want to see it.”

“Oh? Is that so? Then by all means, look?”

Is this right? Something feels off? Min-hyeon tilted his head.

“Then I’ll gratefully take a look.”

“No! Hyung! That’s not how it works!”

With a playful expression, Jun-ho—after a brief scuffle—eventually found the file sitting prominently on the desktop. When he opened it, Min-hyeon, who had given up all hope, hung his head deeply. The back of his neck and his ears flushed bright red immediately.

As if he might run away if left alone, Min-hyeon kept edging sideways—until Jun-ho wrapped an arm around his shoulder. Then he rested his head on Min-hyeon’s other shoulder. Min-hyeon turned to ice. Adjusting his position a few times, as if something was uncomfortable, Jun-ho soon settled completely and began scrolling slowly down with the mouse.

Unable to bear watching Jun-ho’s reaction, Min-hyeon covered his face with both hands. With his vision blocked, the sounds became even clearer. Even without looking, he could tell that Jun-ho’s long, straight fingers were moving across the mouse pad.

He heard the soft swish of fingertips gliding over the mouse pad. It was only a twenty-page review, but Jun-ho’s reading time felt excruciatingly long.

“Hmm.”

At Jun-ho’s ambiguous reaction, Min-hyeon’s body flinched. Feeling that, Jun-ho seemed to laugh—his hair tickled the back of Min-hyeon’s neck. Min-hyeon’s shoulders kept hunching. His heart pumped violently, making its presence unmistakably known.

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