Chapter 24: Rain

“A bit disappointing that you gave up so easily. I guess what you wanted to ask wasn’t that important after all. Or maybe you’re just not that interested in me.”

“That’s not it…!”

Jun-ho lowered his eyes and smiled weakly, feigning sadness. Even knowing he was joking, seeing Jun-ho look disappointed made Min-hyeon’s heart drop. He urgently grabbed Jun-ho’s arm.

“Hyung! That’s not it! I was worried it might be a sensitive question for you…!”

“Give me a lot of attention, Min-hyeon. A whole lot.”

Holding the back of Min-hyeon’s hand—which was gripping his forearm—with his other hand, Jun-ho met his eyes directly. As if determined to enchant him, Jun-ho flashed his favorite eye-smile among all his expressions—and there was no way to resist. Min-hyeon leaned his forehead against Jun-ho’s shoulder, hiding his face. His entire face was burning so hot that even Jun-ho’s cool body temperature couldn’t cool it.

“…What about hyung?”

“Hmm?”

“What about hyung?”

He tried to ask calmly, but his voice trembled. He knew this was just Jun-ho’s usual teasing. But knowing all that, he still wanted to hope—because that was simply how his heart felt.

“I’ve been very, very interested in you. From the very beginning. And of course, still am.”

“…Me too. I have a lot of interest too.”

“That’s not enough. It’s insufficient. Give me more.”

Min-hyeon suddenly thought: his mind was already so full of Jun-ho—if he paid even more attention, wouldn’t Jun-ho be all that remained in his head, with everything else fading away? Even himself.

Jun-ho’s hand over his pressed gently, as if urging an answer. Min-hyeon lifted his head. His flushed cheeks seemed ready to broadcast all his feelings to Jun-ho, but he still wanted to see. What face was Jun-ho looking at him with right now? What expression would he make at his words?

“I’ll be more curious about you, more attentive to you than I am now. As much as hyung wants—however much.”

Having finally extracted the answer he wanted from Min-hyeon’s lips, Jun-ho looked as satisfied as a well-fed cat. With his arm around Min-hyeon’s shoulder, smiling with their eyes locked, Jun-ho made Min-hyeon’s heart pound violently.

Min-hyeon could now perfectly understand what it meant to feel so good it hurt. Somehow, he had a feeling that something between him and Jun-ho would change today.

Plop. A large droplet—big enough to see its trajectory—suddenly appeared and left a spot at Min-hyeon’s feet just as he was about to take a step. Following that, raindrops began to pour down with a pattering sound.

“Rain!”

Startled by the unexpected shower that hadn’t been in the forecast, Min-hyeon pulled Jun-ho under a nearby tree. The summer sky that had been blazing with sunlight just moments ago was now covered in thick gray clouds.

The raindrops, growing larger by the moment, formed heavy sheets and poured down like a bucket being emptied. The thick rain pierced through the dense leaves and fell onto their heads.

“It doesn’t look like it’ll stop anytime soon. And we don’t have an umbrella.”

“Standing here won’t make much difference—we’ll still get soaked. Should we just run for it?”

Min-hyeon looked at Jun-ho, then at the downpour that looked painful enough to hurt if it hit bare skin, and finally at the fairly large drops falling through the leaves above their heads. Then, with a resolute expression, he nodded.

“Okay. Should we run on three? One, two, three—”

“Wait.”

Jun-ho began unbuttoning his dress shirt.

“H-hyung? What are you—!”

Min-hyeon, who had been about to shriek at the thought of seeing his crush’s bare skin without any preparation, closed his mouth when he saw the white round-neck T-shirt Jun-ho had been wearing underneath.

“Better than nothing.”

Jun-ho took off his dress shirt and flapped it open wide. Pretending to put it over their heads, Jun-ho gestured with his eyes, and Min-hyeon burst out laughing.

“I’ve seen a scene like this before. In an old movie they showed at school after the college entrance exam.”

“What a coincidence. It seems I’ve seen the same movie too?”

They laughed as they looked at each other, then—just like in the movie—held Jun-ho’s dress shirt over their heads and ran into the rain together, matching their steps.

Unlike the thick jacket the male actor had worn in the movie, a thin dress shirt did nothing to block the rain. Running while getting drenched just the same as if they were bare, the heavy rain blurred their vision—they had to give up on the shirt after just a few steps.

Jun-ho and Min-hyeon stopped for a moment and burst out laughing, neither first nor second. The rain poured down with such ferocity that it seemed to drown out their laughter, stinging their faces—but everything was so exhilarating that they couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“Hyung! This is the first time I’ve ever been caught in the rain like this!”

Trying not to be drowned out by the rain, his voice naturally grew louder. When Min-hyeon shouted, Jun-ho raised his voice too.

“How does it feel, getting caught in the rain for the first time?”

“I’m glad hyung didn’t bring the camera!”

“Haha. I asked how it feels—what kind of answer is that?”

“I feel amazing right now! So much so that I want to deliberately leave my umbrella behind next time!”

Laughing together again, Jun-ho and Min-hyeon leisurely walked along the path that had been completely deserted by the sudden downpour.

Min-hyeon cupped his hands to catch rainwater, flicked droplets off leaves with his fingers, and hummed songs that came to mind when he thought of rain, thoroughly enjoying their rainy stroll. He played to his heart’s content, forgetting even his desire to look good in front of Jun-ho, doing childish things he hadn’t even done in elementary school.

Like a puppy let out for a walk after a long time, Min-hyeon was overjoyed—kicking at puddles with his feet, making splashing sounds—until his foot slipped completely.

“Huh?”

With a short yelp, Min-hyeon was about to fall backward when Jun-ho caught him just in time. But Jun-ho’s feet also slipped, and he lost his balance. While landing on the ground in a puddle, Jun-ho skillfully lifted Min-hyeon onto his body. Having ended up crushing Jun-ho, Min-hyeon panicked and scrambled to get up—only to fall back on top of him again.

“Aaah! I’m sorry! Hyung! Are you okay?”

Min-hyeon grimaced and tried to move off Jun-ho. But Jun-ho instead reached behind Min-hyeon’s back and pulled him closer. Min-hyeon quickly braced his hands on Jun-ho’s chest to support himself.

“Hyung?”

“No. Not really okay—so stay still for a moment. You shouldn’t get mud on you, so just stay like that.”

“…They say if you lie on the ground, your mouth gets crooked.”

“If your mouth gets crooked, at least you’ll gain some conscience along with it.”

“You’re too handsome to pick on like that. Come on. Get up.”

Min-hyeon got up and reached out his hand to Jun-ho. Jun-ho laughed as if he had no choice, then took Min-hyeon’s hand.

Naturally, by the time they arrived at the hideout, both were soaked from head to toe, as if they’d been dunked in water. While enjoying the rain, they hadn’t noticed—but with cold air hitting their wet bodies, a chill set in.

Min-hyeon’s teeth chattered. Jun-ho tossed his T-shirt aside on the floor, roughly wrung the water out of his pants with his hands, then went inside and brought back a large bath towel to hand to Min-hyeon.

“H-hyung first—”

“I’m fine. You use it first. Your lips are turning blue.”

“Th-thank you.”

Min-hyeon dabbed himself dry through his clothes as best he could. Meanwhile, Jun-ho brought an electric heater and placed it right next to Min-hyeon. When he turned it on, fortunately the air around them began to warm up immediately without any preheating.

Min-hyeon let out a weak laugh at the thought of using an electric heater in midsummer weather. Soon after the heater was turned on, the indoor temperature gradually rose, and his shivering subsided.

Only after the cold had somewhat eased did Min-hyeon realize that Jun-ho wasn’t wearing anything on top. He tried not to look in Jun-ho’s direction as he called out.

“The chill is mostly gone now. Hyung, come over here too.”

“No. You’ll catch a cold. Let me dry off a bit more.”

“You must be colder than me.”

“Hmm. I don’t mind the cold either.”

“That’s not true.”

Min-hyeon kept his eyes fixed on the floor as he moved closer to Jun-ho.

As he moved away from the heater, goosebumps instantly rose on his skin. But Min-hyeon couldn’t be sure that the shiver running through him was purely from the cold. As someone newly aware of his feelings, seeing his crush’s bare upper body was too much stimulation. His hand, gripping Jun-ho’s arm, trembled slightly.

“I’m cold, hyung. Warm up with me.”

Summoning his courage, he pulled Jun-ho’s arm—and fortunately, Jun-ho followed his lead. They stood side by side in front of the heater.

It was awkward. They say the human field of vision is 180 degrees—and sure enough, even with his eyes fixed straight ahead, Jun-ho appeared at the edge of his sight. He had no idea where to look. Min-hyeon could only fidget with the hem of his T-shirt.