Eighteen’s Bed Novel Completed - Chapter 176

Go Yohan looked at me with an exasperated expression and then burst into his characteristic hollow laugh again.

“You know, you’re really funny these days.”

“Two steps feels too much like strangers, and right next to each other feels a bit subtle, so let’s walk half a step apart.”

“Half a step? Got it.”

“It’s okay if we bump into each other slightly while walking.”

“It’s okay to bump? You’re incredibly generous. I almost cried.”

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, teacher.”

Go Yohan really played along with my jokes. Even I found myself boring.

It was a realization I’d had recently. I was truly understanding one of the reasons why I couldn’t sit at the apex. My personality was boring. I had no sense of humor and no wit to entertain others. Everything I did was about studying or pretending to be good. No wonder I wasn’t popular in school. Still, in the past, when I was consumed by jealousy, it was hard to accept my flaws. Now, I somewhat understood. I had a boring personality to hang out with.

This meant I had grown enough to understand such emotions, I suppose. My sensitivity hadn’t changed, but I had learned to some extent how to control myself. I nodded, mindful of Go Yohan, who was dutifully walking half a step behind me.

Go Yohan and I shared the last moments of our growth. I never thought it would turn out this way, but by my current standards, I think we’ve grown quite well.

“…”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Lost in thought, my arm bumped into someone. A wave of unpleasantness surged. No, wait, I’m an adult. It was the moment I tried to suppress that ill-mannered feeling. A familiar scent wafted. Startled, I looked at the person I’d bumped into, and the culprit was Go Yohan.

“We just happened to bump into each other while walking.”

“Yes.”

Why did I use polite language? I was so flustered that I ended up speaking similarly to Go Yohan’s tone.

“No, not you.”

“Your tone is so polite. Is it an act? You usually sound like you’re pretending to be very reserved.”

“…I don’t really do that.”

“It’s okay. A bad personality is my fetish. Since bumping into each other is fate, would it be okay if I walked next to you?”

“Where on earth do you learn to talk like that?”

“I learned it from the person I live with.”

“Let’s speak clearly. When did I ever talk like that?”

I frowned in indignation. No matter how I thought about it, I had never spoken that way. Right. If I had to concede one step, just one step, I would say I spoke that way to adults. But never to my peers.

“Even when you speak normally, maybe it’s because of your voice, but you sound very reserved. Your tone is calm.”

“Meaning I’m boring, right?”

I knew it. My personality was boring. Back then, I was too obsessed with reactions to realize it, but I had never once positively led a relationship. Even in high school, few people truly laughed because what I said was genuinely funny. To put it another way, it meant I was a boring person.

However, Go Yohan acted as if he couldn’t understand my words at all.

“Boring?”

“I’m boring, aren’t I?”

“You really don’t know your own charm.”

“Charm, you say? What are you talking about?”

Though I spoke curtly, I secretly felt a sense of anticipation. Go Yohan knew my charm, he said. Right, maybe to Go Yohan, I was a little bit interesting. He said he liked me, after all. My eyes unconsciously sparkled with anticipation. As I waited for his next words, Go Yohan looked down at me and said with a smile,

“I’ll be blunt so there are no misunderstandings. Objectively, you’re boring. But the things you do are pretty funny.”

“Let’s just split up here and go our separate ways.”

“Ah, damn it, I’m going crazy.”

Go Yohan suddenly covered his mouth with his hand and bent over, laughing. He laughed annoyingly. What was so funny? I couldn’t understand it at all, so I decided to ignore him.

“Why are you so funny, seriously?”

“Who are you? Who are you talking to me?”

I pretended not to know Go Yohan, who was following closely behind me, and didn’t even look at him. I tried to act even more aloof to hide my sulkiness. But Go Yohan didn’t seem to care at all. He slyly grabbed my arm, half-forced my body to turn, and then burst out laughing again when he saw my expression.

“Ah! You’re so damn cute!”

His expression, laughing with his eyes closed and even his nose bridge crinkled, was truly pure innocence itself. The problem was, it was a malicious innocence. That look on his face, unable to contain his joy at teasing me. That’s what it was.

“Let go. This.”

“Do that again.”

“What?”

“‘Who are you? Who are you talking to me?’ That. Just one more time. Just one more time.”

“No. You pervert.”

He liked all sorts of strange things.

“Pervert? Jun, now that you mention it, that’s kind of true.”

Go Yohan still held my arm, shaking it lightly, when suddenly his expression changed as if an idea had struck him. He was truly a wild card. Though the end of his wildness was always to tease me.

“Strictly speaking, you’re more explicit than I am.”

I admit it again. I have a habit of quickly adapting to my reality faster than others. Go Yohan probably said that as a joke. He was always the type to enjoy such outrageous behavior. And what Go Yohan said with a blush always stimulated me.

It was unfortunate for Go Yohan, but there was one sad truth. Kang Jun was more brazen than Go Yohan. Kang Jun’s thick skin was hard even for Go Yohan to penetrate.

Kang Jun’s conscience confessed. How many times have you used Go Yohan as a side dish?

The answer was countless. I maintained an outward composure and spoke plainly to Go Yohan.

“I don’t barge in while someone’s showering like some people.”

“Who does that?”

I swept my gaze from Go Yohan’s head to toe with half-closed eyes. That was my answer.

Go Yohan leaned his large body against me, bumping me repeatedly, throughout our walk down the crowded path. It was intentional. I swayed ever so slightly, pushed by his large frame. I hit Go Yohan back in a fit of pique, but of course, Go Yohan didn’t budge. Instead, I bounced off him. Damn it.

Go Yohan grabbed my body as it recoiled and slid sideways. Hanging there, held by his arm, I looked utterly pathetic. I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled my arm out of Go Yohan’s hand.

Then, I glanced at Go Yohan and sternly warned him. It was because of an incident a few days prior that still left a bitter taste.

“Don’t keep coming in when I’m washing. And don’t keep touching me.”

“You’re really too much.”

“What?”

“Don’t you get turned on by me?”

“…!”

Crazy, Go Yohan finally crossed my limit. Feeling a chill down my neck, I quickly turned and covered Go Yohan’s mouth. Perhaps I used a little too much force without realizing it, as Go Yohan’s lips were pressed hard against my palm, half-twisted.

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? Right now.”

His eyes narrowed into a thin line over my hand. A beautiful crescent shape. Then his slender face line swayed up and down. Go Yohan had nodded, with my hand still clamped over his mouth. Crazy bastard.

I looked around, then suddenly realized that my actions were more noticeable than Go Yohan’s words. My face flushed because of it. I was mortified. I quickly removed my hand from Go Yohan’s mouth and moved my feet, walking faster.

Since there were so many people, just a few steps made the surroundings feel suffocating. Even without looking, one could roughly gauge the size of the people around them. Animals were like that, originally.

So I was secretly relieved. It was thanks to thinking that the large body sticking behind me was Go Yohan.

“It’s so cramped, I’m going to die.”

Until I heard an unfamiliar voice.

I hastily lifted my head. In the spot where I naturally expected Go Yohan to be, there was a man I had never seen before. Moreover, our eyes even met. I screamed internally and bowed my head.

Where did Go Yohan go?

I lifted my head again and looked around. Just as an inexplicable despair threatened to erupt, a small vibration buzzed in my hand. I frantically looked at my hand, and it was Go Yohan calling.

“He-hello?”

-Yes, darling.

Was this really the time for such a trivial joke? The tension that had surged cooled down abruptly due to the absurd situation.

“I lost you.”

-Well, who told you to wander around by yourself like that?

“I’m a twenty-year-old man, so don’t talk to me like that.”

-Then don’t get lost first.

“I’m not lost, I got swept away by the crowd. It’s the same situation, so if I’m lost, you should be lost too.”

-Hehe. You’re right. Yohan is so, so scared.

“…”

I didn’t expect him to admit it so readily. The low voice, speaking in a babyish tone, made me gasp. It was so awkward and confusing… But then again, why was it a little cute?

-It’s okay. I’m following you right now. You’re so tiny, you probably can’t see me.

Go Yohan’s outrageous remark instantly made the strange feeling vanish. Damn it, he always looked down on others because he was tall. I immediately frowned and looked around. No, even now, my gaze wasn’t that low.

“I can see you.”

So I lied.

-You’re full of it.

“Seriously. You’re annoyingly tall, so I just have to look for the head sticking out above everyone else.”

“Don’t lie.”

His presence truly just slammed into me. Go Yohan’s presence.

“You were just spinning your head around like a helicopter a moment ago.”

At the same time, a firm hand gripped mine so tightly it felt like it would burst. The low voice, which had been conveyed through the speaker all this time, now became a physical presence, scratching at my sensitive ear. Instinctively, I flinched, covering the ear touched by his damp breath with my free hand. My startled heart pounded as if it would explode, refusing to stop.

I like Go Yohan’s voice because it’s heavy. His face, though, feels more cool and elegant than heavy. That imbalance makes a person tremble like crazy. Knowing this, I reacted sensitively to Go Yohan’s whisper.

Every nerve and cell in my body throbbed as if in a seizure. I took a breath and cautiously looked up. It was a defensive posture I’d taken without even realizing it. Go Yohan was looking down at me with a slightly dazed expression.

“……Why?”

I pretended nothing was wrong, scratching near my ear with my finger as I stood up. My heart was still pounding. As proof, I had completely forgotten that I was holding Go Yohan’s hand.

Go Yohan looked at me, questioning, even more blankly. Then he quietly stared at his right hand. Why is he suddenly looking at that? My gaze followed, looking at Go Yohan’s hand.

Surprisingly, even though I was holding his hand, I hadn’t registered it. It was truly a foolish moment. It was because my body, tense with worry, had been twitching on its own. Furthermore, Go Yohan tapped the back of my hand, clenching and unclenching his fingers, making it impossible for my confused mind to settle.