Projection Novel (Completed) - Chapter 35

A faint breath tickled his ear. Sejin, waking from the sensation of goosebumps rising, quietly opened his eyes. He saw nothing. It felt as if he was trapped in darkness. Yet, unlike the unfamiliar sense of confinement, the air around him was utterly comforting.

Someone was holding him close. The scent that permeated his nose somehow wasn’t unfamiliar. Was it Cheon Sejoo? Sejin listened to his pounding heart and lifted his head. It was the moment he was about to confirm that the person holding him was that man. “Shh,” a soothing sound reached his ears.

“It’s alright…”

It was an impossibly gentle voice. With it, the arm stretched across Sejin’s waist stirred slightly. Cheon Sejoo had reached out and was gently massaging Sejin’s hunched knees.

At his touch, the throbbing pain in his joints, which had been aching painfully, gradually subsided. Each time Cheon Sejoo’s cool palm touched his skin, Sejin felt his growing pains fade. However, as he found stability in his painkiller-like touch, Sejin also felt a burning heat rising throughout his body, as if a fire had ignited somewhere deep inside him.

Was it the lingering heat that hadn’t yet cooled? Or was it a fever born of his heart? In his hazy consciousness, Sejin thought that the heat wasn’t so bad. The hotter it became, the more it felt as though he was moving further away from pain.

“You’ll be okay soon…”

Listening to the soothing voice, he struggled to lift his head. Pale skin, faintly shimmering in the moonlight, lay before his eyes. His gaze slid from Cheon Sejoo’s lips and jawline to the nape of his neck.

He saw two small moles asserting their presence on the fair, slender curve of his neck. Naturally, he recalled the first day he became aware of those two adorable moles. The day he had changed Cheon Sejoo’s clothes. The day he had seen his peaceful, bare face while he slept.

That day, Sejin had wanted to kiss that spot. And in doing so, he had undeniably wanted to taste Cheon Sejoo’s skin. At the time, he had thought himself insane for such thoughts, but perhaps the feelings that resided within him had already settled in his heart even then.

A long silence flowed. The moment Cheon Sejoo, deep in sleep, let out a faint breath, Sejin squeezed his eyes shut. He pressed himself against the man, carefully lowering his dry lips onto the soft skin. An ecstasy spread throughout his body at the shy contact. His heart pounded.

Sejin soon stretched out his arms and embraced the man. The warm hug brought him an indescribable comfort. Cheon Sejoo’s embrace was complete, and within it, Sejin felt a peace he had never known before.

Never once in his life had he felt this way. He realized belatedly that Cheon Sejoo was the only one who could bestow such dazzling sensations upon him.

“Cheon Sejoo, I think I really like you…”

It was an awakening.

Sejin placed 6th in the final exams. It was because he had no foundational knowledge, making it difficult to surpass friends who had been studying even a little. Still, the kids who merely guessed answers were no longer ahead of Sejin. Even if a so-called “guessing god” descended upon them, it would now be difficult to surpass Sejin’s rank, who knew the answers and got them right, without actually studying.

Nevertheless, Sejin was not satisfied. In Class 3-1, there were a total of six students, including Sejin, who studied at least a little. The remaining fourteen were praised by their homeroom teacher just for showing up, so they couldn’t even be considered Sejin’s rivals.

So, if he thought about it, Sejin was still in last place. If he only counted the people who could be called human, excluding the ape-level idiots, he was 6th out of 6, in other words, the very last. That’s why Kwon Sejin was burning with fighting spirit these days. He was engrossed in studying day and night, determined to surpass at least one person before graduation.

One early morning in July, as summer vacation began, Cheon Sejoo returned from his workout and quietly smiled when he saw Sejin memorizing vocabulary while eating breakfast. The guy who didn’t even know his multiplication tables and treated school like a restaurant just to eat was now acting quite human, which was truly heartwarming. Of course, his mock exam scores were tragically abysmal, enough to make one sigh, but Cheon Sejoo was still satisfied. He liked the fact that Sejin, who had tried not to think about the future at all, was gradually changing. Looking at Sejin like that made his heart flutter deep inside.

“Shall I test you?”

Cheon Sejoo, sitting opposite Sejin, picked up the protein shake he had prepared and asked. At his question, Sejin, who had been meticulously chewing his side dishes, looked up. His blank gaze swept over Cheon Sejoo’s appearance and then stopped at one spot.

“……”

The place Sejin was glaring at was the nape of Cheon Sejoo’s neck, where traces of Doyoon remained. Realizing that Sejin was disapprovingly looking at the reddish bruise, Cheon Sejoo curled an eyebrow and covered his neck with an empty hand.

It had already been several days since the rainy season ended. Cheon Sejoo, who had spent most of the rainy season drunk because Doyoon was so busy, finally met Doyoon and spent time with him on the day of the last rain forecast. Since it had been a long time since they last met, both he and Doyoon had been excessively excited. Thanks to that, Cheon Sejoo’s neck was now like a rag.

“Even so, it’s not really something to show a kid…” Cheon Sejoo awkwardly cleared his throat and spoke.

“When you become an adult too…”

“You’re not even dating that man.”

“What?”

Sejin cut him off as he was about to make an excuse. His voice was sharp. Cheon Sejoo, met with a gaze that seemed to find him pathetic, lost his words and shut his mouth. Of course, they weren’t dating, but… He thought for a moment and then asked Sejin.

“Who says? That he and I aren’t dating.”

“I can tell just by looking. You don’t have anyone you’re seeing.”

“You’re really interested in me, aren’t you?”

“It’s only natural to know this much when we live together!”

Sejin, who was rinsing the stacked dishes for a preliminary wash, turned to Cheon Sejoo and shouted. Indifferent, Cheon Sejoo rested his chin on the table and watched Sejin clean the kitchen, thinking.

Kwon Sejin had a subtly conservative side. Things like always wearing clothes at home, not carelessly exposing his belly, and putting on clothes immediately after drying off if he wore a gown after showering—Sejin’s nagging to Cheon Sejoo usually contained such content. But now, not content with that, he was nagging him about having sex without even being in a relationship.

“You’re like a scholar or something…”

At Cheon Sejoo’s mumble, Sejin raised his eyes as if asking “What did you say?”. His long eyelashes fluttered gracefully. Cheon Sejoo shrugged his shoulders, gazing into the cat-like, direct eyes staring back at him.

“What’s wrong with being an adult? I think it’s fine even if you’re not lovers if you’re mutually attracted.”

He wanted to ask what great qualifications were needed just to have sex, but he thought it wasn’t a topic worth having a deep conversation with Sejin, who was a minor, so Cheon Sejoo just vaguely made that excuse.

Sejin, who had finished cleaning the kitchen and was making roasted grain powder for a snack, puffed out his cheeks with a grumpy face at Cheon Sejoo’s words. Then he glared at Cheon Sejoo as if looking at the most dissolute person in the world and said,

“Cheon Sejoo.”

At the sound of his name, Cheon Sejoo’s eyes widened. “What?” In response to the silent query, Sejin spoke in a quiet voice, as if admonishing him.

“Men should be modest.”

“……”

At such a Joseon-era remark, Cheon Sejoo frowned. As he stared blankly, dumbfounded, Sejin closed the lid of a reusable cup containing 1 liter of roasted grain powder and added,

“If you go around acting like that, what will I learn from you?”

His tone implied, “How can you behave that way in a house with a minor?” Cheon Sejoo was speechless. The problem wasn’t the sudden talk of modesty, but that what Sejin had blurted out was simply too funny. If Kwon Sejin were the type to learn something by observing him, he would have long ago mastered how to memorize ten English words in ten minutes.

“What could you possibly learn? You only learn one thing even if I teach you ten, yet you’re pretending to absorb it like a sponge.”

“……”

At the sudden scolding, Sejin clenched his fists. He glared at Cheon Sejoo with a resentful face, then cleared the empty shake glass in front of him and said,

“People originally learn bad things faster. See, I’m also learning from you these days and talking rudely.”

“How is this my fault? You were always like that.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

Sejin flatly denied it, but Cheon Sejoo had a lot to say. He remembered everything, from beginning to end, about how Sejin had upset him with his words in the early days of their living together. He couldn’t say it out loud for fear of sounding too petty, but in any case, Kwon Sejin had never said a single nice word to him.

“Hey, don’t pretend you weren’t. When I brought you home, there were countless times I wanted to hit your lips.”

“As if I didn’t feel the same.”

“……”

He never loses an argument like that. Cheon Sejoo frowned at his “Humph” retort. This kid keeps getting bolder…

As time passed and Sejin grew taller, Cheon Sejoo’s gentleness towards him wore away day by day. If he had previously said five or four words when he could have said ten, thinking he was just a child, now he felt like he didn’t need to hold back anymore. This was because Kwon Sejin was now acquiring an appearance that could no longer be described as childish.

“Go wash up. You smell of sweat.”

Sejin, who was about to go to his room with his cup, nagged Cheon Sejoo. Cheon Sejoo got up from his seat with a displeased expression and met his gaze. It was truly astonishing. Sejin, who used to be a span shorter than Cheon Sejoo, was now looking at the world from the same height as him. He had grown over 10cm in less than a year.

“Are you actually, like, a bean sprout… or something?”

Cheon Sejoo, who had been staring intently at Sejin, asked as if genuinely curious. Sejin looked back at Cheon Sejoo as if he were spouting nonsense. Seeing the handsome face right in front of him made it even more surreal. He couldn’t believe that Sejin, who hadn’t even been 170cm, was now the same height as him, and at the same time, he felt a tinge of regret.

“You used to be cute…”

“Cute? Who’s cute? Stop saying weird things and go wash up.”

If 168cm Kwon Sejin had said that to him, he would have thought he should quickly go wash up, and he would have found Sejin, who didn’t think he was cute, even cuter. But not anymore. These days, when 180cm Sejin talked back, Cheon Sejoo, far from thinking he was cute, only thought he needed to teach him a lesson about his manners someday.

Is this what it feels like to look at a grown child? He surveyed Sejin with an annoyed expression.

Sejin’s broad shoulders, which perfectly filled Cheon Sejoo’s borrowed T-shirt, his large hands, and his deepened voice, all made it clear that he had become a proper man. While he had lost a lot of weight as he grew taller, almost to the point of being skin and bones, he would soon gain weight by eating ten bowls of rice a day, and then he might even become larger than Cheon Sejoo himself. The small, pretty, and cute Kwon Sejin had somehow become a disgusting grown man…

“Cheon Sejoo.”

But… there was something that hadn’t changed even as he grew taller. Even if his bones had grown, his jawline was still slender and soft, and his delicate, sensitive eyes and stubborn mouth were exactly as he remembered them. And that wasn’t all. Despite his larger build, many parts of his body were still beautiful. For example, his smoothly curved lips, his straight collarbones that naturally drew the eye, his unusually protruding kneecaps that made one want to touch them, and his slender waist…

“Don’t look at me like that.”

“What?”

At the sudden words, he snapped out of his thoughts and looked up. Sejin was standing there, his ears flushed red. His sharp eyes were also reddish. “Why does he look like that?” Cheon Sejoo, who hadn’t properly heard what Sejin said, tilted his head and asked him again.

“What did you say?”

“……”

There was no reply. Sejin, biting his lip and glaring at him, turned around silently and disappeared into his room. Watching his retreating back, Cheon Sejoo sighed. It seemed his second puberty was about to begin.

Sejin’s routine during vacation was almost identical. On weekdays, he would wake up early, finish breakfast, study, clean, then eat again, study, clean, and study again. Having discovered the satisfaction that came from learning, he didn’t complain about his monotonous daily life. Rather, as the college entrance exam approached, he only regretted the time he had wasted.

After he started studying, Sejin began to dream, just as Cheon Sejoo had hoped. What major would he choose if he went to university? What would he learn there? What kind of job would he have after graduation? He would probably earn a good salary. His mom would be proud of him. Sejin was now imagining his distant future in his own small room.

Then, when the weekend came, Sejin spent time with Cheon Sejoo. They would make up for subjects they were lacking in during the week, go grocery shopping together, and sometimes even stop by a department store.

“What are you going to buy?”

“I’m going to buy a gift for my mom.”

Since he started receiving a salary from Cheon Sejoo, Sejin began to use the money he earned. He saved on transportation and snacks, and since he didn’t have to pay for food or rent separately, the money accumulated in Sejin’s bank account had already become a considerable sum.

It was Kim Hyunkyung’s birthday soon. He had never had this much money to spend on his mother’s birthday before, so Sejin decided to generously buy her a gift today and dragged Cheon Sejoo along.

“A gift? Suddenly?”

“Next week is Mom’s birthday.”

“Ah.”

Cheon Sejoo, wearing a hat, quietly nodded. Then he patted Sejin’s shoulder and smiled.

“You’re a mama’s boy, aren’t you? I forgot.”

“……”

At his teasing words, Sejin glared at him with cold eyes. Today, Cheon Sejoo was dressed entirely in black: a black hat, black t-shirt, black shorts, and black sneakers. A style that others might tease him for looking like he was going to a funeral, suited him perfectly as if tailor-made. Even the blue veins that seemed drawn on his slender body gave off an atmospheric vibe, as if carefully placed.

Sejin glared at Cheon Sejoo, only to feel annoyed by how disgustingly handsome and cool he was, and turned his head away. Leaving the annoying man behind who was spouting nonsense, he chose an outerwear for his mother.

After summer, autumn and winter would soon follow. Although she worked at Hwahak and couldn’t go out much, he knew that on nice days, Kim Hyunkyung and the staff would sunbathe and walk in the back mountains during their breaks. For her, Sejin decided to splurge on a 500,000 won windbreaker.

“Cheon Sejoo.”

“Yes?”

“Which color is better?”

Unfortunately, Sejin wasn’t very good at choosing clothes. For him, clothes were only a matter of comfort or discomfort, and although every outfit looked good on him because of his handsome face, Kwon Sejin himself was the type to just grab whatever was at hand.

At his request for help, Cheon Sejoo, who had been browsing the store, approached Sejin. He looked at the beige and orange windbreakers Sejin pointed to, then picked one up, hanger and all.

“This one is prettier.”

Cheon Sejoo held the beige windbreaker against Sejin’s body and nodded, saying. Sejin felt inexplicably strange and puffed out his cheeks.

“Why are you putting it on me?”

“You look exactly like your mom. It suits you well. It’s pretty.”

“……”

Sejin frowned and snatched the hanger from Cheon Sejoo’s hand. Cheon Sejoo, who had his compliment snatched away, instead of getting upset, shook his head with an expression that said, “Here we go again.” He had grown accustomed to Sejin acting sulky whenever he said something these days.

Soon, Sejin finished his payment and approached with a shopping bag. His reddish eyes turned towards Cheon Sejoo. Sejin, meeting his gaze at the same height, stared at him for a moment and then, as if granting a favor, said,

“I’ll buy one for you too.”

“What?”

“I’m buying you clothes. Pick one.”

Cheon Sejoo blinked blankly for a moment, then his eyes crinkled in disbelief as he burst into laughter. His lips parted widely, his shoulders shook slightly, and he brushed his hair back as he took off his hat, making everyone around him fix their gaze on Cheon Sejoo.

Sejin stared blankly at Cheon Sejoo, then turned away, feeling a ticklish sensation inside. Lately, this kind of thing kept happening. After realizing he liked Cheon Sejoo, his whole body would itch incessantly. There was only one solution then: not to look at Cheon Sejoo.

“Hey, wait up.”

As Sejin walked away, Cheon Sejoo, perhaps thinking he was sulking, followed him, unable to hide his laughter. He had laughed out of absurdity, feeling like his hard-raised child was showing filial piety, but on second thought, the feeling of pride outweighed the absurdity. Cheon Sejoo quickly followed Sejin, who was walking out of the mall, and ruffled his hair.

“Don’t.”

“You’ve grown up, Kwon Sejin.”

“Ah, I said don’t!”

A hot hand messed up Sejin’s hair. Even when Sejin complained and tried to avoid it, it stubbornly followed, so Kwon Sejin stopped abruptly and grabbed him. A palm half a joint larger than Cheon Sejoo’s roughly grasped his wrist. Cheon Sejoo chuckled and tried to pull his hand away, but his eyes narrowed in surprise at the unexpected grip.

“Why are you so strong?”

His wrist hurt. As he managed to twist his arm free, a red handprint remained on his white skin. He let out a dry laugh and looked at Sejin. There was a reward for feeding him ten bowls of rice a day. To be able to beat me in strength… Cheon Sejoo shuddered and clicked his tongue, disgusted by the fact that Sejin had truly become a grown man.

“You’ve really grown up… It’s disgusting.”

“……”

At those words, Sejin frowned again, seeming upset. Cheon Sejoo shrugged his shoulders, wondering what he should say, since Sejin frowned whether he was complimented for being pretty or told he had grown up. Then he walked towards the movie theater instead of the parking lot. Since the mall also had a movie theater, he could already see movie posters hanging. Cheon Sejoo pointed to one of them and said,

“Don’t buy me clothes, buy me a movie. I wanted to see that.”

There was nothing left to do but go home, and he had clothes overflowing at his house. Considering Kwon Sejin’s stubbornness, if he were to casually pick out something cheap and accept it, Sejin would undoubtedly get annoyed, asking if he was being ignored because he had no money. But he had no desire to receive expensive clothes from Sejin, so asking to see a movie was the best option.

Fortunately, the cinema was screening the movie version of the comic he watched every day at home. Sejin seemed to know this, and, without realizing that Cheon Sejoo had chosen it because he didn’t want a gift, nodded.

“Then I’ll buy you popcorn too.”

Saying so, Sejin checked the menu board of the approaching cinema snack bar and added,

“Nachos too.”

That didn’t seem to be enough.

“I’ll buy you hot dogs, squid, and churros too.”

“…Okay.”

Cheon Sejoo, barely suppressing his laughter, nodded. Sejin, with an excited face, headed towards the snack bar, and as he got further away, Cheon Sejoo turned his head and quietly chuckled. He couldn’t help but find Kwon Sejin endearing for making excuses to buy things for him when he clearly wanted them for himself. At the same time, it was amazing how he could eat so much and still not gain weight. Even long after he’d surpassed 180cm, Sejin still maintained a model-thin physique.

While he sat quietly waiting, Sejin returned with his arms full of snacks. After entrusting the snacks to Cheon Sejoo, only then did he purchase the movie tickets. Fortunately, the showtime wasn’t too far off. The two sat in their seats, munching on popcorn, and let 40 minutes pass.

During that time, Cheon Sejoo was asked for his number twice. Since Sejin had grown so much, his excuse of Sejin being his son was no longer effective. So Cheon Sejoo now simply declined those who offered their contact information by saying he had a lover.

Sejin watched him intently, muttering to himself, “He doesn’t,” every time Cheon Sejoo claimed to have a lover. He wasn’t pleased. It felt better when Cheon Sejoo used to call him his son.

Time passed, and when they got up to enter the cinema, all that remained in their hands were cola and popcorn. Sejin quickly discarded the remnants of the snacks he’d devoured and was on his way back to Cheon Sejoo when someone stopped him. The man had a slick, polished face and an air of suspicion about him. Watching this, Cheon Sejoo immediately rose from his seat and approached Sejin.

“Kwon Sejin.”

Upon hearing his name, the man who had approached Sejin widened his eyes as he looked at Cheon Sejoo. He took out a business card from his pocket and tried to approach Cheon Sejoo this time, but was immediately stopped by Sejin, halting his steps. There were so many people in the cinema that he couldn’t get close to them immediately. He couldn’t even hear what they were discussing. Finally, when Cheon Sejoo reached Sejin’s side, the man had already left. Glancing at his receding back, he asked in a cold voice,

“Who was that bastard?”

“……”

Sejin shrugged and handed Cheon Sejoo the business card the man had given him. He’d thought some crazy guy was hitting on a kid, but when he actually took it, it was a business card from an entertainment agency. And not some unknown small-to-medium-sized agency, but a famous large one in Korea. A super-large entertainment company that most people would brag about to everyone they knew the moment they received the card.

However, Sejin’s reaction was indifferent. He didn’t seem particularly happy and didn’t even seem to consider taking the card back. Handing it to him, Cheon Sejoo asked again,

“Did he tell you to become an idol?”

“I don’t know. He said to contact him if I’m interested in auditioning.”

As expected, perhaps because it was a large agency, they had a good eye. Even to Cheon Sejoo, Sejin had a face suitable for an idol. Of course, that was when he kept his mouth shut. After a moment of thought, he spoke with a mischievous tone,

“Try it. Even with your personality, someone like you could be a visual member, something like that.”

“……”

At Cheon Sejoo’s words, Sejin looked at him with a sulky face. “What about my personality?” he seemed to ask with his eyes, before shaking his head.

“I can’t do that.”

“Why?”

“Customer, your ticket please!”

A staff member greeted them at the cinema entrance. Sejin showed her his movie ticket and, following the guidance, walked down the inner corridor, explaining to Cheon Sejoo.

“Being an idol isn’t for just anyone. You need talent. Even if you can’t dance well or sing a little, you have to be able to appeal to others and make them happy. How can I do that? I don’t even like talking to strangers, so I can’t laugh, chat, and dance among strangers. And no matter how much money I earn, I don’t want my life to be ‘archived’ on the internet. Receiving attention is burdensome and uncomfortable. If someone like me becomes a celebrity, my fans will probably have a lot of complaints. They’d probably make an anti-fan cafe asking ‘Why did he even become a celebrity?’. Then how upset and bad would my mom feel? They say idol parents have a lot of tiring things these days, and if something happens to my mom, I’ll definitely lose my temper and cause trouble, so how can I become an idol?”

“……”

He seemed uninterested, but it seemed he had thought about it very concretely at some point. Cheon Sejoo smiled, remembering Sejin, who had once briefly dreamed of becoming an idol but gave up. Unaware of his smile, Sejin entered the dark cinema and continued speaking.

“Someone like you should be a celebrity. If I looked like you, I would have already starred in a hundred movies…”

Sejin, who had been muttering as if enchanted, suddenly stopped speaking. He pursed his lips, turned his head, and his expression hardened when he saw Cheon Sejoo smiling playfully. He poked Sejin’s cheek with his finger.

“Are you that handsome, Hyung?”

“……”

Sejin couldn’t say anything. He stood there, flustered as if caught off guard, then, startled by people coming in from behind, practically scrambled up the stairs to get away. Cheon Sejoo followed him in a cheerful mood for the first time in a while. It was strange how the compliments he’d been tired of hearing all his life felt genuinely sincere when they came from Sejin’s lips.