I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 80
The fun lasted all day long. Jaewoo and Hyunjin watched as the kids played on the sandy beach before eventually getting up and joining them, running in and out of the ocean alongside them. Their feet got soaked in the cold ocean water, but they didn’t care. Running from the waves, building sandcastles, even picking up seashells – they enjoyed all of it.
Eventually, their feet became as cold as ice, and their bodies began to tremble. They’d taken off their outermost layers in order to keep them dry, but now they regretted it.
“Cold!”
Jaewoo and Hyunjin dried the kids off, then picked up one child each and hurried back to the RV. After having their feet washed in the small bathroom, their clothes changed, and being tucked inside the blankets, Hyeonu and Woohee were all smiles. Then it was the adults turn.
“Do you want to wash first?”
“No, I’ll take the second shower.”
Hyunjin gently pushed Jaewoo into the bathroom. Jaewoo went along with it, sitting himself down on the edge of the small bathtub. He lifted up the shower head and aimed it at his feet, feeling the stiffness begin to leave his joints.
He was just about to bend down to wash himself more thoroughly when a shadow suddenly appeared in front of him. When he looked up, he saw that Hyunjin had followed him inside the bathroom. He’d taken off his jacket and had rolled up his shirt sleeves.
“I’m not done washing yet?”
“I know.”
‘Then why did you come in?’
Jaewoo was just about to ask that when Hyunjin suddenly knelt down on the floor and held his slowly-thawing foot with one hand. Jaewoo had never thought his feet were small before, but Hyunjin was able to hold it comfortably in his palm.
“Hyunjin!”
Hyunjin glanced up at him as Jaewoo shouted in embarrassment.
“What is it?”
Was he asking because he really didn’t know? Jaewoo stammered out a response.
“You’re h-holding my f-f-foot…”
“Ah. I want to help you wash.”
“I can do it alone!”
“But it’s easier with someone’s help.”
He wasn’t wrong, but Jaewoo didn’t want to have someone help with this. His face turned red from embarrassment, and he tried to wrench his foot away, but Hyunjin grabbed it again before he could. Before he could try once more, Hyunjin began washing his feet with his big hands. His rough fingers, calloused from a life of hard work, pressed against the relatively soft soles of Jaewoo’s foot.
“Can you please stop?”
“I’ll be done soon.”
Then he slipped his fingers between Jaewoo’s toes, gently rubbing areas that Jaewoo had only touched when he was washing himself. Jaewoo’s hand, still clenched around the shower head, began to tremble. The feel of Hyunjin’s fingers running over his foot made him feel strange.
Aside from being embarrassed, the inside of his stomach felt itchy, like a small flame had been lit inside of him and was rapidly warming him up.
‘Finish quickly.’
That was Jaewoo’s desperate wish, but it seemed like it wasn’t going to come true. On the contrary, Hyunjin’s hands gradually began to move even more slowly. As he continued to caress Jaewoo’s skin, the flame that was warming his insides grew hotter and hotter.
“Hic!”
Jaewoo let out a strange noise. Without thinking, he slapped his hand over his mouth, and the shower head he was holding suddenly began to spray water directly over Hyunjin. With water dripping down over his face, absolutely soaked from top to bottom, Hyunjin looked up at Jaewoo.
When he blinked, the water droplets that were clinging to the end of his long eyelashes suddenly fell. Hyunjin swept his wet hair back from off his face, revealing his clean forehead.
He truly looked like the main character of a novel. His appearance was manly, yet strangely beautiful. Jaewoo couldn’t bring himself to look away.
Hyunjin seemed to notice him staring. His pretty eyes crinkled up as he smiled, drawing Jaewoo’s attention down to his red, moist lips. Was it just the water making them look so appealing? They looked like he could devour them in just one bite.
‘Wake up!’
Jaewoo took a deep breath, lifted the shower head, and turned it directly towards his face.
“Pfffffft!”
The warm water spraying onto him brought Jaewoo back to his senses. It was worth it, even though his clothes were now soaked. What on earth was he thinking, staring at Hyunjin like that! He’d nearly kissed him without his consent.
They only had a few days left for them to be together. He couldn’t do something like that to Hyunjin, knowing what it would do to him after. Thinking about the future sent a chill through his heart, but there was nothing he could do to change it.
“Are you alright?”
Hyunjin asked worriedly, looking at the wet Jaewoo.
“Uh, I’m fine. The water’s nice and warm, you know? Besides, I’m not the only one that’s soaked.”
“Since we’re already wet, why don’t we take a shower?”
“You take one first. I’ll just step outside for a moment and start preparing for dinner.”
“I thought we were making ramen with the leftover meat from lunch? What’s left to prepare?”
Hyunjin asked curiously.
“I just think it would be nice to do something else as well.”
Jaewoo tried to act casual and slip away outside, but Hyunjin caught him before he could.
“Then I’ll go see what we have, you wash up first. If you go outside while you’re wet, you’ll catch a cold.”
“Then what about you?”
“I’m healthy, so I’ll be fine.”
How could that be fine? Jaewoo was almost moved to tears as he saw Hyunjin keep trying to protect him. He still didn’t understand how someone so kind could survive in this world.
“I’m also healthy, so you should wash up first.”
“Don’t lie to me. You were just sick.”
“That was only once!”
Jaewoo spoke confidently, but Hyunjin didn’t look like he believed it. The two of them continued arguing for some time.
‘If we keep going like this, it’ll never end.’
It seemed like they would only stop once one of them really did get sick. In the end, Jaewoo decided to use the ace up his sleeve.
“I’m going to go shower outside!”
There was a communal shower room in another building. Jaewoo snatched up a towel and his clothes and rushed out of the RV before Hyunjin could stop him.
“If you follow me, I won’t forgive you!”
That was probably why Hyunjin didn’t chase after him.
‘I won!’
Jaewoo headed to the communal shower room feeling more at ease. Although the facilities were a bit old, there was warm water, and the showers were easy to use. When he came back after washing and changing his clothes, a freshly-showered Hyunjin was sitting on a chair.
“Your hair isn’t completely dry.”
Hyunjin stood up and sat Jaewoo down in his place. He stood behind him, starting to meticulously dry his hair. Jaewoo began to relax under his calm and careful movements.
‘How did I even get here?’
And why did Hyunjin have to be the main character? Wouldn’t it have been nice if they could have met and started dating just like anyone else? Jaewoo slowly closed his eyes, trying to hide his tears.
Because of that, he couldn’t tell that Hyunjin had finished until he said something.
“I’m all done.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Afterwards, the children woke up and they all had dinner together. Jaewoo added shrimp and crab to the ramen and it tasted fantastic, spicy yet appetizing. The noodles were cooked until the texture was perfect, with a nice chewiness to them. At first, the children hadn’t wanted to eat ramen after having eaten it for so many lonely meals, but after a few bites, even they were asking for more.
Later, they played board games inside the RV. They set up the board for Blue Marble Game1. It wasn’t a hard game to learn; the children quickly picked it up and were hooked.
“Oh yeah! Seoul!”
Woohee, who was particularly lucky, bought Seoul and started charging a ruinous amount of rent. The first person to get caught was Jaewoo. All the money he had been saving was wiped out in an instant.
“Unbelievable!”
Regretfully, Jaewoo filed for bankruptcy and took over as the banker. As the others went around the board, he handed out their money and collected any fees. Time flew by as they played.
“Woohee’s the winner!”
Hyunjin took second place, and Hyeonu took third. Nobody else managed to go bankrupt. Once the game was done, the children went to sleep, while Hyunjin and Jaewoo cleaned up and then lay down themselves.
“Woo-ooo-ooo-ooo…”
The children let out peaceful snores as they slept deeply, and Hyunjin quickly joined them. After making sure that everyone else was asleep, Jaewoo carefully stood up. He grabbed his coat from off the wall and put it on, then silently opened the door and went outside. The dim light of a street lamp shone down on him as he walked.
He didn’t have a destination in mind, he was just looking for a place without other people. As he was walking along, he realized that someone had started following him.
Mujin had promised not to send anyone, so it couldn’t be one of his men. Since that was the case, there was only one person left.
“Eunjoon.”
When Jaewoo called out that name, the person stopped approaching. They had left the street light behind, and the area was dark, but Jaewoo was able to recognize him thanks to the moonlight. It seemed as though he could find him any time he wanted to.
“Jaewoo.”
After softly calling Jaewoo’s name, Eunjoon continued speaking.
“Why didn’t you wait for me?”
“I couldn’t.”
Mujin had called him immediately. What excuse could he have reasonably made to try and delay things?
“If you’d just waited a little longer, I could have resolved everything neatly.”
“I heard that Mujin denied your offer.”
“That wasn’t a problem. No matter how hard Choi Mujin tries, in the end he’s still just a director in a third-party financial institution. A family like mine, that’s been in business for three generations, is on an entirely different level. Within a few days, I could have made him accept my terms.”
“Was that actually the case?”
Mujin really didn’t seem like that sort of person. Jaewoo smiled bitterly.
“Trust me.”
“I don’t know.”
Eunjoon stepped closer. Under the dim light, the movement felt almost threatening. Jaewoo unconsciously took a step backwards.
“Then…”
Eunjoon reached out and grabbed Jaewoo’s arm.
“Are you going to be with that guy, Choi Mujin, after this? All for the sake of the person you love most, Yoo Hyunjin? Then what about reality? What about your life that’s waiting for you back in the real world?”
Jaewoo opened his mouth, then closed it again. In his heart, that was exactly what he wanted to do. Even if he couldn’t be with Hyunjin, he wanted to at least be in the same world together.
Footnotes
인생게임 – insaeng-geim – The Game of Life. The novel says they were playing The Game of Life, but the rules seem to match Blue Marble Game, a Korean game that closely resembles Monopoly. Game of Life Example, Game of Life Wikipedia, Blue Marble Game Wikipedia
