Chapter 138: Chapter 138

.

As I opened the door, a cool breeze blew into my house. Outside the window, the sound of the drizzle kept on. I grabbed an umbrella then fetched a deep sigh.

Until the moment that I got on to the elevator, my mind went blank. Those that I tried not to think came across my head at once. My head swam. With a moan, I pressed one side of my eye. The elevator was heading down at a slow pace. I fell into thought.

Things about Yoo Chun Young got me in a daze. His words to me, his lips kissing my cheek, his face in a breathtaking distance, his long blue-black brows under the closed eyes, the yellow lamplight melted on his white cheek… Then the elevator stopped. When the door opened, I raised my head.

I had no idea what look I should put on my face or what to say; however, as soon as I saw his face, a rich smile hung on my lips by itself and, at the same time, something warm spread around from my chest slowly and ran all over my body.

When I didn’t get off the elevator for quite a while, Yoo Chun Young flung a question.

“Aren’t you getting off?”

“Yes, I am.”

As soon as I said that, the elevator door got closed. Yoo Chun Young simultaneously pushed in his foot between the doors.

With a rattle, the elevator gently opened. I stepped out with a burst of laughter. My eyes were then on Yoo Chun Young.

His hairs got longer than before as he didn’t cut them after starting his modeling career. Still, it looked fine. Between his blue-black hair, his round white ear stuck out and his face didn’t change at all.

He looked like a still life painted in oil. His tranquil face reminded me of a vase submerged into the dark and some dried roses or chrysanthemums. His blue eyes under his blue-black lashes were quietly on me. When our eyes met, he furrowed his brows again as if he felt perplexed.

‘It is really Yoo Chun Young,’ I thought. As if it was all lie that he avoided me for the last two weeks, Yoo Chun Young was there standing in front of me.

‘Perhaps he was busy these days…’ That was what I thought until I saw his face. Although he looked a little tired, his face was truly fine that I felt the anger rising in me. ‘Bastard, you could’ve called me, at least, once,’ with that in mind, I called him grumpily.

“Hey.”

“Yeah.”

“Here, look at me. You said you almost forgot this face. See it twice, many times, as much as you can.”

I tiptoed intentionally to shove my face into his sight. Yoo Chun Young, however, pushed my face away from him while looking freaked out. It was such a violent and inconsiderate gesture.

Geez… while I rubbed my face with my jaw dropped, Yoo Chun Young, who stepped far away from me, stood near the apartment entrance and scowled at me. He even had his hand on the entrance doorknob as if he was about to escape this place if something happened. ‘What the…’ I asked while feeling dumbfounded.

“Hey! You said you’re about to forget my face! So look, as much as you can?!”

“I can see you from here too,” turning paler than me, Yoo Chun Young replied shortly.

I, who stared at him for quite a while, then cast my glance over his shoulder. The puddled concrete ground shined brightly through the headlight.

I asked, “It’s raining outside. Where is your umbrella? You didn’t get rained on, did you?”

“My car is out there.”

Yoo Chun Young, at last, responded in a face that showed a hint of recovered composure. I took a step forward as he looked a little mean from not approaching me until the end. As soon as I took that action, he said to me in an alerted face.

“If you’re gonna shove your face into me again, just stay there.”

“Why? Didn’t you say you forgot me? It has been a while, so recharge your memories. What if you forget me again?”

“Recharge? Are you a metro card or what?”

Although his remark reflected how hilarious he felt about me, Yoo Chun Young looked a little cooled down. The gentle smile he put on his face, usually shown when we were all together, was the proof.

Fixing my gaze at him, I quietly put my hands inside my pocket and thought, ‘How long has it been to smile at each other like this?’ As I took another step front, Yoo Chun Young, however, spoke in a grimace.

“I told you, don’t come close.”

Geez, I thought it was ok to do that from your smile. I put my foot back that I furtively stuck out.

Under the glittering apartment lamp, Yoo Chun Young and I were staring at each other. The distance between him, standing behind the stair landing, and I, in front of the elevator, was about 2 meters. I furrowed my eyes. Honestly, I had no idea why he was acting like that since we used to sleep with our faces on the desks in a face-to-face position during middle school.

The physical distance allowed between a relationship couldn’t be the only measure of their intimacy level, but… I bit my lips. We didn’t keep in touch for the last two weeks.

I scowled at him. Yoo Chun Young’s blue eyes, frowning on me, now looked as if they had some different emotions inside.

“You really don’t want me to get closer to you? Are you sure?” I asked.

“…”

“Do you know that you and I didn’t even text each other for the last two weeks? We never reached out for the whole time. I couldn’t even call you because I was afraid I’d wake you up, and I kept wondering when you’d call me. You told me that you were now in front of my house, so I was very excited to see you after a long time, but what did you say? Don’t come closer? Are you asking me to keep our distance from each other or what?”

“Ham Donnie,” calling my name, Yoo Chun Young became silent again.

While the pause kept on, I lifted my head to see him. His voice sounded quite warmhearted that it made my anger go down a little. Yoo Chun Young often surprised me with his unexpected sweetness in unforeseen situations. Frowning my eyes, I turned back.

“Never mind. Come back after two weeks when you forget my face. If you’re ok with looking at me from apart, what else I can do? I want to see you in front of my eyes but if you don’t want me to, fine.”

“… Wait, hold on.”

Regardless of his voice turning hastily or not, I pressed the elevator button. A red light flashed through the gray metal plate.

Crossing my arms, I thought, ‘Alright, fine. See if I say hi to you…’ Although I became sulky, we had these similar situations before. As best friends usually did, after about two days, we, however, acted as if nothing had happened between us. The moment I waited for the elevator to come down while wagging my foot, I heard a sound of footsteps out of the blue. I turned back to see who it was.

It was Yoo Chun Young walking toward my direction. His footsteps looked so determined that his hesitant behavior earlier seemed like a false. Dotted prints of raindrops traced him along the ground.

Leaving about two footsteps apart from me, he then stopped and stood still. We suddenly got so close that a shadow fell across his face.

I couldn’t remember clearly how long it had been to see him at a distance this close. ‘Did he grow taller while we didn’t see each other?’ I thought. Still, Yoo Chun Young remained silent in the meantime. His blue eyes, gazing at me, looked a little anxious. When I put a grin on my face, Yoo Chun Young fetched a sigh.

‘Hehe~’ I stretched out my hand to grab and shake his arm.

“Dude, you should’ve done this earlier.”

Looking powerless, Yoo Chun Young left me to shake his arms then raised his other hand to sweep his hair back. He heaved another sigh and spoke in a bit exhausted face.

“You’re so good at playing hard to get.”

“Nope, I only know how to play with you.”

“…”

“No one tries to get me!”

“How proud you are of yourself.”

Yoo Chun Young giggled then patted my head. I waved his arm for quite long then put it back. When I glanced up at him, our eyes met.

I asked, “Did you grow taller?”

“My height?” asking back, Yoo Chun Young quietly dropped his gaze at the ground. His lamp light-shed jet-black hair twinkled in blue.

“Oh, that was what I heard,” he replied.

“How tall are you?”

“Now it’s 183 cm.”

It was our senior year winter vacation in middle school when he began his modeling career and reached over 180 cm. During the three months, he grew 3 cm tall.