Vol. 3 Chapter 64 – Side Story 1: Not cherry blossoms Part 1  

Translated by Springlila

Lim Dae-han was strolling down the street when he noticed the flower bed nestled in a circle under the street tree. Snow was gently piled up on the ground a few weeks ago, but it has now all melted and green sprouts have grown. The upcoming spring still seemed unrealistic.

Lim Dae-han disliked spring. There was no specific reason. He didn’t like the unique, lively season. The flower petals that light up the streets, the pleasant atmosphere that floats softly in the air, and the fish who, although not being frogs, jump in the spring energy.

He didn’t like spring’s unique school atmosphere either. At the start of the new semester, students pretended to be close by determining who would fit in with them and what their reputation was like at the previous school, as if they were beasts that looked out for each other. They examined each other, stared at each other, and split the sides. It wasn’t only the students. The same may be said about schools. Whenever they tried to do something, they used to make a fuss about taking a group photo or having an event.

However, he liked spring now.

Lim Dae-han, who was moving slowly, raised his head. Pink cherry blossoms, like Ki Young-hyun’s ankle, were blooming all over the street.

It wasn’t just the cherry blossoms. Various flowers bloomed along the path Ki Young-hyun had walked, and green leaves began to hang from the snow-covered branches one by one.

In contrast to only a few days ago, Lim Dae-han scratched the bridge of his nose because the warm air felt uncomfortable. Ki Young-hyun could sense him as he walked timidly, stroking his fingers from the side and glancing around. He wanted to hold hands. He had been thinking about it since the morning. as soon as he entered the sparsely populated alley leading to the school’s back door he wanted to hold hands with Ki Young-hyun like ‘Pavlov’s dog’.

It was probably the same with Ki Young-hyun. After hesitating for a moment, Ki Young-hyun stopped and grabbed Lim Dae-han’s sleeve. Tug- Despite the fact that his strength was weak, Lim Dae-han stopped as if he had a break.

“…”

“…”

Lim Dae-han lowered his gaze to Ki Young-hyun’s round head. Ki Young-hyun bit his lower lip softly. The lips that had been bitten several times in the pavilion in front of the house were wet. Lim Dae-han looked at his lips, then moved his gaze.

“Lim Dae-han.”

“Yeah.”

“That. Are you busy studying these days?”

Because he kept looking to the side, he wasn’t sure what he was asking. “Yeah,” Lim Dae-han replied. He placed his palm on his head after a brief response. Lim Dae-han, who always sticks to the same hairstyle, recently cut his hair shorter than usual. He frowned slightly and shook his hand away from the cross section of his frizzy hair brushing the palm of his hand.

Lim Dae-han began studying seriously in the new year. It wasn’t like Ki Young-hyun forced him to memorize 200 words or solve questions from here to here; it was an engaging study.

The reason he studied was simple. He had a dream for the first time. It wasn’t like a vague dream he had as a child, but a more specific and detailed dream.

“Oh… I see.”

Ki Young-hyun was stuttering. Lim Dae-han didn’t know what happened. Lim Dae-han stood up and looked at Ki Young-hyun’s face. He had previously lived his life without noticing other people’s eyes, but when he stood in front of Ki Young-hyun, he began to notice. Ki Young-hyun did indeed lower his eyes for a moment before raising them and smiling nervously. He looked at the people around him and softly wrapped his fingers around Lim Dae-han’s finger before turning his gaze away.

“…”

He had no idea why, so he couldn’t ask.

If there was an emotional burden, it was unavoidable due to his stronger emotion. Ki Young-hyun, who was staring at Lim Dae-han, moved his sight away from him. If Ki Young-hyun wanted to, he could tell him. At the very least, he can express himself more openly than he can.

***

The entire senior year of high school up to the CSAT was busy, but March and April were exceptionally busy. There were national joint academic evaluations in March and April without even having to adapt to the new atmosphere of the class, and there was even a midterm exam at the end of April. There was certainly a lot of homework, as well as graduation photos and college tours, but there were sometimes events that overlapped, so the schedule was tight. Time passed quickly because there were many schedules.

The national academic exam in March was somehow completed by rushing, and he now had to wait until the beginning of April. Lim Dae-han couldn’t wait for his grades to plummet, so he put everything on the CSAT that was a notch higher. His grades in the March academic exam increased significantly thanks to Ki Young-hyun’s consistent support from last year, but it was still not enough.

Lim Dae-han bit his lower lip hard and clenched his fingers. If he closed his eyes a little, he will fall asleep. He read the letters in front of him with complete concentration. Except for taking Ki Young-hyun home, he spent his entire time with him studying.

When he went to Ki Young-hyun’s house at dawn, and when he took Ki Young-hyun home and returned home, he would memorize English words or listen to English. He only slept for around 3 hours after getting home and studying. He would sleep in between breaks because he wasn’t getting enough sleep.

Lim Dae-han took a deep breath and focused on the letters in front of him. He felt he should have studied more. His grades had improved, but he was still falling behind. In the midst of this, he feigned to be calm in front of Ki Young-hyun, making him feel as if he were dying.

To be honest, he was nervous. Perhaps it was still a vague dream. He couldn’t believe he wanted to attend the same college as Ki Young-hyun, who had studied hard throughout middle and high school. It was a big dream that was nothing more than his greed.

Still…

“…”

He closed his eyes and then opened them again. Ki Young-hyun sat on the second seat in the first row in the test row, where each person sat alone. In the warm spring sunlight, Lim Dae-han watched Ki Young-hyun stretching his arms out in front of him.

He wanted to touch the smooth, clean forearm hidden beneath a sleeve larger than his stature. He remembers Ki Young-hyun’s hands being small and white in comparison to his colleagues, yet his fingers were continuously playing with Lim Dae-han’s hands. Ki Young-hyun liked touching and holding his fingers.

Although he couldn’t put it into words directly, Lim Dae-han knew every inch of Ki Young-hyun’s body. He had a slim but curved hip, a pink hole in the middle, and a thin waist that jumped up and bent when he licked the back of his knees. When the excitement reached its peak, transparent tears formed on his gentle eyes.

“…”

It was still hard to believe at times. When they walk to school together in the morning and Ki Young-hyun pouts his lips and asks for a kiss, Ki Young-hyun now texts him first and calls him when he’s bored. He’d lived his entire life believing that even if it was a dream, it would be impossible for him to believe naturally.

Ki Young-hyun looked at Lim Dae-han’s seat as he stretched to the top of his head. When their gazes locked, Ki Young-hyun sat up straight and smiled slowly. Lim Dae-han, who had been having lewd thoughts while Ki Young-hyun was around, opened his eyes wide and smiled back at Ki Young-hyun. He then lowered his head once again. He ruffled the back of his head with his hands.

Let’s just study.

It didn’t matter if someone told him it was absurd and that he required a sense of reality even in his dreams. It was better to do it recklessly. His grade was also improving. That was a nice start. He wanted to show it to Ki Young-hyun as well. The way he works so hard on something.

Lim Dae-han looked down at his fingers, where calluses had formed, and then grabbed the pencil again.

***