Romantic Gangster

#74

The best thing about the weather getting much warmer was that they could have a small barbecue party on the wooden deck. Last weekend, it felt a bit chilly to sit and eat for a long time, but in just a week, it had become warm enough that they could hardly feel the chill.

Even on TV, they said that at the end of March, the temperature reached that of mid-April last year, causing the cherry blossoms to bloom in full without knowing the timing. Ji-woo looked at the sizzling meat while feeling the warm and sweet spring breeze that had definitely become warmer. Perhaps because it had been a while since they ate meat on the deck, it looked very delicious just by looking at it, and he felt hungry.

Ji-woo, who laughed while looking at Hyun-joon wearing a short-sleeved shirt and seriously grilling the meat like a famous chef, clenched his fist and held it in front of his mouth like a microphone.

“I am currently at the rooftop steak restaurant run by Chef Lee Hyun-joon. Hello, Chef.”

Ji-woo smiled as he extended the fist microphone towards Hyun-joon. Hyun-joon laughed as if breathing and cleared his throat, then responded to the interview seriously.

“Yes, hello. This is Chef Lee Hyun-joon, who runs the rooftop steak with a 100-year tradition. What is your name, reporter?”

“Ah, yes. I am Reporter Seo Ji-woo.”

“Ah, your name is pretty too. But Reporter. You’re my type, want to date?”

“Don’t joke around.”

“Ah, you’re too cold. Is it because you’re pretty? Well, since you’re pretty, I’ll give you a chance to taste it. Say ah.”

“Aah.”

Hyun-joon, who cut the steak into a nice size to eat, blew on it a couple of times to cool it down and put it in Ji-woo’s mouth. Soon, Ji-woo’s eyes widened. Hyun-joon smiled, knowing it was the expression he made when something was very delicious.

“It’s really delicious! So, so delicious.”

“I told you not to underestimate the 100-year tradition.”

“You try it too. Say ah.”

“Ah.”

Ji-woo, who blew on the meat he picked up with chopsticks like Hyun-joon did, also put the meat in Hyun-joon’s mouth. It seemed that it wasn’t a lie when they said it was good meat that they bought. Hyun-joon nodded and cut the well-cooked meat into small pieces and piled them on the plate in front. And he immediately put a thick piece of steak on the electric grill.

The electric grill they bought a few months ago to eat this and that on the deck became one of the items the two of them considered well-bought. Ji-woo smiled as he watched Hyun-joon, who had been standing the whole time while putting a piece of meat in his mouth, finally sit on the deck.

“Young-jae called earlier and said he wants to visit the school sometime. He said there’s a lot of delicious food and fun things to do in front of the school. He said he’s really busy these days and it’s hard, but his voice still sounded really happy.”

“What, when did you talk? You were with me all day.”

“Ah, earlier when you were napping for a bit.”

“Choi Young-jae, look at the fucking timing.”

Hyun-joon, who dipped the well-cooked meat in the steak sauce and put another piece in Ji-woo’s mouth, examined Ji-woo’s face.

“Do you miss him?”

“A little. I haven’t seen him since saying goodbye in the morning on the day Young-jae entered the dormitory… It’ll be a month soon if we don’t see each other for a bit longer. When we were in school, we saw each other every day, and even during breaks and after graduation, we saw each other every few days, but when we can’t see each other for this long, I sometimes get a bit curious.”

“It seems like you message each other every day though.”

“Yeah. He tells me about school and sends me photos of him working part-time.”

If it was about any other guy, he would have been jealous first, but knowing that Choi Young-jae was Ji-woo’s only friend, he wasn’t very jealous even when Ji-woo said he missed him. He just thought that he should make Ji-woo so busy with happiness that there wouldn’t be room for such feelings.

“Ji-woo.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to go to college too? You like studying and your CSAT scores were quite good. If you want to go, prepare now and take the CSAT again. Ah, why didn’t I think of this earlier… We had money to pay for tuition too.”

“Why did you suddenly think of that? Do I seem like I want to go to college?”

“I don’t have the will to study, and going to college would just be a waste of time and money for me, but you’re different from me. Uh… I don’t know how this will sound, but I’m not saying this to look down on you or to show off. Don’t misunderstand. Promise.”

Ji-woo laughed and intertwined his finger with Hyun-joon’s pinky finger that he held out.

“I can pay for your tuition and stuff like that. Uh, so I should say I can support you. I can do it all, and I will, so if you have even a little desire to go, quit your part-time job and study. It’s okay.”

Ji-woo, who had been quietly listening to the words filled with warm feelings, took the tongs from Hyun-joon’s hand and flipped the meat. He just felt Hyun-joon’s gaze on him. When Hyun-joon waited for an answer, he usually had two looks.

Either he begged for a quick answer or he waited quietly with a serious face like now. Ji-woo loved both of those looks of Hyun-joon.

“I had thought about wanting to go to college, but now… I’m not sure. I guess it’s because I’m so happy now. These days, I often think that… it would be nice to just live like this. Work when we work together, and when we can be together after work, be together diligently… We may not have a lot of money, but we can eat delicious things once in a while when we want to, and we have a place to live together… I think this much is enough… but is it… too pathetic of a thought?”

Hyun-joon, who quietly listened to Ji-woo’s words until the end, shook his head. It felt like facing the happiness Ji-woo always curiously asked about. He was happy to hear that Ji-woo felt the same happiness he felt while being with Ji-woo.

“Why is that a pathetic thought? It’s a happy thought. It’s not that you have to do it. But people’s thoughts can change anytime. If you ever want to, don’t hesitate and tell me. It doesn’t have to be studying, so if there’s anything you want to do, don’t give up on your own and tell me. Okay?”

“Yeah. I will. Hyun-joonie, you have to tell me first if there’s anything you want to do too. Okay? I’ll let you do whatever you say you want to do too.”

“Really? There is one thing I want to do today.”

“What is it?”

“I have to do it right away, is that okay?”

“Yeah. Tell me.”

“First, let’s finish eating. The meat will burn.”

“Ah, let’s eat quickly. I’ll cut it. You eat quickly too.”

Hyun-joon naturally took the tongs from Ji-woo’s hand and tried to put aside the lewd thoughts that came to mind while cutting the very well-grilled steak into large pieces. He wanted to somehow prevent the misfortune of pitching a tent between his legs during this nice dinner atmosphere.

After finishing the meal, Ji-woo stood next to Hyun-joon, who was washing the grill plate, and tilted his head every 10 seconds to give Hyun-joon a kiss as he leaned down. At first, the kisses continued, but by the time he finished washing the dishes, their tongues slightly rubbed against each other before pulling away.

Hyun-joon, who placed the dripping grill plate tilted next to the sink, opened the freezer door and looked at the piled up ice cream, then turned his head to Ji-woo.

“What do you want to eat?”

“I want to eat a vanilla cone. Ah, but before that, tell me what you wanted to do. We finished eating dinner and cleaning up.”

Since it was very rare for Ji-woo to beg or whine, Hyun-joon pushed the ice cream back to focus on that cute appearance. Thinking that Ji-woo had been suppressing his desire to ask like this and only kissed him a hundred times until he finished washing the dishes, he felt like he would die from the cuteness.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do since yesterday…”

“Yeah.”

Hyun-joon’s hand slid down. Ji-woo’s gaze also fell straight down following that hand. Hyun-joon’s fingers that had completely gone down slightly entered between Ji-woo’s legs.

“I want to do it again.”

“……”

“Will you let me?”

Ji-woo, who had been moving his lips in surprise, turned his head and took a deep breath with a flushed face. Even while fully feeling his rapidly beating heart, Hyun-joon’s fingers were still between his legs.

“Is this not okay?”

“…Ah…”

Even though there were pants and underwear under his fingers, it felt so vivid as if he was directly… touching. Ji-woo, who pulled his thighs together, grabbed Hyun-joon’s arm and lifted his head.

“…It’s okay.”

“……”

“…Didn’t I say I’ll let you do everything you want to do…?”

“…Wow, fuck. I’m going crazy. Ji-woo. You know you’re sexy too.”

“I don’t know that…”

“How can you not know that?”

Hyun-joon hugged Ji-woo’s waist and draped him over his shoulder, then ran to the mattress.

Anticipating his castella that would be sweeter than ice cream.

* * *

As he opened the convenience store door and went outside, the warm night air clung to his face. Thanks to the warmer temperature as April began, Ji-woo could now feel with his skin that spring had truly arrived.

Today, Kyu-sung, who worked the shift right after him, had something come up, so the owner came to the convenience store instead. The owner, who arrived about 40 minutes before the end of his shift, told Ji-woo to go home early and gave him a handful of mango jelly.

Even if he got off work early, Hyun-joon would get off work on time, so he would have to wait outside, but still, he was excited to secretly watch Hyun-joon working today.

Until now, whenever Ji-woo arrived at the chicken cafe, Hyun-joon had already gone in to change clothes or had already finished changing, so he couldn’t see him working. He couldn’t lock the convenience store door and go during work just to see that, so he had no choice but to suppress his curiosity.

Finally being able to see Hyun-joon wearing a uniform and working among people made his heart beat rapidly. Ji-woo approached the store that was packed even in the outdoor seating and peeked inside through the slightly open door.

“……”

Ah, there’s Hyun-joonie.

He could see Hyun-joon wearing a white shirt and black pants with an apron around his waist, taking orders. At first, he had worried if it would be difficult for Hyun-joon to adapt to doing a normal part-time job again after doing debt collection work. But as if to show that it was a completely groundless worry, Hyun-joon was fully immersed in his work.

He looked proficient at making eye contact with customers looking up at him and writing down their orders, and although he didn’t know what they were talking about, he looked accustomed to lifting the corners of his mouth and smiling once in a while.

After finishing taking orders, Hyun-joon went to the counter and entered the orders, then immediately poured draft beer into glasses and approached a table near the entrance. Ji-woo quickly hid himself. He didn’t know why he was hiding, but… because he had been secretly watching Hyun-joon work, he felt like he had to hide.

“……”

Has he left now? Ji-woo, who tilted his head slightly again, looked at Hyun-joon who was still standing at that table. The customers sitting at the table were saying something to Hyun-joon. All three customers were smiling while looking up at Hyun-joon’s face. And Hyun-joon just stood there holding an empty tray, looking troubled.

What’s the situation…?

Unable to grasp the situation because he couldn’t hear the sound, Ji-woo soon brushed off that situation as trivial when Hyun-joon shook his head, said something, and left the spot. Then, feeling guilty about secretly watching him work, he quickly took out his cell phone and sent a message to Hyun-joon saying that he finished early and came in front of the store.

Not long after sending it, the number 1 attached in front of the message disappeared.

“Ji-woo!”

As soon as he took his eyes off his cell phone, exaggerating a little, Hyun-joon appeared in front of him. Ji-woo smiled brightly, looking at Hyun-joon’s face that showed he had come out in a hurry. His heart began to beat unusually fast.