The Mist Side Story 6, In Heat - (g)

#Side Story, In Heat - 7

Seeing Seung-jo's expression, which was even more rigid than when he had heard "You only think about Kang Mu-heon" earlier in the day, Young-ui smiled, showing his teeth as if he had expected this, and slightly raised his upper body.

"You hate it even when other guys just mention Kang Mu-heon's name. When Mu-heon comes to your side, you try not to let him go. Even though you can't win in kendo, you get even more upset if he wins in something else. Meanwhile, he doesn't even care. And then you treat Mu-heon exceptionally well. Isn't that right?"

"You... what are you?"

It gave him goosebumps. Seung-jo, wearing an expression of incomprehension, unconsciously stepped back slightly and stood up, causing Young-ui to make a face as if he was about to burst into laughter.

"I told you. I'm a homo with nothing better to do who's been watching your stupid actions for a year."

He thought he should turn away immediately, but strangely, he couldn't. Words he didn't want to hear were digging into his ears with unusual clarity.

"You seem to think the feelings you have now are just for a friend, but not only me, almost everyone who sees you doesn't think so."

"..."

"Your face is saying 'don't be ridiculous'. Should I give you the best example that even you can understand?"

"What."

"Every time Kang Mu-heon takes off his clothes to put on his kendo uniform."

The moment he heard those words, an image of Mu-heon appeared large and detailed in Seung-jo's mind, which had rarely imagined anything before.

It was a familiar sight. After school classes ended, they would go to the kendo club room, where they had to take off their school uniform shirts and pants to put on the kendo uniform. Every time, Mu-heon would carelessly chat with him while stripping off his clothes right in front of him, not caring about others' gazes, which irritated Seung-jo so much. There were times when he even got angry, wondering if Mu-heon wasn't embarrassed at all even when others looked at him.

Seeing Seung-jo frown as he recalled those times, Young-ui said, "Yes, that's the face."

"You make a face like you're about to die from displeasure."

"...I just don't like how he undresses anywhere without any sense of shame."

"Why should he be ashamed?"

"Because other guys are watching."

"If that's the case, shouldn't you hate it more when you undress in such places? But you change clothes and leave without changing your expression at all."

"That's..."

Young-ui spoke to Seung-jo, who had opened his mouth but fell silent, unable to think of a rebuttal.

"You still don't think it's strange? If it's okay for you to undress in front of others, why shouldn't your friend do the same? Is Kang Mu-heon a girl or something? He's not."

At Young-ui's words, Seung-jo suddenly felt his mind becoming confused. Young-ui didn't give Seung-jo a chance to think and delivered his final words.

"No one calls that kind of concern friendship. Think carefully about what you've been doing until tomorrow. And let's meet here again at night."

The next dawn, the boys who woke up rubbing their sleepy eyes folded their blankets in unison and went outside for morning training. Mu-heon asked curiously to Seung-jo, who was blinking his bloodshot eyes from not having slept a wink last night.

"What's wrong with your eyes? Do you have an eye infection?"

"No. It's just because soap got in earlier when I was washing my face, and I had to rinse it out hard."

"You should have been more careful. Ah... maybe it's because we're in the mountains, but the dawn air is so fresh, I like it. This is the kind of place where sweating feels good."

"...Yeah."

Every time he saw Mu-heon's enthusiastic face, he kept remembering what Young-ui had said last night, making it difficult to look at him properly. As they lined up in the front yard, feeling tired from not having slept, the instructor who had been waiting announced today's schedule.

"Boys. I don't know if you slept well. Yesterday was a bit tough, wasn't it? Today we'll start with pair training and jogging at dawn, then have breakfast and basic posture training, have lunch and light sparring, have dinner and a talent show for bonding, and then it's bedtime!"

"Ugh..."

"You brats, does just hearing it make you sick? Hahaha. Well then, let's start with the training now. Pair up in twos!"

"Seung-jo. He..."

"Mu-heon! Do you want to try with... with me?"

As Mu-heon turned around to call Seung-jo as if it were natural, suddenly a bear-like guy rushed up to him and snorted. Seung-jo's face, who had been approaching thinking he would naturally be with Mu-heon, hardened terribly.

The kids around them saw Seung-jo's face and slowly backed away, but Mu-heon and the bear-like guy didn't notice.

"You want to do it with me?"

"Yeah. Don't you want to?"

The moment he saw the bear's aggressive approach making Mu-heon look troubled, Seung-jo completely lost his reason.

"Kang Mu-heon. You called me earlier."

As he approached with a chilling smile, pushing the bear aside, Mu-heon nodded.

"Oh, together..."

"You called to do it together, right?"

Seung-jo held out his hand as he watched his friend slowly nod while glancing at the bear's expression.

"Okay, then let's go."

"Hey, Jeong Seung-jo! Suddenly butting in... uh..."

The bear, who had pushed Seung-jo's shoulder without knowing his place, froze the moment their eyes met, seeing a killing intent unbefitting a boy.

"It seems you didn't hear just now, but you're the one who butted in."

The smile on his face was gentle, but his eyes were full of anger. Taking advantage of the gap when the completely cowed bear unconsciously stepped back a few paces, Seung-jo grabbed Mu-heon's arm and pulled.

"Uh... hey man, Seung-jo, wait a second...! Seong-woo, sorry but I'll go first."

Most of the kids were watching this commotion with surprised expressions, but only one person, Hong Young-ui, wasn't hiding his smiling face.

That night, Seung-jo looked at Mu-heon's sleeping face beside him and kept recalling his own behavior today.

Himself getting angry when Mu-heon talked with other guys, himself raging when Mu-heon changed clothes in front of other guys, himself only wanting Mu-heon to be by his side...

He knew that all of these were not very good emotions as a friend. At best, it was intense jealousy, and at worst, strong possessiveness.