Chapter 1
It’s been 16 years. It still feels like a dream to him. All of it from that rainy night he stood outside of Jihu’s window with tears pouring out of his eyes to Jihu’s first year of high school in Seoul after he moved from Busan.
Jihu made friends that first year and the following years. But the friends he met those four years of high school weren’t the ones he remembers the most. Who he remembers the most is the Bu brothers, Seok and Siwoo. They were the most popular boys in his class. For 2 years, they had kept the reputation of being the most handsome, and of course, the wealthiest of the school. Everyone knew their mom was one of the directors of the highest advertising company in the nation. No one knew their dad’s story, yet no one asked.
He met the two as a freshman. Jihu instantly knew who Seok was. He was a cocky, egotistical, inconsiderate bastard that used to target people like Jihu as victims. Penniless ones like him. He hated Seok.
Siwoo was similar. He was cold, quiet, and impatient, occasionally giving people the cold shoulder. Jihu knew him less than he knew his brother, so he didn’t hate him, but he also didn’t like him.
Sophomore year, Jihu started to see their differences. Siwoo ranked among the top 10 smartest, just below Jihu. That was the only difference he noticed that year. One day, Junior year, something changed.
Jihu was in the library reading a book as he often did. Siwoo suddenly entered and took a seat in front of him. As he looked up from his book, Siwoo looked nervous, mostly looking down, not making eye contact with Jihu. When he asked Siwoo why he was there, he spoke to Jihu for the first time. His Seoul dialect, which Jihu found a bit more appealing than my Busan dialect, said that he had liked Jihu for more than two years; that he had always admired him in the classes he had him for.
Stunned by the sudden confession, Jihu could only nod, thanking Siwoo for telling him about his feelings. Siwoo didn’t seem bothered by the rejection, he only accepted it. One day, Jihu saw Seok beating a student, which made him start to feel uneasy. Subconsciously, Jihu threw a punch at Seok to get him to stop hitting the guy, in which he threw a punch back at Jihu. Soon, Jihu was punched to the ground and he braced himself for the worst.
Thankfully, Jihu heard the principal’s booming voice that rang in his ears. “Sun Jihu! Bu Seok! My office! Now!“, he yelled.
When he was about to stand up, someone lent him a hand. It wasn’t until Jihu stood up that he noticed it was Siwoo. He looked at him with concerned eyes. Jihu only nodded that he was okay. Then, he pushed him away when Siwoo tried to come closer before walking to the principal’s office. Jihu told the principal what had happened, and he believed him because Jihu was a trusted student. However, because of the punch Jihu threw, he was sent to detention after school for a week. Seok got suspended for two weeks.
After exiting the office, Siwoo was standing outside the office door. Jihu was confused to see him there, so he asked him if he was waiting for his brother. He shook his head no. “I want to take you out.“, he suddenly said.
“I told you I don’t feel the same way.“, Jihu rejected.
“And I told you that I admire you. I only want to be your friend, no feelings in return.“, he replied.
Jihu remembered debating his answer. He wanted to say no but he wanted to say yes too. Jihu could see why girls and boys fell for Siwoo’s looks and, not to mention, his accent too. He was indeed beautiful. Jihu said yes, only because he knew his dad and he hadn’t had a decent meal in a while, so he took this as an opportunity.
They ended up walking to a small nearby diner. During the whole walk, Jihu felt uncomfortable. It was mostly silent. When he was sitting across from Siwoo, his view of him changed. Siwoo didn’t look like a bad person, he looked lonely.
So, Jihu started to talk to him because it seemed like Siwoo needed it. Pretty soon, Jihu started to feel comfortable. They talked and Jihu got to know Siwoo better. He paid for the food, even though Jihu got the cheapest thing when Siwoo told him not to. After dinner, he said bye and thank you to Siwoo before he got on the bus and went home.
That night, his dad told him he had gotten a job at the company Siwoo’s mom works at, MGT Industries. Jihu was happy for his dad that night. As the days passed, he felt him slowly slipping away from him. He thought he had too much work, he ran out of time for his son. The less time Jihu spent with his dad, the more time he started to spend with Siwoo.
Siwoo was a caring guy towards Jihu, and he always felt safe around him. “You know, I always thought that my dad would always stand on my side and you would be on our opposite.“, he once told Siwoo when they were hanging out in the city. “It never came to me that things today would turn out such a reversal of that.“, he finished.
That night, Siwoo only held his hand, comforting him. Jihu started to notice the little things about Siwoo. He studied every feature he could. For the first time, Jihu started to see him. He saw how Siwoo would treat him, listen to him, never judging him, all the things Siwoo did for him, and how stunning he was. Yes, I started to like Bu Siwoo.
