Chapter 3

“Evan. O-Our lips touched.”

“That so? I didn’t really notice.”

“If you could just remove your hand a bit– Eek!”

“Sitting like that’s dangerous. Come here.”

Evan moved his hand with pretty eye smiles*. I took in a hurried breath at the finger climbing up my spine.

“Let’s move on. If you do this one like this…”

A soft voice cut off my words. I quickly avoided his gaze, his black eyes staring at me as if he didn’t know anything. Those eyes were the reason why I couldn’t say anything to the very close, physical distance we’ve had the past few days. I don’t know what you’re talking about, his eyes said.

At first, it wasn’t like this. He kept a distance appropriate for normal roommates and friends. But, nowadays, from interlacing our hands, our legs bumping into each other for fun, to our lips brushing. At first, I just thought I was being too conscious of these accidents. But these accidents happened several times a day.

“Ackk!”

Then, his hands wrapped around my waist hugged me tighter. A weird voice leaked out of me at his cold temperature that contrasted from the heat that arose in my body. I jumped to my feet in surprise. The chair fell to my feet, letting out a thud.

“What’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?

“Uhm… Oh, I remembered I promised to meet up with Carmen.”

Not really, but I don’t think I can continue doing this. He looked closely at me as he snorted. The slightly raised corner of his mouth looked as if he already knew I was lying. The sound of my saliva going down my throat echoed loudly.

“You really have to meet up with him?”

“Y-Yeah. I think I should go n– Ugh!”

“Your necktie’s loose.”

I felt suffocated. I frowned at the feeling of my neck tightening as I watched Evan pull my necktie. My shoulder joints felt stiff because my head was being pulled downwards. Every detail of his face entered my vision.

“I’ll tie it up for you again.”

His whispery voice sounded sweet. His hands that loosened the necktie I thought seemed fine and tied it again were pretty. I absentmindedly watched him, forgetting to move. The sound of the necktie rustling was unhurried. My body trembled every time the cloth brushed against my collarbones. At his slow touch, a second felt like an hour.

“You seem hot. Do you have a fever?”

“N-No. A fever…”

“Your face’s red as well.”

A cold hand rose to my forehead. My blush-stained face flushed even more. Has my body ever been this sensitive? No, I’m like this because of Evan. Evan’s so pretty, he’s exactly my type, so…

“Don’t go anywhere today, and just stay with me.”

“B-But…”

I don’t think I’m gonna last.

“It’s cause I wanna stay longer with you.”

His whispery voice was sweet. I even forgot the tightening of the necktie around my neck, and blankly stared at him. Evan’s innocent charm, the area around his eyes flushed as if he was shy, sparkled in front of me.

Just where the hell did I go wrong? I was clearly trying to keep my distance. I was just going to be friends with him.

In the end, Evan and I continued studying. Not a single bit of what we studied stayed in my head. All I remembered was Evan’s sweet voice, and his temperature as he stuck close to me.

***

Evan went to school first since today was the regularly scheduled student council meeting. It’s been a long since I ate breakfast without him. I rubbed my sunken eyes and let out a long yawn. With my shoulder stiff and head in a daze, my body’s condition today was the worst. All because of Evan.

I couldn’t close my eyes last night because Evan climbed into my bed, saying that he couldn’t sleep. He slept clinging so close to me, but I couldn’t wake him up, so my body ached all over since I stayed up all night. The sensation of his hair tickling the back of my neck and his presence behind my body still felt vivid.

Are friends in BL novels this close?

The original Hail never had anything close to friends, and for a long time after I transmigrated, I didn’t even go out because I was trying to escape from reality. I couldn’t have known that this was the level of skinship friends had in BL novels.

I blankly watched Carmen munch on a sandwich in front of me. You’re so carefree, huh. Then, I suddenly thought of something good. Oh yeah, he’s my friend as well.

“Carmen.”

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“Can you do this with me?”

Carmen tilted his head as I went behind him, and moved my hand. And then, I wrapped it around his waist. I could feel the tiny muscles of a fitness junkie with the tip of my fingers. For some reason, it felt dirty. At the same time I frowned, Carmen, who had shoved the sandwich into his mouth, spat it out. Which also got on my face.

“Hey! That’s dirty!”

I wiped away all the food he ruthlessly spat out with tissue. I naturally frowned. Carmen hugged his own body with a pale white face. He then closed his eyes tightly, and shouted as loudly as he could.

“You, you, you…!”

“What?”

“You were aiming for my body, weren’t you!? You pervert!”

“Crazy asshole.”

Just eat this and shut up. I shoved the bread on my plate into Carmen’s mouth. Mmpfh! He shouted something, but I ignored it. My body that flushed when Evan touched it had cooled down.

I suddenly lost my appetite. I rubbed my hand against Carmen’s body. I didn’t even consider relaxing my knitted brows.

“You’re doing something weirder, so why the hell are you calling me a crazy asshole, you bastard!?”

Friends don’t do this, even if this is a BL novel. Why does Evan do it then? I ignored the screaming Carmen and thought about it, but the answer didn’t come to me.

***

There was no one when I arrived at the lecture hall. Looking at the clock, there was plenty of time left until class started. Maybe because I lived together with Evan who’d wake up early, but at some point, it also become a habit for me to wake up early.

The quiet lecture hall. The empty seat beside me. When I placed my hand on Evan’s seat, I felt the smoothness of the wood. The moment my excited heart slightly calmed down at the cold sensation, a familiar figure showed up.

“Hail.”

“Oh, Evan. You’re here early. You said you had student council work to do.”

“I just finished and came. I had a feeling you were waiting for me.”

I hurriedly took my hand off his chair. My face burned at the feeling of having my innermost feelings found out. Strangely enough, when I stood in front of Evan, my feelings felt like they weren’t mine. I hurriedly opened up any one of my textbooks. Evan’s heat I felt beside me was warm.

“Have you eaten?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

I shoved half of it into Carmen’s mouth, but I still ate. Evan stared at me, chin cupped. His hair swayed, following the tilt in his head.

“I didn’t eat.”

“Why? Were you really busy?”

“It’s cause I missed you.”

My face flushed at the words he calmly spoke. I hid my face into the book in my hand, and pretended to focus on it. Evan chuckled, laughing quietly.

“Hail, the book’s upside down.”

My ears flushed.

When his slender fingers caressed my ears, I lightly trembled. The place where Evan’s hand touched felt as hot as the sun. Evan’s fingers pressing down on my soft earlobe slowly went up, following my neck muscles. Before I knew it, his hand stroked the back of my head, startling me. There wasn’t anybody around, but I still stayed on guard for no reason. I again remembered his lips that touched me as he helped me study.

“Y-Your hand, can you…”

“Hmm?”

He looked up at me with innocent eyes. But still, I had to tell Evan. I opened my mouth, trying not to look at Evan as much as possible.

“I feel like you’ve been touching me too much, so…”

Evan tilted his head, eyes wide open. I felt like I was about to explode inside at his reaction showing his complete lack of self-awareness.

His hand was still on the back of my head, playing with it. A meaningful smile grew on Evan’s mouth.

“I can’t really tell.”

“O-Others might think weirdly if they see it…”

“Why?”

“Rather than something you do with friends, it feels more like…”

My words trailed off as I studied his face. I felt silent pressure from Evan as he continued smiling. For fear that something would happen if I didn’t say it out loud quickly, I managed to open my mouth.

“What lo…vers do.”

Evan laughed louder at the word ‘lover’ that I managed to say out loud. His eyes folded into an crescent shape, looking satisfied. I couldn’t figure out why he laughed. But since I’ve already said it, he should get it. But my expectations were completely far off.

“I like it. Lovers.”

I doubted my ears for a minute. I couldn’t say anything from surprise. I couldn’t figure out Evan’s intentions.

Lovers. Me being lovers with Evan. I dwelled on the words in a daze, but quickly closed my mouth. I smoothed out my sleeves without saying anything.

“The word lovers, I think it’s a much more fantastic and beautiful word than ‘friends.’”

Evan brushed his bangs as he spoke. His lustrous, black hair parted at his fingertips. Early in the morning, in the empty lecture hall, Evan shone much brighter than the morning sun. Like leaves billowing in the summer wind, something shaped like Evan bloomed in my heart. Just like the first time I saw him at the entrance ceremony.

The only thing contained in his steady, black eyes was me. Feeling like they were similar to a dark hole with fathomless depth, I quickly turned my head.

“With just one word, that person becomes mine.”