WWBU - 54

Choi Cheol-ho’s twisted remark made the kids laugh awkwardly.

“Hey, is this some kind of MT? We’re not kids, no need for skinship.”

“Yeah, Choi Cheol-ho, you’re drunk. Why are you acting so childish?”

“What, childish?”

Choi Cheol-ho’s hand, holding the glass, trembled. The atmosphere was quite different from the earlier joke.

“Did you just call me childish? You little...”

“What? Why are you suddenly swearing, you jerk?”

“What’s with you guys, all of a sudden?”

“I was just trying to help, since you were all quiet, and you call me childish? Seriously, that’s ridiculous.”

“You little punk!”

An agitated classmate jumped to his feet, knocking his chair over with a loud crash. The atmosphere immediately turned hostile. The unexpected commotion made classmates from the next table turn to look. That’s when it happened.

“So.”

A languid, low voice cut through the tense air.

“What do you want me to do?”

It was Yoon Guk.

“Answer me, Choi Cheol-ho.”

He was still leaning back in his chair, his hands resting on his crossed knee. His eyes, fixed on Choi Cheol-ho, were devoid of any emotion. Choi Cheol-ho, his face flushed, hesitated for a moment, then licked his dry lips and spoke.

“It’s a slave game. You do what you’re told.”

“Okay.”

“Kiss.”

Guk tilted his head slightly, as if asking who he should kiss.

“Kiss the person next to you.”

“...”

“Kiss the person sitting next to you.”

Gulp. Choi Cheol-ho swallowed nervously. He seemed unsure, even though he had given the order.

In fact, Guk didn’t have to listen to him. It was a game, but it was also a reckless and mean request. If he didn’t like it, he could just get up and leave.

Hyun-soo was surprised. Guk was actually talking to Choi Cheol-ho and playing along. She couldn’t understand what he was thinking. As she got more drunk, her confusion grew.

Guk, staring at Choi Cheol-ho with an expressionless face, curled his lips into a smile. It was a soft, gentle smile. He turned his head to look at the person next to him, Hyun-soo, who was sitting on his left.

Hyun-soo, who had been nodding off, suddenly felt a strange sense of unease. She felt like she was being watched by a lot of eyes.

She quickly raised her head and realized that everyone was indeed looking at her, and she froze.

“Kim Hyun-soo.”

“Huh... huh?”

The tense silence was broken by a familiar voice from beside her. Guk had turned slightly and was looking at her. He had a playful smile on his face.

“I have to do a penalty for losing the game.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Do you know?”

“Yeah, I saw you lose...”

“Can you help me?”

“Me? How?”

“The penalty.”

“Uh, how?”

Hyun-soo blinked at his sudden request. She felt her cheeks burning and pressed them with the back of her hand as she waited for his answer.

“Close your eyes.”

“My eyes?”

Guk nodded. Hyun-soo, confused, rolled her eyes, then closed them.

After a moment, everything became quiet, and then something very subtle and ticklish brushed against her forehead, nose, and cheeks. Then, a large, warm hand grabbed her cheek and jaw. Hyun-soo, startled, opened her eyes.

“Uh...?”

Yoon Guk was right in front of her, too close. Even though he was looking down, she could see her dumbfounded face reflected in his large, dark eyes.

“I’m going to kiss you now.”

“Ah...”

“Is that okay?”

He raised his eyebrows teasingly. Hyun-soo’s heart pounded.

She couldn’t answer easily. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Guk, but how could she do this in front of so many people?

“You don’t want to?”

“It’s just...”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to. But.”

He stopped talking and gestured behind him with his eyes.

“If you don’t want to, I’ll do it with someone else.”

Looking past him, Hyun-soo saw a female classmate sitting on Guk’s right. She was a beautiful girl with long hair. When she sat next to him, Hyun-soo had unconsciously turned to look at her twice.

“So, you don’t want to?”

“...”

You don’t want to? Are you asking if it’s okay for you to kiss her?

Hyun-soo’s heart ached at the thinly veiled threat. Strangely, she couldn’t answer easily.

“I...”

Her face was burning, but she couldn’t push him away. She didn’t understand herself.

Hyun-soo, her mind in a whirl, looked away. She couldn’t hide her expression because Guk was holding her cheek, but she didn’t want him to see her wavering eyes.

“Okay, then.”

“Huh?”

“I understand.”

Guk’s voice startled Hyun-soo. He had noticed her hesitation and made a decision before she could say yes or no.

Hyun-soo and Guk’s eyes met. Hyun-soo looked at him with a complex expression, but Guk remained calm.

Guk’s hand fell away from Hyun-soo’s cheek. Her heart sank as the warmth disappeared. Looking past Guk’s shoulder, she saw the female classmate. She smiled brightly at Hyun-soo.

“Wait.”

Why? Why did she grab Yoon Guk’s arm at that moment?

Guk turned back to Hyun-soo, who had called him. His eyes, opening and closing leisurely, his face tilted slightly in question, made Hyun-soo even more nervous. A wave of heat rushed to her head. It was probably a premonition of what she was about to do.

“You just...”

“...”

“Just stay still.”

She stammered. Hyun-soo, biting her trembling lip, decided to go for it and leaned over to grab his face and kiss him.

Whoa-oh-oh, Kim Hyun-soo.

Oh-oh-oh, the kids cheered, their voices ringing in her ears. She was so nervous that she couldn’t even feel the exact sensation of Guk’s lips on hers. It was just... warm, soft, and still. And then it parted? Why did it part? Oh, what is this?

Hyun-soo was flustered when Guk suddenly grabbed the back of her neck and pressed his lips to hers. Her hand, which had been holding his arm, crumpled the shoulder of his jacket.

Guk leaned in, making his chair creak. With one hand gripping the back of Hyun-soo’s neck, he used his other hand to cup her chin and slipped his tongue between her parted lips. Hyun-soo trembled at the sensation of his wet, full tongue. She had only intended to give him a peck and leave, not to kiss him with tongue in front of everyone!

A beat late, Hyun-soo tried to push Guk away, tapping his shoulder. But Guk seemed to enjoy it and tilted his head, deepening the kiss.

Mmm-mmm. Ung, ung! Stop it, you jerk!

Even her resistance sounded like a sweet moan to Guk.

The onlookers fell silent, stunned and bewildered by the scene. They were watching the two of them, thinking, “They were told to kiss, but they’re going at it like they’re going to eat each other.”

Just as the store’s background music switched to the next song, creating a moment of complete silence, the sounds of their wet, sloppy kiss and the light sucking of their lips tickled everyone’s ears. Hyun-soo’s whole body flushed with embarrassment. She wanted to hide her face in a hole.

“Yoon Guk, you...!”

Finally, Guk pulled away with a final smack of his lips. Hyun-soo glared at him.

‘Why?’

Guk just mouthed the word, his face nonchalant. The heat of embarrassment that had spread to her ears now reached the top of her head.

“So, what? Is it over since you did the penalty?”

“I guess so?”

Hyun-soo was pulled out of her emotional tug-of-war with Guk by the awkward conversation of their classmates. She had almost forgotten they were there.

She was drunk, but she was still mortified by the fact that she had kissed someone in front of everyone, and that she had initiated it. What had she done?

“I’m going to the bathroom for a minute.”

She couldn’t sit still any longer. The eyes that kept glancing at her and Guk were too much to bear.

Hyun-soo, who had said she was going to the bathroom, grabbed her bag and left. She was planning to go home.

“...”

The atmosphere in the room buzzed again with conversation. Guk, sitting in his seat, watched Hyun-soo’s retreating figure and checked the time. He could easily guess her intentions. She was planning to run away.

“Yoon Guk.”

“...”

“Hey! Yoon Guk!”

Guk, whose face was as expressionless as a mask, slowly turned his gaze forward. The slight crease in his brow indicated that the voice interrupting his thoughts was quite annoying.