To Byul (Omegaverse)-Chapter 105: I just wanted to get out of the house

During the ride, Chin-hwa kept his gaze out the window, staring at the darkness the night had brought. He watched slowly, not even paying heed to the fact that Kang-woo was in the same car with him.

No, it wasn’t that he didn’t pay heed, he was just so lost in thoughts

"What would you like to eat?" Kang-woo asked him and he jolted out of his thoughts,

"What?" He blinked, surprised and Kang-woo smiled.

"Looks like you were completely lost in thoughts," he said and even laughed, causing Chin-hwa to blush and rub his neck.

"Did you... Did you ask a question before?"

"I just wanted to know what you want to eat for dinner." Kang-woo said. "You looked like you were in a hurry to head home and finish up your assignment,"

"Oh, right. That." Chin-hwa said, secretly glancing away.

"Which brings me to wonder, is there an assignment I don’t know of?" He asked and Chin-hwa flinched.

Right, Kang-woo was in the same major as him.

"It’s the one with the uh..." He gulped. "T-the thing, the one with the thing that, uh..." He couldn’t even form a straight lie without stuttering. "You know, that thing."

Kang-woo glanced at him and said,

"The bedroom layout?" He asked and Chin-hwa decided to go ahead with it.

"Yes, yes. That’s the one." He said, forcing a smile.

"Hm, are you sure?" He asked and Chin-hwa nodded.

They did give them a bedroom layout assignment a while back, so he could just say he hadn’t done it and...

"But we submitted that assignment on Wednesday." Kang-woo said and Chin-hwa clapped his face.

"Of course, we did." He said and flushed. He was embarrassed that he had been caught lying and Kang-woo was laughing.

He looked like he was having fun.

"It’s okay, Hwa. If you want to leave early, I won’t judge you for it. You know, I’ll take your side no matter what." He assured him but still laughed.

Chin-hwa felt he had overreacted for no reason. Kang-woo could see him inside out so of course he’d know if he was lying.

"I just wanted to get out of the house." He said solemnly and glanced out the window. "I didn’t want to stay for another minute and I have no reason to feel that way. I just... Wanted to go."

Kang-woo silently stared at him before returning his gaze to the road.

"Well, it’s okay," he said. "It’s not like I’d judge you."

"Yeah, you wouldn’t," Chin-hwa said and smiled.

"But, does that also imply to me?" Kang-woo asked.

"Huh?"

"Do you also not want to see me? You want to head home and not have to look at me?"

Chin-hwa went silent. In that silent drive, he could hear his heartbeat ringing in his eardrums.

"If so, I wouldn’t allow you to take me home." Chin-hwa said. "I always thought like this. Even if I don’t want to see anyone else in the world, and I want to be alone, I would very much welcome you into my alone space because you’re Kang-woo and I--"

The car tires suddenly screeched, and it came to a sudden stop as Kang-woo hit the brakes, which was quite dangerous.

"Wh-what happened? Why did you suddenly hit the brakes?" Chin-hwa asked, alarmed, and saw Kang-woo resting his head on the steering wheel, motionless.

This gave Chin-hwa a fright.

"K-kang-woo?" He called, slowly reaching his hand towards him. "Kang-woo, are you hurt? Don’t... Don’t try to scare me. Kang--"

Kang-woo finally turned his head to look at him, showing the soft smile on his lips and the blush on his cheek.

"Hwa, you always know how to push my buttons, don’t you?" He said. "You make me feel so special and I... Just can’t take it. My heart loves the treatment so much and yet it feels like I’ll drown. But I think I’ll happily drown in the happiness you fill me with. I... I’m happy,"

Chin-hwa’s head almost exploded and he looked away right away. His face was a flushing mess.

’Just what... What did I just hear?’ he covered his face. ’He sounded so romantic just now. How sounded...’ he gulped, his violent flushing face slowly softening and his eyes glistened. ’So loving.’

Kang-woo watched Chin-hwa as he flushed. He was handling it far more senile than he thought.

He watched every single feature of him: his hair that escaped from his beanie, his neck, the paleness of his skin, and...

He slowly reached his hand towards him and caught the little strands that were beneath the beanie, next to his nape and Chin-hwa flinched.

Slowly, he turned his head around, asking,

"What are you doing?"

"I... Love watching you flush." He said and Chin-hwa flushed even more.

"You... Don’t start acting shameless just because I gave you an inch," he said, "Seriously," he grabbed his chest and pursed his lips. "My heart can’t take it."

Kang-woo was shocked for a moment. Wait, what did he say?

The air in his throat suddenly felt like it had been caught and he gulped.

"Hwa," he called softly. "Why is that?" He asked and Chin-hwa’s eyes widened.

’Wait, what did I say? Did I give away the fact that I like him? Did I give any hints?’ he wondered and looked at Kang-woo who was patiently waiting for an answer. ’If I change the topic now, will it look like in trying to hide something?’ he wondered and felt quite uneasy.

He had tried so hard to hide his feelings, only to let them slip with his own mouth.

Kang-woo sensed Chin-hwa wouldn’t answer, so he shook his head and said, 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Maybe I misheard." He pressed the ’start engine’ button and started the car, getting back on the road. "Alright, back to the main topic," he smiled like nothing had happened. "...what would you like to eat?"

Chin-hwa stayed silent. He stared at Kang-woo and closed his eyes, nodding his head. Yeah, that was how Kang-woo was. Never wanting to force anything on him and bring him discomfort.

"I’m thinking homemade food." Chin-hwa said. "I want to cook."

"Then, would it be too much if I invited you over to my place?" Kang-woo asked. "I want to watch you cook since I’m so bad at it."

"Well, you weren’t that bad." Chin-hwa said, laughing. "You just mixed the ingredients."

"Yeah, a rookie mistake." Kang-woo said and glanced at him. "So, will you come over or should we pretend I never made such a request?"

"Well..."