Stranger

The pleasure hovering around the top of my head felt like piercing through my skull. I moved faster, only thrusting inside Yeon Woojeong impatiently and ferociously. He squirmed and struggled, but he couldn’t get out of me since our bodies were locked together.

“Agh, ah!”

Yeon Woojeong rested his face on my shoulder, trembling. I was no different. Before I had time to control myself, my vision blurred and the feeling of ejaculation overtook me. We hugged each other and stayed still. It felt like I was going to sink to the bottom.

“Hahh…”

Yeon Woojeong was the first to break the silence. He touched my shoulders, then looked up and swept back his messy hair. 

Meanwhile, I bit his shoulder lightly. I felt like my head was underwater.

Yeon Woojeong’s hand patted my back. I slowly raised myself. My heart raced when I made eye contact with Yeon Woojeong. He caressed my cheek. I opened my mouth to speak, catching the sight of the tired face in my eyes.

“Mr. Yeon.”

“Hmm.”

“So are you.”

“What?”

“You’re also pretty.”

It seemed that pretty didn’t always mean looking pretty. So… There were times when it just came out.

Yeon Woojeong smirked. His fingers tapped on my cheek.

“I’m not as pretty as you.”

His hand slid down to rub my lips. Yeon Woojeong’s hand traveled from my chin down my neck, and he placed his palm in the very center of my chest. I checked the rampaging numbers on my wrist and flipped over our clasped hands to see the numbers of Yeon Woojeong. His was lower than mine but higher than usual. The numbers began to subside. I kissed the inside of his wrist. He looked better with his usual watch, but I liked this one better.

I slowly pulled myself out. As my penis slipped out, his frothy hole twitched. I reached down to touch him cautiously, and Yeon Woojeong flinched. The sight of Yeon Woojeong covered in white semen splattered across his chest and abdomen evoked a lot of emotion.

I rubbed his legs, which were still spread apart, and he released them from around my waist and set them down on the sofa. I moved out aside a little so he wouldn’t feel so heavy and held him close. Yeon Woojeong played with my earlobe.

“How was your day?”

“Nothing much. I had a test, and my English score went up a bit.”

“That’s good news. You’ve been working hard.”

“Yeah. There’s a new burger place next to the school, and I decided to go there with my friends.”

Yeon Woojeong stroked my hair while smiling. I touched his hips and asked.

“How was yours?”

“Today… There was a lot of work. It’s been a busy day, and I finally heard the outcome of a case I’ve been working on. Certainly, it feels good when things come out the way you want them to.”

“Good for you.”

If his job went well and made him feel good, it also made me feel good. “What was the case?” I asked, and Yeon Woojeong gave me a quick summary.

Until we cooled down, we talked about our day, details we didn’t know about each other. He was in the prosecutor’s office all day, and I was in school and working part-time, but the stories he told me every day were special. The time we spent talking before wrapping up the day was peaceful and mundane, but it was priceless. I hugged Yeon Woojeong’s body tighter. His unrelenting warmth seeped into me.

***

I woke up later than usual. But it wasn’t that bad to get me late to school.

I went to the bathroom, grabbed my toothbrush, and looked in the mirror. My eyes were a bit puffy, but nothing out of the ordinary.

I looked at the blinking eyes. My face didn’t really impress me because I saw it all the time, but…

“It was the first time in my life seeing someone as pretty as you.”

Is that so? Yeon Woojeong said that he picked me up because I was pretty. Yeon Woojeong wasn’t the first one to say that. But the reason I didn’t think much of it was because they mostly had bad intentions.

Yeon Woojeong isn’t particularly a people pleaser, so I guess he wasn’t lying since he said it from the first time he saw me. If Yeon Woojeong felt that way, then it must be true. If so, I’m glad my face looks like this. I was hoping I look a bit rougher or menacing, though.

This time, I lifted my hand. I had another splinter on my finger, but now I had been cutting it off with nail clippers. My hands were just ordinary. But now I liked my hands, which were nothing special.

Is this what it means to value myself? I knew, of course, that this differed a bit from what Yeon Woojeong said, but… I was glad that I, at least, was born in the form Yeon Woojeong liked. So, that’s it. Just like I couldn’t hate that day because my misfortune led me to meet Yeon Woojeong, I could try to like how I looked, which I had never liked before, because he liked it.

It felt awkward to keep looking at myself in the mirror. I put toothpaste on my toothbrush, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and headed out.

I shall throw out the business card I got yesterday. Walking to the living room, I saw the table, but the business card wasn’t there. I looked down the floor in case it dropped, but it was nowhere to be found. Did Yeon Woojeong throw it? Now I just need to water the sprouts and then go to cram school…

I furrowed my brows. The black cloth that covered the cultivator was on the floor again. The window was closed, so it was impossible for the cloth to get blown away. And it wasn’t even in a sunny spot…

What is it? Why did he leave it like this again?

I had to do another round of beans, which were growing nicely. Looking down at the cultivator, I decided to go to cram school first.

When I arrived at the cram school, Yoon Suyoung was there before me, and Ham Yoonah, as usual, came in just in time for the morning self-study time.

“Hyungnim, Noonim. We’ll go to the burger place, right?”

“Yeah.”

Yoon Suyoung had been chanting hamburger, hamburger, hamburger ever since the burger restaurant opened, and he even hummed in anticipation. Then, he blushed when Ham Yoonah told him to be quiet. He would always blush all the time.

I planned to text Yeon Woojeong and ask him about the sprouts, but then I got busy with class and forgot. I’ll send it at lunch. With that in mind, I arrived at the burger place.

The place selling handmade burgers was decorated in pink and purple inside. I looked at the palm tree-shaped lights set to one side and saw the menu. I chose the menu labeled “BEST” and returned to my seat. Soon enough, burgers for the three of us were served.

“Woah, this must be good.”

Ham Yoonah ran her tongue over her lips and picked up her fries. The fries were thick. The vegetables inside the burger were fresh, and the meat was thick. I liked it.

“Wow, this is so good.”

“Right. Let’s go back here next time.”

I nodded and picked up my phone. When I was about to text Yeon Woojeong, Yoon Suyoung asked.

“Hyungnim, Noonim, why are you taking the GED?”

“I dropped out to play music. I was going to take the test as soon as I dropped out, but I didn’t make it in time.”

“Aha. But you’ve been writing music all this time. That’s awesome.”

Yoon Suyoung turned to me. I was thinking about how to send the text, but then I saw Yoon Suyoung waiting for my answer with clear eyes, so I put my phone down.

“No reason.”

There were a lot of reasons, but I didn’t feel there was a need to tell them all of it, so I answered briefly. Yoon Suyong smiled and nodded.

“For me…”

He scratched his head and glanced at me and Ham Yoonah.

“Don’t I look like a loser?” 

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

“I don’t know, I said.”

I took a big bite of my hamburger after answering. It was thick, so it wasn’t easy to eat much of it in one bite.

Yoon Suyoung looked at me with his eyes wide open. He seemed to guess if I was being sincere. But I was being sincere. I also had heard that word in the past, but I didn’t know the exact meaning of it. And the kids were always trying to put others down in some way if they didn’t like them.

“Hehe… Anyway, I couldn’t get along with other kids at school, but strangely, I feel at ease with you two.”

“Treat us well then.”

Ham Yoonah said, sipping her coke loudly. She was clearly making fun of him, but Yoon Suyoung nodded naively, saying he would do so.

I’d been there, too. When I was in school, I had to like what I didn’t like and dislike what I did like. I would stand out if I was out of the ordinary, but I shouldn’t be too ordinary. I hated that. I just wanted to stay quiet at school, but there were always people who didn’t like me. Even when I thought I hadn’t done anything, they would still bother me as though they really didn’t like me.

But it felt comfortable with these guys. It seemed more comfortable to me because I didn’t have to be with them for hours, and maybe because I didn’t have to get along with them. I’m glad I followed Yeon Woojeong’s advice and went to cram school. I got to taste a tasty burger anyway. 

I felt better. I shouldn’t corner him about the cultivator and ask nicely. Making up my mind, I finished my share.