Dohwa hesitated for a moment and then carefully held Won’s hand that was gripping the ice cream. Then, he took a bite of each.

The ice cream he had enjoyed before was the one Won was holding in his right hand.

But before he could even say anything, Won, somehow knowing, held out the one in his right hand to Dohwa.

“This one, right?”

“Eh?”

“This is it. The tastier one.”

Dohwa let out a dumb sound without realizing it. Won chuckled at that sight and gently shook the ice cream in his right hand.

Taking the ice cream in a daze, Dohwa’s eyes widened.

“How did you know? I didn’t say anything. Could it be… Hyung, can you read my mind?”

Normally, he would have just found it amazing, but not now.

I think I like you, Hyung.

It had been only a day since he told Chaei that.

Won absolutely, absolutely couldn’t read his mind, which was currently cluttered with such emotions and thoughts.

“No, right, Hyung? You really didn’t read my mind, right?”

Even though he knew it was a wild thought, Dohwa asked with an urgent face, and Won burst into laughter.

Laughing loudly until Dohwa’s face turned red, Won wiped away the tears clinging to the corners of his eyes with his finger and spoke.

“How could that be possible? I just knew by your expression. Your expression was better when you ate that one.”

Won spoke with a laugh in his voice, gesturing with his chin toward the ice cream Dohwa was holding. Understanding the situation belatedly, Dohwa’s cheeks flushed.

“I see,” Dohwa muttered, and he took a large bite of the ice cream in his hand for no reason.

Unable to stop smiling at that sight, Won licked the ice cream in his hand. Being excessively sweet was, as expected, not his taste.

However, instead of showing it, Won quietly licked the ice cream.

Whether it was because of the coldness of the ice cream or the sweetness, his tongue felt stung.

The two sat side by side on the chairs outside the convenience store and ate their ice cream.

Unlike Dohwa, who finished his ice cream in an instant, Won took a long time to finish his.

With the sweetness lingering in his mouth, Won swept his tongue inside his mouth and asked with a smile.

“Do you feel better? When I see you, Peachy, you look for something to eat when you’re not feeling well. Especially something sweet.”

The face that mentioned a habit that even Dohwa hadn’t known was incredibly kind. To the point that it was hard to believe this was the person who said he wasn’t a good person.

Dohwa looked at Won’s face for a long time.

His chest felt strangely tight.

This is really strange. As Dohwa lowered his head with a distressed look, Won frowned.

“What’s wrong? Do you feel unwell?”

If he found him a little hateful for uttering words of concern as if it were natural, would that be too much of a thought?

But Dohwa did hate Won a little.

If asked why, there were no words he could say.

But every time he was kind, every time he smiled at him, and every time he drew a line, he hated him so much he couldn’t bear it.

Having kept his head down for a long time, Dohwa whispered in a much calmer voice, still in that position.

“No. It’s nothing. It’s nothing at all. So you don’t have to worry about it.”

At those words, Won looked down quietly at Dohwa’s round head. Then, he reached out and ruffled it, speaking kindly.

“That sounds exactly like you’re not okay. Am I mistaken, Dohwa?”

At that question, Dohwa’s lips trembled.

He knew he should say it was a mistake at a time like this, but strangely, those words wouldn’t come out.

This is really strange.

Dohwa sat there, thinking that blankly.

Won looked at the quiet Dohwa steadily and reached out to stroke his peach-colored cheek.

“You don’t have to say it if you don’t want to. But Dohwa, I have a feeling that the reason you’re not okay is somehow related to me. Is this also my mistake?”

“…It’s just, I like you too much, Hyung.”

“Hmm?”

“But I like you more and more every day.”

So I thought it might be a bit of a problem.

Dohwa muttered that with a face that looked half out of it.

At those sudden words, Won narrowed his brow.

His face clearly showed that he had no idea what this was supposed to mean.

Coming back to his senses at that expression, Dohwa shouted in an urgent voice.

“I just! I just like you too much, Hyung! I have an older brother, but you’re the first brother who’s been this nice to me! Maybe that’s why my feelings are a bit strange… I’m just saying that.”

“I wasn’t trying to say anything.”

At the long explanation Dohwa gave like an excuse, Won’s slender eyes curved into a long smile.

Dohwa pretended to be indifferent to the smile that seemed like it would make his own cheeks flush. Even so, he couldn’t stop glancing at Won.

Knowing the gaze that was glancing at him, Won just smiled.

The two spent a long time like that in silence. Until Dohwa had to leave first for his next lecture.

Staring at Dohwa’s retreating back, Won noticed someone passing in front of him and flicked his eyebrow.

“Of all times, he’s wandering around right now. Isn’t this basically a sign from god telling me to throw hands in real life?”

Muttering in a voice that was playful yet strangely tinged with irritation, Won uncrossed his legs.

Then, humming a tune, he followed the person passing by.

“Joon.”

“Wh, ah, you. What is it?”

At Won’s call, Lee Joon turned around, startled.

He tried to straighten his shoulders and look confident because of the surrounding gazes, but his face revealed how intimidated he was by Won.

He’s several years older than Peachy. How is he softer than my Peachy?

Thinking this to himself, Won raised only one corner of his mouth and spoke quite familiarly.

“I happened to hear what you were saying about me behind my back.”

“Ah, seriously! I told you it’s not true! Hey, why would I go around badmouthing you!”

“Oh, not me? Then what about talking shit about Dohwa? What about that?”

Tilting his head crookedly, Won asked while looking down at Lee Joon with cold eyes.

The pressure in his voice was even more threatening than when he’d asked whether Lee Joon had talked badly about him, and Lee Joon unconsciously swallowed dryly.

“Don’t lie this time. I saw it myself, so you can’t say it’s not true. That would be too obvious a lie.”

“…Fine, yeah, I did! But that’s because he was the one acting like he didn’t respect his senior first…”

“Joon, how many times do I have to tell you not to call him ‘that’?”

“Y, yeah, I mean Ye Dohwa! He’s the one who looked at you like shit first. Huh? He talked back. He said nonsense. I, huh? I just couldn’t take it anymore.”

Lee Joon shouted, even spitting as he claimed he had a lot to say. Won, who let all those words slide while rubbing his right arm, took a deep breath.

““Joon, do you think I don’t have ears? I heard things too, so you can’t talk like Dohwa’s the only one at fault. Hmm? That’s not something a senior should do. Can you even call yourself a senior acting like that? Hm? Bullying someone way younger than you. That doesn’t make you a senior, it makes you a fucking piece of shit.”

As he spoke, Won tapped Lee Joon’s cheek. It looked light at a glance, but the hand tapping Lee Joon’s cheek was quite fierce. Lee Joon flinched at the touch.

““The hell, do you think I’m some bastard who goes around hitting people?”

“….”

“One more time. If you call Dohwa over again just to spew bullshit at him one more time, then I’ll make things very unfun for you no matter what it takes.”

“O-okay.”

“If you’re curious what kind of unfun I mean, keep doing it and find out. But seriously, it won’t be fun at all. So if possible, don’t do it. Hmm? Got it?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

At the voice that was trembling at the end, Won lowered the corner of his mouth that had been curled up and strode past Lee Joon.

Then, with an irritated gesture, he wiped the hand that had hit Lee Joon’s cheek with a handkerchief.