Chapter Text
“Ya, Han Joonhwi.”
“Mm, Kang Sol.”
Han Joonhwi didn’t need to lift his head from his book, because he was already staring at her.
My eyes hurt.
I was taking a break.
You got dirt on your face
What? I can’t look at my best friend?
A thousand excuses lined up in his head, ready to be fired away in case Kang Sol A asked why he was looking at her, his face planted on his chin because he was doing it so thoroughly—watching as she scribbled on her Post-Its in a mad dash, gazing at how she flipped the pages of her book forward and back, forward and back again, as if checking twice that she hadn’t missed a word of her must-learn cases. How she chewed her bottom lip when she got frustrated.
She was in the middle of that—bothering her beautiful bottom lip—when she snapped her head up and caught him staring. Her eyes had squinted at him for a nanosecond that he could have easily missed. Then she edged forward, a question on her face.
She’d caught him looking at her this way so many times already. It was a habit he’d taken up especially when they were alone together like they were now, in Gollum’s secret hideout in the copy room while they studied. He wondered if that was why she never asked why he was staring—because he’d done it so often it had become a pattern instead of an anomaly.
Han Joonhwi stares at Kang Sol A like a lovesick puppy. That’s his acquired personality trait.
And so his roommate Seo Jiho had put it, subtlety forgone together with the slightest bit of respect for Joonhwi as the hyung between them. Such was the price of Seo Jiho’s friendship, it seemed.
Sol’s blinks came rapidly, her mouth moving into a frown Joonhwi knew well. He was smiling in a way he couldn’t help with how adorable she was.
Sol huffed out a breath then her question. “Did you know that everywhere else in the world, people celebrate Valentine’s Day with the boys giving gifts to the girls?”
They’ve been hours into reams of cases, quizzing each other every so often. And Kang Sol was taking her first break to ask him this question out of nowhere.
The smile widened on his face. He tried to school it to no avail.
“Where in the world is that?” he asked, indulgently.
Of course he knew what today, February 14, meant. Of course he harbored no such silly hope either—that Kang Sol would give him gifts as a declaration of her affections.
He’d been certain for a while how he felt for her—adoration, admiration, respect, protectiveness, fondness. All the words that spelled out love and being in love. But he could never tell if Sol felt the same way. He could scarcely allow himself to hope.
And chocolates and confession on a commercialized day when every other person in the country was doing the same—it didn’t seem like Sol’s style at all.
“Everywhere!” Sol threw out her hands, looking like she was at the intersection of confused and fascinated.
“Except Korea?”
“Yes! And Japan, too, I think.”
She looked thoughtful, like the newfound knowledge had been bothering her for a while now, and she’d only allowed herself to wade past her law school woes to pay attention to it.
“How did you figure that?” Joonhwi asked.
“From a show Byeol is watching.” She looked both curious and disbelieving. “The men buy out all the chocolates and flowers, driving prices up and causing scarcity on the day. Then couples go out on dates, causing traffic and late dinners everywhere.”
He snickered. “You make it sound not fun at all.”
“It doesn’t seem fun,” she said with a huff. Then, more quietly, “I’ve never celebrated it.”
“Oh?” Joonhwi paused. He felt himself inch his sweater-swathed arms on the table closer to her. She’d dropped her gaze and he was trying to catch it. “You’ve never given chocolates to a guy you liked?”
“Never.”
“Not even a single candy from the store when you were little?”
“No.” She met his eyes then, looking more certain of her words. “I have no recollection. Did I never like any boy before? Huh. Revelations.” She gave a grin, and he recognized it as wistful and a tiny bit sad. “Maybe I was too busy being a delinquent and fighting at home to like anyone.”
Times like this he hated himself for not confessing to her. For not saying out loud how he was gone for her, how he would do anything for her, protect her and carry her burdens for her if she’d let him. Only for the privilege to hold her hand and cradle her in his arms.
He settled to moving his chair closer.
“Do you want to have ramen later?” he asked.
“We’re having ramen now.” She glared at him, pointing at the bowls of noodles they’ve been snacking on. “I told you, frequent ramen consumption is not good for our health. Do you know what they coat those noodles with to make them last? Let’s not even begin with the sodium content.”
“Jjajangmyeon, then,” he offered, smiling at her rants. “With tangsuyuk in that place you like.”
“Professor Kim wants me in the Legal Clinic in an hour, remember?”
“I’m coming with you, remember?” he said, in a way that settled things.
Because of course he didn’t forget, and he’d promised to help her in that joking, bickering way he did as he danced around his feelings. And because where Sol was, Joonhwi was sure to follow.
He raised his eyebrows, tamping his smile down so he looked serious. “I’ll come bringing food.”