i'm a fool for fools

Q. Why do you wear hats? A. I have straight hair that’s hard to manage, and it’s annoying to fix it whenever I’m at school. I also feel relaxed when I wear them. I guess it’s kind of like a security blanket? It also helps me keep my focus.

Q. You said you were straight before, or were you just confused? A. I’m not someone who thinks too much about stuff like that, so I just thought, ‘Oh, okay,’ and went with it. I mean, I was confused at first, but I started to like him so it wasn’t that big of a problem for me. My parents, on the other hand, are pretty inflexible so they talk about marriage a lot, but they carefully take my thoughts and decisions into consideration, so I think they’ll understand. Hopefully.

Q. What was the most difficult time for you? A. When I was falling for Choi Jungwoo. It was frustrating because I couldn’t freely do the things I wanted to.

Q. When is your lover the prettiest? A. Jungwoo’s the cutest when he’s sleeping. (Jungwoo: Is that your way of telling me to shut up?) I take that back. He’s always cute.

Q. How to not lose interest in your lover? A. How do you even lose interest...? I don’t know. I’ll think about it when the time comes, but everything is still seems so fresh to me.

II. CHOI JUNGWOO

Q. Are you still active on SNS? A. I’m a bit busy lately, so I’m not too active...but I’m actively filling up my phone’s gallery!

Q. I heard you have a lot of followers.  A. Yep! I gained a lot by posting OOTD pics when I was in uni. When I came back from my service, I even worked as a part-time fitting model and I kept at it even when I got employed somewhere else. But I had to quit because I got super busy. I really like clothes and taking pictures, so maybe I may go back to modeling again...?

Q. Please tell us how you look so good in selfies. A. Hm? But I heard I was better looking in real life...

Q. Who told you that? A. Eunki. *laughs even though he himself said it*

Q. Any recent hobbies? A. Writing! They’re nothing big, just simple movie and book reviews. Eunki said my style’s interesting, so I’d like to write my own stories someday.

Q. A novel? A. Anything’s good.

Q. Any insecurities about dating someone who was straight? A. I had lots, at first. Plus, Eunki had a girlfriend before, so I thought he was only fulfilling his curiosity with me. Now, I don’t have any. He has his own heart and feelings. I just have to trust him.

Q. When is your lover the prettiest? A. When they’re eating something. It’s cute when they eat well. ((He worded this ambiguously.))

Q. How to not lose interest in your lover? A. ‘Lose interest?’ Wha...There’s now way I can lose interest. There’s no one like Kwon Eunki in the world.

II. COUPLE Q&A

Q. There’s a lot of things I’m very curious about. What have you been up to? E. Nothing much. Work, date, making plans for vacation. Oh. I moved closer to my work. J. It hasn’t been long since I started working, so I’ve been super busy. Life is nothing like how I imagined it to be. It’s tough, but it’s still pretty fun.

Q. It’s good to hear you guys are doing well. You sound like a couple who’ve been dating for quite a while, too. E. Yeah, we’re doing well. How can we not? I’m not sure if I’m getting older, but it’s fascinating seeing Jungwoo in his mid-twenties. I’m not even sure if we’ve been dating for a while. It still feels like we’ve just started dating. J. Really? Well, I guess we used to fight a lot back then, but we don’t have to worry about that anymore since we know how the other one feels by looking in their eyes. E. Yeah. We were just hanging out and you suddenly said, “Eunki, you’re craving some coffee now, right? Let’s go to a cafe,” and it really surprised me. J. You usually drink coffee around 3 p.m. E. I didn’t know I had such a habit.

Q. What did you fight about? E. Hanging up first when tired or moving our plans are things Jungwoo hates the most. My work became hectic back then, so I wasn’t able to predict when I’d be off the clock. I couldn’t even dream of going on dates during the weekdays. J. We fought most when Eunki started working. I understood how tired he was, but I was still sad that we couldn’t meet up despite going to the same school, and I couldn’t get used to it either. We used to call each other everyday and talk for thirty minutes to an hour, but we couldn’t do that and we couldn’t message each other either, so I was frustrated. Now that we both work, I understand him much more. Wasn’t I such a grown up back then?

Q. Difference between university couple and working couple is...? E. Communication, definitely. You can meet up after class when you’re still in school. J. Discussion topics, probably? We attended the same school and we were in the same club, so we had no trouble with it back then.

Q. So by overcoming those difficulties, you became a healthy, working couple? E. I miss the old days, but yeah. There are still pros and cons, though. Now a days, I wait for Jungwoo to finish work. J. I still feel uncomfortable leaving right away...

Q. How do you make up after a fight? E. Back then, Jungwoo never told me why he was angry. Now, he tells me very clearly if he’s upset, and that’s good because I never catch on to these things. When he does, I apologize right away. If there’s no other way, we have to compromise.  J. I always thought that if I expressed my discomfort or dislike to someone, the other person would hate me, and I’m really afraid of that. So at first, I always kept my feelings to myself so Eunki wouldn’t hate me. E. That would just ruin the relationship. J. Yeah, I know. When I say that, Eunki would right away say, “Oh, really? I didn’t know. I’m sorry,” and I do the same when I upset him. But if I’m being honest, it’s pretty hard to admit that you’re wrong, so I always fight back or make excuses. I really have to fix that, so Eunki calls me out whenever I’m doing these things anyway. He bluntly tells me to not make excuses.

Q. Doesn’t that make you kind of sad? J. Yeah, that’s why we fought. I would say things like, “Why are you being so cold to me?” E. How can I convey a gentle tone in text...? That’s why Jungwoo suggested that I put a heart or a star emoji after my messages. J. It was pretty effective. E. Really? I didn’t notice much of a difference. J. Whatever. All in all, I always lose whenever I fight with Eunki. My mom and Sister love him, so no one takes my side.

Q. I heard you start to resemble one another when you truly love each other. Do you have any similarities? E. Do we have any similarities? J. Hm...*thinks for five minutes* Ah-ha! We both hate being cold! E. Okay, but who likes being cold? J. I thought we had a lot, but thinking about it we really don’t.[1] Honey[2], let’s take our time to look for some. We must have some.

Q. Alright, now let’s talk about some deeper stuff. Any fun stories lately? E. I’m not sure if it’s fun, but we came out to Jungwoo’s couple friends. J. He’s talking about Joohyun and Taeyoung. They’re very close to me and I just wanted to tell them.

Q. Their reactions? J. Joohyun said she already knew. Apparently it was super obvious back in uni? I thought I was being lowkey about it. Either way, she said she was waiting for us to officially tell her. Taeyoung, on the other hand, was super surprised that he couldn’t speak. He called me later telling me that he understand and the asked if we could go on a double date sometimes. Those two have been together for a long, long time. E. They’re probably going to get married. J. Right?

Q. Any episodes that linger in your mind? J. Last year on my birthday, Eunki did something he would never do. After we ate dinner, he told me he had something to show me in the car, so he took out his phone and showed me a video and it was a video. It was super surprising since it was a video letter, and I thought that was only stuff that celebrities did. I guess he thought a hand-written letter was too much and he didn’t want to say anything face-to-face, so he made a video instead.

Q. What was it about? J. Should I say it? E. There’s no turning back now, is there? J. Here goes: it was a proposal. A total, drama-style proposal, too. He talked about us -- from our first meeting to now -- it was so unlike him. And at the end, he said he wanted to stay by my side. Not now, but a little later, after we prepare ourselves. 

Q. And your answer? J. Well, what do I have to think about? Of course I love it, but I didn’t want to seem too desperate so I answered him ten minutes later. E. I thought you would reject me, so I was jittery. J. Reject you? No way. I would be over the moon even if you asked me to roll around in mud with you.

Q. To wrap this up, do you have anything you wish to change them or do you have anything else you want to say? E. Do you have anything you want to say to me? J. You don’t? I do, though. E. What is it? J. I want you to seriously answer me whenever we go out shopping. Quit saying things like, ‘I don’t know,’ or ‘anything’s fine.’ It just makes it look like you’re not having a good time. E. I have one too. I want you to stop eating on my bed. Whenever he comes over, his job is to clean up the crumbs off my sheets. I keep telling him this, but he doesn’t fix it. J. But there’s something that I really want to say: I love you, Eunki. E. Yeah? Me too.

A big crowd is gathering around them after the commotion, and Kyungjoon tells everyone to leave because their booth is now officially closed for the night.

Jungwoo overhears a couple of people talking about the relationship between Eungi and Minjoon and how they still haven't forgiven each other. When someone in the crowd asks about their relationship, they inform the curious person about the story between Eungi, Minjoon, and Hyeyeon.

gossiper: when he was a freshman, kwon eungi…he and park hyeyeon had a relationship and seo minjoon flipped. those two were a secret campus couple and rumors about them spread everywhere. are park hyeyeon and seo minjoon still together?

minjoon: what did you just call me?

eungi: do you want me to say it slower? annoying. brat.

minjoon: you really have a death wish, don't you? come here.

eungi: oh mr. seo, your games aren't fun, and it's honestly embarrassing. let's act like adults, shall we?

Eungi turns to Jungwoo to tell him to stay away while ignoring Minjoon calling out to him.

Anger eventually gets boils over and Minjoon punches Eungi in the face. Eungi retaliates by shoving Minjoon into the tables and everyone screams. The crowd is shouting for the police and begging the other people to keep them away from each other.

The freshmen are cleaning up the mess while the other upperclassmen leave to take care of the mess. Jungwoo decides to wait for Eungi and he hears the thee freshmen gossiping about the Eungi drama. Taeyoung finds it distasteful that they're spreading rumors and Joohyun loudly tells off the gossipers. She then proceeds to comfort Jungwoo privately.

She finishes herself by telling him to take his time to tell her the things that has been happening in his life and they both smile since they both know she’s referring to Eungi and Jungwoo’s relationship.

So back to Eungi, he is bailed out with the help of the TA while Minjoon is bailed out by his girlfriend, Hyeyeon. They finally see each other and, with a small gasp, Hyeyeon whispers his name. Eungi doesn’t stay too long tho (and neither does Minjoon). He le all’s away, leaving Minseok to play catch up while Minjoon tells Hyeyeon that they’re leaving.

The night doesn’t end there, as Jungwoo waits for Eungi by the campus entrance.

Eungi finally comes and Jungwoo starts crying when he sees his face and Eungi reassured him that he’s fine (and that he’s the one who should be crying since he got beat up.) Jungwoo threatens to give Minjoon a piece of his mind, freaking Eungi out. He then offers to take him home, but Jungwoo has different ideas.

jungwoo: i want to sleepover at your place. can i not? since it’s festival period, i already got permission to stay out late, and… jungwoo: i can’t go home — not without you.

Eungi gives in and let’s him stay the night.

Jungwoo’s all shy now and he’s like oh your shirt’s so big on me. Eungi offers Jungwoo his bed for the night but he says he’s not tired.

They end up talking and Jungwoo realizes that Eungi’s bruises look much worse in the light and he feels like crying.

Eungi reassures him that he’s fine and Jungwoo starts to cuddle him and when Eungi doesn’t return the affection, Jungwoo asks him if he feels awkward.

jungwoo: you were all over me in the club room.

eungi: but we’re in my bedroom…

jungwoo: so? what’s the difference?

eungi: no it’s not that. it’s just…

Eungi changes the subject by making sure Jungwoo’s okay (again) and he replies that he’s fine and that next time, he will definitely be able to stand up for himself. It makes Eungi laugh. He’s also curious since Jungwoo isn’t asking about his relationship with Minjoon since everyone around them were gossiping about the two, but Jungwoo isn’t interested in their story at the moment.

Jungwoo holds onto Eungi’s hand and rests his head on his shoulder. He notices Eungi taking a peek at him and gives him a small kiss.

jungwoo: i just want to talk about us. i like you so much, eungi.

chapter 37: eungi dressed up nice and everyone plus jungwoo’s all like oh no he’s hooooottttt but jungwoo on the outside’s all whatever and eungi plays desperate

chapter 38: jungwoo’s jealous that everyone’s all over eungi and joohyun’s like hey be a bro and let me sit next to eungi oppar and jungwoo’s like no fuck off desperate hoe and she gets embarrassed af and leaves the bar right away and taeyoung obvs chases after her to calm her down

chapter 39: eungi and jungwoo goes drinking in private and they’re all like heehee bc they like spending time together and shit and they drink and jungwoo’s suddenly like ilu eungi. eungi’s like whoa what and then jungwoo’s like stop playing dumb i said i like you you dense pos

chapter 40: eungi’s shook at jungwoo’s confession and jungwoo’s like i knew u knew that i knew that u knew and eungi’s all???? no what the fuck i’m dumb and then he’s like hey i’ll walk you home come on and they kiss and begin dating

chapter 41: they make out and do cute shit