Eighteen’s Bed

Then he, while still chuckling, looked at me. I intentionally cleared my throat loudly and quickly wiped the smile off my face.

“You get serious so quickly after I say something.”

“I wasn’t getting serious because of what you said.”

“Damn, that’s scary…”

Go Yohan purposely shrank his shoulders. Despite his large frame, it didn’t feel like he was shrinking at all.

He was still messing with me, though. If I thought back to Go Yohan from a few years ago, I’d wonder if this was really just a joke. But sometimes I realize that the pranks Go Yohan plays on me are ‘Go Yohan-exclusive playful jokes.’ I can tell by the look in his eyes or when he subtly lets me win. He doesn’t always let me win, though.

So, I sometimes push back at Go Yohan. My pride, built up from not wanting to be the only one being teased, gets in the way. I lightly punched Go Yohan’s arm. It was so light it didn’t even make a sound.

“Go Yohan.”

“Hmm?”

“Go Yohan-.”

“What-?”

I saw him subtly imitate me. I lightly hit Go Yohan’s forearm again and spoke.

“I want to see your graduation photo.”

“See- huh? What?”

“Why are you so surprised? I said I want to see your graduation photo.”

“You can just look at yours. You must have your high school graduation photo.”

“Why would I want to look at that face I’ve seen for three years already? I’m talking about your middle school graduation photo.”

Go Yohan raised one eyebrow. Now I didn’t even need to read the mood. I knew Go Yohan was most honest when he was dissatisfied. It was obvious. He didn’t want to show me his graduation photo.

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why do you want to see it?”

Well, why do I want to see it? I’m not some twisted person who wants to look at a kid who clearly doesn’t want to show it. I tried to think it through, but when I thought too hard, something in my chest itched and I couldn’t stand it. I just stopped thinking and stretched my lips into a long smile.

“To see if you were chubby in middle school.”

“Seriously obsessed with some dumb stuff…”

Go Yohan looked me up and down openly. Then, with a suspicious gaze, he spoke.

“Do you like pigs or something?”