“This is my roommate.”
“Hello.”
“So you’re Sungha. Nice to meet you. I’m Im Jungwoo. Hectic, isn’t it?”
He was the most normal person I’d met so far, both in appearance and demeanor.
“It’s fine.”
“You’re exactly as Kihyun described you.”
“What did he say?”
“Just that there was a decent junior. He may seem a bit lacking, but he’s good at reading people.”
Kihyun hyung, who seemed lacking to everyone, was already off playing around with someone else a bit away. Actually, I’d expected it from the start—Kihyun hyung wasn’t the type to look after people. Still, it seemed like he’d tried to introduce me to people in his own way at first, but later he just got busy enjoying himself.
Fortunately, the rest of the people were just as cheerful as Kihyun hyung and treated me without awkwardness, and since I’m not shy, I wasn’t uncomfortable either.
“I heard you’re majoring in business. I’m in business too. If you have any questions going forward, ask me. About professors or assignments and stuff.”
“It seems too late for this semester, but I’ll definitely ask next time.”
“Haha, sure. There’s someone over there who failed even after I taught them.”
Jungwoo hyung laughed while looking at Kihyun hyung, but when you think about it, it was good for me since I’d gotten to know hyung because Kihyun hyung failed to register for another course.
“But did you all know each other before entering college?”
“Ah. Kihyun, those two people over there, and me—the four of us have known each other since middle school. I met Jason in high school, and the rest became friends in college.”
Jungwoo hyung pointed at the two people I’d seen earlier.
“That’s amazing. Coming to the same college together.”
“For people who’ve lived in Chicago the whole time, it was the most accessible college, and everyone’s SAT scores and grades were about the same. When you play the same and study the same, how different can things be?”
“Still, it seems nice.”
“Right. After all, it’s more convenient to attend school when you have friends you’ve known for a while. But in the midst of that, there was someone who applied to good colleges and got rejected.”
“Who was that?”
“Who else?”
Where his gaze landed, Kihyun hyung was grinning with a good-natured face.
“That Seo Kihyun was totally full of himself, trusting his personality and bragging that he could make friends anywhere, but in the end he failed all the other colleges and couldn’t go.”
“But if it’s Kihyun hyung, that does seem likely. Since he’s so sociable.”
I answered, leaving out the part about having doubted Kihyun hyung just a moment ago.
“Right. I’ll admit that. He’d probably make a hundred friends in a month even if you dropped him somewhere completely unfamiliar.”
“That’s right.”
“Sigh… The problem is the one we should actually be worried about got into a different college…”
“What?”
“Ah. Besides the kids here, there’s one more. Someone who hangs out with us this often. He goes to a different school alone.”
“What, are you talking about Sehyun?”
“Huh? Why Sehyun?”
The people who’d been chattering noisily just seconds ago somehow heard that and quickly approached Jungwoo hyung and me.
“No, Sungha asked if we all already knew each other, so while we were talking about it, it came up. We all go to the same college, but he’s the only one who’s different.”
“Right. There’s a guy who abandoned us and went to a good college alone. The place I failed to get into.”
“I was just saying that it would’ve been better if you’d gotten in—the most worrying guy ended up at a different college.”
Everyone who heard that suddenly made serious expressions.
“He’s… yeah, I’m seriously worried about him. I don’t usually worry about people, but I’m a bit worried about him.”
“Why?”
“It’s just that. He’s a kid who always plays alone.”
“Hey. We play with him, so why does he play alone?”
“No. He plays alone even when he’s with us.”
“Hmm, that’s… fucking accurate.”
So the outsider wasn’t Kihyun hyung but that person called Sehyun.
“Even when we graduated, he looked like an abandoned puppy, but who knew he’d end up going to a different college?”
“Did you graduate separately too?”
“Huh? Yeah. He’s younger than us. He’s the same age as you, Sungha.”
“Ah. I see…”
“Anyway, you’ll meet him soon, so you’ll know when you see him. Try to be nice to him when you meet. He’s picky, so we’re his only close friends. You’ll probably be his first friend his own age, right? You could become friends.”
“But you said he goes to a different school.”
“But he comes often.”
“If you hang out with us, you’ll see him even if you don’t want to.”
I just smiled, realizing they were speaking on the premise that I’d hang out with them often from now on. Even if that Sehyun person came often, if I didn’t come often, there’d definitely be no chance of seeing him.
“Hey, Seo Kihyun. Be good to Sungha from now on. He might not hang out with us.”
“Why wouldn’t he hang out with us?! I’m so good to him.”
“Good to him… It’s obvious without even looking. Be good to Sungha and participate in making friends with Sehyun. Got it? Be good to him. Sungha. Please.”
This time too, I just smiled without answering.
And from the next day on, my college life completely changed.
“Huh?”
“Hello.”
“You remember me, right? We saw each other in Kihyun’s room that time.”
“Yes. Taejin hyung… right?”
“Oh. You have a really good memory. Right, right. Say hello. My friend.”
I’d only gotten to know one person, Kihyun hyung, but through him I was introduced to several other people, and those several people would introduce their own acquaintances whenever we happened to run into each other on campus. In just two weeks, I found myself exchanging greetings often on campus.
Naturally it seemed like something I should be grateful for, but each time, the words “Sehyun’s friend” came to mind and a sense of responsibility pressed down heavily for some unknown reason.
And…
*Deureureureu-*
Seo Kihyun: [Where are you]
Seo Kihyun: [Not eating lunch???]
Park Junsung: [Cafeteria]
Seo Kihyun: [Fuck]
Seo Kihyun: [No loyalty]
Jang Gijae: [Hahahaha]
Jang Gijae: [We just came too]
Im Jungwoo: [I’m on my way too what about Sungha]
Should I reply at times like this?
They’d all given me their contact information separately, but for some reason the next day I was invited to a group chat because it was too bothersome to contact individually. The chat that included the four who’d been friends since middle school and Jason hyung had messages going up constantly.
There were exactly 50 minutes left until my next lecture. Plus, the next lecture hall was right near the central building. I’d tried to eat at a time that avoided when there were lots of students, but there was no choice, so I started walking.
Kwon Sungha: [I’ll come now.]
After sending the message, I remembered what Sora had said a few weeks ago.
*’You need to make some acquaintances quickly so you can eat lunch together and stuff.’*
As she’d wished, now I didn’t have to eat lunch alone, but I wasn’t sure if this was 100% of my own volition.
* * *
As expected, the cafeteria was crowded. Since most students ate quickly and left quickly, one or two seats opened up easily, but entire tables were almost never empty—yet the hyungs had somehow managed to secure a large table by the window. Excluding Jason hyung who was on a different campus, there were only five of us including me, but it was a table large enough to seat ten people.
“You’re here.”
Kihyun hyung had piled up two hamburgers and french fries and was stuffing a palm-sized piece of chicken into his mouth. When I settled into a seat in front of him, he immediately frowned.
“That’s all you’re having? What is that, BLT?”
“Grilled chicken.”
“What. Do you work out?”
“No.”
“Then why are you eating only that?”
“You’re eating too much, you crazy bastard.”
Jungwoo hyung, who arrived a beat later than me, set down a chicken breast sandwich on rye bread.
“What. Are you managing yourself again?”
“Yeah. I have a shoot next week.”
“Poor bastard.”
“I’m making money, so what’s pitiful about it?”
“If I had to eat like that and get paid, I’d never do it.”
“It’s not that you won’t—you can’t.”
In just a week, I’d learned a few things I hadn’t known, one of which was that Jungwoo hyung worked as a model for brands you’d recognize by name.
It was something he’d started by chance because he was thin and tall, but now he was taking it quite seriously. He said the meaning of choosing business as his major had become completely lost, but he still wanted to graduate so he was continuing to attend.
Besides that, I learned the surprising fact that Jason hyung couldn’t speak Korean at all until he met the four of them in high school, and the shocking fact that both Junsung hyung and Gijae hyung’s major was medicine. Still, the best by far was when I heard that Kihyun hyung had become much more well-behaved since coming to college than before.
“Ah, right. Sungha, do you work on Saturday too?”
“Yes.”
“Until what time?”
“Same as usual. I finish at 11.”
“Ah shit… That’s too late.”
Asking what someone’s doing obviously means the other person wants to do something together, but I deliberately didn’t ask what kind of plans or what it was about.
“Sungha, what kind of work do you do?”
Maybe I’d chosen the wrong sauce—the sandwich taste was strangely subtle somehow. I was unknowingly frowning with the flavorless sandwich in my mouth when Gijae hyung suddenly looked at me and asked. Perhaps Kihyun hyung hadn’t told them that much, as the others all looked at me at once.
“I just serve at a Japanese restaurant.”
“Didn’t you say you work during the week too?”
“Yes. Two days during the week and Friday, Saturday. So four days total.”
“Isn’t it tiring?”
It wasn’t particularly tiring, so I shook my head, and the response came back to wait just three more weeks.
“Assignments will start piling up soon, and when midterm period comes it’ll really be intense, you know? You know there’s only a few weeks left, right?”
“I know.”
“Working, studying, and then coming to school from that far away the next day must be tough too.”
“There’s nothing I can do about it.”
“If it gets really hard, sleep at the dorm. I’ll let you crash in my room anytime. Not just exam period—whenever.”
“Clean your room first before saying that.”
I remembered Kihyun hyung’s room that I’d glimpsed before. I hadn’t expected it to be clean, but I hadn’t thought it would be that bad… Maybe the reason hyung can’t pay attention to fashion is just because he can’t find his clothes.
“But anyway, Sehyun also said to meet a bit late on Saturday.”
“Why?”
“He has to do an assignment in the evening.”
“What’s he doing during the day?”
“He goes to the lake sometimes these days. Says he works on some yacht.”
“Ah—ah. Right, there was that crazy bastard who works out of boredom too.”
By now, the name Sehyun had become so familiar it was hard to believe he was someone I’d never seen. Plus, it wasn’t just the name. Because I’d heard so much talk about him, I’d ended up remembering things I didn’t even want to know.
Same age as me.
Different college.
Quiet and blunt personality.
Big temperature difference when dealing with people he likes versus people he dislikes.
Doesn’t make acquaintances easily, but the only people he’s close with are the people visible before my eyes right now.
Good at studying. Has a girlfriend living in New York.
And one more fact I’d just learned.
– A crazy bastard who works out of boredom.
