The protagonist mentioned several times a day seemed to be coming to this Saturday’s gathering, so the hyungs continued the conversation, and I, who couldn’t attend, just quietly listened from the side.
After chatting about this and that and eating lunch more leisurely than usual, only 15 minutes remained, so I got up from my seat first, but Kihyun hyung followed me up, saying let’s smoke a cigarette together before going.
The smoking area behind the cafeteria was my first time, but there were too many students smoking.
“Then you don’t work on Sundays?”
Kihyun hyung asked while exhaling hazy cigarette smoke.
“Yes.”
“Then what do you do on Sunday? Do you have any other plans?”
I wondered why he was suddenly asking about my Sunday schedule, but what hyung was curious about wasn’t Sunday evening but the morning schedule.
“No. I don’t have any particular plans on Sunday.”
“Then since we’re meeting pretty late on Saturday anyway, if it’s okay, come even after work ends.”
“To the dorm?”
“No, not the dorm, but it’s not far from here. It’s in a place inside downtown.”
“What are we doing? Drinking?”
When there was no option to go at all, I didn’t ask, but now that there was an option that I could go, I asked right away.
“Why? Do you want to drink?”
“No. I’m not of age.”
The hyungs whose birthdays were early all turned 21 this year, so they were of drinking age, but I still had over a year left. I had just stated the obvious, but hyung suddenly opened his mouth wide and the cigarette he was holding almost fell out.
“Wow, I never thought I’d hear these words again. Then you’ve never drunk even once until now?”
“Yes.”
“No one ever offered to buy you some?”
“They did, but I said no thanks.”
“Why? Do you hate alcohol?”
“I’ve never tried it, so I don’t know if I hate it, but even if I try it now, it doesn’t seem like it would be good.”
“How do you know without even trying it?”
“It’s something I shouldn’t drink but would be drinking, so it feels uncomfortable. It’s committing a sin, isn’t it?”
Even when I was in New York, there were quite a few people who offered me alcohol. Anyone could try it once out of curiosity, but that someone wasn’t me. I knew that in Korean terms it was a drinkable age, but the place I lived now wasn’t Korea but America, and the moment I drank alcohol, it felt like a sense of sinning would wash over me. Even if alcohol was incredibly delicious, I would have to feel good emotions and uncomfortable feelings at the same time, but I thought those two emotions could never coexist.
Of course, there were people who looked at me like this and said I was frustrating. But I was me, and those people were those people.
Kihyun hyung, who burst into a hollow laugh, suddenly muttered to himself, ‘Exactly the same.’
“Why?”
“Nothing. Anyway, only people who want to drink drink, and people who don’t want to drink don’t have to. I won’t tell you to drink. It’s not really a place where we do anything specific, we just gather and play card games and stuff. If you don’t like games, you can watch movies or something.”
“Watch movies? Is it a place where you can do that?”
“Yeah. Ah, I didn’t tell you. The meeting place is Sehyun’s house.”
One more addition.
My friend I haven’t even met yet lives somewhere in downtown.
“But it’s someone else’s house, is it okay for me to just go?”
“You’re fine. I told him in advance.”
Hyung was proud as if he had accomplished something great. Even though I hadn’t definitively said I would go yet, as if he had already taken me there.
“I’ll see how things go and let you know. It might end late that day. Because it’s the weekend.”
I didn’t say that as an excuse to decline. If reservation customers came late like last time, it really could end late.
“Okay. Then let me know.”
Kihyun hyung, who said that, put out his long cigarette. Seeing five or six students coming out at the same time with noisy sounds, we immediately went back inside the cafeteria.
* * *
Nothing came up that would make me end late.
It was still busy like any other weekend, but the last reservation team came in at 10, and when it passed 11 a bit, all the work was roughly finished.
“Good work.”
Since entering September, the heat had definitely disappeared more. Entering mid-month, it was still a bit muggy during the day, but at night after the sun set, it went beyond cool to quite chilly. Come to think of it, time that seemed like it would never pass had really passed in an instant.
Chicago winters are colder than New York, they said.
In the blink of an eye it became fall, so I suddenly became curious about the winter that would suddenly approach again.
Before grabbing the steering wheel after starting the engine, I made a call.
Ddureurereu- Ddureurereu-.
The signal went through quite a few times, and only after a while did the other person answer.
– Oh, did you finish?
Behind Kihyun hyung’s voice, which was a tone higher than usual, noisy talking sounds could be heard.
“Yes. I just finished.”
– What are you going to do? We also only got here about an hour ago.
“I need to stop by home, is it okay if I go and then come?”
– Yeah. Of course. I’ll text you the address. See you later.
The person who said that hung up without even hearing my answer. Before hanging up, I heard a voice looking for the house owner, saying Sehyun-ah-.
The person I was waiting for appeared after about five minutes.
“Sungha-ya!”
The door of one of the two elevators opened. Kihyun hyung, who was riding inside, was grinning with a playful expression. Both his cheeks and around his neck were red.
“Get on quickly.”
Kihyun hyung stood out so much that I didn’t see the person next to him, but when I belatedly heard a familiar voice and turned my head, it was Gijae hyung.
“Hyung, you didn’t drink?”
“Who? Me?”
“Yes.”
“Yeah. I also just got here. I don’t drink much originally anyway.”
“Why did you come now, hyung?”
“I was meeting my girlfriend.”
“You have a girlfriend?”
Without realizing it, I had believed he wouldn’t have one, so hyung’s answer was very unexpected.
“Yeah. Only I have one. Among us.”
“No. Sehyun has one too.”
“Ah, right. I always forget.”
Dding-.
While a few words were exchanged, the elevator arrived at the 24th floor. Unlike the unique exterior of the building, the inside of the building was excessively ordinary. Like any other officetel, it was in the form of a long hallway stretching out, but the only difference was that on this wide floor there were only 4 doors.
When Kihyun hyung stood in front of one of them and pressed the bell, the door opened. The person who greeted us wasn’t the house owner but Jason hyung.
“Yo—”
The moment I stepped foot inside, I took back the word ordinary in my mind. Rather, I felt the inside was much more amazing than the outside. The fact that such a wide officetel existed in the heart of downtown was absolutely not ordinary.
A living room with one entire wall knocked out came into view. Through the glass windows, the splendid night view and lights of downtown could be seen at a glance. Even though the dizzying view below was clearly visible, rather than being scary, the thought that it was beautiful naturally popped out. It couldn’t even be compared to the cramped officetel I had briefly looked into.
“Where’s Sehyun?”
As soon as Kihyun hyung entered, he went back and forth through the living room frantically.
“Sehyun? Sehyun-ah. Come here for a second. Your friend is here.”
At the words ‘your friend is here,’ a laugh leaked out. I was fine since I had been hearing about it every day, but the other person wouldn’t have heard anything about me, so how absurd would it sound to be told to be friends with someone he’d never seen even once?
“What, why isn’t he coming? Where is he?”
“Huh? He went into his room a little while ago…… Ah. He must be on a call. Looks like he’s starting again.”
“Amazing. Isn’t he tired of it?”
The hyungs exchanged words they knew among themselves. I didn’t know exactly what was starting and what was tiresome, but anyway, it was certain that the house owner was currently on a call with someone in his room.
Junsung hyung and Jungwoo hyung, who were sitting on the living room floor tapping game consoles, both pointed at the sofa telling me to sit, but I couldn’t freely walk around without greeting the owner. Even if everyone said it was okay, that was something my conscience absolutely wouldn’t allow.
I was blankly watching the game the hyungs were playing while leaning carelessly against one wall—had a few minutes passed? The door inside opened. Kihyun hyung, who had been reading the room more uncomfortably than me standing there uncomfortably, shouted.
“Hey, Kang Sehyun.”
“Ah. Sorry. I was on a call—”
The three-character name and voice that remained clearly in my head.
The moment he raised his head, words that should only be kept in my head almost popped out.
Ah. It’s the $300, I almost said.
