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“Give it here.”
As if he couldn’t bear to watch anymore, Cha Geonhyeok bit his own ice cream in his mouth and peeled the wrapper off mine for me. He forcibly shoved it into my mouth. I frowned because it was cold and sudden. But it was delicious. For the record, it wasn’t a Screwbar but a Jaws Bar.
I tapped my foot to the exciting music that was neither too loud nor too quiet. Even though my movements weren’t loud, the hand holding the ice cream shook. Cha Geonhyeok, who noticed this, tapped my foot to give me a warning. Who does he think he is? While thinking that inwardly, I stopped my foot.
“I heard Jang Woogyun decided not to come because I said I was coming out?”
Suddenly, Woman 2 who remained at the table asked while sweeping back her hair. Her slow gestures were elegant. To what extent? Enough to seem like she’d match well with the prince-like Jang Woogyun. I lowered my gaze and covered my mouth with the ice cream.
“I don’t know.”
Cha Geonhyeok, who glanced at me, answered her. She laughed, “Pfft.”
“I dated Jang Woogyun briefly. I thought he’d naturally come out if I came to the group date, but he didn’t come in the end.”
“What… Did you come to the group date for that?”
“Well, you could say that. But now that I’m out here having fun, it’s entertaining. Geonhyeok-ah, should I give you my number?”
“Fuck off.”
Cha Geonhyeok, who cursed softly unlike the meaning of the word, threw down his ice cream stick onto the table. At his appearance, Woogyun’s ex-girlfriend laughed. I looked at the discarded stick and blinked my heavy eyelids. My lips felt cold.
“Woogyun really has that sharp side to him. Pass along my regards to him.”
“Do it yourself. Hey, get up so we can go home.”
Cha Geonhyeok spoke while pulling out the ice cream from my mouth. My lips stung. I fumblingly caressed my lips with my fingers when my arm was grabbed. Cha Geonhyeok, who stood me up, dragged me along.
“You’re not taking him?”
Woogyun’s ex-girlfriend pointed at Classmate 1 who was lying face down on the table with her Melona and asked. Cha Geonhyeok, who had his arm around my waist, shook his head.
“I don’t know where he lives. Just leave him. That guy will take care of it. We’re leaving.”
Cha Geonhyeok, who gestured with his chin toward the dartboard, stepped away.
“Go well. I had fun today.”
Woogyun’s ex-girlfriend, who spoke in a calm voice, waved her hand. I turned around with difficulty and waved back at her. She smiled gently. Even her farewell was dignified.
The place where the bar was located was only the second floor, but perhaps judging that it would be difficult to use the stairs, Cha Geonhyeok stood in front of the elevator. I, who was held by him, also stood in front of it.
“You’re not eating more?”
Cha Geonhyeok asked while taking a big bite of my ice cream that he had snatched earlier. I raised my drooping arm, hugged his waist, and opened my mouth. He turned the ice cream and held it out so I could eat easily. I took a bite and rubbed my lips on Cha Geonhyeok’s chest. Cha Geonhyeok’s white t-shirt was stained greenish-blue.
“Ah, what are you doing.”
Cha Geonhyeok smacked my forehead. The scolding ended there, and he finished off the one bite of ice cream that remained. The elevator door opened. No one was there. We got on while sticking close together and stumbling, and the door closed. Our touching bodies were hot with alcohol. The descending elevator’s movement was vivid.
“I’m catching a taxi.”
Cha Geonhyeok said. His voice tasted like ice cream.
“…I don’t have condoms at home.”
“I have some.”
The elevator quickly arrived at the first floor. Before the door opened, I let go of Cha Geonhyeok’s waist that I’d been hugging. Properly held by him, I left the building.
As Cha Geonhyeok planned, we caught a taxi. We sat slightly apart in the back seat and headed to my place. Cha Geonhyeok paid the fare, and held by him again, I struggled up the villa stairs. I kept entering the door lock password wrong in front of the door, so Cha Geonhyeok got irritated and entered the number instead of me. I staggered inside the house. And as soon as the door closed, we kissed. Without regard for who started first.
* * *
My body flinched. Why did it do that? An unpleasant noise squeezed into my dull, slowly turning mind. The sound and beat were constant. It was annoying.
The mattress heaved. *Shit.* I heard a low cursing sound, and something brushed against my face. The noise that had been gradually becoming clearer stopped.
The mattress heaved again. Body temperature touched my back and lower abdomen. It was warm and quiet, so I lost consciousness.
*Chirp. Chirp chirp.*
Bird sounds that I usually couldn’t hear well rang out. My eyelids were ticklish. The head of the bed was warm, and the inside of the blanket was cozy. Even before opening my eyes, my head felt somehow clear. That is, refreshed.
“……”
Refreshed? My body feels refreshed on a weekday when I have a morning class? I opened my eyes. I sat up abruptly. The heavy arm wrapped around my waist fell with a *thud.* I closed and opened my stiff eyes and looked down at the arm’s owner. Cha Geonhyeok, his face half-buried in the pillow, was sleeping soundly. Yesterday’s memories quickly came to me.
Group date, alcohol, ice cream, kiss, sex, and major class. While running through the timeline, I picked up the phone lying on the floor with an anxious heart. Sure enough, half of the first period major class had flown by.
*Ngh.* I threw the phone onto the blanket and buried my face in my knees. Major classes were for me the one and only very precious time when I could legally steal glances at Woogyun’s profile or the back of his head. But I’d wasted half of that.
The fortunate thing was that the next class was also a major. If I prepared from now without dawdling, I could attend the next class without being late. It was certainly disappointing that my time with Woogyun had been cut in half, but what’s past couldn’t be helped. Now that it had come to this, I had to at least protect well what I had. I let go of my legs I’d been hugging and flung back the blanket.
I led my body that was stiff all over to the kitchen. I gulped down a glass of water and entered the bathroom. I quickly washed from head to toe. I even brushed my teeth thoroughly and came out shaking my head. I immediately saw the broad back of Cha Geonhyeok occupying the mattress.
My studio apartment, which I’d chosen together with my parents who took leave to come up to Seoul, had a well-designed layout for a studio so it didn’t feel stuffy. Being the corner room of the building, it had many windows, and because I didn’t bring in much furniture, it looked even more spacious, but perhaps because of the one beast named Cha Geonhyeok, today’s atmosphere was quite different from usual. It felt somehow full. One foot sticking out beyond the mattress contributed to that impression. I continued shaking my hair as I went in front of the built-in closet next to the bathroom.
This was the second time Cha Geonhyeok had slept in my room until morning sun rose. The first time was the day we first had sex, and except for that time, he would return to his home not long after sex ended. Because the purpose was sex, both he and I took it for granted. So the sight of Cha Geonhyeok sleeping while receiving morning sunlight on my bed was unfamiliar.
Anyway, doing it two days in a row? Isn’t that too frequent? I shouldn’t do it for a while. While thinking that inwardly, I fumbled to put on clothes. I took them off and put them on again. One outfit, two outfits, three outfits. While checking the clock hanging on the wall, I looked at my appearance in the mirror several times. When I judged that this would be good enough, I grabbed a banana and shouldered my bag.
“Lee Yunhae…”
Around that time, Cha Geonhyeok called me in a heavily sleep-laden voice. He was lying face down on the mattress with only his eyes narrowly open. He was like a beast drunk on sleep.
“What?”
“Where are you going?”
“To school. Aren’t you going?”
Come to think of it, he’s my classmate too. Does he take today’s major class?
“It’s annoying.”
“Then don’t go. I’m going.”
I went to the entrance and slipped my feet into my sneakers. *Rustle,* a sound rang out. When I raised my head, I saw the back of Cha Geonhyeok who had adjusted the blanket to cover himself again. For some reason, it seemed to smell like sun-dried sunlight. It’s been a while since I washed the blankets. I scratched my cheek and left the house.
When I arrived at school, the first period major class was almost over. Having cleanly abandoned regret, I headed straight to the next major class lecture hall, and there I met Kim Hoseong. Kim Hoseong was the first classmate I’d exchanged names with after coming to university. We’d sat next to each other on the bus during orientation and shared the same room. Becoming close was natural.
“Is the class before this already over?”
Kim Hoseong, who had been enthusiastically playing a game on his phone, spoke to me. I sat down next to him while putting the major textbook I’d taken from my locker on the desk.
“I didn’t go.”
“What? The guy who would diligently attend major classes even after drinking until dawn the night before—why?”
“I was sleeping and couldn’t hear my alarm.”
“Wow, crazy… They said you can’t come to your senses in a different way if you have a group date with English Literature sophomores, and in the end you’ve become like this too.”
Kim Hoseong spoke while busily moving his fingers. Having finished preparing for class, I was looking at the front door but turned to look at him.
“What?”
“What?”
Kim Hoseong, who didn’t understand the meaning of the question, asked back. I covered his phone screen with my hand, which only seemed to interfere with the conversation. Kim Hoseong mercilessly pushed me away with his arm and continued his game. Having no choice, I obediently put my hands on my knees and turned to face Kim Hoseong.
