“Is that good?”
“I’ll only eat once. Go take care of other juniors.”
“Then I’ll have to go farther out.”
What is this all about? Watching Jeong Minho, who even picked up his bag, Woojae let out a sigh. I should squeeze him for something really expensive. That was about all he could do. As they left the building, Jeong Minho talked endlessly.
“Besides the department office, what other part-time jobs do you do?”
“The dormitory convenience store and the library.”
“That’s impressive. You must have to study too, isn’t it difficult?”
“Not really.”
I even did manual labor, so what’s the big deal about that? Compared to the chattering Jeong Minho, Woojae’s answers were brief. To begin with, he had nothing more to say since he was walking with someone he had no interest in. The weather was fucking nice. Nice enough to think that the cherry blossoms might bloom a bit early due to abnormal temperature phenomena. How little interest did Woojae have in the person next to him that he focused more on the weather?
Jeong Minho and Woojae were like an enthusiastic new teacher and a listless elementary school student. Though Woojae was a bit too grown to be an elementary school student.
“What kind of food do you like?”
“……”
Woojae kept his mouth shut tight. Gye Sajun was standing at the end over there. He was ridiculously staring straight at him.
You bastard, good to see you. But then it occurred to him that there was no reason to be angry. Things with him had ended that day. He’d found out the movie title, the proof photo was a condition that never even existed, and he and Gye Sajun were no longer on terms to exchange greetings. They’d never been on such terms to begin with, and it was him who had spoken first anyway.
But why now, was he looking this way? Feeling somehow uneasy, Woojae couldn’t even answer Jeong Minho’s words and turned away from Gye Sajun. His gaze, having lost its destination, turned to the white clouds crossing the blue sky. The shape of the clouds today looked like shit. Like that cock Gye Sajun had given him.
“Don’t you have any food you like? Or dislike?”
Jeong Minho persistently asked. Honestly, after coming this far, the other side could have left saying he was annoying, but his will was impressive. Being vice president of the student council isn’t for just anyone, huh.
“I like anything as long as it has meat.”
“I see. Then let’s eat meat. What kind of meat do you like best?”
“Just any meat. Except human meat.”
“Hahaha. Woojae, you’re funny. Really.”
The last time he saw Gye Sajun’s face, it had a somehow unpleasant expression. Is his mood bad from making eye contact? When he glanced over, he was still standing there like a waiting stone. What are you looking at? Woojae shot at him with his mouth shape. Of course, there was no telling if Gye Sajun read it correctly.
***
“Is it delicious?”
“Of course. It’s meat.”
He’d thought of an ordinary meat restaurant, but the place Jeong Minho dragged him to was a high-end restaurant with individual rooms. He had wanted to mooch something expensive, but this was a bit uncomfortable. Since a staff member who opened the sliding door came in and served each dish individually, there was no need to grill meat in front of the grill just because he was young.
Moreover, it was beef. My god, look at that marbling. Nari likes beef too…
“It’s even more delicious if you eat it like this.”
There’s no need to pick it up for me. Jeong Minho diligently took care of the plate in front of Woojae. With unfamiliar food, an unfamiliar restaurant, and an unfamiliar person all mixed together, he felt uncomfortable before anything else. In the midst of all that, the food was fucking delicious, so he vowed that if he ever made a lot of money, he would definitely bring Nari to this place.
While he was immersed in such thoughts, Jeong Minho broke the silence.
“How did you get in that day? Woojae, I remember you were pretty drunk.”
Ah, of all things, it was a story related to Gye Sajun.
“A classmate I live with in the dorm brought me back.”
“Hmm, who? That day I took the Magnolia Hall kids separately…”
“…Gye Sajun.”
Jeong Minho, who made him spit out that name with his own mouth, was annoying. Strange eyes scoured Woojae’s face thoroughly.
“Ah, Sajun…”
Jeong Minho recited Gye Sajun’s name with a strange nuance as if he understood.
“Are you two close?”
“No. We’re not close.”
“Really? Well, I think I heard you fought… Is that why you’re not close now?”
Where did he hear that we fought? Ah, whatever. Think what you want.
Woojae picked up a piece of well-cooked meat and shoved it into his mouth. They said the marbling was amazing, and it seemed like the most delicious meat he’d ever eaten in his life. The more he ate, the more he even felt guilty. A faint vibration rang in the quiet room for a moment, then Jeong Minho took out his phone from his pocket.
“Ah… How annoying.”
Jeong Minho, who was staring intently at the screen, muttered to himself quietly. He’s got a bit of an attitude. It was unexpected. Jeong Minho made a subtle expression, frowning while seeming to hold back laughter.
“Woojae, is your afternoon lecture by any chance Professor Min’s lecture? That class will be canceled.”
Canceled? It was true that he had Professor Min’s lecture. Watching him, who had suddenly seen through his schedule, Woojae asked.
“Canceled? Without even saying anything beforehand, how—”
Even if he’s a professor, still. His brow narrowed at the sudden news of cancellation. But his shallow complaint ended with Jeong Minho’s next words.
“Yeah, that professor’s father passed away. He couldn’t have said anything beforehand. I got a text saying it was a car accident. You’ll get contacted soon too.”
“Ah…”
Woojae’s complexion turned ashen in an instant. Enough to put down the meat he was eating. Jeong Minho, judging that reaction somehow, looked at Woojae’s complexion with an “oh dear.”
“Ah, it upset your stomach. Sorry.”
“…No, it’s not that.”
Is that something to use the word “stomach” for? His heart was pounding hard as his expression contorted. Jeong Minho’s word choice was inconsiderate and ignorant. Woojae furrowed his brow with a pale face. Jeong Minho even showed a smile without any particular condolences despite someone dying. Perhaps he’d been smiling from the start.
“Since it’s come to this, should we hang out a bit more before going back?”
A voice tinged with laughter offered the suggestion with a joyful air. Woojae unconsciously clutched his chest at his heart that felt like it would burst and asked back as if he couldn’t believe it. Someone died, and “since it’s come to this”?
“What?”
“We have time. It’s a shame to go back after just eating. Want to drink?”
“I don’t day-drink.”
He even suggested drinking. Woojae’s lips hardened as he gave a robotic answer. Jeong Minho was still smiling.
“That sounds like something someone who’s done it a lot would say. Woojae, you can hold your liquor.”
“I’m not weak.”
“I can’t drink since I brought my car, but can’t I at least watch you drink? Let me get vicarious satisfaction.”
He was feeling worse and worse. This is why Alpha bastards are no good. Nausea and repulsion simultaneously surged up from deep within his stomach. No matter how much of a stranger, someone died. Someone died…
The words “car accident” lingered in Woojae’s mind.
“Just buy a bottle and drink it alone when you get back.”
“You’re so prickly that hyung is hurt too. That’s only cute once or twice.”
His stomach was churning, and he wanted to go back right away, but because they’d come so far out, there was no way to return without Jeong Minho’s help. Woojae tried to settle his constantly nauseating stomach and, with a still pale face, appeased Jeong Minho without emotion.
“…Let’s drink together next time.”
“Really? Then it’s a promise.”
Fuck off. The curse lingering at the corner of his mouth tapped his tongue persistently.
“It’s a shame to just go back like this, should we have a cup of coffee before we go?”
Jeong Minho recommended to Woojae with a consistently affectionate voice. Because of this, he briefly suspected whether he had falsely announced the obituary news in order to lure him out. Falsely conveying obituary news was also senseless, but it would be better if it were a lie. Acting as if he’d seized an opportunity in another person’s death was unbearably disgusting. But even that was shattered to pieces by the class cancellation text that arrived on Woojae’s phone.
The message that began with the letters “Class Cancellation Notice” was announcing the death of Professor Min’s father, who was in Woojae’s timetable. From that moment on, his mood really became terribly ruined. Honestly, it was disastrous. Though he’d never expected anything from Jeong Minho to begin with, he felt like he was buried in a huge pile of garbage. Perhaps it was even more so because he was an Alpha, nothing else. A memory that he couldn’t forget no matter how hard he tried to forget opened its maw as if to swallow Woojae whole, undulating.
“Ah, it’s really a shame. We could have had a drink together and spent the night.”
During the time from the restaurant to Jeong Minho’s car, Woojae had to steady his breathing several times. He couldn’t focus at all.
“Woojae, I want to become close with you. The way things are now, it’s hard to have a school life. There are a lot of kids who dislike you too.”
Not really, he didn’t care about that. Who am I that everyone would like me? Jeong Minho stroked Woojae’s shoulder with his right hand that wasn’t holding the steering wheel. It was unpleasant, but he didn’t even have the energy to swat it away.
To Jeong Minho, who kept moving his mouth saying he’d take him all the way to the front of Magnolia Hall, Woojae eventually conveyed that he wasn’t feeling well. Jeong Minho worried about Woojae in an exaggeratedly pitying tone. It was a completely different appearance from when he’d learned the obituary news.
“Did you get motion sickness or something? You should have said. We could have rested for a bit before coming back.”
“No. I’ll be going now.”
Rest before coming back? The reason he said it was annoying when he received the obituary contact was clear. Because as the vice president of the department’s student council, he had to show his face at the professor’s father’s funeral. The guy who was thinking about hanging out with him in the midst of that was disgusting.
