Surprised by his appearance so different from usual, he blurted out his inner thoughts. It was a soliloquy, but since he’d said it while looking at his eyes, it became addressing him.
‘I had no intention of talking to this guy.’
But since he’d already made a sound, he thought they’d exchange a short conversation. However, contrary to Jae-min’s expectations, Hyun-woong swept over Jae-min with sharp eyes, then took a big step forward.
Though their heights were clearly similar, perhaps because of his build, he looked much bigger. At the momentum like a wild bear, Jae-min involuntarily swallowed. It was that moment when tension was rising.
“Move aside so I can pass.”
His voice was low enough to sink underground. It was like being struck on the crown of the head with an ice pick. As Jae-min stopped with his mouth hanging open, Hyun-woong stretched out his long legs and brushed past him.
His shirt fluttered, and soon only Hyun-woong’s broad back was visible. Like an angry person, he quickly moved away with wide strides.
“What the hell?”
Only after he’d left did Jae-min mutter. Just now Jae-min had definitely done nothing. He hadn’t picked a fight, hadn’t cursed. How could he express such terrifying intimidation just because he’d uttered “What the?”
He felt clear hostility. It seemed like he hated him.
‘I’m the one whose girlfriend was suddenly stolen?’
Jae-min’s pale face flushed red with anger and absurdity.
“Bear bastard…”
Hatred toward Hyun-woong kept welling up. Jae-min clenched his fist tightly and glared in the direction Hyun-woong had left.
⁕⁕⁕
“The only thing better about him than me is that his body’s thicker, damn bear bastard.”
Jae-min, sitting deeply in his chair almost lying down, ground his teeth. Seeing him scratching his throat and shouting “Ugh!”, Yeong-gyu let out an empty laugh.
“Hey, are you talking about Kang Hyun-woong again? You cursed him so much that day and again?”
“So what. Can’t I curse twice? I hate him even more than before.”
Friends can listen to some backbiting, Jae-min frowned and raised his slender middle finger. Yeong-gyu shook his head. “Who’s Kang Hyun-woong?”
Then Jin-su suddenly stuck his head in. He too, like Yeong-gyu, was Jae-min’s high school classmate—a friend he’d learned guitar with. Yeong-gyu answered in Jae-min’s place.
“There is one. A gym rat type at their school, I guess. Apparently his body is really good.”
“Really good? If muscles are stupidly big, is that all really good? I’m telling you he’s just like a bear?”
At Yeong-gyu’s explanation, Jae-min shouted sharply. Jin-su, nodding as if he understood, brought beer to his lips.
“A bear? A muscular bear would be amazing. Girls like that style!”
Before Jin-su’s words even finished, Jae-min picked up a squid leg and threw it at his face. Jin-su, not being agile, got hit squarely in the face. Seeing Jin-su screaming “Kyaak,” Yeong-gyu clicked his tongue.
“Crazy bastard, don’t pour oil on fire.”
Only then did Jin-su, who noticed the atmosphere, blink. It was because he recalled the romantic situation update he’d heard from Jae-min just a few minutes ago.
“Don’t tell me your girlfriend’s new guy is him?”
“I’ll throw another squid. Dodge it this time if you can.”
“Oh, correct answer. Sorry.”
“Get lost.”
Jae-min held out his middle finger once more. At his chilled expression, Jin-su awkwardly creaked his body upright. Then he snapped his fingers as if remembering something to say.
“Hey, hey, but still you should be thankful you’re flat there. You know that disease going around among muscle monsters these days.”
The place Jin-su pointed to with his hand was his own chest. At words he was hearing for the first time, Jae-min frowned.
“What disease?”
“Huh? You don’t even watch the news?”
It was news to him too. When Jae-min looked to the side, Yeong-gyu also had a bewildered expression.
“What is it? I don’t know either.”
Jin-su, who clicked his tongue, took out his phone.
“You frustrating guys. Wait, I’ll show you. Look, it comes right up!”
After tapping the screen a few times, Jin-su immediately found an internet article and showed it to his friends. Jae-min received Jin-su’s phone and held it. Yeong-gyu stuck right next to Jae-min and looked at the article on the screen.
[IT/Science] The rare disease ‘Male Lactogenesis-Symptom’ that 0.3% of MZ generation men are suffering from these days
(Haru Economics/Reporter Yu So-young) ‘MLS’ is short for Male Lactogenesis-Symptom, a rare disease occurring in young men in their 20s-30s. This disease is particularly appearing in men with developed upper body muscles, and the representative symptom is that a milky white liquid that can only be described as ‘milk’ accumulates in the chest and is secreted through the nipples. It has been revealed that if the secretions are not discharged in time, they can experience engorgement similar to muscle pain.
Patients suspecting male breast cancer visited medical institutions and received detailed examinations, but none of them were diagnosed with cancer. Medical staff are currently in the process of identifying the cause.
“Eww? Wait a minute. Men, what, milk?”
Yeong-gyu flinched and pulled his body back, and Jae-min only raised his head with a frown. Jin-su took back his phone and placed it with a thud on the table.
“Still, the composition must be different from real milk, right? Anyway, the interesting thing is that it’s appearing rarely only in men with considerably developed chest muscles.”
Jin-su bent his hands slightly and placed them in front of his flat chest. It was a hand shape as if holding two melons. When his friends’ contemptuous gazes focused on him, Jin-su giggled and removed his hands.
“Therefore, there’s absolutely no way we’ll get it! If you hate that bastard so much, just pray he gets that disease.”
“…Disgusting. Isn’t this a bullshit article?”
Jae-min scrunched up his handsome face deeply and swept back his bangs. Though he’d read the article, he couldn’t believe it at all. It seemed like a strange and unpleasant topic that would only appear in some third-rate comedy movie.
At the unpleasant feeling, he tried to drink more alcohol, but the bottle was empty. Forgetting about alcohol, looking at his friends still chattering about the nonsense article, Jae-min tapped the table.
“Hey, let’s order more alcohol.”
That day, Jae-min drank heavily. There was also the thought that once he started his part-time job, he’d definitely make fewer drinking appointments, so he should drink a lot this time while playing. Getting drunk made his head hazy, and the article he’d read earlier felt more and more like something seen in a dream.
But Jae-min realized in less than a few days that it wasn’t a false article, novel material, or something seen in a dream.
⁕⁕⁕
The first day of work at the part-time job Uncle had introduced dawned.
Though it was the first day of “work,” he didn’t know exactly what the job was, and it was just a day to receive simple training first since it was “medical”-related work he was doing for the first time in his life. He had to go straight after finishing class. Jae-min went to school in more modest clothing than usual.
Exactly one week had passed since receiving Uncle’s proposal to try working, and Thursday when he had to take the ‘Writing and Logic’ lecture again came around. Jae-min trudged along the familiar path and arrived at the lecture hall. Since the front door felt somehow crowded, he moved a bit more and opened the back door.
With a clatter, Jae-min, who stepped inside the opened door, briefly glanced sideways at an annoying shadow right next to him.
Hyun-woong, who had come early and taken his seat, was there. This lecture had assigned seating to begin with, and perhaps because they were both tall, both Jae-min and Hyun-woong had been assigned seats in the very back row.
Jae-min’s seat was by the window, Hyun-woong’s by the door in the very back.
“Hmm…”
Today Hyun-woong was dressed in a loose navy sweatshirt and black sweatpants. Since it wasn’t tight-fitting clothes but a relaxed fit, his frame looked even more massive than usual.
His broad shoulders and wide back looked like they were showing off even while he was sitting still, which was annoying. Jae-min didn’t go straight to his seat but stood tall and glared at Hyun-woong’s back.
Whether he didn’t even feel the piercing gaze, Hyun-woong didn’t even turn around and only looked at his phone. Though there had clearly been the sound of someone opening the door and entering, he paid no attention. At a glance, he seemed to be searching for something on an internet portal site, almost being sucked in.
Jae-min clicked his tongue shortly and walked to his assigned seat, throwing down his bag with a thud. After sitting down, he scanned toward the door once more. Hyun-woong didn’t take his eyes off his phone with a serious expression.
Frowning deeply, no matter how you looked at it, his eyes looked really fierce.
“I’m sure many students thought there would only be individual assignments since it’s a writing class. But as it says in the syllabus, this class has one team project.”
The lecture started, and the professor continued explaining the assignment in a dry tone.
“Think of it as practice in summarizing and organizing a long thesis with a partner to reveal the logical structure.”
