Everyone burst into boisterous laughter at the joke. Jun-wan also smiled blandly and slowly swirled the beer glass in his hand.
“Then can I start to pace myself now?”
“Why, do you think it’s going to kick in again?”
“Actually, I’ve been at my limit for a while. If I drink two or three more glasses here, I think it’ll be hard to stay conscious.”
When he deliberately spoke weakly, the professors were horrified as if by appointment.
“Jun-wan, put down your glass. Hey, don’t give Park Jun-wan any more alcohol from now on!”
It wasn’t exactly pleasant for the past to become a topic again, but thanks to that, he was able to take care of himself. Jun-wan moistened his mouth with water instead of alcohol. He only looked fine on the outside; the truth was it was difficult. Fortunately, Jun-wan could perfectly gauge his body’s condition and his alcohol tolerance for the day.
While drunkenness sometimes came suddenly, in Jun-wan’s case, it went through several stages. First, his consciousness would blur, then he would fall into a deep sleep, and after waking up, he would commit unsightly acts.
Because there was almost no change in his complexion or speech, it was difficult for those around him to detect. That’s why Park Jun-wan’s own control was important.
Current intoxication level: 86%. Jun-wan tightly grasped his consciousness. When he lived alone, there was no problem, but now he had someone living with him. Even if he died, he had to return home in his right mind.
The dinner atmosphere became more heated. Finishing things in one round was a characteristic of Korea University’s science and engineering departments.
As time passed, the number of drunk people increased significantly. Jun-wan couldn’t resist the atmosphere and received and drank one or two more glasses. When beer-soju mix and whiskey were mixed indiscriminately, his head rang dully. Now he really had to restrain himself. He felt the limit was imminent.
“Seong-a, that water glass over there.”
“Yes, Professor!”
His junior was already giving him devoted treatment. Seong-a held up the stainless steel cup with both hands and handed it over.
“Don’t overdo it.”
“I’m serious! I love you. I respect you, senior!”
He laughed at his junior’s drunk rambling. She must have drunk a lot. Jun-wan, who had been taking a sip of water, put down the cup for a moment and furrowed his brow.
“Senior, what’s wrong?”
“…This is soju.”
“What? Ah, shit! Who’s the bastard who poured soju in the water glass!”
The graduate students weren’t in their right minds either. In that noisy chaos, Jun-wan pressed his eyelids shut.
This is crazy.
It was just one sip of alcohol. But that small amount of alcohol had crossed the limit he had in mind.
The dinner only broke up after 1 AM. Jun-wan stayed until the end to see off the professors, then got into his car.
Jun-wan, sitting in the back seat, waited for the designated driver with his dizzy head leaning against the seat. His hand gripping the phone was clenched tight.
In Jun-wan’s view, his current condition was hovering over a dangerous level. He tried to stay conscious even if it meant biting his tongue. He didn’t know how long this would last.
Is he asleep?
He couldn’t stay out overnight, so he had to avoid meeting Kim Yu-shin even with a suitable excuse. Jun-wan squinted one eye and searched for Yu-shin’s contact.
Yu-shin answered the phone after a while. He didn’t seem to be asleep, as his voice through the speaker was clear.
—Is the dinner over?
“Kim Yu-shin… Lock the bedroom door.”
—What are you talking about? Are you drunk?
Kim Yu-shin’s voice became more languid as night fell. Listening to it made him feel drowsy as well. Jun-wan pressed his temple hard to try to stay conscious.
“Or go to the Main House… Call a taxi now, quickly.”
—You’re drunk. You’re drunk.
Yu-shin laughed lowly on the other end of the phone. Jun-wan exhaled a long breath with the back of his hand covering his eyes. He repeated the same request until he heard a definite answer. He thought he heard some kind of response, but he couldn’t tell if it was a dream or reality.
The designated driver arrived. A man who appeared to be in his 40s gave a friendly greeting, then drove the car according to the home address registered in the navigation.
—Park Jun-wan. Come back safely.
The hand holding the phone loosely fell onto his thigh. Jun-wan didn’t hear Yu-shin’s reminder, struggling with his heavy eyelids.
After a while, the car arrived in front of the house. The designated driver showed an awkward smile seeing the customer who had completely fallen asleep. When there was no response no matter how much he tried to wake him, he eventually opened the door and got out.
When he pressed the doorbell, a young man came out to the gate. Yu-shin, who opened the car door, immediately clicked his tongue upon seeing the completely drunk Jun-wan. His condition was worse than expected.
How am I supposed to move this? The tall body was absolutely impossible to support alone. It was embarrassing, but he requested help from the designated driver.
They grunted together and moved him into the house. The distance from the garage to the front door was so far. Yu-shin collapsed on the floor as soon as they crossed the entrance. Having exerted himself in the middle of the night, sticky sweat formed on his nape.
“Hah, sir. Phew, thank you.”
“Of course I should help. Oh my, your husband is very drunk.”
It seemed the designated driver recognized the two of them. The interest revealed in his grinning face was embarrassing. Yu-shin paid him generously, including a gratuity. After finishing the farewell, only the drunk and him remained in the house.
“Park Jun-wan, you’re completely out of it.”
Yu-shin crouched down and poked Jun-wan’s cheek. The man was deeply asleep and didn’t show even the slightest movement. Whether his face was pressed or his bangs were tousled, he just became Yu-shin’s toy.
The small entrance vestibule filled with the smell of alcohol. Cold air was rising from the tile floor. Yu-shin looked down at the sleeping body with a furrowed brow.
“Ah, I should have asked him to move you to the second floor.”
It was a situation with no answer. But he couldn’t leave Jun-wan on the cold floor. Yu-shin stared at the quietly sleeping face for a while, then took a picture of him with his phone. He just took it randomly to tease him later, but it was amazing that it came out well even so.
After roughly placing the phone on the floor, he moved position and inserted both arms between Jun-wan’s armpits. Heave-ho! When he exerted force, the tall man was dragged along a little.
A drunk person becomes twice as heavy as their original weight. It took over 20 minutes just to drag him from the entrance to the living room, and Yu-shin thought his back was going to break.
“What am I, ugh, doing, hah, at this hour… whew!”
He eventually gave up in the middle of the living room. There was no way he could move him to the sofa even if he died. Yu-shin sat down next to Jun-wan’s head and tilted his dizzy head back.
While sitting still and catching his breath, the man who hadn’t moved flinched his arm. His closed eyelids also slowly lifted. Jun-wan had woken up.
Yu-shin watched that scene with his back leaning diagonally.
Wow, I worked hard to move him and now he wakes up? He even felt somewhat deflated. Without the strength to move a finger, he just watched to see what Jun-wan would do.
“……”
Jun-wan, who sat up straight, showed no particular movement even after waking. His broad back just quietly rose and fell, as if he might be dozing off like that.
The quiet state bothered him. Yu-shin stealthily pressed the floor and stood up, approaching in front of him.
“Excuse me, ahjussi.”
“……”
“Are you a bit conscious? Do you know where you are?”
Yu-shin snapped his fingers in front of Jun-wan’s face, making crisp sounds. Jun-wan reacted to that annoying sound.
His pale face slowly lifted, and his unfocused eyes found Yu-shin. Park Jun-wan drunk—the sight was quite fresh, so Yu-shin gently gazed into his eyes.
“You hid it so desperately, I wondered how disgraceful it would be, but at this level, your drinking habits are docile…”
At the sensation of touching and detaching with a smooch, Yu-shin stopped mid-sentence. He was so surprised he froze in his laughing state.
What is this?
Before he could protest, Jun-wan brought his lips again. The soft flesh left its mark once more on Yu-shin’s lips.
His thought process turned sluggish. Yu-shin slowly blinked his eyes. Eyes that couldn’t find any reason were quietly looking into him. It took 30 seconds to make eye contact, and about a minute to realize the reality.
“…What are you doing right…”
He pushed Jun-wan’s shoulder away. With that recoil, Yu-shin ended up hitting his butt on the floor.
He lifted his head and stared at Jun-wan blankly. The drunk person only maintained silence, with no sign of embarrassment on his face at all.
Jun-wan placed one knee on the floor. As his upper body leaned forward, a huge shadow covered Yu-shin.
His body instinctively leaned back, sensing danger. Yu-shin still couldn’t understand this situation.
“Park Jun-wan, why… are you being like this?”
“……”
“Don’t you know who I am?”
“Kim Yu-shin.”
With that short response, his nape was seized. With strong grip strength, he bit into Yu-shin’s cheek. His soft tongue tip licked the area scraped by his front teeth. A cry escaped involuntarily.
“You cra—wait, a sec—! Ah!”
Yu-shin forcefully pushed the shoulders pinning him down. His upper body, which had been half-raised, was completely flattened to the floor. Jun-wan occupied the space above and stubbornly brought his face close.
It was practically a lip collision. No matter how generously one tried to view it, the rough contact wasn’t a beautiful sight. As Yu-shin shook his head, Jun-wan’s lips crushed and rubbed against his face.
“Mmph, ngh.”
Even the sounds struggling to escape were wails rather than moans. No matter how much he pushed at the shoulders, they wouldn’t budge, so Yu-shin grabbed the back of Jun-wan’s head. When he gripped it hard enough to pull the scalp up, only then did Jun-wan’s face retreat slightly.
“Haa, what are you, doing? Snap out of it!”
