“Ha….”
He picked up his phone as it started vibrating again. Minjun wasn’t the type to give up just because he was being ignored. When he wanted something, he’d send messages nonstop, and if you didn’t reply, he’d call nonstop.
“Ugh, what.”
— Oh, you’re alive? Bold of you to ghost my texts, though.
“Sorry. Why are you calling in the middle of the day?”
— You didn’t forget about the blind date tomorrow, right?
At Minjun’s words, Doyun shot upright in his seat. The sluggish excitement that had been building in his body vanished instantly. He’d thought there was still plenty of time before the blind date, but while he’d been mindlessly letting time slip by, tomorrow had crept up on him.
“Of course I remembered. Obviously.”
Doyun answered in a calm voice. But the moment he did, Minjun’s scolding followed right after.
— Oh. Zero credibility in that voice. Hey, hey — don’t ignore my texts, make sure you read everything I sent. And let’s get together soon. We’ve gotta finish off that whiskey Eunho brought.
“Ha, you’re all going to drown in a vat of alcohol someday….”
Doyun sighed as he spoke. That damn whiskey. It was obvious he was using the whiskey as an excuse to force a reconciliation. Minjun and Suhyeok — model students who had maintained smooth social lives and outstanding grades throughout their school years — didn’t know much else, but when it came to alcohol, they were absolutely obsessed.
When they’d had their first drinks as adults and declared it was like a whole new world opening up to them, the two of them were perpetually wasted every weekend. Doyun, on the other hand, enjoyed the atmosphere of drinking with friends more than the alcohol itself, and Eunho — though he had the highest tolerance of the four — wasn’t the type to drink aggressively either.
— Sa Eunho says he won’t open the bottle without you. I mean, you two were always glued together making everyone cringe, so what the hell did you even fight about to make such a scene?!
“We didn’t fight….”
— Then go back to following each other around like lovebirds. Oh, and I sent a few blind date tips — make sure you’re prepared before you go. Got it?
At Minjun’s words, Doyun hesitated for a moment.
“About the blind date….”
— What.
The way Minjun’s tone went ice-cold in an instant — as if he already knew exactly what Doyun was about to say — made Doyun change his mind.
“Never mind. Never mind, forget it.”
— After the blind date tomorrow, patch things up with Eunho too. Got it? I think Friday this week would be perfect to crack open the bottle.
That stupid whiskey. I wanted to tell him I’d buy it myself, so would he please stop going on about making up with Eunho — but he didn’t have the spare cash to casually shell out hundreds of thousands of won on whiskey the way Eunho did. Doyun answered in a defeated voice that he understood, then hung up the phone listlessly.
***
Maybe it was because he’d blurted out some promise about no dating and staying celibate — but heading to the blind date, he felt strangely guilty. Still, he couldn’t cancel a plan that had been set long before just because he felt a little unsettled. There didn’t seem to be much potential for it to develop into something romantic, but since they were both taking time out of their days to meet, he resolved to at least give it his best effort.
But on the day of the blind date —
It felt as if the entire universe was rooting for Doyun’s blind date to crash and burn. There was no other explanation for how spectacularly disastrous it was.
First, he was late. He’d left home earlier than usual, but absurdly enough, the subway stopped running. Not wanting it to sound like an excuse, he’d gone out of his way to get a delay certificate from the station and showed it to his date without apology. She let out a short sigh and replied, “It’s fine,” with a face that looked anything but.
Dinner at the Italian restaurant Minjun had recommended went reasonably well, all things considered. He’d tried hard to carry the conversation in an effort to loosen the stiff atmosphere, but there was no way his shy nature was going to improve in a single day. Mid-sentence, words would escape him and he’d fumble with, “Ah, that, that, that—” His date didn’t seem to be outgoing either, and suffocating silences kept falling between them.
While Doyun was sweating through those silences, Eunho — who hadn’t been in contact at all until now — kept sending him messages. Doyun, who had been mechanically pushing pasta into his mouth across from his date, sneaked a glance at his phone under the table.
Are you never going to see me again?
ㄴ
He couldn’t write a long reply, so he sent back a single consonant — the simplest possible response. Then it suddenly occurred to him that Eunho might misread it. He’d sent it as a negation — a denial of never seeing him again, meaning he would see him again someday — but looked at differently, it could just as easily sound like confirmation that he would never see him again. Doyun half-listened to his date while turning it over in his mind. In the meantime, another message came from Eunho.
Tell me when the blind date’s over. I’ll come pick you up.
??why no no
Doyun’s eyes narrowed as he read Eunho’s message. He’d mentioned the blind date before, but he’d never said where they were meeting. It was strange, too — how suddenly eager Eunho was being about meeting up after it was over.
“The seafood pasta’s really good.”
Doyun said awkwardly.
“Oh, right. This risotto is good too.”
The two phrases exchanged most over lunch were “The food’s not bad” and “The food’s good.” Whether the pasta was going into his mouth or up his nose, he couldn’t tell, but they kept repeating “it’s delicious” like some kind of incantation. As the food on their plates dwindled, both Doyun and his date grew increasingly anxious. Then his date was the first to work up the courage.
“I actually have something urgent to take care of, so I don’t think I can make it to the café.”
She finished her meal and disappeared with a radiant smile — like a long-serving prisoner who had just been released.
“Ha….”
Doyun had bowed politely at a perfect ninety-degree angle to say goodbye, then turned around and ran his hands roughly through the hair he’d carefully styled. As he suffered through the shame and self-loathing, he found two new messages from Eunho waiting for him.
Are you really not going to contact me?
It seemed like he’d misread the first reply after all.
Tell me when you’re done. I’ll be waiting nearby.
More of the same. How does he even know where to come? Doyun stuck out his bottom lip and typed back a reply to Eunho.
Yeah done
The moment Doyun sent the message, the unread indicator disappeared — as if Eunho had checked it instantly. He was debating whether he should say where he was and tell him to wait somewhere inside, when a firm grip clamped down on his shoulder. He turned around to find Eunho, chest heaving.
“Oh — how did you get here?”
“Ha….”
“Is something urgent? What did you come all the way out here to wait for—”
“Did you do it on purpose?”
Eunho cut Doyun off and asked in a low voice. Eunho’s still-ragged breath reached him. Eunho was still gripping Doyun’s shoulder tightly, fingers digging in. It wasn’t like he was about to run away anywhere — why is he holding on like this — Doyun tried to twist his shoulder free, but that only made the grip tighten.
“What. Ow, that hurts — let go.”
“You said you’re the type who gets tired of constant contact.”
“Ah….”
“Did you say that on purpose? So I couldn’t contact you? Saying you’d get tired of it?”
“What are you talking about.”
Doyun tilted his head and asked, genuinely unable to make sense of what Eunho was saying. When Doyun’s expression went blank, Eunho dropped his head with a short, breathless laugh. He let go of Doyun’s shoulder and brought his hand to his own face — pressing his fingers against his reddened, bloodshot eyes — then asked,
“…How did the blind date go?”
“You want me to be honest?”
“Yeah.”
“Complete disaster.”
“…Oh no.”
Saying it out loud made it feel real — that the blind date had crashed and burned spectacularly. Eunho, who had been listening, moved the hand away from his eyes and covered his mouth instead. Those dark, cool eyes that had carried such an intense air crinkled wide open.
“If you’re going to laugh, laugh out loud. Don’t give me that smug eye-smile.”
