***
Doyun felt like waking Eunho, who was still asleep, just to brag. It was a little damp in the back, but there was no evidence of a wet dream. The front of his underwear was completely dry. The moment he opened his eyes, Doyun threw off the blanket, checked his underwear first, and then hummed to himself as he shook Eunho awake.
“Hey, hey — wake up. Let’s go to school.”
There was still plenty of time before classes started, but there wasn’t much to do in the small room, so he figured they might as well head to campus early. Doyun grabbed Eunho’s shoulder and shook it, but Eunho only let out a drowsy “mmm….” with no intention of opening his eyes.
Doyun shook him again, and Eunho reached out, grabbed Doyun’s waist, and pulled him flat onto the mattress. Being pinned down in one move by someone who was the same gender as him stung his pride just a little.
“Even you get puffy-faced sometimes.”
Doyun pressed his finger into Eunho’s cheek as he said it.
“…That happens to everyone when you eat salty food before bed. Whatever.”
Eunho replied in a hoarse, cracked voice. He’d been speaking with his face buried in Doyun’s neck, but all of a sudden bit firmly into the back of Doyun’s neck.
“Ow, that hurts. You want to die?”
It wasn’t painful enough to draw blood or leave a wound, but there was a definite sting to it.
“If you’re mad, bite me back.”
“What kind of vampire behavior is this…. What is wrong with you.”
Doyun bent his arm to jab Eunho in the solar plexus, but Eunho dodged it quickly. Wearing a playful smile, Eunho draped his arm over Doyun’s shoulder and buried his face back in his neck.
“Did the oral stage not get properly satisfied? Every time I see your neck I keep wanting to bite it and suck on it.”
“Are you taking psychology of sexuality? What year are you? Taking a general ed course at your point — I got an A+ in that one, by the way.”
Doyun slipped in a brag about his grade. Eunho would sometimes tease him jokingly by saying “I should slack off like Doyun,” but in reality Doyun’s grades were quite good. It was just that the person he was being compared to — Eunho — had monstrous grades.
“The class wasn’t that interesting.”
Still not quite awake, Eunho blinked his eyes slowly open and shut. After doing that for a good while, Eunho eventually started getting ready to go to school too. Doyun watched admiringly as Eunho changed into the shirt and pants he’d brought. Once he pulled on the trench coat that had been hanging by the entryway, he looked less like a student and more like a model. Doyun idly played with the hem of Eunho’s trench coat as he spoke.
“Should I get a trench coat too? But I heard you can only wear it for one season.”
“Try mine on.”
At Doyun’s words, Eunho immediately took off the trench coat he was wearing and put it on Doyun.
“I think it’s too long.”
“I think it looks good on you. Everyone’s wearing oversized these days anyway. And you’re going to keep growing taller.”
The trench coat tailored to Eunho’s proportions had long sleeves and a long hem. Half-listening to what Doyun was saying, Eunho rolled up the sleeves for him. As generously as he tried to look at it, it was hard to imagine it falling the same way it did on Eunho.
“Feels like I stole my dad’s coat.”
“Keep it. It’s yours.”
“Isn’t it expensive?”
The checkered lining at the collar made it unmistakably clear that it was a piece from a well-known brand. Doyun felt uncomfortable and tried to take it back off, but Eunho caught both of his hands and pulled him into a close hug.
“It suits you.”
Unable to win against Eunho’s stubbornness in the end, Doyun arrived at school still wearing the trench coat. Catching glimpses of himself in mirrors as he passed by, he had to admit it actually did look decent, just like Eunho had said. A vaguely European fashion-person vibe…? Doyun walked with his chin held high.
Today was the second information session for the exchange student program, a continuation of the one from before. He only had one class in the morning, so after that he came to the session. The auditorium was fairly packed with students, and while most were gathered in small groups, Doyun was alone. Such was the lonely fate of someone who had neglected department activities and never stuck with a club for more than three months. He was staring blankly at his phone screen when a classmate he only knew by face came over and asked if the seat next to him was taken. Looking around, he realized most of the seats in the auditorium had already filled up, and a few people were even standing.
“I always wanted to get to know you better, but it seemed kind of difficult. We did sit at the same table during freshman orientation, though.”
The classmate, whose name Doyun almost but couldn’t quite remember, seemed to have an outgoing personality. Even though it had been a while since they’d talked, they were warm and easy about it. Doyun, in contrast, carried on the conversation with a touch of awkwardness.
“I’m a bit shy around new people…. You know Minjun, right? We’ve been friends since elementary school. Having close friends like that meant I never really made new ones.”
“Are you going on exchange with Minjun?”
“No, I’m going alone.”
“I see. Which school are you applying to?”
Doyun let out a low groan in response to the classmate’s question. Applying for the exchange program was his biggest source of stress lately. He’d made the bold decision to go, sacrificed the entirety of his summer break to get his English scores sorted. But after that came one choice after another. The first obstacle was deciding which country to go to.
“Still figuring it out — either Europe or America. I’m leaning toward Europe since people say it’s better for traveling. America sounds good too, but apparently without a car you’re basically stuck on campus.”
“Are you going for a full year?”
“No, just one semester because of military service — I’m planning to come back and enlist right away.”
“Oh wow, you’re enlisting too….”
“What can you do. When your country calls, you answer.”
Part of why he’d decided to go on exchange in the first place was the feeling that he had to do something meaningful before enlisting. Talking about the military and imagining it in concrete terms made him feel a little melancholy.
Chatting with the classmate throughout the whole session, he got a harsh reminder of just how narrow his university life had been. The classmate was already actively preparing for employment through all kinds of extracurricular activities and competitions.
I’ll broaden my network and study harder.
He made a firm resolution to make the most of the remaining half of his university life as he headed to the central library. He’d visited the library a few times recently for group projects, but coming of his own accord to study was the first time since final exams last semester. Doyun boldly opened his major textbook and started working through practice problems in his notebook.
All his practice problems, assignments, and exam prep had always been done with Minjun, who was in the same department — actually studying alone like this made Doyun genuinely proud of himself.
He pushed himself to focus and spent over an hour working through problems, gradually filling in the framework of his individual report. Once he’d gotten through more than half of what he’d set out to study, hunger started to creep in.
He went to the snack bar inside the library, grabbed some bread for a quick meal, and returned to his seat. But unlike when he’d left, sitting on top of the book he’d been studying was a piece of chocolate and a neatly folded note.
What’s this.
Thinking someone might have left it at the wrong seat, he looked around — but everyone in the reading room had their heads down, deep in their own studying. Doyun sat down and unfolded the note. A slow smile spread across his face as he read it.
Today really was turning out to be a day where everything came together. The slightly impulsive resolution he’d made — to study harder and expand his social circle — seemed to be on the verge of coming true all at once.
Hello, I’ve seen you studying in the library a few times. I’d love to get to know you — if you don’t mind, could you reach out? :>
The handwriting, pressed firmly into the light blue stationery, looked unmistakably like it had been written by a guy. It’s a guy, not a girl — feeling more at ease about reaching out, Doyun keyed the number written on the note into his phone.
***
The note the other person had left was a one-way form of communication. All Doyun had to decide was whether to reach out or ignore it. The timing had been so perfectly on point that he decided, without overthinking it, to make contact.
And with that, the job of opening the door to two-way communication fell to Doyun. When he saved the number in his contacts, it synced to the messenger app and an unfamiliar profile picture appeared. He had a very, very faint suspicion in the back of his mind that maybe Minjun was pulling a prank on him — but fortunately, that turned out not to be the case.
Doyun stared at his phone and thought about what to say. The people he texted on a regular basis were Eunho, Suhyeok, Minjun, and occasionally his family. After some deliberation, he wrote a message in a tone that felt as natural as possible — not too distant, but just friendly enough.
Hey, saw your note and thought I’d reach out lol
He’d typed out a string of “lolololol” out of habit, then deleted it, thinking it might come across as a bit much. The moment he sent the message, the read receipt appeared.
I didn’t think you’d actually contact me, thank you!!!!!!
