Yumyeong, who said he’d come the next day, didn’t return to the dormitory the next day, or the day after that.
“Okay, 3rd floor. Let’s see, everyone was fine last night, right?”
The dormitory supervisor who came up for morning roll call tried to finish a simple check and leave as usual. Standing in front of his room, Hakyoung quickly approached, chasing after the supervisor who was turning around.
“Teacher, I…”
“Hm? What’s the matter?”
“By any chance, did you hear from Yumyeong?”
Somehow, from the very next day after they parted, phone calls or messages weren’t going through. Even that soon showed ‘invalid number.’ Not knowing what on earth had happened, Hakyoung’s heart was burning black with worry. It was even strange that even the supervisor just passed by room 303, which was empty.
However, the supervisor’s face when he turned around at hearing Yumyeong’s name was as plain as usual.
“Ah right, what happened with that kid? If he went home, he should have reported it. Anyway, he does whatever he wants and rules come last. I’m telling you, one or two kids like this always pop up every vacation.”
Grumbling lightly, the supervisor tried to go back down the stairs. But Hakyoung, whose questions hadn’t been resolved at all, followed the supervisor with an anxious heart.
“Shouldn’t we contact his home? In case something happened…”
“Hm? You don’t know anything? That’s a bit strange. You two were always stuck together.”
“…”
“Well, no need to worry too much. We got a call from that kid’s parents. He said he’d stay at his family home until this vacation ends.”
“What?”
“By the way, Shin Yumyeong must have caused some trouble, huh? Obviously. Since his phone was confiscated, there’d be complete silence. Still, he’ll come back when vacation ends.”
The supervisor, who patted Hakyoung’s shoulder once, disappeared to another floor with his hands clasped behind his back.
Left alone, Hakyoung just blankly chewed over what he’d just heard. His steps returning to his room after a long while were very lethargic.
All kinds of imaginations floated through his head. Among them, the most convincing and frightening possibility Hakyoung could think of was ‘losing a close family member.’ If he had lost his phone in the hectic midst of holding a funeral and meeting distant relatives all at once, this situation of contact being completely cut off would make sense.
Returning to his room and opening the door with a *click*, he felt the cool air from the air conditioner. Though it was just recently that they’d spent time embracing each other in the cozy room, it felt as distant as a dream.
Carefully climbing onto the bed and sitting down, he could hear the sound of wind fiercely shaking the window behind his back. A typhoon had approached right up close, threatening daily life.
He could picture Yumyeong’s face excitedly chattering about how that typhoon had created a small whirlwind inside the campus and shattered all the dormitory windows.
Fiddling with his phone and looking at the chat window where not even a ‘read’ notification appeared, Hakyoung soon called someone else.
After the signal went on for a while, the international call connected.
“Yes, Mom… How’s the trip? Yes, that’s right… Don’t overdo it. But I have something to ask you.”
Hesitating, he carefully brought up Yumyeong’s name.
“A friend I was close with when I was young, Yumyeong. Do you remember him by any chance?”
The call he’d made with tension, hoping to learn any news, ended without results after a short while.
“Yeah, of course I remember Yumyeong, that smart kid… Why Yumyeong all of a sudden? No. I haven’t heard any news. We lost contact with that family after we went to America.”
After finishing the call, Hakyoung sighed, leaning against the wall.
After confirming each other’s hearts, the feelings that seemed ready to burst, swelling with full expectations and fluttering, were still the same. But now, embracing those feelings alone, it felt like being isolated, not knowing what to do. More than anything, he was so worried not knowing what on earth had happened to Yumyeong that he couldn’t bear it. Hakyoung waited for the vacation to end, firmly suppressing all those emotions.
In the end, Yumyeong really only showed up after the vacation ended.
With short-cut hair that showed his pure white nape.
***
On the last day of vacation, the dormitory was bustling more than ever.
The kids who had left for their family homes returned to the dormitory with both hands full of luggage. The dormitory was fully open so that families who brought students could freely pass through, and thanks to that, the hallways were full of outsiders too. In that commotion, Hakyoung only waited for Yumyeong.
From the morning, he frequently went to the dormitory’s 1st floor lobby, and when he was in his room, he looked outside through the window and checked the parking lot countless times. His heart wouldn’t settle down at all at the fact that he could finally meet him today. He even skipped lunch in case he came while eating.
Meanwhile, a familiar figure finally appeared in the parking lot.
A jet-black luxury sedan that seemed to have been seen once before entered, the door opened, and Yumyeong appeared. He was neatly dressed in casual clothes he’d never seen before, not the usual school uniform or gym clothes. The neat outfit with loafers instead of sneakers and even a silver watch on his wrist was unfamiliar yet pretty.
What caught his eye even more was that his hair was cut short.
The hair that had been long enough to cover his nape was neatly cut, exposing his ears and neck completely. But his flowing black straight hair was still the same, shining under the summer sunlight enough to see the round parting on his crown. Even from an angle where he couldn’t see his face properly, his heart felt like it would burst, so Hakyoung pressed close to the window and looked down.
A person who appeared to be a driver helped unload luggage from the trunk, then Yumyeong received a carrier. Perhaps because he’d spent the vacation at the dormitory then suddenly returned to his family home, there wasn’t much luggage he’d brought separately.
Finally, Yumyeong, who exchanged greetings while hugging his mother, stood there until the car left. He who had been waving at the departing car suddenly made a shade over his forehead with his hand and looked up.
His long eyes were looking straight this way without a smile.
It seemed like their eyes met.
Though it wasn’t certain, his chest swelled. Hakyoung firmly pressed his left chest once to forcibly calm himself, then hurriedly left the room. After putting on sneakers, he pulled his feet back out and rushed to the bathroom to check his face in the mirror. The flushed cheeks didn’t look pretty, so he debated whether to wash his face again, but thinking he couldn’t delay even a moment, he just left the room.
Running down the stairs two or three at a time and urgently approaching the lobby, friends who spotted him greeted him. Receiving them roughly, Hakyoung went out to the parking lot. But the person he was searching for wasn’t visible.
“Huh? Shin Yumyeong, where’d he go? I just saw him here.”
“Didn’t he go up? He went in a little while ago.”
Thinking they might have missed each other in that short time, Hakyoung ran back in. Instead of using the packed elevator, he went up the stairs again toward the room. He knocked on room 303 across the hall, but there was no response from inside.
*Slam.*
Unable to wait, he opened the door, but inside was empty.
Only a silver carrier that Yumyeong seemed to have brought was left alone in front of the entrance.
Standing there blankly, a familiar voice suddenly reached Hakyoung’s ears.
“…I’m dying too. Second semester’s going to be a disaster. At least you studied consistently…”
The one chattering in a light voice was definitely Yumyeong. Hakyoung headed toward where the sound came from. The room next door, through the slightly open door gap, a person’s silhouette showed.
Walking as if possessed and flinging open the door, Yumyeong and a friend from another class who were inside simultaneously turned this way.
It was Yumyeong. Yumyeong was really right in front of him.
“Oh, Ryu Hakyoung. Have you been well?”
At the voice heard from beside him, Hakyoung barely realized he’d been looking only at Yumyeong. If that friend hadn’t been there, he might have unconsciously hugged Yumyeong.
“Yeah…”
However, unlike the other friend who was glad to see him, Yumyeong didn’t say anything with his arms crossed. He just made eye contact while wearing a subtle smile on his lips. Smiling, but a smile without much meaning. If asked what was strange, he couldn’t really explain. Because that was exactly Shin Yumyeong’s default expression.
Feeling a strange sense of discord, Hakyoung swallowed his dry saliva. As if only he was nervous about the reunion, his mouth completely dried up, but Yumyeong looked very calm.
“…Hi.”
That was the limit of what he could barely say without his trembling lips being caught.
The problem was what came next. After receiving the word ‘hi’ lightly, Yumyeong opened his mouth toward the friend opposite him again.
“So did you do second semester prep during vacation? Which academy? Daechi-dong area?”
“Yeah, but I should’ve just rested well. I don’t think I even played for a week.”
“Ha, maybe I should’ve just gone to an academy at home too.”
Standing silently and listening to the two’s conversation, Hakyoung naturally caught the context of the conversation. And he also realized where the earlier sense of discord came from.
Yumyeong’s reaction was different from what he’d thought. He’d expected him to smile brightly and run to hug him when he saw him, but he wasn’t acting specially at all.
It must be because someone else is here.
Trying hard to understand, Hakyoung stood beside them like a shadow and waited for their conversation to end. Perhaps conscious of Hakyoung who didn’t join the conversation and stood tall beside them, just staring intently at him, Yumyeong who had been glancing this way soon wrapped up the conversation.
“Hey, I need to organize my stuff first.”
“Oh, okay. I should unpack too. See you later.”
And Yumyeong and Hakyoung came out of that room side by side.
Yumyeong walked ahead first with his hands stuck in his pockets. Conscious of the friends passing by around them, Hakyoung also followed calmly.
The door to room 303 opened and the two entered together. The empty room where Hanju hadn’t arrived yet was still chilly and smelled slightly of dust. The moment the door closed with a *click* sound, interlocking, Hakyoung hugged Yumyeong from behind.
“Yumyeong-ah.”
He tried to speak as calmly as possible, but the voice that flowed out was trembling a bit. With a sigh, he called Yumyeong’s name again.
“Yumyeong-ah, I missed you so much.”
The white neck revealed before his eyes seemed like a lie. When he pressed his cheek there, he felt a pleasant roughness from the palely exposed nape area where the hair was cut short. Yumyeong, who lightly grasped the wrist that firmly hugged him, murmured with a smile.
“Why are you like this…”
