It was a connection from ten years ago. He thought he had forgotten everything by now, but just seeing someone similar brought back various memories.
The end was collapsing while holding him covered in blood in his arms. After that day, he hadn’t met Seunggeon. Seunggeon, who didn’t take the college entrance exam, continued to be absent and didn’t even appear at graduation. Somehow, through the teacher, he barely found out that he was alive.
As time passed, it was just before entering the military when he heard the news that Seunggeon was in America.
Chaehun swallowed a bitter smile. The resentment toward the bastard who didn’t contact him even once to say he was safe was the same then as now. The first love that ended at an unexpected moment could now be called a memory.
He hoped that if he met Seunggeon again, they could talk about old times while smiling.
* * *
The thick pork belly placed on the grill made wonderful sounds as it cooked to a golden brown. Garlic, onions, and mushrooms were also cooking nicely.
The location for the second class reunion held after high school graduation was a meat restaurant in Euljiro. There were voices suggesting a hotel banquet hall like the first time, but the opinion that meat and alcohol were better since it was year-end was overwhelming. There was also the reason that among the over 300 graduates, less than 50 people said they would attend the reunion.
Thanks to that, after a short congratulatory speech, it was a noisy atmosphere of eating and drinking.
Chaehun cut the pork belly into bite-sized pieces with tongs and scissors. Whether grilling meat with family or at office gatherings, the tongs and scissors were Chaehun’s responsibility. It was the same when meeting with friends. It was because Chaehun had a devoted personality, but it was also a habit ingrained in his body.
After flipping it appropriately until the inside cooked and pushing it to one side, three pairs of chopsticks rushed in. Including Chaehun, there were four men surrounding the grill. All were friends who had been close in high school.
The appetite of men on the verge of turning thirty was tremendous, so the grill became completely empty in the blink of an eye.
“Chaehun-ah. You should eat too. Give me that.”
“Hey. Yujin, you always grill too. Today I’ll do it. Give me that.”
When Chaehun tried to keep grilling meat, Shin Yujin sitting across from him reached out his hand. However, the tongs and scissors were taken by Nam Taeho sitting next to Chaehun. The grill was filled with pork belly again. Meanwhile, Seo Jumyeong filled the empty glasses with soju.
The conversations between friends were always similar. Everyone said they were too busy living and cursed their workplace superiors, then brought up issues like politics and economics. Since it was a reunion, memories from school days were mixed in. And the end always converged on the same topic.
“So, I’m telling you, even if you win the lottery, it’s hard to buy an apartment in the city. When the baby is born, we need to expand the house too. Money is the enemy. Whew.”
Shin Yujin, the only one among the four who was married, sighed and threw soju into his mouth. Money was everyone’s problem. Shin Yujin was a poorly paid civil servant. And Nam Taeho, who had jumped out after only a year despite getting a job at a large corporation, said he was dying learning plastering skills under his father’s friend. Seo Jumyeong was being ground to dust at an IT company.
Although everyone’s lives looked different, what they hoped for was similar. The conversation that moved from lottery, apartments, stocks, and investments soon shifted to government policy and housing price issues. Watching his friends having a serious conversation, Chaehun felt a bit strange. The world that had been all about PC rooms, soccer, girl groups, and grades at nineteen had grown this much—it was a bit odd.
Chaehun swallowed a silent laugh at the sentimental thought. After all, it meant they had aged that much. Perhaps it was also the alcohol’s fault. His drinking capacity was three bottles of soju, but he had already drunk two bottles. Still, on days like this, you had to get a bit drunk.
“That crazy bastard used my name. You don’t know how much I got chewed out because of that.”
As the atmosphere mellowed, Chaehun also complained about the hardships of work life. His friends responded with curses about Park Gwangho’s crazy antics. Everywhere you go, people with bad personalities who can’t do work are the problem—they each said a word as the drinks went around. Emptying soju glasses as if venting anger, the entrance area became noisy.
Since it was the commotion when new faces appeared, Chaehun didn’t pay much attention. However, the commotion didn’t subside easily.
“Uh… Who’s that?”
At Nam Taeho’s muttering, Chaehun finally turned his head, wondering what was going on. There stood Lee Seokjin, who had been student council president, and a man.
Even from just the diagonal side profile, Chaehun recognized at once who he was. Choi Seunggeon. That man who passed by at the VIP ward yesterday was indeed Seunggeon.
“That’s Choi Seunggeon, right? Right?”
Someone spoke the name that filled Chaehun’s head in his place.
Among high school classmates, precisely among students who attended school together as well as among teachers, there was no one who didn’t know him.
Seunggeon, who transferred in after summer vacation in the second year, became famous for his handsome face that could slap a celebrity’s cheek and still have more to spare. Although it was a boys’ school, he was tall and had a good build, becoming an object of admiration. And by placing his name in the national rankings on the September mock exam, he received all the teachers’ attention.
Handsome and good at studying, Seunggeon was popular but didn’t have any particularly close friends. It was because with his blunt personality and showing no interest in what his peers were enthusiastic about, he stayed on the periphery. Even in school, which was like a small miniature of society, he was a somewhat peculiar existence.
It became even more so when the rumor of him being an alpha was confirmed to be true. Some treated Seunggeon with admiration, jealousy and envy, or indifference.
Such a Seunggeon became the center of controversy once again when he suddenly stopped coming to school one day about a month before the college entrance exam. The homeroom teacher only said that Seunggeon had been hospitalized after a traffic accident. Seunggeon, who continued his long-term absence as is, ultimately didn’t appear at graduation either.
No one knew where Seunggeon was or what he was doing. According to what was heard, he couldn’t be seen even at the university he was admitted to through early admission. Only later did the rumor that he was in America briefly circulate.
Since such a Seunggeon suddenly appeared at the reunion, everyone couldn’t help but be surprised.
“What brings that guy here?”
“Didn’t they say he went to America?”
“It looks like the student council president invited him? Are they acquainted?”
Chaehun let his friends’ questions go in one ear and out the other as he continued watching Seunggeon shake hands with the student council president and take his seat.
There he was—the person who had been Chaehun’s first love and had given him an unforgettable experience.
Just yesterday, he’d been thinking it would be nice to meet Seunggeon and chat about old times with a smile. He truly was happy to see him. He wanted to ask if he was okay now after being so badly injured back then. However, it felt awkward to go out of his way to approach him when he was sitting at a table with former student council members.
While he was hesitating about what to do, his eyes met Seunggeon’s. There were several tables between them and many people’s heads in the way, but it wasn’t enough to prevent them from recognizing each other.
Even though ten years had passed, his appearance had barely changed. Those sharp eyes, that expressionless face—they were the same. The only difference was that unlike back then when he had a youthful air, he had matured.
Chaehun smiled broadly, making it obvious that he’d been staring. He didn’t necessarily have to say out loud that he was glad to see him. But Seunggeon simply turned his head away with a cold expression. Chaehun, who had ended up acting friendly all by himself, felt awkward.
If Seunggeon didn’t want to, there was nothing he could do. Still, it was true that he felt disappointed that Seunggeon couldn’t at least pretend to be glad to see him.
Chaehun frowned inwardly, grumbling to himself. He had been about to just run over and say something, but now he hesitated.
“Wow, but even looking at him now, he’s really handsome. He was like that before too, but I wonder what it’s like to live with a face like that?”
“His back is no joke either, right?”
“He was like that before too. He’s an Alpha. So is the student council president.”
“He was an Alpha, right?”
“Oh, right. I remember.”
Shin Yujin, Nam Taeho, and Seo Jumyeong kept talking about this and that regarding Seunggeon. The fact that Seunggeon was an Alpha was quite a well-known story. That’s why Chaehun hadn’t even thought about confessing to him.
“But he’s not even acknowledging us. We were close with him.”
“Well, he probably has a lot to talk about with the student council president.”
“Huh? He’s just leaving?”
“Really?”
Chaehun stared blankly as Seunggeon walked out of the restaurant. He thought he’d at least say hello, but it was absurd that he just left like that.
“He’s leaving just like that?”
“He didn’t even say hello?”
While everyone was making comments, Chaehun grabbed his padded jacket and resolutely stood up from his seat. Yesterday he had let it pass because he wasn’t certain. But today, he couldn’t part ways so emptily.
“I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Oh. Chaehun’s pissed.”
“Go easy on him.”
“Don’t hit him.”
Receiving his friends’ not-quite-encouragement, Chaehun crossed through the interior of the restaurant. His steps were quick due to his impatience.
* *
As soon as he opened the door and went out, the cold winter wind struck Chaehun’s cheeks. Without even thinking to put on his padded jacket, Chaehun quickly looked both ways down the alley.
