“Chicken feet go with soju.”
“Right? How much can you drink?”
“Well… about one bottle. On good days, one and a half bottles. I drink as much as others drink.”
Actually, I get drunk after three glasses. Sangho, who didn’t want to look weak, deliberately inflated his drinking capacity. Even so, as his heart pounded from the buzz, he slightly leaned his body and propped his chin on his hand. Wonha, with a perfectly fine face, glanced at Sangho like that, but didn’t say things like ‘your face is red.’ Instead, without refilling Sangho’s empty glass, he opened a drink that was nearby, poured it into a drink glass, and filled his own glass with the drink too. Sangho, who picked up a few more chicken feet to eat, naturally sipped the drink Wonha had poured.
“Thank you for coming to see the studio. I honestly didn’t think you’d really come.”
“Ah… I was just wandering around here and there.”
“It might have felt a bit burdensome. But what you said at the GV last time, I really liked it. I wanted to talk more with you, Sangho-nim.”
When Wonha spoke with an embarrassed smile, Sangho blinked for a moment. It was a story he didn’t know about.
“Ah… yes. That time.”
At Wonha’s expression that seemed to hold some expectation, Sangho felt bewildered and changed the subject.
“But don’t you have filming tomorrow?”
“Ah yes! Right. There’s variety show filming at Korea University. Wrestling is hot these days, you know. How did you know?”
“I’ve been working at Korea University for two months. I saw the filming team coming and going earlier…”
“Really? What kind of work do you do?”
Sangho, who had casually rambled, seemed to sober up instantly at Wonha’s interested expression. The face of the staff member who had looked at him pathetically earlier flashed through Sangho’s mind, and with a rapidly darkening expression, he muttered.
“Just… cleaning.”
When Sangho spoke in a shrinking voice, Wonha answered in an unconcerned voice.
“Ah. Korea University has good benefits, right? I heard there are really few places that directly employ sanitation workers, and you can use their resort too. They properly pay overtime too.”
“Ah… yes. You know well. I’m in charge of that new gymnasium.”
Sangho muttered with a slightly dazed face. He’d been embarrassed about doing cleaning work at a young age, but with Wonha’s few words, Sangho felt like he’d become a person who proudly worked to earn money.
“Do you know this too? Universities usually have less work during vacation, right? That new gymnasium is almost exclusively used by the wrestling team, but those students go to training camps every summer so it’s empty. But since sanitation workers are directly employed, the salary comes out regularly… If you’re in charge of that gymnasium, Sangho-nim, you’ll probably have almost no work as soon as vacation starts, right? Totally a sweet position.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Someone I know is a Korea University employee. Keep it to yourself.”
Wonha lowered his voice and whispered playfully as if telling a great secret. Sangho had thought it was unfair that he alone was assigned the new gymnasium, but he had no idea that there would be almost no work during vacation. Since college students start vacation from June, it meant he could work comfortably for at least 3 months. As Sangho’s expression brightened, Wonha also wore a satisfied smile.
“Wow. I didn’t know. Really. It was killing me having to come to work by 4 o’clock every day.”
“What? 4 o’clock…?”
“I have to finish cleaning the 1st floor by 6 o’clock. That’s when training starts. Since there’s no first bus, I just slept in the athletic storage the night before.”
Sangho, who was explaining the situation in detail, stopped talking for a moment at Wonha’s surprised expression. It was a bit embarrassing to say he slept in the storage, but looking at his expression, Wonha didn’t seem surprised about that.
“But it’s past 12 now. Shouldn’t you sleep quickly?”
“Ah, it’s okay.”
“There’s a bed here, so get some sleep even for a moment. I’ll wake you up later.”
Wonha with a firm expression forcibly pulled Sangho to his feet. Sangho inadvertently stood up from the sofa and walked to a closed door on one side of the studio. Opening the door, a cozily decorated room and a single bed were visible.
“But I haven’t even washed.”
“There’s a bathroom here, so wash up briefly and sleep. You can use the disposable toothbrush. Wear these clothes. Should I wake you at 3:30?”
Wonha, who efficiently pulled out pajama-like clothes from somewhere, forcibly handed Sangho a towel and clothes, then closed the door and left. Sangho, standing blankly in the darkness for a moment, felt the soft texture of the pajamas with his hand and went into the bathroom as if possessed. After quickly finishing a shower and coming out feeling fluffy, Sangho changed into the large pajamas and stared at the closed door for a long while. The light leaking from outside had dimmed slightly. Sangho, who worried whether to open the door or not, lay down on the bed with a ‘whatever happens’ mindset. He felt a fluffiness that was on a different level from the 10,000-won sponge pad at his studio apartment.
Mattresses make you sleep well.
Sangho, who usually didn’t fall asleep easily, had that thought and instantly fell into sleep.
***
—Beep, clocking in.
A cheerful sound came from the access card at the gymnasium entrance and the door opened. Though it was still a dim night, Sangho thought it was a refreshing morning for the first time in a while. Though he’d only slept about three hours, he’d slept deeply during that brief time, so his aching shoulder seemed much better too.
Jang Wonha woke him by shaking him at 3:30 as promised. Though he’d normally wake right up if someone touched his body, perhaps because of the drinks the previous day, Sangho stared blankly at Jang Wonha waking him in a half-asleep state. Sangho, who barely got up, saw the large pajamas had slipped down below his shoulder and nonchalantly pulled them up. Jang Wonha’s face was strangely flushed. When Sangho quickly got up and prepared to leave, then bowed in greeting, Wonha couldn’t even look at Sangho and stammered.
‘I-if you don’t have a place to sleep in the evening, come here and sleep.’
‘Yes.’
‘I’m a beta, so. It’s safe and…’
Though the strange words added at the end caught his attention, Sangho roughly nodded and left Wonha’s studio.
It would be a bit awkward to go again.
Sangho, who turned on the 1st floor lights of the gymnasium and grabbed cleaning tools, realized the time spent with Wonha was more comfortable and enjoyable than expected. Wonha quite sincerely said it was okay to come sleep at his studio, but Sangho had no intention of doing so.
Wonha was the second priority character he’d thought he shouldn’t make contact with in the first place. If he met him, he’d inevitably encounter Nam Dohyun, his lover. Nam Dohyun, the person who would kill him, was the first priority person to avoid.
The 1st floor was full of lighting and filming equipment that the filming team seemed to have installed yesterday. With more clutter than usual, Sangho had to clean while avoiding the equipment here and there. The trash can installed outside the 1st floor was a mess mixed with late-night snack trash that seemed to have been eaten during the night.
“…Damn it.”
There’s usually not much cleaning on Mondays. Sangho spent 30 minutes just on recycling and filled two huge trash bags. Even after that, he had to wipe off food residue stuck tightly at the bottom. Eating inside the gymnasium is prohibited. Cursing the staff member with the cap whose name he didn’t even know, Sangho barely lifted the two 100L bags.
Sangho, who walked staggeringly to the trash area while enduring his arm muscles trembling, looked back with a surprised expression when the bags in both hands suddenly felt lighter. Behind him, Han Kyungoh, who he didn’t even know had arrived, was holding Sangho’s trash bags with an impassive face. He looked like he’d come out for early individual training today, lightly sweating.
“Um… student. I’ll do it.”
“No.”
Han Kyungoh, who flatly rejected Sangho’s dissuasion, lightly carried the trash bags and walked efficiently to the trash area. Flustered Sangho quickly followed behind Kyungoh and said.
“No, student! That’s my job.”
“Your shoulder will break.”
“What?”
“I’m saying your shoulder will break if you carry it like that.”
He suddenly felt his shoulder, which had been fine until morning, throbbing. To an athlete’s eyes, the way I was carrying the trash bags must have looked quite unstable. Sangho, who placed his hand on his shoulder with a dazed face, could only watch as Kyungoh stubbornly placed the bags at the trash area. Kyungoh, who had transported the two huge bags just like that, bowed in greeting and disappeared.
“…Thank you.”
Sangho, who belatedly expressed his thanks, scratched the back of his neck and returned to the gymnasium.
With a somehow uneasy feeling, Sangho, who came up to the 2nd floor, glanced down at the noisy 1st floor auditorium. The wrestling team students were doing morning stretching as always. Then Sangho felt Han Kyungoh’s gaze staring intently at him from below and was startled, hiding behind a pillar.
Why is he doing that?
Doubt rose in Sangho’s mind.
I don’t think there was much contact with Han Kyungoh.
Sangho, who hid behind the pillar and watched carefully, breathed a sigh of relief after confirming Kyungoh’s gaze had moved away. Since becoming in charge of the gymnasium, Sangho hadn’t had any occasion to talk with the wrestling team students or anyone else. There was no reason for Han Kyungoh to show interest in him. That said, stalker ‘Sangho’ and Kyungoh didn’t particularly have any connection in the comic either.
