“I’ll go get some.”
Jang Juwon stood up from his seat. And then, the store’s door chime made a clear ding-dong sound. Jang Juwon unconsciously turned his head toward the sound. A man was walking into the store.
Soon the two people’s eyes met. Jang Juwon could only freeze in place in an awkward posture. Because the man’s face was very, very familiar. Tall with slightly tanned skin, light brown hair……
Jang Juwon saw the man’s mouth slowly open. The shape of his mouth was clear about what he was trying to say.
“Wo……!”
“Aaaah!!”
Jang Juwon hurriedly screamed. Thanks to that, he was able to prevent the man’s next word from bursting out of his mouth, but the gazes of everyone in the store turned toward Jang Juwon all at once.
“……”
“……”
“……”
Dozens of people fell silent simultaneously and looked up at Jang Juwon. The same went for Choi Yeonho and Shin Jisu. Jang Juwon wanted to die for a moment. Was preventing him from hearing his next words really worth trading for his dignity?
At that moment, fortunately someone broke the silence.
“Oh, hyung! You came?”
One of the senior group jumped up and approached the man standing blankly at the door with delight. The rest of the seniors who belatedly discovered him also stood up from their seats one by one and swarmed over, instantly surrounding him.
“Sunbae, you returned from leave!”
“Iseon hyung! Hyung, I missed you so much.”
“Baek Iseon! Long time no see!”
When the seniors started chattering first, the bar’s atmosphere finally returned to its original noisy state.
“Our Juwon must have been really starved for attention.”
Choi Yeonho patted the butt of the standing Jang Juwon and laughed.
‘I’m fucked.’
But inside Jang Juwon’s head, a bright red emergency light was ringing.
Though both Choi Yeonho and Shin Jisu could hold their liquor well, Jang Juwon was the possessor of an alcohol tolerance that far surpassed that and then some. Choi Yeonho, who had drunk quickly caught up in Shin Jisu’s pace, had long since buried his head on the table, and Shin Jisu was also muttering to herself with a twisted tongue, “Why, why won’t it work……” mumbling words no one was listening to.
Jang Juwon gave a subtle smile that was clearly filled with annoyance toward his two out-of-it friends and went outside the store. The dusky street was still crowded with people. He could see people paired up chattering away, each excited about something. Jang Juwon took out a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.
“Ah……”
But no matter how much he rummaged through his pockets, he couldn’t see a lighter. Just as he was thinking he should go back inside and rummage through Shin Jisu’s pockets, a red flame suddenly flared up before his eyes.
“Need this?”
Jang Juwon quickly turned his head to look behind. A white shirt first entered his view. When he craned his neck way up to look, he finally saw the face of the person standing behind him. With a lit cigarette in his mouth, grinning annoyingly for some unknown reason.
‘Fuck…… What was his name…… Baek Iseon, was it?’
“……Yes. Thank you.”
Contrary to his answer, Jang Juwon deeply furrowed his brow as he lit his cigarette.
“I guess you’re not happy to see me?”
He spoke in a tone as if it didn’t matter at all.
“……I said let’s never see each other again.”
“Anyone listening would think I chased after you.”
“……At least, it means let’s not act like we know each other.”
Jang Juwon glared at Baek Iseon from the corner of his eye. Without a trace of displeasure, he was still grinning.
“Do it with me one more time.”
“No.”
“You liked me too. You were the one who came onto me first……”
“Aaaah!!”
Jang Juwon waved his hand and screamed again. Startled by the loud noise, all the people on the street glanced at them with strange looks as they passed by. Jang Juwon’s face turned bright red.
“Do you have a personality that likes screaming? You were pretty loud in bed too……”
“……Please! Please, just your mouth……!”
Jang Juwon fidgeted and stamped his feet. Right behind them were dozens of people from the same department bustling about. It wouldn’t be strange at all if someone suddenly popped out. But he was flapping that plump mouth of his as if he didn’t care about such things at all. If he could, Jang Juwon wanted to shove his fist into his mouth.
“Why my mouth? Don’t tell me…… you want to kiss again?”
“……”
“Go ahead, do it.”
“Crazy bastard…”
Baek Iseon stuck out his own lips and tapped them with his index finger. Jang Juwon just trembled with anger and cursed without realizing it.
“Your language is rough, our hoobae-nim. You were quite something in bed too…”
“Please stop it already. What if someone hears you!”
Unable to contain his anger, Jang Juwon shoved Baek Iseon’s chest hard. However, only a thud sound came out, and like pushing a solid wall, he didn’t budge from his spot. Instead, he placed his own hand over Jang Juwon’s hand resting on his chest.
“Do it one more time.”
“No, if I’d known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have met you in the first place!”
“Why?”
“Haah… I never imagined you’d be someone from the same department. Sun.bae.nim.”
Jang Juwon yanked his hand free from his grasp and pressed his forehead. Why didn’t he know? If there was someone with such striking looks in the same department, would it have just reached his ears—no, Shin Jisu would have made a huge fuss first. Ah, he said he was a returning student. Was that why he didn’t know? Jang Juwon deeply inhaled the cigarette in his mouth and then exhaled it mixed with a sigh.
“Anyway, stop it now. I… don’t want to.”
“…What’s wrong with being in the same department? Rather, it should be a not-bad proposal for you too?”
“…”
Jang Juwon fell into thought for a moment. He wondered if maybe he was lacking somewhere. Same-department couples were relationships even straight people avoided. And moreover, he and him… As expected, if your looks are outstanding, you must be lacking somewhere.
When Jang Juwon forgot to answer because he was absorbed in these thoughts, he continued speaking.
“Think about it carefully. How much I can do for you… Use me, Jang Juwon.”
“…!”
Jang Juwon’s body flinched, startled when his name was suddenly called. It wouldn’t have been difficult to find out a hoobae’s name—moreover, thanks to someone, he was receiving everyone’s attention quite thoroughly—but his heart began to beat slightly because his real name was unexpectedly discovered. However, Baek Iseon knew more information than just his name.
“Jang Juwon, you got academic probation last year, right? Kuk… You were famous?”
“Ugh… What does that have to do with anything now?”
In embarrassment, Jang Juwon yelled for no reason. It was a natural result in a way, since he ran around with Choi Yeonho and Shin Jisu, drinking all the time. But surprisingly, Choi Yeonho’s GPA was 3.9, and Shin Jisu’s was said to be over 3 points too. Of course, there were circumstances for how things ended up this way. Some crisis that came only to Jang Juwon muddled his mind and urged him to be unfaithful. Moreover, it even made him pick up the very bad habit of one-night stands.
“At times like this, you need a sunbae like me, don’t you?”
“…Don’t interfere…”
Jang Juwon muttered quietly. The fact that he received academic probation was something everyone in the department knew through the grapevine, but that didn’t mean it was something to be proud of.
“I like you… and you need the help of a sunbae like me…”
“…I don’t need it.”
“I don’t think so?”
“…”
The confidence gradually disappeared from Jang Juwon’s voice.
“Jang Juwon, do you have study guides for third-year courses? From what I saw, you don’t seem to get along well with the fourth-years either.”
“I told you not to interfere.”
“I can give them to you.”
“It’s, it’s fine, I said.”
If Choi Yeonho had been here with him, he would have bowed deeply on the spot. It was that tempting a proposal. Exams and assignments were also the biggest reason engineering undergraduates participated enthusiastically in department life. For major courses with murderous difficulty, it was hard to get good grades without the help of seniors.
“Listen carefully, hoobae-nim.”
“Ugh…”
“I can give you study guides…”
Suddenly Baek Iseon took a step closer and lowered his head. His hot breath touched Jang Juwon’s cheek. A low voice penetrated into his eardrums.
“And I can also shove my dick in your ass.”
Jang Juwon quickly stepped backward. The cheek where Baek Iseon’s breath had touched still seemed to burn. Extremely pissed off, Jang Juwon shouted loudly.
“Fuck, I said don’t do it!”
“…”
And at that moment, the door of the shop opened and a man poked his head out. He was a fourth-year.
