Most things don’t go the way you want them to. Habin made a disgusted face looking at the drinking gathering that was twice as noisy as usual.
“What? Lee Habin’s glass is empty? Come on, come on, have a drink!”
Hyeonwon, who had come over from the opposite table holding soju, checked Habin’s cleanly empty glass and filled it to just before overflowing.
“Why on earth are you guys even here…”
“Keu—. I know, right. Where else would you find such a coincidence, really.”
Habin was repulsed by the old-man-like exclamation. Hyeonwon, who became cheerful when drinking, scattered happy laughter generously without caring about Habin’s reaction.
“Hey, Kim Hyeonwon! Hurry up! We need to play a drinking game!”
“A drinking game? I’m coming right now, wait!”
Watching Hyeonwon, who had filled Habin’s glass to the brim before rushing eagerly to the table calling him, Habin sighed. Dojin felt like sighing too, but he held back because Habin was next to him.
Since it was Habin, not himself, who’d said to come here, it was obvious Habin would feel self-conscious if he showed displeasure. More importantly, Habin probably hadn’t known the drinking gathering would grow this big either.
“If Hyeonwon already agreed to drink tomorrow and the day after, why is he drinking today too?”
When he realized the name of the pork belly restaurant that came through Dojin’s direct message seemed familiar, he should have suggested changing places. Habin never dreamed his classmates would be settled in at the pork belly restaurant drinking.
And he even less expected those classmates to use their keen instincts the moment they saw him and Dojin to proceed with talks with the Business Administration student council president to drink together.
Really, grumbling that they were beyond liking alcohol to the level of alcoholism, Habin gave up. It was a gathering they’d leave early from anyway, so what did it matter whether it got bigger or not? He reached for the soju glass intending to just empty the filled glass, but was blocked before he could even pick it up.
“That’s already your fourth glass.”
“Was it? Still, I only drank soju, so won’t it be okay?”
No matter how much they say you don’t know when you’re drunk yourself, he thought he could distinguish to some degree. Maybe because his condition was fine today, he was holding his liquor well, so this much was okay. Probably.
“Just don’t drink it all at once.”
“Ah.”
At Dojin’s voice full of concern, Habin let out a short exclamation. Seeming to understand what he was worried about, he immediately nodded, and the hand carefully gripping his wrist fell away.
“Why is this table so quiet? Didn’t you all have a lot you wanted to say?”
Suyeon, who like Hyeonwon had been enjoying herself moving around here and there, discovered the table with only the two of them left and looked around. They pretended not to notice Suyeon’s gaze while sneakily glancing at Dojin.
Understanding at once how the situation had unfolded from that quiet gesture, Suyeon was inwardly impressed. Even in a state with a different threshold than usual due to being drunk on alcohol, they couldn’t handle Kwon Dojin. Even though they’d prepared the breakwater of a boyfriend, it seemed useless.
“This is… are you enjoying yourselves?”
“It’s fine. I’m kind of used to it.”
Even when not at drinking gatherings, if he was with Dojin, he frequently experienced people who’d been around disappearing at some point. When Habin shrugged nonchalantly, Suyeon sat down in the empty seat with a smile.
“We’re quite curious about some things, so would it be okay to ask you something?”
Suyeon, who swept the table once, noticed that only half a bottle of soju remained. She immediately tapped the arm of the person sitting at the next table and obtained a bottle of soju.
“Mm, I’ll decide after hearing what you’re curious about.”
Habin, who wrinkled his nose, responded in a playful tone. Facing the aegyo-filled attitude of someone handsomely storied, Suyeon quickly caught her mind that was about to fly away on its own.
Separate from Suyeon’s state, Dojin frowned at Habin’s attitude. He’d thought it was fine, but realized thanks to his behavior toward others.
The fact that if Habin drank just one more glass, he’d start acting drunk.
“Wait, wait. Sorry to interrupt the conversation, but we were also very curious, so we’ll be joining you—.”
Acting brazenly, Hyeonwon, who sat next to Suyeon, eyes gleaming. It was an excellent opportunity to find out what kind of person Habin’s veiled boyfriend was.
Habin ended up pouting at Hyeonwon’s behavior. He wasn’t someone who’d listen if told to leave anyway, and he didn’t want to act that childishly.
“Should we toast first?”
“Sounds good. Let’s put the awkwardness in this one glass!”
Whether they clicked well, Suyeon and Hyeonwon led the conversation. Matching the actions of those who familiarly clinked glasses and poured alcohol into their mouths, Dojin also wet his lips.
When liveliness returned to the table that had been quiet except for the beginning, attention concentrated around them while pretending not to. Dojin pressed his forehead as the interest he’d shaken off gathered again.
“Sorry to be so abrupt, but I’m curious how you started dating.”
Realizing Habin was easier to deal with than Dojin, the two focused on Habin. Habin stared blankly at Suyeon imitating a reporter with a spoon as a microphone before belatedly laughing.
“There’s nothing special. We just had mutual interest so we started dating.”
“What was the trigger for realizing you had mutual interest?”
“Not really anything… If I had to say, behavior?”
“Behavior? Like what kind of behavior?”
“Like doing things for me that you don’t do for others, that sort of thing?”
Unlike Habin, who answered each question one by one as they poured out endlessly—they must have been really curious—Dojin stayed still, leaning back in his chair.
Occasionally he gave water on behalf of the busy Habin, fed him meat, and spoonfed him rice, but he never responded to questions.
“Since you were next to each other in the same class, it must have been fate.”
Being in the same class was pure coincidence, but hiding the fact that being next to each other was manipulation, Habin smiled with curved eyes at Suyeon’s words.
“You’ve been dating really long compared to expectations? Dojin-ssi? Dojin? I don’t know what to call you. Anyway, didn’t you have something like a rut? Like fighting. Or a crisis where you’d break up!”
Dojin finally looked at Hyeonwon at the question directed at him. Since it was the first time making eye contact, Hyeonwon reflexively flinched his shoulders, then soon smiled awkwardly and averted his gaze.
Belatedly realizing that the content of the question happened to be rude, Hyeonwon regretted it inwardly. I should apologize later, even through Habin.
Dojin scoffed at the behavior of those who held their breath waiting for his answer. However, since Habin was watching with both eyes open next to him, he couldn’t show it.
“If I was going to end it short, I wouldn’t have started at all.”
Thud, the moment Dojin set down his empty soju glass on the table, reactions burst out.
“Oh—, cool!”
“Wow, did you hear? He said if he was going to end it short, he wouldn’t have started at all.”
“It sounds weird when you say it, hey.”
Though it was just one line, the surroundings became noisy in an instant at that one line. Everyone had drunk to some degree, and they were also excited after realizing that unlike usual, Dojin was going along with them to some extent.
Feeling that atmosphere keenly, Suyeon moderately reacted along with them before speaking to Habin.
“I’m jealous of Habin-ssi—. He must really treat you well.”
“Mm…”
“What, doesn’t he treat you well? Is it just talk?”
Matching Habin’s behavior of deliberately trailing off, Suyeon widened her eyes. Dojin chuckled without realizing it, watching Habin glare at him.
‘Why.’
When Dojin moved his lips asking, Habin turned his head sharply.
“No, well. He treats me well.”
Thanks to Habin speaking deliberately primly, Dojin finally burst into laughter. Suyeon, who glanced at such a Dojin, inwardly stuck out her tongue at his appearance clearly different from usual.
Perhaps because Habin was next to him, Dojin’s cold gaze held some warmth. His characteristic sharp atmosphere also disappeared, making conversation much more comfortable.
Wait, the breakwater role is working better than expected, so why did everyone leave? They’re even drunk too, aren’t they?
Suyeon tilted her head, realizing something was strange. Since she had fallen into her own world and continued worrying, Habin, whose conversation had suddenly been cut off, blinked blankly.
“How about just drinking this glass?”
Taking advantage of the break in conversation, at Dojin’s words whispering softly while arranging disheveled hair, Habin rolled his eyes pondering. Though he hadn’t planned to drink today, having eaten, the desire to drink more crept up.
“Just one more glass, hmm?”
Habin, who had clung to Dojin’s shoulder, tilted his head slightly. Dojin poked his reddened cheek with his mouth closed. Understanding the unspoken words of Dojin, who maintained silence while staring at him piercingly, Habin puffed out his cheeks full of air.
He was sulking. While Habin protested with his whole body like that, he didn’t separate his body from Dojin’s side. Dojin embraced Habin’s body and spoke gently and slowly.
“The rest at home. Got it?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Ah, he attacks people in a different way.
Suyeon, whose heart was wounded by the unintentional rubbing salt in wounds, quietly picked up her glass and stood up. No matter what, this kind of situation was hard. I should try it next time when I have a boyfriend, but right now, just—.
“Ugh.”
Likewise, Hyeonwon, who faced his classmate’s aegyo he wasn’t particularly curious about, shuddered and picked up his glass just like Suyeon and left his seat. This is a bit—.
Since he’d never seen Habin’s drunken behavior until now, he thought even when drunk there wasn’t particularly any drunken acting, but it seemed not. To act drunk only in front of his boyfriend. In many ways he thought it was impressive, but to be honest, it was a part he didn’t want to know. Really.
