Gangha scowled and kept spraying the deodorizer indiscriminately, entirely unbothered by whether Minjun was sneezing or not.
“Turn around.”
“I can just shower and — okay, fine.”
This wasn’t the first or second time Minjun had been through this, so he gave in quickly and slowly turned in a full circle where he stood. The wretched Baek Gangha showed no mercy, dousing him as though he intended to pickle him in deodorizer.
Before long, Minjun was soaked from head to toe, the spray clinging damply to every inch of him. Gangha was the one who’d sent him off with Sowon in the first place — so what was all this about. There had never really been a time when Gangha’s logic made sense to Minjun, but tonight was more baffling than usual.
“Are you done? Can I go?”
“Yes, go wash up. You smell revolting.”
Gangha wrinkled his nose.
“I was going to anyway….”
The grievance bled plainly into Minjun’s voice. Baek Gangha had been the one to tell him to take Sowon home, and now he was berating him for smelling.
Deflated, Minjun trudged off to his room with a sulk.
Not wanting to hear another word about smelling bad, Minjun scrubbed himself from head to toe and came back out to the living room. He’d spent the whole shower trying to make sense of Baek Gangha and, as expected, found no answer.
The insufferable Baek Gangha was sitting upright on the living room sofa, watching a documentary. Minjun settled into a seat a good distance away from him.
“…We’re watching the bell ring, right?”
“Yes.”
Midnight was almost here. This was the momentous day that Gangha — who had always seemed like a child — was finally becoming an adult.
The lingering sting of earlier hadn’t fully faded, but he couldn’t leave Gangha alone on a night like this.
[Viewers at home, the new year is about to begin. Let’s count down together.]
On the screen, the faces of the crowd glowed with excitement. Every time they smiled at one another, white clouds of breath bloomed between them. Minjun felt a quiet melancholy — every one of those people looked happy.
[3…. 2…. 1…. The new year has arrived! We hope your new year is filled with brilliant, shining days!]
Boom, boom— The deep toll of the bell rang out as bursts of colored fireworks lit up the night sky. In the same moment, the people on screen were throwing their arms around each other, cheering. Their flushed faces carried the unmistakable giddiness of ringing in a new year.
In contrast to the warm, bustling scene on TV, the living room where the two of them sat was perfectly quiet. Minjun rose softly from his seat and slipped into his bedroom. He came back out carrying a bouquet of roses and a bottle of perfume and wine — gifts he’d originally planned to give tomorrow.
He’d looked it up, and apparently on Coming-of-Age Day you gave roses, perfume, and a kiss. Today wasn’t technically Coming-of-Age Day, but he’d bought the gifts as a way of marking the occasion.
“Here.”
“These are for me?”
“Yeah. To celebrate you becoming an adult.”
Gangha, whom Minjun had expected to be lukewarm at best over a bouquet of flowers, surprised him with a faint smile. The warmth that touched those delicate eyes made Minjun feel inexplicably bashful, and he scratched the back of his head.
“I got wine too. Want to drink together?”
“Yes. But dry your hair before you come back out.”
Of course he’d say that. It was nearly midnight, so Minjun had washed in a rush and hadn’t gotten around to drying his hair.
Minjun trudged back to his room and carefully dried his hair with the blow dryer before coming out again. Baek Gangha absolutely could not stand the sight of Minjun walking around unkempt.
“Hair’s all dried.”
“Good.”
“Can we drink the wine now?”
“Do as you like.”
Minjun grabbed the wine opener and wrestled the cork out, huffing with effort. Too clumsy with the tool to use it properly, he ended up just yanking it out by brute force. A drink needed something to go with it, so he also brought out some olives and cheese from the fridge, arranged on a wide plate.
“Fair warning — I can hold my drink pretty well, so I’ll be fine. Since it’s your first time, take it slow.”
“Yes, I will.”
Minjun had a decent tolerance, and he couldn’t resist puffing himself up a little and advising Gangha to pace himself. Since they were drinking, he turned off the overhead light and left only a floor lamp on to set the mood.
He flipped through the TV channels and stopped on a program with dogs. As a rule, they watched things that suited Gangha’s tastes — documentaries and animal programs.
“By the way, Gangha.”
“Yes.”
Once a few glasses were in and the atmosphere had softened, Minjun eased out the question that had been on his mind.
“Why did you turn Sowon down? I really thought you two were heading somewhere.”
“Because I don’t want to date her.”
Gangha answered without hesitation, and unexpectedly easily. Come to think of it, it was an obvious enough answer. If he didn’t want to date her, of course he turned her down.
Over the years, there had been more than a few people who had feelings for Gangha — but most couldn’t hold on for long before drifting away. Gangha extended a measured courtesy to others, but let no one past the boundary of his own space. Those who had given their hearts away drawn in by his early consideration soon realized that was as far as it went, and resigned themselves to it quickly.
But Sowon had been different from everyone else Minjun had observed. She had stayed by Gangha’s side for quite a while, and she came by the apartment often enough that he’d genuinely thought this time would be different. Gangha’s behavior had always been the same — but there was a certain power that time had, wasn’t there. Minjun felt an inward pang of disappointment.
“You two seemed well-suited. That’s a shame.”
“Why are you the one who’s disappointed, hyung?”
Gangha ran his fingertips along the stem of his wine glass before tilting it and taking a sip. The wine glass held in that pale, straight hand suited him somehow — more than it should.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen you date anyone.”
Minjun had enough tact not to come out and say if you were seeing someone, I could see someone too.
“What does a student need a relationship for.”
“Are you some kind of old man?”
Students could date if they wanted to, couldn’t they? Baek Gangha, despite not looking the part, had a quietly old-fashioned streak in him. Minjun topped off his glass and spoke.
“You’re done with exams now. It’s okay to let loose a little.”
“I am letting loose.”
“Huh?”
“I’m spending time with you, aren’t I.”
Gangha gave a quiet laugh and lifted his glass for another sip. Looking more carefully now, the wine level was going down at a rather quick pace.
“Well, that’s true too, I guess….”
As they chatted idly, Minjun — just in case — went and got the second bottle he’d set aside as backup. Splitting one bottle of wine between two people hadn’t put so much as a dent in him.
“You’re drinking quite a lot yourself. Should I go get more?”
He hadn’t had a proper drink in so long and it tasted incredible. The second bottle he’d brought out from his room disappeared fast as well, and a cheerful Minjun declared he’d go get more and headed out to the convenience store.
Riding the pleasant buzz, Minjun piled bottles of wine onto the counter — and without missing a beat, Gangha held out his card.
“No, let me get this. To celebrate your coming of age.”
“Sure. Whatever you want to do, hyung.”
Any other time, Minjun would have gratefully let Gangha pay without a second thought — but the alcohol had him feeling generous, and he declared he was buying. Of course, the fact that they were standing in a convenience store made that declaration a good deal more manageable. Minjun grabbed a pile of jerky and mixed nuts for snacks and headed back home.
And from that point on, the drinking began in earnest. Minjun cracked open all three wine bottles at once — ostensibly to compare the flavors — lining up several glasses and working through them one by one. When he drank with friends he always had to hold himself back, but with Gangha beside him, he let the reins go and poured freely. Naturally, as fast as the wine level dropped, the warmth of it climbed just as quickly through him.
“Gangha, I can hold my drink so I’m fine, but… take it slow.”
“Yes.”
Minjun had no idea his own tongue had already thoroughly unraveled as he dispensed this questionable advice. Gangha had by now become Gaangha. Blissfully oblivious, Minjun smiled to himself.
Then, all at once, a flash of what had happened earlier struck his mind like lightning.
“Actually, my parents aren’t home tonight…. Could you maybe stay with me just for tonight—”
The cold sweat Minjun had broken just trying to ease Sowon away when she’d been right on the edge of her heat cycle. No matter how he thought about it, calling a beta driver would have been the sensible option.
“Gangha.”
“Yes.”
Beneath the haze of alcohol, a note of grievance drifted through Minjun’s gaze.
“Why did you send me to take Sowon home tonight?”
Minjun couldn’t hold back the surge of wounded indignation any longer and just asked. The gentle, girlfriend-voice tone he kept up when sober had given way to something a bit blunter.
“I’m an alpha too, you know? Don’t go looking down on me just because I’m recessive….”
“I’ve never looked down on you.”
“Never looked down on me, sure. Always just walking right past me without even glancing over when I say something.”
Minjun muttered through his unguarded tongue. Gangha, looking at the face of a man who was clearly drunk and very nearly asleep, answered calmly.
“You were the one looking at Sowon that way first, hyung.”
“What way?”
“…Like you thought she was pretty and adorable.”
Gangha’s eyes narrowed, just slightly.
“When did I ever do that.”
Minjun denied it immediately, feeling wronged. He’d simply felt warm watching what seemed like two people getting along well. He’d known Gangha had a tendency to over-read small things, but he hadn’t thought he’d misconstrue it in that particular way.
“I don’t like Sowon. I like women.”
“She’s an omega. I wanted to see how you’d react to her pheromones.”
What Minjun didn’t know was that Gangha had been following behind the car the entire time Minjun was driving. Gangha had listened to the conversation between Sowon and Minjun through a listening device in the car, and had witnessed every moment — including the part where Minjun turned Sowon away. If Minjun had wavered around Sowon, today would not have wrapped up so peacefully.
