“Urgh…!”
The scene the next morning unfolded exactly as Hongdan had predicted, without a single detail out of place. Ah, though the hand roughly patting his back right now was perhaps somewhat unexpected.
Just as the sun began to peek out and illuminate the world, Hongdan woke up with nausea surging up from the pit of his stomach. And for over twenty minutes since then, he’d been embracing the toilet in a passionate encounter. Seonha, who’d woken up shortly after, was also still half-asleep as he gently soothed that desperate affair.
“Hongdan, are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay… Urk! This damn…”
He wondered if his stomach acid was even functioning properly or not. Even if his memory was blacked out, he could identify what he’d eaten for snacks just by looking at what he’d thrown up.
He vowed never to rely on alcohol’s power again, no matter what hardships life threw at him.
It was exactly the one hundred twenty-first time he’d made that resolution, but Hongdan etched it into his heart for now anyway.
“Ha… Hey, get me water. Some water.”
Having finally confirmed even the concentration of his stomach acid, Hongdan sprawled out on the tile floor and waved his hand. Then came a cheerful “Okay! Just wait a second!” followed by the sound of bare feet pounding across the wooden floor like stamps. Hongdan wanted to add a scolding about why he needed to run around in this tiny apartment, but he didn’t have the energy left for that, so he just quietly waited for the life-saving water.
“Here! Water.”
Soon Seonha returned without even putting on bathroom slippers, carrying a transparent glass. Then he carefully lifted Hongdan’s upper body, still sprawled out on the cold tile, and brought the cup to his lips.
It wasn’t like he had some terrible terminal illness—it was just a hangover, merely evidence of “I had a pathetic night”—so Hongdan felt a bit embarrassed receiving this luxury hospice ward-level care.
Still, he didn’t particularly refuse the kindness. His insides were about to turn inside out and he was one step away from crossing the River Styx, so it would be stupid to naively cling to such conscience.
Hongdan comfortably entrusted his body to Seonha’s arm as he gulped down what was offered.
But whether the alcohol hadn’t completely worn off yet, or this cunning bastard had cast some spell—a subtle sweetness lingered on his tongue.
“What is this? Did you mix something in?”
“Yeah, I opened the fridge and there was pear juice. Just drink it all down, glug glug~”
Oho… look at this guy.
Even if he died and came back to life ten times, this was exactly the kind of thoughtfulness he never would have expected from him. As he swallowed the pear juice in sync with Seonha’s wrist snap, Hongdan was once again impressed by Yeon Seonha mk2. It was true that he had useful aspects, as long as he didn’t try to jump too far ahead too often.
His stomach feeling a bit more comfortable from the sweet liquid, Hongdan handed the glass back to Seonha. Then he slowly got up. The splitting headache still lingered faintly, but he didn’t have the courage to call in absent just because he’d drunk heavily the day before.
Still, it seemed he’d at least recovered enough energy to brush his teeth now. Hongdan squeezed toothpaste onto his toothbrush as he began preparing for work, glancing over.
“I can’t tell if you’ve become an idiot or a genius.”
Even at that moment, Seonha hadn’t left the bathroom and stuck close beside him. The way he stood holding the glass with both hands, legs pressed together, staring only at Hongdan—he really looked like a servant or something. His response was nothing but obedient too.
“Whichever Hongdan prefers.”
“Mm, just a moron then.”
Hongdan clicked his tongue as he looked at Seonha like that. The following giggling laughter was also truly idiotic beyond compare, but just this once he indulged the silly sounds. Perhaps he’d already gotten used to it somehow—he didn’t particularly find it grating on his ears.
This change should definitely feel uncomfortable, yet his insides remained calm.
…It’s probably just because something sweet went down and settled my stomach.
Hongdan focused on the sweetness remaining on his tongue as he organized his idle thoughts. Then he sent Seonha out, who was laughing continuously like a broken doll, and doused his still-hungover head with water.
He’d tried to wake himself up with cold water, but unfortunately Hongdan wasn’t the kind of macho man who could shower with cold water in November. He didn’t get the expected effect and instead only became drowsier from the warm energy spreading through his body.
Nevertheless, Hongdan doused himself with water one more time. And then again.
He kept wetting his head until the uncomfortable feeling was completely washed away.
***
Like a goldfish’s poop, Seonha had been following Hongdan’s rear the entire time and had somehow come out to the shoe cabinet, neatly tying his shoelaces. Since Hongdan’s movements were particularly sluggish today, he accepted that kindness as well.
“Hongdan.”
Having finished arranging his shoes, Seonha straightened up and called to him. But Hongdan, with the door handle half-turned, just poured out what he had to say.
“Mm, what. Oh right. You know that boiler, if you press the biggest square button on the far right, it turns on, okay? You adjust the temperature by turning the round protruding thing in the middle. I’m going to buy weather stripping today anyway, but if you get cold, turn that on. If you catch a cold, it’ll just be a pain for me.”
“Okay, got it. But Hongdan—”
“Yeah yeah, what. Hurry up and say it. I’m late right now.”
Hongdan kept tapping the phone screen with his thumb, checking the time. Each time, a calculator spun rapidly in his head.
From here to the station is thirteen minutes on foot, to Gwanghwamun Station is twenty-five minutes by subway, from there to the company running like a zombie movie protagonist is about eight minutes… But can I actually run like that right now? Won’t I become Hansel and Gretel leaving a trail of vomit instead of crackers?
Having finished calculating, his increasingly urgent feelings were expressed through his trembling toes. But only frustrating sounds came from behind.
“I want to talk while looking at you…”
“Ugh, it’s not like you’re sending telepathy with your eyes, so why!”
Just when he thought today might pass quietly, Hongdan’s voice grew loud as always. Without hiding his irritated expression, he spun around sharply.
In other words, his turned face was probably quite fierce, but Seonha just seemed happy that Hongdan’s gaze had landed on him, curving his lips widely. Seeing that, Hongdan swallowed what little annoyance remained.
Seonha wiggled his fingertips as he spoke.
“No, it’s about me finding my memories.”
“Oh. Did you remember something?”
“Not that, but could you come to school with me this weekend?”
“School? What school.”
“What do you mean what school. Obviously the one you and I went to together.”
“…Yeonhwa High?”
It could be said that Yeonhwa High played a major role in Hongdan and Seonha, who’d been living in completely different worlds, becoming friends and eventually sharing even the affection of spouses.
No, perhaps Yeonhwa High was the one and only possibility for them to meet.
The poor omega who thought studying was his only escape route desperately needed a private high school that offered academic scholarships, and the chaebol second-generation alpha who didn’t want to study abroad like everyone else needed the justification that he’d rather stay in Korea and promote the school established by the foundation. And Yeonhwa High satisfied all those requirements.
Back then, he’d thought it was the best choice.
Looking back, it was the worst. Hongdan had hated himself for a long time for making that decision.
The muscles in Hongdan’s upright face twitched slightly. Seonha seemed to have missed that subtle movement. His still innocent tone showed as much.
“Yeah. Since my memories cut off from that time, I thought maybe if we retrace things step by step from when we first met, it might help.”
“Uh… well, I don’t really have any plans. But does that kind of thing actually help?”
It wasn’t a particularly difficult request, but for the aforementioned reasons, Hongdan wasn’t keen on it. Being a school established by that group, his school life had become really difficult after becoming friends with Seonha too.
Until then, he’d only thought makjang dramas were fiction. But the moment Seonha’s mother handed him money telling him he should just study abroad instead, he realized it was actually a documentary faithful to true stories.
Of course, back then there was still filial piety stuck in a corner of Hongdan’s heart, so he’d rejected that tempting offer. With such a filial son’s words that Confucius would jump out of his grave to give a standing ovation. Come to think of it, this was another moment he regretted quite a bit.
“Wouldn’t it be better than just waiting around doing nothing? You’d want me to find my memories as quickly as possible too, right?”
When Hongdan showed a rather lukewarm reaction, Seonha quickly added more. And those few words were quite an accurate assist. His heart, which had been leaning toward “no,” immediately settled on spitting out an affirmative answer. No matter how shameless Yeon Seonha was, if he recalled the ten years between them again, he’d at least get embarrassed enough to leave.
Hongdan nodded slowly.
“Fine, then. But stay quiet today too. Don’t go wandering around chattering away and pissing people off.”
“Okay! Have a good day at work too, Hongdan!”
Casually waving his hand at the morning greeting delivered as modestly as a newlywed bride, Hongdan left through the front door. And before channeling a hurdle athlete to jump up the stairs two at a time, he checked his phone once more.
“Ah, shit.”
For now, it was confirmed that he’d have to film a solo zombie movie from this refreshing morning.
He consoled himself that even if he became famous in articles as “Gwanghwamun Hansel and Gretel Nuisance Man,” it would be less difficult than the team leader’s glare he’d have to endure all week, and ran down the sidewalk recklessly.
Even if he tried to blame Seonha, he was the one who’d listened to that story in the first place, so it was embarrassing to resent only him. Hongdan just thought he’d added one more choice to regret in the future as he increased the speed of his sprint.
Already, acid seemed to be rising from his stomach.
