* * *
The day of the appointment that Gu Haebin had earnestly requested quickly dawned. After finishing parking in one corner of the large parking lot, he got out of the car. Immediately, the sunlight strongly pierced the top of his head. It was exceptionally clear weather.
While thinking it was weather befitting the day, Eunha, who felt a bit bothered, made a shade with his hand. He waited until his eyes adapted to the amount of sunlight, then slowly began to move his steps.
When he turned his head, the magnificent exterior of the art museum filled his vision. He’d been observing it continuously since entering the nearby roadway, but taking it in completely from outside was a different impression. They’d stopped operations throughout last year to focus on remodeling, and it seemed they’d transformed beyond recognition. If there was such a thing as a modern temple, he thought it would surely be exactly this form. He seemed to recall seeing a big article about how some famous architects had participated…
Tracing his memory, he took a step. Following the open, gentle slope toward the entrance. A banner occupying a long horizontal section of the giant outer wall suddenly caught his eye.
—
Speaking of Traces: Baek Euntaek Retrospective Exhibition
HANEUM MUSEUM OF ART
20XX.04.08 – 20XX.06.16
—
Starting tomorrow for 70 days, artist Baek Euntaek’s retrospective exhibition would be held here. Today was the day of the opening reception celebrating that exhibition. There were many open and trendy reception events, but at least the one Eunha was attending today wasn’t like that. It was an event where tiresome adults gathered to do tiresome things and solidify tiresome relationships.
So separate from not wanting to come, Eunha dressed appropriately for the occasion had a neat appearance without any superfluity.
He looked for his phone to contact Gu Haebin. While feeling his pockets, he discovered someone. The person standing next to the entrance was very familiar.
“Gu Haebin.”
As he approached and called out the name, Gu Haebin, who had been standing with his weight on one leg fiddling with his phone, raised his head. Sharp eyes without double eyelids turned toward Eunha.
“You came?”
“Were you waiting for me?”
“Yeah. In case you went somewhere and got lost again. It’s complicated inside with a lot of people.”
“Then you should have said so.”
Gu Haebin didn’t answer. As if he’d been in the middle of contacting someone, he briefly fiddled with his phone again, then shoved it in his back pocket and looked at Eunha.
“Have you been living well?”
“You can see for yourself.”
“How can I know you from what I can see? Who knows what kind of pitiful disease you’re having behind the scenes.”
“……I’m not. You know. I’m living normally and well now.”
“Not really……”
Gu Haebin, who crushed the end of his words unsatisfactorily, rolled his eyes as if unconvinced.
“Is rolling around with your sex friend all the time living normally and well?”
At the words as if telling him to be hit where it hurt, Eunha wasn’t hit. He just looked at Gu Haebin calmly without a change in expression. Strictly speaking, it wouldn’t be a wholesome lifestyle, but.
“At least I don’t want to hear that from you.”
“What did I do, bastard.”
“If anything, you do more, not less. You like clubs, you like alcohol, you like women.”
At the clearly delivered rebuttal, Gu Haebin closed his mouth. It didn’t seem to be because he had nothing to say.
After remaining silent for a while, throwing a sunken gaze, he slowly opened his mouth.
“Right. You said it well with your own mouth. I do that because I like it.”
“……”
“But, you—.”
“I do it because I like it too.”
“……Ugh. Let’s not talk.”
“……”
“And I do something called dating, friend. I only go to clubs when there’s no one next to me.”
“How boastful. You slut….”
“If I’m a slut, are you a mop?”
“I guess so.”
It was mutual criticism without malice. They were friends who had known each other continuously since first meeting in fourth grade of elementary school through their parents’ interactions. He was the only friend who knew Eunha’s sexual orientation, the oldest friend, and the closest friend. It was ironic that the historic first meeting place was someone’s funeral hall.
Gu Haebin was definitely Eunha’s closest friend, but their spheres of life had never once overlapped. Though they lived in the same Seoul, their residential neighborhoods differed by district level, and so there was no occasion to attend school together either. They went to different universities too.
That they could still become friends was at first largely thanks to Eunha’s mother. It was because she kept inserting Eunha into occasions where she met Gu Haebin’s mother.
Eunha, who was powerless against his mom, was dragged along helplessly and had time playing around with Gu Haebin. From around second year of middle school, they developed into a relationship where they met separately and exchanged contact even without their parents. The fact that the forced companionship from childhood was actually Gu Haebin’s doing was something he only learned later. He’d nagged his own mom like that, saying he wanted to play with Eunha next time too.
“Let’s just go. The kids are waiting inside.”
“Everyone came?”
“Yeah. Im Sujin, Park Hyeonji, Kim Sunwoo.”
“I haven’t seen them all in a long time.”
“Im Sujin brought her fiancé.”
“…She’s really getting married? To that person?”
“Yeah, fuck. She says she’s dying from happiness.”
Gu Haebin, who disliked Im Sujin’s fiancé to the point of contempt, chewed out a curse. Then he clicked his tongue as if even complaining was tiring now.
“When they both say they like each other, what more can I add?”
“That’s true but… that person is really kind of terrible, isn’t he?”
“Fuck, right?”
“Right.”
“Ah. That’s right. And your mother is here too.”
At the words delivered unexpectedly, Eunha, whose eyes twitched, kept his mouth closed for a long time. Soon he answered lukewarmly, saying of course she would be. Swallowing the fatigue that seemed to already surge up, he took a step.
He entered the lobby. Inside, the event was in full swing. The sound of people’s voices softly echoing along the high ceiling and the occasional clinking of glasses. Gently flowing classical music. People dressed appropriately in formal attire were walking around the spacious atrium, and at a bar set up on one side, cocktails and desserts were prepared.
The light shattering down through the translucent dome-shaped ceiling was beautiful. Eunha presented his invitation to the entrance staff. Following the guidance, after filling out the guestbook, he received a pamphlet along with a brief explanation and was able to enter inside.
Over the shoulder of Gu Haebin walking ahead, he could see Park Hyeonji, who had spotted them, stretching her hand up high.
“Lee Eunha!”
Kim Sunwoo and Im Sujin, who likewise looked this way, showed signs of delight. Im Sujin waved her hand frantically with an excited face, telling him to hurry over. Seeing friends he hadn’t seen in a long time made him feel a bit better. For now, at least.
Eunha, who approached with a faint smile, immediately had to get hit once on the forearm by Park Hyeonji.
“You crazy bastard. Why is it so hard to see your face? This is the first time we’re seeing each other this year. Do you know that?”
“Ah, that hurts.”
“You deserve to hurt a little. Anyone opposed?”
“No one. Yeah. No one.”
“How much of the year has already passed….”
Even though she said that, it was already April. Eunha had a somewhat frantic reunion with friends who simultaneously denounced both their joy and disappointment. They exchanged light updates on their situations, were briefly led by Park Hyeonji’s hand to stop by the photo wall and come back, and occasionally exchanged perfunctory greetings when they saw someone they vaguely knew.
In doing so, they naturally scattered in all directions. Im Sujin went up to the second floor with her fiancé, and Park Hyeonji, who had wide connections, went to exchange greetings with her other friends. Kim Sunwoo was led away somewhere by his parents’ hands. Eunha, who had been staying in the space prepared like a semi-party venue until then, leisurely entered one of the exhibition rooms connected to the atrium together with Gu Haebin.
