“Why are you coming out so late! You’re always so damn busy.”
While Kihyun hyung was nagging Kang Sehyun, Jungwoo hyung came between us who were feeling awkward.
“Seo Gihyun. Be quiet. Sehyun-ah, say hello. This is Sungha we talked about. Kwon Sungha. You know he’s the same age as you, right?”
His upper body glimpsed beyond the thin t-shirt and his forearms visible below the short sleeves looked solid. Still, what left me speechless was the face visible above his broad shoulders.
Having acquaintances introduce their friends was quite common. But strangely, my mind went blank. I couldn’t remember what expression to make or what greeting to give at times like this.
I couldn’t extend my hand to shake hands or introduce myself, so I just smiled awkwardly. When our brown eyes met, he opened his already large eyes even wider. Even seeing his surprised face, a useless thought came to mind—he seemed to have become even more handsome than back then.
“Ah.”
At that moment, he seemed to recognize me too. But perhaps because other people were there, he didn’t openly acknowledge knowing me. If that was the case, there seemed to be no need to acknowledge it either, so I didn’t say anything separately.
“Should we play cards now?”
“Let’s do it. Hey, turn off the game console.”
Without even time to feel awkward, I was forcibly seated at the table behind the sofa, led by the hands of the hyungs who wanted to play card games. Even though I didn’t say I’d play, the hyungs put cards in my hands that I’d never played before.
“Since there are many people, we’ll do Hold’em. Sungha, you know how, right?”
“I know the rules.”
“Okay, then let’s start.”
I learned the rules roughly by watching over friends’ shoulders, but I didn’t know well enough to actually face anyone, so I lost several practice games in a row. They said once you win once you get hooked, but I had already lost interest before that and didn’t really want to continue.
“Um, just a moment.”
Using the excuse that I wanted to smoke, I subtly lifted my butt from the chair. I got up from my seat taking advantage of everyone concentrating before the main game, but an unexpected voice stopped me.
“If you’re going to smoke, you have to go outside.”
It was the house owner holding a large snack bag in one hand.
Come to think of it, why isn’t he playing with us?
Kang Sehyun was indifferent even when everyone sat at the table, and at some point he disappeared somewhere and wasn’t visible. Yet seeing that no one had looked for him until now, it seemed he originally didn’t play card games. It was a bit curious that he provided the place but didn’t join in.
‘That guy plays alone even when he’s with us.’
Does he really play alone?
“There’s no separate smoking room, so you have to go down to either the 8th floor or the 1st floor.”
“Ah. Got it.”
Actually, smoking was just an excuse not to play card games, but when he suddenly pointed at the front door, I unknowingly went to the entrance and put on my sneakers. I reached out to open the door when suddenly a large shadow fell in front of me.
“Huh?”
“I’ll go with you.”
Truly surprisingly, an unexpected person followed me out.
You don’t really have to come with me.
While waiting for the elevator and going to the 8th floor, only awkward silence existed. I thought several times about trying to speak first, but seeing his too calm expression, I just let it be.
Dding-.
When we arrived at the 8th floor, he walked ahead of me. The interior with the same structure didn’t look much different from the 24th floor except that there were more doors.
Is there a smoking room in a place like this? The place we arrived at following him as he strode forward was an outdoor space in the middle of the building.
Hwiiik- A fairly strong wind blew through the slightly open doorway. But when we actually opened the door completely and went outside, it was rather calm. Perhaps because it was dawn, we were the only ones there.
At the spot where two ashtrays were set up, we each held cigarettes and quietly lit them.
“Huuu……”
Though it wasn’t a high floor, the night view from here was quite nice too. How much would the monthly rent be for a place like this—while thinking such thoughts, even in the dark background, his distinct features caught my eye. I had never envied anyone’s appearance before, but every time I looked at him, I was amazed.
“Don’t you play cards?”
Rather than being particularly curious, those were really the only words that came to mind. I felt like I should say something, but I absolutely couldn’t think of anything else to say.
He gave an easy answer to my question.
“It’s not very fun.”
Right. It’s not very fun. I thought so too. Instead of saying that, I just nodded.
“You.”
“Me? Why me?”
“I’m asking why you don’t play. Didn’t you not want to?”
“Yeah. It’s not very fun for me either.”
Pfft, the corner of his mouth went up crookedly. I thought once again. Damn, he’s really handsome.
Just seconds ago it was only awkward, but suddenly it became nothing. We were smoking cigarettes without saying anything, but this silence wasn’t so uncomfortable. Just because he smiled once.
“I heard you take the same lecture as Kihyun hyung.”
“Yeah.”
“Hyung doesn’t really listen to lectures, right?”
“……Yeah.”
Even though the professor’s reputation wasn’t great, the explanation and speech were so good that the lecture itself wasn’t boring, but regardless, Kihyun hyung always sat next to me and repeatedly dozed off.
“But his grades are probably good. Hyung is smart.”
Even hearing such words, I absolutely couldn’t believe it. I still needed to study more about Kihyun hyung.
After that too, we had trivial conversations with Kihyun hyung as the topic.
It was a bit unexpected.
I thought he would be extremely shy or wouldn’t talk at all since he didn’t make acquaintances well, but that wasn’t the case at all. I had worried for a moment about what to do if I acted annoyingly, believing only the hyungs’ words that he was picky, but it was nothing to the point of making that concern meaningless.
In a way, he deliberately followed me out even now.
“I heard you came from New York.”
It was around the time we had almost finished smoking. I thought there were quite a few stories he had heard about me.
Come to think of it, his girlfriend is in New York.
I naturally expected questions about that to follow, but he just spat out a short “let’s go” while putting out his cigarette.
When we returned, everyone was still concentrating on cards. It was an unfamiliar sight I could never normally see. It was amazing that people who constantly played around were so quiet like this, and that they had serious expressions.
“Are you playing again?”
When I stared at the table intently, Kang Sehyun asked.
“No. I was just looking because it’s fascinating. Because everyone’s so quiet. And wondering if that’s really that fun.”
Though I didn’t say it outright, it contained the meaning that I absolutely didn’t want to play again. Satisfied with my sincere answer, he spat out a short “okay.”
“Want something to drink?”
The house owner holding a cold beer bottle opened the beer cap with an indifferent expression and placed it in front of Jason hyung who was frowning heavily. As if he was going to drink it himself, after that he only opened other liquor bottles and placed them in front of the hyungs.
“What should I give you? There’s stuff that’s not beer too.”
“Then Coke.”
“You’re not drinking?”
“Yeah.”
When he said there was stuff that wasn’t beer, I naturally thought he meant non-alcoholic beverages. Only after seeing the whiskey and vodka lined up on the kitchen shelf did I realize that wasn’t it. His large hand casually opened the refrigerator door. The metal built-in refrigerator that matched the house so well looked at least three times bigger than the one at my house.
“Ice?”
“Give me some.”
I thought the bottom compartment with the freezer would open, but there was a small ice maker on one side. Words that should have been kept inside at the thought that there really is everything came out without me realizing it.
“There’s even something like this?”
“Yeah. I bought it because we eat so much.”
“It really doesn’t suit you.”
When I said that, an absurd laugh followed. Kang Sehyun suddenly pointed toward where the hyungs were.
“There are many family members.”
“Ah.”
“You’re different too.”
Well, that’s true.
Whether they really did gather often, there were many things set up for it to be called an ordinary college student’s house. Starting with the size of the house which wasn’t ordinary, but the large TV and game console in the living room, pool table, card table, etc.—the things equipped inside were even more surprising. In a way, something like an ice maker might naturally have to be there.
“Want to watch a movie?”
Kang Sehyun, who handed me a cup full of ice, pointed to a room on the exact opposite side when I tried to go where the hyungs were. When I silently nodded, his long legs walked there. And the moment he opened the door, I felt again that this house wasn’t ordinary.
When he said let’s watch a movie, I at most imagined a beam projector, but inside the room with blackout blinds installed on all sides, a home theater was perfectly equipped. Not only was the screen bigger than the TV in the living room, but large speakers stood on both sides.
“Is there something you want to see?”
“No. Anything is fine. Don’t you have a movie you were watching?”
“I’ve seen it once, so it’s okay to watch something else.”
A familiar scene was paused on the screen. It was a pretty good movie by a not-so-famous director that failed at the box office but had excellent cinematography. The kind of movie worth watching once or twice again, if not several times.
“Let’s just watch this. I’ve seen it before too, so it’s okay to watch it again.”
As soon as the play button was pressed, the screen started and sound that seemed to ring in the ears flowed from right next to me. But focusing on the movie was only for a moment when a phone vibration sound was heard from one side.
“Haah……”
A sigh that sounded annoyed. The house owner who stood up from his seat afterward suddenly disappeared with the words to keep watching.
