Yes, *dori*.
Shin Yumyeong was a guy without any sense of *dori*.
Come to think of it, he had plenty to feel wronged about. When you really thought about it, Yumyeong was the one who kissed him first, and Yumyeong was the one who pestered him to get married and stay together forever. Hakyoung still remembered the face of young Yumyeong crying, saying life wasn’t fun at all without him. The sensation of warm tears flowing down, wetting those chubby cheeks…
After leaving Korea without even saying goodbye, Hakyoung secretly wet his pillowcase with tears every night, feeling sorry for leaving that lovable, pitiful child all alone.
When they met again, he had planned to promise that he would never leave him alone again…
To seduce someone like that and then forget about it however he pleased!
On top of that, on his first day as a transfer student, Yumyeong was blatantly confessing to another girl right in front of him. Even thinking about it again was absurd. Moreover, even now, Yumyeong sang about romance and dating whenever he got the chance. He felt like he’d only be satisfied if he sewed that annoying mouth shut that kept grumbling about being lonely.
He was a guy who deserved to be despised.
However, on the other hand, he also had thoughts like this:
Shouldn’t he teach him well and turn him into a person who knows *dori*…?
Hakyoung never admitted, until the very end, that this feeling was lingering attachment. He only grudgingly accepted the fact that he had failed to forget and ignore Yumyeong.
And that was because, after all, the other person was Shin Yumyeong. Not giving attention to that eye-catching guy was extremely difficult. He either fiercely confronted those who hated him, or craved attention with his whole body, begging to be loved. He was someone who made enemies while simultaneously captivating people.
It was hard to understand why someone who was naturally flamboyant and stood out even when doing nothing was so desperate for affection and attention, but thanks to that, Hakyoung could blame all the confusion in his heart on Yumyeong.
And so, making a mockery of his once-firm resolve to forget him equally, the present Yumyeong had forcibly taken root in Hakyoung’s heart once again. Even when he shuddered and tried to rip him out, the roots grew deeper the next day.
Still, Hakyoung could give over a hundred reasons why he disliked Yumyeong. Moreover, the present Shin Yumyeong was so different from the child he used to like that the past seemed like a fantasy. Always resorting to fists at every turn, making threats, easily deceiving people’s hearts…
However, when it came to Yumyeong, there always existed ambivalent feelings. Even as he wanted to grab him by the collar right then, when he saw Yumyeong’s body shivering in the cold spring wind, he wanted to put his jacket on him.
The guy who had acted despicably below standard sometimes said things so full of affection that it made him want to know what he was really like.
When he saw Yumyeong shaking tree branches because he wanted to see the cherry blossom petals fall, he thought about walking a few steps ahead and shaking all the cherry trees to make a rain of blossoms for him.
Would he smile brightly then?
He was curious to see his present face laughing without worries, like in their childhood.
But at the same time, when he saw that sleek face sleeping comfortably without knowing what was in his heart, he was immediately filled with rage.
“…”
Hakyoung stared for a long time at the annoying face sleeping peacefully, making quiet breathing sounds. Then he slowly reached his hand toward Yumyeong’s neck. He wanted to grab his collar and shake it until the T-shirt stretched out, to see that white neck exposed. He also wanted to grab him by the collar right then and throw him out into the hallway.
He wanted to slap his cheek hard while demanding how he could shamelessly lie in that bed and sleep well when he couldn’t even remember the person he had promised to marry as a child. He wanted to see Yumyeong’s shocked face holding his stinging cheek with his hand. Then if he cried, he might want to comfort him and pat him.
But because of that, he became confused himself about what kind of face he actually wanted to see.
His hand almost touched Yumyeong’s T-shirt, but in the end, he couldn’t do it. Hakyoung withdrew his arm with a confused expression.
Dawn passed and day was breaking. Even then, Hakyoung was still by Yumyeong’s side, watching him sleep in his bed.
***
The next day, Yumyeong opened his eyes in the most refreshing mood possible.
“Huaah… I slept well. Huh?”
Before his bleary eyes was a scene completely different from what he remembered. The low first-floor bed with its low ceiling was the same, but the graffiti written there was different, and the texture of the blanket was different too. The moment he saw the low curtain blocking the side of the bed, he remembered that he had fallen asleep in Hakyoung’s bed yesterday.
Just then, someone came down from the second floor using the ladder. It was an ankle that looked handsome down to the ankle bone. It wasn’t hard to guess who it was.
“Hey, when I said let’s sleep together, you slept on the top bunk? You little punk, being all shy…”
It seemed Hakyoung had ended up climbing to the empty top bunk to sleep last night.
“Morning roll call is soon. Get out.”
“Yes, yes…”
When he pushed aside the curtain and got up, his body felt light unlike usual. As he stretched, Yumyeong thought it was strange.
“Why does my body feel so light when I sleep here? My room must have bad feng shui. There must be underground water veins flowing under my bed.”
Hakyoung didn’t even reply and pushed Yumyeong’s back. As he was being pushed out, he glanced up at the second floor, and there was only a new mattress with the plastic wrap still on it. Since the guy who had stayed up all night studying for exams had slept without even a blanket, no wonder his irritation was through the roof. Yumyeong returned to his room without another word.
And that night, after roll call ended, Hakyoung came to Yumyeong’s room.
*Knock knock.*
There was only one person in this dormitory who politely knocked instead of throwing the door wide open. Realizing who the person outside was, Yumyeong threw the door open with an inexplicably glad feeling.
“What brings you here?”
However, Hakyoung appeared and completely ignored Yumyeong, approaching Hanju instead.
“Want to study in our room tonight?”
“What? Why?”
“Yesterday Shin Yumyeong said he couldn’t sleep, so he came and slept in our room.”
“Oh, really? So that’s where you went?”
“But we’re also going to pull an all-nighter. So instead of this…”
He was suggesting they divide the room for studying and the room for sleeping. Hanju said it was a good idea and immediately packed his things.
“Shin Yumyeong absolutely won’t open a book. When I study alone, my concentration keeps scattering and I just get sleepy. I’ll definitely pull an all-nighter with you guys tonight!”
And so, after gathering the things he needed to study tonight, he happily headed to the room across the hall.
“Yumyeong-ah, sleep well! Turn off all the lights however you want and sleep comfortably.”
When Hakyoung took Hanju away, Yumyeong was left alone in the room.
Lying with his fingers laced behind his head, a lonely feeling washed over him for some reason.
In the end, he kicked off the covers and got up, throwing open the door to the room across the hall. The eyes of all three people—Hakyoung, Hanju, and Sunmin—gathered on the door.
“I’m bored being alone.”
Yumyeong muttered as he plopped down in front of the remaining side of the low table with four sides.
“Do you want to study together too?”
Sunmin asked in an excited voice. Hanju joined in from the side, seemingly moved.
“What’s gotten into you, Yumyeong-ah! Looks like you’ve finally come to your senses!”
Before Hakyoung could add anything, Yumyeong had naturally joined them like that.
Since he hadn’t brought even a single workbook, he opened someone’s textbook that was lying beside him. Hakyoung looked at Yumyeong with his nose buried in the textbook as if he were an uninvited guest, then soon looked away.
In the quiet room, only the sound of pencils making friction against paper filled the air. Occasionally, there were sounds of erasing and brushing away debris, or the swift sounds of grading with a red pen. Beside them, Yumyeong was dissecting the textbook line by line. It was a very peaceful atmosphere.
After a while, perhaps feeling stiff, Hanju twisted his back and spoke.
“I’m going to the vending machine for a bit. Anyone want to come?”
At Hanju’s words, Yumyeong’s hand shot up.
“Me!”
“Then I’ll go too…”
Sunmin quietly joined in as well. When the three got up, only Hakyoung was left.
“Aren’t you going?”
At Hanju’s question, Hakyoung was about to shake his head. But then Yumyeong, standing behind him, made his eyes shine strangely and pretended to put his hand on Sunmin’s waist. At that moment, Hakyoung rose from his seat with spinal reflex speed.
“I’ll go.”
Hahahaha! Yumyeong laughed cheerfully for no reason, and Sunmin, who had no idea what had happened behind him, could only turn to look at the laughing Yumyeong. Hanju was already at the door, heading out into the hallway.
While Hanju and Sunmin each got their favorite drinks first, Yumyeong subtly clung to Hakyoung. Then, the moment Hakyoung put a bill into the vending machine slot, he quickly reached out and pressed the button for the drink he wanted.
With a *thunk, thunk* sound, the drink rolled out cheerfully, and Yumyeong pulled out the can that was cold enough to make his fingertips go numb. When he looked up, sure enough, Hakyoung was looking down at him with a disgusted expression.
Paying no mind, Yumyeong opened the can.
“Thanks for the drink.”
Hakyoung sighed and inserted another bill.
As they returned to the room chatting warmly, the conversation caught fire. Yumyeong, who had no intention of studying from the start, threw the spark, and Hanju and Sunmin got hooked one after another.
When they arrived at the room, Yumyeong opened the window leading to the veranda. When he sat on the outdoor unit, everyone except Hakyoung followed him out to the veranda.
A cool spring night breeze blew in. Drinking the carbonated drink that was sweet enough to make his tongue sting, Yumyeong scrunched up his brow and went “Keu.”
“The weather is really nice. Huhh, I should be dating at times like this.”
When Yumyeong muttered, Hanju immediately scolded him.
“Tsk tsk… Only empty daydreams in your head.”
“Yumyeong-ah, why do you want to date?”
Sunmin seemed to be the only one genuinely curious. Yumyeong answered gloomily.
“Then you guys don’t want to? Everyone wants to. It’s just that there’s no one to date.”
“It’s not like you don’t have anyone.”
Dori (도리) – Korean term meaning “sense of duty/propriety/what is right”
