#96
“Anyway, I’m sorry. It must have been tough carrying me on your back… Is your back okay? I must have been heavy…”
“It was just right. If I can’t handle carrying someone like you, I should quit working out.”
Hee-gyeom smiled faintly and casually hung the wet towel on a chair. The studio apartment of about 30 square meters was quite comfortable. It was clean for a man living alone, and the bed was very large for a single bed. Ha-min absently stared at the blanket caught at his feet. He had woken up on the bed, and there was a blanket spread on the floor.
“Did you sleep on the floor?”
“Huh? Oh, of course. How could I let a guest sleep on the floor?”
“Oh no. I’m really sorry. I’m truly sorry.”
“Come on. It’s embarrassing if you keep apologizing. Stop it and go wash up quickly.”
“Huh? Oh.”
“There’s a new toothbrush inside, use that. We don’t have much time, so wash up quickly and come out. We’ll grab some hangover soup before heading to class.”
Hee-gyeom pushed Ha-min towards the bathroom and urged him to hurry. Ha-min, still not fully aware, moved as he was pushed. Ha-min quietly closed the bathroom door and stared blankly at the unopened toothbrush. What’s going on here…
As Hee-gyeom said, it wasn’t a big deal. When drunk, you could black out, and when drunk, you could fall asleep anywhere. It was a common occurrence for college students enjoying college life. Nevertheless, the uneasiness stuck somewhere deep in his chest troubled him. There was one reason. The fact that he had stayed out overnight.
The fact that he had stayed out overnight just two days after starting this undefined cohabitation with him.
**
Ha-min managed to eat a bowl of hangover soup with Hee-gyeom, but he couldn’t tell if it was going in through his nose or mouth. His condition was quite poor due to the hangover and unsettled feelings. Feeling sorry for Hee-gyeom, Ha-min naturally paid for the hangover soup. Feeling that wasn’t enough, he also bought something to drink on the way to school and put it in his hand. Hee-gyeom, on the contrary, grumbled that he was being too formal.
After entering the campus and parting ways with Hee-gyeom, Ha-min headed straight to his department. As soon as he entered the department building, he charged his phone, which had died, in the department room. But before it could turn on, it was soon time for class, so he left the charger plugged in and left.
He felt like he should contact hyung about the unintended overnight stay, but things weren’t going well in various ways. He thought he would contact him when the battery charged during the first lecture and headed to the classroom.
“Ah, my head hurts…”
As soon as they entered the classroom, Eun-soo, sitting next to Ha-min, grabbed her throbbing forehead and downed a chocolate milk in one go. Their haggard appearances were the same for both of them.
“Did you get home safely last night, oppa? Ah, we went too hard suddenly last night. When I woke up in the morning, I was at Kang-chae’s house, you know.”
It seemed the blackout was the same for both of them. I woke up and found myself at Hee-gyeom’s house… Ha-min was about to say but stopped.
“Oh, right. I made a separate copy of last week’s lecture materials for you.”
“Huh?”
“There’s so much content. We’re in trouble.”
Ha-min received the materials Eun-soo handed over with a surprised face at the unexpected consideration.
“I didn’t even think of that… Thanks, Eun-soo.”
“If you’re grateful, let’s study for the finals together. You’re like a cheat sheet, oppa. More than half of what you predicted came out in the midterms… Huh?”
Eun-soo, who had been talking as usual, suddenly opened her eyes as if she had discovered something. Ha-min’s gaze slowly followed hers.
“You’re not wearing that watch today?”
Eun-soo smiled as if she had found something interesting. At that moment, Ha-min’s heart sank.
“It’s like your trademark.”
As she smiled, scanning Ha-min’s bare wrist with curious eyes, the professor entered through the front door. The bustling classroom atmosphere instantly subsided. Eun-soo also straightened her posture and turned her gaze to the front. Ha-min quietly gripped his wrist, unable to relax his slightly stiffened face.
The fact that he hadn’t noticed was surprising. Was it because he was too out of it this morning, or had he gradually become numb to it? As soon as the lecture ended, Ha-min hurriedly headed to the department room after only saying goodbye to Eun-soo. He first checked his phone that was charging. It seemed he had left it at Hee-gyeom’s place… Nothing was going right.
Ha-min let out a deep sigh and disconnected his fully charged phone from the charger. On the screen of the phone that had turned on automatically after being fully charged, there were notification alerts that had been there since yesterday. Spam messages, department group chats, and missed calls…
“…”
Ha-min’s pupils dilated as he checked the screen. His hands even trembled slightly.
91 missed calls.
Ha-min checked again, thinking he must have seen it wrong. But it was certain. The number 91 was clearly printed in parentheses next to the saved name of hyung.
“…”
At the absurd number, Ha-min even wondered if something had happened.
With a strange chill running up his spine, Ha-min momentarily forgot why he had looked for his phone. But soon he came to his senses and looked for Hee-gyeom’s number. Ha-min pondered whether he should wait until Hee-gyeom’s class ended as he slowly walked out of the building.
Even when he tried to call back, his hand automatically hesitated. The number was bewildering and confusing.
Ha-min thought he should contact Hee-gyeom first and left the building to press the saved number. No, he was about to press it.
“…Ah.”
A heavy scent, whether perfume or body odor, hit him. He, who had been there without Ha-min knowing since when, approached as if he had been waiting and grabbed Ha-min’s wrist.
“You make me search for you.”
The low resonating voice seemed about to burst if touched.
At his sudden appearance, Ha-min looked at him with a frozen face as if his breath had stopped. His deep eye bags were even more sunken, like someone who hadn’t slept a wink all night. As soon as the sharp expression with an even stronger complexion came into view, Ha-min realized. Ah, he waited. The thought that he had waited for him all night quickly took over his mind.
“…Hyung.”
His jet-black eyes scanned Ha-min’s body up and down. Only after confirming that he was unharmed did he let out a deep breath quietly. Ha-min was slightly flustered when he realized the gaze was filled with worry.
“What on earth were you doing that you couldn’t answer the phone…!”
He, unable to finish his sentence, bit his voice as if trying to hold back. His hand gripping Ha-min’s arm trembled slightly. He seemed angry, clearly heated, but he was suppressing it.
“…Get in first.”
He let go of the arm he had barely held onto and opened the passenger door. Ha-min hesitated for a moment, having had a different destination in mind. He briefly considered whether he should go find the watch he had left at Hee-gyeom’s house first or obediently get in the car.
“…”
But sensing that he wouldn’t move at all if Ha-min didn’t get in, Ha-min had no choice but to climb into the passenger seat. Regardless of the reason, it was clear that he had worried about Ha-min all night, so Ha-min had no choice but to obediently follow.
As soon as Ha-min obediently got in the car, the door slammed shut and he quickly got into the driver’s seat. As soon as he got in, he roughly pulled the gear and stepped on the accelerator. The speed at which they started off was fast enough to make their bodies momentarily lean back. Ha-min, stealing glances at his sensitive profile, realized that something was going terribly wrong. Dry saliva involuntarily went down his throat.
**
Throughout the drive home, Tae-rim didn’t say a word. The feeling of suppressing and suppressing again was palpable. He first checked the phone in Ha-min’s hand. He snatched it away so quickly that Ha-min couldn’t resist and lost it.
Somehow knowing how, he unlocked the lock screen and called somewhere. Then the screen of his phone, which he was holding along with the car keys, lit up and a loud vibration rang out.
“It works fine.”
He was checking to see if it was an old phone that wasn’t working and that’s why Ha-min hadn’t answered his calls.
“Was it that hard to contact me once?”
He let out a low voice along with an exasperated sigh.
“Well…”
Ha-min couldn’t easily come up with an excuse. Ridiculously, he had nothing to say. He really had no intention of contacting him and was just planning to quietly go home before the last train and go to sleep. The problem was that he had downed what he thought was his drink in his drunken state.
“Where did you sleep?”
He asked again while Ha-min couldn’t answer. The distance that had been standing in confrontation closed by one step. Ha-min instinctively flinched at the question that came flying while he was off guard.
“At, at Tae-in’s.”
It was a stupid answer. For some reason, he felt like this icy atmosphere would get even colder if he told the truth. Knowing that he was particularly sensitive about Hee-gyeom, Ha-min couldn’t be honest and a clumsy lie burst out.
As Ha-min spoke, stuttering stupidly, he laughed into his throat. The deeply sunken laugh sounded somewhat ominous. At that moment.
Buzz.
Buzz.
His phone in Tae-rim’s hand vibrated shortly a couple of times in succession. His sunken gaze slowly turned to the screen. The content of the briefly ringing messenger was fully displayed on the screen. As his black eyes scanned the message, he read its contents in a monotone voice.
“Hyung.”
“…”
“Next time, stay over again. Let’s have a drink at my place then.”
His chest felt cold.
But neither the vibration nor the cold voice stopped.
“By the way, you left your watch behind, is that okay?”
At that moment, his eyebrows distorted.
“…No one knows yet… It’s okay…”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
