#52
At those words, Ha-min suddenly remembered the things hyung had prepared for him yesterday. There were several types of food like abalone porridge, vegetable porridge, and various medicines like cold medicine, fever reducers, and headache pills. Amusingly, seeing those things made his sickness disappear completely. His emotions were jumping around to an extent that others might think he was crazy. He felt disappointed, then bitter, then happy, then expectant. Even he couldn’t keep up with his own fluctuating emotions.
“No, I ate well.”
It was true. He had carefully stored the porridge he bought from the convenience store in the refrigerator and ate the porridge hyung had bought. It must have been from a good restaurant because even though it was just porridge, it tasted excellent. Ha-min had finished a whole container of porridge, taken one of the medicines hyung gave him, and fallen asleep.
As he answered with a bright smile, the meat they had ordered in the meantime came out and was placed on the grill. The sizzling sound was deliciously loud.
“Soybean paste stew, steamed egg, three bowls of rice. Cold noodles?”
Woo-kyung said solemnly, holding tongs and scissors.
“I’ll have cold noodles with broth later. Chae-rin?”
“Cold noodles in water.”
“Oppa?”
“Just rice for me.”
Eun-soo also had an equally serious attitude. They worked well together.
While Woo-kyung was skillfully handling the meat, a rowdy group entered the barbecue restaurant. Cursing and swearing as if it was a habit, the noisy group that appeared was none other than the one Cha Jun-seong belonged to. Woo-kyung, who noticed them first, frowned visibly.
“Ugh, those bastards are here too.”
Eun-soo, who also saw Jun-seong’s group, wrinkled her pretty face.
“They were bragging about not coming to cheap barbecue places, those idiots.”
Ha-min watched cautiously with chopsticks in his mouth as they naturally started gossiping about the newcomers. The comments were vicious.
“Those bastards have been going around saying there’s a gay person in our department lately.”
Woo-kyung added, as if explaining, when Ha-min looked confused at the strange hostility. Ha-min’s eyes momentarily hardened at the casually dropped words. Along with it, Chae-rin’s indifferent gaze, as she was eating meat while looking at her phone, also followed.
“I mean, why does it matter if there is or not? Who are they to go around talking about that?”
It was Eun-soo who retorted to Woo-kyung’s words. Although they were both in the student council, these days they growled at each other just by seeing each other’s faces.
“They’re just running their mouths because they want to target someone.”
Woo-kyung clicked her tongue and cut the meat. For a moment, Ha-min’s appetite completely disappeared. This must have been what Chae-rin was warning about yesterday. He remembered Jun-seong’s fierce warning look. It seemed they were going to harass people in this way. Ha-min smiled bitterly at their exchange and picked up his spoon again. Just then, an unfamiliar arm suddenly draped over his shoulder.
“Long time no see, hyung?”
It was Cha Jun-seong, pretending to be friendly. His group took seats at the adjacent table.
“Hey, we’re short on seats, can we join you guys?”
He naturally put his arm around Ha-min’s shoulder and spoke smoothly to the others. Ironically, there were several empty seats available.
“There are plenty of fucking seats.”
It was Chae-rin who bluntly pointed out this fact. She glared at Jun-seong with an immediately irritated face.
“Why are you being so territorial about seats? They’re not yours.”
Jun-seong retorted to her obvious hint. Since it wasn’t wrong, Chae-rin, who was about to say something more, closed her mouth with a restrained expression.
“By the way, hyung, I heard we’re eating meat because of you?”
The question didn’t seem pure. At those words, Jun-seong’s group snickered with unpleasant expressions.
“We were really surprised then. What… those clothes, fuck.”
Ha-min awkwardly laughed along, feeling the mockery in their bursting laughter.
“Hey Eun-soo. How could you dress him like that no matter what clothes you put on? What the fuck was that. Hey, what do you call it when a guy sucks another guy’s ass?”
“Gay, homo.”
One of Jun-seong’s friends immediately answered his question as if on cue.
“Right, that. Dressing him up like some gay bastard, and weren’t those girls who said it looked good fucking hilarious too?”
While talking like this, the arm around Ha-min’s neck wasn’t removed. Ha-min felt his heart pounding at the tone full of mockery and malice. The familiar anxiety and tension lurking inside him tormented him. It was a habit developed due to trauma.
But it was so familiar that he became detached in reverse. That’s how he had trained himself. It was the only way he could stand up to those who bullied and mocked others every time. Pretending not to be affected.
“Hey, shut the fuck up, you’re spitting on the meat.”
Chae-rin, who had been eating meat indifferently, spat out while gripping her chopsticks.
“Who was it that was dying to wear those clothes?”
It was clothes only worn by the top-ranked students in the department’s popularity poll. Eun-soo seemed to find Jun-seong’s words funny and retorted with a sneer.
Woo-kyung burst out laughing at Eun-soo’s words. Jun-seong’s face twisted fiercely as if he had been hit hard. At the same time, the arm on Ha-min’s shoulder tensed. Jun-seong smiled lewdly towards the stiffened Ha-min.
“…Hyung must be happy getting sucked off by girls all the time.”
He whispered in Ha-min’s ear with a twisted face. Seeing his heated appearance, Ha-min deliberately pressed his trembling fingertips. He didn’t want to deal with him. He was worried that the atmosphere would turn bad if the others got involved unnecessarily.
“But what can you do, fuck. Even if they suck you off every day, they can’t date you anyway.”
“……”
“Hyung, with guys…”
Someone interrupted Jun-seong’s ominous words.
“Oppa, what time do you want to meet tomorrow?”
Ha-min blinked stupidly at Chae-rin’s sudden words.
“We agreed to go on a date tomorrow, watching a movie, remember?”
Everyone’s eyes widened at Chae-rin’s unexpected words. Not just Eun-soo and Woo-kyung, but Ha-min’s eyes too. Even Jun-seong, who was about to say something malicious, stared at Chae-rin with hardened eyes. Chae-rin continued speaking, regardless of their gazes.
“Ah, I didn’t mention it, but Ha-min oppa and I are kind of seeing each other.”
Chae-rin calmly continued speaking while everyone was staring with shocked eyes. Of course, Ha-min was the most surprised. When Ha-min stared blankly at Chae-rin with eyes asking what on earth she was talking about, Chae-rin indifferently gestured with her eyes as if telling him to play along.
“What… fuck, I saw…”
“Ah, I knew it!”
It was an excited Woo-kyung who covered Jun-seong’s words as he was muttering with an unbelievable expression. She threw down the scissors and tongs she was holding and shouted. She clapped her hands excitedly as if she had guessed it, to the point of being distracting. Ha-min was still staring at Chae-rin with a dumbfounded face.
“What, is it true?”
Another group that overheard this suddenly turned around and showed interest. Immediately, people around started whispering. Everyone was stirred up by the news that Ha-min, whom the department girls had each tried to approach, had gotten a girlfriend.
Tsk. Only then did Jun-seong’s arm fall away. He clicked his tongue as if disgusted and got up from his seat leisurely, even kicking the table leg as if he was very upset.
Ah…
Ha-min sighed heavily at the situation that unfolded so suddenly. He felt pathetic for being indebted like this. He couldn’t face Chae-rin.
**
In the chaotic atmosphere, Ha-min came out of the bathroom after washing his face lightly. Jun-seong, seemingly very upset with him, was spreading unconfirmed rumors, and it was Chae-rin who had stopped it. If he had just behaved properly, he wouldn’t have caused this much trouble… At the same time, he didn’t know what he could have done. Insist that it wasn’t true? Even if he did, those who would believe would believe, and those who wouldn’t, wouldn’t. Knowing this, Chae-rin had blocked it from the start so that no words could come out.
“Oppa.”
As he came out of the bathroom, it was Eun-soo who was waiting for Ha-min. Eun-soo, leaning against the wall, was rubbing the floor with her toes.
“Um… what is it?”
Following him to the bathroom and waiting meant she had something to say. When Ha-min opened his eyes curiously to Eun-soo who was waiting for him, Eun-soo carefully opened her mouth.
“You and Chae-rin… it’s not true, right?”
Eun-soo cautiously asked, glancing at Ha-min who had suddenly become Chae-rin’s boyfriend. Woo-kyung had already claimed she had noticed it and was making a fuss, but Eun-soo hadn’t said a word. It was the same at the restaurant before. While Tae-in and Woo-kyung had made a big deal trying to pair Ha-min and Chae-rin, Eun-soo hadn’t shown any particular reaction.
“Um… that…”
He stumbled over his words, being neither good at lying nor wanting to out of guilt. And he had no excuse for words that seemed to have already guessed the truth.
“Well… yeah.”
Ha-min bowed his head and quietly confessed the truth. He didn’t want to lie in the first place. Especially not to his friends.
At Ha-min’s voice that seemed to be shrinking, Eun-soo smiled bitterly with the same expression.
“Geez, Kang Chae-rin and her meddling.”
She seemed to have immediately recognized Chae-rin’s lie.
“She might look really cold and tough on the outside, but that’s not actually who she is.”
“……”
“Among us, she’s the most meddlesome, the most thoughtful, and the kindest.”
Eun-soo spoke, letting out a short sigh as if she knew Chae-rin well. Ha-min’s heart ached a bit at Eun-soo’s words, spoken with a bitter smile. It was clear how much she cared for Chae-rin.
