The man standing in front of Han-gyeom had quite a talent for drawing the eye. His bleached hair, the clothes he was wearing, and above all, the piercings swaying from his ears were dazzlingly flashy. Standing in front of him, Kang Han-gyeom looked so devoid of presence that it was as if the other man had stolen all the color from him. One step away, arms folded, Won-hyeok watched the scene.
He coolly looked the two of them over, intending to observe for a moment. He already knew that Kang Han-gyeom had a timid personality, and because of that, that he didn’t really have any close friends. The only people he seemed to spend time with at all were Hyun-ah and Woo-jin from the same club.
But that was only within the bounds of what Won-hyeok knew. It wasn’t as though he had known Kang Han-gyeom for a long time, and they had only just started dating, so there was still plenty he didn’t know.
The only things he knew were his name, age, secondary gender, his timid and very shy personality, that his skin was clear without a single blemish, that his face reddened easily, and that his eyes were quite pretty. Other than that, he knew nothing.
Still, well, even if Won-hyeok didn’t know, it was entirely possible Han-gyeom had other people he was close to. He had only come out because he thought Han-gyeom might really have fallen into the toilet, so if that wasn’t the case, then there was nothing he particularly needed to care about.
He didn’t seem to be from the English Department, but if he was in the library at this hour, then that punk-looking bastard had to be a student at this school too. No matter that Kang Han-gyeom did one-night stands, there was no way he’d be bold enough to do it with someone from the same university.
From the beginning, theirs was a relationship that had started on the condition that they wouldn’t interfere in each other’s lives. Won-hyeok hadn’t proposed dating because he truly liked Han-gyeom or because he had feelings for him. He had set himself up as his lover because there was something he needed to accomplish. That was why he had laid down those conditions too.
Even though he had grown up receiving affectionate attention from everyone, Won-hyeok didn’t enjoy dating. To begin with, he belonged to the type that disliked that sort of thing. He didn’t want to be tied up in a relationship where people exchanged affection and then interfered in each other’s lives, acting as though they had some claim over one another and telling each other what to do. And he hated it even more when the other person did that to him.
“Thanks, really. I’ll buy you a meal sometime later, Han-ul.”
So Won-hyeok had no desire to pry into Han-gyeom’s business and interrogate him just because he was talking to a friend. He was about to quietly go back inside when, at the voice he heard in that instant, his feet stopped of their own accord.
That word of thanks, and the way he addressed him so familiarly, dropping the family name. And who was buying what? A meal? Why?
“……”
Won-hyeok turned his head back again.
Kang Han-gyeom was smiling brightly. And he was smiling at the other person. Then it happened. That guy, Han-ul or Han-woo or whatever his name was, reached out as though he were about to touch Han-gyeom’s bangs.
“…Huh? Sunbae?”
By the time Won-hyeok came to his senses, what he saw was Han-gyeom’s innocent face looking up at him in surprise, along with the other man’s curious expression.
Before Han-ul’s hand could even touch Han-gyeom’s hair, Won-hyeok had rushed over at lightning speed, grabbed Han-gyeom by the forehead, and pulled him back. Han-gyeom’s small shoulders bumped naturally against Won-hyeok’s firm chest, putting distance between him and Han-ul.
“Why did you come out?”
“Huh?”
Won-hyeok was flustered. The moment he saw Han-gyeom’s face looking up at him with sparkling eyes while meekly leaning against him, he snapped back to himself. For a second he blanked out. He thought he had just closed his eyes for maybe five minutes and opened them again, but when he blinked once, it felt as though hours had passed, and Han-gyeom was suddenly in his arms.
“You weren’t coming back in. I thought something might’ve happened.”
“I ran into a fr-friend. Totally by chance, can you believe it?”
He seemed genuinely delighted to have run into someone he knew on such a huge campus. Won-hyeok forced out a twisted smile and looked at Han-ul this time. When their eyes met, the other man gave him an awkward nod of greeting.
Won-hyeok smiled back. But rather than a smile, it was closer to narrowing his eyes and scanning the other man. Even as he did that, he pressed Han-gyeom’s forehead firmly with his palm. So that Han-gyeom’s shortened bangs were pushed down as far as possible.
“Ah, this is my friend from a general education class.”
Apparently not uncomfortable with that hand at all, Han-gyeom eagerly moved his mouth, intending to introduce them to each other.
“Han-ul, this is… um, well…”
But when it came time to introduce Won-hyeok, he hesitated for a moment. He clearly looked troubled over how to explain him, since he couldn’t exactly say they were dating.
“He’s a sunbae from my department who helps me with assignments!”
Won-hyeok, apparently now “the sunbae from my department who helps with assignments,” twitched his brows to the fullest at Han-gyeom’s explanation. He had naturally expected Han-gyeom not to call him his boyfriend, but he hadn’t expected him to explain him away that roughly and carelessly.
“Hello, I’m Kwon Han-ul.”
“Yes. I’m Do Won-hyeok.”
The two exchanged rather awkward greetings. Han-ul was smiling out of courtesy, but Won-hyeok was not. Normally, he was so used to wearing a charming smile that won people over even when meeting strangers for the first time that it had become almost habitual. But this time, the corners of his mouth didn’t move at all.
“Han-gyeom, about the meal—”
“Shouldn’t we go back in now?”
Han-ul seemed about to continue what he hadn’t finished saying to Han-gyeom, but Won-hyeok naturally cut him off mid-sentence.
“About us eating together—”
“Han-gyeom, there isn’t much time left on the reading room reservation, is there?”
Perhaps thinking his words hadn’t been heard, Han-ul spoke up again, but Won-hyeok interrupted him once more.
“Ah! You’re right. Sorry, Han-ul. See you in class.”
“Uh, yeah, okay.”
Han-ul nodded and waved his hand. Then he stood there for a while, staring as Han-gyeom and Won-hyeok walked away.
Won-hyeok was gripping Han-gyeom’s bangs and tugging on them diligently, as though trying to stretch them out, while Han-gyeom, apparently not hurt at all, simply looked at Won-hyeok and grinned.
It was such a strange sight that Han-ul couldn’t easily look away.
***
The time the two of them finally came out of the reading room together was 10 p.m. Until last week, they used to head home somewhere between 8 and 9 in the evening, but now midterms were truly just around the corner, so they had no choice but to stay planted in the reading room until late.
When they stepped outside, bugs were buzzing around the streetlights that brightly illuminated the campus. Deep darkness had settled over the campus that had been so lively during the day.
“I like the school at night like this.”
Han-gyeom inhaled deeply and let it out again, as if intoxicated by the mood. Beside him, Won-hyeok barely managed to hold back a yawn. It was the first time in his life he had ever studied this hard for exams. Honestly, considering that at first he had only intended to tag along to the library a few times for appearances’ sake, it was undeniably absurd behavior.
Whenever he thought about how he was wasting time sitting in that damn quiet, damn stifling library until late at night, irritation kept bubbling up in the middle of studying. Sometimes it got so intense he even felt like smashing his tablet.
But then, the moment he glanced once at Han-gyeom’s profile as he looked focused, lips pursed, writing with a white hand that gripped a pencil and moved it in scratchy strokes, his anger subsided a little. That might be the reason Won-hyeok’s tablet was still intact.
“I think I like it even more because I’m with you, sunbae.”
The two walked side by side toward the main gate. Han-gyeom looked up at the bright moon hanging in the late-night sky with excited eyes.
“Who was that guy earlier?”
“Who? Han-ul?”
“Yeah.”
At that familiar way of addressing him once again, Won-hyeok’s voice turned curt.
“We’re doing a group project in a general education class, and we got put in the same group this time. Ah, and Han-ul helped me with cutting my hair too.”
“What? That fucking bastard was the cause?”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Han-gyeom continued talking, diligently explaining what had happened that day. Han-ul was in the Fashion Design Department, so he knew a lot about fashion and styling, and they had ended up talking by chance, which led to him helping.
“I thought he looked scary at first, but his personality is nice too.”
“No…”
“Of course, you’re way nicer, sunbae.”
Won-hyeok was about to frown out of habit, but at Han-gyeom’s words, his expression softened right back.
“Ah, apparently he’s one of those… influencers? He’s famous on social media. They say he dresses well and he’s handsome too.”
“Hey, that’s…”
“But to me, you’re more handsome, sunbae.”
He had been about to say something at how casually Han-gyeom praised another man’s looks, but that final remark swallowed it whole.
“Hm, really?”
Won-hyeok looked as though he were thinking deeply about something, then soon cleared his throat as if pretending nothing was going on and adjusted his voice.
“If you ask me, I think that friend of yours is a lot more handsome.”
“What? No way. You’re more handsome, sunbae.”
“How much more?”
“So much more that they can’t even be compared.”
Han-gyeom flailed both arms in the air. At those enthusiastic gestures, as though he were determined to persuade him somehow, the corners of Won-hyeok’s mouth twitched ridiculously.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you home.”
Apparently satisfied enough with the answer, a full smile appeared on Won-hyeok’s face for the first time in a while.
“Ah, sunbae, you know…”
Around the time they passed the main gate, Han-gyeom slowly stopped walking and began fidgeting with his fingers. Won-hyeok naturally said nothing and simply waited. Usually, Han-gyeom acted like that when he had something he wanted to say.
“Could I take you home today?”
“Hm?”
Won-hyeok asked back in a rather startled, awkward voice. It was the first time. The first time anyone had ever said something like that to him.
“I want to take you home, sunbae. You always take me home every time… so wouldn’t that be okay?”
After they studied in the library, Won-hyeok always walked Han-gyeom home. Han-gyeom really liked that. It was the sort of thing lovers often did, and it made him very happy to spend more time together.
“Why?”
But Won-hyeok immediately asked with a face that said he genuinely didn’t understand. Sometimes he really did ask about the things Han-gyeom wanted to do as if he honestly wanted to know the reason.
“After taking me home, you always walk back alone. That’s been bothering me a little.”
The distance between their apartments wasn’t that far. On foot, it took around twenty minutes. It wasn’t long in terms of time, but still, it would’ve been a lie to say that the sight of Won-hyeok always walking back alone through the night streets hadn’t been on Han-gyeom’s mind.
Honestly, there was no rule that said lovers absolutely had to walk each other home. Still, because Won-hyeok spent that time on him, Han-gyeom wanted to do the same for him too.
“Then let’s go. It’s late.”
Maybe he felt self-conscious about just standing in the middle of the street, because Han-gyeom lightly tugged on Won-hyeok’s sleeve.
Despite the fact that it was such a weak little pull, Won-hyeok let himself be led along exactly as Han-gyeom guided him.
And so, this time, the two of them stepped off in a different direction than usual, down a different road. They talked on the way too, but Won-hyeok’s mood felt a little different. He seemed down somehow, probably tired from studying so much.
Wanting him to get home and rest as soon as possible, Han-gyeom deliberately quickened his pace.
Before long, unlike the alley where Han-gyeom’s one-room apartment was, they entered a neat, well-kept street. Looking up at the luxurious officetel that never once looked like a place a college student would live in, Han-gyeom unconsciously parted his lips.
“We’re here.”
“We are.”
“Then go in and get some rest.”
Han-gyeom gave Won-hyeok a small bow. Even though they were dating, Han-gyeom always politely greeted him whenever they parted and whenever they met.
“Han-gyeom, you should hurry home too. It’s really late.”
“No. I’m going to stay until I see you go inside, sunbae.”
Standing in front of the building entrance, Han-gyeom looked at Won-hyeok with bright, shining eyes. His intention was so transparent, as if that had been the whole reason he came here, that Won-hyeok finally let out a quiet laugh.
“Han-gyeom.”
“Yes?”
“Do you want to come up for coffee before you go?”
Won-hyeok pointed upward toward the higher floors of the building.
