The sunbae, who had been speaking in a clear and distinct voice, turned his head and looked at me. I blinked in surprise at the flick of his eyebrow and moved my index finger. With a click, the screen changed, and the next slide appeared. I was always just reading the clumsily written content during presentations, but watching him explain clearly, pointing at the screen with his hand even without a presentation script, I admired him. It was no wonder he was the top student and a model senior.
Maybe it was because I had been using the assignment with sunbae as an excuse to skip club activities for two weeks. Throughout the presentation, my phone kept flashing. It was Jin-wook, who hadn’t seen me for two weeks, but since I had set it to silent, I didn’t notice until the class ended.
“Today’s my last class. What about you, sunbae?”
“I have a liberal arts class at the College of Humanities.”
“Then we have to part ways here. Thanks for today.”
“No problem. I’ll go first.”
I waved at sunbae and finally checked my missed calls. I was thinking of stopping by a café on the way home to buy an Americano. I paused my thoughts for a moment. When I turned on the screen and saw the name of the person who had called, I could almost hear the voice calling my name.
“……Baek Siwoo.”
Even though the weather was getting cold, the muscular legs in shorts appeared first. As far as I knew, there was only one person who would come to school dressed like that and call my name. Cha Jin-wook. He was glaring at me with narrowed eyes.
“Hey, why are you here?”
He didn’t seem to be looking at me. I followed his gaze and turned my head. I saw the back of Hae-joon sunbae’s head as he walked away after saying goodbye. The College of Engineering buildings were on the far right of the campus, and the College of Physical Education buildings were deep inside the campus. It wasn’t a distance one would cover without intention. I liked moving my body and often went near the College of Physical Education because the gym and club rooms were there, but it was rare for Jin-wook to come all the way here.
Jin-wook stared intently at Hae-joon sunbae until he disappeared around the corner, then finally shifted his gaze to me. His brow was furrowed. He asked angrily,
“Why are you hanging out with that bastard? Are you crazy?”
“Who……? You don’t mean Hae-joon sunbae, do you? He’s two years older than us.”
I blinked at the three syllables of “that bastard,” then realized it referred to Hae-joon sunbae and frowned.
“That’s not what I’m asking. Are you in your right mind?”
“……What are you talking about all of a sudden? I feel offended.”
“Offended or not, I don’t get it. Do you know that bastard is gay and still hang out with him?”
—Murmur murmur.
……Gay? Did he know sunbae? Or had the rumor that sunbae was gay spread all the way to the College of Physical Education? In complete confusion, I opened my mouth wide, then lunged at him and covered his mouth with one hand. This wasn’t a place full of strangers; it was the entrance to the College of Engineering building where our major classes were held. As Jin-wook’s voice grew louder, the eyes of students coming down after class turned toward us.
If they knew each other, they knew each other, but why was he suddenly trying to out an innocent person? I didn’t understand why he was so angry. I grabbed Jin-wook’s arm, who was still angrily shouting despite my hand over his mouth, and dragged him away.
Jin-wook was still scowling, his lips pouting, and he huffed. Sometimes I wanted to tear open this stupid, simple head of his to see what he was thinking. We moved to a place where there were no people, and only then did I let go of his arm. Then I asked,
“Do you know Hae-joon sunbae?”
Jin-wook hesitated for a moment, then ran his hand through his hair nervously and answered,
“Yeah.”
“How?”
“…….”
“How did you find out he’s gay? Did the rumor spread that far?”
“You knew and still hung out with him? I thought you were homophobic.”
“He’s just a senior in the same department, same class, same group…….”
“Same class? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Do I have to tell you that I’m in the same class as that sunbae?”
“Of course you……!”
He seemed genuinely upset, shouting halfway through, then stopped, looking around anxiously, and added grumpily,
“……There’s no reason to tell you.”
“How do you know Hae-joon? Don’t you two get along?”
“I just know him.”
“What do you mean, ‘just know him’?”
“There’s something. Since we’re in the same group, I can’t tell you not to hang out with him, damn it! Fuck that bastard. Same group, my ass.”
“…….”
Jin-wook seemed so angry he couldn’t control himself. He kicked a wooden bench installed for the rest of college students tired from their studies. He kicked it so hard that the joints of the wooden bench creaked in pain. When Jin-wook, raging like an angry bull, not only kicked the bench but also roared, I took a step back, my face pale.
Honestly, he seemed like he had anger issues or was crazy. Jin-wook looked at me backing away, annoyed, and sighed. After a moment of ruffling his hair to calm his anger, he spoke in a lower, more subdued voice, warning me,
“That bastard is dangerous.”
“What?”
“……He’s completely insane. Baek Siwoo, let’s make just one promise.”
“I think you’re the insane one right now.”
“After the group project, don’t associate with him. Pinky swear. Here.”
“……Are you serious right now?”
“Yeah. Serious.”
“Why?”
“…….”
“Can’t you tell me?”
“……Yeah.”
“……Huh. I don’t have much to lose by doing as you say, but it feels weird.”
“I’m worried about you.”
Worried? I stared at Jin-wook’s face, wondering if he was sincere. It was nice that he was worried about me. He was saying that because he didn’t know I suspected him of being the stalker. When I was really scared of the stalking, Jin-wook was the only one who worried about me and helped me. It was just that I felt distant because I thought he might be the stalker. I was afraid that if I asked directly, I might lose a precious friend. What if I was just imagining things? What if Sunbae Baseok had seen wrong? Still not giving up hope, I accepted Jin-wook’s concern.
It wasn’t like I couldn’t do what he wanted. “……I’ll do as you say, so when you can tell me the reason someday, tell me.”
“……Hey, thanks. And sorry.”
“I know. Buy me a drink.”
“Okay. I’ll buy you a drink today.”
He even pinky-swore. Jin-wook seemed to have calmed down a bit, his previously pitiful expression easing into relief.
I watched Jin-wook, who was talking about buying drinks at the usual pub, and tilted my head.
But…… how did Jin-wook really know Hae-joon sunbae? And why did he hate him so much?
The midterm evaluation went as well as Hae-joon sunbae had boasted. After the midterm exam period, I became even busier as a third-year student nearing the end of the semester. The reason was the TOEIC class.
I didn’t have enough money to go to a TOEIC academy, so I signed up for the TOEIC class offered directly by the school at a cheaper price. However, due to the limited number of applicants, I had been pushed to the waiting list as a third-year student with poor grades. Finally, I passed and got a spot.
I went to the College of Agriculture to attend the TOEIC class at five in the afternoon. The spacious lecture hall, which could accommodate 150 students, was in a theater-style format. The professor in charge of the class, along with the teaching assistant, was holding the attendance sheet and talking earnestly about something.
I sat in a soft chair, looking at my phone, waiting for this boring time to pass quickly. Since it was the first day of class, would they finish early? Or would they fill the full two hours since they had already announced the TOEIC books to study? I groaned, burying my face in my phone screen. I hadn’t exercised in two weeks. Now it was almost three weeks. I rubbed my arm uneasily, afraid that even my proud chest muscles might shrink from not moving.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
