Saturday morning. Sunlight streamed through the windows, warmly illuminating the inside of the house. Bathed in the pouring sunlight, I rolled around on the sofa like a cat.
Today was the first meeting of the club. Unlike my body, which lay languidly sprawled out like a mollusk, my chest thumped with anticipation.
While I was basking in the warm sunlight, lost in thought—
Click.
With the sound of the door opening, Do Jihoon stepped out of the study and walked into the living room.
He sat down on the sofa near my head. When I saw his sturdy thighs, an impulse rose up to rest my head on them. I shifted my body and placed my head on top of his leg.
As I stared blankly up at his handsome face, he slowly ran his hand through my hair and spoke.
“Yuri. I sent a KakaoTalk message too.”
“…? To who?”
Do Jihoon sometimes dropped parts of sentences when he spoke. For someone with poor social skills, he actually spoke perfectly well with other people—but strangely, whenever he talked to me, he often left sentences incomplete. Just like now, I had no idea what he meant, so I looked up at him with a puzzled expression and waited for his answer.
Do Jihoon frowned slightly and gave an awkward smile.
“The club you said we should join. I contacted the president.”
“Really?!”
A few days ago, when I suggested we join a club together, Do Jihoon’s reaction had clearly been that of someone not particularly pleased. Sadly, I couldn’t drag along someone who wasn’t interested, so I’d figured I would have to attend the club alone.
I immediately sprang up from the sofa and wrapped my arm around Do Jihoon’s shoulders from behind.
“Aww, our Doji joined because I asked him to?”
“…That tone is extremely unpleasant.”
“Aww, you’re so cute.”
Unable to withstand the overwhelming cuteness, I raised my hand and vigorously kneaded his soft, chewy rice-cake-like cheeks. Do Jihoon’s face crumpled like a ferocious wolverine.
Still, I was confident in my ability to push boundaries just enough without crossing the line. Right before Do Jihoon could start getting annoyed, I released his cheeks.
“Doji, we have to meet in the club room by four today. You’ll go with me, right?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
“Before we go, make your special budae-jjigae for lunch!”
“We’re missing a few ingredients.”
“Really? Then we can just go grocery shopping first. Of course, Doji will drive~.”
“….”
I heard a deep sigh come from him. Even so, Do Jihoon obediently picked up the car keys. I clung to his back like a koala as we waddled out of the house.
***
“As we posted on the promotional flyers, our club enjoys leisure activities. We set a date and meet once every two or three weeks.”
“….”
Thanks to the school’s generous facilities, the club room heater had already been turned on, making the room as warm as late spring.
The problem, however, was the club members seated around the large table. The atmosphere hovering above that table was so cold it could rival the Ice Age.
“Of course, we usually meet on weekends. And we try to avoid gatherings the week before and after exam periods.”
“….”
Fuck. If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve just skipped joining a club, lived virtuously, and studied instead.
With the vacant eyes of someone witnessing a natural disaster, I slowly looked around the club members.
Starting from the far right of the president—first was Woo Hyun-woo. That damn bastard had no shame; the moment I entered the club room earlier, he’d thrown an arm around my shoulders and acted like we were close. He laughed loudly while asking if I was a new member, but the moment he saw Do Jihoon walking in behind me, his face stiffened instantly.
I didn’t know the exact reason, but Woo Hyun-woo seemed quite uncomfortable around Do Jihoon.
Moving my gaze past Woo Hyun-woo and along the unfamiliar faces—
My eyes suddenly stopped on a familiar one.
A soft-featured face that looked like a squirrel came into view.
Damn it. It was Ha Min-young.
Just a moment ago, when Woo Hyun-woo saw Do Jihoon walking in behind me, his face had stiffened like plaster. But Ha Min-young was the opposite—his face relaxed completely, like a flower bud blooming open.
That son of a bitch.
“That concludes the basic explanation. If you have any questions, please let me know. If it’s difficult to ask now, you can message me privately later.”
I really liked the president. She spoke well and had clear leadership, so she didn’t seem like the type who’d get pushed around during activities. On top of that, there was the near-perfectly organized schedule and the accounting sheet she’d already roughly prepared.
At this rate, it felt like I could even survive doing group projects with this person until graduation.
Honestly, aside from just two guys, this club was perfect.
Leaving a club like this because of those two would be such a waste—and completely unfair.
“If there are no questions, then shall we have a round of introductions?”
President Park Ju-yoon had definitely noticed the stiff atmosphere around the table. Thinking about it, this was the first time the new members had gathered, so it would’ve been strange if the table had been too relaxed.
“I’ll go first. Some of you probably already know from the flyers, but I’m Park Ju-yoon, class of ’17, twenty-four years old. I’m double majoring in statistics and economics.”
Class of ’17 and twenty-four years old meant she was probably a senior. Hearing that she was both the club president and doing a double major made me feel a surge of respect—and a strong desire to get close to her.
After all, it’s natural to develop a fondness for people who live diligently.
“Let’s go clockwise with introductions. Next—Woo Hyun-woo!”
“Ah, come on. Noona. Go the other way.”
“No objections accepted. Start.”
“…Class of ’21, Woo Hyun-woo. I’m twenty-one. Chemical Engineering.”
With a single sentence, Park Ju-yoon shut down Woo Hyun-woo’s attempt to avoid it. At that moment, I made an even firmer vow to get her contact information and become close with her no matter what.
Starting with Woo Hyun-woo, everyone began introducing themselves one by one. I listened carefully, trying to match their names, ages, and faces.
Some looked like freshmen but turned out to be baby-faced seniors from class of ’18, while others looked older than the president but were actually twenty-year-old freshmen.
Glancing around the table, it looked like there were just under twenty members including the new ones.
“Class of ’21, Ha Min-young. I’m twenty. I major in Business.”
While I was matching people’s names and faces, it was suddenly Ha Min-young’s turn. Maybe because he was a main character in the original story—his face was cute, and when I listened closely, his voice was nice too.
Maybe it was just me, but when I disliked someone, even hearing their voice or catching their particular scent made irritation rise up. To suppress the anger building inside me, I grabbed Do Jihoon’s hand and squeezed it like I was wringing out laundry.
Do Jihoon glanced at me briefly, then opened his mouth as his turn approached.
“Class of ’21, Do Jihoon. Business major. I’m twenty.”
“He’s handsome.”
Even though they seemed to be whispering, the club room was so quiet that I could hear compliments being thrown around from various places.
I felt strangely conflicted—part of me wanted the whole world to know how handsome Do Jihoon was, while another part wanted to be the only one who knew.
Humans really were creatures of contradiction.
“Class of ’21, twenty years old. I’m Yeon Yuri, Chemical Engineering.”
After finishing my introduction, I prayed that things would move quietly on to the next person.
But I couldn’t avoid the whispers either.
From here and there, embarrassed murmurs disguised as compliments drifted into my ears.
“He’s really pretty.”
“How does a guy have skin paler than mine…?”
I wasn’t a saint—so I didn’t hate hearing compliments directed at me. But compliments about my appearance from people I’d just met were a little embarrassing.
I could feel heat rising to my face.
After the barrage of compliments that left me feeling awkward finally subsided, a few more members continued their introductions.
Eventually, once the introductions had gone all the way around the table, the president spoke again.
“Alright, we’ll wrap up here today. Our actual leisure activities will start between midterms and finals, and also during winter break. I’ll make a group chat and post today’s information in the notices, so check there later if anything is confusing.”
It looked like the meeting was finally ending. When I checked the time, it was already approaching six.
A perfect time for dinner.
Thinking about going to an Italian restaurant with Do Jihoon made a smile naturally appear on my face.
But then—
“Anyone free tonight? Let’s go for a team dinner!”
The vice president poured cold water all over my happy imagination.
It wasn’t that I disliked group dinners. In fact, there was no better place to get comfortable with people you’d just met than over drinks.
The problem was Ha Min-young and Woo Hyun-woo.
Just imagining a drinking gathering with those two villains made my stomach churn with irritation.
“A team dinner? What kind of team dinner? Do you want people calling us boomers? The kids are busy—just let them go.”
“If everyone leaves now, we won’t see each other again for three weeks. If they’re not the type who comes to the club room often, people end up staying distant. We should have a social gathering the day we meet!”
“What about money?”
“There’s leftover money from last semester’s accounts. After refunding the people who left, there’s still some remaining. We can use that.”
Outwardly, I kept a calm expression—but inside, I was passionately praying for the president to win this argument.
Unfortunately, it seemed the president found the vice president’s argument fairly reasonable.
“…Alright. Let’s do that. You have a point.”
After some thought, Park Ju-yoon finally voted in favor of the group dinner.
“If we run short on money, we might have to collect dinner fees. If you’re uncomfortable, feel free to say so—no pressure. Is everyone okay with it?”
Unfortunately, none of the other members seemed to have any objections.
In that situation, when they asked if anyone already had dinner plans tonight, I couldn’t bring myself to raise my hand alone and go full ‘I’ll do whatever the hell I want’.
Do Jihoon met my eyes briefly, then quietly kept his mouth shut as well.
And so, we headed to a barbecue restaurant near the university.
Thus began the very first official off-campus gathering that Do Jihoon and I attended together since enrolling.
