#23
***
After final exams ended, Bonoh headed to a bar. He had been restraining himself during the semester out of consideration for Taeseong, but he planned to drink heavily using the end of the semester as an excuse. Planning to go all night, Bonoh even applied for an overnight stay outside the dormitory.
[I’m staying out tonight! ã…Ž]
Unlike Bonoh’s expectation that Taeseong would read it and ignore it like when he contacted him in advance about coming in late at the beginning of the semester, a reply came shortly after he sent it.
[?]
Only a single question mark came flying back. Bonoh thought his explanation might have been insufficient and was about to reply that he was going to drink today. However, before he could finish writing the reply, Room 309 Sunfish called him. He had left the name as it was because it was annoying to change a saved name again, but the childish nickname was irritating every time he saw it. Now that they had gotten a bit closer, should he change it to his name…? Before that, Bonoh had to answer the phone first.
“Hello?”
-What are you doing that you’re only answering now?
“Ah, I was spacing out for a bit, but why are you calling?”
-What do you mean suddenly saying you’re staying out overnight?
“Huh? I’m going to drink all night tonight. I’ll come in the morning… Um, is that okay?”
-……
When Taeseong remained silent, Bonoh became anxious. What is he going to say now? Did he get annoyed that I notified him I was staying out and then asked if it was okay?
“I’ll really come in quietly when I return! Okay? Is it not okay?”
-…What time are you coming back?
“Um… 5 AM is when you’re sleeping soundly, right? Should I just come in the morning instead?”
The dormitory curfew was from midnight to 5 AM. Bonoh, who had originally planned to come in at 5 AM, was considering whether he should sleep at a classmate’s apartment first since he might wake Taeseong. Which of them lives alone again…
-You’re talking nonsense about morning. Come in right at 5 o’clock sharp.
“Yes sir.”
Fortunately, Taeseong’s permission came through. Today I really have to drink until my nose goes crooked. In a good mood, Bonoh was even humming as he put his phone in his pocket when he felt a sharp gaze from beside him.
“What, are you two dating?”
Hyungwoo asked sourly, stopping mid-way through lifting his beer glass. His voice was loud, so the conversation content must have been overheard unintentionally.
“Ah, what are you saying, always.”
“Right. Dating what dating?”
For once, Junghwan took his side.
“…They’re already married, in a husband-wife relationship.”
These bastards, of course they would. Junghwan grinned and added more. Hyungwoo giggled next to him saying “Ah right, not girlfriend but wife.”
“Be quiet. Let’s toast.”
At Bonoh’s words, three glasses clinked together. The beer, pale from being mixed with a lot of soju, sloshed around.
They had started drinking early, but before they knew it, it was past 4 AM. After putting Hyungwoo and Junghwan in a taxi and arriving in front of the dormitory building, it was 5:10. He was completely drained from forcibly stuffing the two who were too drunk to leave and insisted on staying into the taxi.
Taking the elevator up, he felt dizzy yet euphoric.
“Phew…”
Bonoh sighed as the alcohol kept rising. Even his sigh seemed to smell of alcohol. He was obviously going to suffer from a tremendous hangover tomorrow. Nevertheless, he felt good in his hazy state from the alcohol. I should sleep as soon as I lie down.
Bonoh tapped his card key and carefully turned the door handle. He entered the room and slowly closed the door to avoid making loud noises. He was trying to sneak in when he saw the lights were on.
“Huh? You weren’t sleeping?”
Taeseong, whom he thought would be sleeping, was sitting at his desk. Was he reading? Bonoh looked over Taeseong’s desk, but his laptop was closed and there were no signs of him reading a book either.
“Just happened to be awake.”
Taeseong rubbed his eyes with a tired face.
“That’s fortunate. I was worried about waking you up.”
Bonoh grinned broadly. Drunk with alcohol, his mood was lifted. On days like this, he would often get swept up in his feelings and blurt out things he didn’t mean, making troublesome promises. For example, dropping honorifics with someone he wasn’t even close to, or readily agreeing to eat together on a day when he already had plans instead of refusing, or…
“……”
Something like “I should drink with you too.”
“When?”
“Huh?”
Bonoh had just said it casually, but Taeseong immediately asked when they would drink.
“When are you going to drink? Tomorrow you’ll probably suffer from a hangover, so how about this Friday?”
“Yeah, sounds good!”
Bonoh felt like the alcohol was hitting him more after coming into the room from outside. His forehead and cheeks turned red and he kept giggling. He was heading toward the bed when his feet got tangled and he sat down with a thud.
“Hah…”
Taeseong sighed, then took out a water bottle from the refrigerator and handed it to Bonoh. Bonoh stared at the water bottle blankly, then leaned his cheek against it. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation of the cool surface pleasantly cooling the heat in his cheeks.
“It’s cool.”
“Don’t just stay still, drink it.”
Taeseong lightly tapped Bonoh’s cheek with the water bottle. Still, Bonoh didn’t open his eyes and remained still. Thinking he might fall asleep, Taeseong opened the cap and brought it to Bonoh’s mouth.
“Mm?”
Bonoh opened his eyes wide and started drinking water. Once it was brought to his mouth, he drank it well, gulping it down. Water that he couldn’t swallow in time flowed down from the corner of his mouth. Taeseong stared intently at that stream of water flowing down his neck and soaking his collar. Looking down at Bonoh, who was sitting and drinking water at his thigh level, made him feel strange. Once he became conscious of it, he noticed things like the hazy eyes looking up at him, the flushed red face, and the wet lips holding the water bottle.
“That’s enough.”
Taeseong took away the water bottle, feeling like something bad would happen if he kept watching.
“Puh-ha. I, I need the bathroom.”
“Really, one thing after another.”
Taeseong helped Bonoh up and took him to the bathroom. When Bonoh came out of the bathroom, he playfully wiped his wet hands on Taeseong’s clothes with a mischievous face.
“Hehe.”
“Ah, come on.”
Since Taeseong was wearing thin loungewear, he could feel the touch of hands trailing down his body vividly. Just like a pervert. Does this guy act like this with just anyone when he’s drunk? Taeseong’s brow furrowed.
“Change your clothes.”
Taeseong handed him the pajamas Bonoh had taken off in the morning. Bonoh grabbed his pants right there and pulled them down in one go. The problem was that his underwear came down with the pants. Taeseong hurriedly turned around.
It wasn’t the first or second time Bonoh had changed clothes in the room, but even Taeseong himself couldn’t understand why he had turned around. He could hear Bonoh changing clothes behind him. The sound of clothes falling to the floor and fabric brushing against bare skin seemed unusually loud.
Taeseong didn’t turn around until Bonoh had finished changing and flopped onto the bed.
***
And so Friday, when they had promised to drink, arrived. Bonoh and Taeseong sat in their dormitory room with a bottle of alcohol between them. They thought it would be awkward to go out and drink, so they bought alcohol and brought it back, but the room wasn’t any less awkward. Bonoh somewhat resented his past self for making the appointment impulsively. It was fine when they lived in the same room or occasionally ate together, but for some reason, he didn’t know why it was so awkward when they were trying to drink.
The side dish was braised chicken. The meat, infused with salty-sweet soy sauce seasoning, was tender and the glass noodles glistened appetizingly, but somehow both of them weren’t eating well. What should I say? What topics did we talk about before? Unable to bear the awkward atmosphere with alcohol and food in front of them, Bonoh brought up a rumor he had heard recently about the Political Science and Diplomacy department.
“…That, didn’t two guys from your department get caught kissing at the MT?”
Honestly, he didn’t care whether two guys kissed or two girls kissed, but he brought up the topic to somehow continue the conversation.
“I don’t have prejudices about that kind of thing.”
“Ah, I see…”
Taeseong kicked away the conversation topic that Bonoh had desperately found in one blow. Let’s just get drunk instead. If we get drunk, the atmosphere will loosen up a bit. Bonoh drank the alcohol in his paper cup in quick succession. Since Taeseong, who was sitting with his arms crossed in an obviously defensive posture, didn’t seem like he would pour drinks affectionately, Bonoh poured and drank by himself. By the time he had emptied one bottle alone, a good idea occurred to Bonoh.
“Should we watch a movie while drinking? I’ll bring my laptop.”
Before Taeseong could refuse, Bonoh brought his laptop and opened an OTT site. Wandering about what movie to watch, Bonoh clicked on a poster showing two men companionably putting their arms around each other’s shoulders. Good, let’s try to build friendship like those men.
However, the movie flowed differently than Bonoh expected. The two men in the poster had sticky gazes when looking at each other, too intense for just friends. No way… it can’t be, right? Having just escaped from gay porn, it would be very troublesome if the movie he thoughtlessly put on dealt with homosexuality. Anxious, Bonoh shook his knees nervously.
When he glanced at Taeseong’s face, sure enough, Taeseong was looking at Bonoh sourly instead of the movie. Bonoh pretended to act nonchalant and focus on the movie.
But then the two men in the movie suddenly began kissing passionately. Bonoh’s desperate hope that their sticky gazes were just camaraderie, what’s commonly called bromance these days, was shattered to pieces.
“Oh my, why is this… I didn’t know it was this kind of movie…”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
