#77
A vibration was felt through the elbow resting on the table. Bonoh put down his cup and checked the screen of his phone that had been placed face down.
[God Hyungwoo: Today ㄱ?]
[ㄱ Park Junghwan: ㄱㄱ Where should we go for drinks]
[God Hyungwoo: ㄱㄱ Anywhere that looks like it has the most delicious side dishes]
It was Hyungwoo and Junghwan. Bonoh remembered that Hyungwoo had been suggesting for the past few days that they go drink at a pub during the festival.
“Who is it?”
“Ah, Shin Hyungwoo and Park Junghwan. They contacted me saying we should drink together since it’s the festival.”
“……”
Bonoh answered nonchalantly while touching the keyboard on his phone screen. Without thinking, Bonoh was about to reply that he understood, but he suddenly came to his senses, put down his phone, and rolled his eyes. Sure enough, Taeseong’s expression, which hadn’t looked pleasant to begin with, had become even more fierce.
“Um, Joo Taeseong.”
“……”
He carefully called Taeseong’s name, but Taeseong didn’t even pretend to listen.
“Jagi…”
“What?”
When he tried changing the way he addressed him just in case, Taeseong finally responded. As expected, this was it. Regardless of the fact that the other person was a man, Bonoh was a little embarrassed by the term “jagi.” He had never called anyone that before and wasn’t used to it, so it didn’t roll off his tongue easily. That’s why he habitually called him by name, but he wouldn’t even acknowledge it. Just how did I end up promising to call him jagi? Bonoh began to resent his drunk self from last night.
“I shouldn’t meet those guys today… right?”
“Yeah, you shouldn’t. You promised yesterday. That you’d distance yourself from your friends.”
“Huh?”
“I knew it… Kim Bonoh, you don’t remember last night, do you? When I said I was bothered by you hanging out with other guys until late at night, you said you’d distance yourself from your friends and only drink when you’re with me.”
Taeseong said this while wiping his hands with a wet towel. With his gaze lowered and his long eyelashes cast down, Taeseong’s face looked more bitter than ever. Moreover, Taeseong even looked lonely. Crazy, what did I do… To make my boyfriend lonely when we’ve been dating for less than a full day.
Are Shin Hyungwoo and Park Junghwan really the problem right now? Bonoh even forgot about replying. He couldn’t believe that he had been the first to say he’d distance himself from his friends and only drink when he was with Taeseong, but seeing Taeseong’s expression now, it seemed like that might be the case.
“Ah right. That’s what happened, geez…”
Just then, a restaurant employee appeared pulling a trolley with two earthenware pots on it. The employee silently began setting out the side dishes. As the employee pushed the empty trolley away from the table, Bonoh took a spoonful of the soup. The hot broth went down his throat and settled his stomach a little.
White steam rose from the bubbling earthenware pot. Beyond it, he could see Taeseong. Was it just his imagination that Taeseong looked even more wistful because of the white steam? Bonoh resolved to be a good boyfriend to Taeseong from now on.
As soon as Bonoh returned to the dormitory, he took a shower first. Then, without even drying his hair, he flopped down on the bed. Of course, since he couldn’t get his own blanket and pillow wet, he lay down on Taeseong’s empty bed. Since there was no blanket and only a mattress cover, the cover rustled every time he moved.
He hadn’t done much, but he felt tired somehow. His body felt heavy from drinking too much the night before, and too many things had happened to Bonoh.
“Joo Taeseong…”
Bonoh called Taeseong’s name in a drowsy voice. Dating Taeseong… How did he end up dating Taeseong? Strangely, every time they talked, the promises he didn’t remember kept increasing, but he was still happy that he had started dating Taeseong. However, he was puzzled about why Taeseong had accepted his confession. Since he couldn’t remember when he had confessed, Bonoh felt a little anxious.
Last night, he probably made all sorts of promises because he thought Taeseong wouldn’t agree to date him, right? When he thought about it that way, it didn’t seem impossible to keep those promises. The term “jagi” and distancing himself from friends felt less like a burden and more like privileges he had as Taeseong’s boyfriend.
“Uaaah…”
Bonoh rolled around on the bed because his chest felt ticklish. Every time he rolled left and right, it seemed like water was dripping from his wet hair, but he didn’t care. Then Bonoh accidentally dropped his phone under the bed.
When he stretched out his hand while lying prone on the bed and picked up his phone, the screen lit up. Several notifications had accumulated on the lock screen. Since Hyungwoo and Junghwan kept contacting him, he had switched to silent mode, so Bonoh didn’t even know notifications had piled up.
“Hmm…”
Bonoh scrolled down the screen and checked the notifications one by one.
[God Hyungwoo: What’s this Kim Bonoh leaving me on read? ã…¡ã…¡]
[God Hyungwoo: This bastard’s asking for it;;]
[ㄱ Park Junghwan: He must be busy]
[ㄱ Park Junghwan: Or maybe he’s still sleeping]
[God Hyungwoo: Didn’t he read it earlier?]
[ㄱ Park Junghwan: He might have woken up briefly and fallen back asleep before replying]
[God Hyungwoo: Is that so? Kim Bonoh contact us when you wake up ㄱ]
Most of the messages were from Hyungwoo and Junghwan. Bonoh hesitated for a moment, then sent a reply.
[I think today will be difficult for me. Let’s meet later.]
And before Hyungwoo and Junghwan could even check it, he turned off notifications for the group chat. Taeseong seemed to dislike him contacting the two of them, but he couldn’t just disappear without saying anything.
Even after dealing with their messages, one notification remained. What is it, Joo Taeseong? But that message wasn’t from “Joo Taeseong♥.” After their hangover cure, when Taeseong was taking Bonoh back to the dormitory, he suddenly asked what he was saved as.
As soon as he heard that question, Bonoh thought “oh no” to himself. Because Joo Taeseong was still saved as “Room 309 Sunfish” in Bonoh’s phone. Now Taeseong didn’t even live in room 309, and he was no longer a sunfish to Bonoh, but he had left it alone without much thought because it was too bothersome to change.
Actually, Bonoh had half-forgotten that he had saved him like that. It was too familiar, and Taeseong wasn’t the type to contact him frequently. Unable to tell the truth, Bonoh pressed edit contact right there and deleted “Room 309 Sunfish.” Then he held out the contact screen with an empty name field to Taeseong.
“Here, change it to whatever you want.”
It was quick thinking that surprised even himself. As Taeseong took the phone, he asked what he had been saved as that he couldn’t answer.
“Son of a bitch? Or what, fucking bastard?”
“What! No, no.”
Bonoh waved his hands as he spoke. He hadn’t saved him like that, but he felt guilty remembering how he had badmouthed Taeseong at drinking parties when he had just moved into the dormitory.
“Then what was it? Huh? Since you saved it before we started dating, I won’t say anything. Tell me.”
“Ah just, something ordinary…”
“My name? ‘Political Science Joo Taeseong’?”
“Just… ‘Room 309 Sunfish'”
Despite his earlier quick thinking, Bonoh ended up confessing the truth. Taeseong let out a scoff as if he couldn’t believe it, then touched Bonoh’s phone a few times before returning it. When he received the phone, Taeseong’s contact was saved as “Joo Taeseong♥.” There was even a bright red heart after the four characters.
The message wasn’t from that “Joo Taeseong♥.” A private chat had come from a questioner on “Casa Farmer.” It should have been annoying to have a questioner who kept asking questions, but strangely, Bonoh was pleased. Maybe it was because their situations seemed similar based on the previous question content. Wondering “I succeeded, but will this person succeed too?” he entered the chat.
-We agreed to date but the other person drank and doesn’t remember.
Sending just the main point without any context was so typical of the questioner. Bonoh was first surprised by the fact that the questioner wasn’t a middle schooler. Based on the way they talked and the content of their concerns, he had thought they might be a middle schooler or even younger, but alcohol? Or could it be that the questioner was a middle schooler but only their partner was an adult?
An adult meeting a middle schooler. What trash… He had naturally assumed they were the same age since the questioner called the other person a friend, but maybe not? And they don’t remember because they drank? What? What did you say? This piece of trash really! I’ll dispatch immediately!
Bonoh felt the urge to arrest the other person right away. But then he suddenly realized that he, too, had been drunk and couldn’t remember the moment he confessed.
-So did the other person say they wanted to pretend the dating thing never happened?
-That’s not it. Actually, the other person is trying to hide that they don’t remember, and they don’t know that I know.
-Then isn’t it okay? At least you ended up dating…
Bonoh hesitated a little before sending the message. He couldn’t understand what the problem was, so he sent that straightforward response, but he worried it might seem like he was defending the other person. A message appeared in the chat indicating that the questioner was typing.
Seeing the speech bubble appear and disappear next to the default profile that had no photo set, it seemed like the questioner was also having trouble answering easily. Bonoh stayed in the chat and waited for the questioner’s next message.
-But why do I feel so fucking shitty?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
