After getting another drink from the vending machine, Jaeyoon returned to Heejun’s room to find Hajun lying spread-eagled on the floor. With a sullen expression, he was staring blankly at the ceiling, but at the sound of the door closing, he slightly lifted his head to look at Jaeyoon.
“You’re late…”
At the grumbling voice, Jaeyoon apologized and offered the cold Kokomong he had just purchased to Hajun. Pouting his lips for a moment, Hajun took the Kokomong from Jaeyoon’s hand and gulped it down refreshingly.
“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting? Were all three vending machines broken or something? Why are you so late… what’s with the bandage on your neck?”
“Huh? Oh…”
“Bandage?! Are you hurt??”
At Jaeha’s startled question, Jaeyoon awkwardly touched his neck. Hajun’s eyes narrowed as he quietly observed him. Hajun rolled his eyes to look behind Jaeyoon at Jinhoo, who was handing coffee to Heejun, then turned his gaze back to Jaeyoon and asked:
“Didn’t you say you get cold easily? Yet your buttons are undone?”
“Well…”
Beads of sweat rolled down Jaeyoon’s temple at the spot-on remark. Trying to act nonchalant, he answered that he got hot after going all the way to the first floor to buy drinks. Hajun’s brows furrowed at that. He looked back and forth between Jaeyoon and Jinhoo for a moment, then suddenly, as if realizing something, his eyes widened and he clapped his hands.
“Aha!”
At Hajun’s self-muttering “I see~”, Jaeyoon wanted to deny whatever it was, regardless of what he thought.
“You two are da—mmph?!”
A piece of chicken was suddenly stuffed into Hajun’s mouth as he was about to exclaim cheerfully. With a surprised look, Hajun blinked rapidly and turned his head to look beside him. Heejun, the culprit who had fed him the chicken, was drinking his coffee with an expressionless face.
“What? Not enough? Want more?”
As Heejun picked up another piece of chicken with his chopsticks, Hajun blinked blankly before shaking his head. Hajun stared quietly at Jaeha, who was looking over with a bewildered expression, then nodded to himself. He then took the chicken from his mouth with his hand and began to eat it obediently. Watching him chew with his cheeks puffed out like rice cakes, Jaeyoon nervously glanced at Heejun.
‘Did he find out?’
Feeling Jaeyoon’s gaze, Heejun looked at him and nodded. Seeing Jaeyoon slightly bite his lip, Heejun picked up his phone that was lying next to him. Zing—a vibration sound came from Jaeyoon’s pocket. With a puzzled expression, he took out his phone and looked up at Heejun after seeing the name on the screen. Heejun tapped the phone screen with his finger.
‘He wants me to check the message?’
Jaeyoon checked Heejun’s message and frowned with a bitter smile.
[Looks dumb but very perceptive]
When he looked up at Hajun, their eyes met, and Hajun smiled brightly, his eyes curving into crescents. As Hajun nodded knowingly and grabbed his own neck, Jaeyoon bit the tender flesh inside his mouth.
Zing.
At the vibration sound again, Jaeyoon’s eyes widened as he checked his phone.
[So the fact that you two are dating is a secret from Jaeha?]
[I thought I was the only one who didn’t know~]
[I’m bi too! Let’s talk properly later~]
[Heart-blowing puppy emoticon]
Jaeyoon put his phone back in his pocket with a gentle smile on his face. He could clearly envision Hajun teasing him and Jinhoo in the future.
“At least he won’t cross the line.”
“Huh?”
Heejun, who had somehow moved next to him, whispered quietly as if talking to himself.
“He won’t thoughtlessly bring it up outside, so don’t worry. Earlier… I think he thought it was okay since it was just us.”
“That’s a relief.”
“But be careful when you’re alone with him. He’s annoyingly nosy.”
“…Yeah.”
Jaeyoon tried to calm his complicated feelings by eating chicken.
“By the way, what were you two doing that your neck is now exposed?”
“…Nothing much…”
“Before you went out to buy drinks, you were all bundled up trying not to show your neck, but what kind of change of heart happened in those 20 minutes that now your neck is completely exposed? And with a bandage on it too.”
“…”
Jaeyoon responded with his right to remain silent to the pointed remarks. Heejun’s eyes narrowed. Feeling the sharp gaze from his left, Jaeyoon pretended to drink his cola and turned his head to the side.
“Well, I guess something happened with the student council president, and Sunbae Jinhoo cleaned it up nicely.”
“Pfft?!”
Cola sprayed out. Jinhoo quickly handed tissues to Jaeyoon, who was coughing. When Jinhoo worriedly asked if he was okay, Jaeyoon answered by raising his hand.
‘It almost came out my nose…’
Jaeyoon wiped the cola from his mouth and looked at Heejun. Are you Conan or something? His resentful gaze was met by Heejun raising one eyebrow while drinking his coffee. Annoyed by that look, he pressed his lips together.
“Maybe you should change your future career to detective?”
“If you’re okay with me just guessing the culprit without evidence.”
‘So he’s confident he can guess the culprit correctly.’
As he put the last piece of chicken in his mouth and put down his fork, Hajun suddenly jumped up from his seat. Everyone looked at him with surprised faces.
“Hyung, I don’t know what you’re doing, but stop it and sit down…”
The way Jaeha tried to stop Hajun before he could do anything showed how much he had suffered until now. But Hajun completely ignored his brother’s words and exclaimed:
“Let’s tell scary stories!”
“No!!”
Jaeha’s scream echoed through the room. Seeing his face turn pale as he looked at Hajun, Jaeyoon remembered how Jaeha, using his authority as class president, had rejected the haunted house during the festival.
‘So the class president really hates scary things.’
“We don’t have any more games to play anyway, right? Let’s tell scary stories~”
“No, nooo!!”
Hajun acted as if he couldn’t hear Jaeha’s voice at all, and Jaeha’s face crumpled into a tearful expression. As he clutched Hajun’s sleeve and pleaded, his gaze met Jaeyoon’s.
“Jaeyooooon…”
Jaeha called Jaeyoon’s name as if he were a lifeline.
“Sunbae Hajun, since the class president doesn’t like it, maybe scary stories aren’t…”
Just as he was trying to stop Hajun, the room’s lights suddenly went out. In an instant, they were engulfed in darkness.
“Aaaaaaaaaahhh!! What? What is it? What’s happening?!”
Jaeha screamed and panicked. He seemed even more frightened since they had been about to tell scary stories.
“Ah, shut up! It seems like a power outage, but the lights will come back soon, so stop making a fuss and just sit still.”
“Yeah, class president, it’s dangerous to move during a power outage.”
“Mmm…”
As Jaeha stopped flailing and quieted down, Jaeyoon let out a small sigh. What’s with this sudden power outage? The dorm manager or the security guard would take care of it soon, but…
In the darkness where they couldn’t distinguish front from back, only the sound of each other’s breathing could be heard. Just as Jaeyoon was about to turn on his phone’s light, a bright light suddenly shone before their eyes. Frowning at the brightness, Jaeyoon showed a confused expression when he saw Hajun shining the light toward his face. Where did he find a flashlight so quickly?
“Now, shall we start telling scary stories~?”
“Nooooo!!”
Jaeha wailed and shouted, but once again, his words were completely ignored. Hajun placed the flashlight in the center where the five of them were gathered and whispered softly, covering his mouth with his hand.
“This is a story I heard…”
“Uwauwauwauwaa!!”
Jaeha’s voice, covering his ears with his hands and shouting, made it impossible to hear Hajun’s voice properly. Frowning, Hajun struck Jaeha’s neck with his hand. Kack! A scream followed by the sound of coughing was heard.
“This is a story I heard…”
Hajun continued his story, ignoring his collapsed brother.
“It’s about a couple who went on vacation to the Philippines. As soon as they arrived in Boracay, they changed into their swimsuits and went to the sea to play in the water. While the two of them were laughing and enjoying their vacation in the clean, clear sea, a huge wave suddenly hit them.”
“So, did they get swept away?”
“No, fortunately, they were near the sandy beach, so they weren’t swept far out to sea, but when the wave receded and the husband opened his eyes, everything in front of him was blurry!!”
“Eek?!”
Jaeha flinched and tightly hugged a cushion to his chest.
“The husband was shocked as the world became foggy, as if covered in mist, and shouted. My, my…!!”
The sound of someone’s gulp could be heard. Feeling everyone’s attention on him, Hajun took a breath and then shouted loudly:
“My glasses were swept away!!!”
“…Are you joking?”
“The husband’s eyesight was really bad.”
“How is this a scary story?”
“Losing your glasses on a trip is super scary, isn’t it?”
As Hajun blinked his large eyes as if asking what the problem was, Heejun gritted his teeth.
“It is scary…”
At Jaeha’s voice agreeing from the side, Heejun furrowed his brow. These Sim brothers… Seeing Heejun’s irritated expression, Hajun thought for a moment and then clasped his hands together.
“Okay, I’ll do it properly this time.”
“As if.”
“Really! Come on, focus. This is something my friend told me…”
Heejun looked at Hajun with a distrustful expression. Just as Hajun opened his mouth to start the story, he suddenly made a strange noise and lunged at Jaeha. At that predictable prank, Jaeha screamed and flew back as if having a seizure. In the process, he threw a cushion on the flashlight, extinguishing the light that had been illuminating the darkness.
“My light is gone!!”
“Eeek?!”
“Sim Jaeha!!!”
Jaeyoon felt something whooshing past his face. Just as he was wondering how to calm the situation, a hand overlapped his on the back of his hand, and something soft touched his lips.
“Sun—!”
A tongue entered between Jaeyoon’s surprised, parted lips. Jaeyoon stared with wide eyes at Jinhoo, who must be in front of him. Even if it’s dark, the others are still here!! As the hand grasped his, Jaeyoon hesitated for a moment before closing his eyes.
‘I’m not usually this reckless type…’
Jinhoo gently stroked Jaeyoon’s neck with his hand and then slowly separated their lips. And at that very moment, the dormitory lights came back on.
“Is everyone alive?!”
At Hajun’s booming voice, Jaeyoon pressed his lips together and looked at Jinhoo. He smiled sweetly, his eyes crinkling at Jaeyoon’s gaze. No matter how cute you act, I’m not letting this one go.
“Sunbae, you’re getting a lecture later.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
