#50
**
Afterward, Ha-min was sick for over a day. The next day, he couldn’t even go to class and just stayed in bed sleeping. His whole body ached as if he had been hit by a car. He expected it would hurt, but it was as he anticipated. That’s why he had said no….
Ha-min quietly resented him while shivering alone. But then he immediately changed his mind. That day, hyung was more excited than ever before. He could feel it not only in his rough breathing but also in his passionate movements. Even in the midst of the chaos, he clearly remembered his ardent eyes. That alone made him feel good again.
He wrapped his shivering body tightly in blankets and fell asleep. He would wake up in pain, take painkillers, and fall asleep again, repeating this cycle. When he finally came to his senses after being sick for over a day, it was the next night. A cough that burst out also tormented him.
Ha-min moistened his dry lips with cold water and picked up his phone that had been charging. He was worried that missing school might have caused attendance issues. He had asked Woo-kyung or Eun-soo to help, but hadn’t seen their replies. When he turned on his phone, notifications came flooding in.
From the group chat with all the department students, to the group chat with Eun-soo, Woo-kyung, and Chae-rin, and even Tae-in. The department group chat was just full of schedule-related messages, while the chat with his friends was all asking if he was okay.
There was one from Tae-in too. “Hey, what are you up to?” It was a simple message. A normal message sent as usual, not knowing he was sick. Ha-min quenched his thirst with water again and replied. “I’m just here.” Right after sending the short reply, his phone rang. It was Eun-soo.
“Hello, Eun-soo.”
– Oppa! Why haven’t you been answering your phone!
Her voice, locked away for several hours, came out like a metallic sound. Eun-soo jumped as soon as Ha-min answered the phone.
“I was sleeping the whole time. Sorry.”
– How sick are you? How sick do you have to be for you not to come to school?
“It’s not that bad…”
– Not bad? I know how diligent you are. If you can’t come to school, you must be really sick.
“I’m okay now. Thanks for worrying.”
– Did you go to the hospital?
“Ah… no, I just took some medicine.”
– Geez, men living alone never go to the hospital.
Ha-min laughed softly at her nagging words. Somehow, he liked how normal this conversation felt. The number of people worrying about him besides his mother had increased.
– Have you eaten?
“Uh… I’m about to eat now.”
– What time do you think it is to eat now? Should I bring you some porridge?
“No, don’t do that. I’m really okay now.”
– Alright then. Oh, I talked to the teaching assistant about your attendance. I asked them to mark it as sick leave. The TA is usually strict and asks for a doctor’s note, but when I said you were too sick to come, they processed it right away. The TA must know how diligent you are.
“That’s a relief…”
– Anyway, make sure to take your medicine and eat well. You can come tomorrow, right?
“Yeah, I should go.”
– We have a department gathering tomorrow, but if you’re sick, you can skip it.
“No, I can go.”
Ha-min said with a determined face. Then a worried voice came back over the line.
– Don’t push yourself. Oh, but you earned a lot of money during the festival this time, so it would be a shame if you couldn’t eat. Our department came first in sales, right? They say the professors are coming tomorrow too.
“I’ll go. I’m really okay now.”
Ha-min forced out a healthier-sounding voice. Of course, it came out strange because it was quite hoarse, but it was not noticeable unless one was very attentive.
– Okay then. Get some more rest.
“Yeah. You get some rest too, Eun-soo.”
As he was about to end with final greetings, Eun-soo suddenly spoke up as if she had just remembered something.
– Oh right, Tae-rim sunbae called me today.
“Huh?”
Ha-min flinched at the sudden mention of the name.
– He called me because you weren’t answering your phone? When I asked what was wrong, I told him you were sick.
“Oh? Ah…”
– He didn’t sound too good… You didn’t fight, did you?
“Uh… no. Nothing like that.”
– That’s good then. I’m hanging up now, bye.
Eun-soo cheerfully said goodbye and ended the call.
As soon as the call ended, Ha-min checked his missed calls. There were several from Eun-soo and Woo-kyung, one from Chae-rin. And also from hyung.
Ha-min quietly looked down at his name. He wondered if he was surprised that he couldn’t reach him… but then he found it funny that he even thought that.
Because it was just his own wishful thinking.
**
After sitting for a long while, Ha-min got up with his heavy body and headed to the convenience store. Having fasted for over a day, he felt hungry. He thought about having something light to eat because he needed to take medicine too, but all he had was ramen. Ha-min let out a short sigh and put on his cap. His throat felt scratchy, so it was hard to eat spicy food. He planned to buy some convenience store porridge to eat.
He put on his cap and lingered at the counter. He was briefly contemplating whether to eat plain porridge or abalone porridge.
“What are you doing?”
An indifferent voice came from right beside him. Ha-min’s face brightened at the familiar voice.
“Chae-rin.”
It was Chae-rin, carrying a guitar case taller than herself.
“I heard you were sick. Are you okay?”
It was a calm tone, different from Eun-soo’s. Ha-min nodded with a gentle smile.
“Yeah, I’m a bit better now.”
It was half truth, half lie. He was much better than yesterday, but his gait was still a bit uncomfortable. It was natural, considering that huge thing had gone in and out.
“Wow, look at your face. You look totally washed out…”
Chae-rin frowned as she checked Ha-min’s face. Wondering if it was that bad, Ha-min awkwardly smiled and touched his own face.
“Is, is it that bad?”
“Yes. You look like you’ve been hit hard by sickness.”
Chae-rin said with a slight laugh. Ha-min smiled back and chose the plain porridge. Chae-rin seemed to be buying dinner too, selecting cup noodles and a few triangle kimbaps and putting them on the counter. Ha-min then asked the part-timer to ring them up together.
“I’ll buy it for you.”
“Ah, it’s fine.”
“Come on. Let’s pay together.”
Ha-min rummaged through his pocket, wanting to look good in front of his close junior. Then he saw the 50,000 won bills that he had forcibly put in yesterday morning. He hesitated for a moment, then searched the opposite pocket and took out his card. After paying, they each took a black bag and walked back on the one-room apartment street. It was a place where poor college students lived together. Chae-rin also lived not far from the gosiwon where he lived.
“Are you coming to school tomorrow?”
Chae-rin asked bluntly while putting a sausage in her mouth.
“Yeah. I have to go, I can’t miss two days.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“I need to get a scholarship…”
Ha-min smiled awkwardly. Chae-rin nodded as if understanding.
“Oh, right, oppa.”
Then she suddenly frowned, looking indifferent. Suddenly, her frowning face looked quite serious.
“What?”
“No, it seems like there are some strange rumors going around these days.”
“Huh…?”
“I’m not sure, but anyway, I think it’s better to be careful.”
“…”
“It seems to be from Cha Jun-seong’s group of bastards.”
Ha-min’s face also sank rapidly as he remembered something he had forgotten. Then he smiled brightly, grateful for Chae-rin’s concern.
“Thanks. I’ll be careful.”
“Well, honestly, it’s not you who should be careful… Ah, those bastards.”
Thinking about it seemed to irritate her, and Chae-rin clenched her fist with a frown. It didn’t seem like just a joke, so Ha-min shook his head with preemptively surprised eyes.
“Anyway, that’s how it is. You’re already weak, I’m worried you might get upset hearing strange things at school.”
“It’s okay. Thanks for worrying.”
Things like that…. Ha-min said with a bitter smile. Simple bullying didn’t bother him. Rather, he had developed a habit of becoming detached every time it happened. As he gathered his thoughts for a moment, they had already arrived at the entrance of Ha-min’s gosiwon building.
“Well, I’ll go now.”
“Should I walk you back?”
Ha-min asked carefully, embarrassed that they had arrived first, but Chae-rin glanced at him with a look that said it was quite funny. Her face said, who’s walking whom back?
“Oppa, you look like you’d fall over if someone just tapped you right now.”
“Ah…”
“Your walk is a bit strange too, did you hurt your leg?”
Ha-min shook his head vigorously with a surprised face at the words that hit the mark.
“N-no.”
“Then that’s good. I’m going now.”
“Oh okay. Get home safe. See you tomorrow!”
Ha-min raised his voice towards Chae-rin’s retreating back as she left after just saying her goodbyes. Chae-rin waved her hand without looking back. Really, she had a cool and admirable personality. She accurately noticed when people were in awkward or difficult situations, but didn’t pry any further. Thinking that she was really a good kid, Ha-min was about to turn around.
A familiar smell of cigarettes seeped into his nose. It was a common cigarette smell, but it felt familiar because it was mixed with a unique scent. As he realized this, Ha-min’s eyes widened.
“…”
He only now noticed Tae-rim’s car parked on the side of the road. The problem was that the dark silhouette wasn’t visible due to the alley without streetlights.
“Ah…”
A small gasp escaped Ha-min’s mouth as he discovered him.
He saw seductive lips smiling crookedly.
“Hyung…”
“…”
“Did I interrupt something?”
Before Ha-min’s consciousness, momentarily distanced by Tae-rim’s sudden appearance, could return, a voice tinged with laughter was heard again.
“You can’t answer.”
“No, it’s not like that…”
Ha-min finally seemed to come to his senses and managed to speak in response to the questioning words. As Ha-min made excuses with an embarrassed face, Tae-rim quietly smoked his cigarette.
