Do Won-hyeok clutched his pounding head. Kang Han-gyeom, of course having no idea what was going on inside his head, only thought, So we’re not going to the convenience store? He’d already felt a little lonely studying by himself in the library all day without Won-hyeok there.
Deciding he wouldn’t be able to focus in that state, he packed up his things and came out, only to run right into Kim Sun-woo. As they left the library building together, they chatted about this and that, and when Han-gyeom mentioned he still hadn’t eaten dinner, Sun-woo clapped his hands once and, if he was okay with it, invited him to come along to a gathering with their classmates.
At first, Han-gyeom refused. If he went and sat in a place crawling with upperclassmen, he might suffocate and collapse on the spot. But once he heard Won-hyeok was there too, there was no way Han-gyeom could keep refusing. He figured it would be fine if he just went, saw his face at least once, and left, but when they arrived in front of the restaurant, he was startled.
Who would’ve thought someone who seemed to be one of Won-hyeok’s classmates would suddenly ask whether he had a lover? In any case, Han-gyeom already knew Won-hyeok wanted to keep this relationship a secret. Hearing that firm voice say there wasn’t one, Han-gyeom felt relieved while also realizing that yes, he’d been right to think so.
“Sunbae, are you feeling sick or something?”
Maybe he was starting to get worried seeing Won-hyeok only clutching his forehead, because Han-gyeom tilted his head this way and that as he looked him over. His hair fluttered noisily in Won-hyeok’s field of vision, making a distracting fuss, and Won-hyeok let out an irritated sigh before lifting his head.
“You….”
“Yes?”
Won-hyeok stared fixedly at Han-gyeom. Han-gyeom tilted his head in response. As a result, his hair slanted aside, revealing clear, harmless eyes. In those eyes staring straight at him, there was only a faint trace of excitement and concern.
“Never mind…. My head’s splitting, Jesus….”
When Won-hyeok muttered it like a sigh, Han-gyeom only looked even more worried.
“Sunbae, but are we just going to keep standing here? I think I probably came for no reason after all, so I should get going.”
The reason he’d come here in the first place had been to see Won-hyeok’s face at least one more time. Since they’d now met in person and even talked alone together, he’d more or less accomplished his goal.
“You said you hadn’t eaten dinner.”
“Yeah, I haven’t.”
“What were you doing, not eating this late?”
Won-hyeok’s voice definitely had a lot less energy than before. When he rolled his wrist, his expensive luxury watch clinked softly. It was already well past 8 p.m.
“Because you weren’t there. You’re always the one who says we should eat dinner first.”
His voice, sounding almost like he’d missed mealtime because there was no one there to tell him to eat, carried a trace of shyness.
“…Come on. The meat there’s good.”
“Uh… can I go too?”
Won-hyeok simply nodded without saying much. If Kim Sun-woo had brought him, he must’ve already told the people inside in advance, and in that situation, sending Han-gyeom back home would’ve been even stranger.
Their conversation trailing off like that, the two crossed the road again and walked back in front of the restaurant. But just before opening the glass door and going inside, Won-hyeok suddenly stopped and stared at Han-gyeom.
Han-gyeom was tense all over, maybe because he was nervous about going into a place full of strangers. Staring at him for a moment, Won-hyeok ruffled Han-gyeom’s bangs, then pulled them down as far forward as possible.
“Huh? If you pull it down this much, I can’t see….”
“You could see fine before?”
That wasn’t exactly something someone who always wore his hair hanging shaggily over his face, like he couldn’t possibly see well, should be saying.
“It looks like I wouldn’t be able to see, but I actually can. My hair strands are kind of thin, so through the gaps….”
Han-gyeom chattered on as he explained. In his life, one of the things he’d heard almost as often as “Wait, you weren’t an omega?” was the question, “Can you even see?” Every time, he never understood. He could see just fine, in his own way, and yet people kept asking the same thing.
So whenever Han-gyeom got that question, he always came prepared with a proper explanation. He’d explained it so many times by now that he could practically recite it.
“That’s enough, let’s go in.”
But Won-hyeok, as if he had never intended to listen in the first place, looked satisfied that Han-gyeom’s bangs were neatly lowered and brought him inside.
“Hey, what took you so long?”
Kim Sun-woo, who’d been picking at meat, waved both hands when he spotted them. Lee Yeon-su, who’d been looking at Won-hyeok, suddenly turned her head away as if awkwardly reading the room.
Soon, the gazes of everyone seated turned toward Han-gyeom at Won-hyeok’s side. Receiving so much attention from so many people for the first time in his life, Han-gyeom greeted them awkwardly, but unfortunately, to the eyes of upperclassmen, that timid junior was nothing more than a cute little prey animal.
“Han-gyeom, right? Come sit over here!”
“I heard from Sun-woo. You’re close with Won-hyeok too?”
Like a machine getting overloaded when too much input came in at once, Han-gyeom didn’t know what to do with all the questions flying at him from every direction. With his shy, timid personality, there was no way he could be used to this kind of atmosphere.
Not once in his life had Han-gyeom ever been the main character on stage. Even after entering university, whenever he’d gone to welcome parties, orientations, end-of-semester dinners, or opening dinners, he’d always only played the role of sitting at a table far from the noisy center group, filling his stomach, and then leaving.
So of course those curious eyes felt both uncomfortable and awkward. Han-gyeom swallowed hard and instinctively clutched at the hem of Won-hyeok’s clothes. His pale white hand turned red with fluster.
“Questions later. Our junior here hasn’t even eaten dinner.”
At that one remark from Won-hyeok, the upperclassmen’s eyes widened as if that were simply impossible. As though possessed by some grandmother on a holiday preparing a table so full it might collapse for her visiting grandchildren, they immediately started gathering meat together for Han-gyeom. Some of them even ordered more meat on top of that.
Freed from the barrage of questions, Han-gyeom let out a small sigh of relief and went to sit where Won-hyeok guided him.
“Hurry up and eat.”
“I’ll serve you some fried rice too. Hey, pass me that plate.”
As if they’d all been given a mission to fill Han-gyeom’s stomach, everyone busied themselves taking care of the young junior. Even though college seniors and juniors weren’t actually that far apart in age, once people had the title of sunbae, all juniors somehow looked like cheeping baby chicks in their eyes.
Besides, there’s a reason Koreans say strength comes from rice. Koreans even part ways by habitually adding, “Let’s grab a meal sometime.”
“Do you want a drink, by any chance? Beer?”
“Huh? Ah, well….”
When one of the upperclassmen asked, Han-gyeom awkwardly trailed off. He still had to go home and study for exams, so he really didn’t want to drink if possible, but sadly, he didn’t know the proper way to refuse when an upperclassman—especially one he’d just met—was offering.
“He can’t drink. And you know, right? These days if you pressure juniors to drink, all hell breaks loose.”
Won-hyeok, sitting beside him, answered with a bright smile instead. His tone was disguised as a joke, but there was a sharp barb hidden in it. The classmate he’d said it to recoiled dramatically and waved both hands in front of Han-gyeom, insisting that absolutely wasn’t what he was doing. The added joke was asking him not to post about it on Everytime.
“It’s okay, so just eat comfortably.”
Won-hyeok whispered softly. Because of the nature of a barbecue restaurant, the seating wasn’t exactly spacious, and with everyone’s belongings around them, the area felt even tighter. The side Han-gyeom was sitting on was already in the corner, so it couldn’t help but feel more cramped. But thanks to that, he got to sit very close to Won-hyeok.
Even closer than when they’d sat side by side in the movie theater. Just moving slightly made their shoulders brush, and turning his head even a little brought that handsome face right in front of his nose.
Won-hyeok asked now and then how things tasted, but honestly, Han-gyeom could barely tell. The only thing he could focus on was how close they were, close enough that he could feel his breath. Even so, maybe because he really hadn’t eaten dinner, the food went down easily. Without making it obvious, Won-hyeok noticed with uncanny precision every time Han-gyeom’s plate emptied and kept putting more food on it.
So Han-gyeom actually became more self-conscious. Because—
“Hey, Do Won-hyeok. Are you even listening?”
“Huh? What did you say?”
He felt like Won-hyeok wasn’t able to enjoy himself here because he kept paying attention to take care of him. He was kinder than anyone. Even now, he hadn’t said anything and had simply come here following Sun-woo, yet without showing the slightest sign of being flustered, he sat in the corner sincerely and earnestly making sure Han-gyeom got fed.
He’d only come because he wanted to see Won-hyeok’s face, but at this point he felt a little sorry, thinking maybe he shouldn’t have come after all.
“Sunbae.”
“What.”
“I’m really okay. I’m full now too, so you can go over to the other table.”
At that, Won-hyeok shot him a look that clearly said, What the hell are you talking about?
“Everyone keeps looking for you. You really are popular, sunbae.”
There were quite a lot of third-year upperclassmen here, all classmates of Won-hyeok’s. The sight of them all focusing on one person, Won-hyeok, felt strange and, at the same time, a little awe-inspiring.
Won-hyeok was always at the center. And people naturally gathered there. Even now, while he was sitting off in a corner like this, it still felt as if that spot itself had become the center, with everyone’s gaze and attention drawn to him.
“Yeah, your lover’s popular, so you must be happy.”
“Yes! I am. You’re just that cool, sunbae.”
As if he’d given up by now, Won-hyeok narrowed his eyes and wrapped a large ssam, then stuffed it into Han-gyeom’s mouth—almost like he was shutting him up.
“That’s enough, just eat more. I’m more comfortable here.”
There was no way he was more comfortable here. He couldn’t even properly mingle with his friends at a fun dinner gathering. Han-gyeom chewed the ssam and thought about it. About how he could get Won-hyeok to stop worrying about him and just enjoy the rest of the evening.
“I’m going to the bathroom. Stay put.”
Won-hyeok shoved his chair back with a scrape and got up from his seat. As he headed toward the bathroom near the counter, he kept unconsciously glancing back over his shoulder. Was this what it felt like to be a mother leaving her child by the water?
Seeing the others nearby casually talking to Han-gyeom, Won-hyeok figured he might as well just hurry and use the bathroom, then return, and strode off.
When he checked the time in the bathroom, it was already close to 10 o’clock.
“I think I fed him enough, so maybe I should take him home.”
Won-hyeok muttered while washing his hands at the sink. The only reason he’d brought Han-gyeom into this restaurant in the first place was because the fact that he hadn’t eaten had bothered him.
It seemed like he’d more or less filled his stomach, so Won-hyeok was planning to stick an ice cream in his mouth on the way and take him home. The timing for slipping out of a gathering like this was always important.
They’d gathered for a birthday party in the first place, so there was no chance it would end early. And if a little more time passed, it was obvious one of those bastards would start going out of his mind from being drunk. Right now those guys were all putting on some pathetic act as upperclassmen, but once that happened, they’d definitely start annoying people by pushing drinks.
He didn’t want to keep Han-gyeom in a den like that. Won-hyeok pulled out a tissue and dried his wet hands. After folding the damp tissue tightly and tossing it into the trash, he stepped back outside.
When he came out of the bathroom and went to return to the table, Han-gyeom was nowhere to be seen in the seat where he should’ve been.
“Ah, that professor really gives out a ton of assignments. So she does the same to you guys too?”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s so hard.”
At the sound of the voices, Won-hyeok’s head turned stiffly.
“…….”
He’d clearly told him to stay put. And yet Han-gyeom, for someone so shy, had planted himself boldly at the opposite table. On top of that, there was even a text from Han-gyeom waiting for him.
[Sunbae, I think you can’t really enjoy yourself because of me ㅜㅜ I’ll stay quietly over here, so please talk comfortably with the other sunbaes!]
Soon after, his classmates spotted Won-hyeok standing there, so dumbfounded their minds had practically gone missing, and dragged him off to the empty seat in the center like hunters hauling away their prey.
