The first thing Han-gyeom did the next morning, after immediately turning off the blaring alarm, was neither getting out of bed nor going to the bathroom. He brought his phone right up to his face and checked his contacts.
[Do Won-hyeok sunbae]
The moment he saw the contact sleeping there so carefully saved, a bright smile spread across Han-gyeom’s lips. Even though today was the day he hated most out of the week because he had class early in the morning, just those five characters on the screen and the saved phone number made him happy enough to feel like he had the whole world. Han-gyeom kicked the blanket wildly and rolled around all over the bed.
“Ah!”
Because of that, the ear he’d gotten stitched up yesterday and wrapped in gauze pressed against the sheet, and a burst of intense pain shot through him. Wasn’t it said that the day after getting hurt was usually the most painful? Han-gyeom waited for the stabbing pain to ease without touching his ear as much as possible, then fumbled around on the desk.
“Ah, right. My glasses broke.”
Come to think of it, yesterday, when he got caught up in Won-hyeok’s situation in that alley by the chicken place, his glasses had ended up shattered to pieces. Since they’d gone straight to the emergency room for treatment afterward, he hadn’t even remembered the existence of the glasses.
For now, Han-gyeom headed to the bathroom to wash up first. He was already used to moving around where he lived, so not having glasses wasn’t a problem.
Remembering the doctor’s warning to be careful not to let water touch it as much as possible, his shower took more than twice as long as usual. Still, having somehow succeeded in showering, Han-gyeom roughly dried his shaggy hair again today and walked over to the clothing rack set up in one corner of the room.
The one-room apartment Han-gyeom was currently living in wasn’t newly built, but it also wasn’t that old—just an average, ordinary studio. Since Seoul rent was expensive, he’d chosen a room with the most reasonable price possible, so the interior wasn’t especially clean or nice, but it was decent enough for an adult man to live in.
Han-gyeom rummaged through the clothes hanging on the rack. Not that it mattered much, since they were nothing but neutral-colored clothes—so plain they were basically just what people called basics.
Today too, he pulled out a dull gray sweatshirt and jeans and put them on. Then, while thinking about his broken glasses, he suddenly remembered something and crouched down in front of his desk drawers.
Han-gyeom had had bad eyesight since he was little. Without glasses, whether it was objects around him or people, nothing looked clear. It felt as though a layer of hazy fog had settled over everything. Because of that, he had always worn glasses since elementary school, and that hadn’t changed even after entering college.
Woo-jin and Hyun-ah had once asked why he didn’t try wearing contacts, but Han-gyeom, who’d never found any reason to bother with them, stuck with the glasses that covered nearly half his face. They were just the cheapest frames he’d picked out at a neighborhood glasses shop.
“Where did I put the old pair again…?”
He couldn’t attend class without glasses. Han-gyeom opened the drawer and started digging through it earnestly. He remembered bringing his old glasses with him when he moved.
“Ah! Found them.”
Like Columbus discovering a new continent, Han-gyeom beamed, pulled the glasses out of the case, and put them on without hesitation. After giving himself a quick once-over in the mirror, he was just about to head out energetically again today when his phone buzzed briefly.
Thinking it might be Won-hyeok, he quickly tapped the screen.
[I sent money this month.]
The stiff text, cold even in its brevity, was from none other than his mother. After checking the message, Han-gyeom sent back a short reply—[Yes, thank you.]—and stepped outside.
***
“Look over there….”
“Wow, I feel like I haven’t seen something like that in forever.”
For some reason, it felt like people’s eyes were gathering on him more than usual today. When he first got on the bus that circled campus, he thought it was probably just his imagination, but even when he went to borrow a book from the library after his first class, students around him whispered and kept glancing over at him.
What is it? Did I get something on my face?
Thinking maybe he had pen marks or something, Han-gyeom even checked the mirror in the bathroom during break, but he couldn’t find any reason.
Then, completely unexpectedly, he only found out why after he got to the club room.
“Hey! Kang Han-gyeom, what the hell is that!”
“Holy shit, don’t tell me you actually came to school like that?”
The moment Hyun-ah and Woo-jin, who happened to be in the club room, saw Han-gyeom, they pointed at him and burst into loud laughter.
“W-why, what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? Here, look.”
Woo-jin dragged Han-gyeom over to the mirror hanging on the wall. But even then, Han-gyeom could only stand there baffled, unable to figure out the reason for their ridicule.
“That bright red thing sitting on your face.”
Woo-jin kindly pointed with his finger at the glasses perched on Han-gyeom’s face. That was the answer to the whole problem.
“What is that? Those are the kind of glasses we wore back in elementary school.”
It turned out that the glasses Han-gyeom was wearing were a very narrow rectangular shape, and on top of that, the entire frame was bright red and unbelievably tacky. They gave off exactly the sort of vibe that an oblivious lower-grade elementary schooler might wear.
“Huh? How did you know? These are the first glasses I ever got in elementary school.”
Han-gyeom even clapped, saying Woo-jin really had a good eye.
“Han-gyeom, what happened to the glasses you usually wear?”
“Ah, those broke.”
“Really? Then go to an optical shop as soon as possible.”
“Why?”
At Hyun-ah’s words, Han-gyeom tilted his head as if he genuinely didn’t understand.
“What do you mean why? Don’t tell me you’re going to keep wearing those?”
“I-it’s not like there’s anything wrong with them, so I was just going to keep using them….”
To get new glasses, he’d have to replace the lenses too, which would cost quite a bit. So Han-gyeom was planning to wear these for the time being.
Faced with their friend’s complete seriousness, both Woo-jin and Hyun-ah were starting to sense the gravity of the situation. And there was also the gauze stuck to his ear. They were just about to ask because they were curious, when the door suddenly swung open and Won-hyeok walked in, wearing a fresh smile.
“Hi.”
“Oh, hello, sunbae-nim.”
As he received Woo-jin and Hyun-ah’s greeting, Won-hyeok casually turned his head, and at the end of his gaze was Han-gyeom. He shyly scratched his head and bowed toward Won-hyeok.
“…….”
And then, the moment Won-hyeok saw Han-gyeom’s face—or more precisely, the bright red glasses—his face went completely blank in utter disbelief.
“What the hell is that now….”
“Huh? What did you say?”
When Woo-jin, who was nearby, reacted, Won-hyeok shook his head and said it was nothing, returning to a polite expression.
“But Han-gyeom, you changed your glasses?”
“Oh, how did you know?”
“Hey, if someone couldn’t tell that, they’d have to be blind.”
When Han-gyeom answered with a touched look on his face, Woo-jin clicked his tongue at him, but still explained on his behalf that Han-gyeom’s glasses had broken, so he’d come wearing those glasses that looked like something an elementary school kid would wear.
“Ah.”
At that, Won-hyeok let out a low sound, as if something clicked into place.
“Sunbae, if you haven’t had lunch yet, do you want to eat with us? The three of us were going to order tteokbokki.”
Looking at the delivery app, Hyun-ah offered it to Won-hyeok too.
“Ah, sorry. Leave me out.”
So he has something to do. Han-gyeom was feeling deeply disappointed when Won-hyeok strode over and suddenly grabbed his wrist.
“And Han-gyeom too.”
“Huh? Do you two have plans?”
“Yeah. Let’s eat together next time. I’ll buy then.”
With a bright smile and a promise for next time, Won-hyeok took the bewildered Han-gyeom and left the room.
“S-sunbae? Why all of a sudden…?”
His pale wrist caught in that large hand. Han-gyeom swallowed hard and stared in shock at Won-hyeok’s back as he led him along. Had they made plans? But he hadn’t gotten any message.
“Han-gyeom.”
In the hallway lined with club rooms, Won-hyeok abruptly stopped. Then he turned and looked at Han-gyeom, stretching out a hand.
With a hand suddenly coming toward him, Han-gyeom reflexively shut his eyes. What he felt next was the strange sensation of his face becoming bare.
“Uh….”
Won-hyeok had taken off Han-gyeom’s tacky glasses.
“You’ve got time, right? Let’s go get you new glasses.”
“Huh?”
“Your glasses broke because of what happened yesterday, right? I was too out of it, so I couldn’t even think to take care of that too.”
At Won-hyeok’s apology, Han-gyeom shook his head hard. If he remembered correctly, the person who had stepped on and broken the glasses had actually been himself.
“It’s okay! Those are the right prescription too, so I can just wear them.”
“You’re seriously going to keep walking around in these fucking glasses?”
“Huh?”
“No, I mean, these not-pretty glasses?”
The corner of Won-hyeok’s raised mouth twitched as if spasming.
“Are they not pretty? But I don’t really care about that kind of thing….”
Maybe because having his bare face exposed felt so awkward, Han-gyeom lowered his head even though his bangs still covered him. By now, the smile had long vanished from Won-hyeok’s face as he looked at the eyes glimpsed intermittently through that shaggy yet strangely soft-swaying hair.
“…Come on. Go with me and get a new pair.”
Then he led Han-gyeom out of the building.
***
Since Won-hyeok had said they were going to get glasses, Han-gyeom had expected some small optical shop, so all he could do was gape at the inside of the massive glasses store, which looked almost like a factory.
“Han-gyeom, go over there and get examined first.”
Won-hyeok, who had already finished talking things over with one of the staff, came up to Han-gyeom, who was standing around blankly and looking all around.
Before he knew it, Han-gyeom had been guided from machine to machine for eye tests. From the condition of his eyes to his vision check, he followed the staff member around while going through one test after another.
“Please have some tea.”
While Han-gyeom was being examined, Won-hyeok was sitting on one of the sofas looking at his phone when an employee approached him and set down a paper cup with a friendly smile. He answered with a perfunctory smile of thanks and stared indifferently at the cheap-smelling green tea, when just then a shadow fell over him.
“S-sunbae, I’m done with the exam.”
“Yeah? Then….”
Won-hyeok lifted his head absentmindedly. Because Han-gyeom had been putting on and taking off various pieces of equipment to measure his eyesight, his bangs had once again been pushed up messily today.
“Han-gyeom.”
“Yes?”
“Are you, by any chance, an omega?”
At the sudden question about his trait, Han-gyeom blinked slowly.
