The boisterous atmosphere kept rolling on. It did revolve around Go Heemin, the birthday boy, but a lot of attention was also being directed at us—people who normally had low participation in things like this.
Maybe that was why. The amount of alcohol being pushed our way didn’t feel small at all. I couldn’t even think about touching the food; I was just enduring a merciless alcohol bombardment.
“Did you all get possessed by a ghost that drowned in a liquor vat and died?”
“Come on, Cha Jungwoo. Don’t bail. Everyone’s excited you finally came.”
A classmate sitting across from me spoke up as I grumbled. Even while talking, he kept topping off my empty glass with beer whenever he found an opening.
Once I realized complaining was pointless, I grabbed a piece of dried squid nearby and shoved it into my mouth. Chewing for a while, I let the chatter bouncing around everywhere wash past me.
“…Hey, Cha Jungwoo. Did you hear what I said?”
“Huh? What’d you say? Say it again.”
One of the guys I’d been talking with tossed a peanut from the plate. I shot him a sideways look at the annoyed tone, but seeing his face cackling, it seemed like he was half-joking.
“This bastard, where’s your head at? You already drunk?”
“I’m not drunk. And you little shit—do you have a conscience? You feed me like this and you still expect me to hold a conversation?”
I caught the peanut and popped it into my mouth, and laughter burst out around us. Even among all these people who looked like they were having a great time, my attention was fixed on one spot.
Min Siheon, sitting beside me, quietly sipping his drink from earlier. Can he even be drinking? I was worrying in a way that, if anyone heard it, they’d tell me to stop meddling.
Min Siheon had sunk into the sofa, wearing the cardigan I’d bought him. When juniors cautiously tried to talk to him, he answered at a reasonable level, neither too cold nor too warm.
“Then, Sunbae-nim, did you go to the army during your leave too?”
“No. I was abroad for a while.”
“Whoa, studying overseas? Like, language major?”
“What the—Min Siheon, you weren’t already discharged? You came back to school at the same time as the guys who went, so I thought you’d enlisted too.”
It must’ve felt strange to them—seeing Min Siheon accept people so gently, unlike his usual self that was hard to approach. Questions kept pouring toward him without pause.
If days like this happened a few more times, it didn’t seem like there’d be any problem with Min Siheon’s image recovering. Even at a glance, it wouldn’t take that long.
Still… he’d been abroad the whole leave. That was news to me. Since I had no memories from before returning to school, it was the first I’d heard of it. And we hadn’t even known each other for half a year yet, so it wasn’t like we’d had chances for this kind of conversation.
The moment I glanced at him at the unexpected answer, the questions shifted—this time, aimed at me.
“Hey, hey. Cha Jungwoo. Weren’t all of you guys the ones who went to the army? You and Yoo In-ho are discharged for sure.”
“I am, yeah. But those two over there, and Min Siheon—I don’t know.”
I jerked my chin toward Go Heemin and Kang Taeyoon, who were drinking and talking loudly farther away. Even though my attitude was flat, everyone acted like they had endless curiosity and kept firing off more comments.
I remembered hearing Yoo In-ho say with his own mouth that he’d gone to the army. But I knew almost nothing about the rest—about the main couple, and about Min Siheon.
Aside from the fact that their love lives were tangled up in a mess, I hadn’t really been curious about their personal details. I’d been keeping my head down, trying to act like an ordinary college student.
“I went to the U.S. For two years.”
“…Oh. Yeah?”
“Wow~ you’re cold as hell. Min Siheon, even you gotta admit Cha Jungwoo’s icy, right? But looking at it, this one’s even frostier than you. The rumor among the guys is gonna flip completely. Then does that mean the Business Administration’s Guilty Heartthrob is you now, Min Siheon?”
At that, I grabbed a puffed rice snack from in front of me and chucked it at his face. The way he’d been needling me all night made it feel like he was determined to see me snap today, no matter what.
While I bickered with the others, something heavy settled onto my shoulder. I rolled my eyes slightly to check, and Min Siheon had rested his head against me.
When our eyes met, he slowly formed a soft eye-smile. He spoke in a low voice, and the girls who saw it started whispering into each other’s ears like they were amused.
“You sulking because I didn’t tell you?”
“Why would I? And you see them over there? Their faces are screaming ‘we found something to tease.’ Get up.”
“No.”
Even when I tried to shove his head off my shoulder, Min Siheon stubbornly held his ground. I figured pushing his face directly wasn’t the move, so I started poking at his side instead.
My fingertips met a body as hard as a rock.
Is this really the same guy who was wheezing and weak not long ago? No matter how hard I tried, his body wouldn’t budge. In the end, I sighed and gave up.
His hair was all messed up, and for some reason he looked ridiculously happy—his cheek dimple carved deep. The way he grinned made him look kind of stupid, and without meaning to, I laughed along.
Is he sleepy? His movements felt oddly slower than before, and his blinking eyelids looked heavy.
Even where he was pressed against me, his body felt warmer than his usual temperature. It didn’t feel like fever from a cold—more like symptoms from alcohol.
Just in case, I put my hand on his forehead. Warm skin radiated against my palm. At the same time, Min Siheon parted his lips and breathed out hot air.
“You—are you drunk?”
“My head’s fine. I’m just… kind of tired.”
“I told you not to drink.”
Min Siheon had never once looked drunk in the small drinking sessions we’d had among ourselves. He was the type who regulated himself, and as far as I knew, he wasn’t a lightweight either.
And yet today, he already looked completely drained. Since he’d been in bad condition, he seemed more unwilling than usual to let me out of his orbit.
Even when I’d visited him sick, he’d clung to me like crazy, using being ill as an excuse. It was obvious he’d forced himself to attend after hearing it was Go Heemin’s birthday. Because of that, I couldn’t really scold him the way I wanted.
Then, liquor came pouring—glug-glug—into the empty glasses in front of me and Min Siheon. I lifted my head to see what was going on, and Yoo In-ho—who I hadn’t even noticed approaching—was shaking the bottle with a mischievous grin.
“Can’t I breathe for a second?”
“Hey, no way. You can’t bail. I saw everything, you know? The way you were sitting there all stubborn, acting like ‘I’m not drinking’ while throwing a fit? Hey, Min Siheon, stop pretending you’re all weak and wheezy too. You flipped the moment Cha Jungwoo showed up, so who are you fooling?”
Yoo In-ho’s showmanship made the group sitting farther away turn to look this way. It was a spotlight I absolutely didn’t want; my temples started throbbing.
“Go Heemin, this is your fault. Take this one with you.”
“I don’t know~ I don’t have the spare capacity to help the cold-hearted sir who just tossed a gift and dipped~”
Go Heemin, sitting with Kang Taeyoon, jutted out his lips like he was sulking. Even so, he pointed at us with a face that said this was hilarious and giggled at Kang Taeyoon.
With both his cheeks dyed pink, it looked like he’d been drinking a decent amount too. The buzz must’ve climbed up, because he didn’t seem capable of making rational decisions anymore.
Looking at everyone’s reactions and the general atmosphere, it didn’t seem like we’d be escaping easily.
“Min Siheon, can you drink that?”
“Yeah. I can. I’m fine.”
The way he said it wasn’t very convincing. No—honestly, even if he were perfectly fine, I didn’t want to force alcohol on him. The days when he’d been seriously sick kept overlapping in my head.
Ah, what am I even doing….
I dragged the glass that had been in front of Min Siheon over to my side.
After downing my own glass, I warned Yoo In-ho firmly.
“He’s not feeling good right now. The portion you were trying to make him drink, give it all to me instead. You bastard.”
“Wooo!”
“Oh, Cha Jung! You’re wild! Boss! Two bottles of beer—no, three—no, five more, please~!”
“I’m falling for you, hyung~”
“All of you get lost before I throw up.”
My stomach sloshed, heavy with liquid, and fatigue flooded in. Judging by the cheers raining down, tomorrow’s hangover was going to be brutal.
With a resigned mindset, I gripped Min Siheon’s glass like it was my job—when I suddenly felt a hot gaze from beside me. I turned slightly, and my eyes met the pupils beneath half-lowered lids.
Min Siheon—who I’d thought was sleepy—was studying my face with a deep, lingering stare.
Maybe it was the dim bar lighting, but the shadows carved his features into my mind with unusual intensity.
The corner of his lips seemed to lift for a moment, then curved neatly. Under that gaze—deep to the point of obsessive—I twisted my upper body away and asked in a brusque tone,
“What. You got something to say?”
“Jungwoo, you’re the same as back then.”
“Back then?”
What the hell is that supposed to mean—
Right as Min Siheon looked like he was about to continue, Yoo In-ho returned with beer and came up to us again.
He popped the cap with an opener, then waved his hand with a droopy, satisfied grin.
“Don’t even think about running away, sirs. Heh heh. Also, Cha Jungwoo’s cool as hell. ‘Give it all to me. You bastards~’”
“I didn’t do that.”
“That’s right. In-ho Sunbae, it’s not the same at all.”
“Same difference. Hey, are you all only gonna take his side?”
“There’s a big difference between you and him. Cha Jungwoo’s like that, that’s why he’s called the Business Administration’s Guilty Heartthrob.”
As the classmates’ chatter picked up again, Yoo In-ho shot them a sour look. Then his gaze slid to Min Siheon, who still had his head against my shoulder.
This feels bad.
A nasty premonition hit, and I moved to clamp a hand over his mouth—only to be a beat too late.
Just before my hand reached him, a question was thrown at Min Siheon.
“Min Siheon, you didn’t fall for Cha Jungwoo, did you? Your eyes are literally dripping honey.”
Yoo In-ho pointed straight at me and let out a sly snicker.
I knew it. This was exactly what he’d do. He was the type who was playful even sober—and once alcohol got in him, he got even more relentless.
I tried to wave him off like, Ignore him, but right beside me, a heavy voice dropped.
“…Yeah. I might’ve fallen for him.”
My heart sank at the steady, flat tone—like something clunked loose inside me. …What did he just say?
I knew it was a joke, but my eyes still snapped automatically to Min Siheon.
Beyond his slightly tilted head sat the one who’d just detonated that bomb of a line. He lifted his half-lidded eyes fully, and I met pupils holding onto the light.
Under the hazy bar lighting, his face had looked sunk into darkness—blackened and muted. Min Siheon slowly raked his gaze over my face, top to bottom.
It was sticky—yet also carried something damp and sinister, a desire that felt almost… unclean. The strange sensation sent a chill skittering over my skin.
His eyes traced my forehead, then my brows beneath it, then followed the shallow dip of bone between my eyes down the bridge of my nose—sliding lower without pause.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, they landed on my lips.
I had the feeling his view caught everything—right down to the line of my teeth visible through the parted gap.
It made me feel exposed, like I’d been stripped bare, and I tried to turn my head away.
But I couldn’t—not easily.
It felt like I was tangled up in his gaze. I hated my body for not moving the way I wanted.
The whole place went quiet, like it had been swallowed by silence. How many seconds passed? Cold sweat slid down my forehead.
Beyond the muffled ringing in my ears, I heard my heart pounding hard enough to burst.
And at the same time, Min Siheon’s face twisted—turning vicious.
No.
If I kept meeting his eyes like this, something felt like it would go wrong. I had to get out—somehow.
With that desperate thought, I twisted my upper body.
Clang—!
A sharp shattering sound rang out from a short distance away.
