When I whipped around, I wondered who it was this time.
Under the dim, purple-tinted lighting, the one who hooked me just as I was about to move was Min Siheon.
Maybe he got cold easily—he was dressed in a white knit sweater. Dark jeans and a thin leather jacket made him look even sharper standing in a place like a bar.
So that was it. I’d been feeling a strange gaze nearby for a while—turns out it was because he’d been approaching.
Even just standing still, he looked like a picture, and tonight his vibe felt especially different.
“What, it’s you.”
“I called, but you didn’t answer. I had a feeling… and sure enough, you got here first.”
“You called? Sorry—I meant to keep my phone on silent for lectures, but I guess I forgot to turn it back on.”
Saying we should move first, I followed the guys walking ahead. Min Siheon naturally took the seat beside me.
Go Heemin turned his head and looked surprised. He acknowledged Min Siheon with a “when’d you get here?”—but it didn’t exactly feel welcoming.
Looks like he’s still like that. Go Heemin seemed to accept Min Siheon as part of the group, but he hadn’t dropped his guard.
Whether Min Siheon knew or not, he kept his expression calm.
“Oh—what, it’s Min Siheon. You sitting with us too?”
“Yeah. Mind if I join?”
“Do whatever. …I’m done caring~”
“What’s his problem now?”
As Go Heemin shrugged, Kang Taeyoon’s gaze followed, landing on Min Siheon. From beneath the bangs he’d brushed aside, his sharp eyes swept over Min Siheon—then over me.
The corners of his mouth, which rarely ever lifted, stayed drawn in a straight line today as well. Without even a greeting, he turned away again and followed after Go Heemin.
After a string of actions that could only be called a bit cold, I felt awkward for no reason and gave Min Siheon’s back a couple pats, speaking with the clear implication that he shouldn’t take it personally.
Min Siheon waved it off like it was fine. Fast on the uptake, this guy, I thought.
“He doesn’t look it, but he’s shy around people. Don’t worry about it.”
“Yeah. I get it.”
I added that it was probably because it’d only been a few days since he’d been introduced to them, and that the awkwardness would go away soon. Min Siheon listened without a word, his expression unreadable—like I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
After we sat down at the table, Yoo In-ho—who noticed Min Siheon last—gaped in surprise.
“Huh? Min Siheon, you’re at this table too? Oh, fuck, we’re screwed. Hey—someone, switch seats with me! I don’t wanna sit here!”
“Why? Oh, what’s with that table? It’s like all the Business Administration legends are gathered there.”
“That’s a feast for the eyes table. We should’ve sat near them too~”
“Hey, Yoo In-ho, who else is gonna sit there besides you? Endure it, my friend.”
“You evil bastards.”
It seemed the other undergrads found Min Siheon showing up pretty fascinating too.
Along with Kang Taeyoon and Go Heemin, he was one of those guys in the department people called a unicorn. Just sitting there, he drew eyes from all over.
As I was reading the room and trying to place an order, I heard people whispering at a table not too far away. I knew this would happen, but hearing it for real felt worse.
“…Whoa, that’s Min Siheon. Is he sitting over there?”
“Been a while since I’ve seen him. But damn, he really is handsome. Guess he’s living up to that face.”
I’d had biases myself at first, so I couldn’t exactly blame them. Still, I couldn’t help feeling self-conscious.
When I rolled my eyes slightly and glanced at Min Siheon, he was picking drinks to match Yoo In-ho’s energy. Thankfully, he looked calm enough that it didn’t seem like he’d heard those comments.
In truth, even after Min Siheon started hanging out with us, he hadn’t fully escaped the bad rumors. The people who liked him seemed to really like him—but there were plenty on the opposite end too.
Where had it gone wrong, exactly? He leaned strongly toward being closed-off, and aside from us, he barely interacted with anyone. Because of that, it felt like rumors kept getting distorted and escalating over time.
Words had a way of swelling if you left them alone—and it wasn’t like “smart kids” were immune to that trait either.
It was something I’d realized after coming back to college, but… kids were just kids, I guess. They showed way too much interest in anything sensational.
For him, tonight could be a chance to improve his image. And his relationship with Go Heemin was still sitting in that ambiguous in-between zone, so I was quietly hoping something good would come of this with a bit of alcohol in the mix.
While I watched Min Siheon with all those tangled thoughts, he sensed my gaze and turned his head.
“What?”
“Nothing. Hey—order whatever you want. This is the price of getting dragged here. Let’s lighten the department head’s wallet a bit today.”
Watching the corners of his lips lift faintly, I felt an unnecessary pang of pity and patted his shoulder. Yeah… I was weak when it came to him.
***
All around, guys were found slumped over like they’d practically passed out. The professor had handed his card to the class rep and left ages ago.
I checked the undergrads who were riding the high and getting way too hyped, and I regretted missing my timing. Maybe it was because I’d been with such noticeable people—either way, I couldn’t find a good moment to escape.
Somehow, I’d ended up staying until the very end. Half-resigned, I sat there and looked around at the empty spaces in the bar.
Some students seemed to be taking a smoke break, and the moment I thought “smoke,” my own craving flared up out of nowhere.
I was just about to stand, rolling my eyes to assess our table’s situation. Aside from Yoo In-ho and Go Heemin—who looked thoroughly drunk—everyone else was keeping a fairly composed appearance.
At Go Heemin’s cackling, over-the-top beer-opening antics, a deep crease formed between Kang Taeyoon’s brows.
He’s completely gone. Go Heemin had wide and deep connections, so a lot of people had come by this table looking for him.
He’d accepted drink after drink—one, two—and ended up like this.
For a while now, Go Heemin had been swaying, unable to hold himself up, leaning against Kang Taeyoon for support. Beneath Kang Taeyoon’s rolled-up sleeves, his veins stood out. A vicious atmosphere wrapped around our corner.
As time passed, Kang Taeyoon’s expression only kept getting worse. I’d already decided to play dumb and act like it had nothing to do with me.
“Stop drinking.”
“Mm—just one more. Just! Juuust~ one more.”
“…Yoo In-ho, stop feeding him.”
“He’s the one shoveling it in. Did I feed him? His hands, his responsibility. Not my problem.”
Watching Kang Taeyoon suffer, I flicked a glance at the sub-top—Min Siheon—who was probably feeling something similar.
Of all seats, he was sitting where he had a full, frontal view of those two. It was the kind of scene that would make an unrequited crush’s stomach burn.
Feeling sorry for him, I watched with pity—yet unexpectedly, Min Siheon seemed pretty good at managing his expression. With his chin propped on the table and a faint smile on his face, I felt relieved.
Come to think of it, maybe because there was alcohol involved… Go Heemin had been talking to Min Siheon pretty often since earlier.
Kang Taeyoon’s iron wall was still there, but maybe Min Siheon was satisfied just with the fact that Go Heemin’s guard had loosened. That was the kind of scene it was.
People said unrequited love was always like that, but looking at him made me feel unusually bleak. The lifted corners of his mouth somehow made things feel even more bitter, so I decided it was just pity.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Aren’t you staring a little too hard? If you’ve got something to say, you can say it.”
“It’s not like that.”
Under the dim lighting, Min Siheon smiled with his eyes. With that wicked, dangerously seductive vibe, I wanted to turn my head away and tell myself something was wrong with him—but I knew I couldn’t, not with Kang Taeyoon right there.
Embarrassed for no reason under that gaze, I lifted a hand and scratched the back of my head hard. Let’s go smoke. With nothing but the determination to get away, I grabbed a pack of cigarettes.
I’d failed to escape midway, so I deserved at least this much compensation.
“……?”
As I tried to slip away from the table, something snagged and stopped my body. Thinking maybe my clothes had gotten caught, I looked back—and saw the hem of my shirt gripped in someone’s hand.
“Hey—what are you doing?”
“Holding you.”
The one shamelessly fidgeting with my shirt hem was Min Siheon, sitting right beside me. His hands were so quick—despite being on the inside seat, he’d still managed to catch only the fabric perfectly.
I’d taken the posture to step out, but Min Siheon forced my body back down.
I let out a snort of disbelief, and with a bright, smiling face, he lightly asked where I was going.
Why the hell is a guy who hasn’t even been drinking acting like this? I seriously couldn’t understand.
“Where are you going?”
When I shook my head like “forget it,” a half-shadow fell over his smiling eyes. In the dim light, his gaze seemed to shimmer.
Maybe it was the atmosphere of the place, but Min Siheon looked oddly cold.
I stared at the corners of his mouth, thinly split in a faint smile, then shook the cigarettes and lighter at him, asking if he was satisfied now.
“This. Now let go.”
But even with that, he didn’t release my shirt easily. Instead, he tightened his grip and slowly tugged at my collar.
My shirt lifted, exposing my side. I shivered at the cool air and yelled while trying to cover the exposed skin.
“Hey—hey! You’re stretching my shirt!”
“I’m coming too.”
“You too?”
Min Siheon’s gaze lingered on my bare skin, and, flustered, I yanked my shirt down and fixed my clothes. But apparently that wasn’t the only problem—an unexpected follow-up came next.
Even though he obviously knew I was going to the smoking booth, he was asking to come along.
You don’t even smoke. The words stayed stuck in my throat. I didn’t want to drag a purposeless guy into a raccoon-den of a space, so a strange silence fell.
More than anything, Min Siheon and cigarettes didn’t go together at all. Thinking he was just going to get a useless dose of secondhand smoke, I pulled my shirt hem free from his grasp.
I patted his back like “stay here,” but this time Min Siheon seized my wrist. At this point, was he trying to play house with me or something? It was ridiculous.
He was so strong that a tingling pain surged up my wrist.
“Hey, that hurts.”
When I frowned and said it hurt, Min Siheon’s face shifted like he’d just realized it.
His brows drooped, and in a small, careful voice, he spoke as if apologizing.
“Sorry. I guess I couldn’t control my strength because of the alcohol. Did it hurt?”
That shimmering, eerie glare was gone, and he was back to the Min Siheon I knew.
Which only made it even more necessary to go smoke. My head cleared.
“It’s fine, but can’t you let go of this?”
Despite saying sorry, Min Siheon didn’t release my wrist. For someone who didn’t look it, he was stubborn in a quiet way.
There was one gaze watching the two of us bickering without blinking. It was Kang Taeyoon, sitting across from us, holding Go Heemin up in his arms.
