BHB 6

“He’s really incredibly nice. Later, senior Chaemin drank all our alcohol for us. He even paid for the drinks.”

“…Is he rich?”

“He doesn’t seem poor. Anyway, treat that senior well. There’s talk that he’ll give us old exam papers too.”

Jo Suchan said all he had to say with a worn-out face and collapsed on the desk. Jeon Chaemin’s influence was wider than expected. Outwardly, he seemed to be known as a considerate senior, a kind senior, a good-looking senior. His looks were undeniable. Even on that night street yesterday, his delicate face was so bright it created an illusion of illuminating the surroundings.

“Is that his type…?”

Yeowon muttered to himself, wondering if that was Lee Taegang’s type in men. Come to think of it, since when did Lee Taegang start sleeping with men? If he goes for both women and men, he could sleep with everyone in the world.

Yeowon let out a meaningless chuckle at his frivolous thoughts.

**

“You want me to introduce you?”

When Yeowon casually asked to be introduced to someone, Do Yeongjae, who had diligently attended the next class, looked at him as if wondering what was going on.

“What’s this? What wind suddenly blew your way?”

Yeongjae had offered to introduce Yeowon to girls several times since returning from military service, but Yeowon had flatly refused. Yeowon had dated women a few times before, and it was nice, but that was it. He didn’t feel anything beyond that, nor did he find any greater pleasure. It felt like nothing more than having a friend who contacted him often or a friend he mixed bodies with, so he hadn’t been interested in meeting women for a while.

“Are you going to do it or not?”

“Hey, just say the word. There were plenty of girls who wanted me to introduce you, but you put up an iron wall.”

“Han Yeowon agreed to be set up?!”

Jo Suchan, who had just returned from the school store, butted in loudly from the lecture hall. As he approached with an interested face, but Yeongjae pushed him aside saying “move over” and held out his phone toward Yeowon.

“Who do you like? Just say the word. Fashion department? Design? Piano? Dance? Korean traditional music? Oh, I also know someone from the vocal music department.”

Do Yeongjae, who had been going to all sorts of group blind dates since his freshman year, was well-connected and knew many people, both men and women. He was also capable of always having a girlfriend. He was as serious about dating as he was about his grades.

“Hey, Do Yeongjae! What about me?!”

Jo Suchan seriously expressed his disappointment at Yeongjae’s list.

Just then, a group of juniors coming in sensed the commotion and gathered around Yeowon to take their seats. Lim Yuna, the class representative a year below, also showed interest and joined the conversation.

“No way, is Yeowon Sunbae really getting set up to someone?”

Everyone seemed quite intrigued by this fact. Yeowon felt increasingly burdened and slightly glared at the loudly talking Suchan and Yeongjae.

“But I usually prefer natural encounters.”

In truth, Yeowon found formal introductions awkward. He was a bit reserved and wasn’t great at making others feel comfortable.

“I know someone too, she’s been begging me to introduce his to you, sunbae!”

Lim Yuna, sensing an opportunity, quickly pulled out his phone and held it out in front of him.

“What do you think? Isn’t she pretty? She’s a freshman this year.”

“Hey, he asked me to do it!”

“Sunbae, it’s better when a woman introduces another woman, you know.”

Faced with the two suddenly competing, Yeowon awkwardly scratched the bridge of his nose. Maybe he should have just kept quiet.

“Hey, come on! What about me?!”

Jo Suchan cried out, seemingly upset at the enthusiastic behavior of the other two. Everyone ignored Suchan since he was always asking to be set up.

“Why is it so noisy hise?”

As the lecture time approached, Lee Taegang finally appeared, sauntering over languidly. Making an entrance like a main character, Taegang broke through the circle surrounding Yeowon. He carelessly tossed aside Suchan’s bag from the seat next to Yeowon and plopped down in its place. Then he spread his legs wide and turned his body towards Yeowon.

“Ah, why are you throwing someone else’s bag?”

Jo Suchan, the owner of the discarded bag, grumbled.

“What were you talking about?”

Lee Taegang asked softly, sweeping his gaze over the attention that had been focused on Yeowon. As Lee Taegang appeared, the noisy atmosphere subsided somewhat.

“How are you feeling today?”

Lee Taegang spoke again before hearing an answer, casually brushing his fingers against his overgrown nape, as if it was time for a haircut.

“I’m fine. I’ll tell you about the introductions later.”

Yeowon answered without looking at Lee Taegang, then replied to Lim Yuna and Do Youngjae who were getting heated, and meaninglessly opened his major textbook.

“Hey, you should get introduced by me, not Yuna. Don’t betray me.”

As Lim Yuna turned away disappointedly, Do Youngjae, sitting in the seat next to him on the opposite side, whispered quietly. What unnecessary competitiveness. Yeowon let out a small, hollow laugh.

“Want to get introduced?”

Lee Taegang still turned towards him, asked again.

“…I’m thinking about it.”

Yeowon responded as casually as he could, still unable to look directly at Lee Taegang.

“What’s with the sudden introduction talk? Didn’t you say you were going to focus only on your grades this year?”

“That was just talk. Have you ever seen me care about grades?”

Yeowon spoke indifferently, subtly turning his head to avoid Lee Taegang’s hand, which was still tapping at his nape.

“Strange.”

At that moment, Lee Taegang’s deep voice came through. There was an ominous feeling in the puzzled voice.

“What is?”

“You.”

“…What do you mean?”

Pretending not to understand, Yeowon mindlessly tapped his phone screen, swiping through the Outstagram feed even though nothing caught his eye.

“You’ve been acting strange since yesterday.”

“What are you going on about? Are you jealous because I’m getting introduced to someone?”

Yeowon, knowing full well that Lee Taegang would never be jealous of such things, casually threw out the comment with a teasing tone. Lee Taegang’s brow furrowed slightly.

“…Right. Maybe I’m jealous.”

“…”

“Should I ask Do Youngjae to introduce me to someone too?”

At his languid words, Yeowon’s eyebrows quirked.

“Why would you?”

“Why not? It’s been a while since I’ve been without a partner too.”

“As if you’ve really gone without…”

Yeowon hastily stopped the words that had unconsciously slipped out. So, does he mean he hasn’t had a relationship but has been sleeping with people? Or is he dating and just pretending not to? Either way, it was equally annoying.

“I haven’t dated anyone since being discharged.”

Both had been discharged from the military six months ago. They enlisted together and were discharged on the same day. Their friends, who had known them since high school, often clicked their tongues, calling them inseparable.

“Yeah, what’s gotten into you?”

Yeowon averted his gaze again, replying indifferently. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen any of the girlfriends who used to cling to Lee Taegang lately. Could it be that he’d been involved with Chaemin Sunbae all this time? Yeowon muttered to himself as he continued to fidget with his phone, pretending to be absorbed in it.

“Anyway, you’re really not interested in me at all.”

Lee Taegang mumbled in a voice mixed with self-deprecating laughter as he turned his body back to its original position. Finally, his persistent gaze disappeared, and with perfect timing, the professor entered. The unsettled atmosphere in the lecture hall settled down calmly.

But it was different for Yeowon. As the heat rose where Lee Taegang’s hand had touched the back of his neck, tension lingered due to his slow voice that seemed to reach his ears. Things he had never been conscious of before felt different.

He must have gone crazy. Since when had he felt nervous looking at Lee Taegang? Since when had he been so conscious of him that he had to control his breathing?

At that moment, even the fact that Lee Taegang was sitting next to him felt like a personal tragedy. Lee Taegang’s presence was beginning to change its meaning inside him. He wanted to stop these feelings, but he had just realized—these things were beyond his control.

**

“Han Yeowon. Are you dating Lee Taegang?”

During high school, one of the friends Yeowon used to hang out with suddenly asked him this. The guy was one of those fleeting friends with whom Yeowon no longer kept in touch. Among their group, he was the most troublesome one, always running away from home and hanging out with shady older guys. Since Yeowon and Lee Taegang weren’t exactly model students back then, they naturally became close. After all, all the so-called ‘bad kids’ in their year were in the same group.

“What nonsense are you talking about suddenly?”

Since they had been close for a long time, some guys would occasionally ask this jokingly. But hardly anyone asked Lee Taegang, and all those embarrassing questions were directed at Yeowon. That was because Lee Taegang was treated like a leader in their group. Not only was he big, but sometimes when he lost it and beat people up, he really seemed like a madman. The rumor that he had put some kids from another school in the hospital for 12 weeks after a fight at an internet cafe was so famous that the whole school knew about it.

“Someone said they saw you. Said you two were hugging and sleeping on the rooftop.”

The guy snickering unpleasantly. Annoyed, Yeowon lightly kicked him in the stomach and cursed.

“Fvcking disgusting. Guys don’t do that kind of shit.”

Yeowon shuddered with a contemptuous look on his face. He had never even imagined anything like that, and just the thought of being in that kind of relationship with Lee Taegang made his stomach churn. It was ridiculous.