BHB 70

Yeowon clicked his tongue in displeasure as he ended up at the MT that Do Yeongjae had been making a fuss about, without getting even a wink of sleep. From before arrival to after, all he’d done was move endless amounts of luggage. From knick-knacks for recreation to crates of alcohol bottles and all sorts of odd jobs, everything fell to him. It seemed like people were determined to work him to the bone. But he didn’t want to make the juniors do it when he was a senior who had returned from a leave of absence, and strength was the only thing he had in abundance, so he didn’t feel wronged. He just found Do Yeongjae a bit annoying.

“Are you done making me do everything now?” He tossed the words at Do Yeongjae, who was sweating as much as he was, while wiping away his own sweat from the manual labor. 

Do Yeongjae grinned and lightly hit Yeowon’s arm. “Thanks. I didn’t have anyone else I could trust with this. All the guys are such weaklings.”

“You could have at least warned me that you were going to make me work like this.”

Yeowon opened the cap of the water bottle Do Yeongjae handed him and drank it down refreshingly.

“How can I say that with Lee Taegang right next to you?”

“What does Taegang have to do with anything?”

“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

Yeowon looked at Do Yeongjae with indifferent eyes that genuinely seemed not to understand.

“It’s just, in front of him, how should I put it… it’s not easy to talk to you.”

“What are you on about?”

“There’s just… something difficult. It’s not that he’s difficult, but it’s hard to say anything to you in front of him.”

“… For something like that, you’ve been talking to me just fine until now, haven’t you?”

“No, that’s not it. There’s this indescribable… barricade, you could say?”

“That’s so childish.”

“Right? Taegang, he’s incredibly childish despite appearances.”

“No, I mean you.”

“What about me??”

“The word ‘barricade’ is a bit childish.”

“I’m telling you, you just don’t understand. That indescribable hostility…”

Do Yeongjae kept talking as if wronged, retracing his thoughts, but Yeowon lightly ignored him and continued moving the luggage. In truth, he had a strong desire to avoid the topic of Taegang. When Taegang came up in conversation, it was difficult to control his emotions to the point where his smiling face would twitch.

“But Taegang didn’t come, huh?” Do Yeongjae asked, following closely behind him.

“… Seems so.” Yeowon answered softly, showing a hint of bitterness. He still hadn’t been able to call.

“Another fight?”

They had fought, but not wanting to announce the fact that they had fought again, Yeowon changed the subject, “Fight? Never mind. Where do I put this?”

When he asked, holding a box full of disposables, Do Yeongjae ran towards the lodging’s dining area, guiding the way. After moving the box to where Do Yeongjae had indicated, the second group arrived. The teaching assistants, the highest-grade seniors, and graduated classmates and seniors could be seen. 

Jeon Chaemin was among them. Seeing the cause of his fight with Taegang, Yeowon unconsciously averted his gaze.

After moving luggage, getting assigned to rooms, and smoking a few cigarettes, it was already almost evening. Seniors he had known as a freshman came to greet Yeowon, and he responded half-heartedly, going along with them. It was true that he was glad to see some people he hadn’t met in quite a while. Among them was an ex-girlfriend he had dated and broken up with. She was one of those he had gotten along with just fine even after breaking up.

“Oh, Doyeon noona came too. I didn’t know.”

The senior he had dated was famous for never letting go of the top spot in the department. She was practically an object of envy among the male students in the department. Do Yeongjae always had something to say about her. How could such a smart noona like you? And then Yeongjae ended up dating that noona’s friend.

“I heard Doyeon noona got into S Group.”

“She’s talented.”

“Tsk. You idiot.”

“What?”

“How could you let a noona like that go? What a waste, such a waste.”

Yeowon let out a short sigh at the sight of Do Yeongjae expressing regret as if he had dated her himself. After all, it was just a brief relationship from his freshman year, nothing to feel sorry about. It was just a moment of mutual amusement. The fact that they got along well even after breaking up, without any lingering emotions, was proof of that.

If they had met with intense and passionate love, they probably wouldn’t even be able to make eye contact. Even if they met again, they would pass by as if the other didn’t exist. He hadn’t met anyone like that, but he suddenly thought that if he had, it would have been like that. And involuntarily, he imagined Taegang as that person. As soon as the thought occurred, he was startled and hurriedly erased it from his mind.

“Oh right, that senior came too.”

“Who?”

Do Yeongjae bit into a cucumber he was cutting as a side dish. “The one who really hated you. The one who had an unrequited love for Doyeon noona.”

As if there was only one person who had an unrequited love for that noona. 

Yeowon chewed the cucumber with an indifferent face. “Who’s that?”

“I remember now. Yoo Kyungcheol. He spread weird rumors about you behind your back and stuff, remember?”

Even with the name, Yeowon couldn’t remember at all, so he just took another bite of cucumber. “Don’t know, can’t remember.”

“How frustrating. How can you not remember that guy? He contributed greatly to tarnishing your image, saying you had an STD or worked at a bar. There are still people who believe those words, you know?”

That level of gossip was laughable. Compared to clashing with Choi Youngdoo throughout high school, it wasn’t even as problematic as the dirt under his fingernails. To begin with, it was pointless for someone so forgettable that he couldn’t even remember their face to spread rumors about him. It was actually on the tamer side compared to when he used to go around getting into fights with other kids.

“I heard he’s still hitting on juniors even after graduating. The girls never fall for it, so he’s even started going after guys…”

“Enough, hey. Let’s just drink.”

Whether someone from the past came or who was hitting on whom, it wasn’t of interest to him. Rather than talking about someone whose face he couldn’t even remember, it was better to just drink heavily.

Since Do Yeongjae would be busy as the class representative, Yeowon was thinking of drinking with Jo Suchan or Lim Yoona. But as expected, before he could even reach his room, he was caught once by seniors with fossil-like student numbers, exchanging drinks, and once by a professor who had been waiting for him, having to drink again. Each time, he glared at Do Yeongjae, but Do Yeongjae looked even busier than him, so he couldn’t even resent him.

As he drank here and there, being called to various places, his head started to feel fuzzy. Yeowon slipped away to the quiet corridor, heading for the bathroom. He could see his flushed face in the mirror. Thinking he’d be in real trouble if he was already staggering, he splashed cold water on his face as if to soak it. Just then, he felt someone entering the bathroom, and after wetting his face with cold water a few times, he realized that person was lingering near him.

Yeowon raised his eyebrows and turned his head. A scruffy-looking man was glancing at him.

“Oh, long time no see?”

Though Yeowoon had no idea who he was, the man seemed to know him. Perhaps an upperclassman he didn’t recognize. Not being the type to remember faces well, Yeowon just nodded vaguely.

“Ah, yes.”

After that brief response, as he was wiping his water-soaked face with the hoodie he was wearing, the man’s voice was heard again, “You still haven’t graduated, I see?”

“… Pardon?”

“I, I thought so. You were always too busy fooling around. Dating Doyeon, busy dating girls…”

“Excuse me. What are you saying all of a sudden?”

The unknown man, either harboring ill feelings towards him or perhaps somewhat lacking, rambled on incoherently. When Yeowon straightened up with an annoyed face and looked at him sideways, he seemed to flinch.

“Ha, really. Is that how you treat a senior you haven’t seen in a long time?”

‘So he was indeed a senior. Why are all these so-called seniors like this?’

Yeowon was more dumbfounded than angry and didn’t even want to deal with him. He let out a small sigh and brushed past the man, ignoring him. It seems all sorts of people are here today.

Even for someone lacking, it was irritating to be suddenly accosted like this. Yeowon clicked his tongue, frowning as he left the bathroom. At that moment, he suddenly encountered Jeon Chaemin walking down the hallway.

“Oh? Yeowon.”

His gloomy face quickly brightened. Though his face was bright and innocent with a clear smile, Yeowon felt very unsettled.

“Ah, yes.”

“When did you arrive?”

“The very first.”

“I just got here. Did you drink a lot?” Jeon Chaemin approached, speaking quite familiarly. Seeing Yeowon’s face flushed from alcohol, he even looked worried.

“A little. The graduate seniors are no joke. They really make you drink.”

“Really? Oh no. Don’t go over there anymore.”

“You should be careful too, sunbae.” Yeowon was planning to leave after responding lightly. 

However, Chaemin seemed to have no such intention and asked with an even more worried expression, “I brought some hangover remedy. Want to have some?”

“I don’t take those things.”

“Huh? Why?”

“It ruins my image.”

“What…?” At the firm response, Jeon Chaemin rolled his eyes curiously and let out a small laugh. “What does a hangover remedy have to do with your image?”

“When I was in high school, if I drank those and then drank alcohol, I’d get cursed out by the other kids.”

“Those friends from back then?”

“Yes.”

“Come to think of it, you back then…”

Just as the conversation was unintentionally getting longer, there was another presence felt from behind.

“Were, were you two close?”

The voice that suddenly interrupted was full of discontent. At that moment, Yeowon became very irritated and turned his head to look nervously at the man he had encountered in the bathroom. The man was breathing heavily, his chest heaving. As if he had been betrayed somehow, he opened his mouth again with a reddened face, his lips trembling.