LCL 25

The meaning of MT being “membership training” is bullshit. It was all about drinking and puking. Despite doing various programs for 2 nights and 3 days, all I remember is drinking.

On the bus back to school, everyone just slept without saying a word. We were all completely exhausted.

It was the same after returning to school. People sprawled out anywhere they could rest their butts- benches, flowerbeds, everywhere. This wasn’t just the freshmen, but the executive committee and student council too. A senior from the executive committee blew a whistle, looking like he was about to die.

Tweet! All scattered attention focused.

“Alright, let’s just do a quick head count and then dismiss.”

Only then did classmates who were collapsed on their luggage or sprawled on the ground regardless of appearances start to get up one by one. Soaked in hangovers, they looked like zombies.

Even as they stumbled around, they lined up in groups of four. The seniors quickly counted. After roughly checking the numbers, they waved their hands.

“Good work everyone. Dismissed. Have a good weekend and see you Monday.”

“Thank you for your hard work.” Everyone exchanged greetings in dying voices. I also barely held back from collapsing as I let out a deep sigh. Though my hangover wasn’t severe, my body was exhausted. I put on my bag and looked around.

I was looking for Lim Dae-han, who I wasn’t particularly close to, but who lived in the same neighborhood and occasionally went to and from school with me, a classmate from high school and a classmate in college.

There was a good reason today – the seniors told me to take care of Lim Dae-han. Finding Lim Dae-han was easy. I just had to find the group where the seniors were gathered. Sure enough, I spotted Lim Dae-han in a corner.

He was sitting with his butt against the flowerbed railing. Shadows fell under his face, which was covered by a deeply pulled-down hat. His hunched figure looked like a huge rock.

Feeling stuffy, he took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair. His face was deeply frowning. This was the first time I’d seen him like this. In other words, Lim Dae-han was currently suffering from a hangover.

“Must be really tough…” I muttered to myself. Normally, Lim Dae-han would have avoided drinking, but yesterday there were special circumstances, so he drank without complaint.

The lipstick that was smeared all over his lips. Of course, only the seniors who witnessed the scene knew the truth, and others didn’t, but rumors spread quickly in the department.

Just like how freshmen know about seniors dating even when they don’t know their names.

Anyway, it’s the first time I’ve seen Lim Dae-han suffering from a hangover. He usually had a very high alcohol tolerance. I’ve never even seen him drunk before, let alone hungover.

If someone like him is holding his head from a hangover, it means last night was truly a night of madness.

I wonder if it would have been better if I had stayed until the end. I felt sorry, but I was at my limit too. It was the first time I drank until I passed out. Of course, I hadn’t drunk many times before.

The seniors were tapping the railing where Lim Dae-han was sitting, teasing him. Even though they all looked like zombies, they were still offering more alcohol.

“Dae-han, let’s have a bottle of soju each as a hangover cure before we go.”

“Are you trying to kill me?”

Lim Dae-han retorted with irritated eyes. He tried to look at the senior, but even that seemed too much for him, and he buried his head again with a deep sigh.

I’m worried. Just how much did he drink? As I was watching them from a distance, I finally approached. Towards Lim Dae-han, who was curled up on the bench.

“Lim Dae-han.”

Up close, he looked even worse. He was holding his head with both hands, seemingly without the energy to lift it. His head, which had been hanging towards the ground, tilted up crookedly as he sensed my presence.

He looked at me with one eye squinted. Only then did the gazes of the seniors surrounding him turn towards me. I pretended not to notice their interest. Lim Dae-han was more urgent right now.

“I called a taxi, want to share it?”

I asked as casually as possible, like a normal classmate would. I deliberately raised my tone at the end. To be honest, I wanted to ask, “Does your head hurt a lot? Should I buy you some medicine? Are you okay? Do you want to get a room nearby and sleep it off?” But that kind of concern wasn’t necessary between classmates. It would be overprotective.

He, who had ignored even the order to line up, finally got up. Without answering, he leaned on me. Ugh! He put all his weight on me without considering his own size.

To be honest, it was extremely difficult, but I managed to support him while groaning. He is so heavy. In the midst of this, Senior Seong-hong even handed me Lim Dae-han’s sports bag.

“You should go now. It was a bit much to ask someone who said we were trying to kill him to drink more.”

“Yeah. Both of you, come out next time when we call for a post-party.”

It wasn’t a lot of luggage, but with Lim Dae-han, who was close to or possibly over 100 kilos, plus the bag, it was killing me. I supported him with all my strength and retreated with difficulty.

“Thank you for your hard work. We’ll be going now.”

I bowed my head to the seniors and started walking. Lim Dae-han just slightly raised his hand towards the seniors. It was quite insolent for a junior’s greeting to seniors.

I glanced at him sideways. I hoped the smile lingering at the corners of his mouth wasn’t my imagination. I dragged Lim Dae-han along, groaning. Something felt off.

My eyes kept being drawn to him. Each time, Lim Dae-han put more weight on me. It felt like my feet were being planted into the ground.

“You’re too heavy…”

“Sorry.”

I didn’t respond to his apology. I had nothing to say. He really was too heavy. As we moved away from the seniors, Park In-gong, who had been standing at a distance, finally ran towards us.

Every time I see him, I feel like he’s very similar to Jung Ji-pil, yet different. Jung Ji-pil would try his best to stay away when I was with Lim Dae-han, but Park In-gong didn’t particularly do that.

“Is Lim Dae-han dead?” Park In-gong asked.

“Almost.”

My voice cracked. Sweat was beading on my forehead. I wiped it with the back of my arm. This is really too hard. It might be better to just throw Lim Dae-han on a bench and call a taxi right away.

Still, not wanting to entrust Lim Dae-han to Park In-gong, I just handed him the sports bag instead.

“Can you carry this for me?”

“Sure. Hey, look at the state of him. The seniors were too much.”

Park In-gong lowered his voice and whispered. He glanced at the seniors who were quite far away and spoke in a hushed tone. Gossiping even in this situation.

Too tired to answer, I took out my phone from my pocket. I moved my hands quickly to call a taxi. Being near the school and during a weekday afternoon, a taxi should be available soon. Park In-gong continued talking.

“I saw the seniors mixing drinks. They were mixing whiskey with soju. I heard some of the story too. They say he kissed someone at the MT. Apparently, they’re desperate to find out who it was?”

I smiled bitterly at the rumor spreading faster than expected. So much for keeping it a secret – not even an hour after returning from the MT, and the rumor is already spreading.

Poor Lim Dae-han. I turned my head towards him, and he smiled weakly with a face that looked like he was about to die. I want to ask how he can smile in this situation. Sigh. What a fool.

“Dae-han.”

I turned towards the voice coming from not too far away. It was Senior Hyuna, wearing her hat pulled low. Her expression had been bad yesterday, but today she looked no different from usual. The senior handed Lim Dae-han a white plastic bag.

“I went to the pharmacy and bought some hangover relief medicine. I was worried you might have gone home already, so I’m glad I could give this to you.”

Lim Dae-han just stared quietly at the bag his senior handed him. Though it wasn’t much of a situation, there was a strange tension in the air.

“What are you doing, not taking it?”

I spoke up first.

“Thank you.”

Only then did Lim Dae-han accept the bag.

My body feels even warmer. I’m not sure why. When Lim Dae-han took the plastic bag, seeing the senior’s brightly smiling face made it worse.

The senior’s purpose seemed to be just handing over the hangover cure, as she immediately turned to leave. As the senior who had greeted us walked away, Park In-gong, who had been pretending not to care, slowly approached us.

“Isn’t that really Senior Hyuna?”

Lowering his voice and probing, he was just like the other seniors. Dae-han and I kept quiet. It wasn’t a question worth answering.

“Anyway… then who really… Ah!”

Lim Dae-han, who had been leaning on me, stood up on his own. He reached out his hand. He gave a forehead flick to Park In-gong, who was standing in front of him.

Thwack!!!!

At the intense sound, Park In-gong screamed and collapsed to the ground. Even though he seemed like he was about to die, apparently he had the strength to strike Park In-gong’s head. The sound was too loud. I hope his skull didn’t crack.

“Are you okay?”

Park In-gong, clutching his reddened forehead, raised his voice.

“How could I be okay! Damn, it hurts like hell.”

Why are you making a fuss at me when you brought this on yourself? Feeling displeased, I pouted. A short vibration made me check my phone. A notification popped up saying that a taxi that had been assigned recently would arrive soon.

“Lim Dae-han, the taxi’s coming soon. Let’s go.”

Lim Dae-han picked up the bag Park In-gong had thrown and started walking.

“Let’s go home.”

I silently followed him.

* * *

As soon as Lim Dae-han got home, he collapsed. Though it didn’t seem like an exaggeration earlier, his condition was apparently worse than I thought. After barely showering, just splashing water on himself, he came out and slept like the dead.

Even the hangover cure Senior Hyuna gave didn’t solve the problem. I went out to buy an electrolyte drink and another hangover cure in between, and fed it to him once more, but he still couldn’t get up from the bed.

Meanwhile, I cooked and ate ramen alone. Though I only had a few spoonfuls of soup in the morning, eating ramen for two meals in a day made my stomach feel heavy. I felt bad about not being able to offer any to Lim Dae-han and eating alone, but I didn’t want to wake him up when he was sleeping so soundly.

After eating, I did some assignments and studied in advance for exams in the living room. Now that the MT was over, I had to study for the midterms coming up in two weeks. After all, a student’s primary duty is to study.

Lim Dae-han woke up around evening. We arrived home around 11 AM, and now it was a little past 6 PM. He had slept for nearly seven hours.