ETP Ch 37

“Gasp…!”

Seongyeon’s eyes flew open. It felt like he’d been abruptly dragged back to reality.

Sitting up with ragged breaths, Seongyeon looked down at his hands.

White palms with blue veins visible. Slender fingers anyone would consider thin.

Bokseung’s hands.

Biting his lip, Seongyeon pounded the floor with his fist. All it did was stir up dust from the bedding.

“I hate this, really.”

His grumbling voice was hoarse. It was probably because he’d yelled a lot in the dream he had last night.

No, was it even a dream? Or was it a fabrication to alleviate the guilt of being left alone?

Neither offered a clear answer. Either way, he was still in the position of having to live as ‘Kim Bokseung.’

Seongyeon rubbed his dry face with both hands. A stinging sensation hit him as his fingers touched the skin near his eyes.

“Oh dear.”

His steps toward the bathroom stopped in front of the mirror on the wall. Inside the mirror stood not a person, but a white steamed bun.

His eyes were so swollen that only half of his warm brown irises were visible. His face was also puffy, making his already round face even wider.

Anyone could guess that something had happened last night just by looking at him.

Seongyeon felt genuinely sorry. How could Bokseung, who was unrivaled in cuteness, turn into a steamed bun overnight? He needed to apply a cold compress.

Seongyeon put two spoons in the freezer and then began preparing for school.

“Ugh, cold.”

After washing up, he placed the thoroughly frozen spoons on his eyelids. Resembling something out of an old Ultraman show, Seongyeon chuckled.

Bzzzt.

He heard his phone vibrating on the dining table.

There was only one person who would message him at this hour. Hwang Yoohyun Sunbae-nim. It was undoubtedly the usual morning reminder to take his medication.

Thinking he’d reply later, he continued pressing the spoons to his eyes without looking at his phone.

Bzzzt, bzzzt.

The vibration, which he thought would stop soon, continued.

“……?”

Seongyeon walked over to the table and looked at the phone screen.

It was indeed Hwang Yoohyun, but it wasn’t a message, it was a call. Wondering why he was calling, Seongyeon pressed the answer button.

“Hello?”

His voice was still raspy.

—Why.

The words came after a brief silence.

Seongyeon pulled the phone away from his ear and checked the screen again. Hwang Yoohyun’s name was displayed, and the call timer was ticking away underneath.

“Huh?”

You called and I answered, so why are you asking me what I want? Unsure how to respond, Seongyeon simply replied with a question.

—Why does your voice sound like that?

Another pause, and then those words. Yoohyun’s unkind words first thing in the morning made Seongyeon fume.

“My voice…!”

Oops, his voice cracked.

“Ahe-hem! What’s wrong with my voice? It’s perfectly fine.”

Seongyeon cleared his throat and continued, his voice no longer cracking like before.

A small, airy chuckle came from the other end, as if amused by his self-praise.

Bokseung’s white cheeks turned pink. He felt a little embarrassed.

—Come out.

“Huh?”

—Aren’t you home?

“I am home.”

—I’m in front of your house, so come out.

Huh?

Seongyeon pulled the phone away from his ear again and checked the screen. Just like before, it clearly showed ‘Hwang Yoohyun Sunbae-nim.’

Why was this sunbae in front of his house at the crack of dawn?

Unable to stop his eyebrows from furrowing, Seongyeon exhaled slowly.

—Aren’t you coming out?

“Well, um…”

—I’ll wait three minutes.

Click. The call ended abruptly.

“Three minutes? Seriously!”

Seongyeon stared at the darkened screen in disbelief. But despite his expression, his body moved quickly and efficiently.

After diligently taking half a suppressant, he left the house just as the three minutes Yoohyun had given him were up.

When he reached the first floor of the building, he saw Yoohyun leaning against a black car, looking at his phone.

He really was there.

Seongyeon hesitantly stood in front of Yoohyun.

“Hello.”

“Yeah. Hi, drunkard.”

Yoohyun greeted him without looking up from his phone. Seongyeon, momentarily irritated, pouted and turned his head.

People can overdrink sometimes. He grumbled inwardly, hoping Yoohyun wouldn’t notice.

And of course, Yoohyun, who had looked up from his phone, saw Bokseung pouting. Even if he turned his head, the height difference made it impossible to hide it.

“Kim Bokseung, what’s wrong with your face?”

It was a face that would surprise even Yoohyun, who rarely showed changes in expression.

His eyes were still so swollen that his pupils were barely visible, and the skin around his eyes was red. The spoons he’d used to reduce the swelling had only irritated his fair skin.

His lips were pale and chapped, twice their normal size, leaving no trace of Bokseung’s usual appearance.

“Wh-what’s wrong with my face?!”

Seongyeon blurted out defensively.

“Didn’t you look in the mirror?”

But Yoohyun’s serious tone made him even more embarrassed.

Yoohyun wasn’t teasing him; he seemed genuinely concerned as he stared intently at Bokseung. Under his gaze, Bokseung’s face grew increasingly pink.

Was he really that ugly?

Seongyeon raised his hand and kneaded Bokseung’s chubby cheeks a few times. But that wouldn’t magically shrink his puffy cheeks.

Yoohyun’s lips twitched upwards, watching Bokseung’s actions.

Why is he so cute no matter what he does?

He muttered inwardly, looking at the most harmless face in the world.

“Um, but Sunbae-nim, what brings you here at this hour…?”

Seongyeon, who had been kneading his face for a while, finally came to his senses and asked Yoohyun.

Thinking that it took him long enough to ask, Yoohyun simply said,

“Hangover cure.”

“Huh?”

“You drank so much yesterday, your stomach must hurt.”

Yoohyun pointed at Bokseung’s stomach with his chin.

Following his gaze, Seongyeon looked at Bokseung’s flat t-shirt. His face flushed even redder than before.

He vividly remembered making a drunken spectacle of himself in front of Hwang Yoohyun last night. He’d probably said everything he could think of, as if he wouldn’t see him again.

The memories, far from fading, replayed endlessly in his mind.

His intuition was useless. Not just useless, but utter garbage.

Bokseung returning? My foot. The child was gone for good.

The image of Bokseung’s disappearing back flashed in his mind. His eyes grew hot again.

“Kim Bokseung.”

Just as tears welled up in his eyes, Hwang Yoohyun’s long fingers tapped Bokseung’s swollen eyelids.

“Did you cry yesterday? Is that why?”

As soon as he heard Yoohyun’s words, Seongyeon burst into tears. When you’re on the verge of tears and someone tries to comfort you, isn’t that when you start bawling?

Seongyeon was faithfully following that principle.

“Sob, Sun-sunbae, Sunbae…!”

“Oh, ohh.”

With a flustered hand, Hwang Yoohyun guided Bokseung’s face to his shoulder. It wasn’t quite a hug, nor was it a comforting embrace, but a strange posture nonetheless.

“Why are you still drunk in the morning?”

Yoohyun grumbled. But contrary to his words, he let Bokseung lean on his shoulder until his cries subsided into hiccups.

He even gently brushed Bokseung’s hair out of his face.

🍑‧₊ ⋆˙

“Eat.”

Seongyeon looked appalled at the five bowls of hangover soup lined up in front of him.

Beef bone hangover soup, ox blood hangover soup, soybean sprout hangover soup, dried pollack hangover soup, and sundae hangover soup.

There were too many dishes for just two people. Seongyeon rolled his still-burning eyes towards the door, wondering if Sunjung was coming.

But no matter how long he waited, no one else joined them at the table. The hangover soups simply grew cold.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

“Are you telling me to eat all of this?”

“Yeah, eat as much as you want.”

Yoohyun watched Bokseung with his arms crossed. No, glared was a more accurate description. He was staring intently, like a viewer watching a mukbang.

Seongyeon completely lost his appetite under that intense gaze.

He hadn’t felt like eating anything because he was physically and mentally exhausted, but being stared at like that made him even less inclined to eat.

“It’s too much…”

“It’s not. You must be drained from all that crying.”

He couldn’t tell if Yoohyun was being serious or teasing. His serious expression suggested sincerity, but his twitching fingers hinted at playful mockery.

Seongyeon picked up a spoon. Still lacking any appetite, he stalled by asking something he was curious about.

“It’s a bother, but you’re even taking care of my hangover. Is there something else you wanted to say?”

“You told me to be nice to you.”

“Huh?”

“You said that to me yesterday. You even gave me three coupons, and told me to be nicer. So I am.”

Cough.

Seongyeon coughed loudly, spoon still in hand. Yoohyun, with an impassive face, pulled out a tissue and offered it to Bokseung.

“Th-that was drunken rambling…!”

Seongyeon quickly defended himself.

“They say drunken words are sober thoughts. Seems like you had a lot of complaints about me.”

The problem was that the person accepting his excuse was Hwang Yoohyun. Yoohyun now openly observed Bokseung with his chin resting on his hand.

Seongyeon’s face burned under his scrutinizing gaze. The shame had been steadily intensifying since he met Yoohyun this morning.

It was all the alcohol’s fault.