LCL 22

I licked the round candy with my tongue. It was probably lemon flavor. We rolled the candy between our tongues. The sharp candy fragments scratched my tongue. I tasted a slight hint of blood but didn’t mind.

I carefully sucked on his lips. Our tongues didn’t intertwine. It was a soft and affectionate kiss. I gripped the blanket tightly. Our hot breaths touched each other. I turned my head.

The place where the light kiss had lingered was filled with deep breaths. More precisely, I pushed his shoulder away. I was afraid someone might see.

Lim Dae-han, reading my mind, obediently backed off. He licked his lips with his red tongue. Somehow the candy had ended up in my mouth. It wasn’t the candy I wanted to lick and suck. If I could, I wanted to pull him close and suck his tongue.

“Ah… I don’t think we should continue.”

“What strange thoughts are you having?”

Lim Dae-han laughed low and affectionately. He raised his thumb and rubbed my wet lips. The place where his rough gesture had brushed stung. I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them.

“They’re wet.”

I bit the lips that Lim Dae-han had thoroughly sucked on. I deliberately changed the subject.

“You should go out and have more fun. The seniors and professor will be looking for you.”

Lim Dae-han, who had been examining my expression, got up from his spot, pressing on the floor. It seems he really intends to go out and have more fun. I’m not upset. I meant what I said sincerely.

Isn’t this why we came to the MT? Chatting with students and professors, promoting friendships, establishing the department’s identity, and so on. It’s all bullshit; we came to drink until we’re cross-eyed.

But contrary to my expectations, Lim Dae-han went to the corner and picked up his bag. Unlike my bag that was buried at the very bottom, he pulled his out in one go. Then, like me earlier, he took out his toiletries.

“I’ll wash up and come back. Lay out a blanket nearby.”

“Aren’t you going to drink more?”

“No. It’s boring. We’ll drink again tomorrow anyway.”

Lim Dae-han hung the towel he brought over one shoulder. Somehow his attempt to look cool annoyed me, so I threw out a comment.

“You must have had a lot of fun drinking when you were younger, so it’s boring now.”

At my words, Lim Dae-han turned his head with a crooked face. He smiled wryly and then pretended not to hear as he went into the bathroom. Left alone, I laid out a blanket about 1 meter away from my spot.

I found myself smiling without realizing it. I thought I didn’t care, but I guess I liked it. Since it’s come to this, I should let Lim Dae-han sleep too. So no senior or classmate can talk to him more.

But are all these actions I’m taking childish?

* * *

The second day wasn’t much different from the first. After finishing the perfunctory quiz and minor sports events, we returned to the lodging.

The only event left was the freshman talent show. After the talent show, all that remained was to pour and drink more alcohol.

“Let’s gather our group.”

Pushed by seniors who were uninterested in leading the freshmen, Ji-yoon called us over as the team leader. Our group consisted of Ji-yoon, me, and three others, making a total of five.

There were two sophomores, one junior, and one senior, but the junior was busy with student council and rarely participated in meetings, while the senior didn’t care much about us since they just came to have fun.

“What is it?”

As I approached and asked, Ji-yoon leaned in as if to whisper. She murmured in a lowered voice. Seems like she heard something strange again.

“I heard from Senior Seok-jun in Group 7.”

Ji-yoon used polite language because of the sophomore seniors present. When it was just us freshmen, she’d usually throw around casual terms like “this bastard” or “that bastard”. I just nodded in response.

“They say the boys are going to do drag.”

Gasp. I inhaled sharply in shock. Not knowing who was in Group 7, I was confused. A classmate listening to the story listed the members of that group while holding their stomach laughing.

Their faces came to mind one by one. They’re going to do that? I was shocked again. Really… what’s the big deal about an MT talent show? Of course, they say they’ll support 500,000 won for the after-party expenses. Blinded by that 500,000 won… they didn’t seem to care about others’ eyesight.

Everyone’s eyes were blazing. Some freshmen weren’t interested in the talent show. It was Lim Dae-han’s group. Lim Dae-han even got out of the talent show. Thanks to Senior Seong-hong’s infinite love for his juniors.

When Lim Dae-han said he didn’t want to go to the MT, Senior Seong-hong specially excused him. That’s also why he ended up in Senior Seong-hong’s group in the first place. Only Park In-gong wailed that it was unfair.

“It’s common in MT talent shows. It’s fun, isn’t it?”

Unlike the shocked freshmen, the seniors didn’t seem to think it was a big deal. Ji-yoon lowered her voice. Though she whispered, we could all hear.

“But you know the guys in that team. The boys in our team have much better faces.”

“…So?”

I asked, suppressing my uneasiness. Ji-yoon clenched her fist. Please. Please. Please don’t.

“Can’t we make our team’s guys do it too? No, we must!”

I swallowed a sigh watching Ji-yoon steel her resolve. I don’t need the 500,000 won. We’re going to drink heavily here anyway, why do we need after-party funds?

But Ji-yoon’s eyes were burning with determination. She seemed intent on winning first place no matter what.

I had forgotten… Ji-yoon was the top-scoring freshman.

Ha… I was about to sigh but stopped. I met the freshmen’s eyes. More precisely, just us guys. We looked at each other with gloomy faces in silence. You say it, no, you say it. We kept pushing it onto each other.

“Ji-yoon, can’t we just do it the way we planned?”

A classmate whose eyes had met mine grumbled.

“What?!”

Ji-yoon shouted angrily. Flinch, I shuddered. Unfortunately, the classmate who voiced his dislike of cross-dressing and Ji-yoon had a bad history.

They weren’t close as they were in different classes, but they had dated briefly soon after starting college. The relationship lasted about a week.

Moreover… Ji-yoon got dumped. How gutsy. How could he say he didn’t want to do it in that situation?

“No… I mean, I’ll just do the cross-dressing…”

He finally gave in. Ji-yoon turned to me with sharp eyes, asking for my opinion. As if the already tense situation wasn’t enough, her glare made me hold my breath.

“Young-hyun, you! Don’t you want to do it?”

I laughed awkwardly. I wanted to live too.

“No… I… I want to do it too.”

There was no need to go as far as saying “I want to do it,” but I had no choice. I had to agree, albeit reluctantly. The 500,000 won was just an excuse, it seemed more like she wanted to get back at her ex-boyfriend.

I never even dated Seo Ji-yoon, so why am I suddenly cross-dressing because I’m in the same group as someone who did? Ji-yoon steeled her resolve. When Ji-yoon led, we had to follow.

“First place is ours.”

“Fighting!”

“Let’s get that 500,000 won and drink till we’re cross-eyed!”

“Fighting!”

Why do we have to go this far? I really don’t understand.

“I want to die…”

I banged my head against the wall. I had been hiding until right before the talent show, but as soon as I jumped onto the stage, my eyes met Lim Dae-han’s. Lim Dae-han stared at me with wide eyes.

The cross-dressing wasn’t much. Since it wasn’t prepared in advance, it was just wearing an elastic skirt hastily bought from a 1000-won shop, an animal headband, and some lipstick.

If I had to say, it wasn’t that miserable. The cross-dressing guys from other groups looked even worse. They didn’t even get any place. We at least got second place. Thanks to that, we received 300,000 won.

However. However…, the skirt came up above my knees, the lipstick was too bright red, and the headband had rabbit ears, making me want to die. It wasn’t cross-dressing, it was a horrible hybrid.

I just want to die…

“Haaaa…”

A deep sigh escaped. I really want to run away like this. I squeezed my eyes shut at the miserable situation. There were cheers of encouragement and comfort saying “You’re pretty~”, but no matter how much guys dress up, it’s all the same.

As soon as the talent show ended, I threw off the headband and took off the skirt. When Ji-yoon said, “Can I keep this?” I responded with a loud “Sure!”

My reflection in the mirror was a sight to behold. The other kids helped apply the lipstick, but it was crooked. Due to nervousness, I had rubbed my lips furiously, making a mess. Where were the makeup remover wipes? I was frantically looking around.

I had to wipe it off before running into Lim Dae-han. I’ll pretend I don’t know anything. I don’t know anything.

At that moment, the door opened. My body froze in that state. I had even turned off the lights in case someone came in, which made it worse.

I just turned my head. Our eyes met.

“Ki Young-hyun.”

As the familiar voice reached me, the tension eased. Lim Dae-han sauntered into the room. In my dismay, I raised my voice without realizing.

“You scared me…!!”

I couldn’t finish my sentence. I firmly closed my mouth. I had read his expression as he came closer.

He was… excited to tease me. Where did he pick up the rabbit headband I had thrown away?

“What are you doing here alone?”

“Stop it, seriously.”

“I haven’t done anything, what do you mean stop?”

Judging by how he was catching my words, he was clearly going to tease me. I could hear seniors whispering in another room. Lim Dae-han glanced in that direction for a moment, then grabbed my wrist and moved. I was dragged outside the building without being able to resist.

The place we hurriedly moved to was a path not far from the lodging. Lim Dae-han hid me in a corner and then tilted his head this and that way, examining my face.

Every time his gaze touched me, I lowered my head. At this rate, I’ll end up burying my face in the ground. He lifted my chin.

“Did you eat a mouse? What’s with your lips?”^[1]

At his playful scolding, I bit my lips. I didn’t like how dark the color was either. There were pink and orange colors too, but Ji-yoon insisted on red, so I had no choice. In the end, I hung my head again. Lim Dae-han spoke to the top of my head.

“Do that thing you did earlier again.”

“What-“

My voice trailed off in distress. I was scared that seniors might show up even in this situation. The seniors were probably afraid enough not to come to the entrance of the path at this late hour, but if they were in a group, who knows what could happen.

“…”

I nervously scanned the entrance of the path before looking back up at Lim Dae-han. He doesn’t seem scared at all.

He was too busy grinning excitedly. It was obvious without looking. My face must have been bright red. Maybe even redder than the lipstick on my lips.

“You did the rabbit thing earlier. Do that again.”

Lim Dae-han put the headband he was holding on my head. My nose wrinkled in frustration.

“That was part of the original choreography.”

I replied in a grumpy voice. I suddenly felt sorry for the idol group that sang this song. They’re probably only a year or two older or younger than me. To think that people my age are doing choreography imitating rabbits.

Lim Dae-han grabbed my hands and pulled them up. He placed them on my head.

“Rabbit. Do it.”

“…You came here just to tease me, didn’t you?”

“I just wanted to see it for myself.”

The corners of Lim Dae-han’s mouth curved into a smile. He was pretending to be flirty, but his intention to tease was clear. It’s annoying. I made a sad expression and burst out in frustration.

“Don’t do this. You really seem like a pervert.”

“So what?”

“…”

“Did you just realize?”

I really don’t want to do it. But Lim Dae-han didn’t seem like he would back down easily either. Lim Dae-han had a persistent side when it came to strange things.

He looked determined not to let go of my hands until I did it. Finally, frowning intensely, I put my fingers to my head and bent them slightly.

“…Like this?”

It was nothing special, but Lim Dae-han broke into a big smile. I frowned once more, and Lim Dae-han finally burst out laughing.

“Hahaha- I really like that.”

“What’s there to like?”

“Do it for me at home too.”

Hop hop. He just made weird noises. After laughing for a while, Lim Dae-han brought his face close and pressed his lips against mine.

Smooch, it was a brief kiss, and as he pulled away, I smudged my lips on his cheek.