LCL 24

Had my impression changed a bit since coming to college? I rubbed between my eyebrows. It could be because I frowned a lot. If not that, maybe my facial features had become more defined as I became an adult.

If I had to pick someone like that in our family, it would definitely be my brother. He was always on edge, even when no one was bothering him.

These days, he seems to have mellowed out a bit though. I have the opposite impression from my brother, but maybe we were similar? I tilted my head slightly.

“I’m not sure myself.”

“Still, it’s nice that even Young-hyun came over to our side.”

“That reminds me, since we’re all gathered here, I’ll ask: do you want to join the executive committee?”

The executive committee senior looked at me and Lim Dae-han as they suggested. They had asked once before and were asking again. Lim Dae-han immediately shook his head.

“I won’t do it.”

“Why?”

“It’s bothersome. You seniors just drink all the time.”

“You should at least pretend to think about it for a moment when a senior asks.”

Lim Dae-han silently raised the corners of his mouth at the gentle rebuke. The seniors’ gazes turned to me. I opened and closed my mouth.

My lips probably formed a diamond shape. I wanted to refuse too, but for some reason, as I made eye contact with the senior, I couldn’t easily speak.

Lim Dae-han covered his mouth and laughed at something amusing. Seeing his eyes curve up prettily, my face grew hot.

“…I, I don’t have any thoughts about it yet either.”

Not being the type to refuse outright like Lim Dae-han, I gave an evasive answer. The senior patted my back, saying it would be fun if I at least thought about it. I felt the warmth through my T-shirt.

Perhaps drunk, their palms felt particularly hot. Lim Dae-han shifted his gaze to the senior. He then made a sulky expression before turning his head the other way.

The drinking party deepened. Most people had passed out drunk, so there weren’t many left. Only three or four people remained in our group, while the rest had returned to their rooms or were sprawled out sleeping where they sat.

“By the way, hey, Young-hyun, does Lim Dae-han have anyone he’s interested in in the department?”

Senior Seong-hong, who was quite drunk, could barely open his eyes. Furrowing one eyebrow, he pointed at Lim Dae-han while holding a soju glass. I opened my eyes wide and met Lim Dae-han’s gaze. Lim Dae-han was waiting for what I would say.

Unlike when he was being pestered by the seniors, he seemed to be enjoying this situation quite a bit. Despite drinking so much, he showed no signs of being drunk. Only I was drunk.

My eyes were unfocused, and I twisted my lips like an old man without dentures, pulling them in. Ugh. I stammered out a response.

“Lim Dae-han… has a girlfriend…, they’ve been dating for a long time.”

The seniors exchanged glances. I rubbed my cheek with the back of my hand. My cheeks were hot. I let out a sigh, “Ha.” My breath smelled of alcohol.

I quietly looked at the seniors. They seemed to want to tell me something but held back.

“Everyone here knows anyway, so can’t we just tell him? As a secret. Young-hyun, can you keep a secret?”

The seniors acted as if they were about to share a secret. I ate some snacks placed in front of me. I wasn’t interested since I already knew everything anyway.

Lim Dae-han and I kissed. That’s why Lim Dae-han’s mouth was all smeared with lipstick. Lim Dae-han pushed an unopened bag of snacks towards me. After so much time, the only things left to eat were dried side dishes and snacks.

“You can tell Young-hyun.”

It was closer to “Tell him” than “You can tell him.” The seniors finally got excited and explained the situation. They said when they heard rustling on the path and called out, Lim Dae-han came out with lipstick smeared all over his mouth. He had hurriedly wiped his lips with the back of his hand, but it only smeared more.

He insisted it was lip balm, but no one was foolish enough to confuse lipstick and lip balm. The seniors were putting their heads together to figure out which girl had been with him.

The deductions that had started with Senior Hyuna earlier had been going on for hours. All dead ends. The senior who briefly explained the situation asked for my opinion.

“Who do you think it was?”

“Uh, well…”

It was me. We did it. I swallowed the words I could never say. I gulped. I must have been drunk because even my saliva tasted like alcohol.

I didn’t come here to drink, but to help Lim Dae-han a little. I couldn’t make him out to be a player who kissed someone else while having a girlfriend. I tried hard to think with my hazy, drunk mind.

“In my opinion.”

The seniors’ gazes focused on me. Even Lim Dae-han, who had been fiddling with a chopstick wrapper, looked up.

“…Couldn’t he have just done it alone? Like this, biting his lips.”

I demonstrated by biting and rubbing my own lips. I realized how stupid it sounded when I saw the seniors’ dumbfounded expressions. Only then did I have an “oh no” moment.

Rather than kissing someone else, it would look more appealing, while rubbing his lips alone would look really strange in this situation. Realizing this belatedly, I just blinked stupidly.

Lim Dae-han was also staring at me blankly. He let out a laugh of disbelief. I unconsciously clenched my fist. I know I said something stupid.

Wait, the sensation in my palm feels strange. It felt like it wasn’t mine. I rubbed my fingers against my dry palm several times. The sensation was unfamiliar.

I was drunk. I was really drunk. This was the first time I’d been this drunk. Honestly, I couldn’t even gauge how much I had drunk.

I drank whatever was given to me, and when the seniors filled Lim Dae-han’s glass trying to kill him, I tried to drink at least half of it. It was a miracle I was still alive at this point.

“Or maybe he did this… with his palm.”

I rubbed my mouth with my palm. I wish someone would just shut me up. Being drunk was making me say all sorts of nonsense.

Anyway, the person who had actually kissed Lim Dae-han was now making excuses for him, saying he wouldn’t have done that. Blinking my eyes, I stared hard at Lim Dae-han sitting across from me.

“Right?”

I asked for his opinion. Lim Dae-han was barely holding back his laughter. I frowned without realizing it. Why are you holding back your laughter again? It’s annoying.

My vision blurred slightly as my eyes unfocused. Even so, I could see Lim Dae-han clearly. I asked once more.

“Right?”

“…”

“Why aren’t you saying anything-“

As I wrinkled my nose, he burst into laughter. He laughed out loud at a steady pace. The surprised seniors turned to look at Lim Dae-han.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen him laugh out loud like that.”

I was used to it, so it was fine. Watching Lim Dae-han laugh, I started laughing too. As I stretched my mouth into a wide smile, Lim Dae-han laughed even more openly.

The seniors looked back and forth between me and Lim Dae-han. Ah, this is my limit now. The weight of their gazes was too much, so I closed my eyes. My weight shifted backward.

“By the way, Young-hyun, you. Young-hyun…?”

At the same time, I fell backward. Flop. Before falling, I forgot to take Lim Dae-han aside and talk to him. I didn’t pretend not to know when you were in an awkward situation. I helped you. Don’t you dare forget that.

* * *

The smell of alcohol was fishy, and the smell of ramen was nauseating. The sound of people chatting was so loud I wanted to cover my ears. I woke up, smacking my lips.

Whether it was luck or because I had completely passed out, I didn’t feel a serious hangover. Just a sour stomach.

Even though I had mixed all sorts of alcohol, I didn’t seem affected much. I propped myself up on my arms and raised my heavy body from the floor. Scratching my head, I looked around. The blanket had slipped down to my waist, and next to me…

“Cough…!”

I heard a dry cough. Lim Dae-han was sleeping next to me. He was almost corpse-like. He was sleeping with a frown on his face.

Why am I sleeping together with him? As I looked around in surprise, a senior standing in front of the burner yawned. It was the senior I had been drinking with before I collapsed the night before.

“Young-hyun, is your stomach hurt? I’ll make ramen for you too. Let’s eat together.”

“Ah…, yes. Thank you…”

“Do you remember suddenly collapsing yesterday?”

“What? Ah, well…, I…”

“Go wash your face first. It’ll take some time for the noodles to cook anyway.”

I went to the bathroom to clear my head. After a quick face wash, I came out. The seniors, huddled together preparing to eat ramen, gestured for me to come quickly.

“Didn’t you sleep?”

I approached and sat down, squeezing in. Everyone looked a mess. One senior had panda eyes from unremoved makeup, another had drool marks on their mouth, and everyone’s hair was either sticking up or tangled.

I was the same. The ramen, which had seemed unappetizing before I woke up, now looked mouth-wateringly delicious.

“We all slept. We didn’t drink as much as you guys. By the way, Dae-han was really something…”

“Why?”

“The original goal was to drink him under the table, but man, he’s tough. I’d say he drank about a third of all the alcohol we brought this time. We even told him to stop drinking later because we were worried something might happen.”

I looked at Lim Dae-han, curled up asleep. He was so drunk he couldn’t even wake up when we talked about him. He looked so vulnerable, curled up like a baby, that I wanted to go and kiss him, but I held back since we were in front of the seniors.

I just nodded vaguely. A senior stirred the noodles with tongs. As soon as they said the noodles were ready, everyone picked up their chopsticks.

I didn’t feel confident about eating the noodles, so I just sipped the broth. A senior with a mouth full of food pointed at Lim Dae-han with their chopsticks.

“Yesterday, after you collapsed, Young-hyun, it was Dae-han who moved you to the corner. He even went to the next room to get a blanket and covered you.”

“That’s why I caught a cold.”

Park In-gong, groaning from a hangover, sniffled. When did he get here? I didn’t even notice he was around. Anyway, Dae-han is so consistent. Out of all the people, he took In-gong’s blanket to cover me.

“We praised Dae-han for being so caring, but it turns out he just can’t sleep without a blanket.”

“Ah, right. Even though he was so drunk, he still managed to crawl under the blanket. But since there was no blanket here, well, they ended up sleeping together.”

So that’s why Dae-han was next to me when I woke up this morning. But Dae-han doesn’t like being covered. He’s always hot, so he doesn’t even wear clothes at home, let alone cover himself when sleeping.

Understanding the meaning behind the excuse and explanation, I kept quiet. Instead, I nonchalantly sipped the broth. It was spicy and delicious.

“You two live in the same neighborhood, right? Young-hyun, take care of Dae-han when you go home later.”

“Ah, yes…”

“And since you live in the same neighborhood and were even in the same class at school, you should get along well. From what I saw yesterday, you don’t seem to be on bad terms.”

I couldn’t answer and just smiled awkwardly. Just then, Dae-han threw off the blanket and hugged it like a body pillow.

“Is this really the guy who can’t sleep without a blanket?”

The senior snorted and shook their head. I found it funny too, but I focused on eating. I just laughed quietly to myself.