LCL 26

When he came out, he was wearing only his underwear. I remember him going to sleep fully clothed, but he must have taken everything off in his sleep.

“You’re up?”

I called out to him from where I was crouched in the living room. Lim Dae-han nodded drowsily and went to the kitchen to drink water. One glass wasn’t enough, so he brought a cup of cold water with condensation on the surface and collapsed on the sofa.

I put the cup he had placed on the floor onto the coffee table to prevent it from being accidentally spilled.

Lim Dae-han adjusted his position on the sofa several times before resting his chin on my shoulder as I sat on the floor. He embraced me with just the right amount of strength, his arm crossing from my shoulder to my chest.

Our skin touched. It was warm and soft. His lukewarm breath felt somehow nice. I leaned my head on the arm that was wrapped around my shoulder.

“Sorry for falling asleep first yesterday…”

It’s not really something to apologize for, but I still felt a little sorry for leaving him to face all that humiliation alone. Lim Dae-han rubbed his hair against my cheek.

“I don’t remember much. I just recall not saying anything when they kept asking who I did it with.”

“You should have just told them.”

“That I made out with Ki Young-hyun?”

“Why phrase it like that when you could just say we kissed…?”

He provoked me, even though it could have been neatly summarized with a single word like ‘kiss’ or ‘peck’. Lim Dae-han chuckled. I lowered my head.

Well, I did say he should have told them, but if Lim Dae-han had spoken while drunk, we both would have had to drop out of school and prepare for the college entrance exam again. Thanks to Lim Dae-han keeping the secret that should be hidden instead of his sober self… we survived. Though it must have been hell for Lim Dae-han.

Lim Dae-han picked up his phone.

“Let’s have dinner. I’m ordering jjamppong, what do you want?”

A couple of hours ago, I had already cooked ramen and even mixed in a bowl of rice, so I was full. In fact, I even felt bloated. But I couldn’t tell Lim Dae-han, who had shadows under his eyes, that I had already eaten.

Damn. I felt like I might get indigestion if I ate again, having eaten a lot yesterday, the day before, and ramen today. Moreover, Chinese food was particularly likely to upset my stomach. The portions were large, and it was made with flour.

Hey, Lim Dae-han. I ate ramen… I wanted to say, but he limply dropped his arm holding the phone. The delivery app screen disappeared, and his deadpan face was reflected on the darkened screen.

The kiss wasn’t forced, we did it together. But in the end, Lim Dae-han had to deal with the aftermath… It would be better if I ordered. I overlapped my hand with his to grab his phone that had fallen to the floor.

I lifted his hand and placed it on my shoulder. While I was ordering food, he playfully poked my cheek with his index finger. Glaring at him didn’t help. Soon, as if tired of the teasing, he gently stroked my cheek with the back of his fingers, and I asked him a question.

“I’m not going to eat much. Do you want my jajangmyeon?”

“Yeah. Aren’t you going to eat anything else?”

“Is there something else you want?”

“Well…”

I asked because I was genuinely curious, but Lim Dae-han pretended not to know. I hadn’t scolded him for eating a lot, but it seems he felt that way. In the end, we added a small portion of sweet and sour pork.

If he can’t eat it all, he can just leave it. Extra large jjamppong, regular size jajangmyeon, and mini sweet and sour pork. This amount would be… just right for Lim Dae-han.

I realized something was wrong less than an hour after dinner. I had only eaten a few bites of jajangmyeon and picked at a few pieces of sweet and sour pork, but my stomach felt heavy and my body sluggish.

I kept swallowing saliva as my stomach felt nauseous. It seemed that since I hadn’t been eating proper meals lately, just grabbing quick bites or using food as drinking snacks, I had indigestion.

I should have just eaten a simple meal instead of ramyeon. These days, there are good side dish stores, and even hangover soup places do takeout…

I sat curled up on the sofa, fidgeting with my hands. Lim Dae-han, who had just showered, approached with wet hair. He plopped down next to me.

“What’s wrong?”

Noticing my unusual expression, he grabbed my hand. I bit my lip gently. Lim Dae-han massaged my hand.

His large, hot hand gripped the edge of my hand. It was rough and coarse. His strength was so great that I thought it might cure my indigestion completely.

“Do you have indigestion? But you barely ate.”

“No…”

Well, that was true for the jajangmyeon. I trailed off. Lim Dae-han waited for me to continue. Right, it’s not like I did anything wrong. What’s there to hide?

“Actually, I ate not too long ago. I think eating jajangmyeon on top of that made it worse.”

Instead of answering, Lim Dae-han just stared at me. His eyes seemed to ask why I had eaten it then. I added an unnecessary excuse.

“It didn’t feel right to eat alone when you were suffering from a hangover.”

“You don’t have to hide it.”

Lim Dae-han was still massaging my hand. He’s right. We’re in a relationship and have been dating for 3 years now, so what is there to hide?

This applies not just to this, but to other things too. I could actually tell him that I feel Senior Hyuna might like him.

But.

I held back on that part. We who had just become adults were different from our high school selves. Back then, we exchanged words of liking each other, dating, and love, but as our world changes, so do our emotions.

Senior Hyuna was outstanding not just in our department, but in the whole school. She was obviously pretty, and her easy-going yet kind personality made her popular.

I didn’t want to tell Lim Dae-han about the senior’s feelings. In fact, maybe the reason for my indigestion wasn’t just the Chinese food. Such a thought suddenly occurred to me.

College life is fun. Both classmates and seniors are all good people. But when dating gets mixed in, quite troublesome situations follow.

I’ve felt this before and still do – dating is really difficult. But that doesn’t mean I want to quit. I should try harder. I should love more passionately. Thinking like this, I felt Lim Dae-han’s touch.

“Do you want to go to the hospital? You seem to have a fever too.”

Lim Dae-han put his hand on my flushed cheek. He knows without me telling him. I was burning up. It’s not because I’m sick.

If this is a fever of affection, then it’s a fever. I was experiencing this at the fresh age of twenty. Even though we were clearly dating.

In the end, Lim Dae-han went to buy medicine. There was no need to go to the hospital, so I took the medicine and slept for a while. Since it wasn’t my usual sleeping time, I woke up after a short nap.

It seemed to be the middle of the night as the world was quiet. The TV that was always on in the main room was silent, and there was no sign of movement in the living room. I turned my head under the heavy blanket.

Lim Dae-han was sleeping using the blanket I was covered with as a mattress. Even though our body temperatures didn’t match, he always threw off the blanket when we slept together under him.

“…”

A hangover probably doesn’t go away that quickly, but seeing him buy medicine for me made me feel uncomfortable in a corner of my heart. I put my hand on his cheek, which was peacefully closed.

His cheeks were dry, probably from the tough drinking session at the MT. Even though Lim Dae-han usually applies lotion and skin cream better than I do. I caressed his high, pointed nose tip and short eyelashes. He slowly opened his eyes at my touch all over his face.

“…What are you doing not sleeping?”

He mumbled in a low, gravelly voice. I shook my head. No matter how fun college life is, or how good the time spent with classmates and seniors is, in the end, this time is the best.

Time spent with Lim Dae-han. A relationship where even silence feels comforting, even if we’re not chattering loudly.

I gently patted the hand on his cheek. Lim Dae-han closed his eyes tightly. It was his way of being cute. My heart pounded.

I closed my eyes tightly and kissed the tip of his nose. I wanted to kiss him like this earlier too. When I deliberately made a “chu” sound, Lim Dae-han smiled with his eyes closed.

“How’s your stomach?”

“It’s fine now.”

“I wish I could be sick instead.”

Strange. Lim Dae-han’s words are strange. Isn’t wishing to be sick instead a feeling parents have for their sick children? Would I feel the same if Lim Dae-han was sick? I lowered my head a little more.

As I lightly kissed his cheek, I licked his slightly protruding lips with my tongue. When I gently bit his lips, Lim Dae-han obediently opened his mouth. With hot breath, his docile tongue parted my lips. I moved my body closer to him.

It’s strange that I like kissing Lim Dae-han even though that’s what caused the trouble. I wrapped my arms around his neck and slowly moved down his back. As our bodies pressed together, he bit my lip hard.

His large hand wrapped around my waist. He pulled me close, leaving no gap. When we parted after gently rubbing our lips, I whispered as if it was our first kiss,

“I have indigestion, so just kissing for now.”

“What do you take me for?”

“Yes, just kissing…”

“Stick out your tongue. I’ll suck it.”

Lim Dae-han grinned and tilted his head once more. I also responded to his hot kiss. I decided to ignore the shape firmly caught between his legs.

Because I’m sick today. Instead, I breathed in his breath. Lim Dae-han did the same.

* * *

The hangnail near my thumbnail was bothering me. I gently scratched it off with my index finger and it fell off. I blew on it and dropped the removed hangnail.

After the thin thorn that had been bothering me fell off, I felt at ease. I lifted my head and looked up at the sky.

As we entered May, the weather suddenly became hot. In a couple of months, it will be summer. Yet spring is still here. I already missed the season that hadn’t even left yet.

I looked around. It was the first time I had seen the Sky Garden, which was always crowded, so empty. With midterms over and classes in full swing, there weren’t many people around.

The Sky Garden was on the 4th floor of the 7-story Business School building. It was a small garden-like area set up in the passageway connecting to the next building. Professors and students alike frequently passed through.