LCL 55

As evening arrived, the atmosphere changed from the one we had experienced during the daytime. It was so crowded that there was barely any room to stand. A famous band came to perform. Cheers erupted along with the booming music.

While some people might have come to see the celebrities, like most college students, everyone was carrying bags full of alcohol. Some groups were even carrying around boxes of alcohol. It really seemed like they were going to party like there was no tomorrow.

As people started flooding in, my classmates were also running around frantically. The pub that I thought would never fill up became packed with no room to move around in. Lim Dae-han was in charge of frying jeon in the kitchen, so he had no reason to come inside.

At first, he got scolded for not doing a good job, but soon he started to get the hang of things and began to fry the jeon well. I was standing blankly next to the counter. Occasionally, I would carry out drinks or snacks, but in the end, I didn’t have much to do. 

“Lim Dae-han…!”

Senior Seong-hong called for Lim Dae-han. His call was passed through classmates, and through them, it reached him. Lim Dae-han, who was outside, came in.

I could feel glances from both men and women. He was so tall and well-built that it was impossible not to notice him. The seniors even joked that they had to raise the height of the tent because of Lim Dae-han. He stood out even in simple clothes. The senior gestured to Lim Dae-han.

“Can you help move these drinks?”

“Can’t you do it yourself?”

“You brat. Don’t you know I’m trying to help you?”

Senior Seong-hong jabbed Lim Dae-han’s side with his elbow. Lim Dae-han clicked his tongue in displeasure. Unlike when he called Lim Dae-han, the senior continued in a voice only audible to those nearby.

“The seniors are coming tomorrow and on the last day. But they’ll be in and out, so I’m trying to make you noticeable. You know?”

“I said I don’t care about any of that.”

“Be a bit more agreeable tomorrow, okay?”

“When have I ever not been?”

When he deliberately talked back, Senior Seong-hong’s expression hardened.

“I’ve told you many times that Geun-sik hyung is angry because of you.”

“What does it matter if a graduate is angry? It’s between you and me, and the matter has already been resolved.”

“Hey, come on. Help me save face a bit. You know I’m fond of you.”

Who is Geun-sik hyung and why is he angry? Senior Seong-hong patted Lim Dae-han’s shoulder and went to scold the juniors. Pretending to space out, I had been eavesdropping on their conversation and quietly moved closer to Lim Dae-han.

I was going to help carry the drinks, but Lim Dae-han moved two boxes at a time. He finished his task quickly, so there was nothing left for me to do. As he dusted off his hands, I approached and asked.

“What’s going on?”

Lim Dae-han bent down. He whispered in my ear.

“You don’t need to know.”

He was pretending to be playful, but the more he acted that way, the more uneasy I felt about the whole thing. What could it be that he won’t tell me? Is it serious?

Seeing Lim Dae-han and me together, Senior Seong-hong approached us. He stood in front of us, acting casual.

“You two should go outside and do some soliciting. Why are two  handsome guys like yourselves cooped up inside like this?”

“It’s crowded anyway, isn’t it?”

“Just go stand outside holding a sign or something.”

Lim Dae-han, who had adamantly refused to do any soliciting, slipped out to the kitchen. In the end, I was the only one standing outside holding a sign. As I stood there holding a sign with the menu written large on it, I suddenly found myself receiving a lot of attention from people wondering which pub to go to. Some people even stopped to have a chat with me as they passed by.

“Are there a lot of good-looking people inside?”

“Will we get a lot of service if we go to your pub?”

Such obvious questions. Not knowing how to handle them well, I responded stupidly, “Uh, I’m not sure. Uh, I don’t know. Ah, you’d have to ask the seniors about the service.” Fortunately, despite such responses, all the customers I talked to went into the pub.

After my classmates scattered, saying they would try soliciting elsewhere, I was left alone. I felt a vibration in my pocket. When I answered the phone, it turned out to be Ye-jun hyung.

“Yes, hyung.”

[Young-hyun, where do we go for your pub? They said it’s in the Business School area.]

It was quite noisy on our end, but it sounded extremely loud on the other end of the phone too.

“Ah, you need to come a bit further in. I’m standing in front of the pub right now.”

[Uh…we’re coming in now…Ah, there it is.]

I saw someone waving not far away. The call ended soon after. Ye-jun hyung wasn’t short either, but hyung was noticeably tall, so he stood out wherever he went.

Wow…I was genuinely amazed. Among all the expressions I had seen on hyung’s face, this was by far the sourest. He was already an unpleasant person to deal with, and coming to such a crowded place seems to have made his mood even worse. If he was going to be like this, why did he bother to come…?

“Hyung, hello.”

I pretended not to see hyung and only greeted Ye-jun hyung.

“Yeah, there are really a lot of people. Why are you standing here holding this?”

“Yes. I’m doing this to get more people to go to our pub.”

“Ah, cute. You really look like a freshman…Ow! Did you just pinch me? Why are you pinching?”

Ye-jun hyung had just given a formal compliment, but hyung suddenly pinched, or rather twisted Ye-jun hyung’s side.

“Tsk—Ow, that hurts. You really…”

For a moment, I thought I saw fire in Ye-jun hyung’s eyes, but that must have been my imagination. Ye-jun hyung wasn’t the type to get angry over such trivial things. By the way, wow, that guy acted like that even with Yejun hyung. Of course, in my case, it was my cheeks getting pinched or my head getting smacked and not my side like for Ye-jun hyung.

As we were exchanging brief greetings, a head popped out from inside the pub. It was the senior who was manning the counter.

“Young-hyun, are these your friends?”

“Ah, this is my brother, and…um, this is…”

I hesitated for a moment, unsure how to introduce Ye-jun hyung. I couldn’t call him a friend of my brother’s, and I hadn’t gotten permission to introduce him as my brother’s boyfriend. While I was choosing my words, Ye-jun hyung smiled with his eyes.

“I’m Young-hyun’s brother’s friend.”

Yejun hyung’s eye-smile was literally like the ‘^^’ emoticon.

“Ugh.”

My brother sighed and looked away. The senior urged us with an oddly excited voice.

“Tell them to come in. We’ll give them lots of service. Young-hyun, you take a break with your hyungs for a bit too.”

Ye-jun hyung’s voice brightened.

“If we go in, Young-hyun can rest?”

“Of course. Come in. We’ll really give you good service.”

The senior personally opened the tent flap. Instead of asking a first-year student who was just hanging around, he prepared seats for the two himself. Before I knew it, I was sitting with my hyungs in the center of the pub.

I unexpectedly got a break, but I didn’t feel particularly good about it. I picked at the complimentary popcorn. Ye-jun hyung seemed to be enjoying himself, looking around constantly.

“Yunhwa University really goes all-out for their festival. It’s different from our school.”

“What’s the point of making the festival this big?”

Someone might think we’d dragged him here against his will.

“Why? I think it’s fun. Younghan, we had fun at last year’s festival too, right?”

My brother glared daggers at Ye-jun hyung with tightly gritted teeth and fierce eyes. Ye-jun hyung just smiled brightly, unfazed. If it were me, I would have immediately lowered my gaze or looked away. I guess you needed to be at least that tough to date Ki Young-han.

“Last year’s festival?”

“Hey. Shut up.”

I had just asked cautiously, but the direction of his ire turned toward me. It seemed like something had happened at last year’s festival, but I wasn’t really curious.

“Yes, sir.”

I bit my lip as I replied. Honestly, I didn’t care. I was just asking out of politeness.

Feeling like I’d be the target of all my brother’s poisonous arrows if I stayed quiet, I decided to change the subject.

“Did you guys bring alcohol? They don’t sell it during the festival.”

Ye-jun hyung’s eyes widened.

“Ah, right. I forgot. What should we do? It doesn’t feel right not to drink. Should I go buy some?”

Both Ye-jun hyung and my brother liked to drink. Regardless of how well they could handle it, they were people who enjoyed alcohol itself. There was a way, though. I bit my lip, then released it as I stood up.

“Just a moment.”

I told my hyungs and walked to the counter. The senior who had been watching our table asked me, “Young-hyun, what’s up? Do you need anything?”

“Senior, um, my hyungs couldn’t bring alcohol…Uh, can I take two bottles from the back? I’ll transfer you the money.”

“Ah, it’s fine. You don’t need to pay. With your hyungs here, we don’t need to solicit customers anyway. Just drink as much as you want and let me know how much you drank. We need to restock.”

“Ah, thank you…”

I bowed slightly and slipped behind the tent. In the storage area where we kept supplies, there was alcohol that wasn’t supposed to be sold mixed in with the drinks. It wasn’t for selling to customers, but for when professors, teaching assistants, or senior students came.

I grabbed two bottles of soju and one bottle of beer, hugging them to my chest. As I was about to return to my hyungs, Park In-gong and a few other classmates who had been watching from afar approached.

What were they going to say now…? I was already scared.

“Young-hyun, who are they?”

“Ah, my brother and his friend.”

I tried to speak as casually as possible. I didn’t want the attention to shift to them. They were just here to enjoy the festival, and I didn’t want to make them uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, my classmates’ eyes were already sparkling with interest. As expected, Park In-gong let out an admiring complaint.

“Hey, they’re handsome. Why are there only good-looking people around you?”

I adjusted the bottles in my arms and joked with Park In-gong.

“Why? You’re here too.”

“Hey, are you crazy?!”

His angry outburst was so funny that I burst out laughing. I was handling the situation well, making light of it, but something was bothering me. I quietly shifted my gaze.

“…”

The classmate who had gone to get tarot readings with me was silently staring at my brother. It felt suspicious. Usually, they were quite talkative, but today they were unusually quiet.

When I narrowed my eyes and looked at my classmate, our gazes met a beat late. They seemed to have something they wanted to say, their lips moving slightly before biting them. What’s wrong with them…I deliberately ignored my suspicions.

No sooner had I taken a step than I was caught again. This time it was Senior Seong-hong. I didn’t know I was this popular. Of course, it must be because of the hyungs.

“The table in the middle, are those Young-hyun’s friends?”

“They’re hyung and hyung’s friend.”

“Oh, really? You and your hyung don’t look alike at all. Anyway, move the hyungs to an outside table. Tell them we’ll give them lots of service.”

“Ah…I’ll ask them first.”

Is Ki Young-han to that level? Honestly, I was someone who had grown up seeing hyung’s face my whole life, and I hadn’t encountered hyung much from an outside perspective. Even when we went to restaurants to eat together, I just thought, well, he was my hyung, so whatever.

Of course, I had eyes, so I knew that hyung was on the handsome side. He must have seduced Ye-jun hyung with that face, after all. But was it to that extent…? Wasn’t Lim Dae-han better?

Carrying this unresolved question, I approached the hyungs. I placed the alcohol on the table and forced out a smile.

“Hyung, there’s alcohol here…The seniors said we could just bring it over. But…can we move to a table outside?”

“Hey, with all the people walking around outside, why would we want to eat dust?”

As expected, Ki Young-han immediately got irritated. I began to wonder who he takes after to be like that. I had asked our parents before, and Dad said he takes after Mom, while Mom said he takes after Dad. Of course, our parents were very gentle people. Unlike hyung.

…Why on earth is his temper in such a state?

Ye-jun hyung patted hyung’s back and smiled at me.

“It’s okay. It’s just one day, so what does it matter? Young-han, you came to see your brother working, why keep getting irritated?”

Hyung pouted his lips but didn’t say anything more. No matter how I looked at it, Ye-jun hyung must have sold his country in a past life. Otherwise, there was no way someone with such a good personality would end up with Ki Young-han.

One way or another, the hyungs eventually moved to an outside table. I wasn’t sure how sitting outside was supposed to help with soliciting customers, but customers who were going to sit inside slowly started moving outside.

I sat at the table with the hyungs. Ye-jun hyung drank soju, and hyung poured beer. Ye-jun hyung poured soju into my glass.

“What’s a little thing like you doing drinking?”

Someone complained, but I decided to pretend I didn’t hear it.

Anyway, it should be about time for the side dishes to come out.

“Hello.”

Lim Dae-han, who had been in the kitchen, appeared out of nowhere. He put down side dishes we hadn’t ordered on the table. It seemed he had noticed somehow that the hyungs had come, even though I hadn’t had a chance to notify him of their presence, since I had been so busy earlier.

“This is on the house. The kids said the hyungs came, so I came out to check.”

“Oh, hey, Dae-han. It’s been a while. Have you been well?”

Ye-jun hyung, as always, treated Lim Dae-han kindly. I pulled out the remaining chair, but Lim Dae-han didn’t sit. His legs must hurt from standing all this time.

“Yes. How did you manage to come when you’re so busy?”

“Well, it’s a festival, so it’s fun to come and play. Are you busy? Have a drink before you go.”

“I have to work, so…”

“One drink is fine. We all had drinks too when we were students.”

Ye-jun hyung said this as he poured beer for Lim Dae-han. Seeing Lim Dae-han obediently accept the drink with both hands, I could see that he clearly acted differently with the hyungs compared to his university seniors.

There was a clear difference in temperature. He didn’t show his characteristic bluntness or the subtle prickliness that he usually displayed to the seniors. Rather, his docile behavior was almost like Dae-ryong. Dae-ryong was Lim Dae-han’s younger brother, after all.