LCL 56

“Hello!!”

At that moment, Park In-gong burst out with a loud voice. Not just Park In-gong, but all the close classmates came rushing out together. It seemed they had been whispering amongst themselves from a distance, and when they saw Lim Dae-han receiving a drink, they all came to greet us together.

They must have come out so boldly because they didn’t know Lim Dae-han was acquainted with the hyungs. I should have warned them beforehand. Not to try to act familiar with my hyung.

“We were so surprised when the hyungs arrived. We thought celebrities had come. But hyung, you don’t look anything like Young-hyun, do you?”

Park In-gong bustled about, peering around with his hands behind his back. It was obviously flattery. My hyung hated that kind of thing the most.

In high school, hyung would openly criticize even Jung Ji-pil, whom he had met a few times. When he bluntly told the fidgety kid, “You’re not good at studying,” I genuinely wanted to hit our hyung, even though he was my brother.

This time, the reaction was similar. Hyung didn’t even respond. He glanced at Park In-gong and then looked away.

“Hello. We’re Young-hyun’s friends.”

The calmer classmates also bowed and greeted one by one. While Ye-jun hyung responded with “Yes, hello~”, hyung just nodded once and that was it. It wasn’t like he was returning the greeting, more like ‘Oh, you greeted me? Okay. Got it, now get lost.’ That kind of feeling.

“Hey, go back to your seats. I came to say hello because I know the hyungs.”

Lim Dae-han, who had wet his lips with beer, sorted out the situation. He lightly kicked Park In-gong, who was the closest.

“Everyone, go back to your seats.”

“Why? Let’s stay a bit longer. I’m curious about Young-hyun’s school life.”

Ye-jun hyung seemed to find this situation amusing. It was my job to read the room. Hyung, um…the person next to you has a sour expression.

“No, it’s okay. I’ll send them all back.”

Lim Dae-han, knowing hyung’s personality, dispersed the classmates from the middle. When Lim Dae-han said, “Ah, come on. I said go,” while scolding them, everyone returned to their places. Then he too went back to the kitchen, saying he wouldn’t disturb us anymore.

After the noisy bunch disappeared, only piercing glares remained.

Thinking it would be better to avoid facing hyung’s contempt, I pretended to have something to do and stood up. Then I approached my classmates and warned them. It was sincere advice.

“Don’t talk to my hyung.”

A moment ago, a classmate who had been quietly observing our hyung asked an unexpected question.

“Young-hyun, how old is your older brother?”

“He’s twenty-five, but don’t talk to him. I’m seriously telling you this.”

“If he’s twenty-five…Damn. That’s a huge age difference between us.”

My classmate made an enigmatic expression and clapped. Ah. I was exasperated. 

“What did that tarot reading say earlier? Did it say to meet someone four or five years older?”

I hurriedly waved my hands around. I said they really needed to get their act together and that they shouldn’t be swayed by looks. I couldn’t tell them that he already had a partner because I hadn’t asked the hyungs for permission to talk about their relationship beforehand.

“No, my hyung is off-limits. I’m telling you, you really shouldn’t talk to him.”

“Why do you keep saying that? Are you…you know…that thing…Being overprotective because he’s your brother.”

“It’s not that, his personality is really nasty. You shouldn’t talk to him, really.”

“Young-hyun’s hyung! Young-hyun is…!!”

Park In-gong suddenly raised his voice. I wasn’t sure if he took my comment about the bad personality as a joke and wanted to tattle, but he was clearly crazy. I grabbed his mouth and head in a headlock.

“Ah, I said don’t do it!!”

I yelled and turned my head toward hyung. His gaze, scanning us up and down, was full of thorns. It looked like it would pierce through the skin at any given moment.

Ha…an uncontrollable sigh escaped from my mouth.

“Shit…What are you saying?”

Hyung not only glared but also muttered curses under his breath. Having lived my whole life being cursed at by hyung, I could read his lip movements accurately even from a distance. I quickly lowered my eyes and then looked to Ye-jun hyung for help.

Help me, please, I tried to silently plead with my eyes.

Ye-jun hyung smiled silently and turned his head toward hyung. When Ye-jun hyung said something, hyung nodded as if agreeing with him. I couldn’t hear the conversation, but I could feel that things were calming down as time passed.

If you’re going to be like this, you shouldn’t have come. Why did you come and cause a scene?

Before I could breathe a sigh of relief, my classmate grabbed me again and said, “How old is the person next to oppa?”

Please stop. Those two are really off-limits

“Nothing’s going on, right?”

It wasn’t long after that when I was able to spend time alone with Lim Dae-han. Lim Dae-han had gone out for a short break.

He was sitting on the bench where he had spent time in the afternoon, watching people pass by in high spirits.

It really felt like a festival. The sound of music, the chatter of passersby, the smell of grass mixed with the aroma of grilled food, the cool evening air all came together to make this a pleasant night.

I secretly brought a soda, just like Lim Dae-han had done earlier, and approached him.

I pressed the can against his cheek. Lim Dae-han smiled softly and took the soda, overlapping his hand with mine. Holding the can that looked too small for his hand, he asked, “Want me to open it?”

Did he think I always wanted him to open drinks for me? I was dumbfounded.

“No. It’s for you to drink.”

“Oh.”

Lim Dae-han pulled the tab to open the can. There was a hissing sound as the carbonation bubbled up and then settled.

“Sit next to me.”

I sat down next to him as he spoke calmly. Across from us, the hyungs had too much food in front of them for just two people and looked overwhelmed. Even though hyung eats a lot, this was excessive even compared to him.

They received too many free dishes. They didn’t even give this much service to the seniors’ acquaintances who came to the pub.

I could roughly guess what was happening. Groups of two women had come to the hyungs’ table several times and left. Also, there were customers who came looking for the handsome guy at the Economics Department pub, whispering as if a celebrity had come to visit.

The senior must have aimed for this to happen all along. They kept giving endless service to make them stay as long as possible. Still, it seemed like too much food. Even if they offered to pack it up, I don’t think I’ll hear good things if they say they’re packing up food waste.

Anyway…

“…I asked if something’s going on with you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were having a serious conversation with Seong-hong sunbae earlier.”

“Ah, that.”

He nodded his head slightly and shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s really nothing.”

“Then you can just tell me.”

Lim Dae-han handed me the soda. As I took it, he crossed his arms tightly and looked straight ahead. Lim Dae-han had a tendency to try to solve all my problems while trying to handle his own issues alone.

“You get upset when I don’t tell you things, and yet…”

“It’s really nothing, that’s why.”

“So…just tell me.”

After some back and forth, he finally opened up.

“Last week when I got annoyed with Seong-hong sunbae.”

“Yeah.”

“There were some senior students, and apparently it became a topic of conversation. They said I was disrespectful. What right does the Economics Department have to enforce discipline in the first place?”

“Ah.”

“So they’re coming tomorrow, and they just want us to meet and resolve it…but it’s annoying.”

Lim Dae-han truly looked annoyed. I thought it was strange too. It seemed childish for a graduated senior to come and try to enforce discipline when the parties involved could resolve it themselves. Are they really in their 20s? I moistened my lips with the soda.

“Tell me if the seniors hit you.”

“So you can hit them back?”

“No…I’d report it to the police. You know…I can’t fight.”

Lim Dae-han laughed out loud again. His gentle and affectionate laughter pierced through the loud music. He leaned forward and made eye contact with me.

Why all of a sudden? I tried to avoid his gaze. I continued to take sips from the soda.

No matter how much I drank, my throat felt dry. I started to make a “kya-” sound but swallowed it. Lim Dae-han tapped my knee with his index finger.

“Is the soda good?”

“Yeah, it’s just…sweet.”

“I want to kiss you.”

It was a bit sudden. At some point, Lim Dae-han stopped suggesting doing things outside. In high school, we held hands, kissed…we even had our first kiss outside.

Now that we had more private spaces, we could do things more comfortably when we were alone, but still…

Did he get drunk just from one beer?

I covered my knee that Lim Dae-han had tickled with my hand. Feeling embarrassed for various reasons, I lifted my head. The festive air suddenly felt distant.

Then, since it was just a short break…should we go somewhere else?

“Ki Young-hyun—-“

Not far away, hyung called out while wiggling his fingers. Did he not understand now was not a good time? We were sitting here together, did he really need to interrupt?

I glared as hard as I could at hyung, who was treating people like passing dogs by calling them over like that. Not that he’d care anyway.

I gathered my wits. It’s school, just school. Don’t think weird thoughts.

“Hyung is calling you.”

“…”

Lim Dae-han, who listened to our hyungs even if he didn’t listen to other hyungs or noonas, swallowed his patience and got up. I too, hiding my slight, very slight disappointment, stood up after him.

Lim Dae-han, seemingly not very eager to go, walked out more slowly than usual. While everyone else was moving vertically along the pub line, we crossed the path and sat at the hyungs’ table.

“We can’t eat all this. Realistically, how could two people eat all of this? You should have cut it down.”

As soon as we arrived, hyung carelessly tossed chopsticks in front of me and Lim Dae-han. He complained even when giving something. Ye-jun hyung added, “We haven’t even touched this stir-fried pork and rice balls. Young-han said you guys probably couldn’t eat while working, so we should give you what just came out.”

It wasn’t like that at all. He just didn’t want to eat it. I desperately wanted to talk back but held it in.

Lim Dae-han abruptly opened the chopsticks and swapped them with mine. Checking the atmosphere, hyung was just quietly watching. He pulled in his chin, allowing us to eat.

Honestly, I didn’t really want to eat. Maybe because I’d been smelling oil all day, my stomach was churning.

“Thank you for the meal.”

But Lim Dae-han must have been hungry, as he took a big bite of a rice ball. The regret was mine again. Only then did I tear into the pajeon with my chopsticks.

“Can we stop by the mart on the way home?”

“Can’t we go to Costco?”

“We don’t have a car, and I’m not sure if we’ll have time. I’m a bit tired too.”

“…Then which mart do you want to go to?”

“I was just thinking of going to the one in front of the house. Why? Do you want to play at the mart?”

“Who said I wanted to play?”

How prickly. Ye-jun hyung had just asked, but hyung snapped back immediately. The two of them seemed to be planning to wait until we finished eating, sitting quietly and chatting.

It was the kind of conversation you’d have in daily life. The two of them were just having a normal relationship. I had thought hyung would always be grumpy and Ye-jun hyung would always be soothing him, but it wasn’t exactly like that.

“There are a lot of young people here.”

“Someone might think we’re having a 60th birthday party. …Ah, stop staring at people passing by.”

“That student looks better-looking than Young-han.”

“What are you talking about? Don’t you have eyes? I’m better looking.”

Hyung was embarrassingly jealous. He acted more childishly than when he was with me. It was enough to make my face burn. It was even more embarrassing because Lim Dae-han was right next to us.

Ye-jun hyung stretched and looked around. Hyung raised his eyebrows sharply. In the end, Ye-jun hyung’s words were ignored.

“Seriously, stop it.”

Ki Young-han always acted however he wanted one way or another.

It made me wonder if we should have given them service at all. We should have just given them enough to fill their stomachs and sent them away. The uncomfortable meal continued like this. The number of customers increased to the point of having a waiting list.

It didn’t feel right to keep them any longer. Just then, Lim Dae-han finished his last bite. Only after the plates were clean did the hyungs stand up.

The two of them, who had been arguing about who would pay, ended their pointless argument with Ki Young-han’s tyranny. While hyung went to the counter to pay, Ye-jun hyung gathered their things.

“Young-hyun.”

“Yes?”

“Where’s the smoking area?”

“Ah, you have to go outside. There’s none in the pub area, but if you go out, there are quite a few smoking areas on campus.”

“…Look at him?”

Following Ye-jun hyung’s icy voice, I turned my head too.

“Oh no.”

The words came out involuntarily. Hyung, the one who went to pay, was getting someone’s number. From that classmate who had been asking how old hyung was earlier.

The senior who was supposed to be at the counter was gone, and my classmate had taken that spot.

The classmate was blushing and acting uncharacteristically shy. It seemed the tarot reader had lit a fire in my friend’s heart. When they asked about hyung’s age, I hoped it wouldn’t be like this, but I never thought it would actually happen.

The classmate was acting like they’d met their destined partner. As I expected, the tarot reading was completely wrong.

I gaped at hyung and then rolled my eyes toward Ye-jun hyung.

“I think he’s gone crazy.”

Ye-jun hyung muttered quietly. Ye-jun hyung had the most, most desolate expression I’d seen since I’ve known hyung. He wasn’t frowning, but his eyes were ice-cold.

It seemed a bit absurd, but then again, hyung was just quietly staring at the classmate holding the phone.

“It looks like he’s going to give his number.”

Finally, I went inside to sort out the situation. 

“Are you crazy? Our department life is already complicated enough, and now you’re getting numbers at the pub? And getting my hyung’s number at that.”

Is he really drunk? I did see him take a few sips of alcohol when his high school friends came earlier…Is he really drunk?

I hurriedly ran in and squeezed between hyung and my classmate.

“I-I told you my hyung is off-limits.”