PSY CH 52

Dohyun leaned his arm casually over the back of the chair next to him and looked at Jooyoung.

“Didn’t you say you were sick?”

Jooyoung, who had been staring out the window to avoid his gaze, finally met his eyes. His cheeks were flushed—maybe from the alcohol—giving him a healthier color than usual. He didn’t look sick at all.

“I was, but I’m fine now.”

“Hah…”

Dohyun let out a short, incredulous laugh at the brazen answer. He’d suspected it was a lie, but seeing it for himself made it all the more infuriating. He turned his head sharply and ran a hand through his hair, annoyed.

“Lying’s just second nature to you now, huh?”

“…”

“If you didn’t want to come, you could’ve just said so. Why lie? You really know how to piss someone off.”

Jooyoung didn’t even bother replying anymore.

“Or is there something going on between you and Hangyeol?”

But at those words, he couldn’t stay silent. His response came sharp and cold.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“What’s so ridiculous about it?”

“Do you think everyone’s like you—”

Just then, the sliding door opened and Hangyeol came in. Jooyoung immediately shut his mouth and shot a glare at Dohyun.

Hangyeol placed a platter of sashimi in the center of the table. The thickly sliced sea bass looked undeniably fresh. Being in season, the pearly flesh glistened under the light.

“Hyung, do you like abalone? Should I bring you some?”

Jooyoung shook his head to say he was fine. There wasn’t even room on the table for another dish anyway.

Hangyeol seemed like he wanted to sit for a bit, but the hall was swamped, and people kept calling for him from outside.

“Hwangdo, take care of Jooyoung-i hyung, okay?”

He gave Dohyun a pat on the shoulder as he passed.

“Use this chance to clear up whatever bad blood you two have!”

With that cheerful remark, Hangyeol shut the door behind him with a bang.

To him, who knew nothing, it must have looked like Dohyun and Jooyoung were still holding on to some old childhood grudge.

As soon as Hangyeol left, Dohyun picked up the soju bottle and filled his glass to the brim. The gurgling sound of pouring alcohol briefly filled the silence.

“Haengnim-ah!”

Overlaid in Jooyoung’s mind was the image of a child laughing as he dug through the dirt in the playground. He remembered the way Dohyun would pant and tear up whenever he ate something spicy, and how he’d pour soda into the cap for a playful toast. None of that was left in the person sitting across from him now. It hit him just how much time had passed.

“Why are you here?”

“…”

“You don’t even eat sashimi.”

Even though he grew up near the coast, Dohyun couldn’t eat raw fish. He just didn’t like seafood in general. Back when the adults would gather at sashimi places to drink and play cards, Jooyoung would score a few pieces of sashimi, but Dohyun would just nibble on boiled corn the owner gave him.

Dohyun set the bottle down and slumped back into his chair. He tilted his head slightly as he stared at Jooyoung. The frown etched between his brows had deepened.

“How do you know I don’t eat it?”

“You couldn’t back then. Can you now?”

A strange expression crossed Dohyun’s face, like he wanted to say something, or maybe he was caught off guard by an unexpected memory. After a moment of silence, he turned his head toward the window.

“You think this place only serves sashimi or something.”

He slowly took another sip. His dark eyes shimmered like the sea outside the window.

After that, they drank in silence, each tending to their own glass. By the time there were two bottles of beer and two bottles of soju piled on the table, Hangyeol returned.

“I’m really done now!”

He plopped into his seat and immediately turned to Jooyoung. “I’m so, so sorry.” Jooyoung, his face now a bit red, just shook his head.

“Did you guys drink a lot?”

Hangyeol glanced around the table as he asked. Jooyoung didn’t answer—he just picked up a corn kernel and popped it into his mouth.

“Hyung, don’t just eat that. Eat the sashimi. Come on.”

Hangyeol pushed the large platter toward Jooyoung. 

“What were you two talking about?”

Looking between the two of them, Hangyeol’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. But then he noticed something was off. Jooyoung wasn’t acting like himself. The way he blinked, the way he lifted his glass, even the way he used his chopsticks—all of it was slow and sluggish.

And when Hangyeol waved his hand in front of Jooyoung’s face, the reaction came noticeably late.

“Hyung, are you drunk?”

Looking at the bottles on the table, he had assumed Dohyun drank most of it. After all, Dohyun could hold his liquor and rarely got drunk. Jooyoung only seemed a little flushed, so he didn’t think he was that far gone.

“Hyung, hyung.”

“…Yeah.”

Hangyeol reached over the table and gently shook Jooyoung’s shoulder. Jooyoung shut his eyes tight for a moment, then opened them with a heavy sigh.

“Ah… I need to go to the restroom.”

“Okay, sure. Go out and turn left. Want me to take you?”

“No.”

Jooyoung shook his head and left the room alone. Hangyeol kept staring at the door for a while, then turned back to Dohyun. “Did he drink a lot?”

Dohyun gestured toward the beer with his chin.

“Wait, he got this drunk just from beer?”

Hangyeol brought the beer bottle over, inspecting it as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Is the alcohol content high or something?”

But the label on the bottle read 4.5%. To them, who always downed soju by the crate whenever they gathered, that was an extremely low percentage.

“Hangyeol, you got a lighter?”

“A lighter? Oh, yeah, here.”

Hangyeol rummaged through his pocket, found a lighter, and handed it to Dohyun. Then, as Dohyun stood up and headed out of the room, Hangyeol said, “Hwangdo, bring me a bottle of soju when you return, okay?”

Though the group had thinned out, there were still a few tables left here and there. Everyone was enjoying their drinks with flushed, tipsy faces, while the waitstaff busily moved between them.

Dohyun didn’t head straight to the entrance but veered left. Above the corridor, a sign reading ‘Restroom’ dangled and swayed.

***

Washing his face with cold water cold enough to raise goosebumps, the alcohol buzz faded a little. Jooyoung leaned on the sink with his hands and exhaled heavily. He’d drunk without thinking and had far exceeded his limit. He wasn’t someone who enjoyed drinking, nor was he good at it.

“Ah…”

He hung his head low and sighed deeply. As he roughly wiped his face with his wet hands, his vision blurred and dizziness worsened. As he staggered, someone firmly caught him. Surprised by the unfamiliar touch, Jooyoung instinctively twisted his body.

“You’re going to fall.”

But the voice was familiar. Jooyoung looked up at the man supporting his back. Dohyun was turning off the faucet with his other hand, water still gushing out. Behind him, the restroom door was slowly closing. So distracted, Jooyoung hadn’t even noticed someone entering as the door opened.

Only the sound of water dripping quietly echoed in the silence.

“…”

Jooyoung blinked slowly. The dizziness remained, but it wasn’t bad enough to keep him from standing straight. He pushed Dohyun’s arm hard and slipped out of his hold. Dohyun didn’t stop him, just stared at Jooyoung silently while holding onto the sink with one hand.

The restroom was narrow, so Jooyoung had to pass by Dohyun to leave. But the moment Jooyoung turned, Dohyun moved after him. Standing between the sink and the toilet stall, Dohyun blocked his way. Jooyoung finally realized that Dohyun hadn’t come to the restroom to use it.

“Did you follow me?”

“Yes.”

“…Why?”

“Um…”

Dohyun’s index finger tapped the sink rhythmically.

“To do something else?”

Dohyun, who had been leaning awkwardly, straightened up and stepped closer to Jooyoung. Instinctively, Jooyoung stepped back. But only a few steps before his back hit the wall and he had to stop.

Dohyun put his hands in his pockets and looked down at Jooyoung at a slight angle. Then with his thumb, he wiped Jooyoung’s eyebrows. His wet face was cold, unlike someone who’d been drinking.

After finishing wiping Jooyoung’s wet cheeks, he grabbed the back of his neck.

“Don’t.”

Jooyoung quickly turned his head to avoid it. Dohyun, who had bent slightly as if to kiss him, paused for a moment but then didn’t care and grabbed Jooyoung’s face, forcing it around with strength.

“No.”

Jooyoung raised his hand to block Dohyun’s mouth.

“I already ate something.”

“I don’t care.”

Unlike Dohyun, who drank only alcohol without touching the food, Jooyoung had eaten a bit of this and that. Still, Dohyun didn’t care. It didn’t bother him in the slightest.

“I care.”

“…”

“You smell like alcohol.”

The fingers that had been covering Dohyun’s lips slowly lowered.

“And we’re outside.”

Jooyoung glanced anxiously behind Dohyun. It wasn’t unlikely for the door to open any moment now. Only then did Dohyun release the grip on the back of his neck and straighten up.

“How long do you plan to stay here?”

“…Why?”

“Because you should leave.”

“…”

“You’re drunk.”

Whether he was drunk or not was Jooyoung’s problem. It wasn’t Dohyun’s concern.

“What does that have to do with you? If you want to leave, you should go.”

Jooyoung staggered but stubbornly ignored Dohyun and passed by him. Though he thought Dohyun was being stubborn, Jooyoung’s emotions weren’t as well controlled as usual due to the alcohol.

“I’ll take you home, so let’s just go home.”

Dohyun grabbed Jooyoung’s wrist. Jooyoung paused for a moment.

“…You’ll take me home?”

He looked back at Dohyun with a strange expression. Jooyoung wasn’t passed out or anything, and Dohyun had been drinking too, so he couldn’t drive. At best, he could only put him in a taxi and send him off.

But he insisted on taking him home?

Why?