TWYW C16

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Gyeoul roughly swept his hair back, flung open the classroom door, and hurried down the stairs and out of the building.

Fuck, did they gather all the malicious commenters in one place?

Today was the day for the poetry critique session. When Gyeoul’s turn came, a barrage of comments that sounded like curses poured down on him. When one student eventually asked if this could even be called a poem, Gyeoul had to suppress the urge to grab him by the collar. What’s more, seeing how the tone softened when it came to students who were all friends with each other, excluding Gyeoul, who never participated in department gatherings, made a curse rise to the back of his throat. However, he figured there would be countless more critique sessions until graduation, so it was probably better to get used to these comments, which might as well be insults, and forcibly suppressed his anger.

Gyeoul stood at the bus stop with a curse lingering on his lips. While waiting for the bus to go to his part-time job, he felt a continuous vibration, as if a call was coming in, and took the phone out of his pocket. For some reason, dozens of messages had arrived on his phone’s screen.

When Gyeoul checked his phone, he saw that he had been invited to a group chat, and several people were talking. He confirmed that the name of the person leading the conversation was Seungwon and recalled joining the horror movie club with Yuhyeon the other day. It seemed Seungwon had invited him to the group chat using the phone number he had written on the sign-up form that day.

Freshman welcome party this Saturday

Jeong Yuhyeon and Lee Gyeoul are required to attend

It seemed what Seungwon had said in the club room last time wasn’t just empty words, as a notice to gather at a bar near the university for a freshman welcome party caught his eye. Gyeoul scrolled through the messages, trying to find Yuhyeon’s response, but he hadn’t said anything yet, as if he hadn’t seen the messages. Gyeoul decided to reply after checking Yuhyeon’s response first, put his phone back in his pocket, and got up from his seat as the bus to the café arrived.

The café, which he arrived at just as rush hour began, was already bustling with many customers. Gyeoul quickly put on his apron and started helping the owner take orders. With a relentless stream of customers until closing time today, Gyeoul dragged his more tired-than-usual body onto the bus home.

The journey home always brought a sense of anxiety to a corner of Gyeoul’s heart. It wasn’t easy living in constant fear of running into his foster parents every day. Even when he went into his own room, the doorknob, broken since Gyeoul was a child, remained unfixed, and thanks to his foster parents who would burst in without a word, there was no space in the house where he could rest comfortably. But since Gyeoul had nowhere else to go but home, he had no choice but to force his heavy feet forward and return.

“Gyeoul, you’re just getting in?”

His mother, whom he ran into as soon as he took off his shoes at the entrance, approached him.

“The bruise on your face is gone.”

His mother, who had suddenly come close, checked the spot where he had been hit by his father last time. At his mother’s words, Gyeoul rubbed the spot where the bruise had been, feeling as if the completely healed area was hurting again.

“Did anyone at school ask about it?”

“No. No one.”

Yuhyeon’s face briefly flashed through his mind.

“That’s a relief. You must be tired, go in and rest.”

Gyeoul quickly went up the stairs and into his room. Letting out a sigh, Gyeoul roughly wiped his face. His mother’s words, “that’s a relief,” echoed in his head.

A relief? A relief that no one found out?

He was on the verge of letting out a hollow laugh. Gyeoul, standing in the middle of the room with a blank expression, felt a vibration in his pocket and took out his phone. The group chat notification, which he hadn’t had a chance to check because he was busy with work, had accumulated over a hundred messages. What on earth did they have so much to talk about? Gyeoul scrolled down and checked the messages, seeing that Yuhyeon had replied saying he would attend the welcome party this week. And then, a series of messages from Seungwon urging Gyeoul for an answer arrived.

I have my part-time job, so I’ll be a little late.

A slight smile appeared on Gyeoul’s lips as he sent the late reply. Although he had been in a foul mood all day, the thought of seeing Yuhyeon on the weekend made a smile keep trying to escape. Gyeoul, seeing his own flushed face in the bathroom mirror as he went in to wash up, quickly hardened his expression. But contrary to his will, his lips kept twitching, and Gyeoul had quite a hard time falling asleep.

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“Sir, I’m heading out now.”

Gyeoul, who had started his part-time job in the morning and worked until evening, finally opened the café door and stepped out. Today was the day of the club meeting, so Gyeoul got on the bus and, unlike usual, headed not home but to a bar near the school. After getting off at the stop, Gyeoul, who didn’t really know any places besides the convenience store, looked around for a bit before spotting the name of the bar Seungwon had mentioned and went inside. Since it was the weekend, the bar was already packed with people. Gyeoul told an employee that he was with a group and, upon entering, his eyes landed on Yuhyeon. Gyeoul immediately pulled out the empty chair next to Yuhyeon and sat down.

“What, you just sit down silently without a greeting? I thought you were here the whole time.”

Seungwon, who was sitting across from Yuhyeon, spoke to Gyeoul as soon as he saw him. Gyeoul, feeling awkward around the unfamiliar faces other than Yuhyeon and Seungwon, didn’t know where to look and just fidgeted with the water cup in front of him.

“Did you two come together? He came in right after Jeong Yuhyeon.”

It seemed Yuhyeon had also just arrived. Gyeoul glanced sideways at him sitting next to him.

“Lee Gyeoul, you should say hello.”

Yuhyeon said, gesturing with his eyes toward the other people.

“……Hello.”

Gyeoul bowed his head slightly and greeted them in a small voice that was barely audible unless one strained to listen.

“Why do you only listen to Jeong Yuhyeon?”

Seungwon gave Gyeoul a chiding remark before starting to introduce the club members they were meeting for the first time today. The horror movie club, with a total of six members including Gyeoul, seemed to be already close with one another.

“Hey, since the new member is here, let’s all have a toast.”

A soju glass and a beer glass were placed in front of Gyeoul.

“Soju? Beer? Or a soju bomb? What do you want to drink?”

Gyeoul hesitated, unable to answer Seungwon’s question. In fact, this was his first time ever drinking alcohol. Seeing his father, who always became more violent than usual whenever he drank, Gyeoul had a strange aversion to alcohol.

“Don’t tell me you can’t drink?”

“I don’t really know……”

Since Gyeoul had truly never had a drink before, he was hesitant about how to answer Seungwon’s question.

“Looks like you’ve never drunk until you got wasted before.”

Not even imagining that it was his first time drinking, Seungwon made an assumption, and Gyeoul just mumbled a vague reply. Seungwon said they should start with soju first and filled the small glass to the brim.

“The first shot is always a bottoms-up.”

At Seungwon’s words, everyone raised their glasses for a toast, and Gyeoul also lifted his glass and threw the soju into his mouth.

What on earth is the appeal of drinking this?

The soju in his mouth had a bitter taste, and the feeling of it going down his esophagus was so distinct that Gyeoul’s face contorted into a deep frown. In front of him, Yuhyeon handed him a glass of water. Gyeoul took the glass and gulped it down in one go, trying to wash away the bitter taste of the soju.

“Don’t force yourself to drink.”

Yuhyeon, sitting next to him, whispered quietly. Gyeoul wiped the water from his lips and gave a small nod. Fortunately, the atmosphere wasn’t one to force drinks, so after that first shot, Gyeoul quenched his thirst by drinking the water in front of him.

“Try this.”

Yuhyeon placed something that looked like meat covered in a red sauce onto Gyeoul’s plate. Gyeoul picked it up with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth. The taste of the sauce at first wasn’t bad, but the chewy texture was off-putting, and Gyeoul’s brow furrowed more and more.

Then, Yuhyeon picked up a thick piece of rolled omelet with cheese inside and placed it on Gyeoul’s plate. Seeing Gyeoul eat the rolled omelet with relish, he let out a small laugh.

“You have the palate of a kid.”

“I’m not a kid.”

“Then be an adult, if you want.”

Yuhyeon, who had playfully retorted to Gyeoul’s words, turned his attention away when another club member started talking to him. Occasionally, someone would ask Gyeoul a question, but he would just give one-word answers, unable to easily mingle with the others. However, Yuhyeon, the opposite of him, was a person who always drew people’s attention. Moreover, since it was a bar in front of the school, most of the people there were students from the same university. Even though they weren’t sitting in a particularly conspicuous spot, countless people would come up to Yuhyeon and greet him, as if they knew him somehow. Gyeoul could only sit next to Yuhyeon, chewing on his lips, full of dissatisfaction.

Gyeoul watched the people happily sharing drinks amidst the noise. In truth, his gaze kept drifting to Yuhyeon sitting next to him, but since he couldn’t just stare intently at him alone, Gyeoul had to force his eyes away. He wondered if he had impulsively joined the club when he couldn’t even mingle well with people, but then he’d hear Yuhyeon’s pleasant laughter from the seat beside him and feel caught in a dual emotion, thinking it was a good thing he joined after all.

With his mind growing increasingly complicated, Gyeoul quietly got up from his seat. He stepped out of the bar and found a secluded spot, then took out the pack of cigarettes he had in his pocket. Just as Gyeoul put a cigarette to his lips and was about to light it, a familiar silhouette appeared before his eyes.

“You smoke cigarettes, so why haven’t you tried alcohol?”

“That’s my business.”

As expected, Yuhyeon had noticed that it was Gyeoul’s first time drinking alcohol today.

How is he so perceptive?

Feeling unnecessarily embarrassed, Gyeoul glared at Yuhyeon.

“What are you unhappy about now?”

Yuhyeon asked, looking at Gyeoul’s pouting lips.

“Are you going into politics, sunbae?”

“What?”

As if he didn’t understand what Gyeoul was saying, Yuhyeon tilted his head slightly and met his eyes.

“Why the hell is every single person who comes into the bar greeting you?”

“Lee Gyeoul, not using pretty words again.”

Yuhyeon spoke as if scolding Gyeoul for cursing out of irritation. At that, Gyeoul cautiously glanced at him, then avoided his steady gaze.

“Why is every single person who comes into the bar greeting you, what, what’s the big deal……”

When Gyeoul corrected what he had blurted out, Yuhyeon lightly pinched his cheek and shook it.

“You said you weren’t a kid.”

“Ow, that hurts.”

As Gyeoul rubbed his pinched cheek and glared at Yuhyeon, he let out a smirk.

“Why, were you jealous?”

“What kind of dog-, no, what kind of ridiculous thing to say…… No, I wasn’t. W-why would I be jealous of you, sunbae.”

“I-I know, right. Why would you be jealous?”

Gyeoul narrowed his eyes and glared at Yuhyeon, who was imitating his flustered stuttering, and brought the unlit cigarette back to his lips. However, before he could even light it, it was snatched away by Yuhyeon’s hand.

“Confiscated.”

“Hey, why?”

“You’re not fully healed yet.”

“……I’m fine now.”

“Should I check?”

Yuhyeon moved closer, looking as if he were really about to lift Gyeoul’s shirt.

“F-fine, I won’t smoke……”

“Are you applying the medicine properly?”

“……Yes.”

“Good boy.”

At his sudden, cringey words, Gyeoul needlessly rubbed the back of his neck.

“Let’s go back in.”

Yuhyeon turned and started walking first, and Gyeoul followed behind him. When they re-entered the bar, it was clear how many drinks had been exchanged while he and Yuhyeon were briefly outside, as everyone looked quite drunk. And then, one by one, the drunk members, including Seungwon, started heading home. Yuhyeon waited until the very end, making sure the members got into taxis to go home, before turning his head to Gyeoul.

“Let’s go.”

“I can just take the bus.”

“I’m sleeping at my family’s house today. It’s on the way to your place anyway.”

As Yuhyeon said, Gyeoul’s house was located close to his family’s main house. Yuhyeon quickly hailed a taxi, opened the passenger-side door, and waited for Gyeoul to get in. After Gyeoul got into the taxi first, Yuhyeon followed and sat down next to him in the back seat. He gave the driver Gyeoul’s address, and the taxi started moving right away.

Gyeoul had been in a car driven by him a few times, but for some reason, sitting next to him in the back seat felt incredibly awkward. Gyeoul turned his gaze out the window and shifted his hips a little farther away from Yuhyeon. He rested his arm on the window frame and was watching the twinkling lights in the dark outside when his gaze was naturally stolen by Yuhyeon’s side profile reflected in the glass.

“Lee Gyeoul.”

“Yes?”

“What are you staring at?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“What else? The thing you were looking at.”

“I wasn’t looking at you, sunbae.”

“Who said you were?”

Gyeoul glanced at Yuhyeon’s face, which had a playful smile on it, with a look of displeasure. In the meantime, the taxi arrived in front of his house and came to a stop. Gyeoul took out his wallet to pay the fare. Just then, Yuhyeon’s body leaned forward and opened the car door on Gyeoul’s side.

“You can put your wallet away. Just get out.”

Startled by Yuhyeon’s sudden movement before he could even fully take out his wallet, Gyeoul got out of the taxi as if being pushed. And so, Gyeoul had to stand there with a reddened face, blankly watching the back of the departing taxi.