Wooyeon’s face turned pale. He rolled his eyes dramatically, then muttered as if in disbelief. “Really?” Dohyun squinted his eyes in response to that question.
“You have a habit of saying that. You know?”
“…I know.”
“That’s a drinking habit.”
For some reason, his face was full of smiles. The sight of him smiling with laughter lines was so impressive that Wooyeon couldn’t bear to look at it. Wooyeon complained under his breath, covering his ears with his palms.
“You said nothing happened that day.”
“Me?”
Dohyun grinned, putting his hands in his pockets. It appeared he’d said something like that. Then he corrected Wooyeon’s words, tilting his head.
“I just said, ‘We didn’t sleep together.’”
“…”
Doubt filled Wooyeon’s face. He wanted to ask what had happened, but he couldn’t muster the courage. A sudden fear arose as if he were opening Pandora’s box.
“W-Why aren’t Garam and Seongyu back?”
Eventually, Wooyeon stepped aside, bringing up an unrelated topic.
It was a sudden remark, but not entirely unrelated. Despite the considerable time that had passed, Garam and Seongyu hadn’t returned. Even if it took about ten minutes, that time had already passed.
“Garam and Seongyu?”
Dohyun pretended not to notice the awkwardness and casually inquired. Then he naturally gestured towards the door.
“They’re already here.”
The faulty door slid open. A sense of someone approaching could be felt through the gap as if it were an automatic door. Wooyeon widened his eyes in astonishment and froze in place.
“…”
“…”
The two familiar faces exchanged awkward glances. Just when he thought they were late, they showed up with drinks in both hands.
As Wooyeon looked bewildered, Garam awkwardly lifted the drink carrier.
“We bought drinks…”
The ice-filled drinks had condensation on the surfaces. The ice inside looked half-melted. Behind Garam, Seongyu nodded with determination.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Qf pera uba tfgf.”
Ktbeut la kjr j cjaegji rajafwfca, cb bcf yfilfnfv la.
Qbbsfbc uijcmfv jiafgcjafis yfakffc Xjgjw jcv Vfbcuse klat yfklivfgwfca. Lf kjcafv ab jrx ktfc atfs tjv jgglnfv, yea bcmf jujlc, la kjrc’a fjrs ab jrx.
Ktf obeg bo atfw mbcnfgrfv jr lo atfs kfgf qgbmfrrlcu ktja tjv pera tjqqfcfv lc atf miey gbbw. Vfbcuse kjr atf bcis bcf ktb rfca j ibbx jrxlcu obg jc fzqijcjalbc, yea Qbbsfbc qgfafcvfv cba ab cbalmf. Pa kjr yfmjerf atf gfijalbcrtlq yfakffc tlw jcv Gbtsec tjv yfmbwf rb ragjcuf atja la kjr tjgv ab ulnf j mifjg jcrkfg.
Were they dating? Or not? Such questions kept coming up and disappearing. Wooyeon had heard the word ‘like,’ and he liked Dohyun, but he hadn’t responded to his confession. Moreover, there wasn’t any talk of becoming a couple either way.
Wooyeon pursed his lips as if admitting defeat. It was clearly a moment when he should have confessed his feelings, but the undefined nature of their relationship bothered him. As someone who had never been in a relationship before, all of this ambiguity felt unfamiliar and unsettling to Wooyeon.
“Are you listening?”
Wooyeon, who had been lost in thought for a while, suddenly came to his senses and blinked. The tteokbokki he was holding with chopsticks (Garam ordered it again today) fell into the paper cup with a thud. Sensing the three pairs of eyes on him, Wooyeon lightly shook his head.
“Ah.… Sorry. I didn’t hear what you said.”
“It’s okay. We were just talking about renting equipment for the festival.”
Dohyun reopened the topic without reproaching him. The problem was that Wooyeon had missed much more of the conversation than he thought.
“Are we having a festival?”
Startled by Wooyeon’s question, Garam clicked her tongue. Casting an annoyed look at Dohyun, she muttered as if she wanted to say something.
“You’ve completely lost your mind.”
“…We have two festivals at our school.”
Ignoring Garam’s comment, Dohyun continued. Although everyone had heard it clearly, they likewise all kept their mouths shut.
“In spring, there’s a cherry blossom festival, and in autumn, there’s a fall foliage festival. Originally, one of them was supposed to have a pub, but this time, they decided to focus more on healthy activities since they’re going to sell alcohol on a large scale.”
“It’s a shame we can’t have a pub. Our club’s pub used to be the best.”
“Because you weren’t in our club back then.”
Wooyeon recalled how the school had been bustling with energy since the morning. It seemed different from usual, probably because there was a festival. Come to think of it, the teaching assistant who’d visited the club room a few days ago mentioned that “pubs are prohibited.”
“Anyway, we were thinking of something different, like shaved ice or skewered rice cakes, since other clubs will probably do those too.”
Even though shaved ice and skewered rice cakes seemed like safe options, Wooyeon nodded silently, feigning agreement. With his knowledge of “university festivals” being close to zero, he had no choice but to follow what Dohyun said.
Seeing Wooyeon like that, Dohyun gave a swoon-worthy smile
“Do you like cotton candy?”
***
Cotton candy. Wooyeon searched for it on his phone, sitting at the back of the classroom. Among various ad sites, definitions of cotton candy and related songs appeared. Among them, Wooyeon chose the character-shaped cotton candy that could be sold at an amusement park.
“I looked it up, and renting a machine isn’t too expensive. All you need are sugar and wooden sticks, so let’s rent a machine and sell cotton candy.”
Garam expressed disappointment, saying it wasn’t alcohol, but Seongyu and Wooyeon’s eyes sparkled. Seongyu was fascinated by experiencing a festival for the first time, and Wooyeon was intrigued by trying cotton candy for the first time. Fluffy cotton candy, like clouds, was a food he had never even touched, let alone tasted.
“It sounds fun, right?”
Dohyun asked as if he had seen through Wooyeon’s thoughts. Although he had initially asked if Wooyeon liked cotton candy, he would have realized that Wooyeon hadn’t tried it yet. He probably redirected the question, conscious of Seongyu and Garam’s gazes. Naturally, Wooyeon nodded eagerly with a flushed face.
“I’m taking attendance.”
Putting his phone away, Wooyeon glanced around the classroom. The professor was already calling out names one by one at the lectern. The name ‘Kang Junseong’ came up first, but no one responded.
“Junseong didn’t show up again this week.”
“Well, if I were him, I wouldn’t show up either. It’s embarrassing.”
“The other kid showed up just fine though?”
“He got good grades, though.”
The murmurs were clearly audible. Wooyeon realized that Junseong hadn’t shown up last week either and that the ‘other guy’ they were talking about referred to him. It seemed that what had happened during the group project had spread widely.
“Seon Wooyeon.”
“Here.”
Well, it didn’t matter much. Whether Junseong gave up on this class, or whatever rumors were spreading about him. Wooyeon didn’t want to care, and he didn’t care. They had seen enough of each other’s unpleasant sides, so now it was beneficial to each other to act like strangers.
So, as soon as the lecture began, Wooyeon erased all thoughts about Junseong. Dohyun’s confession, making cotton candy during the festival, and missing one week’s worth of lecture content. With those three things alone, his mind was already occupied enough.
“That’s all for today.”
The professor ended the lecture 30 minutes early again today. Wooyeon sent a message to Seongyu saying it was over and began packing up. Before coming to class, he had heard from Dohyun, ‘Let’s start studying again today.’ Even though the festival was just around the corner after the exams, his diligent nature couldn’t be ignored.
‘I have to leave quickly to see seonsaeng-nim.’
There were still heaps of conversations he hadn’t had yet. Did he really like him? If so, how would their relationship change?
If possible, he wanted to hear him confess his ‘like’ for him again. Since he said he would tell him until he believed it, it wouldn’t hurt to ask for it again a couple more times. After all, there was a period when he liked him, so that much should be fine.
“Hey.”
Wooyeon quickened his pace as he checked the message from Seongyu. It said they would wait for him in the club room to talk more about the festival and then move to the study cafe. He was about to reply that he would be there quickly because the other seniors were there, but someone called out loudly for Wooyeon.
“Hey, Seon Wooyeon!”
A sense of foreboding crept in. There was only one person Wooyeon knew of who would call him “Seon Wooyeon” and speak in such an irritated tone.
Should he just ignore it? He thought about it, but the other person wasn’t going to let Wooyeon go easily.
“Ah, fuck. When someone calls, at least…!”
With a swift motion, his arm was grabbed. Without hesitation, Wooyeon grabbed the hand that was grabbing him and twisted it back. The person let go of Wooyeon too easily and backed away with a bewildered expression.
“Hey, did you learn martial arts or something? What’s with the strength…”
As expected, the person was Kang Junseong. The Kang Junseong who didn’t attend lectures and was supposed to be on unfamiliar terms with Wooyeon. He looked like he had just come from another lecture, with his hat pushed down and a bag slung over his shoulder.
“Ah…okay, forget it. Seon Wooyeon, I need to talk to you.”
“I have nothing to say.”
Wooyeon responded with that and walked away, leaving Junseong behind. The great feeling he’d had gradually became overshadowed by annoyance. Junseong, unaware of such feelings, hurriedly followed behind Wooyeon.
“Hey, I’ve got something to say, you know? Is it okay to just brush me off like this?”
“…”
“Hey, hey, hey!”
Junseong, raising his voice more and more, approached Wooyeon and blocked his path. Should he just punch him? With that thought in mind, Junseong unexpectedly blurted something out.
“Sorry!”
Thunk, the movement stopped. The sharp pheromones that had been emanating suddenly lost their venom. Junseong took off his hat, adjusted it, and sighed as if he were going crazy.
“Ha, fuck…. I’m sorry.”
It started with curses, but it ended with an apology. The guy awkwardly scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed face and glanced at Wooyeon. Wooyeon was staring blankly into space.
“I’m not here to pick a fight. I came to apologize.”
“…”
“That day… I thought a lot after that. It seems like I made a mistake when I was young. I’m sorry.”
It was an utterly plain statement. The hesitation, the lowered eyes, even the occasional sighs, made him look truly apologetic.
Wooyeon couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh, his expression turning cold.
“You crazy bastard.”
It’s good that that ka ng guy is apologizing but he is making an excuse for his past actions and that is not right 🙂