86.
The slow-moving exam period has come to an end.
Eun Hae-seong, who was the last to leave the classroom, walked over to Kim Dae-seok and me, who were waiting in the hallway, and gestured to drink soju.
“Go?”
“Go!”
“I have a prior appointment.”
When I clearly declined the offer to go out for drinks, Eun Hae-seong and Kim Dae-seok, who had been giggling, immediately hardened their faces and glared at me as if I was a traitor.
“Don’t be a damn thing.”
“I meant it really.”
I’m sorry for breaking the mood, but it was true that I had made plans for dinner with Chae Yoo-jeong, so I couldn’t help it.
He was desperately waiting for the day when my exams would end, whining about how much he wanted to see me twelve times a day, but I had no other choice.
“Go with the other kids.”
“For the first time in a while, the three of us were supposed to drink a lot!”
As he was looking at Eun Hae-seong in shock, wondering what kind of guy was going to a club and having fun with women on an odd day, Kim Dae-seok, who had been listening to the conversation in the middle, opened his mouth with a twinkle in his eye.
“Hey, Yoo Ji-han. Don’t do that, bring him too. Let’s have a drink together.”
“What?”
“You’re meeting Chae Yoo-jeong anyway. Just call him over and the four of us can drink.”
He’s talking nonsense again.
“If you actually think about it, Eun Hae-seong is not completely new to him. He saw his face at the front door the other day.”
Is it a first meeting if they just glanced at each other’s faces without even talking to each other?
“Huh, good. I agree.”
Eun Hae-seong looked pleased and raised his thumb. That’s bullshit like pro-choice.
“How did you know that I was meeting Chae Yoo-jeong? Are you sure you haven’t contacted Chae Yoo-jeong again?”
“No? These days, Chae Yoo-jeong is the only person you message with whenever you have time off.”
“That’s.......”
“I heard you ate with Chae Yoo-jeong the last time you left us for dinner.”
“……”
“Looking at your expression, it looks like you’re meeting Chae Yoo-jeong. At least try asking him. Who knows if he will agree?”
Why is that bastard so quick to notice such useless things? He tried to pretend that nothing had happened.
“Do you think he wouldn’t go because he’s shy?”
“So, at least ask.”
Kim Dae-seok and Eun Hae-seong stood side by side and urged me to ask questions quickly.
Unable to find another excuse, I eventually took out my cell phone and sent Chae Yoo-jeong a message.
[Yoo Ji-han: I finished my exams]
[Chae Yoo-jeong: Wow!!>▽<]
[Chae Yoo-jeong: You worked hard!!]
[Chae Yoo-jeong: (emoticon)]
[Chae Yoo-jeong: We’re meeting today, right?]
[Chae Yoo-jeong: Where should we go?]
Then, less than 5 seconds later, a reply came rushing in. It was like this every time I exchanged messages with Chae Yoo-jeong, so I wasn’t surprised anymore.
Still, it would be okay if the reply was a bit slow for today. Clicking my tongue, I directly asked to make Chae Yoo-jeong feel the pressure.
[Yoo Ji-han: I was going to do that]
[Yoo Ji-han: But the kids were asking me to drink]
[Yoo Ji-han: Made a fuss to bring you too]
How is it? This sudden insistence is really bad, right?
While I was at it, I also laid out excuses for him in advance so that Chae Yoo-jeong could easily refuse.
[Yoo Ji-han: One is Kim Dae-seok, but there’s another one]
[Yoo Ji-han: You saw him in passing last time, didn’t you?]
[Yoo Ji-han: You can refuse]
[Yoo Ji-han: These guys are just throwing bullshit around]
[Yoo Ji-han: Ah ㅋㅋ just thinking about it is funny, don’t you agree?]
[Yoo Ji-han: They were insisting for me to tell you to come and join for drinks? It’s like selling it at a courtesy market, yeah.]
[Yoo Ji-han: Refuse?]
Good. This should be enough.
I waited for a decent reply saying, ‘Gasp! That’s right! I don’t want to go because it’s awkward!’. This time, Chae Yoo-jeong read my message right away and he responded right away.
[Chae Yoo-jeong: I’ll go!]
“…….?”
Did I see it wrong? I rubbed my eyes once and looked at the messenger window on my phone again.
You’re coming? Did this bastard say he would come?
[Yoo Ji-han: ㅋㅋ?]
[Yoo Ji-han: What?]
[Chae Yoo-jeong: Hyung, should I go in front of your school?]
[Chae Yoo-jeong: If I’m drinking, I can’t bring my car, right?]
[Chae Yoo-jeong: Anyway, I can just take a taxi and I’ll be there soon!]
[Chae Yoo-jeong: (emoticon)]
The black cat grinned and gave his thumbs up. Even when I was fine reading the test paper, a strong headache came to my otherwise normal head.
***
“Hey, let me try drinking with that famous Gamgack.”
Kim Dae-seok filled Chae Yoo-jeong’s glass with soju while making an excessive joke.
Chae Yoo-jeong managed to ignore that face without showing any sign of discomfort, which made even me, who had seen it since high school, crumple my eyebrows because I didn’t want to see it.
“We’re not old guys, so drink comfortably. Eat a lot of meat.”
“Stop it.”
I let out a quiet sigh, cutting off Kim Dae-seok, who was excitedly spilling out his words. I didn’t want to bring him because I thought it would be like this.
“Don’t take everything given to you, but drink in moderation. Let’s eat some snacks.”
I was worried that people might try to force him to drink because he’s among people he didn’t know well, so I said something and Chae Yoo-jeong smiled brightly and nodded.
What did I do so well for you to smile so beautifully? It’s absurd.
“How much do you drink?”
“I drink as much as everyone else.”
“Still, break it and drink it.”
Would you drink as much as everyone else? It was fortunate. The combination alone is stressful, but I will be twice as tired if Chae Yoo-jeong gets drunk.
As expected, I need to feed him properly and send him home quickly. I quickly placed several pieces of cooked meat and side dishes on Chae Yoo-jeong’s plate.
“What, Yoo Ji-han, are you even Yoo-jeong’s mother? You’re very sincere.”
Kim Dae-seok, who was filling his glass with soju, saw my actions and grumbled.
Eun Hae-sung, who was sitting across from me and quietly watching Chae Yoo-jeong and me, opened his mouth.
“It’s more like how your girlfriend treats you than your mother, isn’t it?”
“He doesn’t even take that much care of his girlfriend. There’s a reason Yoo Ji-han has that face.”
Chae Yoo-jeong’s amazed round eyes were fixed on me as they spoke naturally about how I treat my exes.
“Why are you talking about my ex-girlfriend in this situation?”
“I remember seeing him taking care of others! The girl you dated before you went to the military in college and made her cry.”
“Hmm. I cold-heartedly slapped questions to the kid who said she was waiting for me to come back from the military, by asking her what she was waiting for, and ended up making her cry.”
“Amazing, Yoo Ji-han~ What will you do even if you work hard to comfort her? It shouldn’t have happened in the first place. But even though he tried to appease her despite that, he was calm until the end and told her not to wait...!”
“Wow, are you a piece of trash? You really are trash.”
“Ha…….”
Like hyenas biting their prey, Kim Dae-seok and Eun Hae-seong started teasing me. As the conversation between the two continued, Chae Yoo-jeong’s gaze next to him gradually stung more.
It won’t work. I quickly grabbed the soju bottle and poured a glass of alcohol into Eun Hae-seong’s empty glass. These bastards, I need to make them drink while they talk.
“Shut up and drink.”
“Okay, let’s drink and die today!”
Simple Kim Dae-seok easily fell into my trap. Soju glasses filled with alcohol were gathered in the center.
“Let’s do it, cheers!”
The sound of soju glasses clinking against each other resonated clearly. I felt relieved when I saw that.
I’m going to eat like this for about two hours and send Chae Yoo-jeong off first. If you drink about one bottle per hour, you will be quite drunk after about two hours, so it will be easy to send him off.
‘Perfect.’
As I organized my plan in my head, I also looked at the soju in my glass. Let’s hang it there for two more hours.
***
“……”
An hour later. I looked down at Chae Yoo-jeong, who was leaning against the wall with a reddened face, unable to come to his senses, and touched his forehead.
“How many drinks did he have?”
“Two drinks? Three drinks?”
“I think he drank half a bottle.”
Not only Kim Dae-seok, who drank better than me, but also Eun Hae-seong, who could easily drink two bottles, looked at Chae Yoo-jeong with an expression of bewilderment.
‘He said he drank as much as everyone else.’
I don’t know why someone who can barely drink a bottle said he drinks as much as everyone else.
“You’ll have to send Yoo-jeong home. He’s really drunk.”
I internally agreed with Kim Dae-seok’s words and gently shook Chae Yoo-jeong’s shoulder.
“Hey, Chae Yoo-jeong. wake up. Don’t sleep here, go home.”
“Umm.”
Chae Yoo-jeong, who was in a light sleep, heard my voice and raised his long eyelashes.
If he has some reason left, I think he can send himself by taxi. There’s no need to bring a grown man with him.
“Hyung……”
Chae Yoo-jeong looked up at me with his red face and smiled brightly. My eye was automatically drawn to the gently folded corners of the eyes and the gently rising lips.
It was a smile so bright that it felt like a halo was shining in an ordinary bar. Faced with that right in front of me, I thought seriously.
‘I have to accompany him back home no matter what.’
To send a drunk kid alone with this face– it was too dangerous.
Isn’t Chae Yoo-jeong even a well-known professional athlete? It’s okay if he’s alone, but if he loses his mind in the middle or encounters a bad person... It’s terrible.
‘But I don’t know where your home is.’
Last time, I went by car and couldn’t remember the detailed address, such as the building or the lake.
After contemplating whether I should search his wallet and see the address written on his resident registration card, I decided to just take him to my room. Instead of making things complicated, it seemed best to take him in and let him sleep for a day.
“I’ll go first. I will take Chae Yoo-jeong with me.”
“Oh, what? Are you going to a motel?”
For a moment, without realizing it, my shoulders trembled at the word ‘motel.’
...Let’s not take it in a strange sense. Obviously, I say this because we are both men.
“No, my own room.”
“Crazy. The room we wouldn’t even be able to crawl on the floor when we were drunk?”
“Are you and him the same?”
“Huh? What’s the difference?”
“……”
I pretended not to hear, so I grabbed Chae Yoo-jeong’s arm and helped him up. He was very heavy, probably because he was tall.
Since the building is right in front of the restaurant, it would be impossible to call a taxi... I think I’ll just have to walk home dragging him back. Feeling the heat, I staggered out of the bar with one of Chae Yoo-jeong’s arms on my shoulders.
---
Credits:
Translator: Hoshi Miya
Editor: Meimei
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