CEL 8

An image of Seo Hamin flirting beside a pretty woman suddenly came to his mind. He didn’t know the reason, but just imagining it made him angry and annoyed.

“Let’s just drink this and go home.”

He was too full, he could not drink anymore. He filled Hamin’s glass with the last of the bottle, clinked it, and Hamin emptied it without hesitation. Looking at his pace, anyone could believe he had just finished his first glass.

He wanted to get something out of him after drinking, but he was the only one who got exposed.

He emptied the last glass that tasted especially bitter and stood up. Hamin, sitting there blankly, looked up at him.

“What are you doing? Pack your stuff.”

“…Mm.”

Hamin squinted his eyes and glared at him. Was it a glare? His face was so scrunched up that he could not even guess what expression it was. Then his blinking slowed. First one second, then two seconds, then five seconds. It became less blinking and more like he was forcing his eyes open. Jaeha thought maybe? and stepped closer.

“Sunbae.”

The head that had seemed fine until a moment ago started wobbling side to side. His eyes were already closed.

“…Are you drunk?”

As soon as he asked, Hamin’s head dropped onto him.

Jaeha blinked blankly at Hamin, who fell right into his arms. So much for acting like he could drink well. He could not hide the smile that appeared at his lips. He could hear the heartbeat from all over the limp body. When he grabbed his arm, it thumped. When he wrapped around his side, it pounded there too. It was surprising that he endured this long.

“If you can’t drink, you should have just said you can’t.”

He wanted to scold him, but meaningless laughter kept escaping his mouth. Seo Hamin resting quietly in his arms was not bad. He had not intended to make him collapse, but well…This much was already part of his goal.

When he lifted his body, the powerless head leaned on him. Even after all that drinking, Seo Hamin still smelled like a pleasant forest. Was it perfume? Or shampoo? Should he ask when he sobers up?

Before he realized, his nose was buried in the smooth hair. Hamin groaned faintly and burrowed deeper into his arms.

“Mm.”

“Sunbae, you are banned from drinking. Why do you drink when you can’t even stay conscious?”

He felt his own face heat up as he said it, but he shook his head lightly to rationalize it. …He had been drinking too. The two of them emptied two bottles of 40 percent. It made sense.

He carefully searched Hamin’s clothes and found his wallet. He would just drop him off in front of his house. There was no special meaning in it, he just could not leave him here. It was still a bit cold at night.

“You usually walk around in those lousy sweaters.” Today he only wore a shirt.

Clicking his tongue, he took off his cardigan and put it over Hamin. Seeing him breathing under his clothes gave him a strange feeling. He pushed away the bangs that had grown longer and were covering his eyes. Maybe the strands tickled his forehead, Hamin frowned slightly and squirmed deeper into his arms.

It would be better if he was always this quiet.

Jaeha stared at Hamin for a long time. The head that swayed if he didn’t support it, the scrunched up nose bridge like he was dreaming, all of it amused him. Just because it was funny. That was all.

He should have just left him behind. It was easier than he thought for a person’s decision to waver. Jaeha imagined hitting the him from an hour ago and gritted his teeth. He shook Hamin’s shoulders in the old building hallway where he sat crouched. He had been at it for thirty minutes already.

“Get up!”

He could not hide the irritation in his voice. Of course he couldn’t.

It had not been difficult to carry the sleeping Hamin, check the address from his ID, take a taxi, get off, and drag him along. He slept soundly the whole time, without waking once. In other words, even if he woke him, he would not get up.

Gritting his teeth, he pressed his forehead. Seo Hamin lived in a rather clean looking one-room studio. Jaeha had thought he would live in some shack, but it was unexpected.

The main entrance had no password, and the door lock was fingerprint recognition. At first, he thought it was fortunate. The odd part came when the door would not open no matter how many times he pressed the right and left index fingers. He even tried the thumbs, but it was useless.

If he failed a few more times, an alarm might go off. He could not risk waking everyone in the building at this hour. The thought alone was awful.

“You should have told me the password before sleeping! This really is your house, right?” By now, he started to suspect it was a fake address. No wonder the place seemed too proper.

He cooled his heated head and debated whether to take him to his own place. At that moment, Hamin suddenly lifted his head from where it had been hanging down.

“…Why are you here?”

“Just open the door. This is your house, right?”

“There’s nothing in my house to steal.”

Ungrateful Seo Hamin frowned and treated him like a thief. Being treated like a thief by a stalker made his furious, but his fatigue outweighed his emotions. He waved a hand and answered roughly.

“Just open it first.”

Still suspicious, Hamin slowly got up and pressed his finger on the scanner.

Beep.

At the cheerful sound of the lock opening, Jaeha clenched his fist in anger. It was only natural that he could not unlock it.

“Who registers a fingerprint with the ring finger?”

“Crime has to be prevented in advance.”

“What you are doing to me right now is the crime?”

“Which law is it breaking?”

“Ah, just go in already.”

“Which law, I’ll file a constitutional appeal?”

Even if he had sobered up, he was still drunk. Jaeha pushed Seo Hamin through the open door. He tried to crouch in the entryway without even taking off his shoes, so Jaeha slipped a hand into his side and lifted him up. He had thought this before too, but it was questionable if he even ate properly. He was far too light.

“Now hurry and go to sleep.”

“Put me down first.”

“Will you sleep if I put you down?”

“I have to be put down to sleep.” He never lost an argument.

It was better when he was just sleeping. Jaeha sighed and set Seo Hamin down. Hamin, who had kicked his shoes off carelessly, started nagging, “You should take your shoes off properly before coming in.” Jaeha had no intention of going inside, but he thought it would bother him if Hamin ended up cracking his head in the bathroom, so he followed him in.

The one-room was not big, but it was tidy and resembled its owner. One wardrobe, one bed, one desk. No other furniture, so the space felt bare.

“…I thought you would live in some shabby room.” Hamin, who caught his mumbled words, tilted his head while taking off his socks.

“Why would I live in a shabby room when there are programs?”

Drunk Hamin talked a lot. He answered even things that were not asked, and unlike usual, his sentences were long. Summing up his rambling, it was that he got a government-supported rental house and added a loan to secure it.

“Yes, really… you are capable.”

“They say those who sleep on their rights are not protected. I have to take whatever I can get myself.”

“Fine, so just lie down quickly, I have to go.”

“But it’s fine because I will pay a lot of taxes later.”

Even while staggering, he went into the bathroom and squeezed toothpaste. Watching him, Jaeha ran a hand through his hair. The day had been too long. He closed his eyes for a moment in meditation, and in that time, Hamin finished brushing and washing his face and came back to him.

“Go home and sleep.”

“Sunbae, are you lacking every single word like compassion, mercy, kindness?”

Jaeha got annoyed and Hamin nodded seriously.

“You are right.”

“I was mocking you.”

Hamin did not answer and lay on the mattress. He pulled the blanket over himself and closed his eyes. Jaeha suddenly felt it would be a waste to just leave. Not because he was pleased, but because his temper was running high.

He wondered how he could mess with him, and as the thought dragged on, an idea came up suddenly. He went closer and poked Hamin’s cheek. Disturbed by the touch while drowsy, Hamin’s eyes opened wide with a hostile look.

“What?”

“Sunbae, you said you liked me, right.”

“Yeah.”

Neither his expression nor his tone showed anything, but he said it smoothly.

When Jaeha rubbed the corner of his eyes, Hamin’s weak palm smacked his hand away. Of course, it was not threatening at all.

“Then will you date me?”

It was an impulsive question. Maybe because he kept being the one at a disadvantage lately, he wanted to see this strange stalker look flustered at least once.

Even drunk, Hamin fell into thought. Maybe because his mind was not working normally, he narrowed his eyes thin like an old man threading a needle.

“If I date you, will you go home?”

“…Yeah.”

In the end, unable to fight off the drowsiness, Hamin gave a vague answer and pulled the blanket over his head. This time, Jaeha did not disturb him and quietly left the villa.

He was very curious what kind of expression Seo Hamin would make tomorrow.

•••

When he opened his eyes, it was already midday. Since he had gone home past four in the morning, it was expected. Jaeha calmly accepted his unexcused absence.

He stretched, went to the fridge, and drank water. He opened his phone and felt a little tired of the endless flood of messages.

Most were things like “Did something happen? Are you okay?” but that did not hide the fact that they were all obvious attempts to hit on him. After checking that the one he was looking for was not in the list, he went into his contacts.

Stalker.

He pressed the call button next to the plain noun. He thought that he might not answer but the call was picked up before the third ring.

“Hello.”

“Sunbae. Did you go to school?”

“Yes.”

Maybe he was still hungover, his irritated tone came through clearly even over the receiver. Jaeha held back a laugh and asked,

“Don’t we have something to talk about?”

“Something to talk about?”

“I skipped class this morning. Do you have class in the afternoon?”

“No.”

“I’ll come to the cafe in front of the school. See you in 30 minutes.”

“…Okay.”

Even though it was a pushy suggestion, he answered easily. That meant he did remember something from yesterday.

After hanging up, Jaeha finished getting ready to leave and picked up his car keys, but then remembered he had drunk until dawn. He obediently put them down. Instead, he picked up his phone and called a taxi, and an alert popped up that it would arrive in five minutes.

Unlike Seo Hamin, who treated him like some sort of sex offender, Jaeha had never committed even a minor violation in his life. He was a model citizen.

That guy should know what kind of person I am.

On the way to the cafe, he hummed and looked out the window.

“Hey, student. Something good must have happened.”

“Something good… Yes, something good happened.”

Thinking of Hamin’s flustered face, he naturally smiled at the taxi driver’s nosy comment. Chuckling, the driver started a “Back in my day” story, but Jaeha listened with one ear and let it out the other.

He opened the window. The wind, not yet carrying too much heat, felt nice as it blew through his hair.

What kind of expression will he make when I say we are dating?

Just imagining his composed face distorting in panic and making excuses that it was not like that made him feel good. He thought the way to school felt unusually long today, and before long, he arrived at the destination.

When he went into the cafe, he ran into Hamin at the counter.

“What will you have? I’ll pay.”

“Two iced Americanos.”

As usual, Hamin ignored what he said and ordered. Before Jaeha could take out his card, Hamin tapped his phone and paid. Jaeha grumbled, and before Hamin even sat down, he asked,

“What did you want to say?”

“Sit down and let’s talk.”

For once, he obeyed. He sat, waited for the coffee, picked it up, and then drank from the nearer cup with the straw stuck in it. Seeing Hamin drink his coffee with an indifferent face too, Jaeha smirked. It was the face of someone who definitely did not remember yesterday.

Hamin must have found his constant smile strange, because a small wrinkle formed on the bridge of his nose.

“Do you remember yesterday?”

Seeing Hamin nod slightly, Jaeha inwardly laughed. No way he remembered.

“You remember we decided to date too?”

“…That’s why you wanted to meet?”

Hamin sighed, the one thrown off by that reaction was Jaeha instead.

What kind of reaction is that?

While he sat there dumbfounded, Hamin clicked his tongue. He looked at him like he was watching a teenage nephew.

“If that’s all you had to say, I’ll go.”

“…Wait, wait. We decided to date, right?”

“Yeah. Nice to meet you, boyfriend. Can I go now?”

Ah, right. Jaeha had forgotten Seo Hamin was not someone easy to deal with. He was a fool to expect him to be flustered, annoyed, or at least embarrassed.

He hid the faint trembling of his eyes and changed his plan.

“It’s nothing else, I just wanted to give you this.”

He rummaged through his jacket, took out his wallet, pulled out the green card among the four including his ID, and slid it toward Hamin.

“Now that we’re dating, you use this, Sunbae.”

Hamin’s gaze stayed on the square piece of plastic. An uncomfortable silence passed.

This time he would get angry, right?

It would actually be strange not to, since it was such blatant disregard.

Jaeha waited with a pleased feeling, but Hamin simply took the card.

“Okay. I’ll use it well.”

With that, he emptied the rest of his drink in one go and left his seat.

He’s just leaving like that?

Left alone, Jaeha blinked blankly and tried to deny reality, but that did not make what happened disappear.

He suddenly remembered the first day they ate together. Back then too, he had waited a long time in the restaurant for Seo Hamin, but he never came back.

His body lost all strength and he felt empty. When he came back to himself, he felt he had done nothing but foolish things.

He asked a guy out of nowhere and gave him a card just to annoy him. It was childish in every way.

…Why did I do that?

He buried his face in his palm and sighed.

They say uncertainty is scarier than falling, and Jaeha started to feel a little afraid of Hamin, who he could not predict how he might change him. Since meeting him, he had already acted unlike himself several times.

He was regretting it late when suddenly, with a light vibration, his phone alarm went off. He lowered his gaze without thought and checked the screen.

“…Huh?”

At first, he thought he had seen it wrong. He had no choice but to think so.

That was how unreal the words on the screen looked. Even after rubbing his eyes several times and looking again, the letters did not change.

He opened and closed his mouth again and again, wondering what was going on, then soon realized who caused this and his expression hardened.

Jaeha’s face flushed red and blue as he bit down on his lips.

What… is this guy really insane?

[Web message]

[Saved Card] 1111 5/17 14:02

Mercedes Benz Korea 384,900,000 won Approval Denied, Limit Exceeded

The hand holding the phone tightened, and the screen shook in his grip. Seo Hamin was crazier than he had imagined.