CEL 15

The test was not as difficult as he had expected it would be. He had done it once before, and this time he had much more experience, so solving the problems itself was not bad. The revised laws and the current laws in his memory got mixed up, but it was not enough to affect his ranking.

His whole body felt tired. His body shouted at him to go to sleep, but the first thought that came to his head was whether he should go find Han Jaeha.

His steps moved toward the school gate, but he kept wondering what he should do. Then he heard a familiar voice calling him.

“…Sunbae!”

The tone carried some irritation, but deep down it was a voice he was glad to hear. He laughed a little and turned around. He saw Han Jaeha holding a large bag under his arm. A canvas poked out from the side of the bag and caught his eye.

Is that a drawing Han Jaeha made?

His body reacted faster than his head. Before he even felt his heart pounding, he quickly ran over. Han Jaeha looked a little flustered, probably because he found it strange that he ran over.

“Is that in the bag your drawing?”

“…Yes? Yes.”

“Can I see it?”

He asked again out of nervousness without realizing it. Han Jaeha handed him the drawing. He was so excited that he could hear his own heartbeat for the first time in his life.

Han Jaeha’s drawing. A drawing made by Han Jaeha. A drawing made by a living Han Jaeha.

He knew nothing about art, but he could tell that his drawing was different.

Even within shades of black and white, Han Jaeha’s drawing carried warmth, and when he looked at it, it calmed his mind. For someone like him, who had no real will to live, what made him look forward to the next day was the sound of the front doorbell ringing on the last day of every month. He endured the other twenty-nine or thirty days just to hear that sound.

So it was nearly impossible not to feel excited when he saw his drawing for the first time since coming back. He looked down at the paper with a feeling that lifted him almost like flying. And at the same time.

“Ah.”

He fell down to the ground.

The picture on the paper was not the Han Jaeha drawing he knew.

It was full of colors, and the style was different too. Of course, that was only natural. He had received Jaeha’s drawings nearly ten years later, it would have been stranger if they looked exactly the same back then and now. Even so, he felt disappointed.

He looked over the picture with a sigh. The brightly colored waterfall painting shone like midday sunlight.

When he looked closely, he noticed that even though the drawing looked completely different, parts of it still carried the feeling he remembered. For example, the way he used delicate lines instead of bold strokes, or the way he did not simplify complicated sections but instead described them in detail.

In any case, it seemed that the reason Han Jaeha later drew only in black and white had not yet happened.

He stared at the drawing while recalling his memories. Then he suddenly noticed that the hand holding the canvas had turned pale white.

He raised his head. At the moment he saw Han Jaeha’s stiff expression, Hamin realized something was seriously wrong.

Honestly, he felt a little embarrassed.

He had not meant to make Jaeha angry, but while he was lost in his memories alone, Jaeha had already become angry and upset. Thinking about it, it was only natural. He suddenly begged to see the drawing, and then after seeing it, he looked disappointed as if giving an evaluation. It was nothing but rude.

“I guess I don’t draw as well as sunbae expected.”

There was no excuse. It was entirely his fault.

As soon as he became certain that he had made Jaeha angry, his heart started to shake with anxiety. He felt restless. He was afraid Jaeha might misunderstand him. No, to be precise, not everything could be called a misunderstanding, but still, he grew impatient, worried Jaeha might dislike him.

“I was rude. I’m sorry for making you feel bad. But…” He quickly apologized. Even as he spoke, he wondered if words like these would really calm him down.

“I… I like your drawings.”

With that simple apology, Han Jaeha’s mood softened.

It was a strange feeling. If it were him, he would have drawn the line and said not to come anymore and cut the relationship off. But Han Jaeha gently accepted his apology and ate dinner with him. He worried how someone this soft could survive in such a harsh world.

The first meal where they had a real conversation was not bad. To be exact, the conversation itself was not bad.

Talking with Han Jaeha was fun. It was funny how quickly he got angry if poked just a little, and it was fun how he stared at him intently, as if something would come out of watching him.

When Jaeha asked, “Sunbae, why do you keep coming to see me?” Hamin was a little caught off guard, but he easily came up with a general answer. What he had not expected was that Jaeha was a little crazier than he thought.

“If it’s not about money, then why are you following me? Do you like me?”

“If I like you, does that become a reason to follow you?”

“I don’t know if it becomes a reason or not, but at least I could accept it.” Hamin’s eyes slowly closed and opened again.

The words made no sense, but he had a strange intuition that agreeing here would help their relationship in the future. And as a law student, Hamin trusted his intuition quite a lot.

“Then let’s go with that.”

No, maybe it was just because he found it a little funny.

“Let’s say I like you.”

•••

Things like this can change too.

In the mock trial where they picked a topic by drawing random slips of paper, the one Hamin picked was an appeal trial related to drunk driving. As soon as the topic was announced, the opposing student rushed to claim the prosecutor’s position. Hamin laughed. He could clearly see what that student was thinking.

He easily yielded the prosecutor’s position. The other student looked at him like he was crazy but to him it was actually helpful. It gave him more time to prepare his argument. From the start, this was a trial much more favorable for the defense.

It was easy to think of it as a defense aiming to get a reduced sentence compared to the first trial, but the trial had a fatal issue. The evidence submitted by the prosecution was not admissible. The wording had confused things by saying “agreement of the defendant’s younger brother” instead of “the defendant,” but nowhere was there any mention of a warrant. If it was difficult to issue beforehand, they should have issued it afterward, but they had not.

It was a topic that could be called interesting, or malicious. It seemed the professor wanted to see how carefully these future students would check the basics.

He stepped up to the podium already certain of an easy win, but in the crowd he saw a face that should not have been there.

Why is he here?

Even while puzzled, Hamin continued his defense.

“…Therefore, the original judgment that found the defendant guilty is invalid. I argue that the defendant is not guilty.”

As expected, the mock trial ended in victory. Jaeha, looking uncharacteristically dazed, suggested they go for a drink.

Honestly, it was not an appealing idea. He disliked situations where he lost control because of alcohol. He could not understand why people even paid money for such a harmful substance.

“Lawyer Seo. To live in society a person needs to know how to drink a little. Hm? Don’t you know how to be sociable? People originally get closer at drinking tables.”

If not for that sudden memory of a conversation with a client, Hamin would have refused, it didn’t matter that it was Han Jaeha’s suggestion.

In the end, it was a choice that was both good and bad.

“People who live here usually start their day the earliest and finish the latest. From their perspective, it would be dawn.”

At the kind look that he himself could not see, he thought, “ah, that is Han Jaeha.” Just because his drawings had changed did not mean he was a different person.

He was still Han Jaeha.

Somehow his body felt a little tired, and he felt a little relaxed. This was a change that happened only in front of Han Jaeha.

The rush of alcohol hit me. Even so, he did not regret it. One of the questions he had wondered about for a long time was answered.

So, up to here was the gain.

“Sunbae, you said you like me, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then will you date me?”

That was the loss.

The situation was awkward and confusing, since it had not been part of his calculations, but with Han Jaeha making him dizzy as soon as he woke up, he had no time to think it over.

“Now that we are lovers, sunbae, use this.”

It was ridiculous that a twenty-one-year-old stuck out a credit card with a boastful attitude.

If anyone saw it, they would think it was money he earned himself.

Hamin stared at the square card and asked himself what should he do with him, but he accepted it.

“Alright. I will use it well.”

The place he headed with the card was a car showroom.

“Welcome. Do you have a model in mind?”

“That one. Full option, please. One-time payment.”

“You don’t want to test drive it?”

“I already looked at it several times at other showrooms. Please process the payment.”

There was nothing strange in the way he casually handed over the card, so the employee thought, what a lucky break, and quickly brought out the contract. When Hamin asked to make the payment first, the employee was a little puzzled, but since rich people acting oddly was nothing new, he obediently took the card and swiped it.

“…Sir, I am very sorry, but it says the card is over the limit. Do you perhaps have another card?”

“Ah, is that so? I am sorry. I must have been mistaken. I will come back next time.”

As the situation went just as he expected, Hamin left the showroom with an indifferent air, leaving behind the employee with an awkward face.

Even if someone was rich, no university student’s card limit could go over three hundred million. And even if it did, what of it, they could just get a refund.

When he thought of Han Jaeha getting angry after receiving the text message, he kept laughing to himself.

“You can’t be called a gentleman.”

When the three letters ‘Han Jaeha’ popped up on his phone screen, he calmly pressed decline. He immediately received a text message. And at the same time, the messenger alarm rang. In the end, Hamin could not hold it back and laughed.

Han Jaeha

Where are you? Meet me

I will freeze the card 2:04 PM

Han Jaeha

You read it, so why aren’t you replying?

Sundae, meet me and let’s talk. 2:05 PM