CEL 40

The first assignment he had expected dropped. Hamin opened the messenger feeling a little nervous.

After the last meeting, thanks to the quick Kim Seoryeong, a group messenger room was created in three days. Her friend from the business administration department, Ji Eunah, and from the journalism and information department, Koo Chaewook joined. Except for him, all the members were the same age.

Koo Chaewook

Did you see the crazy assignment that went up?

Recommend a first impression perfume

Gross 3:12 PM

Ji Eunah

Whatㅠ

Where am I supposed to find a perfume that smells like crap…3:13 PM

Koo Chaewook

?? 3:13 PM

Ji Eunah

Even if it’s an assignmentㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ we should at least be a bit honest???? 3:14 PM

Koo Chaewook

Don’t tell me it’s me?? 3:14 PM

Ji Eunah

This is why people who are quick on the uptake are…^^; 3:15 PM

Hamin closed the quickly scrolling messenger and immediately checked his email. As Koo Chaewook said, this assignment was ‘Recommend a perfume that matches a first impression.’ Since the format was to do an assignment once every two weeks and present them all at the end of the term, there was no need to rush and it wouldn’t take much time.

Other than the messenger being excessively lively with everyone except him already becoming friendly, the group members weren’t bad.

“Looking at your phone while someone else is driving is really bad manners.” Only then did Hamin’s eyes turn to Han Jaeha. Up until now, since they only went back and forth near school or his own place, he hadn’t really had reason to ride in a car. But this weekend, after repeated pestering that they had to go to a quiet cafe outside the city, he ended up getting in the car.

I’ll just study there anyway, so why does he insist on going that far?

On top of that, Jaeha didn’t even have anything to study and just got in the car empty-handed. But this time, instead of pointing out how inefficient it was, Hamin decided to just let him have his way. It was because he remembered that shy voice not long ago, saying, “I didn’t give him the card when he asked.”

When he looked at him with a face full of expectation, he said, “Good job,” and then Jaeha, sulking, spent a long time biting and sucking on his body.

If you think about it, I actually saved him money, so shouldn’t he be thankful to me instead? Anyway, he’s strange.

“Just keep the speed limit.”

“There aren’t any cameras here?”

“Keep it even if there aren’t.” Another uncle-like remark.

It was the first time he had been scolded for driving 85 on an 80 road. Did he even know that if he tried to match the speed limit and went slower, the risk of an accident would only go up?

Maybe he doesn’t even have a license. When he grumbled that, Hamin replied that he did have one.

“Sunbae is someone who could live without laws, so why do you cling to laws like that?”

“No one can live without laws. We live because there are laws.”

“If I committed a crime and ran to you, you would report me right away, right? You know you’d really be bad?”

Even while his mouth kept going, he lifted his foot off the accelerator and lowered the speed. He made a sulky face as he watched the first digit drop from 8 to 7, when he heard an unexpected reply.

“Do you know that hiding a family member isn’t a crime? Because there’s no expectation of objectivity.”

…Does this mean he thinks of me as family?

What’s gotten into Seo Hamin? Jaeha was bewildered and feeling both suspect and expectant he asked.

“…Would you hide me?”

“You’re not my family.”

Seeing Jaeha’s sudden serious look, Hamin’s shoulders shook slightly. Jaeha always got annoyed the same way no matter how many times it happened, and it was funny.

“I’d still hide you. Even if you’re not family.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

And he ended up feeling happy in the same way.

He was even humming as he continued driving, and Hamin shifted his eyes to the window. After they passed Gangbyeonbuk-ro, which was somewhat congested but not as bad as rush hour, the road grew relatively empty.

Looking up at the autumn sky with no clouds, he felt like maybe, just as Jaeha had said, it was a change of pace.

“They said the assignment is recommending a perfume for first impressions.”

“Why something so cringy like perfume?”

“Koo Chaewook said the same thing.”

“Then I want to cancel. What perfume do you use, sunbae?”

“I don’t use perfume.”

After he joined the law firm, he sprayed it from time to time, but now he didn’t bother to buy and use perfume.

“Then do you want to go smell perfumes at the department store during the week? You need to know something to recommend it.”

“I probably know perfume better than you.”

Suspicious eyes slid toward him for a moment, then returned to the front.

Look at him.

A lawyer was in a profession where appearances mattered. What he wore, what he ate, how he lived. And people were weaker to smell than they thought. A good fragrance led to a good first impression, and even just complimenting someone else’s fragrance was enough to ease the atmosphere.

“In summer citrus is safe, in winter wood is fine. For summer, Myrrh or Neroli Mykonos, for winter, Oud Wood or Black Suede.”

“…How do you even know things like this?” Even with his baffled tone made Hamin only smile.

“Then what suits me?”

Hamin’s eyes turned to Jaeha.

“Cherry Noire.”

He answered without hesitation, so it seemed like he was just saying anything, but apparently not, since he added,

“It suits you.”

“What kind of fragrance is that?”

“Sweet.”

Unusually romantic for Seo Hamin. After that, he turned his head away like he had no intention of answering more, so Jaeha didn’t ask further. But he repeated the perfume name he had said over and over in his head.

Hamin looked up at the blue sky again and smiled lightly. He brushed it off by saying it was sweet, but in fact it wasn’t simply sweet. Because of the feminine name Noire, it was famous as a women’s perfume, but in Hamin’s view, it suited men more.

The top note was sweet like cherries dipped in honey, but because the base was rum, it wasn’t just sweet. The sweet cherry mixed with sensual notes felt like a child newly turned adult imitating grown-ups, but in the end what lingered was a soft vanilla scent.

It was a perfume that suited Han Jaeha exactly.

While he blankly looked outside, they arrived at their destination. He had found it quiet even though it was the weekend.

“You’ll be bored.”

“If I look at your face, I won’t be bored at all.”

Jaeha parked and led him into the cafe. When told to sit and wait, he didn’t believe it and watched as he ordered, and with a dissatisfied tone, he ordered only two coffees.

After that, Jaeha pulled him over like he had a reserved spot. Since there were no customers, he boldly sat beside him instead of across.

So this was why he brought him here.

Whether that was it or not, Hamin didn’t care and turned his head to look outside. He could see drooping trees and a lakeside beyond the glass. When the wind blew, the leaves rustled, and small ripples formed on the calm water. It was a view that naturally made the heart peaceful.

“It must be good for studying.”

“I found a good place, right?”

Considering the travel time, it wasn’t really good, but he silently took out a book and an old tablet from his bag. Maybe because the promise not to disturb him was sincere, Jaeha was silent.

When he glanced over, he had his hands interlaced and made into a net, resting his chin on it. When their eyes met, his eyes bent.

Ridiculous.

He forced himself to ignore it and put in his earphones. The amount he had to study was huge.

Jaeha looked satisfied watching him like this. Lately he had more and more of an urge to make unreasonable demands to Seo Hamin. He made requests that wouldn’t work on anyone else and then watched to see whether Hamin would give in or not.

Today’s outing was an extension of that. Asking Hamin, who would of course be more comfortable studying at home or in a reading room, to go more than an hour away into the suburbs was something he expected to be refused. But seeing him agree without complaint made his chest flutter.

The only request Seo Hamin never accepted was wearing the clothes he bought for him.

But lately it was a little better. He didn’t wear the clothes Jaeha bought, but at least he didn’t go back to picking up those old shabby ones. Just today, seeing Hamin in a white shirt without patterns made the corners of his mouth lift unconsciously.

Scritch scritch. His eyes moved to the hand taking lecture notes. The book was full of words he didn’t really want to understand, and here and there it was covered in blue.

He wasn’t the type to mix colors for underlines or highlights. He also wrote notes with only one black pen, so his pencil case was light.

Jaeha thought that was very much like Seo Hamin too. If even his textbooks were filled with flashy colors, he might have been put off.

He stifled a laugh and continued watching the growing notes. The first time he watched him study, he thought Hamin had a habit of writing summaries separately in his book. Sometimes his notes on the page were longer than the original text.

One time he asked why, and got scolded, saying “Who writes summaries here.” Apparently all those words were precedents.

Only then did he understand why Hamin said he was busy during exam periods, and why he always studied even when it wasn’t exam time. He wondered if it was even possible for a person to memorize all of that.

For someone like him who had practically lost the will to study since the college entrance exam, it was just amazing that all those words could fit in one person’s head.

He watched the fingers tearing off memo paper where there was no space left, then looked into his pitch-black eyes. His face always looked drained, and it was cute.

If he stretched out his hand and pulled his cheek right now, he’d definitely get annoyed, right?

He thought about the expression that would smudge like watercolor and held back his laughter.

Even without talking much, the time with Seohamin was enjoyable. Relationships where you had to endlessly say something were only tiring.

He lay his head on the desk and looked up at Hamin’s face. Hamin made a face that showed he was a little bothered by being in his line of sight, but soon returned to his usual look.

He didn’t even pinch his cheek, so hr should let him off with this much.

Thinking shamelessly, he pulled his lips into a smile. Maybe because he felt peaceful, he immediately felt drows. He could have gotten up to drink coffee, but he didn’t push away the drowsiness that came in nods. He closed his eyes quietly. The truth was, he was very tired.

So maybe it was fine to sleep for ten minutes.