CEL 47

“The meat tastes best when you flip it only once, you clueless commoner.”

“What nonsense. You need to flip it several times and cook it thoroughly.”

“Click, click. You never even worked part-time at a barbecue place, what would you know?”

“Hand me the tongs, you parasite host.”

The ruckus that started from nothing ended only when Hamin quietly raised his hand, received another tong, and placed it in someone else’s hand.

Was doing a single assignment always this hard?

After the announcement of the second assignment in Human Relationships, the topic was ‘an activity to get closer with your teammates,’ the group chat exploded with messages.

Coffee, movies, meals, all those quick and simple options got pushed aside because Ji Eunah and Koo Chaewook insisted that they had to drink. Midterms were approaching, so he wondered if that was necessary, but the two were relentless, so they settled on getting it done quickly. Han Jaeha did not seem fond of the plan either, yet he stayed quiet and followed the flow.

He silently picked at the side dishes, then suddenly met eyes with Chaewook. Only then did he stop arguing with Ji Eunah. He spoke with ‎ wide smile.

“I will personally serve you the meat grilled to perfection.”

“You eat a lot yourself.”

“Come on, even cold water has an order.”

“I don’t drink cold water.”

He indifferently sipped the lukewarm water. Kim Seoryeong let out a small laugh.

“Hamin-oppa seems kind of funny. Why didn’t I know?”

“Because the facts are wrong.”

“No, sometimes you’re really funny. Is that the side Seyeon-sunbae fell for?”

“Fell for?”

Jaeha asked without thinking while he quietly placed pickled onions and scallion kimchi on Hamin’s plate.

Kim Seoryeong, eager to get close with Hamin, and the two who kept sneaking glances at him already made his insides churn. On top of that came another annoying voice, and laughed dryly.

Is this guy seducing every single person?

Hamin noticed his gaze and shrugged like he knew nothing.

“Ah, you didn’t know. Everyone in our department knows Park Seyeon sunbae likes Hamin-oppa.”

“What? Who’s Park Seyeon sunbae?”

“There is, a sunbae who came in after three years of trying. So she’s third year, but the same age as Hamin-oppa.”

“Did something happen?”

They were the same age, yet one got called sunbae and the other oppa. At some point the shift in terms had started to bother him. He disliked Seoryeong pretending they were close despite being nothing, but he held it in and asked. His words went to Seoryeong, yet his eyes stayed fixed on Hamin.

“We don’t really know each other.”

“No way, from the time Seyeon-sunbae entered, she openly showed her interest in oppa. She said she liked nerdy guys.”

Since gossip about romance always counted as one of the most amusing topics, the others lit up as well. Chaewook handed out the nicely grilled pieces to each plate and asked.

“But hyung-nim doesn’t look like a nerdy guy, right?”

“In the beginning, when he didn’t care about his looks? That kind of vibe.”

Jaeha’s eyebrow twitched slightly. He couldn’t say Hamin looked polished even now, but tidier hair and decent clothes already made him a different person compared to the first semester.

Would others also see him as beautiful as I do?

That thought alone made his mood filthy. He scanned Hamin up and down with a displeased face. Then a well-cooked piece landed on his plate, as if he was telling him to just eat.

Does he think I am a child?

“So last year, Seyeon-sunbae even joined the elective class Hamin-oppa was taking. At that time oppa humiliated her publicly, and the whole law department buzzed.” A smile curled on Seoryeong’s lips as if recalling the memory amused her.

“When did I?”

“The moment she asked to be in the same team, you said, ‘Why would I?’”

“How is that public humiliation? I just asked.”

“If only you didn’t add, ‘Get on another bus,’ it wouldn’t have been like that.”

“I thought she was freeloading. You should call it an act by mistake.”

“Anyway, the mood completely collapsed after that. Seyeon-sunbae kept talking behind your back, so among clueless freshmen weird rumors spread… oops.”

After a few beers loosened her tongue, Seoryeong covered her lips with her palm.

The others, who had been listening with interest, now showed dismayed faces and peeked at Hamin.

Even while multiple eyes focused on him, Hamin looked indifferent. He stared at the sizzling meat, then deliberately picked a fatty cut. Just when he moved to put it in his mouth, Jaeha quickly snatched it away with tongs.

He blinked blankly. The samgyeopsal with perfect fat-meat balance suddenly lost its fat. Looking at the lonely leftover piece on his plate, Hamin’s face twisted in disbelief.

What kind of fat butcher is this?

“That… Hamin-oppa, not many people actually believed it.”

“Doesn’t matter to me.”

“But…”

“Really doesn’t matter.”

Whatever people babbled meant nothing, no interest either. He didn’t even know what rumors circled around him. For Hamin, the piece of meat cut from under his nose bothered him more.

“What rumor was it then?”

“It’s rumors about me, so how would I know? Han Jaeha, give me the scissors. Confiscated.”

“What’s so good about eating fat chunks. Just eat the cut pieces.”

“You eat them. I said give me the scissors.”

With chopsticks in her mouth, Ji Eunah tilted her head while watching the two quarrel.

“But how did you two even get close? Different departments. Did you at least take a liberal arts class together before?”

Jaeha stopped his merciless cutting and paused in thought.

He recalled Hamin visiting every day and asking, ‘Do you have plans?’ Only half a year ago, yet it felt several years distant.

“Well… we just ate together a lot.”

“Ah, I know that. That was when you went to the 1000 won cafeteria, right? The forum went crazy then. Said a precious guest came to such a shabby place.”

“Oh, I think I saw that too. I wondered who that handsome fine arts student was. I look decent too, but why do no posts come up about me?”

“Be glad none come up.”

“Why?”

“Because if it’s Han Jaeha it becomes romance, if it’s you it’s crime.”

“Finished talking?”

Hamin sighed at peace lasting less than ten minutes. Jaeha slid close and sat right beside him. He lowered his voice and whispered.

“Why don’t you tell me what the rumor is?”

“I really don’t know.”

“Does that make sense? How can someone not know their own rumor.”

“No interest.”

Twisting her hair strands, Seoryeong watched Jaeha frown at him like at some bizarre animal. Then she muttered softly.

“…It was a ridiculous rumor. Just, that oppa toyed with Seyeon-sunbae, something like that.”

“Everyone believed that?”

“Well… not everyone, some.”

Jaeha couldn’t even fake a laugh, only sighed one after another. Meanwhile, Hamin was busy picking the best grilled meat, he showed no awareness they spoke about him.

He glanced away briefly, then noticed him chewing fat again. He snatched the chopsticks away. Hamin’s eyes grew sulky. He ignored the look demanding ‘Give it back.’ Instead, Hamin grabbed a spoon and scooped meat into his mouth, a sight absurd beyond words.

“Sunbae, aren’t you even indignant?”

“What, eating meat with a spoon?”

“No, when groundless rumors spread, at least deny them.”

“How do I deny rumors I don’t know?”

“You didn’t even notice something weird?”

Hamin lowered the spoon with a tired face. He couldn’t understand why Jaeha fussed so much.

Why would rumors matter? Those people’s chatter held no weight. Worthless for his life. More urgent came the quiz next class, or assignments due next week, or midterms.

“So what? Are rumors going to feed me?”

“Wow, hyung-nim. That’s cool. I need to live with that mindset too. Should we order another bottle of soju?”

As Jaeha’s face stiffened in irritation, Chaewook jumped in quickly to divert the air.

“He can’t drink much. Don’t push it.”

“What do you mean? I drink better than sunbae.”

“Do you want to repeat what happened before?”

Jaeha shut his mouth. He already gave excuses, stayed up all night, bad mood that day, but none worked.

Chaewook, enjoying their quarrel, stood up.

“I’ll go smoke.”

“Hey, what. Smoking in the middle of drinking?”

“When you drink, you crave cigarettes.”

While complaints flew about how nonsense that sounded, Jaeha also rose quietly. Ji Eunah tilted her head watching him.

“Jaeha? Do you smoke too?”

Hamin turned his eyes toward Han Jaeha. He thought maybe he was heading to the bathroom, yet the gaze that met his looked peculiar.

His light brown eyes quivered faintly, carrying a trace of unease. While rubbing his stiff cheek awkwardly, he answered with care.

“Yeah. I smoke too.”

“…Han Jaeha?”

He unconsciously grabbed Jaeha’s collar. Jaeha smiled like it was fine and quietly removed his hand.

“Oh, that’s the man, Han Jaeha. Let’s step out and talk honestly.”

Koo Chaewook threw his arm over Jaeha’s shoulder without a care and led him out. Watching their backs grow distant, Hamin blinked with a dazed mind.

The last time he heard Jaeha had refused to hand over his card to Choi Woojin, Hamin never thought Jaeha would have changed much. People didn’t change so easily. Without some decisive trigger, no matter how loudly they declared, ‘This time I’ll truly change,’ inertia always dragged them back to where they started.

He touched the lukewarm soju glass, drifting into thought. Something about the mood felt odd.

What kind of wind just blew?

While he sat sipping soju alone, Ji Eunah squinted her eyes at him.

“Are you worried about Han Jaeha?”

After a short hesitation, Hamin finally replied.

“…A little?”

“You two are really affectionate. Did Han Jaeha-oppa give birth to you or something?”

What kind of lunacy was that?

He immediately frowned, Eunah downed the soju in front of her and chuckled

“When Seoryeong asked to team up with you, I thought she had lost her mind from too much studying.”

“Eunah…”

That borderline remark made Seoryeong falter, she looked troubled.

“But once we actually became a team, it felt fun. Can’t we keep meeting like this?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Busy.”

“Seriously. We’re all busy too, you think Korea University belongs only to you? Forget it. We’ll set a regular meeting once every two weeks, so just know that.”

“If it’s for assignments, I’ll come.”

Eunah’s pushy words made her nervous, yet the mood stayed lighter than expected. She stole glances at Hamin while sipping water. He didn’t seem upset either. Seoryeong looked at him, she felt tangled.

Earlier she softened it as ‘toyed,’ but the rumors about Hamin had twisted far beyond that. What began as a shallow image of a guy desperate to flirt grew bloated, until it turned into filthy claims that he had a rich married woman sponsoring him.

Since he never cleared things up, the rumor never died with time. Of course, most people cared more about catching up with their heavy coursework than some shapeless talk, but whenever groups gathered, someone always brought up Hamin’s name.

Seoryeong hadn’t believed every word, but she held one thing certain. That Seo Hamin was an insolent man who only cared for himself. She thought that much was true.

That’s why during the festival she had treated him so coldly. She hated how he poked around, though he clearly showed no interest in childish games like that.

Yet now, seeing him up close, he seemed ordinary. Maybe a bit more blunt than others, but nothing beyond that.

She always thought she despised people gossiping without knowing the facts, but in the end, she was no different. Narrow-minded.

Her face flushed in shame. She couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye. She clutched the soju bottle with both hands and closed her eyes tight. Then she emptied the half-filled bottle.

“…Hamin-oppa, sorry for misunderstanding.”

Ji Eunah, who staring straight at her, gaped.

“Hey, you and alcohol?”

“I’m trash.”

“When you drink…”

“I should die… urgh.”

“Hey, wait! Wait! Don’t puke here! Get up!”

Hamin exhaled a faint sigh at the comedy unfolding before his eyes. While he thought, what the hell is all this, Ji Eunah dragged the wobbling Kim Seoryeong away.

Left alone at the table, he picked at the meat. That’s when Koo Chaewook and Han Jaeha returned.