By Zephyria 
Eun-ha was the type of person who never strayed from being quiet and calm. A dry personality, often described as indifferent. He had lived that way his entire life, and the amount of energy he could expend in a day was never much. And for some reason, Eun-ha’s friends were all incredibly active people with a natural talent for partying. They were, remarkably, the exact opposite of him.
Swept up in that boisterous atmosphere, he spent a hectic day. It started with the large pool in the villa’s yard. He watched from the sidelines, as if it were someone else’s business, as they played in the water with childishness, armed with water guns from who-knows-where. Then, after being repeatedly drenched, he finally got annoyed and joined the childish war. After playing until he collapsed from exhaustion, he watched his friends—who were still full of energy—with fascination, and as the gathering began to wind down, he went grocery shopping at a nearby mart, led by someone who claimed this was what “romance” was.
Dinner time naturally turned into a drinking session that lasted late into the night. For the first time in a while, he drank enough to get completely wasted. While he held his spot with a hazy mind, many stories were exchanged across the table. Old episodes that never fail to come up when old friends gather, stories about the abnormal villains they had each encountered recently, funny anecdotes, and worries about serious or grave topics…
At the end of it, attention naturally flowed toward Eun-ha. At first, it was playful heckling. Asking what he’d been up to lately. How long he planned to keep acting so distant. That they had no idea what his current status was.
Beside them, someone pointed out that several years of silence couldn’t simply be dismissed as “current status.” Everyone except Gu Hae-bin nodded in agreement…
Eun-ha gave an ambiguous smile. He paused for a moment as if hesitating. Then, borrowing the strength of his intoxication, he began to bring up the stories he had put off for a long time. Perhaps it was because he was drunk, or perhaps because he had rehearsed it countless times over the years, but he was able to open up surprisingly calmly. About his path over the last eight years.
The reason why he had unconsciously kept his distance, avoided contact as much as possible, and tried to drift away.
Of course, he filtered out the parts that wouldn’t be pleasant to hear. He only wanted to resolve the lingering disappointments his friends might have; he didn’t want to exhibit his misfortune or share his pain.
Park Hyun-ji and Im Sujin seemed surprised, but they didn’t look puzzled as if hearing something for the first time. Kim Seon-woo’s guess had been perfectly accurate. That they had probably vaguely guessed it, even if they didn’t show it.
They simply seemed surprised that Eun-ha was willingly mentioning the personal history he had kept secret until now. Faced with that incredibly low expectation, Eun-ha felt a renewed sense of guilt as he continued to speak calmly. Then, at some point, he realized Im Sujin was looking at him with bright red eyes. Seeing that tearful face, Eun-ha was flustered and could only stammer.
“I mean, why are you crying…”
With red eyes, Im Sujin glared as if he found Eun-ha infuriatingly endearing and reached out both arms. He hugged Eun-ha tight and began to grieve in earnest. Suffering through those limp, swaying gestures and the sobbing voice, Eun-ha felt his own emotions trigger for some reason. As if contagious, he became sorrowful for no reason and his eyes turned red as well. Their friends around them watched the scene with an “I figured they’d be like that” look, munching on dried squid. Thus, that sincere time ended with the drunken behavior of intoxicated people.
It was dawn, well past midnight. After the long drinking session ended, Eun-ha stepped outside to sober up. He sat on the deck in front of the entrance, gazing at the distant sky. Perhaps because it was a secluded neighborhood with little light, the stars were clearly visible. He looked up vacantly at the night sky, which sparkled far more than it did in Seoul, and took a deep breath. Was it because he had overexerted himself all day? Despite it being summer, he felt a chill. His stomach felt a bit nauseous, and his head hurt… it seemed a hangover had arrived.
In a poor state of condition, he took a deep breath and checked his phone out of habit. There was a message from Yeon-jun. Seeing the quasi-warning not to overdo it with the drinking, Eun-ha let out a weak laugh and wrote a reply.
I’ve already overdone it.
Less than a minute later, the phone began to buzz with a call. The caller was, of course, Yeon-jun. Eun-ha’s eyes widened at the excessive speed, and his expression softened as he answered.
“What is it? Why aren’t you sleeping?”
I couldn’t sleep.
“Huh? Why couldn’t you sleep…?”
Because I miss Hyung, obviously.
“…Good grief.”
What are you doing?
“I’m sitting in the yard. To sober up.”
How much did you drink?
“I didn’t drink that much. Look. I’m communicating just fine.”
I don’t know. Your pronunciation seems a bit slurred…
“Not at all. My pronunciation is precise.”
He spoke clearly and deliberately on purpose. A light laugh came through the line.
Did you eat a lot of delicious things?
“Yeah. We had a party. Meat, sausages, grilled clams and shrimp, ramen…”
The response came back that he was almost impressed by how he managed to eat all that. Eun-ha twisted his lips cynically, as if it were absurd. It wasn’t even funny. As if he were raising me to grow big and strong or something…
Small talk continued after that. Trapped in the humid, hot air, they chatted softly with the sound of insects in the grass as background noise.
Nothing happened, right?
He hesitated at that question, asked as a check-in. Because it felt like something was happening. His physical condition was indeed not great. He kept breaking into a cold sweat, making him wonder if he had caught a cold. They say even dogs don’t catch summer colds… thinking this, he answered normally.
“Yeah. Nothing happened.”
Just like that. There was no need to go out of his way to cause worry.
After continuing the mundane conversation for a while longer, they ended the call after a gentle “good night.” Instead of putting the phone down, Eun-ha stared at the screen with the background image on and entered the messaging app. He began to scroll back and read through their past chats. He had been in contact with him intermittently throughout the day. It was because he had been on his mind. After all, they had parted on such a gloomy note earlier.
So.
“…”
…Maybe I miss him a bit.
It was the moment he thought it unconsciously. A presence suddenly approached from the side.
“Hey. Lee Eun-ha.”
Someone plopped down in the seat next to him immediately. As if they had been waiting. When he looked back, it was Im Sujin. As Eun-ha stared blankly, Sujin narrowed his eyes and nudged Eun-ha’s shoulder with his own. He shot him a sharp look.
“You’re dating, aren’t you?”
“…Suddenly?”
“Who is it that makes you talk like that on the phone? All smiley.”
“When was I smiley?”
“What do you mean ‘when’—? You were smiling the whole time. I’ve seriously never seen you smile like that before.”
“…”
“And did you think I didn’t notice you were contacting someone all day today?”
“…Not all day.”
It was an answer that was practically an admission. How could he possibly deny it to someone who was interrogating him with such certainty?
It wasn’t something he particularly wanted to hide. Eun-ha just turned his head forward and fumbled with his cheek as if checking it. …Did I smile like that?
At that innocent reaction, Im Sujin’s eyes sparkled with interest.
“Who is it? Show me a picture. Don’t you have any intention of introducing them to us?”
“Introducing who…”
“Why? Whenever I got a boyfriend, I always let you guys know and shared who it was.”