By Zephyria 
Wоо-yeon’s fасe turned рale in аn instаnt. Не rоllеd his eyеs Dе-gururu аnd asked bаck as if he сouldn’t bеlievе it. “Reаlly?” Аt thаt quеstion, Do-hуun narrоwed his eyеs suspiciouslу.
“Is that how yоu talk tо mе? Do you know that?”
“……I knоw.”
“That’s a drinking hаbit.”
Whеthеr it wаs bеcausе he fоund it sо amusing, his faсе was full of smiles. With a lоok оf аmusement аll оvеr his fасe, hе lоokеd so handsome that Woо-yeоn couldn’t bring himsеlf to look him in thе eуe. Woо-уeon сoverеd his eаrs with his рalms аnd mumblеd a рrоtest.
“Yоu sаid nоthing hapреned thаt dау.”
“I did?”
Dо-hyun tilted his head with his hands in his pockets. He looked as if he were wondering, ‘Did I say that?’ Soon, he shook his head and corrected Woo-yeon’s words.
“I only said, ‘We didn’t sleep together.'”
“…….”
Hesitation filled his pale face. He wanted to ask what exactly had happened, but he couldn’t muster the courage. A sudden fear gripped him, as if he were opening Pandora’s Box.
“W-why are Ga-ram Noona and Seon-kyu taking so long……”
In the end, Woo-yeon brought up a random topic and stepped aside by the door.
It was a sudden comment, but it wasn’t a completely irrelevant subject. Despite a considerable amount of time passing, Ga-ram and Seon-kyu had not yet returned. Assuming it usually took about ten minutes, that time had long since passed.
“Mungaram and Seon-kyu?”
Do-hyun didn’t bother to point out the awkwardness and asked back, pretending not to know. Then, he nonchalantly gestured toward the door with his chin.
“What do you mean, they’re not coming.”
The broken door opened Swoosh. He could feel a presence through the gap in the door, which opened like an automatic door. Woo-yeon’s eyes widened, and he froze in place.
“…….”
“…….”
Two familiar people looked around awkwardly. He had wondered why they were late, and they were holding drinks in both hands.
At the same time Woo-yeon wore a look of shock, Ga-ram unnaturally lifted the drink carrier.
“I bought some drinks……”
The drinks, with ice floating in them, had Droplet by Droplet moisture forming on the surface of the cups. It was obvious that the ice inside had already half-melted. Seon-kyu, standing behind Ga-ram, nodded with a determined expression.
“We just got here.”
It was an obvious statement, but no one believed it.
Woo-yeon looked back and forth between Ga-ram and Seon-kyu with bewildered eyes. He wanted to ask, ‘Since when were you here?’ but again, it wasn’t easy to ask.
As if they had coordinated, the four of them remained silent about what had just happened in the club room. Only Seon-kyu sent a gaze demanding an explanation, but Woo-yeon avoided it, pretending not to notice. This was because it would be difficult to give a clear answer since things had become very strange between him and Do-hyun.
Are they dating? Or not? Such questions repeatedly surfaced and vanished. He had heard that Do-hyun liked him, and Woo-yeon liked him too, but he hadn’t answered the confession. Moreover, hadn’t there been any explicit request to date?
Thinking up to that point, Woo-yeon pursed his lips in dismay. It should have been a moment to be happy about, but the fact that the relationship was undefined weighed on his mind. For Woo-yeon, who had never been in a relationship, this entire situation was ambiguous and unfamiliar.
“Are you listening?”
Woo-yeon, who had been spacing out for a while, snapped back to his senses and blinked. The Tteokbokki (Ga-ram had ordered it again today) he was holding with chopsticks plopped back into the paper cup. Feeling the gazes of the three people focused on him, Woo-yeon shook his head lightly.
“Ah…… I’m sorry. I didn’t hear.”
“It’s okay. We were talking about renting equipment for the festival.”
Do-hyun didn’t scold him and started the explanation again. The problem was that Woo-yeon had lost the thread of the conversation much earlier than Do-hyun thought.
“We’re having a festival?”
When Woo-yeon asked in surprise, Ga-ram clicked her tongue. She glared at Do-hyun with a dissatisfied look and muttered in a voice that was barely audible.
“He’s completely distracted him.”
“……Our school has two festivals.”
Do-hyun slyly ignored Ga-ram’s words. Everyone heard it clearly, but once again, as if they had coordinated, they all kept their mouths shut.
“The cherry blossom festival in spring, and the autumn foliage festival in fall. Originally, we’d run a pub for one of them, but they said they’re cracking down on selling alcohol on a large scale this time, so we have to do something wholesome.”
“Ksh, it’s such a shame we can’t do a pub. Our club’s pub used to be the best.”
“I told you, you weren’t in our club back then.”
Woo-yeon recalled the bustling atmosphere of the school since the morning. He had felt that something was different from usual, and it seemed it was because of the festival. Come to think of it, the Teaching Assistant who visited the club room a while ago had mentioned that ‘pubs are banned.’
“Anyway, I thought of something simple like shaved ice or Tteok Skewers, but other clubs will probably do those, so I want to try something a bit different.”
Are shaved ice and Tteok Skewers simple? While thinking this, Woo-yeon silently nodded. Since his knowledge of ‘college festivals’ converged to zero, he had no choice but to silently follow whatever Do-hyun said.
Seeing Woo-yeon like that, Do-hyun smiled as if he were melting.
“Do you like Cotton Candy?”
* * *
Cotton Candy. Sitting at the back of the lecture hall, Woo-yeon searched for that on his phone. Amidst all sorts of advertisement sites, the definition of cotton candy and some children’s songs appeared. Among them, what Woo-yeon chose was the character-shaped cotton candy that one might sell at an amusement park.
‘I looked it up, and renting the machine isn’t that expensive. Since the ingredients are just sugar and wooden skewers, let’s rent a machine and sell cotton candy.’
Ga-ram expressed disappointment that it wasn’t alcohol, but Seon-kyu and Woo-yeon’s eyes sparkled. Seon-kyu was curious because it was his first festival, and Woo-yeon was curious because it was the first time he would eat cotton candy. Fluffy Fluffy cloud-like cotton candy was a food he had never even properly touched, let alone eaten.
‘Sounds fun, right?’
Do-hyun had asked as if he had seen right through Woo-yeon’s thoughts. Although he had initially asked if he liked cotton candy, he must have realized that Woo-yeon had never tried it. He probably asked it that way while being mindful of Seon-kyu and Ga-ram’s presence. Naturally, Woo-yeon nodded with a face full of excitement.
“I will call the attendance.”
Putting his phone away, Woo-yeon looked around the lecture hall. The professor, who had stood before the podium, began calling names one by one. The first name called was ‘Kang Jun-seong,’ but no one answered.
“Kang Jun-seong didn’t show up this week either.”
“Hey, I wouldn’t show up either if I were him. Out of embarrassment.”
“But the other kid showed up just fine?”
“That kid got his grades properly.”
The whispering was clearly audible. Woo-yeon realized that Jun-seong hadn’t come last week either, and that the ‘other kid’ they were referring to was him. As expected, it seemed the incident during the group project had spread widely.
“Seon Woo-yeon.”
“Yes.”
Well, it didn’t really matter. Whether Jun-seong gave up on this lecture or what rumors spread about him. He didn’t want to care, and he didn’t care. Having seen all the unsightly sides of him, it was beneficial for both of them to act as if they were strangers now.
So, as soon as the lecture began, Woo-yeon erased all thoughts of Jun-seong. Do-hyun’s confession, the cotton candy they would make at the festival, and the lecture content he had missed for a week. Those three things alone were enough to keep his mind busy.
“We’ll stop here for today.”
The professor ended the lecture 30 minutes early today as well. Woo-yeon sent a message to Seon-kyu saying it was over and packed his things to leave. This was because, before coming to class, he had heard from Do-hyun that ‘we should start the study group again from today.’ Even though exams were over and the festival was just around the corner, it was truly the diligence expected of the top student.
‘I should go see Teacher quickly.’
There were still mountains of things he hadn’t asked. Whether he really liked him, and if so, how their relationship would change.
If possible, he wanted to hear the confession ‘I like you’ once more. Since Do-hyun said he would tell him until he believed it, wouldn’t it be okay to be greedy for two more times? After all, given how long he had liked him, that much should be fine.
“Hey.”
Woo-yeon quickened his pace while checking the message from Seon-kyu. It said he would wait in the club room, so they should talk more about the festival before moving to the study cafe. Just as he was about to reply that he would be there soon since other Seonbaes were there, someone called out to Woo-yeon in a loud voice.
“Hey, Seon Woo-yeon!”
An ominous feeling crept up on him. There was only one person Woo-yeon knew who called him ‘Seon Woo-yeon’ and spoke in such an irritable voice.
He thought about ignoring it, but the other person didn’t let Woo-yeon go easily.
“Ah, fuck. When someone calls you, you could at least……”
Suddenly, his arm was grabbed. Without hesitation, Woo-yeon grabbed the hand holding him and twisted it back. The opponent, who had let go of Woo-yeon too easily, stepped back with a bewildered face.
“Wait, did you learn some self-defense? What’s with this strength……”
As expected, it was Kang Jun-seong. The Kang Jun-seong who should have skipped the lecture and become a stranger to Woo-yeon. It seemed he attended other lectures normally, as he was wearing a hat pulled low and carrying a bag.
“Ah…… right, whatever. Seon Woo-yeon, you and I need to talk.”
“I have nothing to say.”
Woo-yeon replied and walked away, leaving Jun-seong behind. His great mood was gradually being covered by irritation. Jun-seong, who had no way of knowing his inner thoughts, hurriedly followed behind Woo-yeon.
“Hey, I said I have something to say! Is it okay to just ignore me and walk away?”
“…….”
“Hey, hey, hey!”
Jun-seong, whose voice grew louder, rushed forward and blocked Woo-yeon’s path. Should I just punch him? Just as he clenched his fist with that thought, unexpected words burst from Jun-seong’s mouth.
“I’m sorry!”
Stop. His movement ceased. The pheromones that had been sharply edged also lost their toxicity in an instant. Jun-seong took off his hat, put it back on, and let out a sigh as if he were going crazy.
“Ha, fuck…… I said I’m sorry.”
It started with a curse, but it ended with an apology. The guy, rubbing the back of his head with an embarrassed face, glanced at Woo-yeon’s reaction. Woo-yeon was staring blankly into the air.
“I didn’t come here to pick a fight. I came to apologize.”
“…….”
“That day…… after that happened with you, I thought a lot. I think I made a mistake with you because I was young back then. I’m sorry.”
The words were incredibly plain. The way he hesitated, the way he looked down. Even the occasional sighs he let out made him look like someone who was truly apologizing.
Woo-yeon let out a hollow laugh involuntarily and spat out coldly.
“You crazy bastard.”