By Zephyria 
Аftеr that day, Dо-hуun stayеd calmlу bу Wоо-уеon’s side. Не hеlped him with his mаjor studies, and whеn theу had sрarе time, thеу wоuld attend frеshman lеctures togеther. His prеsence wаs of а kind thаt simply couldn’t be ignоred; by the timе finаl ехаms apрroасhed, the рrоfessor even jоked аbоut calling his аttеndаnсе.
“Hеу, did yоu see the article аbout our sсhool?”
Тhe schoоl beсame сhаotic аround the timе Woо-уeоn wаs cоming оut of his first finаl ехam. Hаving сomрlеtеd thе test satisfactorily through a combination of his own hard work and Do-hyun’s past exam papers, Woo-yeon unconsciously slowed his pace at the sound of a passing voice.
“That crazy bastard. Some of us worked our asses off to get into college, while he just got lucky with his parents…”
The student said this, then lowered their voice upon spotting Woo-yeon. Woo-yeon hurried forward, looking straight ahead as if he hadn’t heard a thing. He could hear the students whispering again as he moved away.
“Isn’t that him? Seon-jung?”
“What, where? Whoa… it is him. Man, I thought he got in through fraudulent admission.”
“We don’t know that for sure yet. Maybe he also…”
He couldn’t hear the rest, but he could easily predict the conversation they were having. Well, it didn’t really matter much to Woo-yeon anyway.
「[Exclusive] Fraudulent Admission at Prestigious University, Investigation Launched」
「Allegations of Admission Corruption Regarding Ji Su-hyang’s Child… ‘Groundless’」
「Reports of ‘Entrance Exam Corruption’ and Document Forgery Follow」
The articles that poured out like mushrooms after a rain this morning brought a great storm to the already noisy school. Reporters set up camps at both the front and back gates, and a group from the Ministry of Education busily moved in and out of the campus.
“Is this guy a total psycho or what?”
Ga-ram, who had shown up at the club room today, spat out curses incessantly in her usual piercing voice. She ranted about how she’d never seen such a crazy person and how this was why the school was in such a state. Dressed in a purple tracksuit from top to bottom and with a ballpoint pen clamped in her mouth, her sloppiness was beyond words.
“He’s living just fine himself, yet he had the nerve to give Woo-yeon hell!”
Instead of responding, Woo-yeon silently lowered his gaze. The notes scattered messily across the table were traces of their preparation for finals. In reality, none of the four of them had been able to concentrate on studying.
“Wow, seriously. I should have punched him!”
The protagonist who made Ga-ram this angry. The party responsible for the fraudulent admission and the one who had given Woo-yeon “hell.” Woo-yeon had known exactly who that was long before things turned out this way.
‘His family is very, very wealthy.’
Not long ago, Soo-hyang had told him about Jun-seong’s family as if it were just casual conversation. That one parent was a professor and the other was a director of a major corporation. She mentioned he had three older siblings, all of whom were big shots holding positions in the company.
‘I wondered why there was so much talk about admission corruption, and it turns out there was someone else who actually deserved to be caught.’
Normally, it would have been buried over time. Unless someone went out of their way to report it, there would be no reason for it to become a major controversy. That is, if reporters hadn’t pounced like hyenas upon discovering the existence of ‘Ji Su-hyang’s son.’
‘Since they entered in the same year, he’ll definitely get caught once the investigation starts.’
Her tone suggested that even if he weren’t caught, she would make it happen. After saying that, Soo-hyang’s eyes gleamed coldly.
‘He needs to know who he dared to mess with.’
“Did he even show up to school? He probably didn’t, right? Ugh, fuck!”
News of who the fraudulent admittee was spread in the blink of an eye. A student with a poor academic attitude who had suddenly vanished without a trace. A student whose name the professors would skip over with a hush during roll call.
Word travels fast. The rumors that started in the Engineering Building reached the Humanities Building in just half a day. By the time Woo-yeon finished his exam and arrived at the club room, Ga-ram was in the middle of venting all her rage at Do-hyun.
“Of course he didn’t show up. Woo-yeon, he hasn’t contacted you, has he?”
“Contact? Not particularly… ah.”
Woo-yeon stopped mid-sentence and frowned awkwardly. His phone hadn’t rung, but it was difficult to judge the presence of contact based solely on that.
“I don’t know, I’m not sure.”
Seon-kyu’s eyes widened. You’re not sure? he seemed to ask.
“It’s just, his number…”
“I blocked it.”
Do-hyun, who was beside him, finished the sentence Woo-yeon had started. Not only Seon-kyu, but even Ga-ram blinked and looked at him. Do-hyun placed a notebook in front of Woo-yeon and spoke in a nonchalant voice.
“I thought he might contact Woo-yeon, so I blocked him a while ago.”
No one answered in the face of such a confident manner. Woo-yeon belatedly took out his phone, then stopped moving while locking eyes with Do-hyun. It was because Do-hyun spoke suggestively.
“I won’t stop you if you want to check, but…”
“…”
“I’d prefer it if you just left it, Woo-yeon.”
It wasn’t a demanding tone. If anything, it was closer to concern. After contemplating for a long while, Woo-yeon held out his phone to Do-hyun.
“If there are any messages… please delete them.”
Do-hyun took the phone without a word, and when he returned it, nothing remained. Whether he had deleted everything or whether there had been nothing from the start—only Do-hyun knew that fact.
Fourteen years old. The ill fate that had continued since childhood ended there.
* * *
“To summer vacation!”
“Cheers!”
Clink! The soju glasses collided with a cheerful sound. It was already the fifth toast amidst the heated atmosphere. Ga-ram, her face flushed, was mixing somaek, and Seon-kyu was also chatting with his classmates with a goofy grin. Woo-yeon set his soju glass on the table and glanced at the seat next to him.
“Oppa will probably be the top of the class again, right?”
“I can’t get a scholarship because of that Hyung.”
“Bullshit, you just can’t get one on your own.”
It was Friday of the week all exams ended. After finishing a tumultuous semester, the club held a drinking party to celebrate summer vacation. They heard there was a department gathering at the chicken place in the next building, but even Seon-kyu, who was on the student council, chose the club. Woo-yeon had secretly tried to go home but ended up following Seon-kyu to the party.
“I don’t know about being top of the class. I couldn’t study properly this time.”
As soon as he arrived at the pub, Woo-yeon snagged a corner seat where he wouldn’t have to drink. No one would force him, but it was to prevent himself from drinking one or two glasses just because he got caught up in the atmosphere. Even if the reporters’ momentum had died down recently (Jun-seong’s incident was a big blow), it would still be troublesome if he made a mistake.
And naturally, Do-hyun took the seat next to Woo-yeon.
“Hyung, have another drink!”
“Cheers, cheers! Cheeeers!”
As soon as he sat down, Do-hyun drank the alcohol the Hubaes kept pouring for him without pause. Once he finished a glass, a new one returned, and once he finished that, somaek appeared from somewhere. Normally, Do-hyun would have moderated himself, but today he was bottoming up every drink given to him.
“Do-hyun Hyung seems to be handling his liquor well today!”
Woo-yeon leaned his head against the wall and blankly watched Do-hyun. The sight of his large hand gripping the soju glass, the way his prominent Adam’s apple moved up and down. The way his gentle eyes occasionally crinkled.
“Why does it feel like you guys are only feeding me today?”
His voice was languid. The way his words trailed off was definitely different from usual. The slow blinking of his eyes also showed that he was drunk.
“…Shouldn’t you stop drinking?”
The words came out unconsciously. It was because drinking only alcohol without any snacks for a while now seemed quite precarious. Do-hyun’s eyelids flickered, and he shifted his gaze sideways.
“True… I think I should stop.”
Despite saying that, Do-hyun drank the next glass. The problem was that as soon as the glass was empty, another Hubae quickly poured more soju. Seeing as they were spilling it without controlling the amount, the Hubae was also dead drunk.
“Who wants the somaek I mixed!”
Woo-yeon found it unfamiliar and puzzling to see him drink like this. Do-hyun, who was more thorough about self-management than anyone, had never been drunk at any drinking party until now. Or rather, to be precise, he had never seen it because Woo-yeon always got drunk first.
“Here, I’ll give this to the club president specially. I don’t give this to just anyone.”
Ga-ram placed the somaek she had personally crafted down in front of Do-hyun. She called it ‘somaek,’ but looking at the color, it was closer to barley tea. The ratio of soju was at least 50%. Unable to watch any longer, Woo-yeon frowned and looked at Ga-ram.
“Noona, what kind of somaek is this…”
“Down it! Down it!”
“Whoaa! Drink! Drink!”
“Excuse me…”
Woo-yeon learned a new fact: that in a drinking party, the person who isn’t drunk is the loser. The club members, already wasted, only clapped and cheered regardless of what Woo-yeon said. To make matters worse, Do-hyun grabbed the beer glass without any particular resistance.
“Are you really going to drink it?”
Woo-yeon blurted out a sharp question. He asked out of surprise, but Do-hyun didn’t mind.
“Yeah, since she gave it to me, I should drink it.”
Since when did he become so obedient to others? Refusing something without ruining the mood was nothing for the Teacher.
“I think you’re really drunk…”
Unable to stop him actively, Woo-yeon lightly tugged on Do-hyun’s collar. An ambiguous relationship—neither dating nor not dating. He couldn’t gauge how far he was allowed to interfere.
However, that small gesture brought a rare, large reaction.
“…Ah.”
Thud, the beer glass overturned. It was because Do-hyun accidentally let go of it. The full glass of alcohol splashed out, and half of it flowed down onto Do-hyun’s pants. The club members, who had been chatting excitedly, were startled and frantically searched for tissues.
“Gasp, tissues! Tissues!”
Woo-yeon’s eyes widened as he grabbed the tissues from the corner of the table. He immediately held them out to Do-hyun, but Do-hyun just stood there blankly without taking any action. Left with no choice, Woo-yeon pulled out a tissue and moved it toward the area between Do-hyun’s legs.
“Why aren’t you wiping it?”
The light beige slacks were stained a dark brown. Since it was beer and not soju, the amount was incredibly large.
As he tried to wipe from the chair up to the thigh in haste, Do-hyun suddenly grabbed Woo-yeon’s wrist.
“Why are you—”
Snap, their eyes met. Woo-yeon looked at Do-hyun’s face with wide eyes. His mouth closed, and the words he was about to say vanished down his throat. His gripped wrist hurt, but he couldn’t even ask him to let go.
“…”
His expression was stiff, unlike his usual self. His pupils were shaking wildly, but his gaze was fixed on Woo-yeon. One second, two seconds, three seconds. Just as the subtle tension reached its peak, Do-hyun’s face flushed bright red.
“…I’m going to get some fresh air.”
Saying that, Do-hyun stood up abruptly and left the table. Only Woo-yeon, left behind, blankly looked back and forth between that retreating figure and his own wrist.