NOT 105
Are group meetings and pubs a set package?
Haon let out a hollow laugh as he looked at the fish cake soup placed before him again.
“Last time, we got lucky because class was canceled. Drink in moderation.”
At that, Kim Pilsu raised his soju glass and spoke gravely.
“We’re graduating soon. Once that happens, even if we want to drink like this, we won’t be able to.”
“Why wouldn’t we be able to?”
It’s not like we turn back into children just because we graduate from university.
When Haon acted as if that made no sense, Kim Pilsu gave him a look that said he didn’t know anything.
“I’m getting a job right away. There, being late is something you can’t even dream of, so I’ll have to live on high alert.”
“And being late for class is okay?”
Haon retorted as if it was ridiculous, but inwardly, seeing Kim stolen [visit [visit our site]our site]contentPilsu steel his resolve made him think it was quite something.
Anyway, now that things had come to this, just as he was thinking he might have a drink, the soju glass in front of him disappeared.
To be precise, a hand from beside him took Haon’s glass away.
Watching Cha Jeong-won empty the soju glass in one go, Haon muttered.
“I didn’t apply for a black knight.”
“Yeah. I have something I want to hear.”
He acted as if he was stating a wish to a black knight. Haon didn’t particularly refuse.
“Are you getting a job too?”
It seemed he had overheard his conversation with Kim Pilsu and gotten curious.
Haon slowly scratched his cheek.
“I… definitely. Yes, I’m getting a job.”
It wasn’t particularly difficult to answer, but for some reason, he hesitated.
Because he remembered the time when he had tried to distance himself from Cha Jeong-won.
He had thought that with his graduation project and many things to do in his final year, there was no good in getting tangled up with Cha Jeong-won.
Even though he had resolved himself like that, now he was stuck right by Cha Jeong-won’s side.
He guessed that in the second semester, while finishing his graduation project, he would probably start job hunting in earnest.
“Which direction are you thinking?”
“At first, I wanted to work at an art gallery, but anywhere in Seoul would be good.”
After answering obediently, Haon took the empty glass from Cha Jeong-won.
“What about you, sunbae?”
Since he had already held a solo exhibition, he thought it would be fine to remain an artist rather than get a job.
“I’m going to work.”
“What kind of work?”
Creating works was also work for an artist. Haon thought that’s what he meant.
“I’m going to work with you.”
But after adding that one line, Cha Jeong-won took Haon’s empty glass back.
‘Wait, what, does he want to work with me? Is he saying he doesn’t want to part? But work is work and dating is dating.’
Haon couldn’t hide the heat rising to his face.
“Your face is red. What are you thinking about?”
“It’s red because this fish cake soup is hot. I wasn’t thinking about anything. What, did you think I was imagining us two, huh? Wearing suits and working?”
“You did.”
At Cha Jeong-won’s clean-cut point, Haon closed his mouth.
Right, he did.
“Well, you said we’d work together.”
“Hmm, I hadn’t thought about working at the same place…”
Cha Jeong-won licked his lower lip.
He, who had been deeply contemplating, raised his eyes.
“Should I start thinking about it now too?”
Haon avoided answering by drinking.
If he didn’t suppress his pounding heart with alcohol, he couldn’t stop the image of Cha Jeong-won in a suit from flickering before his eyes.
“Should I wear a suit to school tomorrow?”
At Cha Jeong-won’s suggestion, Haon pretended to be reluctant and leaned his upper body back.
In that posture, he rolled his eyes around and then glanced at Cha Jeong-won.
“Then that would be good.”
He wondered why he’d suddenly wear a suit, but once he imagined visit our sitestyle="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[Read on Read BL Novels]it, he wanted to see Cha Jeong-won wearing one.
“Well then, since you’re wearing it anyway, maybe we could go see the cherry blossoms too.”
There had been a lot of things happening lately, and if this continued, a little more time and the cherry blossoms would all be gone.
If the year passed without incident, the two of them would graduate right away. It meant this was the last spring they could spend together as students.
Thinking about it in a chain like that, for some reason, he felt a little regretful about the flowers falling now too.
Cha Jeong-won tilted his glass with a sweet smile.
“No, but why are you drinking like this?”
He wasn’t usually like this?
At Haon’s question, Cha Jeong-won fiddled with the empty glass. Perhaps due to a change in mood, his expression softened considerably.
“Well, the alcohol tastes especially sweet today.”
“You can’t just drink it because it’s sweet. You’ll pass out like that.”
“It’s funny hearing you of all people say that.”
“I know because I’ve been drunk. Won’t you go crazy wanting to tear your hair out when you open your eyes the next day?”
“Ah, Haon did that.”
As Cha Jeong-won kept teasing him, Haon got flustered and grabbed the soju bottle.
“Just drink more. Drink. I’ll watch and laugh while you regret it tomorrow.”
Even so, telling him not to go hungry, he separately served fish cake soup onto a personal plate for him.
Before they knew it, lost in their own world, Kim Pilsu and the other group members clinked glasses among themselves.
“This situation doesn’t feel unfamiliar either.”
“Right.”
It seemed they had been like that even before they started dating.
＊ ＊ ＊
Even after leaving the pub, Haon couldn’t take his eyes off Cha Jeong-won.
He had clearly drunk a lot. He didn’t know his alcohol tolerance, but he drank enough that any ordinary person would be drunk.
If Cha Jeong-won was human too, he should definitely be drunk.
Why was he walking around so normally?
His posture was also very upright.
And his steps walking home? He was walking straight as if there was an invisible line under his feet.
He really seemed to have a strong tolerance for alcohol.
“Go on in.”
After saying goodbye to the other group members, Haon quickly went and stuck close to Cha Jeong-won.
“Go straight to bed when you get home.”
“I’m going to wash up.”
At Cha Jeong-won’s short reply, Haon pressed his nose against the nape of his neck.
“I don’t smell anything. You could probably just wash your feet and sleep.”
It only smelled good. Having already pressed his nose there, he was inhaling Cha Jeong-won’s body scent infused with pheromones to his heart’s content when Cha Jeong-won grabbed the back of Haon’s neck.
“I need to wash up. Aren’t you going to wash up?”
“I… will wash up too.”
Haon, who had inwardly been thinking of just wiping down roughly and sleeping, felt a pang of guilt.
“I’m going to wash up first.”
“Huh? Ah, okay.”
Who washed first wasn’t particularly important.
But Haon tilted his head.
Should he say it was somehow unlike the usual Cha Jeong-won?
It wasn’t the prickly demeanor from when they first met, but it also wasn’t the often-seen demeanor either.
Haon looked at him directly with a suspicious gaze.
Are you really not drunk?
That’s strange.
As soon as they returned home, watching Cha Jeong-won head straight into the bathroom, Haon’s thoughts suddenly turned to the box in the bedroom.
Since Cha Jeong-won was washing up, he thought he might just take a quick look at what that box was like and quietly stepped into the bedroom.
Haon lay flat on the floor and reached his hand under the bed.
Soon, the hard surface of a box caught on his fingertips. Haon pulled out the box, sat with his back to the bed, and placed it on his lap.
It wasn’t an impending misfortune, but the fact that this was under Cha Jeong-won’s bed made Haon uneasy.
On top of that, knowing that Cha Jeong-won had gotten into an accident because of this box, Haon’s heart wasn’t exactly pleased about just leaving it alone.
Haon rubbed the edge of the box lid with his fingertips. Then, suddenly, the texture catching on his fingertips felt strange.
Rather than the grain of paper, something thread-like, like content">stolen contentfrayed seams, kept digging under his nails.
Then he suddenly realized something strange.
“Was it… originally like this?”
The talisman attached inside the box was tattered. The corners were crumpled as if repeatedly wet and dried, and one side was lifted as if about to fall off any moment.
It seemed like the talisman had become tattered.
Now that things had come to this, should he peel off the talisman and check what was inside the box?
He didn’t know if this talisman was preventing misfortune, or if it was attracting more misfortune. It might have had no effect from the start.
The only thing Haon knew was that the object inside the box would torment Cha Jeong-won in some way.
Wouldn’t it be better to check inside beforehand to help prepare for later?
Haon picked up the lifted end. He tried to gently push it off with his nail, but it was stickier and tougher than expected. Not wanting to tear the paper, he eased the pressure and tried changing the angle, but something seemed to cling strangely under his nail.
It felt as if something that should have gone pop and fallen off was holding on, refusing to be peeled.
He thought about forcing it off again, but for some reason, it felt bad, so he decided to stop.
The box was strangely light. Haon turned the box over, shook it, and even peered under the bed.
“Did something fall out?”
It was right then, as he was groping around the floor under the bed just in case.
Suddenly, for some reason, he got goosebumps. For no reason, from his nape to his spine, everything stiffened tightly.
Haon slowly raised his head.
Cha Jeong-won was standing there.
He didn’t know when he had come out. His damp hair clung to his forehead. Even with a towel slung casually around his waist, his appearance didn’t seem relaxed.
The problem was his eyes. Instead of their usual calm color, they gleamed as if a thin film had been peeled off. And the focus of those eyes was directed at Haon.
“Sunbae?”
He saw something drip, plop, plop, onto the floor.
Haon lowered his gaze a beat late. Something red was dripping from Cha Je[class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">unauthorized copy]ong-won’s fingertips.
It was blood.
Haon’s heart sank.
“What, blood, you’re bleeding. Where are you hurt?”
The moment Haon tried to get up, Cha Jeong-won approached.
For some reason, it felt like he couldn’t escape. In that moment, Cha Jeong-won’s shadow engulfed Haon.
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