By Zephyria 
“Hey…. Did you, did you drink all of that by yourself?”
Yeon-rok stammered in surprise. He counted the number of liquor bottles sitting in front of him, and the amount was extraordinary. Choi Hwan looked up and blinked slowly. Then, without a single change in expression, he began to stream tears. Yeon-rok was utterly flustered.
“What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Did something happen?”
Since he didn’t answer and just kept dripping tears, Yeon-rok couldn’t bring himself to leave. He sat down beside him and asked worriedly.
“Did your family say something again?”
At that, Choi Hwan’s handsome features—from his eyebrows down to the corners of his mouth—suddenly crumpled, and he began to sob, catching his breath in sharp gasps. It seemed that Yeon-rok’s attempts to soothe him only made him feel more sorrowful. Between his sobs, Choi Hwan finally spoke.
“Why is it… so hard… to like someone…?”
His voice was completely drenched in alcohol. Without realizing it, Yeon-rok glanced around. He wondered if some kind of filming was going on without his knowledge, but no cameras were in sight.
“This is really… my first time… feeling like this. My pride is hurt… and, I’m annoyed, and freaking pissed… I wish everyone except you would just fuck off….”
Yeon-rok looked at him blankly, feeling a mix of pity and the sense that this guy was really going through it. He figured Choi Hwan must actually like him quite a bit. He gently tried to soothe the drunk.
“Stop drinking and go inside to rest. You have a schedule tomorrow too.”
However, Choi Hwan didn’t even pretend to listen and poured more alcohol down his throat. It seemed useless to try and stop him. Under the guise of bringing over some snacks so the drunk wouldn’t notice, Yeon-rok returned after filling the empty bottles with water.
When he brought the fruit, Choi Hwan didn’t even look at it. Left with no choice, Yeon-rok brought out his secret weapon. Choi Hwan, who was always on a grueling diet, swallowed hard at the sight of the delicious ramen Yeon-rok had cooked. Even in his drunken state, his appetite seemed to awaken; sniffing, he devoured the ramen as if by magic.
“Is it good?”
He replied with a muffled “Mm-hm” while eating fervently. When Yeon-rok discreetly poured water into his glass, he drank it without suspicion. That was a relief. Yeon-rok intended to make him drink plenty of water and then put him to bed, but in the middle of eating the ramen, Choi Hwan started sobbing again.
“Yeon-rok-ah….”
“Yeah, yeah. Drink some more of this.”
Choi Hwan stopped drinking the water and stared at him with suspicious eyes. He seemed so drunk that he couldn’t tell if it tasted like alcohol or water. Yeon-rok poured water into the empty glass again. When Choi Hwan furrowed his well-groomed eyebrows, Yeon-rok wondered if he had noticed, but that wasn’t it.
“Can’t you… really… just date me?”
“No, you can’t. I’ve decided to live as a bachelor. I’m absolutely not dating anyone.”
Recently, this resolve had only grown firmer. Even if he were to date one person, he felt this situation would never end beautifully. It was certain that at least one, and possibly two, people would end up in the hospital. And not because of contact deficiency, but from punching each other.
Yeon-rok planned to endure until the three of them either gave up or accepted reality and sorted out their feelings.
But then, Choi Hwan suddenly wailed in sorrow.
“What’s the point! You like Yeom Cheon-ho the most!”
Caught off guard by the truth, a flustered Yeon-rok immediately denied it.
“What are you talking about? I treat all three of you with the same heart. I mean, I think of you all as people like roommates.”
“Do you… do you have sex with your roommates?”
“You crazy bastard! I’ve never had sex with them!”
“I know. You, with Yeom Cheon-ho, at the hospital, sex….”
Yeon-rok clamped his hand over Choi Hwan’s mouth. However, because the lips kept mumbling against his palm, it became damp, and he couldn’t hold on for more than a few seconds before pulling away. Even this felt like contact, making him itch.
“I told you I didn’t do that! That was just, just, kind of….”
But then again, it wasn’t as if they had done absolutely nothing. Wait? Could that also be considered a type of sex? As he stammered, unable to finish his sentence, Choi Hwan began to stream tears again.
“How is that a roommate? How is that a roommate… If that’s a roommate, then just do a little bit with me too…. And, you’re always kissing Yeom Cheon-ho and Moon Gyeon-woo, but with me… you don’t….”
What on earth should he do with this nuisance? After pondering, Yeon-rok changed his strategy. He decided to feed him plenty of alcohol, turn him into a complete wreck, and put him to sleep. Yeon-rok chose a strong distilled spirit and poured it into Choi Hwan’s glass. But for some reason, this time, he didn’t drink and just started bawling.
“I’m sorry for saying you weren’t on my level and that you were pathetic beforeeee….”
“Why don’t you just drink this?”
“No matter how scrawny you are, and how your clothes look like rags, and how your hair is like dog fur, and how the only thing worth looking at is your face, I shouldn’t have said those things, but, waaaaah….”
Despite the apology, Yeon-rok’s mood only grew worse. Was he perhaps insulting him while pretending to be drunk? Just as Yeon-rok was staring at the liquor bottle, tempted by a method of knocking him out that was faster and easier than feeding him alcohol—
“Yeon-rok-ah….”
The handsome, nuisance drunk, who looked good even while intoxicated, whined and called Yeon-rok’s name. Then, he suddenly kissed him. No matter how handsome he was, being kissed by a drunk who had just eaten ramen and alcohol was truly unpleasant.
“Seriously! Are you just going to keep lunging at me without permission?”
Yeon-rok flared up in anger and almost slapped Choi Hwan’s face, but he held back and instead gave him a sharp rap on the head with his fist. However, it was a move he shouldn’t have made. Choi Hwan, who had already drunk a lot and hastily finished a bowl of ramen, ominously made a “uugh” sound.
“No!”
Yeon-rok hurriedly grabbed Choi Hwan. The bathroom! Too far! Almost grabbing him by the hair, Yeon-rok dragged him toward the sink. But he was already a step too late. A truly horrific and disastrous event occurred. Yeon-rok closed his eyes slowly.
“…….”
I should have just left him alone to cry while he was drunk…. Why did I cook the ramen? Am I an idiot?
Leaving Choi Hwan’s dazed, swaying head resting in the sink, Yeon-rok took off his own clothes. Suppressing his rising murderous intent, he stripped Choi Hwan completely. He briefly considered sending the clothes to the laundry, but remembering the man’s wealth, he simply stuffed the clothes into a trash bag and sealed it tight.
Cleaning the kitchen while wearing only underwear, he didn’t feel particularly pleasant. By the time Yeon-rok was nearly finished cleaning, Choi Hwan seemed to have sobered up slightly and glanced at Yeon-rok. Since he was standing there with a face that looked like he wanted to bury his nose in the water and die, Yeon-rok gave him a cup of water and commanded:
“Now go to sleep.”
“Okay….”
The way he stumbled away, looking defeated, was quite unstable. It looked like he might tumble down the stairs. In the end, Yeon-rok followed him, shoved him into the bathroom, made him brush his teeth, scrubbed him clean, and then laid him on the bed. After explaining the situation to Manager Jo Jun-ho, he asked for a hangover cure for the morning. Then, suddenly, the sound of sniffing was heard again.
Yeon-rok let out a sigh. He heard the schedule for tomorrow was tight, so it was obvious he would suffer if he slept like this.
“I’m letting it slide just this once.”
When he gave him a kiss, Choi Hwan’s eyes widened. Even though he had made him brush his teeth and wash his face, he didn’t dare do anything more than that. Feeling embarrassed, Yeon-rok gave his smooth forehead a light slap and hurried away from the spot.
As he closed the door and stepped out, Yeon-rok encountered Moon Gyeon-woo, who was holding a freshly brewed cup of coffee. Moon Gyeon-woo’s eyes wavered as he saw Yeon-rok in only his underwear. It was obvious what kind of misunderstanding he was having, so Yeon-rok spoke.
“Choi Hwan threw up on my clothes, so I threw them all away.”
“Want me to kill him for you?”
Moon Gyeon-woo asked immediately in a chilling voice. To be honest, Yeon-rok had felt similarly a moment ago, but now, his pity for Choi Hwan was slightly stronger.
“No, it’s fine…. Well, these things happen in life.”
But he hoped it would never happen again. Yeon-rok frowned deeply.
“Hyung, seriously, stop drinking coffee. Is your stomach okay?”
“I was actually about to go to sleep soon.”
“While drinking coffee…? Seriously, stop and go to sleep. It’s almost midnight.”
He nodded obediently, but it didn’t seem like he would sleep immediately. Are researchers always like this? Lately, Moon Gyeon-woo looked like someone who was completely possessed. He soon smiled brightly and said,
“Goodnight, Yeon-rok-ah.”
“Yeah, you too, Hyung….”
Perhaps because of the lighting, as Yeon-rok closed the door, he caught a glimpse of Moon Gyeon-woo standing in the darkness, his eyes looking exceptionally glossy.