By Zephyria #Side Story 2 I Have a Lover
“Ah, yes. I’ll go pick him up right away. Sangrok Hall, you said….”
Kyung-soo hung up the phone and hurriedly put on his coat and stood up. His classmates, who were playing FPS games on their personal computers in the studio, glanced at Kyung-soo as he prepared to leave and asked.
“Where are you going, Kyung-soo?”
“…To pick up a younger friend.”
“Hey, you’re not going to ditch us and go home, are you? You said you’d stay up all night with us! I haven’t even started yet.”
“Maybe? What loyalty are you talking about between us? Who are you?”
“That bastard’s ditching us.”
To be so drunk that he can’t even stand on his own two feet and call me when it’s just around the corner. I’m glad I didn’t go home and waited. Kyung-soo sighed softly. Fortunately, the studio was located in Sangrok Hall, right in front of the main gate. Kyung-soo entered the pub, which was about a 5-minute walk from the main gate, and found No-eul without much searching.
Seeing some faces he recognized from liberal arts classes, it seemed like they had mixed freshmen and sophomores at one table. He saw No-eul next to a pile of coats and padding, leaning against the pile of clothes with his eyes closed. Several people stared at Kyung-soo at the same time, surprised by the unfamiliar face that suddenly appeared in the middle of their clinking glasses.
“Ah, hello.”
“I called him. You’re here to pick him up, right? No-eul, wake up. The hyung you were looking for is here.”
It was the voice of the person who had called. Kyung-soo grabbed No-eul and pulled him up. He opened his eyes blankly, then suddenly stood up and hugged his neck.
“……”
“……”
“……”
It would have been nice if Cheon No-eul wasn’t so eye-catching. He was a head taller than when they first met, and his face was so delicately pretty that it was natural for him to attract attention.
“…Is this your drinking habit? Get up right now.”
“Ugh….”
He lightly tapped his cheek. But No-eul didn’t even pretend to hear and just groaned. It was suspicious that only Cheon No-eul was so out of it when the others seemed fine. Kyung-soo narrowed his eyes and watched No-eul, wondering if he was really drunk.
“Let’s get out of here, let’s go.”
The woman who was trying to help support him couldn’t even touch him because No-eul was clinging to Kyung-soo so tightly, and just followed them out. As soon as they walked up the stairs, No-eul hunched his shoulders at the strong wind.
“I’m sorry. The seniors kept pouring him drinks…. I could have just left him in the department lounge, but they insisted on calling you. He’s really stubborn.”
“…It’s because he thinks I’m easy to deal with….”
“But I know you, right? I know you!”
Kyung-soo, who had been worriedly supporting No-eul, looked up at the woman’s words and stared straight at her face. Now that he looked at her, he felt like he had seen her somewhere before. It was definitely in some liberal arts class….
“We were in the same group before. We took a liberal arts class together. Humans and Philosophy. You dropped it halfway through, though….”
“Ah, that’s right. I remember you.”
Her face was very familiar, and when he heard those words, he vaguely remembered. She was the only female student in the group of four in the liberal arts class.
“I’m sorry about dropping it…. I couldn’t understand what they were saying….”
Kyung-soo scratched his head awkwardly. He remembered dropping the class during the drop period because he couldn’t take it anymore after listening for about two weeks. The professor was also too quiet, and instead of explaining the content, he just recited the printed material. And he couldn’t listen to humanities subjects alone because they were too boring and he couldn’t understand them.
“It’s okay. Our group all dropped it after that. I abandoned that subject too.”
“Ah, really….”
Kyung-soo felt relieved at the unexpected news.
“You can drop the formalities. If you’re a freshman, we’re the same age. Maybe… did you retake the entrance exam?”
“I’m a freshman.”
She laughed and replied to Kyung-soo, who was answering awkwardly.
“I told you to drop the formalities. If you’re a hyung who’s close to No-eul, I’ll see you often!”
“……?”
Even if he was close to No-eul, there was no reason to see her often. Kyung-soo blinked and fell into thought.
“We’re in the same section. Cheon No-eul is my junior.”
There was a mentoring system in this school where seniors and juniors of the same class year were connected to take care of each other. He really won’t listen, that kid…. Kyung-soo could already see her suffering and unconsciously pitied her.
“…Good luck.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing.”
If she was someone who had taken Humans and Philosophy together, she would still have his phone number in her phone. Kyung-soo suddenly thought that he could contact her when he needed to find No-eul.
“What is it…. What’s with the atmosphere between you two…? What is this? What is this?”
Before he knew it, No-eul squinted at the two of them. Still supported by Kyung-soo.
“If you’re awake, let go.”
Kyung-soo threw off No-eul’s arm. No-eul, who barely stood up straight, blinked slowly.
“…Hyung, you’re looking at… umph.”
“You look sleepy.”
“Amuaah”
Afraid of what he might say in his drunken state, Kyung-soo grabbed No-eul’s mouth and bowed his head.
“Don’t just throw on any clothes and come out…. It’s cold, so go in. Ah, no, go in.”
She was wearing only a thin cardigan despite the cold weather and had her arms crossed. Kyung-soo had nothing more to say, so he hesitated for a moment, then bowed lightly and turned around. A slight change occurred in her expression. It seemed like her eyes were slightly curved. Cheon No-eul, I told you not to keep looking back! No-eul, who was being dragged away by Kyung-soo with his mouth covered, narrowed his eyes as he occasionally looked back.
“Who’s that?”
A female classmate came into the studio, disturbing Kyung-soo by asking why he was working alone, and discovered an unfamiliar face. No-eul was sleeping soundly on a makeshift bed spread out in the corner of the studio.
“A freshman from another department. A younger friend… I have a morning class tomorrow, so I’m just going to let him sleep here.”
“What, sleeping here for money in this small space… Hup! No, wait, I don’t mind him sleeping here every day….”
The classmate walked around the large table in the middle of the studio and approached the bed, then changed her words as soon as she saw No-eul’s face. It was a face she had never seen in school before. She stared at the sleeping No-eul with wide eyes, visually stimulated by his unexpected appearance.
“Don’t bother him, go play somewhere else.”
“Can’t I bother him quietly? Why didn’t he come to our department…?”
“He doesn’t like our department after seeing what I do.”
“I don’t like our department either.”
“Me too….”
That’s what they said, but it was much more suited to his aptitude than a department where he had to study all the time. If it wasn’t for a department where he could get 6 credits with time and ideas, he would have quit and gone down to the countryside long ago. In fact, Kyung-soo had never received an A in physics or college English, no matter how much he crammed.
“Don’t watch him sleep, get out of here!”
Kyung-soo waved his hand. In the studio next door, an impromptu drinking party was taking place. They would probably count how much they had drunk during the semester and pile up the bottles on one side of the studio again. It was because the guy who had a hobby of collecting bottles had been assigned to the studio next door this time. The classmate who had been watching No-eul soon lost interest and left the studio.
In the empty studio, all that could be heard was the whirring of the computer, the sharp sound of the wind leaking through the windows, and No-eul’s breathing. Kyung-soo, who was going to sleep on the desk because the bed was too small, turned to the side and sat next to No-eul. Even though the window was closed, the room was still chilly, so Kyung-soo covered him with a long padding jacket that someone had left behind instead of a blanket.
And he leaned against it and dozed off, losing consciousness before long. And when he woke up to the sound of murmuring, it was already bright. When he opened his sleepy eyes, he was hugging No-eul again. Thinking that he should refrain from doing this in the studio, he hugged his classmate’s pet pillow and slept, but the doll was lying pathetically on the floor. It had flown far away, as if someone had thrown it.
“Hyung, are you awake?”
No-eul asked as the arm that had been hugging his torso was released. Kyung-soo nodded awkwardly and replied.
“…Yeah. Sorry. I did it again….”
“It’s okay. This is your sleeping habit, what can I do…. It’s not like you can fix it.”
Only then did No-eul get up and roughly tidy his messy hair with his hands. The classmates, who had been glancing at the two of them in the corner as they pretended to pack the books they would take to class, rushed to Kyung-soo as soon as No-eul left the studio to wash his face.
“Hey, who’s that? Why are you hugging him?”
“A younger friend. Hugging is a sleeping habit, that’s why I can’t sleep with him anywhere unless I sleep separately….”
“He’s not in our department, is he? I haven’t seen anyone like that at the freshman orientation.”
“He’s not in our department…. I just brought him because he’s a close friend.”
Kyung-soo picked up the pillow that had fallen on the floor and dusted it off as he replied.
“Damn it! Why did you throw my pillow on the floor? Kim Kyung-soo, you son of a bitch!”
“I think you threw it while you were hugging it. But that was dirty anyway? You haven’t washed it since last year. Honestly, it smells musty, wash it….”
It seemed like the doll was pure white when he first bought it, but before he knew it, the fabric had turned yellowish. It was natural, since almost everything brought to the studio was shared.
“Does that guy have a girlfriend?”
Kyung-soo hesitated for a moment, then decided to say that he did from the beginning, thinking that it would be more troublesome later.
“Yeah, he does.”
“Really? Well, it doesn’t matter. Does having a goalkeeper mean you can’t score a goal?”
The eyes that had suddenly turned sharp relaxed as if nothing had happened at the words that her friend said with a smile.
“Hey, even if you score a goal, the goalkeeper doesn’t change.”
That’s right, that’s right. Kyung-soo nodded vigorously and added.
“Hey, I’m close to him, so I know a lot about him, but they’re so in love that they can’t live without each other. I think they’ve been dating since high school…. Um… I think he confessed first? Well, I don’t know the details, but anyway, he has a lover.”
“Ah… I was excited for nothing. It’s so frustrating, why does he look like that?”
“……Is his girlfriend pretty?”
“Ye, pretty….”
Kyung-soo stammered. No matter who he was, he hesitated to say that his imaginary girlfriend was pretty. Because that was him.
“I guess she’s not that pretty.”
“No, she’s really pretty! Give up hope! Don’t even think about it!”
Kyung-soo sat on the central table in the studio and shouted as if urging them.
“…Why are you reacting like that? I’m not thinking about it, I’m not thinking about it. I was just wondering how pretty the person who’s dating someone like that is. I want to see her. I like pretty girls too~”
Kyung-soo felt a pang of conscience.
“Anyway, look for boyfriend candidates somewhere else. He’s taken….”
At that moment, the studio door opened and No-eul poked his head in. Then everyone coughed and moved away from Kyung-soo. No-eul approached Kyung-soo with a face so clean that he couldn’t believe he was the same person who had been staggering from alcohol the day before, and sat down in front of him. And he whispered with a dissatisfied face. Hyung, you’re popular…. Of course, Kyung-soo, who had been suffering from them because of No-eul, snorted.
“I have to leave soon, what about you?”
“I’m leaving too. But… can I come here to hang out sometimes when I have time?”
He turned his head instead of Kyung-soo and asked the others brightly. Kyung-soo felt a sense of crisis.
“No, you can’t….”
“Of course you can, come hang out with coffee.”
“…….”
His classmates treated No-eul with a kind face that they didn’t show him. When No-eul gave them a chance to speak first, they started to say something awkwardly, regardless of gender. Kyung-soo, who was excluded from the conversation, sadly printed out the next lecture and checked the time.
A few days later, he was walking across the lawn in front of the Natural Science Building with No-eul when he received a phone call. It was Ji-hye, No-eul’s senior. No-eul proudly answered the phone and abruptly announced.
“Senior, you’re late. I’m going to eat with Kyung-soo hyung. You eat alone! Then….”
Kyung-soo laughed in disbelief.
-No, it’s perfect. Let’s eat together! I’m on the second floor of the Natural Science Building right now. I can see you, can’t I? But, No-eul, if you step on the president’s lawn….
Kyung-soo looked around. And when he found something, he slowly started to move away from No-eul.
“Students, what are you doing! Get out of here right now!”
“……?”
-Ahahaha! Run. I knew it. Run away and come to the student center.
No-eul looked back at Kyung-soo in bewilderment. Kyung-soo left No-eul behind and ran away first. No-eul belatedly followed him with a betrayed face. So the two of them ran away across the lawn in the opposite direction.
While the security guard was chasing after them, another student took the opportunity to run across the lawn. Then the security guard stopped chasing them and ran after the new student. Then another student stepped on the lawn from the opposite side. The security guard hesitated.
“…Why is he doing that? I didn’t do anything?”
“Until the festival, they’ll say something if you go on the president’s lawn.”
At the beginning of the semester, they didn’t allow people to step on the lawn because the grass was just starting to grow green. It was called the president’s lawn because it was the lawn that the president cherished, and when a student entered the lawn like this, the security guard who was waiting on the first floor of the Natural Science Building would come out.
It was much faster to cross the large lawn than to go around it, so there were many people who occasionally took the risk and ran while teasing the security guard.
“You saw what they just did, right? If the security guard chases someone and gets far away, you can go on the lawn. Then you won’t get caught. Everyone does it that way.”
“What kind of….”
No-eul, who was muttering with a bewildered face, soon seemed to realize something and turned to Kyung-soo and started to ask him to give him a school tour. Yeah, yeah, sure. Kyung-soo had mastered the art of ignoring his words because he had learned the tricks over the years. So the two of them were able to meet Ji-hye in front of the student center.
*
He thought he wouldn’t see her for a while, but it was amazing that they were sitting together and eating like this. And what he liked most was that she didn’t seem to have any interest in No-eul at all. Well, she was his senior, so she might have quickly realized that No-eul was a difficult guy to handle.
“Listen to this next time. You have to take Professor Kim Jung-hwa’s class, not any other one. She doesn’t check attendance and I have all the past papers for the last 5 years? There’s no midterm or final, you just have to go when she gives pop quizzes.”
“Ooh….”
Ji-hye lowered her voice and whispered, saying that it was a hidden honey class. It was because she had to be careful since not many people knew about it yet. Kyung-soo nodded diligently as well. Only No-eul seemed indifferent.
“…Senior, why are you giving that to hyung?”
“Cheon No-eul, shut up. Why are you interfering when she’s giving it to him?”
“That’s right, that’s right!”
No-eul, who didn’t like the two people who were so in sync, pouted.
“When I look at it, hyung seems to be nice to everyone….”
No-eul frowned and muttered.
“What did I do?”
“Yeah, what can we do if Kyung-soo has a good personality? You should be nice to me, your senior.”
“Senior, are you begging me for affection right now? I’m sorry, but….”
“Ugh, now that I think about it, I don’t think I need it. …No, but, No-eul, you’re only nice to Kyung-soo’s friends! Just be that pretty, just a little!”
“……?”
It was the first time he had heard that. Of course, he knew that No-eul was greeting the people he had introduced himself to in his studio, but the fact that Ji-hye was saying something like that meant that there was a clear difference in attitude in other people’s eyes. He must have had some ulterior motive.
“No-eul.”
“…….”
“What are you up to? What are you trying to do again?”
No-eul, who had only intended to target the people around him first, shrugged shamelessly.
“No… what did I do… Ah, hyung’s is out!”
No-eul pointed to the restaurant’s electronic display as if he was happy. Kyung-soo couldn’t take his suspicious eyes off No-eul and headed to the distribution table. When Kyung-soo was some distance away, No-eul looked at Ji-hye’s profile and said indifferently. Her face was full of spring.
“Senior, Kyung-soo hyung has a lover.”
“…Huh?”
Ji-hye’s face flushed in an instant at No-eul’s words, which hit the nail on the head. And she waved her hand wildly in front of her eyes.
“No, I’m not like that, what are you talking about….”
“I know you’ve been asking around about where I am every day. But when you actually see me, you don’t seem happy at all….”
“That’s….”
“That’s all because you were looking for Kyung-soo hyung. Right?”
Ji-hye’s eyes widened as she realized that she had been caught off guard by No-eul’s tone, which was somehow subtle.
“…No-eul, I’m sorry, but are you jealous? I don’t really like the type of person who’s loved by everyone like you.”
No-eul, instead of correcting her misunderstanding, focused on the word “type” and tilted his head, puzzled.
“What type is Kyung-soo hyung?”
“You could never pull it off, even if you were reborn. How could you fix that temper of yours…? No-eul, you’d have to be reincarnated about ten times to even have a chance.”
“What misunderstanding are you having, sunbae? I have a boyfriend, too, you know?”
“You? …Is that boyfriend a saint?”
“Not a saint, just a normally pretty person. And much kinder and cuter than you, sunbae. And also, I have no intention of changing my personality at all. That’s what my boyfriend likes about me.”
No-eul brazenly rattled off lies.
“Ah… anyway, you don’t like me, right? That’s a relief.”
Still, try to fix your personality a bit, you rascal…. Ji-hye muttered with a snort. No-eul spoke again in a subtle voice.
“Anyway, I hope you’ll stop liking Kyung-soo hyung, who has a boyfriend. I’m saying this for your own good….”
“……”
No-eul lowered his gaze slightly with a pitiful expression.
“I know hyung’s boyfriend, and he’s incredibly pretty, charming, has a great personality, and is rich.”
“……”
“They match so well, it honestly surprises me every time I see them. …Oh, I saw them this morning too, and they were as lovey-dovey as ever. They were even kissing in front of me.”
“Ah, yeah….”
“I don’t know about anything else, but Kyung-soo hyung likes him more. That’s why he’s been so eager for years, hyung, right?”
“Eager for what?”
Kyung-soo, who had quickly returned to his seat, asked. Rather than continuing his words, No-eul looked up at Kyung-soo and smiled brightly.
“We were talking about your boyfriend….”
At Ji-hye’s words, Kyung-soo turned to look at No-eul with wide eyes. No-eul blinked with an innocent face, as if he had never said such a thing. He had to hear what this bastard had been spouting right away. Kyung-soo asked in a trembling voice, not even sitting down.
“What, what did he say?”
“Just that you have someone you’re dating…. That he’s really pretty, something like that….”
“……”
…Damn it, why do I have to say this myself?
Ji-hye, who had been dumped before she could even start, muttered with a face like she had eaten shit. Even though it was nothing much, Ji-hye thought that he must really like him, seeing how his neck was flushed red at the mention of a boyfriend.
They had only seen each other briefly in a group assignment in a liberal arts class half a year ago, but he was tall, unusually diligent, had a good personality, and, above all, his smile was exactly her type. Once she thought he was a manly and decent person, she found his face neat and became fond of him.
“I didn’t say much. I just bragged a little about hyung’s boyfriend.”
“……Why brag? …What bragging?”
“Just that he’s really pretty, has a good personality… and that hyung likes him a lot?”
Kyung-soo cooled his face with his palm, then looked at No-eul with a horrified expression and opened his mouth.
“You, you crazy bastard…. How could you… say that with your own mouth….”
“Am I wrong?”
No-eul asked back, smiling with his eyes curved. Kyung-soo moved his lips, then shook his head slightly, his face turning red.
“……”
Even if she didn’t like him with all her heart, …it still felt like a waste. A guy like that would probably like the person he likes until the end. He already likes his boyfriend that much? What kind of woman is he…. Ji-hye dejectedly folded away her brief crush in her heart.
- “Jungwon: hehe Kyung-soo haha”
“Me: Cheon No-eul, twenty years old, knows a younger sibling from another department, has no older siblings, no younger siblings, doesn’t like coffee, doesn’t know how to use gift certificates, birthday has passed, has a girlfriend he’s been dating for a long time, girlfriend is pretty, says he has no intention of cheating”
“Jungwon: Ah yeah hahaha Thank you.”..!”Me: Yes, yes”
“Hyel: Hahaha, it’s crazy how much you’ve been through, haha”
“Jaeyoung: At this point, you might as well register it as a notice, haha”
“Kim Yi-hyuk: Poor guy, haha, automatic, haha”
“Me: Ugh, come on;”
Whenever Kyung-soo’s name was mentioned in the group chat, people often asked who he was with. Kyung-soo now had the ability to rattle off Cheon No-eul’s personal information with a nonchalant face.
Kyung-soo went into the messenger and checked his schedule in the list of photos No-eul had sent. It seemed like it was almost time for him to contact him…. Returning to the home screen, Kyung-soo put his phone back in his pocket.
‘What time is my class tomorrow?’
‘Ten thirty, Humanities Building Room 330.’
‘……’
Kyung-soo wasn’t smart enough to memorize all the subjects No-eul was taking. No-eul’s phone wallpaper wasn’t his own schedule, but Kyung-soo’s. Moreover, if you just asked, the subject information would pop out like an automatic response.
He would always call to ask where he was during lunchtime, and he had developed a relationship with his classmates who shared the studio to the point where they would even greet each other in passing. Kyung-soo hadn’t intended it, but he had become acquainted with No-eul’s classmates and even exchanged numbers. No-eul didn’t like it, but all he could do was grumble.
「Kim Yi-hyuk: But why is he so familiar even though he’s not in our departmentㅋㅋㅋ Anyone would think you guys are datingㅋㅋ」
“Oh shit.”
Kyung-soo used his wit to reply.
“Me: I owe him money haha”
He made No-eul a debtor.
「Me: Actually, he’s not hanging out with me, he’s watching me」
「Jungwon: Ohing… you owe money??”Me: Yeah I ran away once on the payment date;; now he’s following me and watching meㅠ persistent bastardㅎㅎ”
“Kim Yi-hyuk: ?” Kim Kyung-soo pay back the money right now you bastard」
「Me: I’ll give it to you later;;」
Fortunately, it seemed like he had overcome the crisis well. Kyung-soo made up a ridiculous lie and quickly forgot about it. After that, no one asked why he was hanging around so often. It was fortunate for him.
“Hyung… I have a problem.”
One day, No-eul asked with a serious expression, bending the end of his meal ticket. Kyung-soo also became serious.
“What is it?”
“Hyung’s classmates keep asking me to lend them money these days…. Why is that?”
“They are? Does the model material cost a lot? …So did you lend it to them?”
“No. Why would I lend it to them when they’re not hyung?
Kyung-soo smiled proudly. He thought he had raised Cheon No-eul very well. He had heard that you shouldn’t even do money transactions between parents and children.
“Then that’s fine. I guess you just look like you’d lend money easily.”
You’re being treated like a pushover. Kyung-soo dismissed No-eul’s worries as nothing and brushed them off.