By Zephyria 
Contrary to the warmth in his grip, the gaze that had felt chilly was soon withdrawn, and Min-gyu pulled three hangover relief drinks—the same kind he was currently sipping—from his pocket.
“I’m not that disloyal, you know.”
“Oh, thank you so much. Haa, I should drink this and slowly get back into the fray.”
Team Leader Shin drained his pouch in one go. Yi-ho merely rubbed the sharp, serrated edge of the stick without drinking it. It wasn’t that he was drunk; he just hadn’t recovered his condition yet.
Yi-ho’s gaze didn’t rise; it remained fixed on the floor where four pairs of dress shoes were gathered. It was because, among the four, an exceptionally large shadow was standing facing him.
“Alright, let’s head back in.”
Team Leader Shin pushed the back of the intoxicated man. Just as Yi-ho tried to step forward behind them, his shoulder was caught.
“It might look a bit odd if we all swarm in together, so we’ll head in after a short while.”
“Ah, that’s true. Come quickly, okay?”
Uh…
“Yes, don’t worry.”
And so, Yi-ho was left alone with Min-gyu. Without his consent.
His gaze, still directed downward, wavered. As always, Min-gyu’s hand invaded Yi-ho’s space carelessly and without hesitation.
“Hello, Song-i Song-i.”
“…….”
The hand that approached his face playfully pressed his cheek, forcing Yi-ho to lift his gaze.
Beep! A loud horn blared in the distance. The food alley on a Friday was noisy with office workers. There were plenty of drunk people, so aside from Yi-ho’s tension, the sight of two men pressed close together was common.
“Why does it feel like it’s been so long?”
“We saw each other on Monday… sir.”
“Three weekdays between you and me is quite a long time.”
“…….”
“I’m starting to forget what you look like because of the cold-hearted Song-i, who rejected me even when I asked to eat at your place or hang out.”
“…I went to bed early.”
“Right, you were sick, so it’s good that you rested well.”
It was a sign that he was willing to overlook a lie that wouldn’t fly with anyone else. Cha Min-gyu wasn’t the type to miss the fact that Yi-ho was avoiding him.
“Is your body ache all gone?”
“I’m okay now.”
Yi-ho’s ultimate goal was ‘returning to being friends.’ Song Yi-ho reflected on the arrogance he had harbored during the company dinner. There was no way he could be okay meeting Min-gyu. From his facial muscles to the corners of his mouth, nothing moved normally. As if telegraphing that he was desperately trying to cut off his romantic feelings, the back of his throat stung unfairly.
As expected, three days were not enough. Then just how long would he have to avoid Cha Min-gyu?
“I’m glad. That you’re feeling better.”
“…Yeah.”
Yi-ho bit his lip and let go. The silence of the situation was as dizzying as the smell of cigarettes lingering in the alley. Fortunately, there was one topic he had decided to bring up. Yi-ho took a breath inwardly and lifted his head.
“Right, Cha Min-gyu. Tell me how much the porridge, medicine, and hospital fees were that you bought me when I was sick. I’ll send you the money.”
The corners of Min-gyu’s mouth stretched wide. Then, the ends curved slightly. A bittersweet scent of alcohol wafted from him.
“Song-i isn’t feeling better yet.”
Yi-ho couldn’t find the words to answer. He couldn’t fully understand it, but somehow, he felt he knew what it meant.
Then, Min-gyu suddenly grabbed Yi-ho’s wrist and pulled him toward him. He rubbed Yi-ho’s palm against his own sleeve to wipe it clean. Then, he let go and placed a hand on Yi-ho’s shoulder.
“Let’s go in, Team Leader Song.”
He didn’t wrap his arm deeply around the shoulder as he would with his friend Song Yi-ho; he simply patted it a couple of times and stepped back.
Stage 3. The final version of nuisance behavior: less than 20% chance of remembering tomorrow, conversation volume increased fivefold.
The reserved room was now filled with nothing but the smell of alcohol. It felt as if he could soak and melt the complicated thoughts in his head with alcohol.
Empty bottles sprouted from the corners of the room, and there were quite a few colleagues collapsed in a stupor. Loud shouting and boisterous laughter continued incessantly.
From here on, it was a total war of the survivors. The Department Head’s condition had seemed precarious for a while—he wondered if he’d been taken out—but then he revived like a movie villain regenerating severed limbs, laughing Kwahahaha.
Around this time, colleagues inevitably began to fall one by one to the enemy’s hand.
“Ooooh! Team Leader Song! The Department Head is looking for you! Hurry up and come sit here!”
“…….”
“Hey, Song Yi-ho. You know how much I, uh, ugh, cherish our development genius, right?”
I don’t.
As soon as he returned to the noisy room, Yi-ho was called to a seat diagonally opposite Department Head Gye. The moment his backside hit the cushion, alcohol was poured until the glass overflowed.
“You don’t seem to have drunk much, hurry up and drink.”
Yi-ho lifted the glass, turned his head, and swallowed the alcohol. The high proof of the newly ordered liquor burned sharply down his throat. The Department Head even patted his back, making him choke slightly. That son of a bitch.
Wow, it’s really bitter. To calm the fire in his chest, Yi-ho hurriedly put a piece of cold tuna in his mouth. This was not the time to keep his vow of avoiding raw food after eating porridge for several days.
“Team Leader Song.”
“Yes, Department Head.”
“Is working from home treating you well?”
“Ah, yes. I’ve adapted to it a lot now….”
Yi-ho, who had been as worried as a mountain at first, had now melted into the comfort of a ten-step commute. But he couldn’t just tell the Department Head that he loved it to death… As Yi-ho gave only a modest answer, the Department Head let out a sigh—eh—and refilled the empty glass.
“Of the guys sitting next to each other in the office, one has a black heart, and the other has nothing inside.”
The latter was Yi-ho, and the former was likely Cha Min-gyu, who had returned to the room with a slight gap between them.
“Team Leader Cha, where did you go?”
“I went to the restroom.”
Min-gyu scanned the room and approached behind Yi-ho.
“Team Leader Song, these are the utensils and glass I was using.”
“What?”
“Move over.”
By now, the original seating arrangement was almost gone, and everyone’s seats were scattered here and there. Yi-ho had brought a fresh set of utensils and a glass when he sat down.
Turning around, Min-gyu’s eyes met Yi-ho’s, and he looked down at him intently. As a shadow fell over his face, the habitual smile vanished, and the gaze looking at Yi-ho became expressionless.
“Just… Team Leader Cha, why don’t you sit here.”
“Why should I do that when I have my own seat?”
No, you ran around like crazy during the first round. If other people had any conscience, they wouldn’t call you back, so why the hell are you returning…
Even though Yi-ho shook his head slightly, Min-gyu did not back down. Yi-ho, unable to look into those eyes for long, lost. Pushed by a knee, he moved one spot over, and Min-gyu sat between the troll and Yi-ho.
Min-gyu picked up the glass of alcohol that had been filled to the brim for Yi-ho. The moment he pressed his lips to the glass and turned his head, the smell of alcohol hit him. He hadn’t noticed before, but Min-gyu’s face was already flushed as if he had drunk a lot.
And while the Department Head was swallowing his drink, Min-gyu secretly filled the glass in front of Yi-ho with bottled water. What is he doing?
“Team Leader Cha, I’ll just drink it myself….”
At that, Min-gyu’s hand lightly gripped his knee before pulling away. The warmth of the palm seemed to linger on the fabric.
The team leader sitting on Yi-ho’s other side whispered quietly.
“It looks like Team Leader Cha has decided to be the bomb disposal squad. Let’s gratefully step back.”
“Todaaaay, Cha Min-gyu. Veryyy, good to see. Keep doing that in the future.”
The Department Head’s hand trembled as he filled Min-gyu’s glass, causing the alcohol to pour in gulps. The glass overflowed again.
“I’ll pour for you as well.”
Min-gyu set the glass down and took the bottle. The scent of alcohol grew stronger in Min-gyu’s body odor.
The dinner finally ended at 3 AM. Tropical nights had officially begun in Korea, so it was humid even in the pitch black.
People left one by one, and only Min-gyu and Yi-ho remained on the street. It reminded him exactly of the situation when the team dinner ended a few months ago. Yi-ho looked at the back of the figure in the distance. Cha Min-gyu wasn’t staggering, nor were his eyes glazed, but Yi-ho could tell.
That guy is wasted right now.
“…Hey, Cha Min-gyu.”
Since Min-gyu didn’t look back, Yi-ho approached him directly.
Min-gyu, who had been standing in the spot where he finished greeting the other team leaders, turned around at the sound of footsteps. Yi-ho’s eyes widened at the sight. A lit cigarette was clamped in Min-gyu’s mouth.
“…Where did you get that?”
“I got one from someone earlier when everyone was smoking.”
“You smoked?”
If anyone had ever asked Yi-ho if Team Leader Cha smoked, he would have stepped forward and answered that he absolutely did not. He had never seen even a trace of it from Min-gyu. That’s why the current sight was even more surprising.
“I learned in the army, and occasionally during company dinners early in my employment when I felt I couldn’t escape.”
Ah. The army and the rookie days. Both were realms Yi-ho had not experienced. In the midst of believing they had been together for 15 years, it was a skewed timeline.
Min-gyu’s cheek hollowed as he exhaled smoke away from Yi-ho’s face.
Thinking that cigarettes didn’t suit Cha Min-gyu was a friend’s perspective; feeling that the sight of a man, languidly disheveled by alcohol, inhaling a cigarette was sexy… was a non-friend’s perspective. Now, even the nonsense he thought to himself felt uncomfortable.
Cha Min-gyu was a perfectionist. He was the kind of person who wouldn’t touch a cigarette, even for Min-jung’s sake. But today, a deviation had occurred, and Yi-ho felt a sense of guilt as if he had created that gap.
“Don’t smoke.”
Min-gyu, holding the half-finished butt, tilted his head.
“Who are you?”
The pupils, blurred by intoxication, asked. What answer did Cha Min-gyu want? Friend?
“…Song Yi-ho.”
“Ah, it’s Song-i.”
Letting out a laugh, Min-gyu flicked the remaining ember of the cigarette to put it out.
“If Song-i tells me not to smoke, I shouldn’t smoke.”
“…Can you take a taxi? I’m trying to catch one now.”
“Of course.”
Min-gyu curled the corners of his mouth. Then he just stood there again. Normally, he would have been faster than Yi-ho and opened the taxi app first.
Since there were many taxis running with their empty signs on, Yi-ho chose to hail one by hand. He let Min-gyu into the taxi first, then followed and closed the door.
“Driver, please take us to the white apartment complex. To the parking lot, please….”
The large body leaning against the backrest slid toward Yi-ho. Min-gyu rested his head on Yi-ho’s shoulder.
Even though the sentence was cut off, the meaning was fully conveyed, and the taxi began to move forward. Amidst the sound of the engine, Min-gyu’s breathing was close.
“Cha Min-gyu.”
“Yeah.”
“…You’re heavy. Wake up.”
“Just a little. I’m tired.”
“…….”
Yi-ho closed his eyes tightly and opened them. He felt suffocated by the beating of his heart, but the hand that tried to push him away had to stop. Min-gyu spoke in a drunken voice.
“Haa… why was I so upset that I was the only one who couldn’t drink this tasteless stuff as a freshman. I’ll have to drink it even if I hate it in a few years.”
“…….”
“Right, Song-i?”
It was no longer possible to avoid the conversation. Yi-ho nodded.
“…You did drink a lot today.”
“Yeah. Right now, I wish I were kicked out every time we have a company dinner, just like back then. I’d be kicked out for being a ‘fast-track’ and Song-i Song-i would be kicked out for having a baby face.”
“I’m not like that anymore. The convenience store doesn’t check my ID.”
“That’s just because the part-timer at the convenience store in front of the house memorized the residents’ faces. When Song-i first came to this neighborhood, they didn’t believe you even when you showed your employee ID, and they told you to recite the service creed.”
He didn’t know why Min-gyu remembered that until now. Yi-ho’s answer back then had been:
‘I’m a technical research agent, so I don’t know it…’.
…And Min-gyu, who had been picking out snacks, burst into laughter, came to the counter, recited the Air Force service creed instead of Yi-ho, showed the ID in his wallet, and paid.
That was what happened on the first day they became neighbors.
“…That’s true.”
The first two years, then another two after extending the contract. He thought time had passed quickly, but tracing back to the memory of the first day, it felt like an eternity.
It had been a very long time.
Without any regrets or pain, he had enjoyed it as much as he could. A one-sided love for Cha Min-gyu.
Then, Min-gyu let out a groan and rubbed his eyes. Min-gyu’s hair brushed against Yi-ho’s shoulder.
“Then why did you drink so much? If you drank a lot at first, you should have slipped away. You knew Department Head Gye was determined.”
“Yeah. Why did I do that….”
Cha Min-gyu laughed vacantly and leaned deeper into Yi-ho. A heavy weight was felt on his shoulder. The heartbeat vibrating through his entire upper body carried the alcohol throughout his body. A delayed intoxication rushed in.
The driver glanced at the two people in the back seat through the side mirror.
“Your friend seems quite drunk. Social life is tough, isn’t it?”
“Ah, yes….”
When a man sits closely pressed against another man, leaning on his shoulder, a justifiable reason is required. Even if they are friends.
Before Yi-ho’s slow sigh could spread, the car arrived at their apartment.
The elevator happened to be stopped on the first floor, and there were no other passengers besides Yi-ho and Min-gyu.
The figures of the two standing side by side were reflected clearly through the translucent gold doors of the elevator.
They looked very much like friends.
So, Yi-ho moved one step to the side. He and Cha Min-gyu became a bit more like friends.
The elevator stopped on the 18th floor. As Yi-ho stepped out first, the sensor light between their two front doors turned on. Heavy footsteps followed behind him.
Yi-ho turned around to say goodbye as they returned to their respective homes. Then, he gasped upon discovering Min-gyu standing closely behind him without any gap.
“…What, hey. Why are you following me?”
“Song-i. …No, Song Yi-ho.”
At that moment, a palm covered his head. The hand slid down the back of his head. The distance between them was excessively close. As if the space Yi-ho had tried to create by flinching was useless.
“Yeah. I know it’s excessive. I guess I was a bit of an overbearing friend.”
“…….”
“I didn’t realize it because you’re the only person who has been, and will be, that kind of person to me.”
The smell of alcohol, the smell of cigarettes. Min-gyu’s expression, covered in all sorts of bitter scents, distorted slightly.
“But just put up with me. There won’t be another person like you in my life.”
Yi-ho had also spent half of his life with him. That’s why he could tell. That these words, stripped of playfulness, were his sincerity.
“Don’t grow distant. Please.”
The hand reaching behind touched the door lock of Yi-ho’s house. And then, as naturally as if it were his own home, he pressed the password. Yi-ho couldn’t even blink, staring at the shoulder that had come right in front of him.
Min-gyu pushed Yi-ho inside the open door.
“Lock the door, and sleep well.”
Then, his figure disappeared through the gap in the door. Beyond the door, the sound of footsteps in the hallway, the sound of Min-gyu entering the house next door, was heard with terrible clarity.
“…….”
In the time it took for Yi-ho to close and open his eyes, the entrance sensor light went out.
Without being able to take a single step into the house, Yi-ho collapsed on the spot.