HYUNG 7

“Then let’s go here. Besides bubble tea, the coffee here is also delici…”

“Oh, Ye Hwanoh?”

“…”

Near the restaurant, as I pushed open the door of a cafe I used to visit often, I froze from a sense of déjà vu. Ah, today must be a really unlucky day.

“Hey! I heard you were at our school, but to think we’d run into each other like this? It’s been a really long time, right?”

“I know… It’s been a long time…”

What are the odds of meeting two ex-girlfriends in a single day? The person standing behind the counter wearing a dark navy apron was Kang Hae-in, a girlfriend I met during high school. I had heard she was at our school too… Ah, she’s a regular student, so she entered our school before me… I smiled awkwardly toward her beaming face.

“Who is it? …Another ex-girlfriend?”

“Another? Wow, you’re as popular as ever?”

Kang Hae-in cackled, and Ham Dowon’s lips twitched. I quietly took my card out of my wallet.

“…I’ll order.”

“I’ll give you a size-up. We haven’t seen each other in a while, after all.”

“No. It’s okay.”

“What do you mean it’s okay? I might not have the capacity to give it to you for free, but I can at least manage a size-up. It’s not like we have to curse each other just because we’re broken up. So, what are you going to order?”

I had no reason to refuse the favor from the affably laughing Kang Hae-in, so I just quietly ordered a taro bubble tea. Kang Hae-in cackled again, saying I was lucky because the pearls had just finished boiling, and that she would put in a lot.

“So, what do you want to drink?”

“…Whatever hyung likes.”

“The same thing as me?”

“Whatever hyung likes.”

“Fine. Have the same thing as me.”

Leaving behind Ham Dowon, who was repeating the same thing like a parrot, I ordered one more taro bubble tea. Kang Hae-in tapped, thump, thump, her chest, saying she’d make them right away.

“We don’t run into each other this often… Today is a strange day for some reason…”

Leaning against the wall, I tapped, tap, tap, the floor with the toe of my shoe for no reason. What on earth am I doing in front of a kid I haven’t even known for two days. How embarrassing.

“Just how many ex-girlfriends do you have?”

“Well, I’ve never counted… Anyway, you, don’t do things like being a Campus Couple. This kind of thing actually happens. Really. I guess this is why everyone tells you never to be a Campus Couple. You be careful too.”

Kang Hae-in was a girl I met while attending high school, but I was a Campus Couple with Hwang Miji. Ah. An ex-girlfriend I met outside of school who also said she attended our school came to mind too. Strictly speaking, I’d only been a Campus Couple once, so why was everyone from the same school? Our school was excessively large and had many departments. Feeling self-conscious, I tried to gloss over it with a joke. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant topic.

“I can’t.”

However, the reply that came back immediately was firm. To a startling degree.

“I don’t think I have to wait until graduation, so I don’t have to do that. I haven’t made up my mind yet, but I think I will soon… Then I’ll be a Campus Couple… Hyung, don’t get discouraged and think so negatively in advance. Think positively. You can do that. And now that I’ve thought about it carefully… Being a Campus Couple is a college romance, isn’t it? I think I’ve developed a romance for that too…”

“Uh… Sure… Let’s live positively…? And achieve your romance…?”

What on earth does he mean. For now, I just gave a vague response. Anyway, he’s saying he wants to be a Campus Couple? Something like that… Well, being a Campus Couple… I can’t stop him if he wants to walk into the path of hell himself. I cheered him on with both fists clenched. The fellow smiled shyly, his eyes folding softly.

“Yes. Hyung, wait just a little longer.”

What exactly am I supposed to wait for… I happened to lock eyes with Hae-in, who called out saying the drinks were ready, so I roughly wrapped things up by pressing the large, sized-up bubble tea cup into his hand. It was too bothersome to pry further.

‧₊˚♪ 𝄞₊˚⊹

The first sculpture class held in the messy sculpture room, where all sorts of dust, clay, and Iso-pink foam were rolling around, was nothing special. As is typical for the first week of classes, a simple orientation was everything. I received a syllabus that was clearly printed from the department office and was notified that one project would be carried out throughout the semester. I also heard there might be outdoor classes. That was all. Nevertheless, the professor rambled on for so long that after enduring the boredom, an hour had passed.

Should I just drop this course. I flat-out hate 3D work. Then what should I put in the empty time slot… I don’t know. I should just work on my project today before leaving. There’s nothing to do at home anyway. Then I’ll go upstairs and apply gesso to the canvas…

“Hyung.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s go.”

As if it were natural, Ham Dowon led me outside the sculpture room. I was going to leave anyway, but where on earth…

“Where should we do the assignment? Is the school cafe better?”

“Assignment?”

“Yes. The 2D presentation assignment. …Surely you hadn’t forgotten?”

“…Sorry. I forgot. I live near here. I have a USB at home with my work backed up. Let’s go to my place and do it.”

Did I clean the house? Ah, I did a rough cleaning after my part-time job ended yesterday. Then I can take him there. It’s funny for guys to be shy around each other. It’s not a house where I live with family, and it’s not a big deal for other people to come and go from a studio apartment to do assignments. But this fellow, Ham Dowon, seemed to have a rather prim side to him. He suddenly stiffened his face and looked flustered.

“…Hyung’s house?”

“Is it uncomfortable? Then let’s do it at a cafe near the school. If you wait a bit, I’ll go home and quickly…”

“No! It’s not that it’s uncomfortable! But… it’s a bit too fast… I haven’t decided anything yet… No, is it okay… Still, it’s a bit…”

The fellow, who had cut me off and was busily waving his hands and head, suddenly fell deep into his own thoughts. He agonized over a mystery, muttering, “But going home already is a bit… No, but I want to go… Still…” When I was a freshman, my classmates used to come and go from each other’s houses without any hesitation; did the school change in the meantime? Just as I was starting to get serious as well, Ham Dowon nodded his head once with a face of firm resolve.

“Let’s go. To hyung’s house.”

That determined expression was truly… bewildering.

“Hyung, still, it’s my first visit, can’t I buy something to take?”

“I don’t need anything.”

“At the very least, some toilet paper…”

“You only take that when you’re going to a housewarming party. And I already have toilet paper at home. There’s no room to put more.”

“Then at least something for dinner…”

“It’s only four o’clock right now.”

“Then coffee?”

“Isn’t it too late to drink that now. It’ll be bedtime in a few hours.”

“Hyung, why are you such a stone wall?”

Ham Dowon grumbled with a pouting face. He was a funny kid.

“I really don’t need anything.”

“…Then I’m buying this because I need it, so hyung, don’t interfere.”

Ham Dowon walked into a convenience store on his own whim. Holding the door open, he turned back to look at me and asked, “Aren’t you coming in?” Though his brows were furrowed, his expression had softened significantly. I kept thinking he was young, but he really is quite like a child. He felt like someone the age of a younger sister, so I just went in with him without a word.

“What on earth are you going to buy?”

“Hyung, you can’t interfere. Absolutely.”

“I don’t need anything. Really.”

Ignoring my words and even picking up a shopping basket, Ham Dowon walked boldly past the drink fridge toward the ice cream freezer. The spot filled with expensive imported ice cream. And he swept foreign ice cream that wasn’t even on sale into the basket.

“…I like sweet things.”

“…There’s no room in my freezer. Only buy what you can eat yourself.”

“…”

It was awkward. Even though he said it was something he needed, it was obvious he was buying it to give to me. I let out a sigh.

Ham Dowon watched my reaction and eventually put a few ice creams back into the freezer. Perhaps because of my comment about lack of space, he looked at the frozen foods with much lingering regret, but he didn’t put them in the basket.

“I like sweet things a whole lot. Truly.”

“So it seems. Really, you eat all of that yourself.”

This time, Ham Dowon filled the basket with chocolate and jelly. Only with expensive imported products. It was the same for the snacks.

“Hyung, you live alone, right?”

“I thought you said you weren’t buying my stuff.”