HYUNG 8

“…That is right. It is mine.”

After making such an abrupt and random claim, he started packing processed foods like tuna and canned ham into the basket.

“Hyung, do you like the scent of lavender or the scent of roses? Ah, I should just buy both. I need both anyway.”

He offered an unprompted excuse while also packing two bottles of deodorizer.

I thought Ham Dowon would just buy a few snacks or drinks, but he was practically raiding the convenience store. My head began to throb. Even though I tried to stop him quite seriously, Ham Dowon firmly said, “Hyung, I told you not to interfere. I really need all of this,” and then he just swiped his card. I couldn’t believe he was spending so much money just because I rejected his help a few times… A sigh escaped me involuntarily. What was I supposed to do about this? I stared at the items packed thickly inside a large bag after the payment was already finished.

“You have no intention of getting a refund, do you?”

“Hyung, the staff member would find that troublesome.”

I locked eyes with the employee standing at the counter. As soon as our eyes met, the young-faced employee shook their head from side to side with a slightly terrified expression. In the end, I had no choice but to step outside the convenience store just like that.

I dislike it when someone spends money on me. Especially a young junior I’ve only known for a short while. It makes me feel like I’m incurring a debt. But I couldn’t get angry, and since a return was out of the question, there was nothing I could do. I pressed my throbbing temples and barely suppressed a sigh.

“…I will buy you a meal next time. Or tell me if there is anything you need.”

“I do not need anything either. And I told you, this is mine.”

Ham Dowon hugged the bag and continued to make that nonsensical excuse.

“…You are quite childish.”

“Is buying a lot of things childish?”

“Can you carry all of that back to your house? There really is no room at my place.”

“…I can just eat it all before I leave.”

“The deodorizer and soap too?”

“I can just use them all before I leave.”

“How are you going to use all of that up?”

He was being stubbornly persistent for no reason. Just like a child. Seeing my multiple expressions of discomfort, Ham Dowon started watching my reaction. Realizing that I couldn’t refund what was already bought, I just laughed it off and added:

“What, are you planning to live at my house or something?”

When I said it teasingly to lighten the mood, Ham Dowon shouted with a bright red face.

“Hyung, I told you not to interfere!”

It wasn’t particularly threatening. There was no edge to his voice. After a while, I let out a short sigh and just gave him a beaming smile.

“Fine. I won’t interfere, so make sure to eat it all and use it all before you go.”

“…Does that mean it is okay for me to stay at hyung’s house for a long time?”

“Just how long are you planning to stay?”

“You… told me to eat it all and use it all before I go.”

“You said it first. That you would eat it all and use it all.”

“Ah! So you want me to stay for a long time… Yes! I will eat and use as much as possible before I go!”

That wasn’t exactly what I meant… I quickly caught Ham Dowon, who was walking ahead excitedly and heading into the wrong place, and led him to my house.

My studio apartment was an officetel near the back gate. I lived in the dormitory during my freshman year, but sharing a room with someone else isn’t easy, so I found a place to live alone when I returned to school this time.

I remember cleaning it yesterday, but it was only clean by my standards; I wasn’t sure if it would look that way to others, so I was a bit nervous as I opened the door. Fortunately, Ham Dowon’s expression as he looked inside the studio didn’t seem too strange. No, it was strange.

“Are you hot?”

“…A little.”

His face had already turned flushed, and he was covering his mouth with his hand. Does it smell? I quickly sniffed the air, but I didn’t notice any particular foul odor. I only smelled the scent of the diffuser that Ye Hwanyoung had sent as a moving-in gift. Did he say it was a Black Rose scent? Since he sent something quite expensive, I sent him some allowance. More than the cost of the diffuser.

“Hyung, please lend me your refrigerator for a bit.”

“You really only bought things for yourself to eat, right?”

“…I am really going to eat it all myself. Hyung, do not eat it. No… of course you can eat it, but I am really going to eat it all myself. But since it is actually a bit too much for one person to eat alone… it is of course okay if hyung eats some. …You can eat it all.”

Ham Dowon crouched in front of my not-so-large refrigerator and mumbled. Rustle, rustle. He rummaged through the bags and started putting the items into the freezer. I had said it was full, but there was actually plenty of space. I heard Ham Dowon grumbling, “There is plenty of space… and you said there wasn’t…”

What does he mean, he’s going to eat and use it all himself? He obviously bought it for me. I took a deep breath to calm my feeling of unease. Right. A kid I don’t know well did this for me, so let’s just think of it in a positive light. It’s much better to have a junior who tries to repay you with something rather than one who only freeloads. Besides, it’s already happened, and I hate being the type to keep snapping at someone, asking them if I hadn’t told them not to do it. Especially to a kid who came to a strange school senior’s house to work on an assignment.

“Hey, Ham Dowon. You are kind of cute?”

I tossed out a joke to break the awkward atmosphere. After glancing at me, the fellow nodded his head somewhat boastfully, even though his ears had turned bright red.

“…Of course I would look cute to you.”

“Good grief. You are the strangest person I have ever seen.”

“…Does that mean I look strangely cute? The most out of everyone you have seen so far?”

“Think whatever you want.”

He seemed to be pondering it with a mock-serious face, so I just brushed it off. Ham Dowon suddenly gave a shy smile.

“Hyung, you really do like me.”

His face looked so fluttered that it was truly absurd. How can someone be so lost in their own thoughts like that? I was at the point of wondering what kind of environment he grew up in. After finishing the organizing, Ham Dowon took something out of the refrigerator and sat down across the table from me.

“Please eat one, hyung.”

What he held out was a mini cup of imported ice cream. Placing one in front of me and one in front of himself, Ham Dowon looked shy.

“That is my favorite flavor. White Macadamia Nut.”

“You must eat it a lot normally.”

“It is not that I eat it a lot, just a bit… a little…”

It’s fine to eat ice cream often. His embarrassed appearance was a bit funny. Since he ate that Oreo shake so well last time, he really seems to like sweet things. I thought about teasing him by saying, ‘I told you I wasn’t going to eat it,’ but that was too childish, and I stopped because I was afraid Ham Dowon would get self-conscious.

“Is that the same flavor too?”

“This one is green tea.”

“I thought you said the other one was your favorite flavor.”

“It is better if hyung eats the more delicious one…”

“I can eat anything. Switch it.”

“Mmm… Can’t hyung just eat that one?”

“Why? You said you liked this one best.”

“That is why. It is my favorite flavor, so I want hyung to eat it.”

Without giving me a chance to say more, Ham Dowon opened his ice cream and took a bite, yum. I’m not unaware of the sentiment behind offering someone your favorite thing, so I took a bite of the ice cream with the small plastic spoon and pretended it was as delicious as possible.

“It is good, right.”

“Yeah. It is delicious.”

The smooth and sweet vanilla ice cream had quite substantial pieces of macadamia nuts in it, giving it a savory crunch and a nice texture. Ham Dowon gave another beaming smile and said, “What a relief.”

“By the way, did you bring your laptop?”

“Yes. I brought it.”

The cup size was so small that even though I only took a few bites, the ice cream was completely gone. I set the empty cup aside and brushed off my hands. Ham Dowon, who had been eating slowly and had only finished half of his ice cream, rummaged through his bag with the small plastic spoon in his mouth.

“Ah, I use that one too. It is even the same color. Space Gray.”

“You are lucky, hyung. Because we have a couple item.”

“Hah.”

I was just glad because the laptop Ham Dowon pulled out was the exact same model and color as mine, but the reaction of that strange guy was bizarre. There were surely dozens of people in the Fine Arts building alone who used that American brand laptop with the bitten apple logo. Especially since many art students use them. I looked closely at his face to see if he was joking, but seeing him just blink silently, it seemed he was being serious. This kid, his self-esteem is excessively high. Well… it’s better than it being low. I quickly changed the subject.

“Is there anything you worked on before?”

“Yes. There is. Just a moment.”