Sweet Shot

#10

The staff placed the pre-ordered menu items on the table with respectful gestures. They served white wine instead of cocktails, pouring it into glasses one by one. This was accompanied by light snacks such as cheese and crackers.

Tae-rim’s girlfriend, who was the first to have her wine poured, swirled her wine glass and glanced at Tae-rim with a look of disapproval. She stared meaningfully at Tae-rim as if looking at a henpecked husband, then turned her gaze away. Her dry, scanning gaze landed on Ha-min.

“An aspiring celebrity?”

She asked Tae-rim after looking Ha-min over. Tae-rim chuckled.

“Why would Ha-min do something like that?”

“These days, what else is there as good as that?”

“Why would a good student do something like that?”

Tae-rim dismissed it as if it wasn’t even worth hearing. Hee-jae looked Ha-min over carefully, seemingly intrigued by Tae-rim’s reaction. She glanced at him with a face of pure curiosity, wondering what was so pretty about him that Tae-rim was so protective.

“Does he have a girlfriend?”

She asked, resting her chin on her hand. She took a sip of wine right after asking.

“Our Ha-min is so naive, he doesn’t know about such things.”

Tae-in, who had been expressionless, apparently disliking sitting with the adults, chimed in. Everyone seemed quite surprised when Tae-in made a comment as if teasingly cute.

“Don’t tell me he’s never dated…?”

The woman who had started the conversation looked at Ha-min as if he was a rare specimen. Sa-hyun, sitting next to her, added another comment.

“He’s a complete living fossil. You know?”

Sa-hyun let out a deflated laugh as he put the wine glass to his lips. Ha-min’s face turned bright red at the words that were clearly mocking and mixed with subtle ridicule. He didn’t know what to do with the embarrassment reaching its peak. While it might have been the kind of joke made among friends or between men, it was an unfamiliar joke to Ha-min, and his confusion was evident.

“Um… Well, I was quite overweight until recently…”

Ha-min mumbled as if making an excuse, his face red up to his neck.

“I used to be fat… so I never even thought about dating or anything like that.”

Ha-min let out a foolish laugh as he made unnecessary excuses. His eyes darted around, soaked in embarrassment.

“…”

At the same time, a crease appeared between Tae-rim’s brows. Tae-rim’s eyes twisted subtly at the sight of Ha-min foolishly bringing up old stories to make excuses.

His skewed gaze turned to Sa-hyun, who was looking at his phone with a bored face. The slightly creased brow now twisted visibly.

“Hey, you bastard.”

“…”

“You scared the kid.”

It was a tone that didn’t suit him, more like a thug from a rough neighborhood.

“You should watch who you’re talking to when you’re being so vulgar.”

Then he lightly threw a peanut he had been casually eating at Sa-hyun’s face. Despite being treated quite humiliatingly, Sa-hyun couldn’t answer and avoided eye contact. The atmosphere became quite subdued, as if a hierarchical relationship was felt. Ha-min, feeling it was somehow his fault, fidgeted nervously, just watching the situation. It was a moment when he felt pathetic for not being able to take a joke as a joke.

Ha-min’s personality wasn’t originally like this.

When he was young and naive, roaming the neighborhood alleys, the adults in the neighborhood adored him, calling him lively. The thoughtless young Song Ha-min would eat all the snacks the adults gave him, saying he was cute. He was a darling among adults and a popular leader among friends.

But everything changed after entering high school. The high school he went to, assigned randomly, was unfortunately quite far from home. For Ha-min, who had been used to walking 10 minutes to kindergarten, elementary school, and middle school, it was quite far and unfamiliar. It took about an hour including the bus ride and a short walk. There were no neighborhood friends, and as the school was far, contact naturally became less frequent and they grew apart.

Ha-min, who had packed various snacks from the supermarket, was excited to share them with new friends. Whether it was good luck or bad luck, that school was a prestigious one known for high college admission rates and wealthy students. They were obsessed with luxury brands rather than food, and were more passionate about academic performance than making friends. It was a place that didn’t suit Ha-min at all, who was ordinary and innocent in every way. There, Ha-min was an outsider and at the very bottom of the pyramid, a nobody.

‘Hey, pig, can’t you move faster?’

‘Fucking look at that fat jiggling.’

‘Ah, the smell of lard, shit.’

And he was one of the easy targets among the minnows. The reason this old memory suddenly came to mind was because of his current situation of being treated as naive. The bullying he endured throughout his three years of high school had changed everything about Ha-min.

After that, the atmosphere at the drinking party wasn’t very good. The mood had cracked from the moment Tae-rim suddenly spoke harshly to Sa-hyun. But despite Tae-rim’s somewhat rough behavior, his friend didn’t seem particularly surprised. As if knowing Tae-rim’s temperament, he casually brushed it off, saying, “You’re overreacting, kid.” However, when Tae-rim’s expression didn’t soften, Sa-hyun tactfully apologized to Ha-min.

“Kid, sorry if I offended you?”

It wasn’t particularly sincere, but Ha-min calmly accepted the apology, saying, “It’s okay.” He hadn’t expected an apology. If anyone was at fault, it was him. He had overreacted to a light joke, unable to brush it off easily. Still, he was grateful to Tae-rim for sharply calling it out. Hyung was always someone he was grateful to.

Perhaps it was because of hyung that he endured his hellish high school life. The occasional memories of hyung were like a sanctuary for him. The photo of hyung that he had stolen from Tae-in’s house – the one who adored him, always smiled at him, and was kind – was almost worn out. From touching and looking at it every day. That hyung was still the same. Still kind, still smiling, still on his side.

“That boss hyung is always like that. How should I put it, a bit of a thug?”

As the drinking party was breaking up and they were leaving the building, Tae-in suddenly spoke. The hyung’s group had already gone outside to smoke, and Ha-min and Tae-in opened the door and came out later. Ha-min nodded with a calm face.

“It’s okay. I was just flustered earlier. But he didn’t seem like a thug…”

“He’s mellowed out with age now, but I heard he was quite something when he met hyung during their study abroad days.”

Thug. It doesn’t suit hyung.

“…I wish they wouldn’t hang out.”

Ha-min muttered, looking elsewhere as he spoke.

As they felt the cool night breeze, Tae-in continued speaking.

“But our hyung is no better, if not worse?”

“Huh?”

“Our hyung, he’s just pretending. All his friends are like that. He always acts like he’s not. And Lee Tae-rim, how nasty his temper is. That’s why even those supposedly great friends can’t say a word to him. You saw how even that boss hyung couldn’t say anything to him earlier, right?”

“…Hyung is kind. He’s not that kind of person.”

“Oh my. We’ve got a fan here.”

“What are you talking about.”

“Well, even when you were young, you used to follow Lee Tae-rim around a lot.”

No, I didn’t. Yes, you did. No, I didn’t. Yes, you did, I’m telling you. As they were bickering frivolously while standing outside the building, they saw a couple smoking cigarettes on a bench nearby. Just then, Tae-in suddenly checked his phone as it vibrated in his pocket.

“Hey, I’ll be right back after taking this call. Tell hyung I called a designated driver for him.”

Tae-in, having apparently noticed Tae-rim smoking, patted Ha-min’s shoulder and walked a few steps in the opposite direction. Ha-min nodded, saying he understood, and started walking. It wasn’t far, so Tae-rim’s handsome profile quickly came into view.

“Aren’t you being too protective?”

The two, unaware that Ha-min had come close, were facing each other and smoking. What made Ha-min stop in his tracks was the voice of Tae-rim’s girlfriend.

“What do you mean?”

He replied in a flat voice.

“That dongsaeng, you’re too fond of him.”

“Ah.”

“Why are you uncharacteristically hovering around him?”

“He’s someone I knew well when we were young.”

“You’re not interested in him, are you?”

She threw the question out playfully, but her gaze at Tae-rim subtly flickered. Tae-rim’s eyebrow twitched at the probing question. Then his face softened, and he let out a voice mixed with laughter.

“He is pretty, for a boy.”

The corners of his lips smoothly turned up.

“Especially his neckline.”

At his added words, Hee-jae’s brow immediately furrowed. She stared sharply at Tae-rim with an even more suspicious gaze.

“Are you serious?”

At her sharpened voice, Tae-rim erased his smile and let out a short sigh. Then he continued speaking in a slightly annoyed tone.

“Are you jealous?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Then what are you curious about?”

His indifferent voice suddenly sounded cold. It was a voice Ha-min had never heard before.

“It’s strange. You’re not interested in others. I’ve never seen you be so protective before.”

“Of course I’m interested.”

“What?”

“He’s someone I really care about.”

Tae-rim said firmly with an expressionless face. At his ambiguous answer, Hee-jae frowned even more and her voice rose.

“You really…”

But she was immediately cut off.

“But Hee-jae.”

“…”

“He’s a man.”

Tae-rim cut off her words in a low voice. His tone suggested it was absurd.

It was a tone of utter disbelief, as if it was truly ridiculous. His eyes and gaze showed that he thought it was an incomprehensible idea. It wasn’t a voice to soothe his girlfriend’s cute jealousy, but rather one that was simply teaching common sense.