Sweet Shot

#20

Suddenly, the morning’s events came to mind. To use his words, it was when he had “pulled out” and Ha-min awkwardly got into his car after leaving the gosiwon. While Ha-min was just embarrassed and uncomfortable, he was calm. More than calm, he was nonchalant. As if nothing had happened.

“Your lip is split. That must hurt.”

He turned his body in the car, leaning towards the passenger seat to touch Ha-min’s lips. He frowned with a worried look. Ha-min flinched at his sudden approach and pulled his head back. Tae-rim’s hand fell into empty space. Tae-rim hesitated, and Ha-min awkwardly smiled and waved his hand, saying it was fine, it didn’t hurt.

“That must really hurt. It’s completely cracked.”

As always, the school cafeteria was bustling, and Ha-min’s group, having finished their major classes, was eating the cheapest school meal as usual. Woo-kyung, who always ordered pork cutlet, was stuffing his face with it today as well when he casually spoke up. Uncomfortable with this topic, Ha-min just smiled instead of answering and put some rice in his mouth.

“Oh, right. Oppa, you know there’s a festival after the midterms, right?”

Eun-soo suddenly asked as if she had just remembered. Ha-min looked up as if hearing this for the first time.

“Our department is doing a pub, and all first-years have to participate. Except for those with unavoidable circumstances.”

“Chae-rin and I told the student council president we can’t because we’re performing at the festival.”

“He still said to help with serving if you have time in between. Just you, Shin Woo-kyung, not Kang Chae-rin.”

“Why?!”

“Don’t know. The president oppa said he finds you annoying.”

“Wow, a life where discrimination is so common.”

Woo-kyung shook his head with a bored expression. Despite his words, Woo-kyung, along with Eun-soo, was actually famous as an “insider” in the department. He just had a good-natured personality that got along well with everyone, making people comfortable around him.

“And oppa, you have to participate no matter what.”

“Huh?”

Ha-min, who had been silently enjoying the bickering conversation between Eun-soo and Woo-kyung, opened his eyes wide in surprise.

“You ranked first in our department’s popularity poll, remember?”

“Uh… that was just a joke…”

“It’s not a joke! The girls in our department were dead serious about it!”

Eun-soo furrowed her brows seriously. Ha-min’s face flushed with embarrassment. Things like popularity polls seemed like a completely different world to him.

“Hey, this oppa gets uncomfortable with stuff like that.”

Chae-rin chimed in with a casual remark.

“I know that. But rumors have spread all over our department. The seniors are super curious too. They say we absolutely have to bring you as the face of our pub.”

“I’m not good at that kind of thing…”

“Oppa, you don’t have to do anything. Just dress up nicely and stand there.”

Eun-soo said with fire in her eyes. Ha-min hesitated at the overly aggressive approach.

“I just… have to help out?”

There was no reason to refuse. He didn’t want to turn down something they were so enthusiastic about. They were grateful kids. Thanks to them, he wasn’t an outsider and was adapting to school life, and he had become friends with Chae-rin and Woo-kyung too.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Eun-soo nodded her head quickly. Chae-rin shook her head as if she couldn’t handle Eun-soo’s enthusiasm.

“If I’m with hyung, wouldn’t our chemistry be good too?”

“Get lost.”

Eun-soo immediately shut down Woo-kyung’s boastful comment with a straight face. As Woo-kyung was complaining that she was being too harsh, it happened.

“So you were here.”

Suddenly, a voice struck their ears from right beside them.

The unexpected protagonist naturally sat down next to Ha-min with a thud.

“Oh!”

“Hello…!”

“…Hello.”

Woo-kyung, Eun-soo, and Chae-rin reacted in order to Tae-rim’s appearance.

“Hello, everyone.”

He kindly replied and then poked his head towards Ha-min.

“Hello to our Ha-min too.”

The greeting he offered first to Ha-min, who was silently surprised, was sweet.

Ha-min, still not immune to that handsome face, nodded with a startled expression.

“Uh… why are you here?”

Ha-min still felt like the morning’s events were a dream. Not because it was purely good, but because it felt unreal. The fact that he had sucked that part of him, seeing his appearance intoxicated with excitement, even the sensation of feeling pleasure and pain simultaneously.

“Why, can’t I come to see Ha-min?”

He chuckled and touched the back of Ha-min’s head.

As soon as he appeared, gazes from people in the cafeteria flew in from here and there. Many people stopped to talk to him, and there were also people whispering and stealing glances at him. Feeling his presence again, Ha-min smiled awkwardly as usual.

“That’s not it… Just. How did you know I was here?”

Ha-min awkwardly tried to change the subject.

“I asked Tae-in. He said you’d be eating school food at this time.”

He casually added while still fiddling with the tuft of hair sticking out at the nape of Ha-min’s neck.

“He knows your entire schedule by heart.”

“Really…?”

“Makes me jealous.”

He laughed playfully as usual. Even knowing it was a joke, Ha-min’s heart pounded roughly.

“Give me your schedule too.”

“Huh?”

“I think it would be convenient for me to know too.”

Why? Ha-min held back the question that was about to come out naturally. He didn’t want to assign meaning to it.

“Later… I’ll send it to you via KakaoTalk.”

Ha-min just poked at some side dishes with his chopsticks.

“Did you come to see Ha-min oppa?”

Eun-soo smoothly interjected into the conversation that had been going on as if only the two of them were there. Only then did Tae-rim’s gaze, which had been fixed on Ha-min, turn to Eun-soo. It was as if he had just realized someone else was there.

“Yeah.”

Tae-rim answered simply, no more, no less.

“You must be really close. Last time you were waiting in front of the lecture hall.”

“Yeah. We slept together yesterday.”

Ha-min’s eyes widened at his casual remark. No, that was…

“He was drunk, so I let him sleep…”

“In hyung’s gosiwon room?”

Woo-kyung cut in as Ha-min stammered, seeming caught off guard. While finishing off his pork cutlet, he asked Ha-min.

“Isn’t hyung’s gosiwon room super small? How did you two sleep?”

Woo-kyung asked casually. Ha-min froze, and Tae-rim furrowed his brow.

“…So Jae-kyung has been there too.”

“It’s Woo-kyung…”

His voice, which had been calm, was somewhat twisted. Ha-min glanced at him, rolling his eyes. The corners of his mouth, which had been turned up, were now hesitating.

“What did you do there?”

“Pardon?”

Woo-kyung asked back, puzzled by the sudden question.

“…”

Tae-rim quietly smiled without asking again. Realizing the implied meaning that he didn’t want to ask twice, Woo-kyung obediently provided an answer.

“Uh… We just had some cup ramen because we had time… and watched Netflix on our phones… Right, hyung?”

Woo-kyung recited in a more subdued voice. With a face that didn’t understand why he was being asked, he dredged up hazy memories. And then unnecessarily turned the arrow towards Ha-min.

“One lecture was canceled… so we had too much time until the next lecture…”

Why am I making such excuses? Wondering this, Ha-min scratched his nape for no reason. Tae-rim, who had been listening quietly, spoke as if admonishing. His brow was furrowed slightly, seemingly displeased.

“Don’t just let anyone in.”

Anyone…? At Tae-rim’s dry advice treating him like an outsider, Woo-kyung pointed at himself with a stupid face, as if saying, “Huh? Are you talking about me?” But Tae-rim, not caring about him at all, got to the main point.

“Oh, and this.”

Tae-rim suddenly held out a small shopping bag he had placed on the table. When Ha-min looked at it questioningly, Tae-rim frowned worriedly and stroked Ha-min’s cracked lips. Ha-min’s neck stiffened at the sudden touch.

“It’s still red. Does it still hurt?”

A face full of concern. Ha-min suddenly felt like crying. He knew this concern wasn’t fake. Knowing this made him feel choked up with emotion. He hated himself for constantly being drawn to, expecting, and feeling fluttery about that caring appearance. It was painful that he could casually treat that act as just a physical release and then come all the way here. Ointment, disinfectant, and so on. He had bought and brought various things.

“It’s… fine.”

Ha-min pressed down on his voice to suppress the surge of emotion. As he avoided the touch, Tae-rim’s hand, which had been stroking his lips, floated in the air. It was then that his touch hesitated.

“Did you come to bring medicine for Ha-min oppa?”

Eun-soo, sitting across from them, spoke with a touched expression. Fortunately, that’s how it seemed to third-party eyes. Just like a close older brother taking good care of his younger brother. Of course, that was the brother’s intention as well. Only Ha-min’s reception was different. Only his heart was different. Only he was swayed by such simple actions.

“Yeah. Why?”

“No, it’s just amazing. Such dedication…”

“We’re close, aren’t we?”

Tae-rim replied casually. He even seemed a bit annoyed. As if saying, “Why state the obvious?”

“It’s partly my fault too…”

He muttered just loud enough for Ha-min to hear. When Ha-min looked at him with wide eyes, his eyes curved into crescents. He brought his lips close to Ha-min’s ear.

“Apply the medicine well. So it heals quickly.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks.”

“It’s nothing. When it heals, will you do it for me again?”

“Huh?”

Ha-min’s pupils shook at the playful question with an upward inflection. Removing his lips from Ha-min’s ear, he furrowed his brows for a moment as if contemplating. But soon his eyes crinkled again.

“I liked it more than I expected.”

“…”

“I keep thinking about it.”

He couldn’t have smiled more charmingly than that.

Self-inflicted wounds. It was like he had dug his own grave with his own hands.