Sweet Shot

#41

The person Woo-kyung politely pointed to with both hands was Chae-rin, who was eating silently. At Woo-kyung’s sudden remark, Ha-min choked and coughed. As Ha-min blinked in surprise and looked at Woo-kyung, the latter smiled slyly.

“There seemed to be something between you two, right?”

“Wh-what…?”

“When I saw you last time, the atmosphere was good. You two got closer while working on the project, didn’t you?”

“That’s…”

“What if there is?”

It was Chae-rin who interrupted Ha-min’s flustered response. She looked annoyed, seemingly irritated by Woo-kyung’s meddling words.

“What? What? Is there really something between you two?”

Tae-in joined in, interested in the gossip. As Ha-min became even more flustered and tried to wave his hands in denial, Chae-rin spoke up again.

“What if there really is something?”

Ha-min suddenly felt grateful for Chae-rin’s casually thrown words. It was her consideration, knowing his situation. Chae-rin knew that he liked men, that the man he liked was Tae-rim sitting next to him, and that this situation would be very embarrassing for him. She also knew how uncomfortable Ha-min was with Woo-kyung, Tae-in, and Eun-soo constantly trying to set him up.

“What? Is it true?? Oh my. Oh my.”

Tae-in clapped exaggeratedly. While it was simple entertainment for them, it was different for Ha-min and Chae-rin. They both knew too well the awkwardness of such situations. It was usually like this when you liked someone of the same sex.

“Think what you want, and stop bothering us.”

“What do you mean ‘think what you want’? Is it true or not? Huh? What’s going on?”

“Don’t spit while eating expensive food.”

Chae-rin coldly rebuked Woo-kyung, who was pestering them. Woo-kyung pouted in response.

Meanwhile, Ha-min felt pathetic for not being able to say a word. He had clearly said that introductions made him uncomfortable, but now, in front of Tae-rim, he couldn’t easily say that. It was because he had already told Tae-rim the absurd lie that things were going well with a girlfriend.

“Things are really going well, aren’t they?”

A voice with a faint hint of amusement came from beside him. The others probably couldn’t hear it as they were talking about everyday things, but it was clear to Ha-min’s ears right next to him. When Ha-min turned with awkward eyes, Tae-rim was looking at him with his chin resting on his hand. For a moment, Ha-min felt like a scoundrel. It was because he suddenly remembered last night’s events. It was extremely embarrassing and awkward to be in a situation where he had done such indecent things with Tae-rim and was now supposedly doing well with a woman. He couldn’t deny it or confirm it.

“You really are a player…”

Tae-rim murmured with a deflated laugh. Ha-min’s face turned bright red. Just then,

“By the way, I’ve been wanting to say this.”

Eun-soo, who had been busy on social media, cautiously opened her mouth while looking at Tae-rim.

“That thing on your hand.”

“Hm?”

Tae-rim calmly looked at the back of his hand. Seeing the alligator character band-aid on the back of his hand, Tae-rim smiled faintly and spoke.

“Does it suit me?”

At this brazen remark, Eun-soo awkwardly laughed and firmly shook her head.

“It really doesn’t suit you. It stands out a lot because it doesn’t suit you at all.”

As Eun-soo frowned as if it was strange, Ha-min felt unnecessarily embarrassed. After all, he was the one who had put it on.

“Why? It’s pretty.”

“So that’s your taste.”

“I didn’t know either. That this was my taste.”

At his gentle voice, Eun-soo shrugged with a bewildered expression. It didn’t suit at all for someone who looked like an elegant sculpture to have a taste for childish characters. But Eun-soo thought it didn’t matter and nodded, returning to her food.

As Eun-soo’s gaze dropped, Tae-rim’s elegant fingers lightly touched Ha-min’s fingers on the table. Ha-min’s shoulder twitched as Tae-rim’s touch grazed the knuckle of his index finger. Worried that someone might see, he turned his head, but fortunately, the others were chatting among themselves or eating. Ha-min carefully looked back at Tae-rim.

“Song player.”

“…”

“I didn’t know you were so good at seducing people.”

He whispered quite playfully. Ha-min looked at him with a dumbfounded expression at the ridiculous honorific and title, but Tae-rim calmly moved his fingers. His white fingers secretly rubbed Ha-min’s fingertips. It was just rubbing, but it strangely felt erotic, and as Ha-min tried to withdraw his hand, their fingers intertwined. Ha-min looked at the others again, but they were still chatting among themselves. When Ha-min looked at Tae-rim with surprised eyes, he saw eyes that weren’t smiling.

“Putting such a pretty thing on hyung…”

The alligator picture was visible. Every time he wriggled and entwined his fingers with Ha-min’s, the alligator moved. With each movement, he uttered a word. Unlike his unsmiling eyes, his voice was tinged with laughter and mischief.

“Is that okay?”

**

Swoosh—.

Ha-min turned on the bathroom sink faucet and wet his face with cold water. He moistened his face somewhat roughly and then turned off the water. Then he quietly watched the water droplets falling from his face. The dripping sound echoed in the empty bathroom. Ha-min wiped away the moisture with a complicated expression.

It was his fault for being tempted by hyung’s words that he had broken up with his girlfriend in the first place. And it was wrong to indulge in physical intimacy so ambiguously. He felt self-loathing for constantly falling for hyung’s words, even though he knew it was foolish. It was because the more he did so, the more he found himself having expectations. He was someone who could never separate body and heart. When he got physically close to the object of his unrequited love, his feelings only grew stronger. Knowing this… Ha-min slapped his cheeks with both hands. That’s why he kept having expectations with each of hyung’s words. His heart fluttering even at words that were clearly teasing. Not knowing what to do. He felt like going crazy at how pathetic he was, having a glimmer of hope in one corner of his heart even while knowing it wasn’t true.

“Get a grip, Song Ha-min…”

Regardless of whether it’s a man or a woman, he’s not someone who suits him. How dare I… I….

Ha-min looked at his arm with sunken eyes. Although hidden by his watch strap and clothes, there were unsightly scars. They were things he never wanted to show him. If they were disgusting and creepy even to his own eyes, how revolting would they be to him? Ha-min touched his fingertips with a self-deprecating smile.

The sensation of his secret caress remained. The symptoms worsened the more he thought about having secrets and getting closer to him. Every place he had touched burned just thinking about it, and his lower abdomen tingled. It wasn’t a good symptom for him.

“Ha…”

Ha-min wiped his hands and face with a paper towel and left the bathroom. Everyone seemed to have finished their meal and was leaving the room. Tae-rim came out last. He looked bored. Well, it couldn’t have been fun feeding his younger brother’s friends. Nevertheless, he felt sorry and grateful that he had stayed and brought them to such an expensive restaurant.

Ha-min was about to approach him to say thank you for the meal when—

“Lee Tae-rim?”

A strange woman recognized him and called out from not too far away. Her face was full of surprise and delight. At the sound, Tae-rim turned his head indifferently. A look of pleasure also appeared on Tae-rim’s face as he recognized the woman.

“Oh. Noona.”

“When did you come back to Korea? I didn’t know you were back?”

“It’s been a few months. Have you been well?”

Tae-rim naturally continued the conversation. He showed an appropriately pleased expression and exchanged greetings. The woman looked a bit older than his ex-girlfriend Hee-jae and seemed even more elegant. She was wearing a suit, which gave her a distinctly adult air, but couldn’t hide her outstanding beauty. Just by her overall demeanor, she seemed like a daughter from a wealthy family.

“You should have called when you came back. I’m hurt.”

“Is it okay for someone who’s taken to say things like that so easily?”

Tae-rim skillfully countered the woman’s words. He had his usual polite smile on his face.

“Since when did you care about such things?”

The woman playfully laughed and lightly hit Tae-rim’s arm. It was a natural skinship. Tae-rim neither rejected nor pushed away her touch. It just seemed like an everyday occurrence.

“Then Hee-jae must have come back with you, right?”

“Well, when we came back…”

It was Ha-min who flinched at the mention of the ex-girlfriend’s name. It had been something he was curious about. Although he couldn’t bring himself to ask, he had been wondering about the sudden breakup.

“What does that mean? Don’t tell me you two broke up?”

Tae-rim didn’t deny it and just smiled briefly at the quite surprised question.

“But you dated for quite a long time. Why?”

“Why? Because we weren’t compatible?”

“Is that all?”

“Is there a need for more reasons…?”

Tae-rim asked back as if he was really curious. At his brazen attitude, as if asking if there needed to be any more reason than that, the woman let out a deflated laugh as if he hadn’t changed.

“You’re still the same.”

“That’s a compliment, right?”

“Well, in a way…. Anyway, give me a call sometime. Let’s have a meal. Or show your face at the gathering we’re having this time.”

“If I have time.”

Tae-rim briefly answered the woman’s request. The woman laughed cheerfully, patted Tae-rim’s arm once more, and turned towards her destination.

Unable to approach easily in such an atmosphere, Ha-min looked down at his hesitant feet. His feet felt too heavy. As if they had sunk into something damp. It just looked like a different world. Knowing this, his feet had stopped on their own.