Forgiveness (2)

I'd always been on the tall side, with a solid build to match.

Once I started training properly in the military, that strength shot well past average. My company commander took one look at me and said, "If a real war ever broke out, you'd have carved through an entire North Korean unit by yourself."

As if raw strength meant anything in a firefight.

Still, I understood what he was getting at well enough that I made a point of not throwing that power around. Strength or no strength, that was just common sense. But it did make breaking up fights — or avoiding them altogether — a lot easier. Show people you're strong, and almost nobody bothers you.

...Of course, the fact that I'd had to use that strength at all was never a good thing.

At this rate, Wa Sol would only worry more.

I was turning that over in my head when Hae-an spoke up.

"Hyung, you gonna be okay with this class?"

"Okay with what?"

We'd finished a late lunch and still had time before the four o'clock lecture, so Hae-an and I had come into the classroom early to wait. This was a required first-year course for our department, which meant every single classmate would inevitably end up in the same room.

Which, of course, meant Cheon-woo and Seo-hyeon would be walking through that door too.

"Sitting through the same class as those guys just feels... awkward."

"Hmm..."

I genuinely didn't care. If anything, Hae-an looked more uncomfortable than I did.

And speak of the devil —

"...They got here fast."

Cheon-woo and Seo-hyeon stepped into the classroom. Since we were the only ones there, our eyes met immediately.

...A brief silence settled over us.

What was the right move here?

Honestly, just ignoring them was an option. But...

After talking with Wa Sol yesterday — even if I hadn't caught every word, distracted as I'd been by Eve's stream and the multiplayer session — I'd heard every bit of what she'd said about looking out for me.

"Hmm... Hae-an."

"Yeah?"

"Let's move seats."

We were sitting in the very front row. Cheon-woo and Seo-hyeon had taken the seats farthest from us, all the way in the back.

I packed up my bag and headed toward the rear, and Hae-an followed, looking flustered but trailing after me anyway. I walked right up near where the two of them were sitting.

"...What do you want?"

They both glared at me. Fair enough — neither of us had any fond memories of the other.

I set my bag down in the seat in front of them like it was nothing and sat down. Then I turned around and spoke.

"You guys eat well?"

"...Ha. You're just messing with us, aren't you?"

"Cheon-woo, calm down. Hyung, maybe just quietly pretend we don't know each other..."

"Don't overreact to a simple hello."

Looking at them like this...

They really still hadn't shaken off that high-school energy.

No wonder nothing they said could get a rise out of me.

"Go back to that place later and apologize to the owner. We already did."

"Tsk. What's it to you?"

"...This isn't about me."

Kids or not — when something's wrong, you fix it.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Hae-an started it, sure. But you lost your temper and made a scene, so you're not blameless either. Go apologize properly."

"Haa, seriously. Who even are you?"

"You just said it yourself."

I cut him off and looked Cheon-woo straight in the eye.

"I'm your hyung. And as your hyung, I'm telling you when you've done something wrong."

"You some kind of old fogey?"

"Call me whatever you want. But apologize properly."

"Ugh, fine. Fine, I got it. Just move already."

"No. I'm sitting here."

"Haa. Do whatever you want."

"Hyung..."

Hae-an came over and sat down beside me. Seo-hyeon kept glancing between Cheon-woo and me, reading the room. Cheon-woo was still glaring, and I simply held his gaze.

That was all. No more words passed between us. Time ticked by, more students filed in, and the murmur of conversation filled the room — but the four of us still said nothing.

Then the professor arrived and class began. Fortunately, it was just an orientation session, and he let us go the moment it was over. Turns out the world still has its share of generous professors.

"Haa, Seo-hyeon. Let's go."

"Ah, yeah."

The second class ended, the two of them stood up. I called after them.

"Han Cheon-woo. Kim Seo-hyeon."

"...What?"

Cheon-woo stopped and looked at me. Seo-hyeon fidgeted beside him, looking uneasy.

"And you too, Hae-an."

I looked at all three of them and made a proposal.

"Want to come over to my place?"

"...What?" / "Ah..." / "Huh?"

Three completely different reactions.

Gathering at a friend's off-campus place is basically the golden rule of university life — but I never expected the first friends I invited over would be three people at once.

Well. Two of them still didn't exactly count as friends.

"Come in."

"Okay."

"Cheon-woo..."

"...Tch."

I'd been surprised by how good Seo-hyeon was at handling Cheon-woo — and Cheon-woo actually listened to him. The only reason Cheon-woo had come over to my place like I'd asked was because Seo-hyeon had said, "Well... maybe we should go?"

So the four of us ended up at my apartment together.

I supposed I should be grateful — we hadn't run into Wa Sol on the way.

"What room number does Wa Sol live in?"

Of course Cheon-woo asked about her the second we walked in.

"Not telling you. You'll just bother her."

"We're already here, though?"

"I invited you because I felt like hanging out. That's fine. This is not."

"Haa, look. What even is Wa Sol to you that you'd go this far? You said you're not even dating."

"Hey, Han Cheon-woo."

Hae-an looked ready to jump in again, clearly thinking Cheon-woo had crossed a line — but I tapped him on the shoulder to say it was fine and answered Cheon-woo myself.

"She's closer to me than you are. And I'm closer to her than you are, too."

"Tsk."

"Then why are you always hitting on her?"

"She's pretty."

"That's it?"

"...Yeah?"

So that really was all there was to it.

Well — falling for a pretty senior the first time you see her on campus was something that could happen to any university student.

"This guy's got his own reasons. He's a face-chaser, sure, but still."

"What's wrong with that?"

Nothing, really. She was genuinely pretty.

"Cheon-woo's surprisingly simple."

"He was like that in high school too."

Hae-an chimed in agreement, and Cheon-woo glared at me — but I ignored him and pulled out the beer and fried chicken I'd picked up on the way home. All of it paid for by me. I couldn't exactly make a bunch of kids who'd never even held a part-time job foot the bill...

"We didn't get to drink properly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at that last hangout, so let's have a round."

"You can even handle it?"

"Better than you... probably."

I answered Cheon-woo's challenge with an easy smile. And for good reason.

"I've never gotten properly drunk. Not once."

Clink.

"Khh..."

"Urgh."

"Cheon-woo... maybe take it easy..."

"Whoa, Gachi-hyung. You're no joke."

Apparently my earlier comment had landed as a challenge, because Cheon-woo matched me drink for drink. And that meant —

"...Haa. Hoo."

"If you're struggling, just drink some water. Don't look like you're about to throw up in someone else's apartment."

"I'm fine!"

I was drinking at a pace of three sips for every one of Hae-an's or Seo-hyeon's, and Cheon-woo had been keeping up — but even beer hits hard at that speed. His face was already as red as a strawberry. He was normally good-looking, but like this he just looked ordinary.

"You hold your liquor pretty well too, hyung. Always been like that?"

"Yeah, probably genetic. My mom's insanely tolerant of alcohol."

"Ohh, I bet your mom's tall."

"Mom's not that tall, actually. The height comes from my dad's side."

"Urgh..."

"Cheon-woo, you okay...?"

Hae-an and I chatted like nothing was wrong. Cheon-woo was drowning under alcohol he still wasn't used to, and Seo-hyeon fretted over him. We were in the same room, but somehow operating on completely different wavelengths.

Haa. Nothing to be done about it.

I checked the time — it was nearly seven.

"Ah, it's about that time. Gonna put a stream on for a bit."

"...What?"

"Huh? What stream?"

"Oh, it's seven."

Cheon-woo and Seo-hyeon, still clueless, had no idea what I meant. Hae-an understood immediately.

This guy... for a Hara — a Kiri fan — he sure kept track of Eve's stream schedule too.

"Let's see... I'll put it on the laptop."

I opened my laptop, went straight to the Diy homepage, and fired up Eve's stream.

Ah. That healing feeling, right on cue.

The others' reactions:

"Eve's energy really is something else."

"Ah, so this is... the one hyung said he likes?"

"Haa... tsk."

Hae-an had already accepted VTubers, and Seo-hyeon was somewhere near neutral — fine. But Cheon-woo's reaction grated a little. Well, he'd get it if he kept watching.

"Pfft, haha."

"She's kind of... cute. The way she acts."

"..."

Before long, Hae-an was enjoying himself so much he nearly sprayed his beer, Seo-hyeon was gradually getting Eve'd — seeping deeper into her orbit — and even Cheon-woo, though he wouldn't say a word, was quietly watching the stream.

"Ah... peace of mind, found at last..."

"This hyung gets such a dumb look on his face when he watches Eve..."

"Right?"

I was so deep in flower-field mode that even Hae-an and Seo-hyeon's rude comments bounced right off me. This — this was what I lived for.

"So who's this Kiri she keeps talking about?"

"Ah, my bias. They're doing a duel tomorrow."

"They do that kind of thing?"

"I only started watching recently, so I don't know if it's normal. What do you think, hyung?"

"It's unexpected, yeah. I've never seen them go one-on-one like this before."

By the time I came back to myself, the three of us were naturally chatting about Utopia, and the beer was tasting better by the minute.

"...Gulp."

Cheon-woo still wasn't joining the conversation — but I already knew it wasn't because he felt left out.

Because the person who said —

"Hey, I can't see."

— wasn't me.

"Ah, sorry, Cheon-woo."

Seo-hyeon must have blocked his view while reaching for the chicken. Cheon-woo told him to move, and Seo-hyeon laughed and cleared the way.

Eve was practicing for tomorrow's game with Kiri. Honestly, it was funny — but even being generous, you couldn't call her good at it.

"...She's terrible at this game."

"That's the fun of it. If you want to watch someone who's actually good, go watch Kiri."

"Ah, speaking of which — let's check out Kiri too."

And with that, Hae-an killed Eve's stream and put on Kiri's.

...This bastard?

"Hey, why'd you turn that off?"

"Ah, let's not do solo missionary work here. I need some airtime too."

"Then use your own phone."

"I want to see Kiri on the big screen!"

For the first time, I felt a genuine murderous impulse toward Hae-an.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Hoo. Patience. I held myself back and didn't stop him, and Hae-an quickly pulled up Kiri's stream.

Compared to Eve, the way she moved smoothly through the game was clean and satisfying to watch.

Apparently the skill gap on that game had been way too wide. Looks like they decided to change it.

"...This one's better. She plays clean."

"Right!? See?!"

"See what?! Look at the viewer count! She's two thousand behind Kiri!"

"Hyung, just wait. Tomorrow I'm rounding up every friend and relative I've got to fill those two thousand."

"Then I... don't have anyone to call..."

"...Pfft."

Whether it was the alcohol or Eve and Kiri, we gradually fell into easy, unguarded conversation.

"Ah, are there other members? I want to see the rest of them too."

Seo-hyeon was starting to take an interest in Utopia.

"Why bother? Just watch this one."

And Cheon-woo seemed to have taken a liking to Kiri.

Unfortunately, it looked like I'd failed to make him an Adami. But still.

This was actually... pretty fun.

No — more importantly —

"How long are you going to keep me from watching Eve's stream?!!!"

I snatched the mouse back and put Eve's stream on again. In the end, none of the three could withstand my tirade, and they watched the rest of Eve's broadcast with me.

Though... why had I invited these ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠guys over in the first place again...

Ah. Right.

Because I wanted to forgive them.

So that a senior who'd done nothing wrong wouldn't have to worry about any of this anymore.