Marking (2)

"Hey, why's it so hard to see your face these days?"

Woo-jin, sitting next to me, grumbled.

I asked back, dumbfounded.

"We see each other in every major lecture. What bullshit is that?"

"That's the problem, dumbass—we only see each other during major lectures. I ask you to come out for drinks and you say you're busy, and when I look up your match history, it seems like you don't even game anymore. What's keeping you so busy?"

I tried to answer, but when it came time to actually put it into words, everything I could say got stuck in my throat.

None of what had happened over the past few days was the kind of thing I could confide to anyone.

"There's just a lot I can't talk about."

Absentmindedly, I fiddled with my shirt collar.

At my answer, Woo-jin nodded as if he'd guessed what was going on.

"Aha, girl trouble, right? Baek Si-hyeon. I heard a rumor you go through a different girl every day."

"Who's spreading bullshit rumors like that? It's all malicious nonsense. Don't believe it."

I protested out of sheer disbelief, but I couldn't bring myself to say there wasn't a part of it I couldn't guess at.

Still, it was unfair.

Far from going through girls, I'd never even had one yet.

"I've known you for a while now, and I know you're not the type to bullshit me. I know that. But I keep hearing eyewitness accounts of you being with a different girl practically every other day—so that part's true, isn't it? There's no smoke without fire."

"That part isn't entirely a false rumor, but at least it's not what you're imagining."

Whatever he imagined, the reality was probably beyond it.

If I told him I'd gotten confessions from my half-sister and my full sister, who would even believe me? I'd be lucky if they didn't seriously ask if I was having some otaku delusion.

"Yeah? Then tell me directly what's going on. So I don't misunderstand. First off, I heard you and Han Seo-yeon were hugging in a lecture hall recently. Start with that."

"Oh, Syun. Sounds like there's an interesting story here?"

Abruptly, a head popped up from the row in front of us.

The woman sitting in the front row wasn't someone I could exactly call a close friend, but her face was familiar.

"How the hell did you even get the nickname 'Syun'?"

"Because you're Si-hyeon. Shortened, Syun."

"Then since you're Kim Na-eun, should I shorten yours to Nan?"

"Oh, I like that."

Na-eun laughed brightly.

Surprisingly, she was in the same year as Woo-jin and me, even though we'd only come back to school after finishing military service.

That was thanks to her suddenly deciding she wanted to do a working holiday, taking a leave of absence, and spending two years in Canada.

She was impulsive, naturally sociable, and easygoing, so from our perspective she was easy to deal with.

"Anyway, what's the deal with you two that you were hugging in a lecture hall?"

"We weren't hugging. I just dozed off during lecture, and she had the next class, so she woke me up. Then when I got up to give her my seat, she said something was stuck to my clothes and picked it off. That's all."

Even so, I couldn't talk properly about Seo-yeon. Both the relationship and her status were landmines.

"Hmm. You think she's into you?"

"Nah, no way."

I acted nonchalant on the outside, but cold sweat ran down my back.

Na-eun wasn't particularly sharp, and it was probably just a joke, but still—she'd hit the mark.

Just as Na-eun was about to say something, the professor walked into the lecture hall.

"Alright, alright. Let's begin. Today's material is on the midterm, so..."

At the professor's words, everyone shut ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠their mouths and focused on the lecture.

Midterms were at the end of this month.

I could hear about my friend's love life later, but grades needed attention first, didn't they?

"Hey, Syun. So what's really going on between you two?"

"Look at the front, not at me."

I had to correct myself.

This guy apparently cared more about my love life than his grades.

And purely out of interest, at that.

* * *

"Hey, I'm heading out first."

Just as I fled the lecture hall, Woo-jin and Na-eun grabbed me.

"Where are you going? Finish what you were saying before you leave."

"Syun, you'd better explain yourself now before you go."

"No, I get Woo-jin, but Na-eun, why are you suddenly like this?"

Objectively speaking, Kim Na-eun and I weren't particularly close.

She was just sociable and talked to people everywhere; I'd never thought we were close enough for her to interrogate me like this.

"Well... because it's fun."

"No, seriously, Han Seo-yeon and I just have an ordinary senior-and-junior relationship. Where's the fun in that?"

"Other people's love lives are always fun, aren't they?"

"Worry about your own love life."

It was ridiculous that Kim ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Na-eun was paying attention to my love life. She was the type who barely dated anyone herself.

It might be a bit rude to comment on someone's appearance, but Kim Na-eun wasn't so unattractive that she couldn't date.

Round horn-rimmed glasses, a face that was oddly chubby without quite being fat or overweight, plain features, and an everyday look that showed no sign of effort.

In other words, she was a fairly ordinary-looking woman.

Considering how much typical female college students cared about their appearance, she actually seemed a bit below average.

Still, Kim Na-eun actually had a fair number of admirers.

Maybe an ordinary woman who felt approachable seemed more dateable than an overly pretty one.

"My love life isn't fun to hear about."

"Mine isn't fun either. We're just senior and junior, I said."

As we went back and forth like that in the hallway, I suddenly felt a chilling sensation from behind me.

"Big brother, what are you doing here?"

Speak of the devil.

Of all people, the person in question had to show up.

And why was she calling me "big brother" instead of "Senior" when we weren't even alone?

"Big brother? Big brother? Big brother?"

At Seo-yeon's words, Woo-jin and Na-eun stared at me with suspicious eyes.

Worse, because she'd been loud, other people were staring this way too.

"Fuck, are you two trying to bury me alive today?"

"That's why I'm telling you to explain yourself publicly right now. What happened between you two that she went from calling you 'Senior Si-hyeon' to 'big brother'?"

"Syun. Just spill it and relax."

Fucking bastards.

Cursing them internally, I shot Seo-yeon a look.

Still, she was smart and handled herself well. If I gave her this much of a signal, she'd catch on and help smooth things over.

"We've been seeing each other a lot lately, so we got closer. 'Senior Si-hyeon' felt too stiff, so lately I've been calling him 'big brother.'"

Seo-yeon answered with a gentle smile.

I'd thought she'd thrown a barrel of oil onto a fire, but it turned out to be a fire extinguisher.

In reality, calling an older guy "big brother" was common even without a blood relationship, and by admitting they had simply grown closer, she had actually drawn a line against anything more than that.

I applauded the relief pitcher Han Seo-yeon inwardly and shrugged my shoulders as if to say "See?"

"See? It's exactly what I said. Now leave me alone."

"Hmm, is that so?"

Woo-jin and Na-eun tilted their heads.

At the same time, the people who'd been watching began to look away one by one.

If she'd flat-out denied any relationship at all, they wouldn't have dropped their suspicion, but since she admitted they were close, there was nothing more to say.

"Are these your friends?"

"Yeah. This is Choi Woo-jin, and this is Kim Na-eun."

When I introduced the two, the three of them exchanged greetings.

More precisely, Woo-jin gave a perfunctory greeting and then backed off. Thanks to that, the only ones chatting now were Seo-yeon and Na-eun.

The things Na-eun asked were predictable. How she'd gotten close to Si-hyeon, that sort of thing.

While Seo-yeon handled it skillfully, I asked Woo-jin.

"Aren't you the type who's not that shy around strangers?"

"What do you mean?"

"You just exchanged names with Seo-yeon and backed off."

I wondered if he was conscious of Seo-yeon.

This was the guy who played mood-maker at drinking parties, so it was genuinely awkward for him to act like this.

But Woo-jin's answer was the exact opposite of what I expected.

"I actually have this condition where I freeze up and avoid pretty women."

"Condition, my ass."

"No, I'm serious. My ex-girlfriend—"

The origin of his condition, as Woo-jin explained it, was this.

His ex-girlfriend was pretty but didn't like alcohol.

But the human Choi Woo-jin had alcohol flowing through his veins instead of blood, so he went out drinking even alone.

But his girlfriend kept seeing her boyfriend show up at drinking parties that included women, so she began suspecting he was cheating.

At first, it started with him video-calling her to report that nothing had happened and that he'd made it home safely.

But even with those efforts, her obsession grew worse and worse, until eventually she started stalking him and even showed up at his place at dawn holding a knife.

In the end, unable to take it anymore, he'd broken up with her, but even after that, her obsession tormented him until he'd fled into the military.

"But just being a pretty woman and being obsessive aren't related, are they? Are you just avoiding them because they remind you of your ex?"

"There's that too, but I've found that if I date a slightly ugly woman, she won't obsess. If she's too ugly, though, she goes mental in a different way, so she has to be moderately ugly for me to comfortably hold the upper hand in the relationship."

"You insane piece of trash."

The curse slipped out before I knew it at a statement more trashy than I'd imagined.

I was newly grateful this bastard wasn't a woman-chaser. The reason he wanted the upper hand in relationships ultimately came back to alcohol, so I could at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠least shrug it off.

"Hey, Choi Woo-jin. Then what do you think of Kim Na-eun?"

"What? Why her?"

"She's slightly below average in looks, has an easygoing personality, and you know she really does just drink at drinking parties. Seems like she wouldn't get obsessive, right?"

"Huh?"

As if he'd never considered it, the guy blinked.

I patted him on the back and said.

"You two are a match made in heaven. Give it a shot."

"What, what? What are you two talking about?"

As it happened, Seo-yeon and Na-eun's conversation had ended, and Na-eun poked her face over.

"He says you're his type."

"Hey, hey!"

Woo-jin smacked my shoulder, but this was a hard-won chance for revenge.

If he was going to relentlessly pry into other people's love lives, he should've been prepared to have his own dragged into the spotlight.

Na-eun giggled at Woo-jin's reaction.

"Pfft, pffthahaha! What, I'm your type? Want to grab a drink today? Big sis will buy."

"That's just something this bastard Baek Si-hyeon blurted out, so—wait. You'll buy me drinks? Really?"

"I saved up quite a bit in Canada. Just say the word. I can't do super expensive liquor, but soju, beer, or highballs—I'll buy you as much as you want."

"Can I call you Big Sis Na-eun from now on?"

What kind of skit were they filming?

But Woo-jin's eyes were serious.

It was honestly amazing this insane booze-hound had never gotten into an accident while drinking.

Then again, if he'd been a bad drunk, we wouldn't have stayed this close.

As I stood a step back watching the two of them talk, Seo-yeon grabbed my sleeve.

"Big brother. Come here."

I quietly slipped away following Seo-yeon.

When we reached the now-familiar back of the lecture building, Seo-yeon finally let go of my sleeve and looked up at me, asking.

"I did well, right?"

Just a few days ago she'd given off the impression of a lioness or a leopard, but seeing her look up at me like this, she now felt like a puppy.

Could a person's impression really change this easily?

"At first I freaked out because you called me 'big brother' instead of 'Senior,' but thanks to you, I survived."

"The rumors have probably already spread anyway, so denying it too hard would've looked suspicious. Besides, I'm going to call you big brother when we're alone from now on, so if I called you Senior in public and got caught doing that, I'd have no excuse left, right?"

She'd thought this far ahead.

As I was inwardly marveling at Seo-yeon, she spoke.

"If I did well, give me a reward."

"What kind of reward?"

Instead of answering, Seo-yeon reached out and grabbed my shirt as if seizing me by the collar. Then she pulled the collar aside to reveal the bite mark.

"The mark's still there."

"Probably because you bit too hard."

When I checked my neck in selfie mode, the faint bite mark Aria had left was already gone. But the bite mark Seo-yeon had left still remained, however faintly.

"Bend down for a second."

"You're not going to bite me again, are you?"

"I won't bite this time."

Seo-yeon buried her face against my neck where the bite mark remained.

Then she began sucking hard at the center of the bite mark.

"Sluurp, sluurp."

Apparently she intended to leave a kiss mark just like Aria had.

Startled, I almost shoved Seo-yeon away, but she hugged me first.

"Haaah, pwah. Done. Now we're tied."

She must have been quite conscious of the kiss mark Aria had left.

Kiss marks close to bruises now marked both sides of my neck.

"Didn't you say you wanted to build up memories as siblings for a while?"

"So you and Aria are such wholesome siblings that she left a kiss mark like this?"

I had nothing to say.

When I shut my mouth, Seo-yeon let go of the arms she'd wrapped around me and said.

"And I told you. It's your fault for showing me this. If you flaunt that kind of relationship, I have no choice but to make my move too."

"No, I wasn't flaunting it—it's just a mark left over from messing around. That's why I've been hiding it."

"Then I was just messing around as siblings too. Or is Aria allowed and I'm not?"

I had even less to say.

"Then just think of it as my reward and accept it."

"Fine. Can I go now?"

It was about time to go pick up Aria.

But apparently unsatisfied with my answer, Seo-yeon narrowed her eyes.

"You're going to pick up Aria, aren't you?"

"Yeah? I don't have any more lectures today, so I have to go home. I can't just leave Aria behind, so we have to go together."

"I'll go with you."

"No, your route is different."

Since I'd gone to the house a few times to see my mother, I naturally knew where Seo-yeon lived.

So if Seo-yeon followed us, she'd have to take a long detour to get home.

"Then just to the bus stop."

"Fine, that much is okay."

In the end, we headed together to the chapel on the outskirts.

When Aria saw us together, she smiled a peculiar smile.

"Brother, you've gotten quite close with Seo-yeon already?"

"Of course. He's my big brother."

Seo-yeon answered in my place.

What, did she come here to pick a fight?

Still, it wasn't the hostile atmosphere of last time, with the glaring and all, so I didn't bother opening my mouth.

Maybe she felt some gratitude because Aria had stepped forward and given Seo-yeon a chance.

If before it had been a UFC atmosphere where a slap might fly at any wrong move, now it felt like WWE.

"I've already marked him as mine. Darker than Aria's."

Seo-yeon reached out and pulled my shirt collar aside.

Even at the clearly visible bite mark and kiss mark, Aria's expression didn't change.

"Is that so? Then I'll just leave a new one when we get home."

At the implication that we lived together, this time Seo-yeon's expression stiffened.

"Brother, shall we head back? To our little nest for two."

"For two? Big brother, what is she talking about?"

There was no anger in Seo-yeon's gaze like before.

Instead, it was full of sticky jealousy and anxiety.

"We're living together, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just the two of us—my brother and me."

Aria drove the wedge in.