Wind
He had developed a new weakness.
It wasn’t one of those sexual weak points that made him collapse with a lewd little cry the moment you touched it.
“Fuck… Do I really have to go in too?”
“That nervous?”
“It’s not nerves. It’s just… uncomfortable.”
“Aigoo… Come here.”
I spread my arms wide toward the guy whose face was twisted into a full scowl.
He hesitated for a second, glancing around like he was checking who might be watching, then threw himself into my chest with his cheeks already flushed red.
I wrapped my arms around him tightly, burying his face against my chest.
He didn’t try to pull free of the embrace, but when he looked up again his expression was pure sulky brat—exactly like a little kid who’d been caught misbehaving.
I knew exactly what to do in moments like this.
I slowly stroked his hair, working the knots out of that tangled heart of his.
“…You bastard.”
That was his new weakness.
Hugging him.
It was actually pretty fun once you got into it.
We’d done plenty of sexual stuff together, but this kind of casual skinship was still rare, so his fresh, flustered reactions felt brand-new. No matter how angry he got, the second I opened my arms he would just melt into them like he had no other choice—and that was ridiculously cute.
“I only came because of the professor, so we’ll just stay a little while and leave.”
“…Fine.”
“Then we’re going in?”
“….”
He nodded, his face a little softer than before.
Seeing that, I finally let him out of my arms.
We were standing in front of a small bar near the university district.
Not right in the middle of the main strip, but not far enough from the nightlife to feel isolated either—exactly the kind of half-and-half spot that suited an end-of-semester party.
We’d come for the department’s end-of-semester gathering that the class rep had mentioned.
Normally I never bothered showing up to these things on purpose.
…Unless my advisor specifically named me and dragged me out, that is.
My advisor loved drinking parties so much that hunting down student gatherings was basically his hobby.
I didn’t hate the guy.
As long as he didn’t haul me along to the drinking.
Even so, we weren’t joining from the first round. The professor himself was only dropping by for the second, so we’d decided to do the same.
Apparently this bar was the second stop after dinner at a barbecue place.
Second round meant half the department had probably already bailed, right?
The moment we stepped onto the stairs leading up to the second-floor bar, loud chatter spilled out from inside.
When we reached the entrance we found the door locked with a notice posted—looked like our department had rented the whole tiny place out.
Knock knock knock.
I wasn’t sure anyone would hear over the noise, but I knocked anyway.
Should I just text the class rep?
I was glancing back at Jae-min, who was standing blankly behind me, when the door suddenly swung open.
“You made it? Oh! Our department’s one and only married man is here!”
Oh—!
The short-haired girl who poked her head out spotted me and yelled, and a wave of cheers and chatter exploded from inside.
…Suddenly I really didn’t want to go in.
“What are you doing? Get in here already!”
The one welcoming me with the door wide open was Choi Hana.
She was the class rep I’d occasionally messaged.
A total social butterfly who got along with everyone in the department, plus a legendary heavy drinker—so of course she was tight with my advisor too.
She was already swaying a little; she’d clearly had quite a few.
“Can I just leave?”
“Ah, just get in here!”
She grabbed my arm and hauled me inside by force.
Then she planted me in front of everyone and opened her mouth like she was the official MC of the night.
“Hey, everybody listen up! Tonight’s star guest—married man Lee Kang-yeon—has arrived! Big round of applause!”
Waaah—!
“Married returnee uncle!”
“Woooo! Freshman year he claimed he was a total virgin!”
“Whoa! Our department’s only corpse!”
“Hahaha…”
The people who’d been sitting around chatting rode the wave and started cheering.
This was exactly why I hated drinking parties.
Yeah, about half the faces were strangers.
Most of the ones I didn’t know were probably underclassmen.
“You said you were bringing your wife—where is she?!”
“Stop being a coward and unblur the photo you posted on Bluebird! Show us her face!”
“Yeah! Show us!”
“Huh?”
I turned around.
Empty.
Where the hell did he go?
I checked the entrance and—exactly as expected—he was hiding outside, refusing to come in.
“What are you doing?”
“…Fuck, this is not a place I belong!”
Looks like his hikikomori loner symptoms were flaring up again.
“They’re only gonna make a fuss for a second. Just come in.”
“N-no way…!”
Sometimes you need the nuclear option.
I grabbed his hand and dragged him inside by force.
The second his face appeared, another round of cheers exploded.
Waaah—!
“Whoa!”
“Holy shit she’s gorgeous!”
“Sunbae! I’m reporting you for theft!”
Most of it was just pure, mindless admiration for how pretty he looked.
But a few shouts in the middle actually meant something.
“Huh?! The legendary beauty of the math department!”
“Math department?”
“I know her! The third-year math department legendary beauty you can only see if you’re super lucky!”
“For real?!”
“She looks exactly like the photos!”
“Uh…”
Legendary beauty of the math department?
Beauty… that part I got. But legendary?
Only visible if you’re lucky… that just means she barely ever shows up to class, right?
I glanced at him and found his face bright red, head hanging so low he couldn’t even look up.
“Alright, this is Lee Kang-yeon’s wife! Everybody clap!”
Waaah—!
“Okay, welcome ceremony over! Come this way!”
True to her social-butterfly title, Hana must have sensed how awkward Jae-min was feeling. She wrapped up the little stage show cleanly and guided us to our seats.
“Sit here! What can I get you?”
“Whatever.”
“Drinks? Beer?”
“Yeah.”
“And the wife? Beer for her too?”
I looked at him; he just nodded silently at me.
Hana flashed an OK sign like she understood and disappeared toward the kitchen.
Whether it was consideration or not, the table she’d given us was a corner spot with no one else around.
I could feel eyes from every direction, but since I barely knew anyone here the atmosphere stayed stuck at polite staring.
“…Who was that?”
“Huh? Who? Oh… our class rep.”
“Class rep?”
“Yeah. She was class rep freshman year, and apparently she’s still doing it this year.”
“….”
What’s with that look.
Probably uncomfortable because there are so many strangers.
“We just drink a bit, let the professor see our faces, and leave.”
“…I know.”
“Ah, sunbae!”
While Jae-min and I were talking quietly, a few of the kids who’d only been watching from afar suddenly swarmed over as a group.
I didn’t even know their faces and they were already coming up to talk—damn social butterflies.
Freshmen?
“Um… sunbae’s wife is from the math department, right?”
“Is she really math?”
“This bastard said no, but she looks exactly like the photo I saw. You’re in math, right?”
So that was their real goal all along—confirmation.
“Yeah, she is.”
“Oh!”
“See, he said yes!”
“Ah, shit.”
“Hey, hand over the ten thousand won.”
“Hey! Stop blocking the aisle and go back to your own seats!”
Hana appeared behind the noisy group carrying beer and snacks in both hands.
Whatever authority she had, it worked—the kids glanced at her, then quietly slunk back to their table.
“Those problem kids.”
“Why? Are they trouble?”
“They saw the department name and thought it’d be an easy ride so they could just play around. What else?”
She set everything down, sat, and started grumbling.
A third-year class rep getting tangled up with freshmen?
“Something happen?”
“They’re the type that only show up for drinking parties. You can tell just by looking.”
“Ah.”
Hana herself was pretty good-looking, so they’d probably been tagging after her and making a nuisance.
“Um… what’s your wife’s name?”
“…Yoo Jae-min.”
“Then can I call you Jae-min-ssi?”
“…Yes.”
“If any of those brats bother you, I’ll crack their skulls open, so just relax. I left this corner empty on purpose.”
Jae-min only nodded awkwardly.
“Hey, Lee Kang-yeon. Come to think of it, I saw you hanging around with Jae-min-ssi back in freshman year too. Didn’t you say you weren’t dating back then?”
“Uh… did I?”
“You said you didn’t have a girlfriend, so some people even asked me to set you up, ahahaha!”
“What?”
“Good thing you turned them down! I had a feeling it’d end up like this.”
“Uh…”
It was hard to answer when she was casually talking about a past that never existed for me.
We were sipping beer and trading pointless small talk when a stir of greetings rose from the other side of the room.
“Oh! Professor! Over here!”
Hana raised her hand to signal the new arrival.
My advisor had shown up.
“Hello!”
“Yeah. And Lee Kang-yeon, long time no see.”
“Good evening, sir.”
“You got discharged and never even contacted me once.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Nah, now that I’ve seen your face there’s nothing to be sorry about.”
“Professor! Sit here! I saved you a seat!”
“Oh, thanks. And… is that your wife over there?”
“Ah, yes. This is Yoo Jae-min. …Say hello.”
“…Hello.”
“Ah, nice to meet you. I’d heard a lot, but I didn’t expect someone this pretty. Lee Kang-yeon, I was shocked when I heard you got married.”
“Ahaha…”
“You haven’t held the ceremony yet, right?”
“Ah, no.”
“When you do, make sure you send me an invitation. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Professor! What can I get you to drink!”
“Ah, just a beer for me too. You—how long since you got out?”
“About a month now.”
“Returning next semester?”
“Of course.”
“Good. You kept drawing even in the military, right? Take too long a break and your hands go completely stiff.”
“Ah, yes. I did a lot of drawing-slave work.”
“Hahaha, that’s my boy. Oh, you two didn’t pay a separate fee to come tonight, did you? Hey, Choi Hana! You didn’t charge these kids anything extra, right?”
“No! Nothing!”
“Okay! …Good. I called you out, so I covered the participation fee.”
“Ah, really? Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. Dragging a guy on leave out here, this much is the least I can do…”
“…”
“…”
It was cold.
December, Christmas right around the corner, and the freezing wind slipped between the layers of my clothes, clawing at my skin.
“….”
I’d planned to pace myself, but matching Jae-min glass for glass as he kept emptying his, I completely lost track of how many I’d had.
“….”
I watched his back as he walked ahead of me.
He’d drunk a lot too; his steps weren’t exactly steady.
Was it just the alcohol?
Whatever it was, he’d been sulking for a while now—refusing to walk beside me, refusing to show me his face.
“Jae-min.”
“…What’s your relationship with that class rep?”
“Huh?”
What was this all of a sudden.
He really was drunk.
“Just classmates?”
“Are you close?”
“Sort of?”
“How sort of?”
“Mm… not that close. We just stay in touch, I guess.”
“You contact each other separately?”
“If something comes up, yeah.”
“….”
“…?”
His feet stopped.
Mine did too.
A quiet roadside with cold wind blowing.
The dry leaves still clinging to the street trees rustled.
“…Is that your type?”
“…Huh?”
“….”
At my question his mouth snapped shut.
My type?
…Was he jealous?
And if we were talking about my type, he should know better than anyone what that was.
No—he should be feeling it.
He turned to face me.
Eyes swirling with every emotion imaginable locked onto mine.
What was inside them?
Anger, maybe.
Sadness, maybe.
A sense of unfairness, maybe.
“…It sounded like there are other people you like too.”
“Mm…”
“So what are you gonna do? When you go back to school, you gonna try hitting on them?”
“….”
They say a person’s heart is like the wind—you can’t see it, but you can feel it.
I might not have had perfect certainty about my own feelings, but I’d believed he could feel them clearly enough.
Apparently not.
“….”
A heart is like the wind—impossible to hold in your hand, and that makes it restless.
So instead of words that would just scatter, I decided to show him with actions.
“…Mmph…?!”
A soft sensation met my lips.
It was the same as a burning sincerity that even the cold wind couldn’t cool.
Wrapped inside the arms that held his small body was every feeling I had for him.
I still couldn’t put a name to what this feeling was.
But I knew for certain that whatever was inside it wasn’t empty like the wind.
“…Ah…♥”
Our lips parted, and a tiny breath slipped out.
It tasted… completely different from what I’d imagined—bitter with alcohol.
“…Haa…”
It had been a short kiss.
Short enough that some people might not even call it one.
But on this winter night, it felt like just the right amount to melt the chill that had settled in his heart.
Even after our lips separated, I looked at his melted, dazed expression and thought exactly that.
“Come on. Let’s go home.”
“…Okay…♥”
That was my first kiss—no, our first kiss.