Ah, Was It Five?
The sun set and darkness settled in. In contrast, the Cheongdae Intersection was flooded with light. The scent of alcohol wafted thickly from clusters of Cheonggwang University students.
I passed through the crowd and entered the building where we were meeting. Unlike a typical pojangmacha, this was a room bar with private rooms and hallways. Probably because I said I had something to discuss, they chose a secluded place.
'Room 5, wasn't it?'
As I was looking around for the number, a familiar voice came from behind me.
"Oh, Cheol-jin. You're here?"
Seongju hyung waved his hand. He smelled of smoke, like he'd just come out of the smoking area. He draped an arm over my shoulder and guided me toward the room.
"Whoa, did you get taller? Your shoulders seem higher."
"No way I grew more. I'm twenty."
"Nah. You said you were born in December, right? It's possible."
Was it? Come to think of it, Areum had said my dick seemed bigger too. Maybe my height had grown as well. I should measure it sometime.
Anyway, I entered the room and saw Ahn Seong-hyeon pouring himself a drink. Seongju hyung snatched the bottle from him and scolded him.
"Why are you pouring your own drink?"
"I was just bored waiting."
"You're protesting because I went out for a smoke, aren't you?"
"If you know that, quit it a little. Your lungs are rotting."
Ahn Seong-hyeon said it playfully, crinkling the corners of his eyes. Half of it might have been sincere. Seongju hyung, contrary to his fresh-faced image, was actually an incredibly heavy smoker.
Seongju hyung smirked and filled the rest of Ahn Seong-hyeon's half-full glass.
"Health is genetics too. My grandfather is a massive chain-smoker, you know? But he's still going strong. He's eighty-five this year, by the way."
"That's very logical."
"Right?"
Seongju hyung chuckled and gestured for me to take a seat.
"Cheol-jin, have you eaten?"
"Not yet."
"Want to order food then? They sell food here too. I'll buy, so order whatever you want."
"No. You made time for me, so I should pay."
I'd come planning to foot the bill from the start. But Seongju hyung wrinkled the bridge of his nose, as if he didn't like that.
"When your hyung says he's paying, you just say thank you and eat, man."
"Even so..."
"Ah, it's so hard to buy my dongsaeng a meal."
"...Thank you."
"Alright. Don't worry about it and order whatever. I'm not as loaded as our Bam club president, but I've got a bit of leeway."
I scratched my head awkwardly. My bank balance was pretty substantial compared to people my age, after all. Honestly, my family is fairly well-off too.
And honestly, I hadn't planned on drinking tonight.
'I even turned down the kids' drinking party because of my diet... But I should drink, right?'
This gathering was arranged for my sake, so it would look weird if I were the one sitting out. I mentally added a few more sets of cardio and ordered food and snacks.
Seongju hyung poured me a drink and spoke.
"Ah, right. Cheol-jin, you're pretty popular, huh?"
"What? All of a sudden?"
I tilted my head at the out-of-the-blue remark. Seongju hyung said in a teasing tone.
"Don't even get me started. When I made the excuse that I had plans with you to duck out, they actually told me to bring you along instead. Especially the girls."
"...Really? Ah, did Jo Hye-seo say something? We almost had plans with Hyeseo's group today, but I canceled."
"No, different people. Jeongmi, Yun-ju, Seo-jin."
"Maybe because I always skip drinking parties..."
Honestly, I wasn't that close with them. Not to the point of awkwardness, but we'd never really hung out.
"That's part of it, but I think they're interested in you. Maybe because you lost weight, but you're pretty popular, you know?"
"He was always popular. This is less compared to before."
Ahn Seong-hyeon cut in. Seongju hyung's eyes lit up with interest.
"Oh, really? Old stories? Spill the tea."
I frowned and shot Ahn Seong-hyeon a look telling him to keep his mouth shut, but it didn't work at all. Now that I looked, that bastard Ahn Seong-hyeon's face was pretty flushed—looked like he'd had quite a bit at the first round.
Ahn Seong-hyeon stared into space as if racking his memory, then suddenly let out a sigh and shook his head.
"It was kind of scary. A group of female bullies a grade or two above us came to our classroom."
Hearing that, it came back to me faintly. That did happen. Back then I had zero interest in girls, so I was just annoyed. The girlfriend I had at the time, I only dated her because she asked me to.
"They came to make him their boyfriend, huh?"
Seongju hyung smirked like this was familiar territory. Had hyung had similar experiences?
"No. Not a boyfriend, they wanted him as a keyring. He was kind of pretty-looking back then."
"Pretty-looking...?"
Seongju hyung blinked and looked back at me. Honestly, my face wasn't pretty-looking now. Even in the best light, I had a strong, masculine impression.
I was too embarrassed to meet his eyes and downed my drink. Ahn Seong-hyeon, that son of a bitch, I'd deal with him later.
Oblivious Ahn Seong-hyeon didn't even notice me glaring and kept spilling stories.
"Cheol-jin looked a bit different back then. Smaller build, shorter. And his skin was so pale, the nunas used to say he was cute and drag him around."
"Cheol-jin's skin is pretty pale, true."
"It was paler than now. Ah, right. Didn't you get confessed to by a guy too when you were little?"
The moment I heard that, my face crumpled like a sheet of paper.
"Crazy, why are you bringing up that shit."
A curse flew out even with Seongju hyung right there. That crazy bastard was digging up memories I'd managed to forget.
"Gasp. Cheol-jin is scary."
Seongju hyung pretended to be scared and hunched his shoulders. Very much a playful gesture.
"Sorry for swearing. But a guy... ah, I'd forgotten about that and was living just fine. Oh man."
Getting confessed to by a guy genuinely, viscerally felt like shit. At least he'd mistaken me for a girl... wait, was that actually a good thing?
"Pffthahaha. Ah, I'm glad we met today. Cheol-jin, don't you have any old photos? Now I'm curious."
"No..."
I'd deliberately deleted all the old photos. There might be a few at my parents' house, though.
"Seong-hyeon, you don't have any either?"
"...No."
Looks like he finally came to his senses a bit after I glared daggers at him. Ahn Seong-hyeon flinched and avoided my eyes. I told him to get comfortable, and he got way too comfortable. Maybe I should have kept things a little uncomfortable.
While we talked, more drinks and food arrived. As I angrily wielded my chopsticks, Ahn Seong-hyeon watched my mood and poured me a drink.
"Sorry..."
"Drink in moderation. You can't even hold your liquor."
"I can drink..."
Ahn Seong-hyeon looked a little wronged. Honestly, this guy wasn't a lightweight. It was just that all our members were such heavy drinkers.
But so what. Who told him to dig up the past?
"Whatever."
"...Never mind. I'll make you some rice balls."
Ahn Seong-hyeon put on plastic gloves and started making apology rice balls. Seeing him all downcast like that was a little pitiful.
'Was I too sensitive?'
I felt like I'd overreacted because it was about the past. Thinking about it, he hadn't even mentioned the bullying.
Feeling sorry for no reason, I poured Ahn Seong-hyeon a drink. The guy making rice balls glanced at my mood and grinned. What are you smiling about, dumbass.
Then I suddenly locked eyes with Seongju hyung. He was watching the two of us with an odd expression.
"...What?"
"Are you two having a lovers' quarrel?"
"What? Ah, what are you talking about, hyung."
"Two dicks together, the optics are a little..."
"It's nothing like that! I came here to talk about girl problems in the first place, what the hell. I like girls."
I vehemently protested, horrified, and Seongju hyung's eyes went round.
"What, the thing you wanted to talk about was girl problems?"
"......"
When I quietly nodded, Seongju hyung laughed, amused. Ahn Seong-hyeon also looked at me in surprise.
"So what exactly did you want to talk about?"
"Well..."
I couldn't continue and scratched my head. I couldn't get a handle on how to put it into words.
Was my problem that I'd had sex with multiple women? That I couldn't take the lead? Or that I couldn't come clean to Areum about the other women?
Maybe it was all of those, and at the same time, maybe it was none of them. What exactly was my problem? Something was definitely tangled up and bothering me, but it was hard to define in a single word what exactly was causing it.
"Ah, it's... I mean..."
As I kept trailing off, Seongju hyung picked up his glass.
"Hmm. If it's hard to talk, want to drink a bit first?"
"Ah, yes. That might be better."
Yeah, I should drink a little first. If I get drunk, something will come out. But before Seongju hyung could even grab the bottle, someone filled my glass.
Ahn Seong-hyeon spoke, unable to hide his intrigued look.
"Here, chug chug."
"......"
Ah, why is this guy so aggravating.
*
The glasses went back and forth, making several rounds.
Kang Cheol-jin's face was now flushed red. He had a strong tolerance for alcohol, but pouring it down on an empty stomach meant he couldn't help but get drunk. Ahn Seong-hyeon and Kim Seong-ju concentrating their efforts on plying him with drinks was also a factor.
The mood was gradually set.
Kang Cheol-jin picked through the words swirling messily in his head and then blurted out.
"I kinda, you know, did it?"
"Did what exactly?"
Ahn Seong-hyeon immediately asked back. Kim Seong-ju shot Ahn Seong-hyeon a look to keep quiet. Did you really need it spelled out directly to understand?
Kim Seong-ju didn't rush and poured drinks for both of them. Kang Cheol-jin was still muttering at his lips, as if the words wouldn't come out easily.
'He had sex, obviously. The partner must be Areum.'
Kim Seong-ju prided himself on being perceptive. He had a good eye for people and was adept at managing distance in human relationships.
As far as Kim Seong-ju could see, Kang Cheol-jin and Pi Ah-reum were as good as dating. The two of them always denied it, but they were too close to be just friends. Even a couple in a "some" phase wouldn't be that close.
The puzzling part was that their claim of not dating didn't seem like a lie either.
'Maybe they're sex partners? Cheol-jin is unexpected.'
He didn't seem like the type to casually have a sex partner—if they were dating, they were dating. That was exactly why he had ruled out the sex partner relationship.
Just then, Kang Cheol-jin downed another drink, squeezed his eyes shut, and spoke.
"So, sex, I had it with three people."
"Th-three people?!"
Startled, Ahn Seong-hyeon jolted. The table rattled. Kim Seong-ju was equally surprised.
Then, as if it was too early to be surprised, Kang Cheol-jin spoke.
"Ah, was it five people?"
"......"
A brief silence fell over the room.