Freshman Gathering (2)
Our group got off the subway and headed to a café.
Kim Seong-ju, the one who'd suggested it, said he knew a place and took the lead. After winding through a maze of alleyways, a hanok-style building came into view.
"Thought we were going to a café. What's with the hanok?"
Pi Ah-reum cocked her head from side to side.
Kim Seong-ju pointed to the sign that read Unhyangru.
"It is a café. It's a themed café that just opened recently, and it's really nice."
"Whoa, I've never been to a café like this before."
"A themed café—so are the desserts different from other places too?"
The group, buzzing with excitement, hurried inside.
I was about to follow them in.
"Hey, Cheol-jin-ah."
Ahn Seong-hyeon, who hadn't gone in yet, called out to me.
"Um...."
I turned around when he called, but Ahn Seong-hyeon was just gauging my reaction and couldn't get his sentence out.
I stared at him for a moment, then let out a small sigh.
The whole situation was genuinely strange. I was the one with the trauma, yet he was the one who seemed terrified. Even just now, he flinched when I sighed.
...I had a vague idea why, but seeing a bulky grown-ass guy react like a timid girl just soured my mood for no good reason.
"Ahn Seong-hyeon."
"Uh, uh-huh."
"Are you just going to keep doing that? People are going to think it's weird."
"...Sorry."
Ahn Seong-hyeon's shoulders slumped. It pissed me off, seeing a big, rugged guy with that pitiful look on his face.
I had no choice but to say something more.
"You told them yourself that we've been friends since we were three."
"S-sorry."
He apologized again. He was saying sorry for being the one who'd revealed our past friendship first.
I stared at Ahn Seong-hyeon, stripping all emotion from my gaze, and asked bluntly.
"Are you my friend?"
"......."
"No, that's not it. Do you still think of me as a friend?"
I rephrased the question slightly.
Ahn Seong-hyeon, who had been gauging my reaction, slowly nodded.
The moment I saw that, something surged up inside me. If he thought of me as a friend, then why did he do what he did back then? I swallowed the words that had risen to my throat. Because I already knew why.
I exhaled the words swirling in my mouth as a sigh. Then I spoke, letting my annoyance seep through.
"Then why do you keep apologizing and walking on eggshells around a friend?"
"...Huh?"
Ahn Seong-hyeon's eyes went wide.
I ignored his reaction and gestured toward the café with my chin.
"Are you coming in or not?"
"G-going in! Yeah!"
Ahn Seong-hyeon's voice sounded a little buoyant.
'He's turned into a total faggot since I last saw him.'
I left Ahn Seong-hyeon behind and headed to where the rest of the group had already found seats. It wasn't the right place to continue that conversation.
*
As expected of a themed café, the menu was quite different from a regular café. The girls chattered excitedly as they looked it over.
"Anyone tried omija tea? I've only heard the name, never actually seen it in person."
"What are you getting for dessert? There's a lot of stuff that looks good."
"Let's order things we can only eat here."
"Yeah. First, the rice cake churros! And this yakgwarong—the name is seriously cute."
"Ahahaha. It is. Yakgwa-long, ya-kkwa-rong. The name is seriously cute! Is there anything else?"
The girls cracked up for ages over just the name of a dessert. At this rate, it seemed like it would take forever just to decide their orders.
Meanwhile, Ahn Seong-hyeon and I had quickly settled on ours and were just sitting there idly. Kim Seong-ju, who had asked us what we were getting, called over to the girls.
"Guys, if you're having trouble deciding, let's just order different things and share. We've all decided already."
"Ah, that'll work."
"Let's all try a bite of each other's!"
Just then, Pi Ah-reum, who had been staring intently at the menu, spoke up with a resolute look on her face.
"I'm going to get the sweet pumpkin bingsu. Anyone want to share?"
"They sell bingsu in winter?"
"Yeah, looks like it. Look over there—there are customers eating it."
I turned to follow Pi Ah-reum's pointing finger and saw someone eating bingsu. The shaved ice topped with red bean and sweet pumpkin looked pretty appetizing.
"Mm. I'll pass. Bingsu in this weather is a little...."
"Sorry, bingsu is a no for me too. I'm also not a big fan of sweet pumpkin."
No one seemed keen on it.
Spring had technically begun, and March was right around the corner, but what was the weather actually like? Snow still fell from time to time, and it was a bitter cold that dropped below freezing at night. People who wanted bingsu in this weather were rare.
The corners of Pi Ah-reum's eyes drooped. It looked like she wanted the bingsu but was hesitating because the portion was too large to eat alone.
When no one else stepped up, I quietly raised my hand.
"I'll eat it."
"Oh, really?!"
Pi Ah-reum's head, which had been hanging dejectedly, snapped up. When I nodded, she looked at me with a touched expression on her face.
"Kkang-cheol is a total angel...!"
At those words, the others burst out laughing again. This group laughed easily.
"Pfft! What, it's 'Kkang-cheol' because he's Kang Cheol-jin?"
"Kkang-cheol—that has a real delinquent ring to it, huh?"
"Cheol-jin already got a nickname."
I smiled awkwardly and let their reactions wash over me. Inside, though, I was busy trying to calm my startled heart.
'Damn, that startled me.'
For a split second, I nearly had a heart attack. 'Kkang-cheol' was the nickname I often used online. Naturally, I used the same nickname when taking illustration commissions. Because of that, my regular client 'Yusi' would always call me things like, "Kkang-cheol-ah, Kkang-cheol-ah."
Was Pi Ah-reum Yusi?
The thought briefly crossed my mind, but I shook it off internally.
No matter what, that was just me being way too paranoid. It was just a nickname made from my name. Come to think of it, I think I might have been called Kkang-cheol back in elementary school too.
"Hey, Seong-ju-ya, switch seats with me. I'm gonna eat bingsu with Kkang-cheol!"
"Let's do that. It'll be easier."
"Thanks, thanks!"
After switching places with Kim Seong-ju, Pi Ah-reum sat down next to me. Having a girl sit beside me made me tense up, my body nearly freezing. On top of that, Pi Ah-reum was pretty enough to make anyone do a double-take.
'Ridiculously pretty.'
I couldn't help but admire her. Because she was short, the first thought was 'cute,' but seeing her up close, her delicate, finely detailed features caught my eye.
I was careful not to stare too openly and focused on what the others were saying, all while mentally reviewing 'How a Loner Makes Friends.'
'Listen attentively and react well.'
They said if you do those two things well, you're halfway there.
I kept my ears wide open and prepared myself to react with conviction at any moment.
But as I listened, I found I didn't really need to make any grand reactions. It was thanks to Kim Seong-ju, who looked like a social butterfly if there ever was one, leading the atmosphere all on his own.
"Earlier, I noticed Kkang-cheol is tall, but our seated height is similar? Look at those long legs."
"Huh? Oh, y-you think so?"
"Yeah. People with long legs always show a clear difference between their height standing up and sitting down. So, how tall are you?"
"I don't know exactly—late 170s to about 180?"
Since I never went outside, I'd never had a physical. I was just estimating by comparing myself to my father, who is about 185 cm.
Ahn Seong-hyeon glanced at me and added.
"I'm 178, so Kka... Cheol-jin is probably right around 180. He was a little taller than me."
"Whoa, so jealous of you two tall guys. I'm just about average. Seo-jin-ah, from a girl's perspective, do you prefer tall guys?"
"Hm? I mean, that's probably common?"
Lee Seo-jin nodded noncommittally. She was on the quieter side within the group.
Kim Seong-ju, on the other hand, was the classic popular kid type. He was good-looking and led the conversation. Everyone else still had a sense of awkwardness, but Kim Seong-ju had been livening the mood from the start, asking all sorts of questions regardless of gender.
Ah, speaking of popular kids, there was one more—someone who seemed just as lively and sociable as Kim Seong-ju. It was Park Mi-hyeon, the one who had been the most excited, chattering away while holding the menu.
Park Mi-hyeon scanned Kim Seong-ju up and down and said.
"Aren't you taller than average too?"
"Eek, it's embarrassing when you size me up like that."
"Oh, whatever. Anyway, you probably don't need to worry about your height, right?"
I nodded in agreement. Honestly, whatever people say about a guy's height, being as good-looking as Kim Seong-ju made it a secondary issue. When I first saw him, I thought some celebrity had just walked in.
And speaking of celebrities, the same went for Pi Ah-reum, who was sitting next to me humming a strange song.
"Bingsu, bingsu, sweet pumpkin sweet potato bingsu~."
"There wasn't any sweet potato, was there?"
"Sweet pumpkin potato!"
"......."
Maybe it was just me, but this girl seemed a bit off, though she was also just excessively pretty.
Honestly, everyone else was good-looking and pretty too, but they tended to get overshadowed by Kim Seong-ju and Pi Ah-reum. If Ahn Seong-hyeon hadn't thrown me off at the subway station, the awkwardness of being in what felt like some popular kids' party might have made me bolt.
I really didn't want to know what I looked like stuck in the middle of all this.......
A wave of post-nut clarity-esque reality suddenly hit me, and I was letting out a stealthy sigh.
"Guys, honestly, I'm twenty-two."
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Kim Seong-ju—no, Seongju hyung—revealed his age.
Kim Seong-ju smiled awkwardly and said.
"I wasn't really trying to hide it, but it just kind of came out now. Ah, I'm not some old geezer. You can keep talking informally and call me by my name like before. Just, that 'ya' thing has a bit of a... you know?"
...Had I called him 'ya'?
I was trying to retrace my memory when Pi Ah-reum, who was next to me, shot up to her feet and bent at the waist at a perfect ninety degrees. A flawless right angle.
"I sincerely apologize for calling you 'ya,' sir!"
"...Sir? Not oppa?"
"I will correct myself, elder brother!"
"Uh, hm. Call me whatever, Ah-reum-ah."
"Yes, oppa."
This girl is definitely a little strange, it seems.
But then, Park Mi-hyeon also stealthily raised her hand and said.
"Actually, I'm twenty-one, too. I retook the exam."
"Sorry......."
"Don't be, Ah-reum-ah."
"Yes, unni."
Somehow, things just fizzled out because of Pi Ah-reum. Not that it was a big deal anyway.
Park Mi-hyeon poked Kim Seong-ju in the ribs with her elbow a couple of times.
"Oppa, is it really okay to call you by your name?"
"Yeah, I don't mind. And you said you're twenty-one. With a one-year difference, we're pretty much friends."
"Oh, friends. You're magnanimous, truly. Then is it okay to call you 'ya'?"
"...Do what you want."
Kim Seong-ju shrugged as if he'd given up. He was a good-natured hyung when dealing with his juniors. So that's what a social butterfly was like.
Anyway, as we were chatting away, the pager went off.
Pi Ah-reum, who had been fiddling with the vibrating pager while humming her song, shot up to her feet.
"Bingsu!"
"Ah, I'll go get it."
Since I was sitting on the outside, I took the pager and stood up. Originally, Kim Seong-ju had been sitting in the middle, so after switching seats, it was awkward for Pi Ah-reum to get out.
'...Should I have moved to the inside when we switched seats?'
Thinking about it now, that seemed like basic manners. I'd been too busy keeping up with the flow of conversation to pay attention to it.
"Kkang-cheol-ah, let's go together."
"Ah, thanks, hyung."
"Huh? That's nothing to thank me for. You probably couldn't have carried it all by yourself anyway, right?"
Kim Seong-ju chuckled and smacked my back a couple of times. Ppang-ppang. How to put it—both Pi Ah-reum and Kim Seong-ju felt oddly familiar, like it wasn't our first time meeting today.
We collected the drinks and desserts and were about to head back to our seats.
Kim Seong-ju abruptly asked.
"Kkang-cheol-ah, do you have a tattoo?"
"...Huh?"
"That thing on your neck. Isn't that a tattoo cover sheet? It's not a pain patch, right?"
I flinched and raised my hand to cover the nape of my neck.