Touch Me and I Bite.
Touch Me and I Bite.
We came out to the living room in our pajamas, ordered all kinds of delivery food, and got properly ready to drink.
Since we only ordered single servings to sample as many different things as possible, the food started piling up on the table.
From rosé tteokbokki to bingsu, it was quite the variety—as if we were planning to throw a whole party just for drinking.
Back when it was just Park Ji-hoon, Tae-oh, and me eating together, all we needed was a piece of well-fermented kimchi to call it a feast.
As we ate the rosé tteokbokki, the conversation really started to bloom.
Once the alcohol kicked in, the flow of talk took a strange turn and the dirty jokes began.
Da-yeon and I momentarily checked out as the two of them ran their mouths, drunk.
What the... kids of the 21st century, seriously... so shameless...
When Da-yeon and I didn't say a word, the two of them stared at us, smirking.
I could maybe see it from Ji-yeong, but Yoon-seo didn't have that kind of image...
Alcohol really did ruin people, as expected.
"Come on, you've at least watched porn once, haven't you?"
"....."
Da-yeon's face went red as she suddenly clammed up and sipped her drink.
I still sneak peeks at the stuff my dad has saved up, but I didn't let on.
Ji-yeong's expression was like she'd spotted prey, and she started treating us more and more like naive little missies.
"Oh my god! Really? Then how about we watch some together tonight?"
Before long, everyone was drunk except for me, since I hadn't been drinking.
Da-yeon must have paid the price for knocking it back on her own—it had been an extremely long time since I'd seen her looking so defenseless.
"Si-yoon~"
"Yeah?"
"Wanna sleep together!?"
"Yeah, sure?"
"Here! Drink this!"
At some point, even Da-yeon had joined forces with Ji-yeong, and six eyes were staring holes through me.
The soju glass Da-yeon held out...
I had no idea how I'd react if I drank it, but I could be certain I wouldn't remember a thing until I woke up the next day.
Still, whenever I drank where Da-yeon was around, nothing bad ever happened, so I knocked it back with a what's-the-worst-that-could-happen kind of thought.
There were definitely two beds, but when we woke up, we were all piled onto one.
My throat was parched, so I left the three of them sleeping and got some water from the fridge.
"Kaaaah..."
And I'd developed a habit for whenever I drank even a little bit—checking the mirror first thing.
If I'd gotten annoyed at something and cut my hair again, that would be a disaster.
My hair was fine and nowhere on my body hurt.
From the smell and a look around, I could tell someone had thrown up, and after checking the ends of my hair, I figured out exactly who the culprit was.
Deciding to throw the pajamas away, I stuffed them into a trash bag, then took off my underwear, checked for the smell, and tossed those in too.
Just as I was crouching down picking out clothes, Ji-yeong, who'd just woken up, looked at me.
"...Why are you just standing there with nothing on? Don't tell me... you wet yourself?"
"What exactly were you seeing me as to say something like that...? I'm about to wash up."
"Nnn... do you remember anything from last night?"
"No?"
"I thought you were some old geezer. Why were you groping Da-yeon's chest and butt like that?"
"???"
"You were practically buried face-first in Da-yeon's chest, looked like you were trying to die there...?"
"...Really?"
"Yeah. Da-yeon seemed pretty used to it, though...?"
"....."
"And then you came at the rest of us, too. I thought, wow, what a unique drinking habit..."
Oh my god... now I understood why I was always so well-behaved when I drank with Da-yeon... I'd finally figured out the reason.
I scrambled for an excuse... and in the end, I played my trump card.
"That's... because I grew up without a mom."
"Oh...? So you were longing for the comfort of..."
I pulled the Thalulla move and immediately went to wash up.
We came out of the hotel and greeted the sea breeze.
""Nnnhhh""
All four of us stretched out together, then boarded Whitey.
On the way home, everyone was so exhausted they slept in the car.
Only Da-yeon kept rubbing her sleepy eyes, forcing them wide open in the passenger seat.
"If you're tired, go to sleep~"
"I'm fine. Want some chips?"
"...We ate until we were stuffed, you know?"
After forcing her eyes open for a long while, Da-yeon finally closed them, and next to me her head started bobbing and nodding off.
I reached over to the front screen and reclined Da-yeon's seatback. There she was, sleeping in complete vulnerability.
Every time she shifted, Da-yeon's chest swallowed the seatbelt a little more.
I could tell at a glance she hadn't equipped the item. That overwhelming attention theft nearly caused an accident.
Even so, I kept sneaking glances while driving.
This is instinct.
When I dragged my tired body home and arrived, Dad greeted me.
"Daaal~"
So I wouldn't get nagged later, I gave Dad one tight hug, then put my stuff down and flopped onto the sofa.
"What's this?"
"Bought you some gwamegi to eat, Dad."
"Oh!? Did we have some unseasoned dried laver at home?"
"Top left shelf in the storage room."
Dad put the gwamegi in the fridge, then came over to me.
"Did you eat?"
"Yeah, I ate~"
"Did Ji-hoon seem like he was doing alright?"
"Yeah. He was fine. He did say the exercise equipment there is lacking, though."
"Really? Then I should buy him some."
"Yeah, he said he'll look into what he needs and send a list."
Dad sat down next to me naturally and patted his lap.
I used his lap as a pillow for a while, watching TV, and Dad started touching my ear.
"Dad."
"Hm?"
"Where's all your money going these days?"
"Ah... I left it with Uncle Jeong-min."
"What's he using it for?"
"Mm... he said he's investing it..."
Dad can't lie.
Especially not in front of me.
Dad knew that I knew he was lying right now, but I didn't press him for details—I just nodded.
How many places are there to spend that kind of massive sum besides investing?
Uncle Han Jeong-min's goal: pressuring the cash cows of Taebaek.
And the Lee Gi-seok family, who know of Uncle Han Jeong-min's existence, had also started backing him from behind.
A lot of people were curious about how Hanguk University students spend their exam period.
Well, for starters, Da-yeon and I didn't really study.
At the moment, I was lying in bed using a total of ten Nantendos, enjoying Debtor's Forest.
"Si-yoon."
"Yeah?"
"Don't hold back because of me. You have to do well on your exams. Got it?"
"Exam scores don't really matter to me, though?"
"...Still, if you end up doing badly, I'll probably blame myself... think it's because of me..."
I set the Nantendo down for a moment, looked Da-yeon in the eye, and smiled.
"What am I gonna do with good grades?"
"Huh...?"
"Seems our Da-yeon's got the wrong idea about something?"
"....."
"I came to Hanguk University to be with you, Da-yeon. Honestly, I like goofing off—studying isn't my style."
"Ah..."
"But you're interested in it, aren't you~"
"Yeah..."
"Actually, I've been kind of upset, thinking you weren't studying because of me..."
"No way. I really want to play around tons too, you know?"
"Then, this exam was the essay one, right? I'll go for a perfect score."
"Okay."
"Then we'll just have to check the grades of Da-yeon, who didn't study~"
"But, Si-yoon."
"Yeah?"
"There's something you've got wrong, too. The idea that I'd be upset about you not studying and still getting a perfect score."
"You've always been like that, Si-yoon, right? Playing every day and getting 100 on everything~ I think it's seriously amazing! So I like it even more!"
Come to think of it, there was no way Da-yeon would look at me and feel a sense of futility.
If she'd kept feeling negative emotions from watching me, she would've left my side a long time ago.
But instead, this was Da-yeon, who'd stuck right by me since kindergarten.
"Is that so?"
"That's so."
After hearing Da-yeon's words, I simply got all my exams over with quickly.
Like always...
And, as always, I got perfect scores.
It was an exam where you had to write an essay on a single prompt for four hours, but.
I wrote without a single hesitation and finished in fifteen minutes.
I handed in my answer sheet, three pages filled, to the professor and walked out.
With nothing to do while Da-yeon and Yoon-seo were still taking their exams, I sat on the steps behind Hagik Hall, puffed on my e-cigarette, and looked at my phone.
Shooooooo... haaaaah...
As I blew smoke rings and looked at my phone, I spotted the class president, Yoon Hyeong-seop, approaching from a distance.
"Huh? What's this? Isn't it exam time for the freshmen?"
"I finished already?"
"...Really? It hasn't even been 30 minutes."
"Yes."
"Then what are you doing here?"
"Waiting for a friend."
Yoon Hyeong-seop sat down next to me naturally and pulled out his own e-cigarette from his pocket.
"Man, you must be... really tired of things."
"Why do you say that?"
"If you're good at everything, I figure nothing would hold your interest?"
Certainly, for someone else, Yoon Hyeong-seop's words could be true.
If they didn't have 45 years of memories like me.
This body of mine, which displays talent in whatever I do, honestly makes everything fun.
"You think so?"
"Guess it's not like that for you~ Haha."
Yoon Hyeong-seop took a drag from his e-cigarette and looked up at the sky for a moment.
"Guess you're not too busy these days?"
"Yep, I shot for student council president and kinda gave up on my grades."
"Oh? You're the student council president?"
"Why? You find it surprising that your class president is also the student council president?"
"So that's why you don't go to class?"
"Ahaha! Yeah, trying to keep my grades up while serving as president is no small thing. Not enough body to go around~ And who says I'm not going to class?"
"But is it even allowed to hold the class president and student council president posts at the same time?"
"It's possible as long as it's not the general student council president. All the class presidents gather and take on the positions."
He had a stocky build, but you could see some muscle definition—maybe he worked out on the side.
"Anyway, we're really short-handed~"
"Sounds like you're saying that for me to hear?"
"Ah, busted? I'm hoping you'll help out~"
"No thanks, seems like a pain."
"Then don't~ Like I always say, it's an invitation, not an order."
I put my e-cigarette into my shoulder bag and fired up a game of Go for the first time in a while.
"Oh... you know how to play Go? A professor I know would absolutely love you."
"Really?"
"Wanna play a game with me? I'm an online 3-dan."
3-dan, huh... I don't know which app he uses, but the level of 3-dan isn't something you reach just by skimming the surface of Go.
It means he's played Go seriously since he was young.
Yoon Hyeong-seop pulled out his tablet and opened a Go app.
Since I had time to spare anyway, I figured I might as well play a round.
And Lee Gi-seok once said...
That there's no game like Go for sizing up an opponent.
Yoon Hyeong-seop, without knowing my skill level, maintained a relaxed expression the entire time during those opening moves.
Well, at 3-dan, he'd have the skill to utterly crush most ordinary people.
He probably thought he was the best Go player among everyone he'd actually met in person.
I was already aware that Yoon Hyeong-seop had a lot of secrets.
That sage-like smile of his was pretty jarring, after all.
And I'd seen countless people who wore a mask like that to hide their true selves.
Right now, I thought I'd try peeling that mask off Yoon Hyeong-seop, just for a moment.
As if trying to solidly defend the lower left corner, Yoon Hyeong-seop started building a sandcastle, solidifying his position with a two-point jump.
In this situation, the natural course would be to concede the lower left corner and split him apart with a cut, widening my perspective—that's the standard way to handle a comfortable, defensive opponent.
But my biggest objective right now wasn't winning.
In that case... I'd just have to kick over the sandcastle he'd built with all the joy and excitement of a little kid...
Without any intention of building my own territory, I kicked off a mud fight right from the start. I attached with a one-space jump, a move that's become standard practice thanks to HaPhaGo, and Yoon Hyeong-seop's eyebrows twitched.
He looked at my face for a moment.
No matter what your opponent is thinking, it normally takes a significant amount of mental energy to completely wreck it, but...
My superhuman processing speed and the gap in accumulated experience made that simple.
Clack.
...Clack.
Clack.
.....Clack.
I barely even touched him, but Yoon Hyeong-seop's position was already starting to crumble from the very start.
Despite moving defensively to protect the sandcastle he'd happily built, Yoon Hyeong-seop's gaze wavered as he watched his creation fall apart miserably.
Like carelessly snatching candy from a child, I'd simply smashed his sandcastle.
In this kind of situation, more than half the players would rather toss their stones than place another one.
Because, regardless of win or loss, they instinctively know that even while realizing they've already lost, they'll just repeat meaningless moves hoping for a mistake.
And if they then looked at a Go board that refused to go their way... they'd make the exact same expression Yoon Hyeong-seop was making.
Yoon Hyeong-seop's benevolent, sage-like expression began to crumple, bit by bit.
Yoon Hyeong-seop's mask had been peeled off to some degree.
If so, it was time to give him a chance.
I adjusted my aim to his so-called 3-dan level and started playing not the absolute best moves, but reasonably optimal ones.
Only, I didn't forget the provocations to strip his mask off again the moment he tried to put it back on.
Yoon Hyeong-seop got completely absorbed in my Go, ceasing to care what his face looked like and focusing entirely on the game.
Thinking it would be dangerous to lose the right side, he placed a stone in what he thought was a safe spot.
Once I responded, he smirked nastily as if now certain that the game was finally going his way and he'd cut off my retreat.
"Tch."
Go isn't exactly mind-reading; there's no way to know your opponent's inner thoughts for sure, but I could tell that Yoon Hyeong-seop's true personality wasn't good.
He was merely wearing a mask.
That doesn't mean it's wrong. Hiding a filthy true face behind a mask isn't necessarily a bad thing, and even setting that aside, I think it's only right that every person carries at least one mask to conceal themselves.
I started playing my Go in earnest, and Yoon Hyeong-seop was hard-pressed just to place stones exactly where I'd predicted he would.
Anyone could see it was a clear mistake, but maybe he didn't want to admit he'd chosen wrong...
Or maybe he just couldn't let go of that thread-thin hope. Yoon Hyeong-seop thrashed about in every conceivable way.
Without even realizing he was standing at the edge of a cliff.
Yoon Hyeong-seop piled one bad move on top of another.
If I threw him into atari, he'd realize he'd played a bad move.
But to the little kid crying over his sandcastle being wrecked again, I simply smiled—pretending not to know anything, pretending not to have seen anything—as if telling him to try building it once more.
Unlike his first sandcastle, which only seemed like it would need a wave to knock it down, this one was hastily made, riddled with holes, a sandcastle that looked ready to collapse from the wind alone.
Now, even without me kicking it over myself, it would crumble on its own.
Blind to the vast beach stretching out around him, this little kid was too busy building the sandcastle right in front of his eyes to have the presence of mind to realize it.