Eighteen's Bed-Chapter 27.1

Even if I wanted to ignore them, who knows what life will be like, right? I realized that the university society is much smaller and less free than I had thought, so I answered one of the three messages. And the fact that the third message was the one asking for a promise made me suspect that Kang Suhyeon had figured out my response pattern—his timing was almost too perfect.

“Ugh, really.”

“No. I need to prepare for my last major exam tomorrow.”

Despite the two-hour gap between my reply, Kang Suhyeon’s response came back in no time.

“Preparing? Then it should be fine.”

“What’s fine about it?”

“Preparing means you’ve finished something, right? If you’re like me and haven’t done anything, you wouldn’t need to prepare anything.”

“Is this guy even a student?”

Why the hell am I exchanging messages with this guy? I genuinely feel disillusioned with my life. The image of university life I had desperately wanted is crumbling day by day.

“Why would a freshman be living like this? Give up already~ You’re never going to be at the top anyway. Grades are temporary, but friendship is forever, friend.”

Is Kang Suhyeon really the ideal student for this university? If that’s true, I’d want to drop out and go back to the study-abroad path I had abandoned. “Go away.” I deleted the reply I typed out in frustration. Then, I made an effort to hold back for the sake of my social standing.

“I don’t drink.”

“You don’t drink? Guess you haven’t suffered enough.”

“……”

“Living life with some grilled pork belly and a glass of soju. If there’s no hardship, you wouldn’t understand the taste.”

“I’ll just ignore your message.”

“Then what’s this now? Is it a joke~ Is it some cute act~?”

“I’m blocking you.”

“No! If you block me, your whole family will go bald.”

I really need to block him. That’s it. I’ve made up my mind.

Just as I was about to add Kang Suhyeon’s number to the block list, one last message popped up urgently. Kang Suhyeon should be thankful for his fast typing skills. If it hadn’t been for that message, he would have probably stayed on my blacklist forever.

“Dude, I’m only taking care of you because you’re a Kang. I’m worried you’ll get a taste of the sour life in Seoul, coming from the sweet and pure Kang family in the countryside. Don’t be shy, just come.”

Oh, never mind. I really should block him.

“And I have something to say. It’s kind of important.”

Finally, I stopped my hand from adding his number to the block list. The serious tone of his message made me hesitate, something I wouldn’t have done otherwise. Once that hesitation arose, it was clear that this round would go to Kang Suhyeon. Damn it. I stood up, grabbed my coat and wallet.

“I’ll take a taxi. Send me the address.”

“^,<♥”

“Ugh, shit.”

I hurriedly turned off the screen, feeling a terrible sense of disgust, and then changed my direction. I walked toward the locked room. After hesitating a few times, I knocked on the door.

“Yohan, are you sleeping?”

I waited for a while, but no response came. I lowered my hand from the door and carefully grabbed the doorknob.

“Can I come in for a second?”

I waited for a response again, but it was still quiet. By this point, I was sure he couldn’t hear me. With certainty, I quietly opened the door. I knew there wouldn’t be an answer anyway. In the pitch-dark room, I could hear a small breath.

“……”

And there he was, Go Yohan, faintly illuminated by the light. The silvery light from the window glimmered on his cold skin, accentuating his delicate and sharp features. The color reflected in the water filled his room.

For nearly a month, Go Yohan had been walking around with a face that screamed he hadn’t slept at all. He only came home late at night. I wanted to ask him what was going on, but his already downcast face looked even more exhausted. He looked like a person who had been drained, like he was in danger. It seemed like he had something he couldn’t talk about.

Even though his pride was immense, I couldn’t ask him what was wrong. I just waited for him to say it first. Maybe he was studying for the exams. He was the type who’d never want to show his efforts. So I didn’t want to wake him.

I simply stood by the door and whispered softly.

“Good night.”

The answer came quietly in the form of his soft breath. I quietly closed the door, making sure not to make a sound, and walked out without a trace.

Suddenly, a box of medicinal herbs was placed in front of me. A box of herbs at a cheap, all-you-can-eat meat place. It couldn’t get any more bizarre than this. The strange box, which I couldn’t figure out, was proudly presented by Kang Suhyeon, with an expression of satisfaction on his face, as he wiggled his body. It turns out he wanted me to take it.

The box on the table had parts painted over with black marker. The way it was hastily painted, you could see a letter through the crisscrossing strokes.

‘Hyun.’

Of course. It wasn’t meant for me.

“What’s this?”

As I sat down and examined the box, Kang Suhyeon pointed to the ‘herbal medicine’ written on the front. No, that’s not what I was asking about. I looked at Kang Suhyeon with a suspicious look.

"Why are you showing this to me?"

"Actually, it's from my family's oriental medicine clinic."

"Great. Congratulations."

"Why would you congratulate me when I didn’t even go to a medical school?"

"Fine, no congratulations."

"Why do I feel so upset?"

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As Kang Suhyeon snorted and wrapped one hand around his chest, I couldn’t bring myself to care. Ignoring his pointless antics, I casually brushed aside my bangs that were falling over my forehead. But a few thin strands of hair fell back down again.

While I was focusing on my hair, Kang Suhyeon loudly tapped the box. The heavy sound made me look back at him. When our eyes met, for some reason, Kang Suhyeon had a smug expression on his face.

“It’s yours.”

“My own?”

A question mark popped up in my head. I turned my gaze back to the area where the black marker was hastily scribbled.

‘Hyun.’

Hmm, that doesn’t seem right.

“I specially got it for you, you know, the lonely guy living in Seoul by himself.”

But Kang Suhyeon stubbornly stuck to his lie. Is this guy pure or just dumb? I let out a sigh, not really feeling it. Hearing my quiet sigh, Kang Suhyeon asked me:

“What? Why?”

“The part with ‘Hyun’ written in the corner didn’t get erased.”

“Oh, that? Right, right.”

What’s right about it? Kang Suhyeon awkwardly smiled, then suddenly covered the black-markered part with his palm. He pulled the box towards him and set it down on the floor.

“It’s just an expression of gratitude. I didn’t have anywhere else to write it, so I wrote it there in a hurry.”

“……”

Got it. Kang Suhyeon is definitely an idiot. That’s for sure.

“Eat, eat. At least have some meat. You can eat as much as you want.”

“It’s all-you-can-eat meat, right?”

“Exactly, so it’s fine.”

“Right……”

I shouldn’t say anything. I sat at the edge of my chair, not knowing what to say or what to do. I felt a strange emptiness, like I was lost.

“You’re right.”

“Right? Are you finally agreeing with the logic of this promising physics genius?”

I didn’t praise you. Why do you always hear it that way? Kang Suhyeon, who shamelessly interpreted my frustration as praise, proudly raised his soju glass. Then, as if on cue, he added something strange.

“To our hot friendship.”

“……”

Why am I still in contact with Kang Suhyeon? I should cut it off right now. I sighed, lamenting my bad choices, yet I didn’t pick up the glass in front of me.

Still, Kang Suhyeon seemed pleased with my passive acceptance. He winked his eye like someone with an eye infection, and then, as if regretting his choice to come here, he uttered the last line with dramatic flair.

“Drink up.”

Damn it, I really shouldn’t accept other people’s kindness like this. It almost killed me to force a smile and change the frown on my face. The glass I was holding was visibly shaking. From now on, even if Kang Suhyeon calls me, I’m never going to go. Never. I swear.

“I’ll just wet it with water.”

“Friend! You’re killing the mood!”

But Kang Suhyeon ruthlessly crushed my efforts. He made a face that he thought looked threatening and shook his shoulders in an exaggerated manner.

“Drink it, drink it, drink it, drink it, the alcohol is coming. Down it, down it, down it, down it.”

“What the hell… are you doing?”

Was this really necessary? Then, just as I was about to protest, he shouted loudly, "How long are you going to make me dance the shoulder dance!" I had no choice but to lower my blushing face and shout.

“Alright. I’ll drink! Please, stop.”

To get Kang Suhyeon to shut up, I was going to drink just one sip. I tried to, but...

“This guy is really pulling a fast one.”

Kang Suhyeon half-rose from his seat, placed his palm under my glass, and pushed it upward. Damn it. The soju in the small glass spilled half into my mouth, the rest dripping down my chin.

“Ah, really.”

Should I just throw this little glass on the floor and go home? A strong impulse arose. No, I’ll hold it in. I’m an adult. Right, I’m an adult. I wiped the soju off my chin with the back of my hand, brushed my thighs, and gritted my teeth.

“Everything spilled.”

“You didn’t say ‘it spilled,’ you said ‘it leaked?’ That’s a completely unnecessary tone.”

“Of course. I feel like I’m going to throw up just from the taste.”

“Jun, you’re still young. For me, it’s sweet like a drink.”

“……”

“When I was young, I didn’t get it. But now that I’m an adult, I totally understand the taste of alcohol being sweet.”

Kang Suhyeon continued to sip the soju left in his glass, his gaze deepening as he spoke.

“It means I’ve been through some hardship. That’s how you get it. This taste.”

The messages from Kang Suhyeon, which I had been brushing off, now felt like they were something I should ignore forever. His serious tone was so disgusting it almost made me gag. What’s with the word ‘childish’? This guy’s high school days are already clear in my mind. He’s talking about soju like it’s something major, but he’s probably just sneaked a few sips from a water bottle during a school trip.

“Isn’t that a bit too much showing off?”

“Showing off? Drink it first, and then you’ll understand. You know, knowing your limit is key. If you drink too much, you’ll end up in trouble. If you don’t want to make embarrassing memories you can’t even remember, then take this chance to learn from me. I know how to drink. Don’t you know engineering majors are basically swimming in alcohol?”

Kang Suhyeon pointed at himself with an air of superiority. With his glass in his mouth, he looked down, speaking in a truly pitiable way, trying to look cool.

“Pathetic.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

“Amigette.”

“……”

I forced a smile and emptied my glass. The plan to just get through this situation was immediately derailed as Kang Suhyeon praised me for drinking my glass so easily.

“Oh, Jun, you know how to drink?”

Just like that, the second glass went down smoother than expected.

I stared at my empty glass and scratched the area between my neck and shoulder. Kang Suhyeon’s praise had a strange effect on me. Oddly enough, he tended to praise me more than Go Yohan, which made me more sensitive to his compliments. That’s why I couldn’t help but puff my chest a bit.

Honestly, who knows if I have a hidden talent for drinking. Who could say? But the fact that I felt calm even after downing a whole glass of soju made me think I might actually know how to drink a bit.

While I was secretly surprised by my unexpected potential, four new bottles of soju were brought to the table. All ordered by Kang Suhyeon. He grabbed the neck of a bottle, covered in dew, and shook it vigorously before turning it upside down and opening it with a strange flourish. Then, he poured soju into my glass and said,

“This? I’m just getting the bitterness out.”

He looked at me with a generous expression, as if guiding me somewhere. By now, I couldn’t tell if this was part of his act or if he was being serious. I hesitated but, with a smile I didn’t really feel, I nodded reluctantly.

“Ah, okay, sure.”

And surprisingly, Kang Suhyeon was strong with alcohol. Looks like the engineering major’s reputation for being a drinker wasn’t an exaggeration. After downing three whole bottles of soju, he was still fine. Meanwhile, I had barely had seven shots by then. So his earlier claim was really the truth? That made it even more horrifying, so I decided not to think about it. I’ll just believe it’s all an act.

“Drinking a whole bottle on your first try? I think you’ve got potential.”

Now I get it. I finally know the real reason why I’m still in contact with Kang Suhyeon despite feeling disgusted. This guy, of all people, is the one who knows how to elevate me. Thanks to him, I felt a bit more confident. In fact, I felt like my self-esteem was soaring, and I absentmindedly tapped the tip of my nose with my finger.

“I didn’t know I could drink this much.”

“Ah, man. A real man. Heh.”

Compared to the other four fingers, his strangely short thumb was pointing up toward me. I cleared my throat unnecessarily, scratched near my chest, but didn’t stop the praise. To be honest, it felt kind of nice. It was a strangely uplifting feeling, something I hadn’t experienced before.

“So, I, our real man. The presenter who got high praise from the professor for taking an old, cliché topic and giving it a fresh twist in Sex and Gender. I want to ask the man who mesmerized the professor by observing a friend of mine.”

“Hey, that’s not it.”

But that tone immediately made me feel down. Is he mocking me? The tone of this guy, whose words seemed like they came from someone whose mind was far away, was nothing like the high school guys I used to know. Suddenly, I felt uncomfortable with his bizarre compliment.

“Friend. Now that you’re twenty, you should be getting into dating…”

Finally, the introduction began. Finally. I had barely managed to finish a bottle to match Kang Suhyeon’s pace, and now, here comes the important part. I was relieved, thinking this dreadful gathering might soon end, and I responded eagerly.

“Cut the intro and get to the point.”

His tone was a bit blunt, but my eyes suddenly snapped open. Why did I just say that? I quickly shut my mouth, but thankfully, Kang Suhyeon seemed completely unfazed. I was the only one who seemed to care.

“You know your friend, right?”

“Huh?”

“Could you set up a blind date for me with your friend?”

What? There was no need to jump straight to the point like that. It was such a sudden and blunt request. And the mood that had been soaring suddenly crashed to the ground.

“……Why?”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Why, I mean why.”

“That’s… well, no, but aren’t you staring at me way too harshly?”

Does my face look nice when it’s like this? This bastard. I forced myself to relax my eyebrows and stretch my lips sideways, but I couldn’t hide my trembling facial muscles.

“Why—?”

“Yeah, don’t feel inferior. It’s not a big deal, really. So, your friend’s picture was posted on SNS, and it was seen by a friend of So-yeon’s. Anyway, everyone saw it.”

“SNS? So-yeon?”

“Yeah, Park So-yeon.”

The name wasn’t unfamiliar since I’d heard it several times while working on assignments. Kang Suhyeon always talked about So-yeon, So-yeon, adding her name at the end of every sentence. I remembered it. Every time he mentioned her, I’d want to cover his mouth. Hearing that name always made me feel guilty and embarrassed, but I never expected it to come up in this conversation.

“Go Yohan doesn’t use SNS.”