“Haaam…”
It was one of those days when yawns just came out on their own. Because of what happened yesterday, I hadn’t even slept properly, and it felt like I’d wasted even this precious class time. Just as I was about to lift my heavy bag, someone grabbed it first.
“Huh??”
Flustered, I looked at the person who had taken my bag.
“Huh?? Senior! Are you taking this class too? I got lucky and signed up because they said the lecture was amazing, but I guess you’re in it too!”
The person who had taken my bag was none other than Senior Eunho. He smiled brightly and said,
“I guess I was just as lucky as you. But this key ring is cute. It suits you. You must like cats. It’s a black cat.”
I looked at the key ring attached to my bag.
“Huh? Ah… a friend bought it for me a while ago, but I forgot to put it on. It’s nothing special. Thank you for saying it suits me.”
‘Come to think of it. I was too lazy to put away the photos I took with Yu Hamin and the gifts I got from him at home. I should clean them up today.’
Senior looked at my thinking face in silence, then said,
“What are you thinking about? You’re thinking really hard.”
Senior naturally reached out and patted my head. I said, flustered with my face turning red,
“Wha-?! Ah… I just tend to think about a lot of useless things..”
At my words, Senior quietly nodded and said,
“We’re going to be late. Let’s head to the others and to Hamin now. Since our last class is the same, we can go together every day!”
I was flustered by Senior Eunho’s words, but I smiled and said,
“I guess so.”
Senior and I walked side by side. Maybe because there was still a bit of spring chill, it somehow felt even colder. Sensing that I was cold, Senior Eunho glanced at me without saying anything.
“Cold?”
Senior Eunho looked down at me and asked.
“Huh?? Ah.. a little. It’s not warm yet.”
As soon as I finished speaking, Senior casually slipped off his outer layer and draped it over me, saying,
“Yeah. It’s still a bit chilly. But I don’t mind the cold.”
I accepted Senior’s outer layer in a daze and said,
“But you must be cold too, Senior… Are you okay?”
Even so, I naturally put on Senior’s outer layer. It was a zip-up hoodie, so it was easy to wear. As the sleeves hung a little long on my arms, I fluttered the cuffs. Then Senior Eunho burst out laughing and said,
“hahaha What are you doing?”
I smiled at Senior’s reaction and said,
“The clothes are way too big. You’re really big, Senior. I’m on the smaller side. It feels like I’m wearing something oversized.”
At my words, Senior gave a faint smile.
“Really? It suits you.”
Before I knew it, I broke into a grin. Senior looked at me too and laughed with me. While talking like that, we met up with the seniors and Hamin. As we came in talking and laughing, I could see Yu Hamin’s eyebrows twitch slightly. But I just thought, He must be annoyed about something again, and let it pass. Senior Yejun smiled brightly and said,
“Hey! Everyone’s here, right? Why are you so late?”
As soon as Senior Yejun finished speaking, Senior Noah took over and continued,
“Do Eunho, if you were bringing a freshman, you should’ve brought them a bit faster. What were you doing??”
I laughed at the seniors’ teasing. Senior Eunho laughed along too when he saw me laugh, then handed me my bag.
“Here. It was a little heavy. If it gets too heavy, your shoulder will hurt. I’m worried.”
At the words that he was worried, Senior Noah tapped Senior Eunho’s shoulder and said,
“What’s this? Why is the mood like this?? What did the two of you do? Why is Eunho’s clothes on Flly?”
At Senior Noah’s teasing, Yu Hamin, who had been sitting there as if casually observing the equipment, turned a sharp gaze toward us. It was a silent signal that he was very displeased. Yu Hamin and I met eyes head-on. Hamin’s silent signal only came out when he was subtly uncomfortable. But I ignored it.
‘So what? You dumped me and I’m just catching up with a human being I haven’t seen in a while.’
Hamin kept looking at us like that for a while, then lowered his head. He stayed like that without saying anything for a few seconds. Then Bongo Senior, who had been quietly watching us, seemed to notice the atmosphere a little and looked at mebefore turning to Yu Hamin. He whispered something to Hamin without saying a word, then cut off the line of sight between Yu Hamin and me and sat down. And so a few minutes of the club meeting passed. We were just about done with greetings and teasing and turned back around. Somehow they’d gotten close already—Hamin and Bongo Senior were sitting right next to each other, watching us.
“What? Why are you two like that too? Since when were you that close??”
Senior Noah laughed again and sat down next to Bongo Senior.
“Bongo hyung. Take care of me too. I’m only in my second year of college, y’know..”
At Senior Eunho’s words, Bongo Senior looked like he’d seen something wrongand squeezed his eyes shut before saying,
“Whoa… What did I just see? Eye damage..”
At that, we all burst out laughing again. It felt like it was my first time seeing Bongo Senior laugh today. I’d only thought he was a taciturn pink hamster, but maybe that wasn’t it after all. Bongo Senior seemed to notice my gaze, because he stopped laughing and looked at me. He seemed to think for a moment, then soon smiled at me. I returned it with a slight smile and looked away again. After that, I could feel Bongo Senior’s gaze for a few seconds, as if he wanted me to look back at him once more. But I was cold-hearted. I didn’t turn around again. Instead, Yu Hamin, who seemed to be leaning a little on Bongo Senior, bothered me. Hamin was listening to the conversation silently, looking tired and resting lightly against Bongo Senior’s shoulder. Today’s club meeting was basically an orientation thing about what the band club does, how many events there are, what kinds of things happen at school, and an introduction to the MT schedule. When the meeting ended, the seniors stood up and said,
“Next time, should we all have a drink? Anyone here weak with alcohol?”
As soon as they finished speaking, all the seniors looked at Bongo Senior at once. It was almost like they were saying, Hey, Chae Bonggu. Hurry up and raise your hand with a clear conscience. But Hyung Bongo just fiddled with his sleeve, looking a little guilty. Then the seniors all snickered and let it go.
“Then next time, let’s meet up and have an eating-out meeting. Well then, bye.”
I thought we were going to part ways like that…
“Hey. Talk to me for a bit. I’ll walk you home.”
“I’ll walk Flly home. I’ve got something to say too.”
Hamin and Senior Eunho looked at each other with uncomfortable expressions, me caught between them.
“I’ll take you home today. Hamin doesn’t look well today either, so go on ahead.”
But Yu Hamin didn’t back down and said,
“No. I know Flly’s house better than anyone. We’ve been close for a while, so I’ve walked them home before. Let’s go.”
I had become the main character in their tense standoff.
‘Yu Hamin… why are you doing this? Didn’t we say we’d leave each other’s school life alone?’
