Sweet Shot

#3

**

“I actually thought Ha-min would at least send one letter to hyung.”

It was an insincere comment. Ha-min could tell.

“…Sorry. I was… busy.”

Tae-rim and Ha-min sat facing each other in a quiet cafe. Tae-rim ordered an Americano with two extra shots that Ha-min couldn’t even taste, while Ha-min ordered a chocolate latte. Tae-rim smiled to himself, seeing that Ha-min still liked sweet things.

“Speak casually. Don’t be so awkward.”

“Ah… okay.”

Hyung’s comment about expecting a letter was just a polite remark. If he had really wanted Ha-min to send one, he would have given him his new address in America, and he would have said goodbye before leaving. Ha-min knew his place all too well. To hyung, he was just his younger brother’s friend, nothing more, nothing less. Just a cute, chubby elementary school kid from the neighborhood.

“When did you grow up so much? It’s more surprising than seeing Tae-in grow.”

“I met Tae-in yesterday, and he said… you came back.”

“Oh? Then why didn’t you contact me?”

He gently scolded with a smile.

“…I didn’t know your number.”

“Give me your phone.”

At Ha-min’s mumbled response, he held out his hand. Ha-min, of course, couldn’t refuse and fumblingly handed over his phone.

“Unlock it.”

He quickly typed in the number.

“It’s my number, so save it.”

“Huh? Oh…”

He received back the phone with the number entered. Phone number… Hyung’s phone number.

“Is auntie doing well?”

Tae-rim naturally changed the subject. And he skipped the usual questions people ask when meeting after a long time.

“Yeah. Same as always.”

“Is the supermarket still there?”

“Yeah. It used to seem like the biggest supermarket in the neighborhood, but now it feels like a small corner store. With all the big marts popping up… and convenience stores too…”

“Well, that’s how it is.”

“…”

“And you?”

“Huh?”

“Have you been doing well?”

Tae-rim’s gaze fixed directly on Ha-min. It seemed like the main topic of this conversation. Ha-min closed his mouth for a moment at his question. A silent sorrow welled up inside. It was as if hyung knew he hadn’t been doing well and was asking about it. Even though there was no way he could know.

“Yeah.”

“…”

“It’s good to see you after so long, hyung.”

Ha-min answered as nonchalantly as possible. Although saying he had been doing well was a lie, saying it was good to see him was sincere.

Tae-rim took a sip of coffee and grinned. Without taking his piercing gaze off Ha-min, he replied.

“Me too.”

“…”

“Although I’m a bit disappointed that your chubby cheeks are gone.”

Maybe because they were brothers, they said the same thing.

Other than that, it was a very ordinary conversation. Just a regular chat with nothing special. Yeah, this much. This distance was just right. Ha-min quietly sipped his chocolate latte. The sweet taste that tickled his throat spread in his mouth. It was a taste not unlike his current mood.

**

“Oppa!! Over here!!”

When Ha-min arrived at the place Eun-soo had told him to come, she waved her hand enthusiastically from the most crowded table.

Having attended classes together all day and become friendly with her, Ha-min happily raised his hand. He was grateful that she had approached him without hesitation and helped him with his class schedule. Thanks to her knowledge of each professor’s style, he was able to drop a few classes he should avoid and change his schedule to include some good electives. She seemed to be well-connected within the department, knowing everything.

“I saved a seat for you, oppa.”

She patted the seat next to her. One of the guys who was originally sitting there was suddenly pushed aside.

“Ah-, Ha Eun-soo, are you crazy?”

“Who told you to sit there? That seat was already taken.”

When the guy shouted in disbelief at being pushed away so brusquely, Eun-soo retorted without batting an eye. Ha-min, feeling awkward, was hesitating whether to sit or not when Eun-soo pulled him strongly, making him plop down with a bewildered look.

“What do you want to drink, oppa? Soju? Beer? Somaek? Or mixed with tonic water?”

Even though he arrived on time, the drinking session was already in full swing. There was loud chatter all around, and people were singing with a karaoke machine on the opposite side. Ha-min, for whom this kind of chaotic gathering was a first, was busy looking around.

“Uh… I’ll have beer. Yeah.”

Eun-soo was relentless in offering drinks. Just then, the department kids sitting nearby spoke up as if they had been waiting.

“Hello, oppa. We heard from Eun-soo. You’re returning from a leave of absence, right?”

“Wow, you’re even more handsome up close. Why aren’t you a celebrity, sunbae?”

One was a girl with bleached hair and an eyebrow piercing, and the other was a fairly cute-looking guy.

“Hey, ask one at a time. This oppa isn’t good at multitasking.”

How did she know…

“Sunbae, I’m Shin Woo-kyung, and this is Kang Chae-rin.”

“Uh… I’m Song Ha-min.”

“Why are you introducing me?”

The guy’s name was Shin Woo-kyung, and the bleached hair girl was Kang Chae-rin. Ha-min repeated the names to himself to remember them.

“I heard you’re close with Tae-in sunbae?”

As Eun-soo handed him a beer glass, Woo-kyung spoke up knowingly. Ha-min looked at him with a face that seemed to ask how he knew.

“I’m in the same club as Tae-in sunbae. Me and Kang Chae-rin. A band club.”

Band…? Tae-in doing something like a band? It was surprising news. The guy who hated standing out in front of others and found it bothersome was in a band? Ha-min blinked his wide eyes in surprise at this new information.

“Oh, you didn’t know. Tae-in sunbae is super popular and even composes. I’m the vocalist, and Chae is the guitarist.”

He even composes? I can’t imagine it…

“I haven’t met Tae-in in a long time, so I don’t know much…”

“Tae-in sunbae earnestly asked us to take good care of you.”

“Hey, Tae-in oppa told us not to say that. You idiot.”

It was Chae-rin who smacked Woo-kyung’s arm as he was chattering away.

“He’s always lacking tact. Just pretend you didn’t hear that, oppa.”

Eun-soo added, clicking her tongue. There’s no need to keep it a secret… I should thank him later.

“Does Tae-in only compose?”

“No? Sunbae also plays the keyboard! Come visit us sometime!”

This Woo-kyung kid was quite sociable. Ha-min nodded right away. Keyboard… I remember him playing the piano. There was also a huge piano in the living room of his big house… When they moved because he was having surgery in middle school, I thought he had quit after that.

“But oppa, why aren’t you drinking?”

Chae-rin asked, noticing the beer still untouched in his glass.

“Ah… actually, I’m weak with alcohol.”

“Sunbae, you look like you could drink a lot.”

It’s true that he’s weak with alcohol. Partly because he hadn’t touched alcohol due to his diet, but also because he had cut off all contact as soon as he graduated, so he had no friends to meet and drink with. Even when he was in the military unit, he only drank when his seniors offered him a glass, so he couldn’t help but be weak. He remembered passing out after forcibly drinking two or three glasses of soju back then.

“You get better by drinking, sunbae.”

“Hey, don’t force him to drink.”

As Woo-kyung poured soju and beer, Eun-soo stopped him. Ha-min, not wanting to be left out, stopped Eun-soo’s arm as she was trying to remove the glass, saying it was okay.

“It’s okay, I’ll try drinking.”

“Eh? Oppa, you don’t have to force yourself.”

“Hey, why are you like that when sunbae says he’ll drink? Sunbae, cheers with me.”

“Shin Woo-kyung, you’re being too forward.”

He didn’t want to back out after coming to a gathering like this. The atmosphere was good, and he wanted to mingle, not shy away and avoid it. For someone who once suffered from social anxiety, college life was like a new beginning.

“Oppa, drink slowly.”

As Ha-min gulped down the somaek in his beer glass, Eun-soo tried to stop him, looking worried.

Ugh. The shot he took was literally “ugh”. It tasted so bad. For Ha-min, whose taste buds were no different from an elementary school kid’s, it was the worst.

“Wow, you drink well, sunbae. Come on, one more glass.”

“You drink it yourself.”

“Wow, you’re really discriminating.”

Ha-min smiled faintly as he watched the kids bickering. It had been a really long time since he was surrounded by such noise.

“Oppa, your phone is ringing.”

Eun-soo noticed the vibration from his coat pocket first and told him. Oh, you’re right. Ha-min fumbled in his pocket, stumbling a bit.

There were only two places that would call him. Mom and dad. But it was unexpected.

Huh?

“Tae-rim hyung?”

As Ha-min stared blankly at the screen without immediately answering the call, Woo-kyung, who had peeked at it, read out the name instead. Yes, it was hyung. Ha-min blinked his large eyes, frozen in place as if surprised.

“Tae-rim? You mean Tae-rim sunbae? Tae-in sunbae’s brother?”

“Oppa, aren’t you going to answer?”

Ah, I should answer… Just as he thought this, someone knocked on the large glass window next to the table. Everyone turned their heads at once, and a tall figure was standing there. The person was waving at Ha-min while holding a phone to his ear.

“…This is the first time I’ve seen Tae-rim sunbae this close.”

Woo-kyung mumbled with a dumbfounded face.

The person everyone ended up staring at was none other than hyung.

**

“Did you drink a lot?”

It was still chilly as it was early spring. The cold seemed to intensify after having a drink, but Ha-min didn’t feel the weather. Not only was his face flushed red from just one glass of somaek, but his whole body was hot from unexpectedly meeting hyung face to face.

“No, I, no.”

As he shook his head and stumbled over his words, Tae-rim chuckled. Then he gently ruffled Ha-min’s hair. The touch was so affectionate that it made him tingle with excitement. His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might burst. He must be crazy. He never dreamed that the feelings he had buried would come alive again just by seeing him like this.