Chapter 113: The Start of the Semester (1)

 

“Who~ is drinking?! It's Lee Han-gyeol drinking~! Lee! Han! Han-gyeol! One~ shot!”

 

Damn it... Drinking games have evolved way too much these days.

 

I'm already bad at drinking games, and here I am playing one I don't even know.

 

I have no idea how many penalty drinks I've had, and I feel like I'm going to black out any moment now.

 

I gulped down all the penalty drinks in front of me, and my vision was already spinning.

 

“Now~ let's start Lee Han-gyeol's~ favorite~ random~ game~ What game~ Game start! Game start!”

 

I don't know any drinking games, you guys.

 

“Eye Spy Game 1.”

 

As soon as the game started, everyone stood up while checking each other’s moves.

 

Another victim was chosen, and they joyfully downed their penalty drink.

 

Are they all heavy drinkers or what...?!

 

They're all monsters.

 

“Oh? Lee Han-gyeol is drunk~!”

 

“Finally?! He lasted a long time~”

 

Seeing how bad I am at these games, they were all targeting me, so there's no way I could hold out.

 

Well, they're just trying to avoid getting caught themselves, so I guess I can overlook it.

 

Ah—what if Eun-ha's really drunk too... I'm worried, should I call her?

 

“I’m going to make a quick call.”

 

“You’re not going home just like that, are you~?”

 

“I’m going to call my girlfriend.”

 

“What~? Lee Han-gyeol has a girlfriend?!”

 

Seunghoon and Jaehyun, who were sitting next to me, already knew.

 

I've just met these guys today, but I feel like I'll be spending my college life with them.

 

“Jaehyun and I have seen her. She’s from our college, right?”

 

“Yeah, she's in the Film Studies department.”

 

“Oh-! I've seen her too~ She’s pretty~!”

 

The girl sitting across from me said.

 

I still don't really know her name.

 

We've been bumping into each other since we introduced ourselves at lunch.

 

“Anyway, I'll be right back after the call.”

 

I thought my college life would just pass by quietly, but that’s not happening.

 

Ah, I really want to go home and see Eun-ha. I wonder what she’s doing right now.

 

“Oh- my phone.”

 

I came out to make a call but... I left my phone behind.

 

Nothing's going right.

 

“Han-gyeol? What are you doing here?”

 

As I was about to go back into the building, I heard Eun-ha's voice.

 

“Eun-ha?!”

 

What is this? A hallucination?

 

If she appears right in front of me like this, there's a chance it's a hallucination.

 

A woman who looked like Eun-ha walked straight up to me.

 

“Hold on, stop.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Are you really Eun-ha...? I've had so much to drink I can't tell.”

 

“Hehe... it's Han-gyeol!”

 

“Ah!”

 

The way she ran towards me without hesitation confirmed it was Eun-ha.

 

Eun-ha, who was now in my arms, looked up at me with flushed cheeks, probably a bit tipsy.

 

With her soft hair, fair skin, and bright smile, it was definitely Eun-ha.

 

“Hehe... I can smell the perfume I gave you...”

 

She sniffed at me, making little noises.

 

She was definitely a bit drunk.

 

“Han-gyeol, did you drink a lot too?”

 

“Don’t even ask... I can't see anything except you right now.”

 

“If you put it that way, drinking a lot doesn’t seem so bad~”

 

“What were you doing here? You should have called.”

 

“Ah— I put Yoori and Jiyoung in a taxi and was about to call you when I saw you across the street, so I ran over~ What about you?”

 

“I had too much to drink from the drinking games, so I came out for some air. What about you?”

 

“Ah-! We played a lot of drinking games, but I never got caught. You know I’m good at games!”

 

I thought she was only good at fighting games, but it seems she's good at drinking games too.

 

“Did any other guys try to hit on you?”

 

“Hmph~ Are you jealous?! This side of Han-gyeol is cute too. I want to kiss you.”

 

Of course, they must have asked if she had a boyfriend. We're together so often that I get a little anxious sometimes.

 

“Don't change the subject—did any other guys try to hit on you?”

 

“Hmm~ When I was drinking at the seniors’ table, a female senior asked if I had a boyfriend, and I said yes. So, no one approached me~!”

 

“You did well~ Keep it up. Even if other guys offer to buy you food, don’t go with them, okay? I’ll take care of that.”

 

“Sure, sure! So? What about you?”

 

Eun-ha slightly stepped back from my embrace and looked up at me.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Did any other girls try to hit on you? You did tell them you have a girlfriend, right?”

 

There was a slight glint of menace in Eun-ha's eyes.

 

If I hadn’t mentioned it earlier, I would have been in big trouble.

 

To be honest, I didn’t say it outright myself.

 

“Of course I told them~”

 

“I was about to go home, but are you going to stay and drink more?”

 

“Huh? No, I was thinking of heading home soon too. I don't think I can drink anymore. Just wait a moment, I'll grab my stuff and come out.”

 

“Should I come up with you?”

 

“Huh? I'll be quick.”

 

“Just~ let’s go up together.”

 

I guess it doesn't matter since I'll be out soon anyway.

 

****

 

I went up the stairs with Han-gyeol.

 

I had quite a bit to drink myself, but it looks like Han-gyeol drank just as much.

 

I’ve never seen him this drunk before.

 

When we reached the table where Han-gyeol had been sitting, his friends welcomed him back.

 

Of course, they acknowledged me too.

 

“Wow—he said he was going to call his girlfriend, and he actually brought her here?”

 

“Right on! I want to be a campus couple too. Help me out here.”

 

“You might find that on your report card.”

 

“Hey, man… we just started the semester, don’t jinx it.”

 

“Anyway, since my girlfriend’s here, I’m going to head out. You guys get home safely.”

 

Just as Han-gyeol and I were about to leave, I noticed the girl sitting across from Han-gyeol.

 

She was the one who greeted him so warmly during lunch.

 

Sitting at the same table means she’s close with Han-gyeol, right?

 

Well… it’s nothing to worry about for now—

 

“Hey~ since your girlfriend is here, have a drink before you go~”

 

Just when I thought I didn’t need to worry, someone made me worry right away.

 

She had just met Han-gyeol today, yet she greeted him warmly and was sitting at the same table.

 

It might be my imagination, but it seemed beneficial to know a bit more about her.

 

“No, Eun-ha’s already had a lot to drink—”

 

“Shall we? Honestly, I could use a bit more to drink too.”

 

I decided to join them.

 

As long as I don’t get caught in the drinking games, everything should be fine.

 

“Eun-ha?”

 

“Let’s have a drink~ I feel bad for making you leave early because of me.”

 

“If you’re okay with it, I don’t mind.”

 

I took off my coat and settled next to Han-gyeol.

 

He followed and sat down beside me.

 

“We were in the middle of a drinking game; is it okay if we continue?”

 

“Of course~! I just came from a drinking game with my department.”

 

“Did you know Han-gyeol is terrible at drinking games?”

 

Her tone was slightly irritating.

 

“He has a bit of a cute side to him~”

 

The way she rested her chin on the table and looked at Han-gyeol also bothered me.

 

Looking at someone else’s boyfriend like that… it’s starting to get annoying.

 

“No, I didn’t know. We’ve always just had drinks alone, so we never had the chance to play drinking games~”

 

“Don’t drink too much. If you can’t handle it, give it to me. Got it?”

 

“Thanks for looking out for me.”

 

At least Han-gyeol was only looking out for me.

 

Maybe I should just show how strong our relationship is here and now?

 

But how? I can’t just kiss him out of the blue, that’s too embarrassing.

 

Besides, that might affect his college life, so maybe it’s better to just play it cool today.

 

This person hasn’t done anything to Han-gyeol, but… the way she keeps looking at him is really annoying.

 

“Okay! Let’s play a drinking game then?”

 

I started the drinking game with a bright smile.

 

Everyone was having a good time, but most of the targets were Han-gyeol.

 

It turned out that he was indeed bad at drinking games, as he kept having to drink penalty shots.

 

Eventually, it seemed too much for him as he hesitated with a drink in his hand.

 

“I’ll drink it~”

 

“What?!”

 

I quickly took the drink from Han-gyeol and downed it.

 

Ugh—it was extremely bitter. It felt like I just drank four shots of soju in one go.

 

“Oh~ that’s impressive!”

 

“Isn’t everyone targeting my boyfriend a bit too much~?”

 

I gently pulled Han-gyeol’s face toward my shoulder, hugging him closely for everyone, especially the girl, to see.

 

Her lower eyelid seemed to twitch slightly, but it could have just been my drunken imagination.

 

Still, it felt like a good time to start making our exit since I now knew who to keep an eye on.

 

“Han-gyeol is really drunk, so we’re going to head out now.”

 

“Already? You can stay a bit longer. The subway has probably stopped running by now.”

 

What’s with her insistence on keeping Han-gyeol around?

 

Is she trying to observe our relationship more closely?

 

From an objective standpoint, I had no solid evidence to be sure.

 

But it did seem like a good idea to assert our relationship a bit more.

 

“It’s fine~ I’ll just have him stay at my place~”

 

With that, I quickly gathered Han-gyeol.

 

“Come on, Han-gyeol? Let’s go home~”

 

“Uh... yeah. Let’s go.”

 

With Han-gyeol’s arm around my neck, I slowly got up from my seat.

 

“Alright, we’re leaving now~ Let’s meet again if we get the chance. It was fun.”

--- The End OF The Chapter ---

 

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