.

* * *

What Yoon Jung In said was not a joke. Class 1-5, 6, and 7, those who already knew that our break time began earlier, were literally walking on all fours. Some kid was deeply asleep while burying his head on the couch. Another boy was in his dreamland with his head shoved under the sink.

Class 1-1 and 1-8, those located at both ends of the hallway, got updated at the slowest, so it wasn’t that long since Class 1-1 started drinking. Rolling his eyeballs, Eun Jiho sipped his drink alone.

He didn’t turn on the light in the first place to prevent them from the instructors unexpectedly surprising the room by any chance. The only light turned on inside was a faint orange lamp. The bright moonlight pouring through the terrace stained the drowsy faces pale glow.

Eun Jiho took out his phone and checked the time. It was 11:20 at night and there were only seven survivors among the eleven members gathered in the room.

When the drinking party started, Woo Jooin spoke with a grin on his lips.

‘There’s a small room and here is the living room.’

‘Uh-huh,’

‘Later when you wake up and find out yourself inside the small room, think of it as, ‘Oh, I was a dead body last night.’

After his words, kids burst into laughter wondering the ones sleeping in the small room tonight. And in less than an hour, four of them were thrown into the small room.

Thinking about these in mind, Eun Jiho then heard a thudding sound on the wall. Those who thought, at first, that it might be the instructor knocking the door turned their heads out of tension; however, they soon fetched a sigh of relief.

“Hey, maybe someone next door is sleep talking seriously. Go get him tied up with a blanket,” someone said.

“Bahaha, so funny. Let me go take a look.”

A boy replied then stood up. The rest of the boys looked at each other for a second. The person who got the most attention was no other than Kwon Eun Hyung.

He always looked neat and behaved well; besides, he mediated between fights, so other boys were mindful of the possibility of him coming out against students drinking alcohol. Kwon Eun Hyung, however, didn’t say anything at the black plastic bag full of drinks but asked with a smile to take a few bottles out to enjoy.

As if he felt the attention, Kwon Eun Hyung lifted his eyes to glance around. A boy moved his butt back out of surprise. It made Kwon Eun Hyung burst out laughing.

“Why?”

“I mean, honestly, your usual image is… I thought you wouldn’t let us drink.”

“Why? What’s my usual image?”

“Like a mother?” Woo Jooin who listened to their talk replied from the side.

“Come on, dude.”

With that said, Kwon Eun Hyung gently pushed Woo Jooin’s forehead. Woo Jooin chuckled then sat up straight.

Kwon Eun Hyung continued, “Hmm, I just saw… tomorrow’s breakfast menu on the cafeteria wall…”

“What?”

Those who didn’t focus on the conversation turned their heads toward him to listen. Kwon Eun Hyung turned his mouth up slightly to resemble a hint of a smile.

“… and there was bean sprout soup, the best hangover cure.”

“That’s all?” Someone else asked. Kwon Eun Hyung responded casually with a shrug.

“What else do we need?”

A moment of silence prevailed in the small space. Soon after, two boys jumped into Kwon Eun Hyung abruptly then tried to hug his shoulders. Being startled, Kwon Eun Hyung took a defensive posture at first but soon released the tension in his arms as he read no malice in their tipsy faces. As a result, he and the two boys fell back together with a thump.

Woo Jooin, across them, burst into laughter.

“Dude, are you drunk?” Eun Jiho asked.

“I don’t know. What do you think?”

Woo Jooin replied while rubbing his cheeks. Eun Jiho observed his face for a second. He soon shook his head to say no and sat straight.

The one who got out of control of his drinking speed and filled the glass with liquor was no other than Woo Jooin. A few kids followed him but, eventually, ended up being flacked out in the small room. Regardless of the insane drinking speed, Woo Jooin, however, didn’t show any sign of becoming drunk. This made Eun Jiho look around others while developing a groundless assumption of ‘high intelligence less drunk.’

Other than blinking his eyes out of drowsiness, Kwon Eun Hyung didn’t seem to have any problem. Yoo Chun Young, who felt sleepy in the morning but sleepless at night, looked very fine. His blue eyes moved back and forth between Kwon Eun Hyung and the liquor bottles. When Eun Jiho tried to get up from his seat to check himself being drunk or not, a boy who sat across him suggested a game.

“Hey, let’s play Truth or Dare! We should clear out these leftovers.”

“Cool! I’m in,” Woo Jooin, who got thrilled of interesting things, responded in a bright smile.

“Oh, lord.”

As if he felt dumbfounded, Kwon Eun Hyung said with a chuckle; however, he didn’t seem to keep them back from playing the game. The other kids didn’t say something special at all, so everyone soon sat around the empty soju bottle laid down in the middle.

At a distance, the TV, turned on, showed some noise on its screen. Eun Jiho broke the ice.

“So, who’s gonna ask first?”

“Let’s just take a round. If you get caught yourself, just move on to the next person.”

“Cool,” Yoo Chun Young sat straight as he replied shortly.

Inside Eun Jiho’s head, the scene that he saw in the TV screen at Ham Donnie’s house flashed through: Yoo Chun Young’s decent look that occupied the camera lens alone; the gaze he had at Ham Donnie’s back while resting his chin in his hand. Recalling these scenes, Eun Jiho soon had eye contact with Yoo Chun Young, who turned his head to look at Eun Jiho. Their eyes met in the air for a moment.

The one who avoided the gaze first was Eun Jiho. He spun the soju bottle cheerfully as if nothing had happened. The bottle then pointed out someone. When he glanced at Yoo Chun Young in the meantime, he was just tilting his head expressionlessly.

The Truth and Dare game continued until 1 in the morning. At first, there seemed to be not much to ask among the seven boys but the questions went on endlessly.

‘What the hell is this?’ Eun Jiho swept his hair back in exhaustion. As if he wasn’t sleepy yet, Yoo Chun Young was just staring at the soju bottle with his clear blue eyes. It was then when he heard someone crying out like an animal in the hallway.

Eun Jiho looked at the front door in surprise.

Someone murmured, “Is there a wolf inside this building?”

“Gosh, you’re freaking me out.”

“Don’t you hear that sound…”

The boy who said that paused his words. He then put his finger on his lip.

When the noise reduced, only the breathing sound continued. The orange light from the lamp shedded deep shadows on each other’s faces.

A moment after, Eun Jiho could hear a faint voice.

‘Yoon Jung In, do you want to die? Do you want to get dragged to the instructor’s room?”

“Oh, my Suh Hyun! What a beautiful name! Suh Hyun noona! I’m a wolf and you’re the beauty!”

‘Geez, why do I have a friend like you…’

His words then ended with a sigh. Eun Jiho listened attentively to the conversation. As soon as he met others’ eyes, everyone burst out laughing at last.

As if it was truly funny, Kwon Eun Hyung, who seldom laughed out loud, giggled while covering his mouth. Eun Jiho wasn’t sure if he was laughing out of excitement or being tipsy.

The bottle then stopped spinning and pointed exactly at Eun Jiho. He turned stiff while having the grin on his face. ‘Shoot,’ as soon as he murmured, the one who looked at the soju bottle shouted out loud.

“Oh, yeah! Eun Jiho! Your turn, at last!”

“How lucky were you. How could you never get caught from so many rounds?”

“Yay, so excited! Now we can learn about your private life!”

As if they had been watching for a chance, the kids smiled naughtily doing high fives. Eun Jiho lifted his eyes to glance around. Compared to others, Kwon Eun Hyung, Woo Jooin, and Yoo Chun Young looked apathetic. Indeed, since they knew each other from middle school; therefore, what else would they like to know about Eun Jiho?

Eun Jiho fetched a sigh of relief while thinking, ‘They won’t be asking me anything weird.’ It was then when he had that thought in mind. A boy’s bright voice rang Eun Jiho’s ears.

“Ahem, Mr. Eun Jiho the most handsome! Have you ever been dumped by a girl?”

‘Why that question?’ Eun Jiho suddenly got annoyed. He seemed to be losing touch with reality. ‘Am I getting drunk…?’