Sweet Shot

#30

“Wow, our freshman is really handsome,” a senior student exclaimed admiringly towards Ha-min while everyone was busy setting up tents and organizing booths for the department’s pub event. Ha-min had become acquainted with the seniors over the past few days while helping the student council. That was Eun-soo’s plan – to help him get close to the seniors.

“Th-thank you,” Ha-min bowed politely. The senior, with his short sleeves rolled up to his shoulders, smiled warmly.

“Polite too. A rare young man these days.”

Eun-soo chimed in, “Right? Our oppa is the real deal.”

Ha-min felt embarrassed by Eun-soo’s words as she checked the ingredients needed for the pub. He scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” the senior asked.

“What?”

Eun-soo answered for him, “He doesn’t. He even refuses when I offer to set him up.”

The student council president put his arm around Ha-min’s shoulder in a friendly manner.

“How can you not have a girlfriend with that face?”

He stared intently at Ha-min with genuine curiosity. Ha-min tried to avoid the direct gaze, feeling uncomfortable.

“Are you perhaps…?” the senior continued.

“P-pardon?”

“You know. Into guys.”

Ha-min looked like he’d been hit by a rock at this spot-on question. The council president burst into laughter.

“Hey, I’m just kidding!”

“Oh…?”

“It’s fun to tease you.”

The president laughed casually at Ha-min’s startled face. Ha-min’s heart was racing.

Eun-soo intervened, “Don’t tease Ha-min oppa. He’s innocent.”

“What, are you his guardian?”

“Something like that.”

The student council president naturally moved away from Ha-min and chatted with Eun-soo. Ha-min was left alone to calm his pounding heart.

“Senior, the Business department’s pub seems to have a similar concept to ours,” Jun-seong said as he entered the not-yet-complete booth. Jun-seong was also part of the student council, like Eun-soo. The group project had been submitted as is. Chae-rin’s opinion had been significant, and Ha-min didn’t try to stop it. There were enough reasons to remove his name, and if it was just Ha-min sacrificing himself, it would have been fine, but Chae-rin was involved too, so it couldn’t be helped. Because of that incident, Jun-seong openly disliked him. He would glare at Ha-min even from a distance and intentionally bump shoulders when passing by.

“Hey, Ha Eun-soo, why do you keep calling someone who’s not even in the student council?” Jun-seong complained to Eun-soo in an annoyed voice, looking at Ha-min’s back as he was arranging chairs.

Eun-soo looked at the council president with a brazen face. The president retorted, “I told her to call him. We’re short-handed. You always refuse to help when asked, and now you’re causing trouble for someone else?”

Jun-seong’s face crumpled in displeasure when the council president openly scolded him. Flustered, Jun-seong took out his frustration by kicking the leg of the chair Ha-min was arranging. Ha-min almost lost his balance and fell, but he said nothing and continued moving the chair.

“That annoying bastard…” Eun-soo muttered, watching Jun-seong’s retreating back after witnessing the whole situation. She looked even more upset than Ha-min.

“I heard that jerk gave you a hard time last week,” Eun-soo said bluntly.

“It wasn’t that bad…” Ha-min smiled awkwardly at Eun-soo’s direct words.

“Aren’t you angry? What right does he have to give you a hard time?”

“…I think he might have a reason to be angry.”

Ha-min thought that even though Jun-seong was at fault, he could understand why he might be angry. After all, if the project score was zero, it would be like throwing away the credits for that subject.

“That idiot can’t say a word to Chae-rin though.”

“That’s a relief, I guess.”

“He knows Chae-rin is a martial arts expert, that’s why he doesn’t dare mess with her.”

“Ah…” Ha-min sighed softly. Eun-soo let out a short sigh at Ha-min’s nonchalant attitude.

“Don’t you think you’re being too nice?”

“…Huh?”

“That’s why I keep worrying. That’s how the world is these days. If you’re too nice, you get taken advantage of. Being nice doesn’t always come back to you. You need to know how to defend yourself, but you don’t seem to have that.”

That’s what she had concluded after observing him since the semester started. Ha-min was the type of person who would pick up litter on the street. He never got annoyed even when someone bumped into him, and he never cursed. The more she saw him, the more he seemed like he didn’t belong in this world. Being considerate was a habit for him, and consideration was ingrained in his body. He was the perfect target for people like Jun-seong.

“College life is like that too.”

“Yeah…”

“If you run into a jerk, your college life can be ruined in an instant.”

Eun-soo seemed genuinely worried as she lectured Ha-min. Ha-min listened quietly and attentively.

“Hey, what unnecessary things are you saying? Handsome guys like Ha-min are fine,” the council president suddenly interjected, waving his hand.

“If you’re handsome, everything works out.”

Eun-soo furrowed her brow seriously at the president’s firm words, then nodded.

“…That’s true. I totally agree.”

“Of course. Only the handsome ones survive even if their lives get messed up.”

The president made a ‘game set’ gesture with both hands and spoke seriously, and Eun-soo nodded with an equally serious face. Ha-min awkwardly smiled at their antics and touched his nape.

“Anyway, our handsome freshman. I’m counting on you for the festival, okay?”

“…Pardon?”

“Just be the face of our department’s pub. If only the Lee Tae-rim and Lee Tae-in brothers from the Business department don’t show up, we can dominate this area.”

The president spoke seriously, his arm still around Ha-min’s shoulder as if they were close.

**

Handsome. Such words were not at all familiar to him.

Even now, when he looked in the mirror, he didn’t think that. Maybe it was because he had spent more than half his life being overweight, or because he had been bullied throughout his three years of high school, but such presumptuous thoughts didn’t cross his mind. So when people around him jokingly said such things, he didn’t know how to respond. The person in the mirror still looked ugly to him. There was a smelly, ugly pig there.

Ha-min stood blankly in front of the bathroom mirror. Perhaps because the weather was getting hotter, sweat beaded on his forehead, and he washed his face with cold water. Just then, his phone vibrated. It was Tae-in.

“Oh, Tae-in.”

“I heard you’re doing a pub for the festival?”

Tae-in’s voice came through along with noisy instrument sounds. Ha-min answered while pulling out a paper towel to dry his hands.

“Yeah. I just agreed to help out.”

“The others say you’re the main attraction?”

“…They’re just joking.”

“Oh, and you’re coming to see my performance at the festival, right?”

“Yeah. Send me the date and time on KakaoTalk.”

“It’s my own composition, no less.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

“If the response is good this time, hyung said he’d set up a studio for me.”

“…Is hyung coming to watch too?”

“Probably? He needs to see the response to decide whether to set up my studio, right?”

Suddenly, Ha-min remembered the night air when he had faced Tae-rim. His low voice asking, “What if we break up?” kept echoing in his ears. It must be a serious case.

Ha-min tried to speak casually.

“I think he’d make it for you even if the response isn’t great…”

“What are you talking about? Our hyung is a total results-oriented person. A perfectionist who doesn’t care about the process.”

That was news to Ha-min. Intrigued by this interesting topic, Ha-min threw the paper towel in the trash and pressed the phone closer to his ear. He was about to leave the bathroom when it happened.

Thud.

“Ugh.”

Ha-min let out a short groan and his steps faltered at the aggressive attitude of someone intentionally bumping his shoulder.

“Ah, shit…”

And the curse came from the mouth of the guy entering the bathroom. There were two of them, and one of them had bumped Ha-min’s shoulder. Ha-min lowered his head with a flustered expression.

“S-sorry.”

In response to Ha-min’s immediate apology, whether the collision was intentional or not, the guy patted his own shoulder with an unpleasant look. He seemed to be from their department.

“How annoying…”

His cautious tone was harsh. He acted extremely displeased, as if he had touched something dirty. Ha-min looked at him, confused and bewildered.

“Hey, it’s fine.”

The guy’s companion stopped him as he was about to say something more. Reluctantly, he glared at Ha-min one more time before entering the bathroom.

One of the companions glanced at Ha-min and whispered.

“But is it true?”

“…Apparently. Cha Jun-seong said…”

“Fucking disgusting. What the same… kind…”

Fragments of their conversation could be heard from inside. It was easy to predict that the exchange was not pleasant.

“Song Ha-min?”

Tae-in’s voice came through, calling for Ha-min who had momentarily lost track of the conversation. Ah… He had a bad feeling. A all too familiar feeling.

“…Yeah. I just bumped into someone…”

Ha-min clenched his fist tightly, trying to ignore his slightly trembling fingertips. He spoke as nonchalantly as possible.

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt?”

“Yeah. It’s nothing.”

“Okay. That’s good then. Anyway, come later, okay?”

After Ha-min said he was fine, Tae-in created a brief silence before continuing. His quietly uttered words made Ha-min’s heart feel heavy for no reason. It felt like consideration, as if he was pretending not to know. It had been like this all along. Since they met again, Tae-in hadn’t pried into Ha-min’s affairs. Even though he must be curious…

“I’ll definitely come to see your performance.”

“Okay. There’s an after-party too, so let’s have a drink together.”

Ha-min responded with a simple “Okay” and hung up. Even though he felt like he should say something, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He felt sorry for Tae-in, but he still needed more time.