Formless Chapter 10

Seo Gangwoo didn’t seem to believe him, but he appeared to somewhat accept it after Heewoon explained that he had been unusually sleepy and had slept until dawn today.

“Looking at how swollen you are, it seems to be true.”

“It’s true.”

When Gangwoo reached out and touched his eyelid, Heewoon’s eyes closed. Gangwoo fiddled with the eyelid that felt plump, then studied Heewoon’s face. His already youthful-looking face appeared even younger.

“I was about to get mad, thinking you were avoiding me again, sunbae.”

The rough voice softened.

“N-no.”

As Heewoon shook his head, his hair brushed against Gangwoo’s fingertips. When he ruffled his hair, the scent of shampoo spread. It was a cheap scent, but it felt quite nice.

“Did you eat breakfast?”

“I woke up earlier and had ramen.”

“You eat that crap at home too?”

Looking at Gangwoo who was frowning, Heewoon suddenly remembered what he had said earlier. With a glimmer of hope, he picked up his phone and opened KakaoTalk. Seeing Heewoon suddenly look at his phone while they were talking, Gangwoo frowned.

“What are you doing now, sunbae?”

“Uh, huh? I thought it was a dream…”

Heewoon’s eyes widened. Gangwoo, who glanced at the phone, smoothed his brow.

“How did you get my number?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

Gangwoo asked back casually to the surprised Heewoon. And he let out a soft laugh.

“Sunbae, you really slept like a log.”

Heewoon looked at Gangwoo, who was stroking his hair, in confusion. Gangwoo, whose eyes met his, raised his eyebrows and hummed a “hm?” in his throat.

“Ah. Do you want my number?”

“……Yes.”

Heewoon’s lips moved for a moment before he answered. Seo Gangwoo, with a smile on his face, took out his phone. Heewoon’s phone vibrated immediately.

“Did the call go through?”

“Yes.”

Seo Gangwoo’s phone screen came into view.

[Heewoon-ie]

Gangwoo, noticing Heewoon’s gaze, laughed and said, “Ah, this?”

“Should I add a heart?”

His eyes twinkled.

“…No.”

Heewoon answered quietly and saved Gangwoo’s phone number. He didn’t want to save it, but with Gangwoo right next to him, he had no choice.

🧸

“Right now, form groups of 3 to 4 and come to the front. The first group to come will get priority in choosing their presentation order.”

At the professor’s words, the students in the classroom moved about busily. They called out to classmates sitting far away or spoke to someone sitting nearby. A line quickly formed in front of the professor, as if many had already formed their groups.

Heewoon blinked, watching them.

After taking a leave of absence for military service, he had attended one semester and then took another two years off. Many of his classmates had already graduated, and Heewoon wasn’t very sociable to begin with.

Heewoon glanced to his side. Seo Gangwoo was resting his chin on his hand, looking indifferent. Sensing the gaze, he turned his head and smiled faintly.

“I really hate group projects.”

Don’t you too, sunbae? Gangwoo asked for his agreement with a friendly smile. Heewoon nodded.

Last semester, he had done a group project with a classmate he wasn’t very close to, and in the end, Heewoon had to do everything.

He detested group projects, but due to the nature of the business administration department, there were a great many presentations and group assignments. Still, it was a relief that this semester, one major course had a report assignment, and another had an individual presentation.

“Hmm…. Who should I work with.”

Gangwoo, with his chin still in his hand, scanned the classroom. Heewoon would always get anxious when it was time to form groups, feeling like he was waiting to be chosen, but Seo Gangwoo looked very relaxed.

However, it seemed Seo Gangwoo had decided to do the project with him. Heewoon couldn’t say a word about it and just fiddled with the hem of his t-shirt. He kept imagining Seo Gangwoo kicking him in the stomach right here.

“Oh, Heewoon.”

Someone called Heewoon warmly from behind. Heewoon turned around, his face subtly stiffening. Lee Hyukjin. He was the very same classmate who had been a freeloader last semester.

“You haven’t formed a group yet, right? Let’s do it together. There are three of us, so it’s perfect.”

Ah, damn, it’s already late. Are we going to end up presenting during exam week?

Without even waiting for an answer, Hyukjin counted the number of people standing in front of the professor. Gangwoo looked at Heewoon’s face for a moment and then asked softly.

“Heewoon sunbae. Do you have anyone in mind for group members?”

At Gangwoo’s words, Hyukjin frowned slightly, then scratched his head and said.

“What. Is there anyone else who’d do it with you, Woo Heewoon?”

When Hyukjin slapped his back, Heewoon swayed like a paper doll. Gangwoo’s gaze fell on Heewoon’s slightly disheveled hair.

“Ah…”

As Heewoon fidgeted, Gangwoo added another word.

“Those two people I mentioned. They’re good at making PowerPoints and good at presenting.”

He had never said such a thing. Heewoon stared blankly at Gangwoo. Thump. Hyukjin hit his back again from behind.

“Ah, hurry up and decide. If you guys don’t, I have to join some other kids. Why is this kid so slow.”

“…I don’t mind who I work with.”

“Really? Then I’ll go talk to them about the three of us? I’ll try to get the best possible date.”

Hyukjin patted Heewoon’s shoulder a couple of times and went to the front of the classroom. Seo Gangwoo and Lee Hyukjin. Watching Hyukjin’s retreating back, Heewoon thought, I’ll be doing this group project alone again this time.

“…Why?”

Heewoon, noticing Gangwoo staring at him, asked cautiously. Gangwoo, after holding his gaze a moment longer, shook his head and let out a small laugh.

“Ah, we’re fucked. Our presentation is in two weeks. The week right before exams.”

Hyukjin, who had returned, said, putting a hand to his forehead as if it were a disaster. His expression was so realistic that Heewoon thought that perhaps Hyukjin would try to work hard this time. But it didn’t take long for him to realize that this thought was wrong.

🧸

To decide on the presentation topic and content, they had to meet a few times. Lee Hyukjin only attended the meeting on the day the group was formed. And from the time they tried to set the date for the next meeting, he kept making excuses. He couldn’t on Monday because of his part-time job, he had an important appointment the next day, that day was his day off….

I should have known when he said he would take care of the presentation. If I leave the presentation to him like this, it’s obvious he won’t know the content and will stutter.

Lately, Heewoon’s stress had reached its peak. The mere existence of Seo Gangwoo was a huge source of stress, but it was compounded by the exam period and the group project. On top of that, he had no money, and he had to help his tutoring students prepare for their midterms.

[I’m so sorry. I forgot I had an appointment that day. Can you guys just do it and let me know?]

Looking at the KakaoTalk message from Hyukjin, Heewoon let out a sigh.

“Why aren’t you eating.”

“…I’m eating.”

Heewoon put down his phone and picked up his chopsticks. This was already his third lunch with Seo Gangwoo. Even on his days off, Seo Gangwoo would come to school without fail to have lunch with him.

And now, he was even having dinner with him at Seo Gangwoo’s house.

At least tomorrow is Saturday, so I won’t have to have lunch with him. He felt pathetic for taking comfort in something so small.

“Fucking picking at your food.”

Startled by Gangwoo’s dissatisfied mumble, Heewoon took a large spoonful of rice. He quickly finished his meal while watching his expression. I’m going to get indigestion again today. Heewoon thought.

“Sunbae. Do you know what?”

As the meal was ending, Seo Gangwoo opened his mouth. His subtle tone was somehow unsettling, so Heewoon hesitated before asking.

“…What?”

“It’s been a whole week since we fucked.”

Looking at the handsome face smiling seductively, Heewoon managed to swallow what was in his mouth. Since there had been no attempts to have sex during that time, he had thought that day’s incident was just a result of curiosity. Perhaps it was what he had hoped for.

“I see.”

Heewoon drank his water and lowered his eyes. A quick glance at his wristwatch showed that it was 6 o’clock.

“Is your hole all healed?”

“…I don’t know.”

“Should I take a look for you?”

“Huh?”

Gangwoo looked at Heewoon and smiled lightly.

“Don’t play coy. I’m not a big fan of that.”

“Okay.”

“You’re done eating, right? Let’s go up.”

As Seo Gangwoo stood up first, Heewoon’s face turned pale. The horrific memories of that night came flooding back. It had been as fierce and frightening as being in close contact with death.

His legs trembled as he climbed the stairs.

“I’d like to give you a tour of the room, but we don’t have much time. You have to go to your tutoring session, sunbae.”

Gangwoo said affectionately and pulled Heewoon’s arm. Heewoon, who was pulled into Gangwoo’s embrace after taking a bold step into the bedroom, opened his eyes wide.

“…Hey.”

“It’s Gangwoo.”

“Ah, Gangwoo.”

When he called him by the corrected name, Seo Gangwoo asked softly, “Yes?”

“Can’t we do it after I shower? I was sweating a lot earlier…”

“Sweat? I’m fine with it.”

Pulling Heewoon’s waist in a little closer, Gangwoo buried his face in the nape of his neck and inhaled. Do you smell a little like sweat? he muttered quietly. The bridge of his nose touching the area below his ear was chilling.

“I think I need to shower.”

Heewoon mustered up his courage and spat out the words. Gangwoo, who had been leaning over, straightened up and looked down at his tense face, then let out a small laugh. And he answered brightly.

“Okay. You can wash up over there. I’ll go wash up on the first floor.”

“Okay.”

Heewoon entered the bathroom in the room as directed by Gangwoo’s gesture. After closing the door, a sigh of relief escaped him. He had averted the crisis for now. Heewoon looked at his wristwatch again. 6:03. It seemed Seo Gangwoo was planning to let him go by 8.

Let’s try to shower for as long as possible.

He slowly took off his clothes and brushed his teeth twice. Then he shampooed twice and washed his body twice. He figured quite a bit of time must have passed, as he had spent more time examining the things that were all written in English.

He stepped out of the shower booth, roughly dried himself off, and picked up his wristwatch from the completely dry sink. 6:35. Something seemed wrong. He thought at least an hour must have passed.

Heewoon hung the towel on the towel rack and went back into the shower booth to wash his body again. But if he was too late, he didn’t know how Seo Gangwoo would react, so he thought it would be best to come out around 7. Heewoon stared at the watch, which showed five minutes to 7, and bit his lip.