Formless Chapter 45

Heewoon looked at the cake, which was full of Christmas cheer, then glanced at the calendar.

It was only a few days until the New Year. His hyung had said he would return within three years. He couldn’t be sure whether he would really return or not, as contact was scarce, but…

If he kept that promise, his hyung would return soon.

🧸

The New Year arrived.

Yesterday, he listened to the New Year’s Eve bell tolling on TV with his mother. Because his mother went to bed before the bell finished tolling, Heewoon had to turn the volume down a little.

He was already twenty-seven.

Would he be able to pay off all the debt within ten years? Would they wait for him? Had his hyung earned a lot of money? Still, paying off all the debt before thirty would be impossible.

He was vaguely thinking such thoughts while watching TV.

[Let’s have dinner tomorrow.]

When the message came from Seo Gangwoo, Heewoon suddenly realized something. He was thinking about the future, and it was less bleak than before.

“Heewoon. You need to flip that. It’s going to burn.”

“Ah!”

Heewoon, who had been standing blankly, hurriedly flipped the egg garnish. He was making tteokguk (rice cake soup) with his mother. His mother, who woke Heewoon up by patting his butt and telling him they should eat tteokguk, looked more energetic than yesterday. Like most people when a new year begins, his mother might also have made new resolutions.

The yellow egg garnish was completed, though not a beautiful color since it was slightly roasted brown. While Heewoon meticulously sliced the garnish, his mother served the tteokguk.

When his mother also added garnish made from egg whites and a little green onion, it looked quite presentable. Heewoon took a picture of the tteokguk. And he ate the tteokguk with his mother while watching a drama.

A lot of tteokguk pictures were uploaded on social media that day. Heewoon didn’t upload his, but he often stared intently at the photo he took.

[Happy New Year!]

A KakaoTalk message arrived, and it was Jihwan. Heewoon sent a reply and went to wash up. He was preparing for his dinner appointment with Seo Gangwoo after staying home all day.

When he came out after washing, a few more messages had arrived from Jihwan.

[See you at the academy tomorrow!]

What academy? He sent, and a reply came quickly.

[I registered for TOEIC too LOL Let’s study together]

He was replying when another message arrived.

[I’m in front of your house, so come out when you are ready.]

It was Seo Gangwoo. Heewoon’s eyes widened. He thought they were going to the hotel rooftop they had gone to before, so he thought he just needed to go there. Moreover, there was still more than 30 minutes left until the promised time.

Heewoon roughly dried his hair with the towel around his neck, quickly applied lotion, and then put on his clothes. Habitually, he took out and put on his padding jacket, packed his bag, and quickly rushed out.

As he exited the main gate, he immediately saw Gangwoo’s car.

He glanced at the clock on his phone and realized he had come out in less than five minutes after receiving the message. Heewoon relaxed and got into the car.

But Gangwoo was frowning.

“You didn’t even dry your hair.”

He fiddled with Heewoon’s hair. Heewoon put his phone on his thigh and roughly shook his hair dry. Gangwoo looked at him disapprovingly, then pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to him.

“Wipe it with this.”

Heewoon was hesitant to wipe his hair with the handkerchief, which was clearly expensive. When Heewoon hesitated, Gangwoo snatched the handkerchief away, as if seizing it, and firmly squeezed the moisture out of his hair.

Heewoon quietly let Gangwoo handle his hair.

“What is that?”

Heewoon looked around, not knowing what the low question referred to, and Gangwoo pointed to the phone on Heewoon’s thigh.

The photo was magnified and paused because he hadn’t closed the gallery application.

“Ah… I made tteokguk with my mother.”

Heewoon minimized the photo and showed it to Gangwoo. Gangwoo brought his head closer and examined the picture carefully.

“What did sunbae do here?”

“I did this.”

Heewoon pointed at the yellow egg garnish. It was actually brown, not yellow, but he said it anyway. The hand that had been wrapping and squeezing the moisture out with the handkerchief stopped. A moment later, Gangwoo moved his hand again and said,

“You made it very well.”

“Yes.”

Heewoon nodded.

“‘Yes,’ you say?”

Gangwoo asked back as if bewildered and looked at Heewoon’s face. He smiled at Heewoon’s expression, which did not know what the problem was. And he chuckled briefly with his forehead resting on Heewoon’s shoulder.

A few months ago, Heewoon used to tense up whenever he couldn’t understand Gangwoo, but he didn’t now. Right now, Seo Gangwoo was in a good mood anyway, and he didn’t dislike Heewoon talking about this and that. Heewoon had clearly realized this on the day he was drunk.

While they were driving to the hotel, Heewoon messaged Jihwan. His reply was unintentionally delayed because he had rushed out of the house earlier. After exchanging a few more messages, he ended the conversation by saying they would see each other tomorrow.

“Who is it?”

“Ah… a peer, and he’s also starting a TOEIC academy tomorrow. The same place as me.”

Gangwoo’s finger lightly tapped the steering wheel.

“Which peer?”

“Park Jihwan, the one who sat next to me at the general meeting after finals.”

“Aha….”

Gangwoo nodded as if he understood. And Gangwoo, who had been silent, turned his head when he stopped at a traffic light. His gaze rested on Heewoon a little heavily.

“Study hard.”

Although Heewoon couldn’t pinpoint what was strange about it, the tone was significant.

🧸

The TOEIC class proceeded very quickly. If he hadn’t finished one workbook before the class started, it would have been difficult to keep up.

“Damn it, what is that even saying.”

Jihwan muttered beside him. Heewoon glanced at Jihwan and quickly took notes. Jihwan would probably bombard him with questions during self-study time today too. Heewoon didn’t dislike that. It was more helpful because teaching Jihwan allowed him to review the material one more time.

It had been nearly two weeks since he started attending the academy. Heewoon thought it was a relief that Jihwan was working really hard, contrary to his expectation that Jihwan would quickly lose motivation. Studying together was more stimulating and better than studying alone.

“Alright, homework—. 60—63. 112—117. Be sure to memorize the vocabulary. Class dismissed for today.”

The lecture room quickly became noisy at the instructor’s words.

“Hey. Want to grab coffee before we go to the study session?”

Jihwan asked while putting books into his bag. Heewoon nodded. They stopped by the takeout cafe right next to the academy almost twice a day. Once when going to the morning class, and once in the afternoon.

Heewoon checked his phone as he walked down the hallway, past the crowded people. No messages had arrived.

The elevator was packed with people. Because the classroom was located deep inside the building, Heewoon always ended up standing at the very back of the multilayered crowd. It was the same today, so Heewoon and Jihwan could only get in after letting two elevators go.

“Ah, I’m dying. Want to grab a beer after class today?”

Jihwan whispered quietly while stretching his neck.

“No. I have a prior engagement.”

And I quit drinking. Heewoon added.

“I’ve never seen anyone who says they quit drinking actually quit.”

Heewoon just smiled slightly.

They went out of the academy and lined up in front of the cafe. Heewoon thought jokingly that waiting in line had become a daily routine since attending the academy.

Jihwan had bought coffee yesterday, so Heewoon paid today. Holding the warm drink in his hand, he re-entered the academy building. After waiting a little in the study room, the other group members also came in.

There were six members in the study group in total: three men and three women. At first, everyone only focused on studying and rarely engaged in private conversation, but after seeing each other every day for over two weeks, they had somehow become close and were busy joking around.

They had gone out to eat dinner together a few times, but Heewoon had never joined them yet.

“Mr. Heewoon, come join us for dinner today too.”

“Ah, I have a prior commitment today.”

The study group leader, who had a friendly impression, sighed regretfully.

“Then, we must all go out to eat after taking the TOEIC next week. We have to spend the accumulated penalty money, too.”

“Yes. Sounds good.”

It was fine because he could ask Seo Gangwoo if they told him in advance. And since Seo Gangwoo was still busy and they didn’t even meet often, it seemed there was no reason for him to object.

So, Heewoon asked Gangwoo while they were eating dinner that day.

“With the study group members?”

“Yes.”

He expected “Go ahead,” to come immediately, but Seo Gangwoo slowly sipped his wine. Heewoon looked at Gangwoo’s downcast eyes and asked cautiously,

“Is it a no, Gangwoo?”

Gangwoo gently put down the wine glass and looked at Heewoon. Heewoon had a slightly disappointed expression.

“If I say no, you won’t go, right?”

When Heewoon nodded as if it were obvious, Gangwoo smiled faintly.

“Then go.”

“I can go?”

“Yes.”

It was a clean answer, as if he had never been reluctant. Heewoon briefly looked at Gangwoo quizzically, then thought. Indeed, understanding Seo Gangwoo is impossible.

“How is the academy going?”

“It’s okay, so-so.”

“Is that all?”

Heewoon was flustered because Gangwoo spoke with dissatisfaction. Sometimes Seo Gangwoo seemed curious about every detail of Heewoon’s daily life. But if he really wanted to know, couldn’t he just check with the person he had assigned to follow him?

“…What do you want to know?”

“Anything I didn’t see.”

“Uh… Morning class is from 9 to 11:30, and afternoon class is from 1 to 3, and after that, there’s study group and self-study. The curriculum is well organized, so I think I can achieve my target score within this month.”

Gangwoo’s brow furrowed.

“Sunbae. Are you promoting that academy now?”

“Ah, no….”

“Talk about sunbae, not the academy.”

It was difficult. Moreover, Seo Gangwoo’s tone was slightly laced with annoyance, making it even harder to think of things. Heewoon fiddled with his wine glass and opened his mouth.

“In the morning… I buy coffee almost every day at the cafe next to the academy and go up. Even after drinking coffee, I have trouble waking up in the morning, so it’s a little hard. And….”

Heewoon subtly watched Gangwoo’s reaction. Gangwoo’s expression had softened a little, and he asked gently, “And?”

“And it’s chaotic because there are a lot of people who are late.”