A Blissful Day

Ignoring one or two rude people, Byeol enjoyed his new teachers and classmates. Though he did find it hard to keep up… going over the fact he kept getting distracted and not paying much attention, the subjects were indeed harder, and the school's method was strange to him.

Nevertheless, his first school day in Seoul went smoothly. But, unbeknown to Byeol, it was only starting.

"Yoon Byeol!"

A high-pitched voice grabbed everyone in that classroom's attention. Byeol searched for the source of it and stopped with curious eyes at a girl and a boy standing at the door.

He soon recognized his friends and after packing his bag, he walked toward Eunchae and Hyunsik.

Eunchae wrapped her arms around Byeol's shoulders and announced, "We are hanging out today and I do not want to hear no as an answer," she guided them out as she spoke, "first stop, noraebang!"

A bell over the door rang as soon as Eunchae pushed the door, announcing their arrival at the noraebang.

"Oh look who it is!" a middle-aged woman exclaimed and walked towards them, "are you here to sing your hearts out, or…" she looked behind Park Eunchae, directly at Hyunsik.

Byeol found the woman's expression strange and looked at Hyunsik who shook his head slightly. The lady seemed to get the message and started getting their room ready.

"Ma'am, this is our childhood friend, Yoon Byeol," Eunchae grabbed Byeol's arm, bringing him to view, "we are going to spend a lot of time here, please take good care of him as well!"

Byeol shyly bowed to the owner and exchanged greetings with her.

Soon, they were inside a dimly lit room with a little vintage chandelier hanging from the roof, colorful lights shining on all four walls.

They sat down side by side on the spacious sofa.

"You guys come here often, huh?" Byeol asked.

Eunchae grabbed a device to browse the song list and responded, "Mhm, I come here sometimes after school and on the weekends. Well, last year more frequently. By the way, you're always speaking informally with us. When are you going to respect our seniority, Yoon Byeol…" she joked.

Byeol had always treated them as the same age, even when they were kids, he could tell Eunchae didn't mean that. Before he could joke back, Hyunsik stepped in, "I like when Byeol speaks informally to me. You can treat Eunchae as an elder though, right, noona?" he chuckled, eyeing Eunchae.

"Yeah, sure… if we have to treat someone as an elder, it should be you, Hwang Hyunsik. Byeol you have to talk to this guy, no matter how many times I say, he won't listen to me. He keeps hanging out with some people who are clearly delinquents, or want to be anyway," she sighed.

Byeol looked at Hyunsik, with a mix of curiosity and concern. When the boys' eyes met, Hyunsik looked away, scratching his head.

"It's not like that… I do listen, okay?" he looked between Eunchae and Byeol before continuing, "if they are delinquents that would make me one, right? And I'm not!"

Eunchae rolled her eyes at him. She knew he was going in that direction and would end up one of them if he didn't watch where he was going.

Byeol sensed the tension rising in the room and decided to step in, "Well, you know, it's okay, we all lose our ways sometimes. Back at home, you guys remember Sungho, right? That old guy who lived close by the school? I hung out with him and his friends for a while and they offered me alcohol and cigarettes sometimes… I was curious and went along with it, but I don't do that anymore."

Perhaps it was because he wanted to seem fine to his friends, Byeol lied. He received three packs of cigarettes from Sungho as a parting gift and there were only five units left.

At least for now, even if Sungho had given him the contact of a person who could buy those things for him in Seoul, it wasn't easy to get away with drinking and smoking underage as it was back in Daegu.

Besides, when the topic of doing bad things was brought up, some memories started to unlock inside his mind, memories from that time when Sungho and his crew got into trouble and Byeol, innocently, was brought along. He wasn't ready to talk about those things just yet, not to mention he would feel guilty for painting a bad picture for the trio's childhood acquaintances.

Nevertheless, that was not something that defined or lessened the fact that Byeol did have a pleasant teenagehood.

Those types of issues were something to consider and think about more seriously later on, not when he was finally back with his friends. And in his view, if he were to be with Eunchae and Hyunsik, there was a bright future ahead.

A wave of worry and sympathy washed over Hyunsik as he heard Byeol's sudden confession.

One day, Park Eunchae accidentally saw Hyunsik smoking with those "delinquents" nearby that noraebang, but she didn't talk about it with him. For some reason, she felt pressured to be a good example to her friends. If the important people in her life discovered that she also took part in those illegal things, Eunchae would be devastated, so she didn't try to touch on the subject.

After Hyunsik gave them a smile that almost said "We will be okay", they came to a silent agreement to continue their outing. There would be many opportunities for them to talk about it anyways.

"I'll start then!" Eunchae stood up, leaving the two on the sofa, and put on a song.

In that hour they were inside, Byeol heard many songs. Some he thought only his grandmother knew, shocked by the old soul that resided inside his friends' bodies and others that made him inwardly sing.

When it came to singing, Byeol was a little shy. Nevertheless, he succumbed to Eunchae's invites and ended up singing along, mostly when the three sang together.

Feeling comfortable around his two friends wasn't new to Byeol, but he was surprised at how he could let loose with them, especially now that they were somewhat older and self-aware.

After leaving the noraebang, they headed to a café nearby, ready to grab something to drink and freshen up their vocal cords.

Eunchae offered to buy the drinks and made a mental note of their orders; Hyunsik wanted a cold latte with soy milk and Byeol, a sparkling water. A colorful new drink on the menu grabbed Eunchae's attention, and she was extremely excited to have it.

The two boys sat down in a booth next to the tall windows. The sunset gently lighted the café with its orange rays.

While Byeol admired the view outside, Hyunsik observed him with a spark in his eyes. Then, he looked at the sky.

Hyunsik couldn't remember the last time he noticed or thought "The day is beautiful." But at that moment, those words came to his mind, relaxing him.

That moment of peace was cut short when Hyunsik noticed his telephone vibrate inside his bag. The light inside his eyes completely vanished, but he tried to play it cool, "Hey, I'm going to the bathroom."

"Oh, alright," Byeol responded absent-mindedly, still in a trance by the colors of the sky.

Then, he glanced at Hyunsik disappearing into the bathroom and realized he should see how he looked after the wild session they had at that noraebang.

Byeol walked towards Eunchae who was still waiting for her turn to order, "Hey, I'm going to the bathroom with Hyunsik, we will be right back."

When Byeol was just by the bathroom door, he heard something that made him halt. Hyunsik spoke to someone, but his tone of voice was monotone and cold, nothing like the way he speaks around him. Taken over by curiosity, he tried to listen without making himself noticeable.

"It's the first day of school, can't you just let me have a little fun? I can go back to being the son you want me to be tomorrow. Please."

There was a pause. Byeol heard his friend's sigh loud and clear before answering the person on the other side of the line.

"Please don't compare me to my brother."

"Brother?" Byeol inaudibly gasped. As far as he knew, Hyunsik was an only child, how could he have a brother?

At that moment, Byeol felt an uncomfortable feeling of betrayal, but he quickly brushed it off. It was probably something Hyunsik's own family didn't want to speak about.

Hyunsik spoke between pauses. "I'm not with them… At a café, with Yoon Byeol and Park Eunchae. I'm not lying, you can ask the guy you use to keep track of me... I understand, I'll go back soon, send the driver in about an hour, please. Haa… ok, half an hour. Thank you."

When Byeol heard Hyunsik rustling out of the bathroom, he tried to move, but Hyunsik was faster.

And there they were, staring at one another, both pairs of eyes bulging from shock.

"Shit, say something, say something, say something," the shorter boy screamed inwardly at himself.

Hyunsik relaxed a little and his body moved despite himself, "Please pretend you didn't hear that."

When Byeol came to his senses, he was against a wall, being embraced, just like that morning. The only difference being the feeling of wetness in his left shoulder, where Hyunsik's face rested. He wrapped his arms around his friend.

From a few feet away at the booth, Park Eunchae watched them. Sipping her drink, she wondered if the two boys were that shameless to flirt outside a bathroom.

"This is making me want to see Somin right now," she thought.