His former classmates were seated at a long table in the middle of the dining room and when they saw him walk in, a cheer went up.

“Hey Sunho is finally here! We weren’t sure if you were gonna make it”, a tall man said as he got up and went over to Andy.

“Of course, Choongjae. I just got done with work and had to change before heading over here”, Andy said with a laugh at the puppy dog expression on the other man’s face. They were separated in age by something like six months, but he always looked up to the slightly older man when they were in school.

“Come sit by me, I saved you a seat”, Choongjae said and led Andy over to the table. He was pressed into his chair and a glass of beer pushed in front of him. He picked it up and took a drink.

“So is everyone else here?”, Andy said as he looked around the table, there were a few empty chairs, one of them directly across from him.

“Just waiting on Pilkyo”, another man said. This man wasn’t a classmate, at least not from their class. He was a few years older but close enough to the people gathered they were happy he showed up.

Andy’s forehead wrinkled and he took another drink of his beer, wiping a bit of foam off his upper lip,”Pilkyo? I don’t remember that name.”

The same man spoke again, his name was Dongwan but everyone had called him Wannie back in school,”He was that tall quiet boy from your class. He didn’t really talk to anyone and kept to himself.”

Andy struggled for a moment to recall but he shrugged,”I’m sure I’ll remember him when he gets here. I at names.”

“Well, he might be a little late. He emailed me this afternoon and said he had to tie up some loose ends at work. He started a new job recently and is still getting the hang of things”, Choongjae said and poured Andy a shot of soju and dropped it into his beer glass.

“One shot! One shot”, Choongjae chanted and the rest of the table picked it up.

“ONE SHOT! ONE SHOT! ONE SHOT!”

Andy gripped the glassed and brought it to his lips and tipped it. He swallowed fast and soon the glass was empty, the shot glass at the bottle, also empty. He had dribbled a little of the beer down the front of his shirt and Wannie tossed him a napkin to clean up with.

Someone else at the table pushed a shot in Andy’s direction but it was intercepted by Choongjae,”Not so fast…. you know what your alcohol tolerance is like”, he tossed the shot back and slammed the glass down. “Let’s eat first and then you can drink after that.” He waved a waitress over and began to order enough food to feed a small army.

As the others inside began the process of grilling meat and veggies on the tabletop grill, outside a man stood peeking in the window. He was still dressed in his clothes from work, a pair of fire engine red pants, a black shirt tucked into them and white canvas loafers. He bit his lip nervously as he watched one of the people gathered at the long table. He almost didn’t come tonight. He hadn’t found a way to tell Andy who he was and this would let him know for sure. He let out a shaky breath and opened the door. A bell alerted his presence and the first face to turn and look at him was Andy.

The shorter man’s eyes went wide for a second then his face relaxed in a smile. Hyesung returned Andy’s smile with a nervous one and stepped forward before the door hit him.

“Pilkyo!”,Choongjae called out and Hyesung raised his hand weakly in greeting. Andy tilted his head, looking around to see if the forgotten classmate had showed up at the same time as his coworker but there was no one else but Hyesung in the entryway. His brow furrowed for a moment but he didn’t have time to think anymore because one of the other people at the table went and collected the anxious man and brought him over to the table and sat him directly across from Andy.

“Thought you weren’t coming, Pilkyo”, Dongwan said and ruffled Hyesung’s hair as he poured him a glass of beer. Hyesung grabbed the glass and drained half of it in one swallow as he tried to read the expression on Andy’s face.

“I told you, I don’t go by that anymore. I changed my name to Shin Hyesung”, Hyesung said huskily and smiled wanly.

“Doesn’t matter what you change your name to, you will always be Pilkyo to us”, Choongjae said with a laugh. “So get this, this guy doesn’t remember you”, he said as he pointed at Andy. Hyesung took another drink of his beer, looking at Andy over the rim of his glass.

“I didn’t stand out much back then”, Hyesung said, trying to keep his voice steady as he waited for a reaction of some kind….. any kind from Andy.

“Did we have any classes together?”, Andy with an air of feigned disinterest. He was stunned that Hyesung was here. He was stunned that he didn’t remember the man from school….. in general he was just stunned and eager for answers.

“Almost all of them”, Hyesung replied quietly as he gripped his beer tightly, the condensation cold and wet against his fingers. “We were in the same major after all.”

Andy racked his brain, trying to place this man in his past but he couldn’t do it. “I was really busy in school, maybe I just missed you.” He froze for a moment as something dawned on him.

“Did you know it was me when you started working with me?”, Andy questioned.

Hyesung nodded.

“I did. I didn’t expect you to remember me. I was pretty much a wallflower back then”, he chuckled softly and took a nervous sip. “But it’s great to run into you here.”

The atmosphere was awkward and Wannie, reading it, quickly changed the topic. Andy and Hyesung both sighed inwardly and tried to relax as Wannie started to tell everyone what he had been up to the last ten years. Choongjae went next and soon the table was engaged in conversation and the tense moment was almost forgotten.

Hyesung was the one to sneak out this time and he huddled in the doorway of the storefront next to the restaurant and smoke nervously.

“Way to go, Pilkyo”, he chastised himself in a mumble and let his head loll back against the glass door behind me. “That couldn’t have been more awkward then if you had showed up in nothing but your underwear.” He dropped to a squat and hid his face in his knees, his lit cigarette dropped to the ground, forgotten as he wallowed in embarrassment. He had turned his thoughts inward and was too self-involved so he didn’t hear someone walk over and say his name. Only when someone touched his shoulder did he look up and groan at the sight of Andy standing before him. He hitched himself back to his feet and moved to step out of the doorway but he was stopped by Andy.

“Why didn’t you just tell me we went to school together? That was so awkward”, Andy said with a grimace and fumbled in his pocket for his cigarettes and lighter.

“How was I supposed to know you didn’t remember me?”, Hyesung shot back, his voice shaky.

Andy pursed his lips as he lit his cigarette and took a drag,”Why didn’t you tell me that remembered me?”

Hyesung felt a twinge of pain somewhere in the region of his heart as he stalled by lighting another cigarette before he answered.

“I wanted to. I really did but since we started off on the wrong foot I didn’t know what to do and then once we talked and everything was okay, I didn’t think it mattered anymore”, Hyesung’s words tumbled out and he swayed slightly as the many drinks that had been pressed on him kicked in all at once. His face was flushed, partly because of the drinks and mostly because of Andy’s closeness and the fact that he was this close to telling Andy how he felt about him.

Andy saw him sway and he put an arm out to keep his on his feet and stepped so that they were as close to shoulder to shoulder as they could manage with their height difference.

“Hey, it’s okay. Don’t get all stressed out. I just feel like an because we were in the same class and major and I don’t remember you from back then.” Andy patted Hyesung’s shoulder then pulled his arm back. Hyesung was still a little unsteady on his feet but the flush has receded from his cheeks. He dropped to sit on the low ledge that led into the doorway and leaned his head against the frame, taking short breaths to calm down.

Andy let him sit there and watched people pass on the street. A couple passed by and Andy stared at them for longer than necessary.

It was his boss, Minwoo and a tall, handsome man that Andy had seen at the office from time to time. They held hands and it looked like they were deep in conversation, otherwise Andy would have said hello. Minwoo must have felt Andy’s eyes boring holes into the back of head, because he turned suddenly and when he saw his two subordinates he raised one hand in a wave and gave him a crooked smile. His companion turned and smiled too and then they continued down the sidewalk.

Hyesung had calmed down completely by this point and stood up to light another cigarette when he was interrupted by Choongjae, who had come out looking for them.

“Hey guys, we’re about to start the drinking games!”, he said with laugh and slipped an arm around Hyesung’s and Andy’s shoulders and dragged them back inside the restaurant, even though Andy protested, saying he couldn’t hold his liquor. Choongjae ignored him and soon they were back at the table. Each person was given a glass of beer with a shot of soju dropped into it and then the games started.

The first game was ‘Nunchi” and Wannie was the first to go.

“One!”

“Two!”

“Three!”

The next number was said by two people, Andy and Hyesung and they groaned as they each lifted their glass and drank it in one shot. Choongjae poured each of them another drink and the game started again.

“One!”

“Two!”

“Three!”

“Four!”

This round they made it as far as ten before two people said the number. This time it was Andy and one of the girls that sat a ways down the table. She giggled and drank, some of it spilling down the front of her shirt. Andy downed his neatly and grimaced as he was once again given a fresh drink.

“How are you handling it, Sunho?”, Wannie asked him when he saw the grimace.

“Fine, hyung, just fine”, Andy slurred slightly as he ran a hand through his hair and scratched his scalp. He had started to get overly warm and shrugged off the cardigan he wore.

The game continued and this time they made it all the way to thirty before Andy and Hyesung once again stepped on each other’s timing and they clinked glass before they chugged the drink and slammed the empty glasses on the table.

“Let’s play something else”, Choongjae said as he went down the table and paired everyone off with the person directly across from them. Next he filled a glass with beer and set that, along with an empty shot glass in the middle of each pair.

“Titanic!”, Choongjae shouted and quickly explained the rules to everyone before he went back to his seat. The game began and soon everyone was cheering and groaning, depending on the outcome of their careful pours.

Andy leaned forward, the tip of his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth, as he concentrated on pouring carefully into the shot glass that floated in the glass of beer. So far he and Hyesung had gone back and forth a few times, each successful in not sinking the shot. Andy leaned back, relieved when the shot didn’t sink. Hyesung, his movements jerky and slowly, leaned forward and poured. He let out a cry as the shot glass sank to the bottom. He grabbed the glass with both hands and brought it up to his lips and drank it fast as he could, not stopping until he felt the shot glass bump against his lips. He set it down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Man, I haven’t played this in forever”, Hyesung said with a slur as he watched Andy refill the beer and set the shot glass to float in it. “I think the last time was after graduation at the party our class had.”

“I didn’t go to that”, Andy said as he started pouring into the shot glass again,”I didn’t go. I went to spend time with my family right after the graduation ceremony.” His pour was successful and he passed the bottle of soju to Hyesung so he could take his turn,”but I have played since the.”

Hyesung took the bottle and added his pour to the shot glass and didn’t sink this time. He handed Andy the bottle back,”You missed a great party. The girls made the guys play Baskin Robbins 31 and they all ended up wasted and passed out.”

Andy chuckled,”Yeah, I’m probably glad I missed out on that”, he poured and watched the shot glass sink to rest in the bottom of the beer. He shrugged and drank it all down in one shot. Around them the others were finished already, bored with the game.

“Fool’s Game!”, one of the girls shouted and immediately said the word four while holding up 2 fingers. The next person said two and held up four fingers. The game went around the table and when it came to Hyesung’s turn, he called out four, which was correct but also held up four fingers.

“Drink it! Drink it! Drink it!”, everyone chanted as they banged their fists on the table. A filled shot glass was placed in front of him and he drank it. His eyes were starting to droop and his face was once again red.

The person beside him started the game again and soon it was Andy’s turn. He said five and threw up one finger. Wannie said one and threw up two fingers after him and so the game continued until it was Hyesung’s turn again.

“Four?”, he slurred and held his hand in front of his face as he tried to count to five.

“You lose…. taking to long”, Choongjae called out cheerfully and once again Hyesung was given a shot of soju. He stared at it with confusion and was about to grab it when Andy called something out.

“Black Knight steps forward”, Andy said and took the shot. He tipped it back then stood. “I’ll take responsibility for Hyesung. With that being said, I’ll take him home.”

Everyone boo’ed good naturedly as some of the guys pulled Hyesung out of his chair and helped Andy get him outside. They called a cab for them and waited until it arrived and got Hyesung poured in with Andy at his side.

“My place is closer so I guess we will go there”, Andy muttered to himself after giving the driver his number. Beside him, Hyesung had passed out and leaned against Andy’s shoulder. The cab got them to Andy’s place shortly and Andy managed to get Hyesung to wake up so that he could get him inside the apartment. Hyesung went straight to the couch and dropped to it, falling asleep instantly.

Andy wrinkled his nose and went to the kitchen to grab a large bowl and placed it on the floor next to the couch. He went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth and took a couple of tylenol to ward off a possible hangover in the morning. Before he went to bed he peeked out into the living room to check on Hyesung. The tall man was curled into a ball on the couch. Andy went out and covered him up with a blanket then headed to his own room and flopped on the bed. Exhaustion and alcohol took over and he fell into a deep, slightly drunken sleep.

But he wouldn’t sleep for long……..

(here's a couple of links to go with this chapter. One is Korean drinking games and the other is a definition.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Black%20Knight

https://www.10mag.com/10-korean-drinking-games-you-have-to-try/