“Wow, that’s a lot to process,” Jaehyun answers Sicheng who was filling him on last week’s events sans the drinking and partying.

“I feel like I’ve missed a month’s worth of affairs,” he muses as he gobbles the samgyeopsal wrap Sicheng fed him. God, I missed Korean food.

Sicheng shakes his head. “Not really, baby, it’s mainly just Jungwoo and his inability to get over his unremarkable boyfriend.”

The Chinese boy looked put together, any mark of drunkenness and tiredness were covered with make-up and a smile that never left his face.

Seulgi giggles at the insult, stopping halfway when she catches the weak glare Jungwoo throws her way. But the latter doesn’t retort, only stares at his plate to pick on his food.

Jungwoo didn’t want to be here at all, in this expensive restaurant fifth-wheeling his couple friends that fed each other food.

Aside from only getting 3 hours of sleep, he felt like his break up only tainted the loveliness of the atmosphere, not to mention, he felt envious of having someone to kiss and hold hands with. He missed Doyoung so much.

“How was the conference?” Joohyun asks, shifting the conversation to Jaehyun who just landed Seoul. “How was Shanghai?”

“It was great,” the other replies easily. “We’d sit through these interesting research lectures about the newest medicine breakthroughs and discoveries,” Jaehyun narrates, resting his face on his palm. “I think it’s a great way to learn, but it sure does the energy out of you.”

“That sounds fun,” Joohyun forces a laugh. They didn’t expect to hear any other answer knowing how much Jaehyun enjoys learning.

“You bet! I got to meet renowned doctors from all over the world, a few fellow students from other universities too, and talked to them about the latest invention on spine surgical operations,” Jaehyun trails off, clearing his throat. “I’m sorry, I must be boring you with all this medical stuff.”

Joohyun quickly shakes her head. “No, keep going, we’re also curious.”

“This is nothing compared to all those picnics we had where Jungwoo and Joohyun would randomly start a discourse over the theories of the press,” Seulgi contends.

“I mean we’re here to relax, not talk about uni,” Jaehyun grins. “And hey, I learned a lot from those debates.”

They laugh at the memory.

The group frequented the campus park for picnics, where they’d play cards or board games after a particularly stressful week of term exams.

“Shanghai was wonderful, too. I was happy I went two days ahead of everyone else because I had a lot of time to spend sightseeing. There was a tour in the itinerary but it only lasted for a day and we were booked for the rest of the week, stuck attending the conference in our hotel.”

“I’m so proud of you, baby,” Sicheng says, evidently glad for his boyfriend’s novel experiences. “I know how hard you worked to maintain your place in your professor’s research team.”

“Yeah, Jae,” Seulgi agrees. “Medical conferences are a big deal, man.”

Jaehyun smiles genuinely at his friends and thanks their words of congratulations.

Jungwoo bitterly observes as Jaehyun gingerly takes a hold of Sicheng’s face, thumbs caressing the other’s cheek. He leans in, going for a kiss when Jungwoo interrupts.

“What’s that?” The brunette asks, seeing a flash of color wrapped on Jaehyun’s wrist.

“I’m sorry, what?” Jaehyun faces him, brows knitted confusion. To his side, Sicheng is fuming because of his intruded moment.

“Sorry for interrupting, but the bracelet on your wrist,” Jungwoo points to the yellow silicone, “Where’d you get it?”

The med student waves his hand. “It’s no problem. Do you mean this baller band?” He holds his wrist in front of Jungwoo. “It’s cool, right? This was the merch for med students during last sem’s sportsfest.”

“You mean SU med students?”

Jaehyun smiles. “Yeah.”

As if on cue, another wrist flashes from Jungwoo’s vision. Then a tall silhouette... black hair... chapped plump lips... the same yellow baller band... a bag of soup in hand... soup? Soup!

The entire drunken night at Jisoo’s fills him to the brim. He couldn’t believe how he almost forgot something that just happened hours ago. Was I really that drunk?

He stands in shock while everyone at their table turns to him. “I remember everything!” he says, eyes laden with a mix of horror and embarrassment as he meets Sicheng’s own.

 

+++

 

“What was that all about?” Sicheng asks after closing the door to Jaehyun’s ride.

He had already kissed his boyfriend goodbye, making sure to thank him for treating their friends lunch and giving him a ride home.

Jungwoo who was pacing back forth in front of his dorm, mumbles. He curses himself for forgetting his exchange with a very dangerous stranger.

“I’m not superhuman, I don’t have supersonic hearing,” Sicheng snaps.

“The tall guy from earlier was wearing the same baller band as Jaehyun!” Jungwoo gasps when he realizes how much more real it sounded when said out loud.

“So?”

“What do you mean ‘so?’” Jungwoo scowls, underwhelmed by the response. “He threatened me, remember? Didn’t he say he was getting revenge?”

Sicheng rolls his eyes. “Don’t be dramatic, you’re not the performing arts student here, I am,” the Chinese jokes but fails to get a laugh from his companion.

“I’ve heard of that one before.”

“My point is you’re overreacting.”

Jungwoo ignores his input. “And now I find out that we’re from the same university and that he might or might not be an acquaintance of my best friend’s boyfriend,” he continues ranting.

“Great! Now, we can pay him back for the soup.”

“What if corners me in an alley and beats me up with his friends?” Jungwoo panics rushing towards his building, into his room.

Sicheng tails him without missing a step and replies, “Is that still a thing?”

“I’m not joking, Sicheng.”

“How sure are you that it’s the same baller band anyway?” Sicheng challenges. “How did you even see his wrist? You were literally drunk, you could’ve imagined—”

“I saw it when I was trying to get the soup from his grip, okay? I’m not making this up, I can remember it clearly.”

“You were literally brain-dead minutes ago, your head could just be patching up the wrong scenes. Our minds tend to do that all the time to make sense of things.”

“Are you a Psych major now?” Jungwoo spats with an eye roll.

Sicheng returns the eye roll, mildly annoyed but unsurprised at his friend's hissy fit. “Maybe it was not his, a friend had given it to him.”

“What if it really is his?”

“Then what are the chances of him beating you up?” The idea seems ridiculous to Sicheng. Would anyone really do that for soup?

“You don’t even know if you’ll cross with him inside SU. Their college building is isolated,” he sensibly reasons. “And if you really are correct about that guy being a med student, which I don't think you are, that’s reason enough to stop worrying about him. Med students are trained to care for and save lives.”

“Did it ever cross your mind that they’re also the best at knowing how to hurt people?”

“No one would do that over soup, Woo. The guy’s probably forgotten about it.”

Jungwoo grunts in frustration and settles for lying on his bed with his knees to his chest and arms tightly circled around his legs. He was on the verge of a panic attack.

If Doyoung was here, he would know the right words to say to calm him down. Or he would’ve found the guy and resolved it with him immediately.

He misses Doyoung.

He wished for him to appear and maybe give him a warm hug, one where he would envelop Jungwoo in after a long day’s work, or offer a kind smile like how he always did out of patience whenever Jungwoo did anything wrong, or maybe sing him a song that he liked till Jungwoo fell asleep, troubles buried deep because of his voice.

“Look, there's no reason to agonize over this. Let's just wait and see what happens,” Sicheng attempts to comfort, feeling sorry at the sight of Jungwoo’s hunched figure.

The theater student knew how bad he was at making people feel better about their problems, it was more of Joohyun’s forte, so he goes about it in the way he knows best and says, “And if push comes to shove, you know I'm here to back you up.”

Jungwoo gratefully smiles at his friend's attempt to soothe his worries. 

“Has Prince Charming called you yet?” he shifts the topic.

Jungwoo sits up at the question, allowing himself to let go of his trouble. “He hasn’t. You think I should go first?”

He had exchanged numbers with the handsome man from the club with the promise to call and hang out at a more peaceful place.

“It hasn’t even been a day.”

“What if he doesn’t even text?”

“Now you’re just being paranoid, give it ‘til the end of this week,” Sicheng suggests. “Anyway, I’m going home. Jae’s picking me up this afternoon.”

Jungwoo wordlessly walks him to the gate of his building.

“Now that Jae’s back I won’t be going on nights out with you.”

Jungwoo pouts.

“We’re also back with the regular study dates after dinner.” Sicheng hated studying, but if that involved playing footsies with his boyfriend while reading his boring notes on contemporary art, then he might as well tag along.

“Can’t you sleep over once you’re done studying?” Jungwoo shamelessly requests.

He disliked being alone. He knew he’d be throwing a pity party for himself the moment Sicheng left.

“Sorry, angel, but I have to spend this night with Jae,” Sicheng sighs. “We’re catching up on some y time,” he attempts to lift the mood.

“Okay, enjoy your night,” Jungwoo manages a smile.

“No, but seriously, Jae wants me around since he’s rarely sleepy when he has company. He’s pulling an all-nighter for an exam from his tutor.”

“Wish him luck for me.”

“I will.”

 

+++

 

“But why can’t I get your number, cutie?” A man who looked to be in his 50s asks as his hands inch higher on Jungwoo’s thigh.

He was leaning too close for the latter’s liking with the excuse of loud music.

Is this his idea of flirting?

Jungwoo looks around the club, expecting a familiar mop of caramel curls to appear in sight.

Unfortunately, ‘Prince Charming,’ as Sicheng would endearingly call Sehun, was not around.

“I’m really not interested,” Jungwoo responds politely to the old man, before standing up to exit the bar. He manages to walk in a straight line despite boozing two bottles of champagne by himself. Coming here alone was a mistake.

He had an inkling that things would not run as smoothly as they did when he was with Sicheng, but he still went despite the moments of self-doubt. He’d take anything over the silence in his room. He should probably find another place to stay if he was committing to ‘Operation Rebound.’

His reflection on the club’s glass walls catches his attention.

Unlike that last time, he didn’t look like he had fun. His sheer shirt looked untouched, clean, and his eyes were dark from the smudged eyeliner, like he’d been crying. In short, he looked like those women in movies who drank in clubs to cry their hearts out over their unworthy cheating husbands; miserable.

Jungwoo groans as he feels his eyes start to water. When does this ing end?

He hated having no control over his thinking, that no matter how hard he tried, he would always circle back to the same woes.

Why did Doyoung leave me? What did I do wrong? Was I not enough? Did he find someone better?

So many questions that no one could give an honest answer to.

Jungwoo’s phone pops. ‘hey u ok jae n i just finished studying we r goin back 2 his place,’ texts Sicheng.

He’s grateful for his friend’s attempt at small talk. He knows that his best friend was trying to ease some of the loneliness away. But he doesn’t answer, the last thing he wanted to do was bother Sicheng and his quality time with Jaehyun.

Jungwoo decides to stop by at Jisoo’s to get a taste of the long-overdue haejjangguk.

Luckily, he manages to arrive at the booth in one piece and immediately falls in line to order.

Although the queue was shorter this time, the place was still as crowded despite it being a weekday. It was one of the few establishments that opened 24/7 and was especially popular to college students looking for something to munch on in the middle of the night.

“For dine or take out?” The cashier asks in the middle of punching down Jungwoo’s order.

“I’m eating,” Jungwoo replies through sleep eyes.

“Would you be okay with sharing tables, Sir? We’re on our peak hour and we only have one vacant seat left—”

“Yeah, yeah. Just bring the soup to my table,” Jungwoo waves, syllables coming in slurs as he looks around the tent booth for said vacant seat.

His eyes land on the unoccupied stool at the corner store with a man already sitting on the other side of the small table. He walks towards the seat carefully, mindful as not to bump into people.

Jungwoo was too dizzy and any small nudge could send him plummeting to the ground.

The student sits down on the empty chair without sparing the already seated man a glance. His legs were aching from all the dancing he did a while ago.

When his bowl of haejjanguk arrives, his seatmate notices, and both look at each other at the same time.

It takes a second for both boys to recognize each other and when they do the smaller of the two gasps while the taller scoffs.

“You,” Jungwoo breaths, taking in the tall guy’s big brown eyes, big ears, and full lips.

He almost couldn’t tell it was him because of the cap hiding all his hair.

“You,” the stranger parrots with a smirk.

Jungwoo’s entire body autopilots despite his drunken state. He stands up and swiftly exits the tent booth. This is it, I’m getting beat up over ing soup. Why did I even listen to Sicheng?

“Where are you going?” the stranger asks from behind him, pace mimicking Jungwoo’s quickening ones.

“Why is that any of your business?” Jungwoo snaps as he desperately tries to lose his tail. Damn, this guy and his long legs.

The throaty chuckle as a response pisses him further.

“Why are you ing following me?”

The stranger’s smirk twists into a wide grin. “I’m actually not, I’m just headed to the same bus stop,” he answers despite his obvious attempt at catching up to Jungwoo.

The comm student narrows his eyes at this answer. “You’re too close to me,” he complains, beginning to jog lightly.

This proves to be a bad idea when the bounce worsens his unsteadiness.

“So, you make a fuss about everything, huh” the stranger states, as if making a mental note for Jungwoo’s personality.

The sound of his voice makes him more nauseous and Jungwoo feels his legs start to wobble. “I’m screaming ual assault if you come any closer,” Jungwoo threatens.

The stranger laughs heartily at the toothless menace, deep timbre echoing through the deserted streets. “You’re the shameless type, aren’t you? ual assault? I’m not even attracted to you and definitely never in the ual sense.”

Jungwoo sneers, strangely offended at the statement. He tries to find a witty reply but comes empty-handed, so he settles for glaring at the stranger.

The guy only smiles impossibly wider.

This teasing demeanor of the other provokes Jungwoo to go for a punch to his face. It looks better in his imagination though, as the stranger laughs at the lame swing Jungwoo executes.

“Now that’s assault.”

This is the last thing Jungwoo hears before blacking out.

 

+++

 

The first thing Jungwoo cracks his eyes open to is ‘SEOUL UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL’ written in big, bold, yellow letters at the back of the nurse’s uniform.

She is hastily scribbling down notes on her clipboard before she leaves.

Then he notices the IV drip injected into the back of his hand and Joohyun laying on the couch watching a video probably from their broadcasting class.

“Joohyun,” Jungwoo calls out, sitting up.

The girl hurriedly sits up to hand Jungwoo a much-needed glass of water.

The boy receives it with gratitude. “How long was I out?”

“For quite a while. Nurse said a guy brought you in around two in the morning. You were dehydrated so they had to hook you up,” Joohyun points to the bag of electrolytes hanging above his head.

Jungwoo hums, mind slow to process the situation he got himself into. It hasn’t been 24 hours and I met the soup-napper again, and then what?  His memories were clouded.

“I’m telling the nurse your up, alright? Sicheng and Jae are on their way. Seulgi’s in the canteen buying snacks for us,” Joohyun informs before exiting his room.

A doctor and nurse come shortly after and they run a basic check-up on Jungwoo after introducing themselves.

“Breathe in,” Doctor Lee instructs, moving her stethoscope on Jungwoo’s chest. “Breathe out.”

Then she turns to the nurse, “Normal.”

“How are you feeling, Mr. Kim?” she queries.

“I feel tired, Doctor. But I think I’m fine.”

“That’s good. According to our tests, you are doing fine, too. Do you think you can now be briefed regarding your situation?”

The boy nods, feeling his insides twist in nervousness.

Joohyun sits at the foot of his bed, resting a comforting hand on his leg.

“Mr. Kim, you were brought here unconscious by one of our students. He says he found you laying on the pavement near a soup booth in Hongdae,” the doctor begins to explain. “Is this true? Were you in the area?”

Jungwoo nods again, knowing that whatever was following wasn’t good news.

“You were also dehydrated and we ran tests to see what might have caused the fainting. Your results came back with disturbingly high concentrations of alcohol in your blood.”

The door to his hospital room opens to reveal Sicheng and Jaehyun with a bouquet of flowers and two boxes of pizza. Seulgi follows suit with a bottle of sprite and a large carton of fried chicken. She closes the door behind her and silently stands next to the couple.

Great. Now everybody gets to hear the bad news with me.

“Furthermore, we cross-referenced your results from the annual medical check-ups of the university and found that there were consistent comments from different doctors about the traces of alcohol found in your system, some even suggesting substance use.”

Jungwoo pales at the statement.

“Do you know that this is a clear violation of SU’s mandate to its students?”

The boy manages to nod, not daring to say a word or else his fear might show.

“Please state which clause you have violated.”

Jungwoo takes a moment, opens his mouth to begin but no words come out. He is speechless.

“Article three, section three of Seoul University Student Handbook states that every student of this educational institution shall merit reasonable social recognition for which purpose they shall behave with honor and dignity at all times and refrain for such activities as gambling, smoking, drunkenness, and other excesses much less illicit relations,” Joohyun recites for him.

“Well, it looks like someone paid special attention to their freshman course on university protocols and customs. Thank you, Ms. Bae,” the doctor praises. “Now with your parents’ permission we’ve—”

“My parents know?”

“Yes, Mr. Kim, we informed them as soon as we received your results.”

Jungwoo suddenly feels worse.

“They gave us permission to apply the appropriate measures so to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. Your nurse,” the doctor motions to the woman beside her the entire time, “Her name is Ningning, she will be explaining the details to you. I will now take my leave to attend to other patients.”

“The Office of the Dean of Students and Student Disciplinary Office have been informed of your case,” the nurse starts as soon as her superior leaves. “You are required to visit the Student Disciplinary Office once you are discharged, which will be at twelve noon tomorrow,” she waits for a reply.

“Understood, Ma’am,” Jungwoo answers.

“I will be taking my leave now. Thank you, Mr. Kim,” she bows and leaves.

Silence lingers in the room before Sicheng speaks up. “The SDO is involved? Isn’t this too much?”

“They went overboard with that one. The incident didn’t even happen on school grounds,” Seulgi concurs, setting the food down.

“Not really,” Jaehyun says, rubbing at his nape as if hesitant to continue.

But the room falls silent, waiting for him to finish. “The very first article and section of student handbook has always emphasized that for as long as we're students of the university, any violation whether outside or inside campus grounds, can be punished with the academe’s volition.”

Jungwoo ignores the discussion, as the gravity of his circumstance slowly sinks. “My parents know.”