Sunshine Shower

Moon Seoyoon couldn’t hide his sudden wave of embarrassment. He had only turned his head because he heard a mocking voice, but it was only now that he realized the man had approached the table and that the sarcasm was directed at him.“Hey. What did you say to Woo Yeonjae?”What was this about? Moon Seoyoon stared blankly at Han Cheolmin, trying to grasp the situation. Han Cheolmin, misinterpreting his gaze as defiance, scowled, his face twisted with anger.“Uh, Sunbae. You know me, right? I’m Kang Sooha. I’m not sure why you’re acting like this, but I think you’ve had too much to drink…”Kang Sooha awkwardly stood up, trying to defuse the situation.“This punk dares to butt into his seniors’ conversation?”Even though Kang Sooha was polite, Han Cheolmin responded with nothing but talk of seniors and juniors.This isn’t the military, you know. Moon Seoyoon sighed internally and stood up from his seat.“Let’s go outside and talk.”A wave of fatigue suddenly hit him.Like many bars near campus, the area was surrounded by dark alleys. Moon Seoyoon headed towards the closest one, hoping to avoid any unwanted attention. Despite the short distance, he still had no idea why Han Cheolmin was angry. The only time they had ever spoken was during the semester opening party, and even that interaction lasted less than an hour.After taking a deep breath, Moon Seoyoon faced Han Cheolmin.“I’m not sure why you’re suddenly angry, Sunbae.”“You don’t know? You really don’t know?”Han Cheolmin poked his shoulder with a finger. The strong smell of alcohol filled the air with every word he spoke.He’s drunk. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have barged into a group of juniors and started spouting nonsense like this.Not wanting to provoke a drunken person, Moon Seoyoon clasped his hands behind his back and bowed his head slightly.“Do you have any idea how humiliated I was because of you?”“…”“What’s so hard about pouring a drink? And in front of the juniors, no less?”Finally, Moon Seoyoon realized that Han Cheolmin was referring to the semester opening party. That was the only time they had interacted. It was surprising that Han Cheolmin was still holding a grudge about something that happened months ago, especially when it was already mid-May, long after midterms.But no matter how hard he tried, Moon Seoyoon couldn’t recall anything that would have caused such humiliation. All he had done was reluctantly pour a drink, and then Woo Yeonjae intervened, taking him outside for some fresh air.Am I just an easy target? The thought crossed his mind, but he wasn’t foolish enough to voice it. In the end, he chose to remain silent again. Arguing with a drunk person would only bring trouble.“And what did you say to that punk Woo Yeonjae?”“I don’t understand what you mean.”The push on his shoulder became slightly stronger.“You two are best friends, right?”“…Yes.”“No wonder Woo Yeonjae was all over you at the opening party. Damn, are you guys doing that?”Even though Moon Seoyoon had maintained his composure until now, this insult caused a crack. He frowned without realizing it.“What’s wrong? Does the idea of two guys fooling around disgust you?”“Sunbae. You’ve had too much to drink.”It was clear that Han Cheolmin was saying whatever came to mind to put him down. In a society that still harbored taboos about same-sex relationships, this was the most effective way to insult two men at once.Many people looked at interactions between men through a lens of suspicion, thinking in terms of outdated norms. While that couldn’t be helped, Woo Yeonjae didn’t deserve to be dragged into this and smeared with such base accusations just to insult Moon Seoyoon.“Too drunk? Me? What, do you think I’m just talking nonsense?”Han Cheolmin sneered, his face flushed red.“Oh, right. That punk Woo Yeonjae still had a girlfriend, didn’t he?”“…”“And I saw you earlier having a good time with those two girls.”His tone suggested he had completely forgotten Kang Sooha’s presence. The constant dragging of unrelated people into the conversation made Moon Seoyoon uneasy.“I was just treating them to a meal.”“Bullshit.”Moon Seoyoon still couldn’t understand why Han Cheolmin was attacking him like this. It seemed like he was just venting his anger on a convenient target.“What did you say to Woo Yeonjae?”Like a true drunk, Han Cheolmin repeated the same question.“What the hell did you say to him that made him give me attitude in front of everyone? Huh?”There was nothing Moon Seoyoon could say. He didn’t even know that Woo Yeonjae had acted that way, and besides, they had never talked about Han Cheolmin.As Moon Seoyoon kept silent, Han Cheolmin, feeling ignored, raised his arm threateningly. Instinctively, Moon Seoyoon flinched and shrank back, the raised hand reminding him of a painful memory.“You little punk. You think I’m a joke too?”Rather than continuing this pointless conversation, Moon Seoyoon felt it would be better to just take the hit. He bit the inside of his cheek, bracing himself for the blow, when a familiar voice suddenly cut in.“Huh? Isn’t that Moon Seoyoon?”A deliberate clicking sound followed as if a picture had just been taken. Reflexively, Moon Seoyoon turned his head and saw Nam Taeun standing there in slippers, scratching his belly.“Wow, looks like in the business school, seniors beat up juniors in dark alleys.”“What, what’s going on?”“What do you think? He’s a friend.”Nam Taeun approached with a casual swagger. Han Cheolmin, who had been huffing in anger, hesitated and took a step back when he realized how much larger Nam Taeun was.“Mind if I upload this picture to a community site? I bet it’ll make the front page of the social section. The headline ‘Korea University Scandal’ would be catchy, don’t you think?”“Who the hell do you think you are, barging into my conversation with him?”“And who the hell do you think you are, messing with my little brother?”Nam Taeun pushed Han Cheolmin’s shoulder with a raised finger.“You know the moment you get labeled as a violent student from Korea University, your personal info will get exposed, right?”“Damn it…”Realizing that the situation had turned against him, Han Cheolmin glanced back and forth between Moon Seoyoon and Nam Taeun before quickly making his escape.“Ah!”But after only a few steps, a loud thud echoed through the quiet alley as his knee hit the ground. He had tripped over Nam Taeun’s subtly extended foot.“Oh dear, looks like you’ve had too much to drink. Falling over on your own like that.”“You, you… Just you wait!”“If you try this again, I’ll make sure your info goes public.”Nam Taeun wasn’t fazed by the weak threat and waved his phone in the air. On the screen was a clear photo of Han Cheolmin’s face, poised to strike. Han Cheolmin clumsily picked himself up, cursed under his breath, and hurried out of the alley.“Hey, pup. Were you just planning to take the hit?”Moon Seoyoon, who had been standing there in a daze, finally snapped out of it.“Why did you just stand there? The guy’s shorter than you.”Nam Taeun reached out, grabbed Moon Seoyoon’s arm, and began inspecting him. Only then did Moon Seoyoon exhale, realizing he had been biting his lip so hard that it was sore.“Hyung, how did you end up here… No, how did you even know he was my Sunbae?”“What do you mean, how did I know? He’s wearing a business school jacket in this weather.”So he was wearing the department jacket. In the chaos of the moment, Moon Seoyoon hadn’t even noticed what people were wearing.As he gradually calmed down, his scattered thoughts began to come together. Noticing this, Nam Taeun offered some advice, though it sounded more like a warning.“Next time, don’t just stand there. Got it? If you do, people will keep thinking you’re easy to push around. With your soft appearance, people are going to underestimate you if you don’t stand up for yourself.”Moon Seoyoon chuckled softly.“What’s the point of reacting to a drunk person? It’s easier to just take the hit and get it over with.”“Hm, now that I think about it, getting some settlement money isn’t a bad idea… But why are you shaking?”“Huh?”Nam Taeun’s gaze dropped to the ground. Only then did Moon Seoyoon realize that his hands were trembling.“Oh…”It seemed his body was reacting instinctively to old memories. Nam Taeun, who had been deep in thought, suddenly sighed and spread his arms wide, pulling Moon Seoyoon into a hug.“Aww, poor little pup. Were you scared?”“Don’t tease me.”“When I asked you about school bullying before, you were so adamant that it wasn’t true.”“I told you, it wasn’t…”Moon Seoyoon muttered as he rested his forehead on Nam Taeun’s shoulder.He hadn’t realized it before, but he must have been more shaken up than he thought.* * *Woo Yeonjae scrolled through his messages with a blank expression. He was feeling increasingly irritated because Moon Seoyoon had suddenly holed up in the dorms as soon as he got better.