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Every semester when all the students had moved back in but still had a few days before the actual start of classes, everyone got together to celebrate the last hurrah of the season. (Or the first hurrah of the new season if you asked Jaehwan.)
The campus wasn’t too close to the open city so the night sky and its stars were clearly visible when the sky was free of clouds.
Sungwoon had a beer can in one hand and a Snapple bottle in the other. When he first arrived with Minhyun they were each passed a drink. Minhyun being the non-drinker he was automatically gave his Snapple to Sungwoon opting to find someone with a water supply rather than an alcohol supply. Sungwoon uncapped the normally dry, fruit tea and took a whiff. His eyes closed and his nose burned- there was definitely someone out there mixing wild drinks. (He made a mental note not to encounter them.) He closed the lid and dropped the bottle next to the other suspicious Snapples congregated on the trunk of a navy-blue Hyundai.
These impromptu get togethers took place where there was no real supervision; away from the dorms, away from the school buildings.
The east parking lot, which was unanimously nicknamed The Lot.
Only the public safety car that made laps around the school made an appearance approximately every hour but they were more or so understanding of the events that went on out there. They had come to a silent agreement with the students. When the car pulled around, all drinks and illegal activity would be hidden or halted and in return, security would not bust the party. However, they had compromised that if things started getting out of hand security would step in and handle the situation. So long as everyone complied with the rules both parties could go about their nights in peace.
“Eyyy! Our singing cloud has arrived!” Sungwoon smiled. Although he had met up with his friends during the break outside of school, it was always exciting for them to meet up at the university; their primary headquarters. After four years of attending the same school with the same crew, it was second nature.
He settled in with the group after saying his hellos and stood next to Sewoon. The ping pong table was set up in a parking space between two cars. Red cups were set up in triangular form on both ends of the table.
“Hey hyung. When did you get here?” Sewoon asked him, catching the ball that bounced into his chest.
“A few hours ago. I was unpacking and settling in with Minhyun.” Sungwoon tiptoed and peeked over the various heads that did not belong to his roommate. “I guess he’s still looking for his water.”
“Damn. Another year goes by and he’s still weak to alcohol.” Taehyun laughed from the end of the table. He tossed a ball into the center red cup on the opposite side of the table, cheering as he did so. Sanggyun moved the cup to the side and tried to clear one of the three cups he had left on his side.
Feeling giddy from one too many drinks, Sanggyun bounced the plastic ping pong ball with all the force of a professional baseball player and everyone watched as the tiny ball slammed right into Jaehwan’s forehead. About half the crowd gasped, hands coming up to their mouths in shock while the other half yelled curses. Sewoon was at his boyfriend’s side instantly checking the irritated red skin above his eyes.
“Shit,” Sungwoon said under his breath.
“Welcome to senior year,” Kenta laughed next to him.
+++
Sungwoon had taken his leave from the beer pong debacle in search for one of his oldest college friends. They had met freshman year during Chorus Ensemble 1. Sungwoon had taken music lessons in high school as well as private lessons at the academy so most of the information on the syllabus was prior knowledge to him. His friend, however, had no clue how to read the key signatures for the semester’s songs. He had turned to Sungwoon saying, ‘You look like you know what the hell you’re doing. How do I sing this?” Sungwoon had sang the verse softly to him and the boy looked at him in awe deciding right then and there that they were to be friends. Sungwoon hadn’t minded. Having come from a different town than most of the students who attended the university, he was thrilled to make friends.
As he walked through the parking lot he passed all types of music booming from various car speaker systems. The latest in hip hop, Korean pop, Western pop, even American classic rock. He recognized the guitar chords of Def Leopard’s Pour Some Sugar on Me (knowledge courtesy of a punk Korean-American girl he’d dated in middle school.) He followed the electric guitar sounds to a small car loaded with bumper stickers. There, he saw a new kid he didn’t recognize dumping sugar packets on Gunhee who sat crisscross on the asphalt singing a pretty good rendition of the song. Gunhee, he’d learned from Jisung, was to be the next head representative for the theater department. Having been at Jisung’s inauguration, Sungwoon knew this behavior was typical for theater majors when initiating new recruits into their drama cult. He was surprised Jisung wasn’t there to do the honors himself. He waved at a shameless Gunhee as he passed by.
He eventually spotted Jisung standing next to one of his ex-lovers from last semester. Sungwoon remembered his face but could not think of his name as Jisung always referred to them as his “flavor of the week.” This ex was a dance major which explained why his friend was standing around with the school’s most popular b-boy crew. Sungwoon bounced his head to the heavy dance beat and walked over to Jisung. Ong Seongwoo was popping in the center of the circle on a large, flattened cardboard box.
“Hello, hyung.” Sungwoon nodded his head in acknowledgment towards Jisung’s “flavor of the week” and in a quieter voice said, “New year same mistakes I see.”
“Leave me alone. Did you come all the way here to say that?” Jisung huffed.
Sungwoon grinned, watching a pink haired boy almost break his back spinning around on the cardboard. “No, I came here to visit my favorite hyung and tell you Jaehwan sustained his first injury of the season.”
“Oh no. What happened?” Jisung sighed dramatically.
“Sanggyun pelted him with a ping pong ball to the forehead.”
“Damn. I guess we’ll be hearing his complaints in the morning.”
“Oh yeah.” Sungwoon chuckled. He focused his eyes on the pink haired guy dancing in the center trying to catch a glimpse of his face because he did not remember seeing him before but obviously everyone already knew who he was.
“Who is that?” He asked Jisung finally.
“Kang Daniel.” Jisung said simply as if that was supposed to ring all the bells in Sungwoon’s mind.
“Who?” He replied flatly.
“Daniel. The dance major transfer from last semester that everyone raved about.”
Sungwoon’s mouth formed an ‘O’. He didn’t know the guy personally but he had heard of him in passing.
“Did he always have pink hair?” He watched Daniel finish breakdancing and get up with a big, happy smile.
“Nah, he went pink just recently.”
Said pink haired boy jogged up to Jisung. “Did you see that, hyung?”
Jisung pet his hair like what you would do to a large dog when it approached you. “Yeah. I see why you had everyone on their knees last semester.” Daniel laughed shyly, ducking his head and turning to his other friend.
“I didn’t know you guys were close.” Sungwoon said recalling how the other had called Jisung ‘hyung’. He eyed Daniel who was now chugging a double size can of beer.
“We’re not that close. There’s no need to get jealous.” Jisung pinched Sungwoon’s cheek jokingly. Sungwoon swatted his hand away. “I met him during finals week last semester. I gave him my famous caffeine concoction. Right, Daniel?” He tapped an unknowing Daniel casually on the bicep. The pink haired man responded with an intelligent “huh?”
“Plus, it turns out we have mutual friends so naturally we kept bumping into each other and we became friends ourselves. And he’s a pretty good-looking kid.” Sungwoon watched as Jisung gave Daniel a head to toe once-over.
“Uh oh. Someone warn Daniel about Jisung the predator.” Sungwoon teased.
“It’s not like that, you ass!”
+++
Sungwoon stayed with Jisung and the dance kids until they had worn a hole in the cardboard and almost the entire b-boy crew was plastered. They were like a bunch of little kids high off sugar unable to sit still. Their dancing skills had flown out the window; Daniel waving his arms above his head with what had to have been his fifth double sized beer can and Ong Seongwoo humping the ground attempting to do the worm. Even Jisung was pinned against a car door being mauled by the lips of his ex. Sungwoon tilted his head to make sure Jisung was alive under him and righted himself (not before bumping his own head into the backseat window.) Somehow, he had ended up with a spiked Snapple bottle and was on his way to joining the flailing dancers before him. He texted Minhyun his location and his fully hydrated roommate came to escort him back to their room.
“Where did you disappear?” Sungwoon groaned, looping his arm through Minhyun’s.
“I was introducing a new vocal major student around. His name is Jinyoung.”
“Did you see Jonghyun?”
Minhyun shushed Sungwoon aggressively, scanning their parameter for listening ears. Sungwoon chuckled groggily. Different year, same Minhyun.
“Jisung hyung was with that tall, dancer guy from last year. They looked pretty into each other… I feel bad for Jaehwan.”
“Sewoon took him back to his room. He’s safe for the night. I feel bad for us. Did you bring earplugs?”
It was a normal occurrence for Jisung to go out to the lot and bring home a guest. It wouldn’t be the first time Sungwoon had to fall asleep with his headphones in. But to avoid that situation, they made sure to get to their dorm room quickly, shower and try to knock out before Jisung came back. It was very hard for them to fall asleep if Jisung had begun his nightly activities.
“Should we lock him out the dorm?” Minhyun had said jokingly. Sungwoon let out a small laugh before his head hit his pillow and he was asleep.
Sungwoon woke up in a panic; his heart pounding. He checked for his phone lost in his blanket and looked at the time. 3:47 AM. His phone plopped onto the blanket and Sungwoon stared at the ceiling disgruntled. How many times was he going to have nightmares of Pennywise the Clown? He threw the blanket off himself, muttering “Fucking clown” and headed to the bathroom. He took a few steps outside his room and heard noises coming from the kitchen. All the lights were off and Sungwoon thought, Aw shit. IT really is here to drag me down the sewer. He gulped and tip toed to the kitchen. Whoever was there had his back towards Sungwoon. He got closer, squinting his eyes in hopes of identifying the figure. He watched the person rummage through the cabinets and drawers piling things onto the counter. When he was sure it wasn’t anyone dangerous he cleared his throat. The person turned around scared shitless.
“Oh my God! You scared me!”
Sungwoon blinked trying to clear his vision and make sure he was seeing correctly.
“You scared me.” He said in retaliation. You’re in my dorm, he added silently.
“Oh, you’re right.” Sungwoon stared at the over-sized man in his kitchen. They didn’t introduce themselves although they’d never officially met; Sungwoon already knowing who the intruder was.
“Uh,” Sungwoon started. “Don’t take this the wrong way but… what are you doing here?” He turned on the light. “And in the dark?”
Daniel flinched at the sudden exposure to light. “Jisung hyung told me I could stay with him.”
Sungwoon looked at him blankly.
“I was too wasted to make it back to my own dorm.” Daniel gulped and glanced down at his hands. It was only then that Sungwoon noticed the guy was holding a slice of bread in one hand and a piece of cheese in the other.
“Okay. And you’re awake at four in the morning because…”
“I just got a little hungry and I can’t sleep when I’m hungry so I made myself a small snack.” Daniel rattled off his sentence quickly.
Sungwoon peered at the well layered sandwich on the counter. “That’s a hell of a sandwich, but alright. Just keep it down.” The interrogation was over and Sungwoon reached into the refrigerator for a bottle of water.
Daniel stood there unsurely. “Would you like one?”
“Nah, I’m good.” Sungwoon watched curiously as Daniel slathered more mayonnaise on the sandwich before topping it with a slice of bread. “Do you… always eat like this?”
“Yeah, pretty much.” Daniel chuckled lightly.
Well that explains why you’re such a big guy, Sungwoon thought.
He nodded his head. “Alright, well. I’m going back to bed.” He jabbed his thumb in the direction of his room. “Uh. Goodnight.”
Through a mouthful of sandwich Daniel bid him the same.
Sungwoon climbed into his bed pondering how strange that encounter had been and how he most likely would never have a run-in like that with the bunny-toothed kid again.
Epilogue: Finals Week
Jisung stood against the rail gate in front of the dining hall with his ankles crossed. The sun was setting but the sky was too clouded to enjoy the colors on the horizon. Jisung yawned.
“Alright, kid. Where are you?” He thought out loud. He turned his head to the left then to the right. He saw a hooded figure approaching and raised his sunglasses onto his head. The figure shifted his eyes around the area before walking up to Jisung.
“Hey.” In a low, hushed voice. “Are you the guy with the stuff?”
Jisung gave him a dumb look. “This isn’t a drug deal kid. Relax.” He pulled a sixteen-ounce bottle from his hoodie pocket and held it up. “Coffee, coke, Red Bull, 5-hour energy. My famous blend.”
“Whoa. I won’t get a heart attack drinking that?”
Jisung looked at him unamused. “You don’t see me handing you a release of liability waiver to sign, do you?”
The guy dropped his playfulness and shook his head no.
“It should last you a week. Enough to keep you energized for when you need to study.” He pushed the bottle into the other’s hand.
The latter nodded his head and took the bottle. “Thanks. I’m Daniel by the way.” He pulled off his hood. “Transfer student.”
Ah, Jisung thought, taking in Daniel’s face. So this was the center of everyone’s attention this semester. With reason. Jisung couldn’t help the natural flirtatious look that appeared on his face- the one he used to charm people he was interested in.
“I’m Jisung. Are classes this difficult that you need my drink?”
“I have narcolepsy. Finals week is a bitch for me so when Seongwoo hyung said he knew someone that could help I figured I’d try it out.”
Jisung watched Daniel smile and since he was pretty good at reading people, he concluded that he was too friendly and warm to get involved with; only as a cute, younger friend.
“Let me know if it works for you.” He told the younger, flicking his glasses back down onto the bridge of his nose. “See you around.”
“Oh, I will! Thanks, Jisung-ssi.”
Jisung walked back to his dorm wondering what lucky person would end up adopting that large, puppy-like kid.