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1
Gunwook prefers working alone in class. It’s always more efficient when he can focus on the task at hand without having to talk to strangers, not to mention much less awkward too. He knows how it goes now, he meets classmates every semester and then never talks to them again after the semester ends four months later. He doesn’t like this—how temporary these connections are and how he has to repeat the cycle so many times. It’s not even been two years and he already feels like he’s had enough of trying to socialise with people who just aren’t interested or only want to leech off of him. That’s why, when his Art History professor tells them to get into twos or threes to discuss what makes the woman in the 1930s Japanese painting on the screen look modern for her time, he pretends not to hear her and simply types his ideas in his notes.
Unfortunately for him, the class isn’t quite big enough for him to go unnoticed. She shows up next to him after a minute, telling him to join the group in front of him. Before he can protest, she makes the two guys turn around. Gunwook squeezes his eyes shut momentarily, silently apologising to them for having to include him in their conversation.
“Um, so we were saying that things like the cocktail and cigarette make her modern,” one of them, who has blonde hair, says.
Gunwook nods, secretly relieved that he didn’t have to be the one to get the discussion going. “Yeah, and I was thinking her red lipstick and painted nails also count.”
“What about the accessories?” the other guy, who’s wearing glasses, chimes in. “Like the ring and pearl necklace and also the watch.”
“Yeah, I think those are good,” Gunwook replies. “Maybe the dress she’s wearing too? It’s sleeveless and the pattern seems pretty modern.”
“I think so,” the blonde guy says. “Her short hair should be another one.”
“Mm. How about the look in her eyes?” Gunwook suggests. “It’s kind of intense. That's different from the art before.”
The two guys both nod in agreement.
“Two more minutes and then I’ll have each group share one thing you’ve identified!” the professor yells from the front.
“Mm, I can’t think of anything else,” the guy wearing glasses says.
“Same,” Gunwook says. “Maybe we’ve already got everything.”
It falls silent for a second before the guy with glasses starts talking again. “I’m Gyuvin, by the way. And this is Kim Ricky,” he grins as he puts an arm around the blonde guy. “What's your name?”
Gunwook blinks, a little confused over why Gyuvin had only introduced Ricky with his full name. “I’m Gunwook.”
“Which year are you in?”
“Year two.”
“Oh, so are we!”
Before Gyuvin can say something else, the professor calls for their attention. “Okay everyone, time’s up!” She starts going around the room with the microphone, getting every group to share one thing they discussed.
When she gets to the three of them, Gyuvin gestures to Gunwook to take the microphone.
“Um, the dress is sleeveless and has a geometric pattern, which is quite different from the clothes women wore before that time,” Gunwook says.
The professor nods as she takes the microphone back from him. “Yes, that’s right.”
Gyuvin and Ricky each give him a thumbs up as she walks away.
After the professor has gotten someone from every group to say something, she tells everyone to face the front again. Gyuvin and Ricky turn their chairs, leaving Gunwook to stare at the back of their heads again.
Now that he’s interacted with them, Gunwook can’t help but pay a bit of attention to Gyuvin and Ricky every now and then. They seem to chat a lot, often whispering into each other’s ears and snickering together.
“So,” the professor says, “if you look over here…”
Gunwook glances up at the screen to see what the professor is pointing at. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices Gyuvin leaning in to whisper something into Ricky’s ear again. He’s so close that for a second, it looks like his lips are brushing against Ricky’s ear. Wait. Are they? Blinking furiously, Gunwook tries to get a closer look, but it’s too late, Gyuvin’s already back to typing away on his laptop. Gunwook shakes his head. He must have imagined it. It’s probably about time he gets a new pair of glasses.
Not long later, the lecture ends, and Gunwook starts putting his things away, thinking about what to have for lunch. As he stands up, he sees Gyuvin holding Ricky’s arm as they head towards the door.
Gunwook blinks again. Are they dating or just close friends?
2
Under normal circumstances, Gunwook wouldn’t really do things like painting. However, getting extra credit just for showing up to a Chinese ink painting workshop is an offer too good to resist, so he signs up without a second of hesitation.
After getting stuck in a traffic jam, Gunwook ends up reaching campus ten minutes after the workshop is meant to start. He runs to the room and speaks to the teaching assistant leading the workshop, asking if he can still get the extra credit. Luckily, she tells him it’s fine, so Gunwook scans the room for a free seat. Everyone’s already busy painting, so he must have missed all the instructions. He spots an extra chair at the table where Ricky and Gyuvin are sitting, and quickly goes to sit down next to Ricky. “Hey,” he says, still trying to catch his breath.
“Oh! Hi!” Gyuvin says. The thin piece of paper in front of him is filled with incoherent splatters of black ink.
“Hello,” Ricky murmurs, barely looking up. He’s concentrating on some tiny strokes of what looks like a branch of leaves. It looks much better than the mess Gyuvin has on his sheet.
“Haven’t seen you in a few weeks, did you skip class?” Gyuvin asks.
“Oh, no, you probably just didn’t see me at the back,” Gunwook says. Unlike Gyuvin, he was very aware of the two of them ever since the first time they spoke. A head of blonde hair in a room full of black and brown is really hard to miss. “Do you mind telling me what I missed just now?”
“Not much, she just showed us how to use the brush and then told us to try painting something like these,” Gyuvin explains, pointing at a few laminated pieces of paper on the table. “It’s like… you take a little bit of ink with water like this,” he demonstrates, “and then press down like this if you wanna make a big stroke, and just use the tip like this to make a small one. Well I can’t seem to do it right so I’m kind of just doing whatever.”
“Oh okay, thanks.” Gunwook looks over at Ricky, who looks like he knows what he’s doing. He contemplates asking Ricky for tips, but he looks so focused that Gunwook feels bad interrupting him.
“I’ll get you a piece of paper,” Gyuvin says, standing up. “I need another one too. How about you, Rick?”
“Sure,” Ricky says without looking up, “thanks.”
Adding some finishing touches to the branch of leaves, Ricky sets the brush down. He reaches across the table to pick up the phone in front of where Gyuvin had been sitting. Ricky holds the phone up, and Gunwook watches as it scans his face and promptly unlocks.
Gyuvin suddenly reappears, setting a piece of paper in front of Gunwook. “Here you go. Got you a brush too.”
“Oh, thank you.” Gunwook smiles as he takes the brush from Gyuvin.
Gyuvin hands another sheet of paper to Ricky, before putting the last one down in front of himself. He picks up one of the laminated sheets with some flowers on them. “Rick, should I try this one?”
Ricky looks up and shrugs. “You can try.”
Gyuvin makes a face. “He doesn’t think I can do it,” he grumbles to Gunwook, shaking his head.
Gunwook holds himself back from saying that Ricky’s probably right about that, instead taking one of the other laminated sheets. He dips the brush into the little dish of ink and starts trying to copy the painting of some bamboo. It’s definitely harder than it looks. Thank goodness the quality of his painting doesn’t count towards his grade.
When he spares a look at Ricky, he sees him zooming into an image on his phone, using it as a reference for the vast mountains he’s painting. He must be an artist, because every stroke looks perfect, not awkward and messy like Gyuvin and Gunwook’s.
Out of nowhere, Gyuvin sticks his brush over, trying to add something to Ricky’s painting.
“Ya!” Ricky scowls, trying to swat Gyuvin’s hand away. “Kim Gyuvin!” Gyuvin giggles, still not giving up until Ricky manages to grab his wrist. Taking the brush from him, Ricky paints a small streak of ink on Gyuvin’s cheek before he shoves it back in his hand.
Gyuvin sits back down, mouth ajar. Ricky continues with his painting, a small smirk on his face. That is, until Gyuvin tries to slam his face into Ricky’s, almost knocking the pot of water on the table over. Now they both have a smear of ink on their faces.
Massaging his forehead, Gunwook tries to pretend he didn’t see any of it. What are these two? Kindergarteners?
The teaching assistant, who somehow didn’t notice what had been going on at all, soon tells them it’s time to pack up, so they all start clearing up their tables. Ricky and Gyuvin go to wash all the things they used while Gunwook disposes of the newspaper laid out on the table and returns the laminated sheets to the front.
When they return to the table, faces now clean, Gyuvin bursts out laughing at the difference between his attempt at painting flowers and Ricky’s masterpiece of a mountainscape. “Let me take a photo of this. Where’s my phone?”
Ricky passes him the phone he was using earlier. Gunwook blinks. Wait. That was Gyuvin’s phone? Didn’t face recognition work on Ricky earlier? Does Gyuvin have both their faces saved on his phone then?
He stares at Gyuvin as he takes a photo of the two paintings side by side and then pockets the phone, carefully picking up the two paintings. “We’ve got to go now, see you around, Gunwook!”
Gunwook snaps out of his daze right away. “O-oh, yeah, see you.”
Gyuvin follows Ricky out, leaving Gunwook on his own to marvel at the level of trust they must have between them. Well, it would make sense if they’re dating, right?
3
After the ink painting workshop, Gyuvin and Ricky started sitting with Gunwook in class. Gunwook doesn’t mind it too much, it’s convenient being able to discuss with the same people every time, and it’s nice chatting to them whenever they get a break in the middle of the lecture, but it does get a bit distracting whenever the two of them start whispering into each other’s ears and laughing at things out of nowhere.
When Gyuvin and Ricky walk into the room one morning, the first thing Gunwook notices is the black and white striped shirt Gyuvin is wearing. Gunwook swears he saw Ricky wearing that a few weeks ago. Did he get mixed up? Or is this just a really similar looking shirt? He shakes his head, dismissing the urge to ask. It would be embarrassing if it turned out to be a different shirt. But if he really is wearing Ricky’s shirt, or if Ricky really was wearing Gyuvin’s shirt last time, wouldn’t it make sense that they’re dating?
Gunwook snaps out of his train of thought when Gyuvin and Ricky wave at him, and he waves back as they head over to the row where he’s sitting.
As soon as the professor gives them a break, Gyuvin turns to him, beaming. “Do you have any plans after this?”
Gunwook thinks for a moment. “I’m meeting my friend for lunch, but his class only ends an hour after ours so I’m probably gonna go sit in the library or something while waiting.”
“Oh great! Ricky is performing later, wanna come watch?” Gyuvin exclaims, a sparkle in his eyes. “It’ll be over before your friend gets out of class.”
“Sure, I don’t mind. What are you performing?” Gunwook asks Ricky.
Ricky averts his gaze. “Just singing a few songs.”
So not only can Ricky paint, he can also sing. “Cool! Are you performing alone?”
“Nah, there are a few others playing instruments. It’s a band club performance.”
Gunwook nods in understanding. “Ah, the band club.”
“What about you?” Gyuvin asks. “Are you in a club?”
“Yeah, I’m in the debate club.”
“Woah, really?” Gyuvin asks, eyes wide. “So do you go for competitions or is it just a chill kind of thing?”
“We have some members who just like debating casually, but we do send a team out to compete sometimes.”
“Tell us the next time you have a competition, we’ll come support you!” Gyuvin says. Ricky nods next to him.
Gunwook chuckles. “Thanks.”
“Alright, break’s over!” the professor says, and they quickly turn to face the front.
After they’re dismissed, the three of them gather their things, and Ricky leads the way out of the room. They head to the long escalator going down to the ground floor, and Gunwook realises the performance must be in the open area in front of the building.
As soon as he steps on the escalator behind Ricky, Gyuvin puts his hands on Ricky’s shoulders, almost as if it’s second nature to him. Gunwook pauses for a moment, almost forgetting to get on the escalator himself. Ricky doesn’t seem fazed, instead checking the time on his fancy-looking watch. Good friends wouldn’t do this, would they?
They step off the escalator and, as Gunwook had figured out, head to the open area, where some instruments, sound equipment and microphone stands have been set up. Gunwook lingers behind Ricky and Gyuvin while they talk to the other people there.
“They’re starting in about ten minutes,” Gyuvin tells Gunwook.
“Okay, cool.”
“Wanna sit down first?” Gyuvin nods at the benches nearby. “I’m going to help Ricky but I’ll join you soon.”
“Sure.” Gunwook takes a seat on an empty bench near the instruments and turns his attention to the band members.
Ricky is standing by the microphone in front, checking his reflection on his phone camera. He reaches up to fix his bangs, while Gyuvin smoothes a bit at the back. It feels… oddly intimate. Gunwook gets the feeling he shouldn’t be looking at this, so he switches to watching the other band members.
Gyuvin suddenly appears next to him. “Do you want some juice from the convenience store? I heard they’re discounted today. My treat.” He grins.
“Oh… sure. Can I have a grape one?”
“Okay, I’ll be back soon!”
Gyuvin returns in two minutes, holding a bottle of grape juice in one hand and a strawberry one in the other.
“Thanks,” Gunwook says, accepting the drink from him.
“No, I should be the one thanking you,” Gyuvin says. “Ricky and I really appreciate you taking the time to watch him perform.”
“Oh, it’s nothing.” Gunwook opens the bottle and takes a sip of the juice. It’s sweet and refreshing.
“Do you have Instagram?” Gyuvin suddenly asks.
“Yeah, doesn’t everyone?”
“No, you won’t believe the number of people I’ve asked who said they don’t use it.”
Gunwook furrows his brows. He hasn’t come across anyone in university who doesn’t use it before, but that’s probably because he never tries asking to follow people. “Are you sure they weren’t lying to you?”
“Maybe some of them were,” Gyuvin shrugs, “I’ve no way of telling. But anyway, that’s why I’m careful when I ask.”
After they follow each other, they turn to take a look at the band. They’ve all taken their positions and some people are gathering in front of them. “I think they’re starting now,” Gyuvin says. “Let’s go.”
They find a good spot at the side, close to where Ricky is, and Gyuvin pulls his phone out again. “Actually, can you help me hold this?” He holds out the strawberry juice, which he’s barely had a few sips of.
“Okay.” Gunwook takes it from him as Gyuvin opens the camera on his phone.
The crowd roars when the drummer starts playing, and the other instruments join in one by one. When Ricky holds the microphone close to his lips, Gyuvin suddenly screams, “Let’s go Ricky!”
Ricky flashes him a smile, then starts singing.
Gunwook is instantly blown away by his voice. This guy’s singing is no joke. He glances at Gyuvin, who’s recording a video of Ricky. His smile is so wide it threatens to split his face in half.
The mass of people quietly listens, swaying to the music, until the song ends and everyone erupts into cheers, Gyuvin probably being the loudest of them all. Almost immediately, the band starts the next song, and the crowd cheers again.
After the second song is over, Ricky stops to talk for a while. “What you just heard was untitled songs number 4 and number 7. I wrote all of today’s songs with Gyuvin over there.” He points at Gyuvin, who waves at him excitedly. “He’s usually the drummer, but he hurt his arm yesterday so he’s not playing today.”
Gunwook turns to Gyuvin in surprise. “You didn’t tell me you were part of the club too,” he says as Ricky continues talking.
“Oh yeah, I am, I just didn’t mention it since I’m not involved today. Ricky wouldn’t let me play,” Gyuvin pouts. “He asked another guy to take my place.”
Gunwook holds back a chuckle. “I’m sure you can play another time. Is your arm okay though?”
“Yeah, it’s fine, Ricky’s just overprotective sometimes.”
Overprotective? Is Ricky Gyuvin’s dad or something? But maybe if they’re really dating… Gunwook doesn’t get to question it further, because the band starts playing another song, and Gyuvin is back to recording another video.
Two more songs later, the performance comes to an end. Ricky and the rest of the band thank everyone for the support.
The crowd slowly dissolves. Some people go up to Ricky and the other band members, telling them they did a great job, a few of them even giving them flowers. When Gunwook turns to ask Gyuvin if they should go up to Ricky too, he finds that he’s disappeared somewhere. Confused, Gunwook stays where he is.
Eventually, when all the people talking to him have left, Ricky heads to where Gunwook is standing.
“You were so good just now,” Gunwook tells him.
Ricky smiles sheepishly. “Thanks. Where’s Gyuvin?”
“Uh, I don’t know, he went somewhere without telling me.” Gunwook shrugs.
“Why do you have two drinks?” Ricky asks.
Gunwook had almost forgotten he was holding Gyuvin’s drink too. “Oh, right, this is Gyuvin’s,” he explains, raising the strawberry juice.
Ricky raises an eyebrow. “Did he make you hold that the whole time?”
“He was busy filming just now so he asked me to.”
Ricky rolls his eyes. “He should’ve just bought it later. Thanks for holding it for so long.” He holds a hand out to take it from Gunwook.
“Oh, wait, it’s yours? I thought it was his because he was drinking it earlier.”
“Nah, strawberry’s mine. He always gets the mango one for himself.” Ricky immediately unscrews the cap and takes a drink, nodding in approval. “It’s so nice to have a cold drink after singing.”
Gunwook laughs, but his mind is busy thinking about how the two of them must have really distinct tastes if they can say with such confidence that a drink is theirs just based on its flavour. “Do you post your songs anywhere?” he asks.
“No, they’re all just in Gyuvin’s laptop.”
“Really? I think they could be a hit if you put them online.”
“Mm… some of them feel a bit too personal to share with the world,” Ricky says, tilting his head to the side. “I can sing them in front of a crowd like this, but letting all these strangers have access to them feels weird.”
Gunwook thinks back to the lyrics he managed to catch earlier. Many of them seemed to be about love. Perhaps Ricky had written them with someone in mind? It would make sense if he didn’t want to post them online. Wait a minute. What if they were written about Gyuvin? He did say he wrote all of those songs with Gyuvin, so if they really are dating, it’s only natural that they would write songs about their love for one another, right? Gunwook suddenly wishes he had paid more attention to the lyrics.
Ricky suddenly narrows his eyes at something behind Gunwook. “Oh, it’s Gyuvin,” he murmurs.
Turning around, Gunwook sees Gyuvin walking towards them, holding a bouquet of flowers. It’s bigger than any of the ones Gunwook had seen the band members accept earlier. When he’s finally standing in front of them, Gyuvin beams as he puts it in Ricky’s arms. “This is for you.” Gunwook stares at all the flowers. Surely they’re dating, right?
“You too?” Ricky asks in disbelief.
Gyuvin throws his hands up. “I don’t know, I saw all those people giving you flowers and I wasn’t going to let them outdo me so I ran off to a shop just now. Oh, don’t worry, these ones are fake, so they won’t attract insects and you can keep them forever!” he says, a proud look on his face. Gunwook thinks it’s quite thoughtful of him. “Just like how you’re keeping me forever, hm?”
Ricky scoffs. “Keep dreaming.” He looks down at the flowers. “But thanks.” Friends don’t say things about keeping one another forever, do they? Gunwook wants to take this as confirmation that they’re dating, but when he catches a glimpse of Ricky’s face, he realises it’s as red as the juice he takes another sip of. No, wait, what if they’re not dating yet but they both really like each other? That’s not impossible.
Gunwook scratches his neck, wishing he could find out what the truth is. Checking the time on his phone, he realises he’s going to be late if he doesn’t leave now. “Sorry guys, I have to get going, my friend is waiting for me,” he says.
“Oh, no worries, thanks again for joining us!” Gyuvin says. “We’d better go too, Ricky.”
“Thanks for coming, bye.” Ricky waves as Gunwook starts walking away.
When he checks Instagram later, Gunwook sees that Gyuvin posted on his story. It’s a clip of Ricky from the performance earlier. Gyuvin didn’t write anything, but there’s a light blue heart emoji in the corner. Towards the end of the video, Ricky suddenly turns towards the camera and winks. Gunwook blinks, and goes to play it over again. He doesn’t remember seeing that earlier. Was that directed towards Gyuvin? Maybe they really are dating.
4
Towards the end of the semester, the Art History class goes on a field trip to an art gallery. The gallery has an extensive collection of artwork, some of which are relevant to some of the topics they covered in class, and they will be writing their final essay on an artwork of their choice from the gallery.
As usual, Ricky and Gyuvin stick with Gunwook as they stand outside the art gallery with the other students, professor and teaching assistants.
“Have you two been here before?” Gunwook asks them.
Ricky shakes his head. “Nope, I never had the chance, it’s so far away.”
“Me neither,” Gyuvin says.
“Yeah, it took me an hour and a half to get here.” Gunwook had to wake up much earlier than usual to take the subway over, and he still feels like he’s half-asleep, so this art gallery had better be worth it. “It’s a pity since you can go in for free, unlike some of the ones nearby.”
The professor calls for their attention, and tells them that each teaching assistant will take a group of eleven or twelve students around on a little tour to introduce them to some notable works, and then after that they can roam around freely to choose the artwork they want to write about for their essay and leave whenever they want.
The groups are divided on the spot, so it’s no surprise that Gunwook, Gyuvin and Ricky end up together. They walk side by side as they follow the teaching assistant around, taking notes on their phones.
After the teaching assistant concludes his tour around the art gallery, he dismisses the group, saying he’ll be staying in this area in case they have questions.
Gunwook turns to Gyuvin and Ricky. “Do you two know which one you want to write about yet?”
“Not yet, but I’m considering some of the ones they were showing us over there just now,” Ricky says, pointing towards the left. “You?”
Gunwook thinks for a moment. “I’ve no idea… I think I should go check out the other side. We walked past so quickly that I barely saw half of them. What about you, Gyuvin?”
“I’m just gonna follow him,” Gyuvin replies, putting a hand on Ricky’s shoulder.
“Ah, I guess we should split up then,” Gunwook says. Ricky and Gyuvin nod.
“If we don’t bump into each other later then see you next week!” Gyuvin says. His fingers are wrapped around Ricky’s arm again, and by now Gunwook knows it’s a habit of his.
“Yeah, see you guys,” Gunwook replies. After giving them a wave, he starts walking away.
Going at his own pace was definitely the right decision. Gunwook carefully reads the descriptions of various pieces and scrutinises their details, trying to think of what he could say if he were to write an essay on it.
There are a lot of good candidates. Gunwook whips his phone out more than a few times to make a note of them, and snaps pictures of some of the pieces he finds particularly cool too.
Turning a corner, Gunwook suddenly spots a familiar head of blonde hair. Ricky is standing in front of a huge painting, hands in his pockets as he looks at the ground. A metre away from him is Gyuvin, squatting to take a photo. He quickly moves to the left to get some other angles, lowering the phone here and there, before moving to the right to do the same. Gunwook has to stop himself from chortling when Gyuvin takes a step back and almost collides with someone who was standing behind him.
Remembering that he has more art pieces to check out, Gunwook decides to go down another hallway to avoid getting in the way of Ricky and Gyuvin’s little photoshoot.
He ends up coming across Gyuvin and Ricky several more times after that, and each time is more or less a repeat of the first one. Ricky would be posing by an artwork and Gyuvin would be snapping pictures of him from every angle. He sees them swap roles sometimes, Ricky getting fifty different shots of Gyuvin standing in front of a painting. It’s funny, but Gunwook wonders if they’re even thinking about their final essays. Have they turned this into an impromptu date or something?
After narrowing down his options to three, Gunwook decides he can leave and make his final decision after doing some research at home.
At the subway station, he unexpectedly sees Ricky and Gyuvin waiting for a train, and goes up to them. “You guys just left?” he asks.
Gyuvin snaps his head in Gunwook’s direction, a look of surprise on his face. “Yeah, you too?” he asks. Gunwook nods. “We didn’t see you anywhere so we thought you left ages ago!”
“Oh, really?” Gunwook chuckles. “I saw you two taking pictures loads of times, so I thought you might still be there.”
Gyuvin snickers. “Yeah, we spent a lot of time on that.”
The train comes to a stop in front of them, and they quickly find seats.
“Man, I’m exhausted from all that standing and walking,” Gyuvin says, stretching his legs.
“Did you two choose which artwork to write about yet?” Gunwook asks.
“Yeah, I found a cool one,” Ricky says.
“Nice, which one is it?” Gunwook asks.
“It’s a painting that was near that huge colourful sculpture we walked past during the tour.” Ricky turns to Gyuvin. “You have the photo, right?”
“Sure do.” Gyuvin takes his phone out and starts scrolling through the sea of photos he had taken, and Gunwook can see that most of them are of Ricky. He scrolls through all of the day’s photos, but can’t seem to find it. “I forgot, when did we go back to that area again?”
“Uh… I can’t remember either,” Ricky says. “It was somewhere in the middle.”
“Very helpful, thank you,” Gyuvin says sarcastically. “Give me a minute, I’ll find it.” He opens the latest photo and starts swiping through them one by one. When he comes across an unflattering photo of what appears to be Ricky stifling a yawn, he snorts. “Hey, Rick, look at this.”
Ricky makes a face. “Please delete that.”
“No, I’m making it my wallpaper.”
In an instant, Ricky tries to snatch the phone out of his hands, but Gyuvin quickly holds it out of reach. Ricky extends his arm, trying again, but Gyuvin flees to the other side of the train carriage, forcing Ricky to stand up and give chase. He manages to grab Gyuvin’s arm, but Gyuvin keeps his phone firmly pressed to his chest, preventing Ricky from prying it from his fingers.
Noticing that other people on the train are looking at them, Gunwook gets to his feet and tries to pull them apart. “Guys, please…”
In the end, Gyuvin gets his way with the wallpaper. Ricky stares daggers at him until he backs away, laughing as he says, “Okay, okay, I know, I’ll change it back later.”
“You should just do it now.” Ricky folds his arms, looking incredibly displeased. “That’s probably the worst picture you’ve ever taken of me.”
“So you acknowledge that my pictures aren’t always horrible?” Gyuvin asks, tilting his head to the side.
“No, that’s not what I said, stop twisting my words,” Ricky huffs. “They’re just on a scale of bad to worse.”
“Oh yeah? Then why are 80% of your Instagram pictures taken by me?”
“What do you mean, 80%?! It’s more like 40%.”
Gunwook raises his eyebrows. 40% is still a lot. They really must spend a lot of time together. He wonders if Ricky takes most of Gyuvin’s Instagram photos too. There might be pictures of the two of them on his account. Man, why didn’t he look sooner. What if there’s an anniversary post or something?
After Gunwook says goodbye to them to switch trains, the first thing he does is pull Gyuvin’s Instagram up. There are many photos with a couple of people who seem to be his friends as well as an Italian greyhound which Gunwook assumes is Gyuvin’s dog, but Gunwook can’t find Ricky anywhere. He’s posted plenty of pictures of himself, but he makes no mention of who took them, so it’s difficult to tell if Ricky might have taken them or not. There are also some seemingly random photos, of things like ice cream and cheese balls and stray cats. Maybe Instagram is like a diary for him.
There don’t seem to be any signs of Ricky, so Gunwook concludes his investigation. If they really are dating, maybe they’re more of the lowkey type online? Because they’re definitely not lowkey in real life.
5
The last week of class rolls by a lot sooner than Gunwook expects. The professor is doing a review of all the content she had gone through before talking about the exam. Gunwook doesn’t think he’s ever typed faster, trying to take down everything she brings up, just in case it appears in the exam.
When the professor stops to change the batteries in the microphone, Gunwook steals a glance at Ricky and Gyuvin. Ricky is taking notes, but Gyuvin, meanwhile, doesn’t even have his laptop open. He’s slumped against his seat, head on Ricky’s shoulder, eyes closed. Isn’t he going to miss all this important information?
Gunwook leans over to Ricky. “Should we wake him up?” he whispers.
Ricky shakes his head. “It’s fine, he’s really tired. He stayed up late last night finishing an essay.”
Gunwook still feels a bit uneasy, but at least Gyuvin can ask them for their notes later. The professor has started talking again, so he goes back to furiously copying down her every word. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Ricky gently covering Gyuvin with his jacket.
The professor’s recap of the entire semester is like a trip down memory lane for Gunwook. With every topic she goes through, Gunwook gets reminded of the things he talked about with Gyuvin and Ricky. It’s nice looking back, like wrapping up a memory with a pretty bow.
“Okay, let’s have a fifteen minute break, and then I’ll give you some sample questions to do as revision,” the professor says.
“I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” Gunwook says, closing his laptop and getting up.
“Can you get me a bottle of mango juice from the convenience store?” Ricky asks, taking his wallet out and holding out some money. “I would go myself, but I don’t want to wake him,” he says, nodding at the sleeping Gyuvin.
Gunwook takes the money and pockets it. “Sure, I’ll be right back.”
“Thanks.”
When he returns to the room, Gyuvin’s head is still on Ricky’s shoulder, but his eyes are open and he’s scrolling on his phone while Ricky runs a hand through Gyuvin’s hair. Other than the fight for Gyuvin’s phone, Gunwook doesn’t think he’s seen Ricky being the one to initiate some form of physical touch with Gyuvin before today. Does he seldom do things like this or is this like those dramas where the character is only affectionate with their crush when they think they’re asleep, but they end up getting caught?
“Here,” Gunwook says, handing the juice to Ricky.
“Thanks.” Ricky unscrews the cap and immediately slips the bottle into Gyuvin’s hand.
Gyuvin takes a drink, then passes it back to Ricky, who also drinks some before he caps the bottle again, setting it on the table in front of Gyuvin.
Wait, that wasn’t for himself? Gunwook is surprised for a moment, but then he remembers what Ricky had told him about Gyuvin liking the mango flavour last time after the band club performance.
It’s cute how they do things like buy one another drinks. Even though they fight like they’re five sometimes, there’s something very warm about their bond. They’ve got to be dating, right? Gunwook is so deep in thought that he almost doesn’t realise Gyuvin is talking to him. “Sorry, what were you saying?”
“Are you taking part in the debate competition with the other universities next month?” Gyuvin repeats. “I just saw someone share this on their story.” He shows Gunwook an Instagram post from the debate club on his phone.
“Yeah, I am. Why?”
“Great, let me put it down on my calendar. Ricky and I will come cheer you on.”
Gunwook takes a moment to process that. “Are you sure?”
“We said it last time, didn’t we? That we’d come to your next competition.”
“Oh, right.” Gunwook hadn’t thought they were serious when they’d said that. “You really don’t have to though, it gets pretty boring sometimes.”
Gyuvin laughs. “Nah, we’ll be far from bored, Ricky and I are going to learn how to get better at arguing by watching you guys. Right, Rick?” Gunwook snorts. It’s the first time he’s heard someone say they’re keen to get better at arguing. It’s almost as if it’s something they do for fun.
Ricky raises an eyebrow. “I don’t know about that, but we’ll definitely come to support you, Gunwook.”
“Alright then,” Gunwook says, scratching his neck, “if you insist.” People aside from his family genuinely wanting to watch him debate isn’t something he’s used to. Gyuvin and Ricky really are nice people.
The professor starts speaking into the microphone again, grabbing their attention. “Okay class, let’s do the sample questions now.” She changes slides, showing them the first question, which asks them to compare and contrast the Ise Shrine with the Sanchi Stupa. “I’ll give you three minutes to brainstorm some answers amongst themselves.”
“Gyuvin, do you want to go first?” Gunwook asks. After they began sitting together in class, they’d started a system of taking turns to share a point each.
“Uh… one of them is in Japan and the other is in India,” Gyuvin mutters.
Ricky bursts out laughing while Gunwook slow claps. “Wow, groundbreaking,” Gunwook deadpans. “But fine, let’s go with it. Your turn, Ricky.”
“The Ise Shrine is made of wood, while the Sanchi Stupa is made of… stone or sandstone, I think.”
“Right,” Gunwook nods, “and they rebuild the Ise Shrine every twenty years to represent renewal, while the Sanchi Stupa is a permanent structure. What about some things that are similar?”
“You can’t go inside either of them,” Gyuvin says.
They think of a few more things before the professor starts going through the question, and they hurriedly copy everything she says down.
After they go through a few more questions, the professor wishes them good luck with the exam, and the class comes to an end.
“Where are you two going now?” Gunwook asks as he puts his laptop into his bag.
“I think I’m going to take him home for a while,” Ricky says, nodding at Gyuvin, who’s sitting still with his eyes closed again, seemingly slipping back into slumber. “He’s not going to be able to get through his class in the afternoon like this.”
“Yeah, he definitely needs to get some more rest.” Knowing that it’s the last class, Gunwook feels awkward about just getting up and leaving the way he usually would. It’s annoying, because this is exactly what he wanted to avoid when he initially tried to work alone. “Oh right, I didn’t get your Instagram last time, do you mind if I follow you?”
“No, I don’t mind.” Ricky takes Gunwook’s phone from him, types his username into Instagram and presses the follow button before he hands it back to Gunwook.
Gunwook pockets the phone. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” Ricky starts shaking Gyuvin’s shoulder. “Gyuvin, wake up, it’s time to go.”
Gyuvin groans, leaning forward and burying his face in Ricky’s chest.
Ricky sighs. “You don’t have to wait for us,” he says to Gunwook, “it can take a while to get him up when he’s like this.”
Gunwook feels a little bad for him, but he does need to get to the other side of campus before his History professor’s office hours are over. “Alright, I’ll go first then. See you for the exam.”
“Yeah, see you.”
Gyuvin cracks an eye open as Gunwook steps past him on his way to the door. “Bye Gunwook,” he drawls, lifting Ricky’s arm and shaking it, making his hand wave.
Smiling, Gunwook gives Ricky and the still half-asleep Gyuvin a wave, turning to exit the room.
Later, when his consultation is over, Gunwook takes his phone out again as he heads to the subway station. He hadn’t closed Instagram earlier, so it’s still open on Ricky’s profile. His profile picture is a black and white close-up selfie of his face. When Gunwook’s eyes travel down to Ricky’s display name, he stops in his tracks, blinking at the screen. Why does it say Ricky Shen here? Didn’t Gyuvin introduce him as Kim Ricky? Ricky hadn’t batted an eyelash when Gyuvin had called him that, so it doesn’t seem like Gyuvin had just stumbled on his words or something. So where did Kim come from?
As Gunwook gets on the train, it suddenly strikes him. Isn’t Gyuvin’s last name Kim? For the second time in a month, Gunwook finds himself on Gyuvin’s Instagram, and is indeed met with the display name Kim Gyuvin. But why? Is this Gyuvin’s way of claiming Ricky as his? Gunwook thinks back to the day of the band club performance, when Gyuvin had said something about Ricky keeping him forever. If they’re not dating then they’ve got to be engaged or something, Gunwook decides, shaking his head.
+1
When Gunwook gets to the exam hall, he sees a large swarm of students gathered outside. There must be an exam for another class happening at the same time, because there definitely aren’t this many people taking this Art History class.
While he looks for a place to stand, he spots Ricky leaning against the wall and goes over to him. “Hey,” he greets.
Ricky looks up from his tablet. “Oh hey.”
It’s rare, seeing Ricky without Gyuvin. Maybe he’s in the bathroom. Gunwook pulls his own notes out, desperate to do some last minute revision.
After a few minutes, they hear the doors of the exam hall open and students start piling into the room.
Gyuvin still hasn’t shown up, so Gunwook turns to Ricky. “Where’s Gyuvin?”
“He’s got a Psychology exam right now,” Ricky replies, tucking his tablet into his bag. He joins the mass of students slowly entering the room, and Gunwook can only follow.
Is that even possible? Gunwook thought the exam schedule was made such that there wouldn’t be any clashes. “But what about this exam?”
“Oh, he’s not taking this class.”
“What?” Gunwook gawks at him. Did he hear that right?
He doesn’t get to clarify, because they’re already at the doors. “Good luck,” Ricky tells him.
“You too,” Gunwook replies. He pushes his confusion away as he finds his seat and gets ready for the exam.
Two and a half hours later, after all the exam scripts have been accounted for, Gunwook finally gets to stand up and stretch. One exam down, three to go. Grabbing all his stuff, he makes a beeline for the exit, but the people at the back are faster, and he gets stuck waiting for them to trickle out first.
Ricky appears next to him. “How’d you find it?”
Gunwook hums. “It was good, I think. There was only one question on an artwork that we had never seen before, I thought there would be more.”
“Yeah, I was so relieved when I realised that.”
They finally step out of the venue, and Gunwook notices Gyuvin standing nearby, waving. They make his way over to him, and Gyuvin instantly claps a hand on Ricky’s shoulder. “So? Was it a piece of cake?”
“Not bad,” Ricky says with a shrug.
Beaming, Gyuvin shakes Ricky by the shoulder vigorously. “See! I told you it’d be fine.” He turns to look at Gunwook. “What about you, Gunwook?”
“I thought it was pretty good.” The questions from before the exam start flooding back into Gunwook’s mind. “Wait, so you’re really not taking this class?”
Gyuvin shakes his head. “No, I’m studying childhood education. I used up all my free electives last year.”
“So you just… sat in on every lecture?” Gunwook asks.
“Yeah, you didn’t know?”
Gunwook can’t believe his ears. Who even has the time for that? “No, I really thought you were in this class too… How did you get to go to the painting workshop then?” he asks, furrowing his brows. “Didn’t you have to sign up?”
“Oh, I just walked in with Ricky, they only passed a piece of paper around for people to check their names off and didn’t do a head count so I didn’t get kicked out.”
This isn’t too surprising to Gunwook, given how nonchalantly the teaching assistant had responded when he talked to her about being late. “So why’d you bother coming to every class? Were you interested in the content?” Gyuvin did seem to pay attention most of the time, when he wasn’t busy whispering in Ricky’s ear, and he took notes too. It’s not like Gunwook hasn’t walked into a friend’s classes before, but he certainly hasn’t done it every week.
“I mean, I was a little curious, but it was mainly because Ricky probably wouldn’t have shown up to half the classes if I didn’t drag his ass there. This guy never wakes up to his alarms, you know?” He jabs a finger in Ricky’s chest as Ricky shoots him a glare. “He just goes back to sleep after I wake him up! And I didn’t want him to miss every class and then fail, so of course I had to come along and make sure he wouldn’t fall asleep midway.”
Gunwook’s jaw drops. Gyuvin’s dedication is astounding. Gunwook can’t imagine going this far for a roommate, even if he was his best friend. Unless…
“Are you two dating?” he blurts. There. He said it.
Ricky and Gyuvin look at each other for a second. “Yeah, wasn’t it obvious?” Gyuvin asks.
As relieved as he is to finally get an answer and be right, Gunwook feels his cheeks warm at the question. “I don’t know, you’ve been giving me so many mixed signals. One second you’re being all sweet and bending over backwards for one another, the next second you’re roasting each other and fighting like little kids. I couldn’t completely rule out the possibility that you two are just really good friends and I didn’t want to assume wrongly.”
Gyuvin laughs. “You’re overthinking it, man. Will it help if we do this?” He tries to pull Ricky in, puckering his lips, but Ricky dodges his attempt to kiss him.
“What are you doing?” Ricky hisses, blocking Gyuvin’s mouth with his hand.
Gyuvin pouts. “He’s not like this when we’re at home, just to make things clear,” he tells Gunwook.
Gunwook forces a chuckle. “It’s okay, I believe you.” He clears his throat, unsure of what else to say. Congratulations? But it doesn’t make sense to say such a thing since they were already together even before he first met them. Is there really anything to say? Gyuvin and Ricky dating doesn’t change anything about their interactions with Gunwook. “Um, I should probably get going, I have to start grinding for my next exam.”
“Yeah, me too,” Ricky mumbles, squeezing his eyes shut.
“Okay, see you in two weeks for your debate competition then!” Gyuvin says.
“Oh right, do you wanna have dinner together after the competition?” Ricky asks. “We never got to eat together this whole semester.” It’s so natural, the way they invite him to do things with them. It’s almost like he’s a friend to them. Is he?
Gunwook nods. “I’m down.”
“Let’s watch a movie too!” Gyuvin pipes up. “Do you like horror movies? There’s a new one that I want to watch, but it’s boring only going with Ricky because he doesn’t get scared at all.”
“Sure,” Gunwook grins, “I’d love that.”
On the way home, Gunwook thinks about the things that had just happened. First of all, he finished one of his exams. Secondly, after months of wondering, he finally knows for sure that Gyuvin and Ricky are dating. And third, even though the semester’s over, they still want to hang out with him. When the semester had started, he had been more focused on keeping his grades up, so getting to know new people was the last thing on his mind. That's why it feels a bit hard to believe how he’s met people so genuine and keen to connect with him for the first time in quite a while. It doesn’t matter that they’re dating, they’ve never made him feel like he was third wheeling. They’re fun to be around, and they seem to think the same about him. Just this once, Gunwook doesn’t regret interacting with other people in class.