LG Chapter 52

T/N: Chapter 51 was uploaded way before some chapters so you can find it in the content list before chapter 45.

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Chapter 52

 

His head throbbed. With the end of the semester came daily drinking sessions after classes, all in the name of relieving stress. When it got too late, he would have to sleep in the department lounge or the studio. As a result, he hadn’t properly gone home for almost a week.

Kyungsoo’s last memory from last night ended in the department lounge. However, the bedding beneath him felt too soft for him to have slept crumpled up in an uncomfortable position. He forced his heavy body upright. His back felt a little stiff.

“…”

He blinked a few times, and his blurry vision cleared. He wasn’t in the department lounge or the studio; he was in Cheon Noeul’s room. Confused as to why he was there, Kyungsoo sat blankly and slowly looked around. His phone was lying discarded on the floor. He groaned and picked it up, turning on the screen.

The call log was filled with Cheon Noeul and people from his department. All the calls to Cheon Noeul were from Kyungsoo, and it seemed like people from his department had been looking for him, judging by the missed calls that came every five minutes.

No matter how hard he tried to remember what had happened last night, his alcohol-soaked brain couldn’t recall anything. As he groaned and struggled to remember, fragmented memories pushed their way into his mind. Putting together his stiff body and the flashes of skin-toned memories, it seemed he had slept with Noeul last night while drunk.

“…Am I crazy.”

And in the bathroom, no less. Standing…

“Unbelievable…”

Not only had he barged into Noeul’s house, but he had also seduced him late at night. Kyungsoo noticed the messenger app in his recently used apps and opened it. There were messages in the chatroom that had flipped over to January 1st and several New Year’s greetings that had arrived precisely at midnight. A few messages had piled up in the department group chat and the game chat, and below them were ‘♥Noeul♥,’ which had gained another heart overnight, and an unfamiliar name.

「Wait: Where’s Kyungsoo? Why did he leave the game? lol (11:20 PM)」

Wondering who “Wait” was, Kyungsoo checked the previous chat logs and saw it was the department head. He knew without looking that Cheon Noeul had changed the name. He must have changed it along with his own name to ‘♥Noeul♥.’ At least he was thankful that Noeul had only changed the messenger name… Kyungsoo chuckled.

「Wait: Did you go home? At least tell me before you go…;;; (11:48 PM)」

「Me: I’m not home~~ Walk, it’s late!! (11:52 PM)」

「Wait: ??? You’re walking? (11:53 PM)」

「Me: Yeah lololololololololololololololol (11:55 PM)」

「Wait: Why are you laughing? lol I thought you weren’t drunk, but you’re really crazy (11:55 PM)」

「Me: I’m fiiiiine. I’m sober. Hehe (11:59 PM)」

「Wait: But why are you laughing tho… (11:59 PM)」

「Me: Happy about the end of the semester lololol I’m sober (12:00 AM)」

“…”

Even he didn’t look sober to himself. Kyungsoo recalled his drinking habits. Others said he didn’t cause much trouble. The difference between him drunk and sober wasn’t that noticeable, so no one would know he was drunk unless they paid close attention. The problem was that he became excessively honest when he drank past a certain point.

At the beginning of the semester, he had made a slip of the tongue to a senior, three years older than him, who was hitting on a freshman girl. The senior had even finished his military service and was still hitting on a freshman. With a serious face, Kyungsoo had pleaded with the girl, “Sangchul hyung is too old. Honestly, Hyeyoung, seriously, not that hyung…” For a while, Kyungsoo had been called the conscience of the department. Thanks to that incident, he became acquainted with the seniors and almost joined the student council. It was the first time he had blacked out, so of course, Kyungsoo didn’t remember it.

「Wait: You’re sober lololol Bullshit, answer the phone. Are you lying on the street? (12:01 AM)」

「Wait: Reply?; (12:03 AM)」

「Me: On the street to home~~! (12:05 AM)」

‘What did I even write?’

「Wait: Tell me in Korean… (12:15 AM)」

「Wait: Anyway, you’re saying you’re going home, right? lol (12:30 AM)」

「Me: Yeah, I’m home. Don’t call me again or I’ll block you ㅇㅅㅇ ! (12:59 AM)」

‘…This is definitely Cheon Noeul.’

Unlike the previous messages, there wasn’t a single typo, and it even had the emoticon he often used. Kyungsoo was so curious about what had happened before the bathroom sex that he wanted to grab Noeul and ask him right away.

「Wait: ? Crazy bas…tard (01:28 AM)」

「Wait: Blocking me?;; Okay, rest up (01:30 AM)」

The chat with the department head ended there. Kyungsoo changed ‘Wait’ back to ‘Department Head’ and got out of bed, shuffling out of the room, holding onto the wall.

“Cheon Noeul…”

Noeul was nowhere to be seen. Clutching his stiff back, Kyungsoo crouched down by the shoe rack, wondering, ‘Where did he go?’ He briefly considered whether high school students went to school during vacation.

“Maybe he had something to discuss?”

The thought of Noeul getting dressed in his uniform and going to school suddenly made him seem cute. Chuckling to himself, Kyungsoo looked at his reflection in the long mirror attached to the shoe rack. His clothes from yesterday were gone, replaced by slightly oversized clothes that didn’t seem to be his. He looked surprisingly presentable.

“…Damn it, that Cheon Noeul.”

Faint, reddish kiss marks were visible on his neck above his t-shirt. He decided to confront Noeul about it as soon as he returned. Just as he made that decision, he heard the beeping of the door lock and the door opened. Noeul stopped in his tracks when he saw Kyungsoo sitting right in front of the shoe rack.

“Cheon Noeul, you must have a death wish…”

Kyungsoo, about to scold him, closed his mouth when he saw several large band-aids on Noeul’s neck. Instead, he changed the subject.

“Where, where have you been! School?”

“What? School’s been out for a while… I was just out for a bit… But why are you out here, hyung? Were you going to leave me and go somewhere?”

“Why would I leave you?”

Noeul grinned brightly, crouching down by the shoe rack to meet Kyungsoo’s eyes.

“Right? So you’ll spend all day with me today, right?”

“…Yeah, sure.”

Kyungsoo replied, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. He noticed Noeul glancing at his neck repeatedly, so Noeul smiled faintly and lowered his posture.

“You bit me first yesterday.”

Noeul peeled back a band-aid to show him. It was much darker and messier than the marks on Kyungsoo’s neck. Fortunately, there were no teeth marks. Seeing Kyungsoo blink slowly, with no memory of the event, Noeul reassured him that it hadn’t bled.

“…Did I really do that? Then what’s this on my neck?”

“I did that, but you bit my neck first. …You really don’t remember any of it? That’s a little sad.”

“…”

Kyungsoo pressed his lips together.

There’s no way I did that first. Is that bastard trying to trick me again?

Cheon Noeul had such a long history of deception, and Kyungsoo had only caught him a handful of times, so it was natural to be suspicious.

“Then you don’t remember any of that either? Yesterday, hyung, you jumped me in the bathr…”

“That!”

“That?”

“…I vaguely remember that. Be quiet…”

Kyungsoo muttered, his expression hardening. Noeul nodded with a curved smile.

“But what were you really doing here? If you were waiting for me, that’s so…”

“So, what.”

“So sweet!”

Noeul hugged Kyungsoo tightly. It seemed too late to say he had just sat down anywhere because his head hurt every time he walked. Kyungsoo simply let Noeul believe whatever he wanted. He groaned as he stood up and stumbled to the dining table, resting his face against the cool glass, which cleared his head a little. Noeul brought him a glass of water.

“But why am I here?”

“You called me first.”

“…I did?”

He had no memory of it. Noeul fidgeted, biting his lip as if holding back a smile, then shyly spoke.

“Did you miss me that much?”

“…?”

What’s he doing? Noeul squirmed and fluttered his eyelashes. It was the face he made when he was up to something. Kyungsoo looked at him suspiciously.

“If you think I’m that pretty, tell me sometimes when you’re sober.”

“What are you talking about? What’s pretty about you? You’re not pretty at all.”

Noeul didn’t seem fazed by his blunt words. Instead, he took out his phone, fiddled with it for a moment, and then pressed the side button to increase the volume.

-Oh, our Noeul. Come here. That’s right, that’s right.

“…?”

Kyungsoo lifted his head and focused on the sound coming from the phone.

-Hyung, you sound like an old man. Let go! I need to dry my hair…

-Old man? Hey! We’re only a year apart! You’re February and I’m April, so… Noeul, how much of a difference is that? Two years? …I can’t calculate it, but you know, right?

-Hyung, you’re dumb.

-What the fuck!

Noeul seemed to be biting his lip to suppress his laughter. Kyungsoo felt confused by the recording of himself that he couldn’t remember.

-Why are you touching my face?

-Ah, pretty. Why are you so pretty even in the dark?

-I know. This is the hundredth time I’ve heard that today.

-What? What do you know?

-Actually, I don’t know. So… which part is pretty, and how?

-Do I have to tell you? …Huu, put it in… No, mm…

-I don’t know if you don’t tell me.

What is this! Kyungsoo’s face flushed with embarrassment as he listened to the conversation he couldn’t remember.

“Turn it off!”

“Shh.”

Noeul put a finger to Kyungsoo’s lips, urging him to listen more.

-Uh, you’re tiring…

-So, which part of me is the prettiest?

-Um, your d*ck?

Ah, shit. Kyungsoo covered his face with his hands.

-…Besides that.

-Your eyes are sparkly and pret…ty, your eyebrows are dark, haa… Cute, …aah!

-Ah, sorry. Continue.

-Cont…inue, mm… and, and… …Your nose is straight and pretty, …your voice is pretty too…

-And? More?

-Ha, uuh, I just washed up, why… again.

-What else do you like about me?

-You really, huh, want a lot.

Damn it, why did I have to do that while recording! Kyungsoo’s face was bright red with embarrassment, barely able to breathe.

-…Your lips, your lips are pretty too… mm! I like your soft ears.

-More?

-Huh, more… your fingers are fair and pretty.

-These?

-Ah, aah, Noeul…ah, huh!

Listening to his own moans while sober felt strange. Kyungsoo hummed various songs in his head to distract himself.

-What else do you like?

-Tha…t’s enough… Everything but your personality is pretty, Noeul.

-…Wait, why not my personality?

-Huh! Hey, don’t suddenly pull out…!

-Why not my personality!

-Don’t you know why? Your personality is really weird!

-What about it…

-It’s okay, you’re pretty, so I’ll take care of you. Well, it’s better than only having a pretty personality. And I like your messed up personality too, so let’s continue… what? Are you recording this?

-Oops.

-Turn it off right now!

The recording ended there. Kyungsoo was shocked that he had said such things. It was even more impactful because everything he said was sincere and things he had never said while sober.

“Do you know how many times you told me I was pretty yesterday? I’m a little disappointed I didn’t record from the beginning.”

“…”

“Am I pretty now? Since when did you think that?”

Kyungsoo held his breath as he watched Noeul, unable to hide his happiness and leaking laughter. He reached out to snatch the phone from Noeul’s hand, but Noeul quickly dodged and protected it. He must have pressed the wrong button because the recording started playing again. That awful moaning. That’s not me. Kyungsoo clutched his head.

“…Please delete it. It’s horrible. That’s not me… Please…”

“Really? It doesn’t matter if it’s not you, right?”

“…Actually, it is me, so… please delete it.”

“Why would I delete your voice?”

“What do you want me to do, you bastard!”

“Yes, I like you too.”

His anger dissipated in an instant at Noeul’s bright, disarming smile. Kyungsoo fumed, then chuckled as Noeul nuzzled his face against his hand like a spoiled cat. Unlike himself, Noeul didn’t hide his affection, showing it openly. It would be a lie to say he didn’t find that endearing. Kyungsoo couldn’t help but smile.

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T/N: Also there’s only 3 more chapters left for this novel to be completed on my Patreon!