“I knew this would be such a waste of a Saturday,” Euiheon grumbled, pouring himself another glass of soju.

He was sitting alone on the sofa in the living room of Hamin’s house. Meanwhile, Hamin and the two girls they had met earlier that day—who Euiheon already forgot the names of—were sitting on the floor playing some kind of disorientating drinking game.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

“Forty!” Hamin shouted, only for the girls to burst out laughing.

“We were on thirty-nine, not forty!” the prettier of the two said. “Drink up, Hamin!”

She poured the soju way up to the brim of Hamin’s glass. It was clear she was very drunk and lost a lot of control with her hands.

“Aw, man. I thought I had it this time,” Hamin said, though he didn’t sound particularly sad to have lost the game for the fifth time in a row. He was having fun more than anything.

Euiheon stared blankly at his friend. Both of them drank about the same amount. But perhaps it was because Euiheon was drinking much faster and by himself; Hamin looked considerably fine compared to him.

“Again!” Hamin called out. “One!”

“Two!”

CLAP!

“Three— I mean…!”

Hamin lost yet again. All he had to do was clap on any numbers that contained 3, 6, or 9. But he could barely manage to get past 10 most of the time. He really sucked.

The prettier girl couldn’t stop giggling as she playfully slapped Hamin’s arm. Euiheon noticed she was being more and more touchy with him as time went by. Actually, he already had a sense she was into him from the moment they met up at that pizza place. There was also her trying to sing all the love duets with him at the karaoke room.

“I knew coming here was a terrible idea,” Euiheon sighed.

Hamin was the one who suggested they come over to his house when no one had any idea what to do after karaoke. His parents wouldn’t be home that night, and the fridge was always packed with beer and soju thanks to his alcohol enthusiast of a mother. She wouldn’t know if a few cans and bottles were gone. And even if she did, she wasn’t the type to ever scold her son anyway, which explained how Hamin got away with his awful school grades.

“Okay, last round!” Hamin exclaimed. “And I’m going to play for real this time!”

“This time? What the hell have you been doing until now?” snapped the slightly less pretty girl. It was clear she didn’t have any interest in him beyond that of a potential friend.

“Hey, that was all to prepare for this round. The final game is all that matters.”

“The final game, huh?” Euiheon mumbled under his breath.

He placed both his glass and the bottle of soju he had just emptied on the floor. Then, he slumped back into the sofa, feeling himself get drowsier and drowsier. He wasn’t sure if his next words were said out loud or just in his thoughts, but they went something along the lines of, Then as long as the end is…

. . .

“Today was so much fun, Hamin!”

“Yeah, thanks for inviting us. But is your friend alright?”

“Eh, I’m sure he’s fine. He can just sleep over. Get home safe, Eunji, Taeyeon.”

So those were their names, Euiheon thought in his half-asleep state. He did vaguely remember the prettier girl’s name starting with “Eun.”

“Bye! Let’s hang out again soon,” Eunji said.

Though Euiheon’s eyes were still closed, he could picture Eunji checking Hamin out one last time before leaving. Hamin, being the clueless idiot that he was, probably just smiled and waved her goodbye.

“Sure,” he replied enthusiastically. “Text me whenever.”

Actually, no, Hamin wasn’t a clueless idiot, at least not when it came to girls. He was probably sharper than anyone else in that department. If even Euiheon could sense Eunji’s feelings for him, Hamin was sure to have caught on himself. Then, it was only a matter of time until he started yet another relationship.

It seemed Euiheon was fated to once again have to watch his friend stupidly grinning at his phone all the time. He winced at the thought of it. Just how many more times must he endure that sight?

The apartment door clicked shut. A few seconds later, Hamin stood in front of Euiheon, wondering what he should do about him. He leaned forward and gently shook the sleeping boy’s shoulder, who then slightly peeled his eyes open.

“Chewie, you’ve been out on the sofa for two hours. Your back’s going to hurt sleeping like that all night. Come on, you can use my bed.”

“You really don’t think twice about bringing someone to your bed,” Euiheon wanted to say. But he was so dazed that it simply came out as one long groan.

Perhaps it was due to the excessive alcohol he had consumed, but Euiheon was having trouble controlling his emotions. He was usually a very rational person who knew how to think before he spoke. But now, he couldn’t hide how angry he felt. If Hamin was so quick to notice the feelings of girls, why was he so dense when it came to his oldest friend?

“You’re such a dumbass,” Euiheon muttered.

“Huh? Why are you throwing punches all of a sudden, baby?”

Euiheon frowned. “Because you’re a dumbass… Baby.”

Hamin snorted. “You’re so drunk, dude. Fine, I’ll carry you to my bed.”

Hamin contemplated how he would go about lifting Euiheon up. Since the boy was sitting and not lying down, it would be awkward to try and lift him up from his side. After a good few seconds of deliberation, Hamin settled on kneeling so that Euiheon could wrap his arms and legs around him and be carried like an actual baby.

With Euiheon holding on to him tight, Hamin stood up with ease and started walking toward his bedroom.

“Ugh, why are you so damn strong?” Euiheon groaned into Hamin’s neck.

With Euiheon’s nose right up against Hamin’s skin, he took in his distinctly familiar scent. That mixed with the smell of alcohol in both their breaths was dangerously dizzying. Euiheon hugged Hamin even tighter, feeling like he might topple over any second.

“While I won’t deny that I am pretty strong, you’re also just really small and light,” Hamin said.

His low voice rang straight into Euiheon’s right ear, sending a chill down his back. Despite all the dumb things that came out of this boy’s mouth, the voice he used to say them was nonetheless very pleasant to hear.

“We’re here, Chewie. You can let go now.”

Euiheon shook his head, refusing to fall back onto the bed.

“Okay, so you become super clingy when drunk. Well noted.”

Hamin leaned forward to lower Euiheon onto his bed. But he didn’t take into account the fact that he’d also had quite a bit to drink that night. He quickly lost balance, collapsing on top of Euiheon.

“S‑Sorry!”

Hamin tried to push himself off, but Euiheon wouldn’t release him. Euiheon took one look into Hamin’s eyes and fully gave in to his emotions. He lifted his head up and kissed the boy he had spent practically his whole life calling his “friend.”

Hamin was so shocked that he stayed frozen in place, letting everything happen. Maybe he was just as drunk as Euiheon after all. How else could he explain the fact that repulsion wasn’t automatically the first feeling he got from sucking lips with his best friend?

Euiheon pulled away to breathe.

“W-What the fuck, Chewie…?”

Euiheon dropped his head back and closed his eyes. Just before passing out, he mumbled, “That’s why you should stop calling me ‘baby’ all the time. You don’t even know how I feel, dumbass…”