Sorim Grapes is Wronged

How to Live Carelessly

Since it was evening, there were many students having drinking parties on mats spread out here and there on the campus grounds. There were also older adults in various places. Probably professors… I walked thinking that the students sitting with them must really hate it.

The street lamps on campus all lit up at once, creating quite a nice scene.

Of course, it’s nothing compared to Pelen, the port city of the Sojisis Empire.

They say Pelen was completely destroyed during the war, but all the citizens worked together to rebuild it diligently. It was so beautiful that if I hadn’t heard the explanation, I would never have guessed it was a place that had experienced the pain of war.

The colors of the building exteriors are bright, the shop awnings are colorful, and the pavement blocks are neat. As you walk around, you can hear children’s laughter and minstrels’ songs. The background music is so lively that I imagine even the workers carrying steel beams must have done so energetically.

Above all, the fact that there’s a fishing spot in the city was appealing. You can fish as a kind of mini-game from the arched overpass, and I’ve never failed at it. Sometimes you can catch rare fish species here to make bait, and if you cast your line in the ‘Pelen Swamp’ field outside the city, you can even catch special monsters. That’s one of my goals. Real-life fishing just made me angry, but game fishing is fun.

Ah, I should hurry and catch fish to make bait. This isn’t the time for that…

“Oh, hyung!”

“Oppa, over here.”

Jin and Da-bin, who spotted me, raised their hands and called out, so I stopped thinking about the game and went over to them.

There was already an opened beer can on the large mat. The chicken was untouched. Jin only opened the chicken box when I sat down. Fortunately, it hadn’t gotten cold, but I was still displeased.

“You should have started eating.”

“I suggested that, but she made me out to be a complete delinquent, so I had no choice.”

“How could we eat without oppa? Oh, what’s that?”

I opened the bag I was holding.

Just in case, I bought some beer snacks. Things like peanut butter squid and crackers.

“You didn’t have to buy anything. We have too much food. We’ll definitely have leftovers.”

“Why are you being modest? This won’t be enough, and we’ll eat it all and go for late-night snacks.”

“Ah, I’m not a pig. Ha Jin eats it all.”

“By the way, what’s the occasion today? Why are there so many people?”

I asked, looking around. Jin answered.

“It’s almost exam period, and the weather is nice.”

“It’s exam period?”

“Yeah, hyung. I don’t have to do well on the exams, right? I’ll just make sure not to get an F.”

“Of course…”

I was about to say of course he doesn’t have to do well, and neither does Da-bin, but before I could open my mouth, Da-bin spoke.

“Don’t say such nonsense. You’ve made it to Korea University, how can you be so lazy? Just enjoy chicken and beer today, but from tomorrow, it’s straight to the library, got it? Oppa, we’ll be studying at the library until closing time from tomorrow, so don’t wait for Jin and go to sleep first.”

“Uh… if you say so.”

I nodded, dazed by Da-bin’s forcefulness.

In my opinion, there’s no need to study hard anymore… Shouldn’t they try their best not to study hard?

When there’s no need to worry about money, it seems wrong to spend your irretrievable youth just studying hard. Since you never know what might happen to a person, I think it’s right to spend time having as much fun as possible.

If someone else had said this, I would have immediately objected, but since it was Da-bin, I let it slide. It would surely be embarrassing to object right here.

We drank beer while talking about the ducks appearing in the lake and watching cats roaming around stealing delicious food.

“I want to raise a cat too. The place I’m living now allows pets. Should I adopt one?”

“Please do. If you get a cat, I’ll seriously come to your place every day.”

“Don’t. Leaving aside the money, you have to clean up poop, there’s the smell of cat food, and they shed a lot of fur, so no.”

“Oppa, how do you know when you’ve never raised a cat?”

That’s what our mom and dad said when they objected. To dogs and cats…

“That’s right. How do you know if you’ve never raised one? Even if the fur shedding and poop smell are bad, humans melt when they show a bit of aegyo, right? I don’t think it’s bad to try raising one. No, I’m completely for it.”

“Hey, your extreme support is making me lose the desire to raise one.”

“Are you kidding me… Are you really my girlfriend?”

“Because I am your girlfriend. As expected, bringing in a life should be done after serious consideration.”

“Oh, geez.”

Jin pursed his lips.

“Hyung, should we just adopt one? I’m okay with a dog too. Even two is fine. A dog and a cat would be nice. Or maybe a ferret. Or a hamster… People even raise flying squirrels.”

“Whatever it is, if you want to raise it, move out and then do it. As long as we’re living together, I won’t allow it even if dirt gets in my eyes.”

“Hyuuung. I’ll clean up the poop and fur, everything. You just have to think they’re cute.”

“I said move out and raise them.”

“You’re too much, really…”

Jin whined. But he’s probably not being serious. If he really wanted to raise pets, he would have moved out and had several by now.

“The presence of a pet would definitely be helpful…”

“What kind of help?”

“Never mind, hyung. Let’s just drink.”

I can’t miss this drinking time allowed by the younger ones. I quickly clinked my beer.

As we were chatting and drinking beer…

“Oh, Ha Jin and Ju Da-bin. Hello?”

I heard someone cheerfully greeting from behind me. When I turned around, there were two large male students. The one who spoke brightly with a smile had yellow dyed hair, and the one behind… was extremely handsome. With strong features and a solid build, he seemed like he’d be popular. A physical education student maybe…

I feel like I’ve had this thought before.

I soon realized that guy was the same one from before. The one who glared at me fiercely when I went to the smoking room while running an errand for my brother recently.

“Oh, it’s Kwon Je-beom. Hi, Je-beom.”

“I was the one who said hello first, why are you ignoring me?”

“Yu Min-su was here too?”

“This is ridiculous. I called out both your names. But that chicken looks really delicious. Let me join you.”

The yellow-haired guy sat down on our mat.

“This bastard. What the… We didn’t even invite you to si-“

Jin started to scold him but stopped mid-sentence. Da-bin also went quiet. They looked a bit flustered.

“……”

Roughly assessing the situation, it seems Jin and Da-bin were flustered because the handsome guy next to the yellow-haired one also silently sat down.

And he happened to sit right next to me. I’ve never seen such a large person up close, so I felt a bit intimidated. I barely resisted the urge to lift my hips and move away.

“I’m hungry, can I have some chicken?”

“Uh… I guess so.”

“Why so lukewarm? This guy really knows how to make people feel unwelcome. Ju Da-bin, why are you dating a guy like this?”

“I don’t know either. We’ve been dating since some point. It’s one of the seven wonders of the world. But can’t you leave and just let Kwon Je-beom stay?”

“As if anyone would doubt you two are a couple, geez.”

Yu Min-su, Kwon Je-beom. The names were familiar, and when I racked my brain, I remembered they were the two Da-bin mentioned when she asked if she should introduce her friends while we were eating meat.

Yu Min-su was the flirty one… and Kwon Je-beom was… some kind of big shot.

The yellow-haired guy clearly had “flirty” written all over his face, while the quiet one exuded tremendous charisma.

Although the sudden joining isn’t really welcome, since they’re friends with the younger ones, I should manage my image well.

“Hyung, you know this bastard, right? He’s been to our house too.”

When I nodded, the yellow-haired one greeted me.

“Hyungnim, thank you for that time.”

“That time?”

“When the vending machine in the smoking room was broken, you got our drinks with some kind of strange superpower, remember?”

“Ah…”

So this guy was there too. The presence of that quiet guy was so strong that the people around him were blurry. Come to think of it, I think the yellow-haired one was also acting friendly and approaching me at that time.

“Did they fix the vending machine?”

“Yes, it hasn’t broken down since then.”

“That’s good.”

“Hyungnim, do you know my name?”

“It’s Yu Min-su, right?”

“You knew from what Kim Ha Jin said, right? When I sat down earlier, you had a ‘Who is this crazy stranger?’ expression. Even though this is our third time meeting, please try to remember my face and name.”

“The name is too complicated. I could remember it if it was something like Yu-no-rang.”

“Wow…”

Da-bin giggled beside me. This time, Jin introduced the quiet one.

“Hyung, you’re seeing this one for the first time, right? His name is Kwon Je-beom, and he’s the same age as us. Je-beom, say hello. This is our hyung. Not a close hyung, but a real brother. Connected by blood.”

The quiet one bowed his head stiffly with a rigid expression.

“Hello.”

“Yeah, hi.”

It’s the first time I’ve heard his voice, but it was very low and atmospheric.

“Hyungnim, isn’t Kwon Je-beom’s name more complicated than mine? Wouldn’t it be better if he changed it to Kwon-kkamang?”

“No. His name is cool, why change it?”

“Wow… You’re too much.”

I thought ‘Kwon Mi-nam’ would be more memorable. Because he’s really handsome.

After accusing Beombiga of being a lookist like that… When faced with an exceptionally handsome face, I keep focusing on the face. That’s how powerful good looks are.

Suddenly, I remembered Beombiga lamenting about how difficult life was because of their appearance. Maybe they weren’t extremely ugly, but extremely handsome?

“Anyway, it’s nice to see you, hyungnim, while passing by. Let’s cheers.”

The yellow-haired guy arbitrarily opened one of our beer cans and held it out to me. As I picked up my can, the quiet guy next to me hurriedly opened a new can. Does he want to… cheers?

“……”

The quiet guy held the can with his large hand and glanced at me repeatedly. It seems he wants to cheers.