Chapter 14: The Weight of Twenty Thousand Won.

“I’ll collect the dues! Current students, please pay 20,000 won each!”

Other tables began grilling meat as well, and with drinks already being poured, the atmosphere quickly grew louder and more boisterous.

The department president bustled around from table to table, adding to the general chaos.

Shin Joowon, having set the tongs down at some point, glanced sideways at Yooha, who was rummaging busily through his wallet.

He knows Yooha isn’t well-off, sure—but is that cheap-looking wallet some kind of concept? If it looks that worn, wouldn’t most people be too embarrassed and just buy a new one? Clicking his tongue inwardly, Joowon met eyes with Sung Hyerin, the department president, who had just come closer, and flashed her a smile.

“Hyerin, don’t collect the dues. Just give them back.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I’ll pay for everything later.”

“W–What? R-really?”

“Yeah. If it gets too much, I’ll say so then.”

Chuckling softly as if it were a joke, Shin Joowon slipped the bills that were halfway out of Yooha’s hand back into his wallet.

Yooha, who had been seriously considering surviving on convenience-store lunches for a while, stared at Joowon with wide eyes as Joowon closed the wallet himself and pressed it firmly back into his hand.

He felt dazed, wondering if he had really heard that right.

“Yooha, the meat’s going to burn.”

Only then did Yooha snap back to his senses and pick up the tongs again.

Holding the wallet Joowon had given him in one hand and the tongs in the other, Yooha diligently flipped the meat while mulling over something he’d once heard.

“I heard he once paid for an entire after-party with his own card.”

“So this is how chaebols really spend their money…”

As if to prove those rumors true, Shin Joowon once again casually offered to cover the entire after-party bill.

Just how rich did he have to be to say something like that without a moment’s hesitation? Even thinking about the price of a single pair of sneakers was enough to make Yooha feel like he was sitting on pins and needles.

As he worried his lower lip, Sung Hyerin—clearly moved—shouted at the top of her lungs, loud enough to shake the restaurant.

“Today’s after-party is paid for by Shin Joowon!”

Someone cheered, someone clapped, someone banged their spoon against the table, further stoking the already heated atmosphere.

Even amid all that noise, Yooha couldn’t tear his eyes away from Joowon.

Even if everyone only ate a single serving of meat, the total would be enormous—and adding alcohol on top of that could easily run into the millions of won. It might be a trivial amount to Shin Joowon, but for Yooha, it was an unimaginable sum.

Yet more than that unrealistically large figure, what felt most real to Yooha was the fact that thanks to Joowon, he had just saved 20,000 won.

He felt embarrassed at being indebted to him, but his heart trembled with gratitude all the same.

“Are you… really Shin Joowon sunbae?”

“Yes.”

“Wow… I thought maybe, but you really are him…”

One of the freshmen sitting across from them, who had been silent the whole time, murmured in a daze, his eyes shining behind his glasses.

But Shin Joowon didn’t spare him even a glance, despite the questions clearly bubbling on his lips.

Instead, at Sung Hyerin’s prompt to refill glasses, Joowon simply filled Yooha’s glass with alcohol.

“Yooha, pour me a drink too. Water, not alcohol.”

“…Water?”

“Yeah. I have to drive later.”

Smiling lightly, Shin Joowon held out his soju glass. Yooha quickly grabbed the water bottle with both hands and slowly filled it.

The freshmen across from them shot Joowon hopeful looks, clearly wanting a drink as well, but Joowon only looked at Yooha, signaling his thanks with his eyes.

In the end, the two freshmen awkwardly filled their own glasses and set the bottle down.

Not long after everyone’s glasses were filled, Sung Hyerin stepped to the center and naturally drew everyone’s attention. Holding her brimming soju glass high in the air, she raised her voice.

“Everyone’s got their glasses, right? Thank you for staying for the after-party today. Since Shin Joowon is treating us, let’s eat, drink, and get closer! The best! Class 1!”

“We love you!”

As if on cue, everyone shouted the same chant and clinked glasses.

Yooha met eyes with Shin Joowon as their glasses touched first, then—swept up by the mood—squeezed his eyes shut and poured the soju down his throat.

His uncle had once said he’d end up at drinking parties once he went to college and had let him taste alcohol as soon as he turned twenty, so Yooha had tried soju before.

But this was his first drink since then, and the sharp burn of alcohol rushing down his throat felt unfamiliar. Maybe because his stomach was empty, his whole body flared with heat. The unpleasant taste, like disinfectant, spread through his mouth, making him frown.

“Ah.”

“……”

“Hurry.”

While Yooha was wiping his mouth, Shin Joowon held out a well-grilled piece of pork belly right in front of his lips.

When Yooha froze with the back of his hand pressed to his mouth, flustered, Joowon even urged him to open up.

With the alcohol already coursing through his body, Shin Joowon’s steady gaze, and the sidelong glances from across the table, Yooha’s face felt like it might burst into flames.

His heart was pounding hard.

“Yooha, my arm’s going to fall off.”

When Yooha still didn’t react, Shin Joowon drooped his eyes into an exaggerated pout and prompted him again.

Slightly tipsy already from a single shot on an empty stomach, Yooha dipped his head and carefully took the meat. The perfectly grilled pork seemed to wash away the lingering taste of alcohol.

“You can’t handle alcohol well? Your face is already pretty red.”

“Yes… I’m not very good at it……”

Shin Joowon moved the cooked meat to the edge of the grill and briefly met Yooha’s eyes.

Looking closer, it wasn’t just his cheeks—his ears and the back of his neck were red too. Getting this flushed after just one shot of soju was something he’d never seen before, surrounded as he usually was by people who could drink endlessly without showing it.

‘Is this real, or is he acting?’

The thought crossed his mind, and Shin Joowon studied Yooha more intently.

Yooha had his palm pressed to his cheek, as if gauging its heat. It could almost look like deliberate acting—or like someone genuinely at a loss.

“Drink some water. It’ll help.”

“Thank you….”

I’ll watch a little longer.

Having reached that conclusion, Shin Joowon handed him water instead of alcohol. Yooha bowed excessively politely as he accepted it, then gulped it down in one go.

As Joowon watched him quietly, he soon looked away and reached into his pocket. His phone was vibrating. Glancing down under the table, he saw an incoming call labeled “Chairman.”

“Wait a moment. I need to take this call.”

“Yes…….”

If the caller was Chairman Shin, he had to answer. He had no intention of stepping out of his role as the beloved grandson just yet.

After giving Yooha’s shoulder a light pat, Shin Joowon stood up and scanned the area.

It was still early in the drinking session, and it didn’t look like people would start moving seats just yet. The freshmen across from them didn’t seem particularly outgoing either.

No one would probably come sit here while he was gone… but just in case.

Deliberately leaving some wet wipes and napkins scattered over his chair, Shin Joowon quickly left the table.

To avoid the call dropping, he stayed connected as he exited the restaurant completely, only then lifting the phone to his ear.

“Yes, Grandpa. It was noisy inside, so I stepped out. Sorry I’m late picking up.”

Putting on an affectionate tone with ease, Shin Joowon looked around. Spotting a quiet alley nearby, he headed there without hesitation.

One hand slipped into his coat pocket, slowly toying with the cigarette case and lighter inside.

—”You weren’t home yet, so this old man got worried and called.”

“Ah, it’s the start-of-semester general meeting today. I’m at the after-party right now, so I’ll be a bit late.”

There was no curfew, and his daily life wasn’t particularly restricted, but Chairman Shin would occasionally call out of concern when Joowon came home late.

Joowon knew it bordered on overprotection.

Still, he gladly accepted it—watching his older brothers get jealous every time never got old.

—”Is it a drinking party? Should I send Secretary Kim?”

“It’s okay. I’m not planning to drink today.”

—”Good. If you can avoid it, that’s best.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t be too late.”

He answered earnestly, even as he absentmindedly nudged a small pebble on the ground with his toe. But Shin Joowon’s patience was wearing thin. The call with his grandfather mattered, but Jin Yooha was a far more pressing concern right now. He didn’t have the leisure to drag this out.

Thinking it was about time to wrap things up, he slowly turned back toward the restaurant.

“Grandpa, I should head back in now. My friends are waiting.”

—”Alright, alright. If you need Secretary Kim, call me.”

“Yes, I will.”

Ending the call smoothly, Shin Joowon slipped his phone back into his pocket.

Just as he quickened his pace, eager to return to the restaurant, the sight that greeted him made his brow crease slightly.

“Where did you go?”

Sitting beside Jin Yooha was Min Gihwan.