Chapter 4: The Exhibition

‘…He’s here!’

As usual, Jun-ho opened the front door and entered the lecture hall just before class started. It was the first time Min-hyeon had seen him since the incident in the student center restroom. Min-hyeon’s body went rigid.

Jun-ho walked straight toward him. What would he say? Min-hyeon licked his dry, chapped lips. His mouth felt parched. With each step Jun-ho took closer, his heart pounded violently.

But despite all his tension, Jun-ho passed by Min-hyeon with an indifferent expression and sat down in his seat.

It was bewildering. Min-hyeon couldn’t help but turn his head to look at Jun-ho. He’d thought that after showing him that, Jun-ho would at least say something. But his attitude toward the other students crowding around his seat was no different from usual. He seemed completely unaware of Min-hyeon’s existence.

Min-hyeon was confused. Normally, if someone witnessed a scene like that, wouldn’t you at least try to silence them—tell them not to tell anyone? Jun-ho’s composure was so unshaken that it was Min-hyeon who ended up feeling restless instead.

‘Was it really a dream?’

When he thought about it, something did feel off.

At the time, Min-hyeon had clearly seen the man who had been kissing Jun-ho collapse on the restroom floor. Yet Jun-ho hadn’t paid him any attention at all. Could you be that calm if your lover suddenly fainted in the middle of a kiss? And on top of that, Jun-ho had even licked the blood from his lips.

At this point, it seemed more believable that he’d been seeing things that day.

The professor had already come in and was reading off the PPT. Min-hyeon listened with one ear and let it out the other, turning the thoughts over repeatedly, but he couldn’t figure out what was real.

“Alright, class is over—wake up if you were dozing off. I’m assigning a project. In pairs of two, visit any photography exhibition and submit a review. The deadline—let’s see—is before the start of class the week after next. The length should be within 20 A4 pages, including photos, with up to two pages dedicated to an overview of the exhibition. Students who haven’t found a partner should come to the assistant’s office before next week’s class and leave your name and student ID.”

Min-hyeon’s face clouded over. Having to fill twenty pages with a review was daunting enough, but a group project on top of that? He was completely at a loss.

After dropping that bombshell, the professor left, and the classroom grew noisy with people calling out names and forming groups. Finding a like-minded partner to team up with was never something that applied to Min-hyeon anyway. He planned to stop by the assistant’s office before heading home and leave his name, so he haphazardly swept his things into his bag.

The poster-lined path to the Art Theater, where the photography department’s assistant office was located, was in the opposite direction from the main gate. As he walked, Min-hyeon left a message for Min-woo, saying he might be a few minutes late because he had to stop by the assistant’s office for a group project. A reply came back immediately—telling him to be careful and not almost trip and fall like last time. He replied with just two “okay” marks again and walked slowly along the poster path.

‘Should I just ask if I can do it alone?’

The amount of work was heavy, and waiting until next week to team up with someone seemed a bit tight. Rather than scrambling to do the project in a hurry with someone he wasn’t even close to, doing it alone would be much better.

His footsteps felt heavy with these thoughts. As he trudged along with sluggish steps, Min-hyeon suddenly flinched at a large shadow cast before him and looked up. A tall man was blocking his path.

“Excuse me.”

It was Jun-ho.

‘When did he… Did he call me?’

Min-hyeon looked around. Seeing him do so, Jun-ho smiled.

He really was talking to him. Taken aback, his voice momentarily failed him, but he managed to return the greeting without being too slow.

“Oh, hello.”

“You know who I am, right?”

Min-hyeon hesitated, unable to answer immediately. What did he mean by that? Was he referring to when they’d run into each other in the student center restroom?

When Min-hyeon didn’t reply, Jun-ho spoke again.

“Back then, on the stairs…”

Ah, that.

“You… remember that?”

His ears immediately grew hot. Min-hyeon scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“We share a few classes too, don’t we?”

“You knew that too?”

Maybe it was true that he’d unintentionally lingered around Jun-ho more than he realized—but still, it made him happy that Jun-ho remembered him.

“Want to do the Photography Aesthetics group project with me?”

“Excuse me?”

“Did you already find someone to partner with?”

“No! Not yet!”

Min-hyeon quickly waved his hands. Jun-ho’s eyes curved into crescents.

“That’s a relief. Then do it with me.”

“Yes, yes!”

His already handsome face lit up with a bright smile, as if radiating a halo. Min-hyeon answered in a daze. Jun-ho’s smile deepened.

“Since we’re on the subject, shall we just do it today?”

“Yes, yes. Yes? Huh? No! I don’t think I can today.”

Enchanted by his beautifully crinkled eyes, Min-hyeon had answered carelessly before snapping back to his senses. Min-woo would be arriving at school soon.

“Then are you free tomorrow?”

“Yes! Definitely! Absolutely!”

Min-hyeon nodded fervently.

“I’ll look for something worth seeing.”

“Yes, yes! I’ll search too!”

Saying he’d see him tomorrow, Jun-ho turned and walked back the way he’d come. Min-hyeon stood rooted to the spot, watching his broad back stride toward the lecture building.

Jun-ho had asked him to be his partner for the group project. Was this a dream? He pinched his cheek, but it didn’t hurt much. Must be a dream after all.

“What are you doing here? Is there something on your face?”

“Huh? Hyung! How did you get in?”

At some point, Min-woo had come up beside him.

“I came to check on you so you wouldn’t trip and fall while running again.”

“What about the car? You didn’t just park it somewhere and come in like last time, did you?”

“I found a decent spot.”

“Ugh. Let’s go quickly before we get a ticket.”

Min-hyeon shoved Min-woo’s back, trying to hide his embarrassment. As they passed the lecture building, he glanced sideways, but Jun-ho was already out of sight.

Jun-ho’s car, which had driven smoothly through the streets, came to a stop in the underground parking lot of the Seoul Arts Center, where the photography exhibition was being held.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Min-hyeon got out of the car and held the door with both hands, closing it as gently as possible. Jun-ho’s car, bearing an emblem of four interlocking rings, looked several times more expensive than Min-woo’s. His movements instinctively became cautious.

Seeing that, Jun-ho smiled and told him to relax. As if to demonstrate, he gave the door a firm push, and a loud thud echoed through the underground parking lot. Min-hyeon jumped in surprise. Jun-ho laughed out loud again.

Jun-ho naturally took the lead, guiding Min-hyeon forward. His steps toward the third-floor exhibition hall, their destination, showed no hesitation as they exited the parking lot.

“Hyung, you must come here often.”

“Why?”

“Well, you drove all the way from school without even turning on the navigation, and even now you’re finding the way perfectly.”

“Well, I come by occasionally.”

“This is my first time. I have no idea where anything is. This place is really huge.”

Being alone with Jun-ho, he didn’t know what to say. He felt that keeping his mouth shut would be better than this rambling nonsense, but he couldn’t bear the silence.

Still, he felt a little more at ease than when he’d been in Jun-ho’s car earlier. He’d been so nervous in the car that he could barely remember what he’d said to Jun-ho during the drive.

‘Whatever I said, it couldn’t be more embarrassing than before.’

So it was fine. No, actually, it wasn’t fine at all. As the mortifying memories he’d tried to bury resurfaced, his ears burned again.

The sound of Jun-ho’s laughter, which had burst out when Min-hyeon—without even greeting him first—had blurted out “Hyung, let’s drop the formalities!” right after meeting him, was still vivid. He’d been thinking all of yesterday that he absolutely had to remember to speak informally when he saw Jun-ho, but at the very least, he should have greeted him first.

Min-hyeon’s toes, kicking at the floor instead of the blanket, unconsciously gained strength.

Perhaps because it was a weekday afternoon, the front of the exhibition hall was quiet. Min-hyeon held out his card to Jun-ho, who was about to buy tickets at the desk. Taking Min-hyeon’s card, Jun-ho wore a mischievous expression.

“What’s this? Are you trying to give me an allowance?”

“No, it’s for my ticket…”

“Don’t freshmen usually get treated by their seniors when they go out together?”

With a surprisingly serious face, Jun-ho tapped Min-hyeon’s forehead with the rounded edge of the card and handed it back. Min-hyeon rubbed his forehead for no reason, even though it didn’t hurt.

“Shall we go in?”

Jun-ho handed Min-hyeon a ticket.

“Hold on. Let me just send this one thing.”

“Take your time. There’s no rush.”

Min-hyeon bowed his head slightly and quickly finished composing his message.

14:44
Hyung, I’m about to go into the exhibition hall, so I’ll put my phone on airplane mode. I’ll call you when I come out.

He’d already told Min-woo last night that he was going to see a photography exhibition for the group project, but if his calls suddenly wouldn’t connect, Min-woo would probably get worried.

“All done?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go.”

“But hyung, did you download this app? They say it’s a free docent app. Let’s install it before we go in.”

Min-hyeon stopped Jun-ho, who was about to walk straight into the exhibition hall, and pointed at the information sign on the desk. Jun-ho smiled softly, then stood behind Min-hyeon, gently took his shoulders, and guided him into the exhibition hall.

“You can just search for explanations like that later anyway. Instead of trying to get information, just look at the works and feel them freely. Henri’s works aren’t that hard to empathize with.”

Jun-ho whispered in a low voice near Min-hyeon’s ear. It was probably to avoid disturbing other exhibition visitors, but for Min-hyeon, it was an overwhelming stimulus.

With a creaking, stiff motion, Min-hyeon slipped out of Jun-ho’s grasp. He felt like steam was rising from the top of his head. He was grateful for the dim lighting of the exhibition hall—at least this way, his flushed face might not be noticeable.

“Are you okay? Your face suddenly turned red.”

Min-hyeon hung his head deeply. His voice shrank as he answered Jun-ho.

“It’s, it’s just hot. It’s a bit warm in here. Ahaha,”

Flustered, his voice came out a little louder. Startled by his own voice, Min-hyeon covered his mouth and let out an awkward laugh.

‘Aaah! Why am I like this, really!’

Min-hyeon quickly pretended to examine the nearest transparent glass display case, bending over.

But it seemed the heat radiating from his face wasn’t just his imagination. The spot where Min-hyeon had been close to the glass was misted with white condensation. Horrified, he took a step back with a grimace. Fortunately, as Min-hyeon moved away, the white mist soon dissipated. Min-hyeon sighed in relief.

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