Ch.26026. Black Rose

“So what.”

Hana mulled over the words she had spat out quite a while ago.

Her reddened cheeks betrayed her emotional state.

“Unni. Are you saying I look like I have feelings for Lee Suhyeok right now?”

Her speech was less articulate than usual.

Her pronunciation strangely slurred.

It seemed like she herself probably didn’t even realize what state her face was in as she blurted those words out.

Seo-eun just found Hana’s reaction cute.

“No~ I never said anything like that, why would you think that~”

For now, there was no benefit in needlessly provoking her.

And even without provocation, perhaps with time…

Seo-eun held back her words and smiled gently.

“No. If you push it like that, the others will misunderstand too.”

Despite her protests, the other members were too busy eating meat to care about their private conversation.

Even Juyeon, sitting across from them, was focused on her samgyeopsal mukbang without even looking up.

With a perilla leaf placed on her small hand, she was enjoying her food with her own perfect combination formula.

‘One piece of meat, a quarter teaspoon of ssamjang, two cloves of garlic. And finally, a piece of grilled kimchi.’

Having made a wrap perfectly sized for her mouth, she was absorbed in her own world, efficiently inhaling the meat.

“Suhyeok hyung! Switch with us!”

The junior guys, having already finished a bowl of rice, swarmed around Suhyeok again.

“No, you guys eat more. I’m really full.”

“Come on~ How can we let our senior grill the whole time!”

As Taeho practically confiscated the tongs, Suhyeok had no choice but to step back slightly and stand awkwardly beside them.

“Suhyeok hyung. Ready to go hard on the drinks today?”

Twenty years old.

The age when one proudly carries their ID card on their forehead.

For them, drinking was combat, and alcohol tolerance was fighting power.

“If we’re drinking, we drink.”

Suhyeok had realized during previous drinking sessions that he wasn’t actually that bad at it.

“Ooh~ Let me mix you a refreshing somaek!”

Taeho responded enthusiastically despite coughing from the smoke rising from the grill.

There was also some calculation that becoming friends with Suhyeok, who played guitar, would definitely be beneficial.

After being properly put in his place by Hana during early band practice, he hadn’t been able to approach Suhyeok much.

If he wanted to improve his playing, sticking close to Suhyeok seemed like the right move.

From what he’d heard, Suhyeok was rumored to be a “guitar god.”

He thought he’d heard that Suhyeok could play extremely difficult songs.

Unfortunately, the junior hadn’t heard until the end that Suhyeok was actually a one-trick pony.

“By the way, Suhyeok hyung, do you play any other games?”

Though his ankle was bothering him, Suhyeok preferred these kinds of conversational topics.

He felt like he might break out in hives if he had to keep sitting among the girls.

After some time passed with the juniors’ one-sided questions and Suhyeok’s explanations, Seo-eun rushed over to the grill and instructed them to stop cooking.

“Oh my goodness. We won’t be able to eat all of this.”

Today’s grocery shopping had been a quantity control failure.

Still, having too much was wiser than not having enough.

The Spirit members carried in the trash and leftover food.

Now it was time for the highlight of the day and the MT—drinking.

“Alright, fill your glasses~”

A college MT on a budget never goes without the sound of cheapness.

The small paper soju cups were filled to the brim with clear liquid.

Traditionally, the president should make the first toast at such gatherings.

Seo-eun, who had been sitting on the floor, cleared her throat and stood up.

“Well~ This is the first time our Spirit 23rd and 24th generations are drinking together as a complete group!”

“Let’s all manage our condition wisely!”

“Nice to meet you all~~ Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

Five from the 23rd generation.

Six from the 24th generation.

Following Seo-eun’s instruction to sit balanced with the juniors, Suhyeok ended up sitting next to Hana.

Suhyeok’s table was arranged with students facing each other by year, as if it were an interview.

“Jiho, are you good at drinking?”

Hana filled Jiho’s glass to the brim with a bold attitude, holding the soju bottle.

“Ah… I think I can handle about one bottle.”

Jung Jiho, the bassist of the 24th generation.

With his calm impression, he was a man standing on the strange boundary between being popular and being a loner.

He tended to become quieter among talkative people, and conversely, would chatter away among quiet people.

He possessed a personality that allowed him to get along well wherever he went.

In a way, it matched well with the image of the bass as an instrument.

“What about Jiyeon?”

Sung Jiyeon, the female vocalist of the 24th generation.

She stood at the opposite end of the spectrum from Jiho.

In MBTI terms, an extreme E.

Whether it was drinking gatherings or social meetings.

Never missing anything, she exuded supreme social energy.

“If it’s from you, unni, I’ll take it no matter what~”

Her comments were extraordinary from the start.

“Wow~ I think I’m the weakest one here!”

For Hana, who didn’t handle alcohol well but enjoyed it, the MT was a welcome event.

Generally, the problem for those weak with alcohol is the difficulty getting home, but today she could drink recklessly and simply pass out without any responsibility.

“Cheers!”

Small talk circulated around each table.

The topic at Suhyeok’s table was, of course:

“Unni, so I even held hands with him in front of those stairs, right? But the next day, there was absolutely no contact!”

“That’s suspicious?”

“Right?”

While the girls were sharing their own theories of romance, Jiho and Suhyeok were just munching on the snacks in front of them.

When there’s nothing to say, you tend to keep eating something.

Suhyeok had already downed two more glasses than the others.

“Hyung, you said you don’t date, right?”

Jiho, feeling awkward about Suhyeok’s silence, tried to start a conversation.

“Ah. Yeah…”

Though he agreed, the more accurate answer might be that he couldn’t rather than wouldn’t.

“Have you ever dated before?”

Seeing that the conversation wasn’t likely to continue, Jiho asked a more in-depth follow-up question.

“Well…”

Hana’s ear perked up toward Suhyeok.

“Right, right~ Ah, I really hate that kind of thing.”

While her mouth was automatically responding to Jiyeon’s comments, Hana found herself unconsciously focusing on Suhyeok’s voice.

“No, I haven’t.”

Suhyeok scratched his head with an awkward smile.

Right.

Being single wasn’t a crime.

Pretending to have a girlfriend when he didn’t wouldn’t benefit him anyway.

Meanwhile, Hana’s lips twitched slightly at Suhyeok’s answer.

She couldn’t understand why.

The fact that Lee Suhyeok had never dated before shouldn’t have any effect on her, but Hana felt strangely more energized.

“Alright! Shall we have another drink?”

Hana raised her glass.

With a lethal dose of one bottle of soju, she could already feel the intoxication creeping up.

Ah… It seems like we haven’t even been drinking for an hour yet…

Determined to endure with mental strength, she let out an old-man-like exclamation.

“Everyone! Let’s play a drinking game!”

Seo-eun, sitting at the far end of the opposite table, called the members together.

Honestly, it wasn’t an ideal number of people for games, but it wasn’t impossible either.

“If you lose, one shot of soju! Black knights and black roses allowed! If someone drinks for you, you grant them one wish!”

“Sounds good!”

“Let’s get started then!”

“Jiyeon’s favorite random game~ What game~”

A scene he’d only seen online was being recreated right before his eyes.

Suhyeok, his body completely stiff, awkwardly tried to follow the dance moves.

He had said he would practice this, but…

Now that he was actually doing it, Suhyeok found it hard to keep up with the tempo.

It made online gaming feel like a walk in the park in comparison.

“Suhyeok, three!”

“Su.”

His timing was already off.

Playful jeers were directed at him.

“Ah~ The alcohol is going down~ Glug glug glug glug glug glug”

He drank.

“Suhyeok hyung! Take another glass!”

He drank again.

“Ah! Lee Suhyeok! Do better!”

And Suhyeok had to drink again.

Juyeon, who was also socially awkward, was either forgotten by everyone or unfairly never seemed to get caught.

Why am I the only one being treated so harshly?

After drinking four times in a row.

He could feel the tipsiness hitting him hard.

Hana, sitting next to Suhyeok, started to have internal struggles.

‘Should I help him just once?’

If Hana had been good at drinking, she would have readily stepped up and coolly downed a glass for him, but she was even weaker than Suhyeok.

Who was looking out for whom here?

Nevertheless, Suhyeok’s flushed skin bothered her, and just as she made a big decision—

“…I’ll drink for him.”

Hana, who was about to pick up the glass, fixed her gaze on the owner of the voice.

Juyeon, who had been quietly passing her turns until now, slowly stood up.

“Ooooh~ Park Juyeon~”

“Juyeon unni is so cool!”

“Wow!”

The rest of the members let out exclamations in unison.

“Y-you’ll give me the wish token, right?”

It was her grand first step to save a fellow socially awkward comrade from the oppression of the popular crowd.