Hwang Hyunjin | 2k17

Russia, 2017.

Deep autumn smelled of wet asphalt, cigarettes, and cheap vodka. Gray apartment blocks stretched to the horizon, their windows glowing yellow.

Hwang Hyun-jin, an eighteen-year-old with tousled hair and a notebook full of demos in his backpack, was the local womanizer. He could spend the entire evening flirting with one girl, and an hour later be sitting next to another. He almost always had a red Marlboro in his fingers and his own crude recordings in his headphones.

Felix was also part of their group. They crossed paths, said hello, and exchanged a few words, but they weren't close.

That evening, the whole gang gathered again at Chan's. Music from the old speakers crackled throughout the apartment, plastic cups stood in the kitchen, someone was arguing over the last cigarette, and a cold rain drizzled outside the fogged-up window.

By midnight, almost everyone was already drunk.

Felix sat on the edge of the couch, watching the proceedings. Hyunjin stood nearby, laughing at some girl and holding a cigarette whose ashes should have long since fallen to the floor.

"Are you with your women again?" someone from the group chuckled.

"Are you jealous?" Hyunjin laughed.

Later, people began to disperse to their rooms. Some fell asleep on the floor, others went to the balcony.

Felix found himself alone in the kitchen. A minute later, Hyunjin walked in.

"Why so sour?" he asked, leaning against the countertop.

• Everything is fine.

• Yeah. I see.

They just looked at each other for a few seconds. Too close. Too long.

Hyunjin suddenly grinned.

• You're funny, Lix.

• You're drunk.

• And you too.

What happened next was so sudden that Felix didn't have time to say anything. Hyunjin leaned in, and their lips met in a brief, drunken kiss.

For a second, everything around seemed to fall silent.

Felix pulled away first, looking at him in shock.

Hyunjin didn't explain anything. He just stubbed out his cigarette, silently threw on his jacket, and left the apartment.

The door slammed.

And Felix remained in the kitchen, trying to figure out what the hell just happened.