“Cheers!”

The soju glasses clinked noisily. Kang Jin-Ho watched his friends boisterously yap away while slowly shaking his head. Ostensibly, this get-together was supposed to celebrate Kang Jin-Ho's first leave, but it had quickly descended into festive mayhem.

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at Jeong In-Gyu. “Maybe you should stop drinking anymore…?”

“Listen, Jin-Ho…” Jeong In-Gyu muttered in a slurred voice.

“Mm?”

“I won't get another chance to cut loose and drink like this, so just leave me be, okay?”

“...Sure thing,” Kang Jin-Ho replied while sighing under his breath after noticing how unfocused and wasted Jeong In-Gyu's eyes were. “Has it been that hard?”

“Hah, not really.” Jeong In-Gyu cackled for some reason, then downed the soju shot glass in one go.

Lee Tae-Ho suddenly performed a splendid Italian salute at Jeong In-Gyu as if he had enough of this rubbish. “Listen, man. This punk, right here? Did you know that he found himself a girl in the cram school? He's totally wasting his time on romance and stuff!”

Feeling less than impressed now, Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes and stared, prompting Jeong In-Gyu to hurriedly wave both of his hands. “N-no, wait! That's not true. I'm studying hard, for real!”

However, Lee Tae-Ho didn't give up. “But, I heard you totally bombed your last mock test?”

“...Oh, that.” Jeong In-Gyu chuckled awkwardly and tried to brush it aside. “Nah, that's because that mock exam's difficulty was waaay too high. Seriously! My ranking in the cram school hasn't dropped, you know?”

“Oooh? But I also heard that your ranking got utterly obliterated...