Goodbye My Delusion | TXT Beomgyu

13

The mud festival is within a fenced area beside the coast of Boryeong. The place is teeming with people, all covered to some degree in mud that dries like cracked clay on their skin. There is screaming, cheering, and dancing in front of the elevated stage—where a DJ plays popular K-pop hits and remixes. An equal amount of tourists and locals mix together, and I hear an amalgam of languages from all around the world.

"Which station do you want to try first?" Beomgyu asks. He looks as normal as he'll ever be in light blue board shorts and a gray t-shirt. He's bouncing in the heels of his feet, radiating excitement. His eyes scan the vast crowd and the different games like he's seeing color for the first time.

"How about we get covered in mud first?" I suggest, pointing to the station closest to us. It's a line of chairs with buckets of mud hanging over each one, suspended in the air with lines of string and wooden planks.

"Sounds good to me," Beomgyu says. "Let's go get dirty!"

I follow him as he jogs through the pack of mud-soaked people. Just by doing so, half of my clothing is already brushed with mud to some degree. I look over my shoulder, where the other members of TXT are mingling with the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies program-goers. I don't know why Beomgyu is choosing to spend time with me in private, but I'll take it. I want to spend as much time as possible in this fantasy realm, where everything is backwards and a wondrous boy sees me as worthy of his time.

I sit in a chair next to Beomgyu. He squirms while the game-master begins to call out numbers in Korean. I recognize his counting when he gets to three, and Beomgyu's excitement reaches new heights. I can practically feel him vibrating with the air pulsating around him.

"Oh my gosh," he says. "I can't believe we're doing this!"

I don't even have time to respond. I open my mouth just as the game-master calls out zero. The bucket of mud above me is tipped upside down, and I tense in my seat in expectation.

Ice-cold mud covers my hair, skin, and clothing. I scream along with Beomgyu as the sensation squeezes out the adrenaline in every inch of my body. When I manage to clear my eyes of the goop, I open my eyes and see Beomgyu in a mirrored state as me. He's shaking like a wet dog, but his smile is completely stunning—his white teeth showing through the mask of gray.

"I don't know whether I regret that," I say.

Beomgyu waves me off as we stand. "It was the best decision ever. What's a mud festival without getting as soaked as possible?"

"I guess being clean would defeat the purpose," I admit.

"Then let's get even dirtier than ever before," he says, linking his arm with mine.

"That sounds a bit strange," I say, not able to stifle my laughter in time.

Even though I'm not looking, I can sense his eyes rolling sideways. "Mind out of the gutter, my friend."

We meet up with the other members of TXT, almost in the exact midpoint of the festival. "What exploded next to you two?" Taehyun asks, clearly pointing out our muddied state.

"Getting muddy is the point of this festival," Beomgyu responds. "I thought you're the smart one here."

"Yeah, yeah." Taehyun points to the large pool of mud next to us, where two teams are facing off in a tug-of-war. "Let's try this one next. I think they're doing teams of six."

A brave spark of me causes me to speak out. "I'm in. Just don't put me in the very front. I'd probably crash into the other team head first."

"Alright!" Soobin cheers. "It's settled. We'll get lined up immediately."

We line up, and I laugh when Beomgyu begins to show off his dance moves to the girl-crush K-pop songs blaring through the surrounding boomboxes. He gyrates and puffs out his chest, attuning his body to the lyrics about falling in love for the first time.

"You're kind of being a showoff," I tell him.

He pouts at me. "I'm just warming up for the game. You should try it too."

"There's no way," I say. "I'm a horrible dancer."

He shakes his head in protest. "No such thing. You should've seen me when I came to Seoul for the first time. I could barely count to eight and bob my head."

I sigh while waiting in line. But Beomgyu's words stick with me. Soon, I'm hopping along to the beat of a BLACKPINK song.

"There you go," Beomgyu says. "Warm up those muscles."

Huening Kai looks over his shoulder with a suspicious gaze. "This is just the way I imagined Beomgyu would harass his roommate."

"No harassment is happening here," Beomgyu says. "Just lots of fun and dancing in the mud."

We wait until we're the next ones. Somehow, the game-master of this section has found out that we're representing Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. The opposite team is representing a different university.

"We have a team from Hankuk facing off against one from Seoul National University!" the announcer says into his microphone. He succeeds in garnering a scattering of cheers from the onlookers. "Let's grab the rope and get things started."

I'm sandwiched behind Beomgyu and in front of Taehyun. Way too quickly, the game-master is counting off from ten. I freeze in panic, with the knowledge of so many people staring, awaiting my fall into the giant mud pool.

"Relax, Jayden," Beomgyu says over his shoulder. "I can tell you're freaking out. But just rely on me and the members to win this thing. We got this."

His words buoy me up from my sea of worries.

"Three, two, one!"