Turning his head, Go Hoon saw Bae Jung-yoon approaching with a bright smile as he called out to him.
“Why didn’t you say hi? Looked like you saw me.”
He must have caught Go Hoon trying to sneak past like a thief without making eye contact. Glancing briefly at the group watching him, Go Hoon finally opened his mouth a beat late.
“You looked busy.”
He debated whether to add anything else. Not that he was particularly good at steering conversations toward a safer topic. Besides, his brain—probably due to fatigue—refused to waste energy on anything unnecessary.
“Enjoy your lunch.”
Go Hoon couldn’t manage anything more and hurried to close out the exchange. Judging from the looks of it, they were all heading out for lunch together, and he had no desire to tag along or stay under their attention any longer.
Giving them a small nod, Go Hoon turned away without hesitation.
“I’ll get going, then. See you around.”
Just then, from behind, he heard Bae Jung-yoon’s voice casually bidding goodbye to the others. Footsteps followed him—long strides quickly catching up.
“You’re going to eat lunch, right?”
Having closed the distance with his long legs, Jung-yoon naturally struck up conversation. Go Hoon glanced at him sideways and responded curtly.
“Yeah.”
“What are you eating?”
“Cafeteria food.”
After answering plainly, Go Hoon returned the question.
“Aren’t you eating lunch?”
He’d assumed Jung-yoon was heading off with that group. Catching the implied question, Jung-yoon shrugged playfully.
“I am. Right now.”
Then, he placed a hand on Go Hoon’s shoulder.
“Let’s go already, Hoon. I’m starving.”
Pulled along by that hand, Go Hoon’s pace quickened. From Jung-yoon, who now stood even closer, drifted that familiar, cool yet comforting scent once again.
***
In the bustling lunchtime crowd of the student cafeteria, Go Hoon ate with Bae Jung-yoon.
With his face almost buried in his tray, Go Hoon shoveled food into his mouth. The reason was simple. Jung-yoon’s gaze, fixed intently from across the table, felt a little too much. Not once did those deep black eyes leave him—as if observing how he ate.
“Why are you staring?”
Unable to take it anymore, Go Hoon blurted out. Jung-yoon answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“You just eat really well.”
Go Hoon frowned. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Was that a compliment or a diss? Usually, the trick to deciphering ambiguous comments was reading someone’s expression—but with that ever-gentle smile on Jung-yoon’s face, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Was he saying the way he ate ruined the appetite? Or maybe mocking him for scarfing it down like a slob? With a crooked raise of his brow, Go Hoon shot him a look, but Jung-yoon just rested his chin on his hand and posed a lazy question.
“Why do you eat so fast? You act like someone’s chasing you.”
Of course. So he was being called out for eating too fast.
Convinced, Go Hoon’s gaze fell from Jung-yoon’s tray to his own. Sure enough, there was a clear difference in how much food remained. They’d started with nearly the same portion, but now the disparity was obvious.
“It feels like a waste of time.”
He answered while shoveling another spoonful into his mouth. Jung-yoon immediately followed up.
“Mealtime does?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I guess you don’t like eating with me.”
At the relaxed comment, Go Hoon’s fingertips twitched involuntarily. It was a natural reaction—he’d always found Jung-yoon’s presence quietly unsettling.
Still, he just looked at him with an expression that said, What are you even talking about? What could possibly have led to that conclusion?
“If you eat alone, you can finish quickly and get up. But with me, you have to wait around.”
Ah. So that’s what he meant.
Only then did Go Hoon understand. Because Jung-yoon ate so slowly, whenever they shared a meal, it was inevitable that Go Hoon would have to wait. Realizing this, he instinctively began to slow his usual rapid pace.
“It’s not like that, so take your time.”
He stirred his soup once, then hesitated before adding,
“Better to eat together than alone.”
It wasn’t just something he said to cover his tracks.
For Go Hoon, eating had long ceased to be about enjoyment. It was a purely mechanical act—refueling to keep working, or simply staying alive.
In truth, it made more sense to say he “got it over with” rather than “had a meal.” Life had taught him to rush through meals, always pressed for time thanks to his part-time jobs.
This morning, while having breakfast with Jo Seong-il, Go Hoon suddenly had a thought: as expected, having someone to eat with is much better than eating alone.
It had been a while since the usually quiet house had been filled with the sound of someone’s voice. That unfamiliar experience didn’t feel all that bad to him. Of course, the sentiment might change depending on who the other person was.
Still, maybe it was because he kept running into Bae Jung-yoon so often these days, but sitting face-to-face like this didn’t feel as uncomfortable as it used to. And avoiding people wasn’t always the best solution anyway.
Hearing Go Hoon’s reply, Bae Jung-yoon gave a quiet chuckle and resumed eating. Go Hoon glanced now and then at his tray as he moved his hands. Then, a sudden curiosity struck him, and he opened his mouth.
“Since we’re on the topic, do you always eat that slowly?”
If Go Hoon was on the extreme end of eating quickly, then Bae Jung-yoon was the exact opposite. Most guys wolfed down their meals and then buried their faces in their phones, but he wasn’t like that at all.
Today was no different. Jung-yoon calmly chewed the food in his mouth for over a minute before swallowing and responding.
“It’s a habit. I got seriously sick once from eating too fast when I was a kid. Since then, I’ve always eaten slowly. Back in middle and high school, I was always the last one left in the cafeteria.”
I see. Go Hoon gave a small nod and asked another question.
“How bad was it for you to change like that?”
“I was sick for a week. Couldn’t eat properly, and I lost like five kilos.”
Five kilos? No wonder it changed his eating habits.
Go Hoon recalled that he, too, had suffered from indigestion just once. His stomach had gotten completely upset, and he’d spent the whole day lying in his room doing nothing, barely able to groan in pain. For someone who took pride in his robust health, the memory stood out even more vividly.
There’s nothing quite as disempowering as being sick. Especially when there’s no one around to take care of you. Well, Bae Jung-yoon probably hadn’t been alone like that, though.
“Sounds like you went through hell.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
Jung-yoon’s reply came in a slightly vague tone, then he added,
“Eating slowly is supposed to be healthier, Hoon-ah. No matter how busy you are, don’t eat too fast.”
He spoke with a gentle smile before falling quiet again, focusing on his meal.
Watching him eat in silence, Go Hoon thought, ‘It’s not like I don’t know that. It’s just that life’s been so hectic, I couldn’t afford to eat slowly.’
He pushed down that sharp-edged thought and smoothed it out. Everyone leads a different kind of life, after all.
“Ah.”
Quietly moving his spoon, Go Hoon suddenly let out a small exclamation—something had come to mind.
“I picked up a used laptop this morning. Got it for cheap, and the specs aren’t bad. Pretty light, too.”
As Jung-yoon blinked his dark eyes at him, Go Hoon added, almost sheepishly,
“Just in case you were still thinking about it. Don’t worry.”
It felt awkward to bring it up on his own, but for some reason, he felt he had to tell Jung-yoon.
They’d nearly gotten into an argument over that laptop situation, and on top of that, he wanted to let him know that he’d managed to take care of it himself—without help. But now that he’d said it, he wondered if he’d overdone it a bit.
With his chopsticks still in his mouth, chewing slowly, he noticed Jung-yoon staring at him silently before letting out a quiet laugh.
“Good job.”
That was all. Nothing followed. It felt like there had been a long pause before the response, but Go Hoon simply nodded and turned back to his meal. Now and then, he glanced at Jung-yoon’s tray to match his pace.
***
Finishing their lunch around the same time, the two of them cleaned up and exited the cafeteria.
With his stomach full, Go Hoon was about to say goodbye and head home when someone suddenly slung their arms around both of them from behind.
“Yo! How was lunch?”
The intruder was none other than Jo Seong-il.
“I figured you’d be eating here, so I was lying in wait.”
Seong-il grinned wickedly as he looked at Go Hoon, then turned to greet Bae Jung-yoon as well.
“Hi, Bae Jung-yoon. Looks like you two had lunch together again today.”
“Yeah. We just ran into each other.”
“What was on the menu?”
“Duck bulgogi.”
Go Hoon studied Seong-il’s face as he chatted with Jung-yoon. He still seemed to be recovering from a hangover, but compared to the wreck he’d been that morning, he looked a lot better now.
Seong-il must’ve noticed the intense stare because he turned to face him.
“Why’re you looking at me like that, Hoon-ah? Your eyes are practically sticky.”
“You looked like a zombie earlier, like death warmed over. You’re looking human again.”
“Damn right. If I were still dead, I wouldn’t be the Jo Seong-il you know.”
What exactly made him so smug, Go Hoon couldn’t tell—but Seong-il gave him a grin that was impossible to hate.
“Anyway, thanks for earlier. You saved me from sleeping on the sidewalk.”
“You need to cut back on the drinking. Act your age.”
“What are you talking about? I’m still full of youthful fire! You’re just an old man in a young man’s body, you little punk.”
Ignoring Seong-il’s playful scolding, Go Hoon changed the subject right away.
“Did you eat?”
“Yeah, grabbed a bowl of jjajangmyeon just down the street. Speaking of which—let’s hit a café. Drinks are on me.”
Seong-il pulled both of them by the arm at once. Then, Bae Jung-yoon, who had been quietly listening, chimed in with a gentle tone.
“What are you talking about? Do you owe Hoon something?”
