He skipped writing a reply and hit the call button instead. The dial tone rang twice before the line connected.
– Hello?
“Are you busy?”
Go Hoon jumped straight to the point without so much as a greeting. But what came through the receiver was completely unrelated.
– Did you just wake up?
The hell kind of question is that? One eyebrow lifted, Hoon answered casually.
“Yeah.”
– Thought so. Your voice…
Bae Jung-yoon let his sentence trail off. Only then did Go Hoon clear his throat with a quick ahem.
Now that he thought about it, his voice did sound deeper than usual. That groggy, freshly-awake rasp gave him away immediately.
Feeling slightly awkward, Go Hoon scratched his cheek and reminded himself why he’d called.
“It’s about Park Ki-cheol sunbae—”
– Hoon.
Before he could finish, Bae Jung-yoon cut him off.
– Instead of talking like this, why don’t we meet up today?
***
After finishing the personal report due that day and emailing it to the professor, it was almost time to head out.
Go Hoon quickly got ready and stood in front of the bathroom mirror. His face looked as drained as ever, dark circles and fatigue etched deep.
He stared at the worn-out reflection for a moment, then dropped his gaze to check his outfit.
Black cotton joggers and a gray hoodie. He’d just grabbed whatever was close. But now, he suddenly wondered if it looked too sloppy.
Well, of course it does. Bae Jung-yoon was bound to show up looking sharp, like always. If they stood side by side, it’d just be another repeat of the usual glaring contrast.
Then again, who cares? It’s not like this was a date or anything. He wasn’t trying to impress anyone.
Shaking his head, Go Hoon went over to the shoe rack, grabbed the cleanest sneakers he could find, and stepped out of the house.
When he arrived at the main road near the station, he looked around. This was their meeting spot. He debated giving Jung-yoon a call to check how close he was when—honk!—a sharp horn blared from behind.
Startled, Go Hoon spun around. A spotless white car had pulled up right in front of him. The window rolled down—yep, it was Bae Jung-yoon behind the wheel.
“Get in.”
What am I, a damn dog? ‘Get in’, seriously? He grumbled inwardly, but not wanting to hold up traffic, he hurried into the passenger seat. Click. The door shut, and the car pulled off immediately.
“Did you eat dinner?”
With one hand casually on the wheel, Bae Jung-yoon asked. Buckling his seatbelt, Go Hoon glanced sideways at him.
“Yeah. I did.”
“What’d you have?”
“Kimchi fried rice.”
In reality, he’d just scarfed down a triangle kimbap right before leaving the house. Not knowing how long their talk would go, he’d wanted to be ready in case he had to head straight to the factory afterward.
He lied about the fried rice. He had a feeling that if he told the truth, Jung-yoon would either nag him or, worse, try to feed him.
“What about you?”
He tossed the question back, and after a brief pause, Jung-yoon replied.
“I ate too.”
Go Hoon gave a small nod of relief. If he’d been the only one who ate, things might’ve felt a bit awkward.
“Didn’t expect you to drive here.”
He’d assumed they’d just grab a seat at a nearby café or something. But Jung-yoon had brought a car. Was he planning to take him somewhere farther?
Just as suspicion started to form, Jung-yoon answered smoothly, voice even.
“I stopped by Yeo-jin’s neighborhood, then came straight here.”
Ah. So he’d been talking with Kim Yeo-jin. Probably about what happened yesterday. Now that he thought about it, didn’t Jung-yoon have class on Fridays?
“What about school?”
At the next red light, the car slowed to a stop. Bae Jung-yoon glanced over and smirked.
“Self-declared day off.”
Go Hoon scratched his cheek, feeling a little sheepish. While he’d been busy getting his own stuff done, Jung-yoon had apparently been running around handling things alone.
His emotions were complicated. Maybe it was because the guy who’d clocked Park Ki-cheol in the back of the head was sitting right next to him.
Watching that sharply defined profile, Go Hoon cautiously asked,
“How did Yeo-jin seem?”
“Better than I expected. Or maybe… she’s just pretending to be okay.”
“…And Park Ki-cheol?”
“Hmm… not sure.”
Bae Jung-yoon gave a light flick of his fingers on the steering wheel, then turned to Go Hoon with a languid smile.
“Wanna come with me?”
His voice was so soft, so smooth, that for a moment, Hoon almost mistook it for something else—like he was being invited to a flower viewing or a date at the movies.
***
Park Ki-cheol came to earlier that morning. The first thing he felt upon waking was a skull-splitting headache. Groaning, he reached up and found bandages wrapped around the back of his head.
“Oh my god, Ki-cheol! You’re finally awake?”
Still dazed, he blinked up as his mother rushed back into the room. She’d only stepped out to take a phone call in the hallway.
“…Mom.”
Still wincing, he called out to her with a furrowed brow. She burst into tears on the spot—then immediately started smacking his shoulder with her thick hands.
“I swear, you’re gonna be the death of me!”
“Ow! That hurts!”
“You should hurt! All you ever do is stress me out!”
“What the hell…? What even happened?”
She only stopped hitting him after she’d cried for a while. Finally calming down, she explained everything.
The night before, he’d gotten wasted and gone off to the bathroom alone—only to lose his balance and fall backward, slamming his head into the wall. He passed out cold. His juniors had eventually realized he was missing, found him unconscious, and rushed him to the ER. After an X-ray, CT scan, and MRI, the doctors confirmed there was no serious damage. The cut was stapled shut, and that was that.
But that wasn’t all she had to say.
Apparently, one of his juniors—some kid named Bae Jung-yoon—told her he had a contact at the hospital and offered to handle all the medical bills himself.
Ki-cheol, clueless as ever, immediately puffed up with pride.
Well, would you look at that? Kid knows how to respect his sunbae. Swelling with smug satisfaction, Ki-cheol was convinced: Bae Jung-yoon must think the world of him. Why else would he go so far as to cover hospital expenses?
Totally misreading the situation, Ki-cheol started fantasizing about how Jung-yoon could become his safety net—maybe even a fast track to success.
This is why you have to choose your friends wisely. Just one rich connection and you’re set for life.
He’d heard a rumor that Bae Jung-yoon was the son of some major corporation’s CEO. It hadn’t been confirmed, but everyone talked about it like it was fact, and that was good enough for Ki-cheol.
He used to think rich guys were all stuck-up jerks. So based on those rumors, he’d assumed Jung-yoon would be an arrogant snob. But that was clearly a mistake. From the very first meeting, the guy had seemed like a total pushover.
Even now—look at this. The guy had rushed over and gotten him a private room out of concern. What more proof did he need?
This was his big break. All he had to do was reel this guy in and ride the wave. Giddy with delusion, Ki-cheol’s mind started filling with rose-colored visions of the future.
But the fantasy didn’t last long.
As more time passed, a strange question began to form in the back of his mind. Lying in bed, idly replaying the events of the previous night, he began to notice something didn’t add up.
The fragments of memory that surfaced didn’t quite match what his mom had told him.
He remembered drinking with his juniors—including Kim Yeo-jin. That part aligned with her story. But from there, things diverged.
He hadn’t gone to the bathroom alone.
He remembered standing up after Yeo-jin said she was going and following her out. Then, taking her into a quiet alley, he’d tried to kiss her.
And then—Go Hoon had shown up out of nowhere.
Just remembering that part made Ki-cheol scowl.
“That bastard… Go Hoon…”
He cursed under his breath, his voice bitter, eyes narrowing. And then came the next question:
…What happened after that?
He vaguely remembered getting into a shouting match with Go Hoon, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall anything beyond that. His memory just… cut off.
At some point, his brain had gone completely blank.
Frustrated and confused, he gave up trying to piece it together and ate the lunch brought by the hospital.
Being in a VIP suite had its perks—the food was good. He devoured every last bite, not even leaving a scrap of side dish. Watching him polish off his tray, his mother said she had to run to the bank and stepped out for a bit.
Left alone, the hours passed. Around 1 o’clock, his phone rang—it was Bae Jung-yoon.
Ki-cheol greeted him cheerfully.
“Heyyy, Jung-yoon!”
– Sunbae, how are you feeling?
“Ah, you know, head’s still a bit sore… but this room’s great. Thanks to you, I’m resting real easy.”
– Ahh, is that so? That’s good to hear.
There was a vague disinterest in Jung-yoon’s tone, but Ki-cheol—oblivious as ever—didn’t notice. They exchanged a few light pleasantries, and then Jung-yoon got to the point.
– So… I didn’t tell your mom the truth. I didn’t want to scare her.
As the story unfolded, the smile on Ki-cheol’s face gradually faded.
It didn’t take long to realize—he was completely, utterly screwed.
