By the time Min Siheon and Kang Taeyoon came back upstairs with their drinks, all five of us were finally seated together for the first time in a while. Saying it was hot, Yoo In-ho fanned himself with his hand—then promptly gulped down my iced Americano.
“Hey, that’s mine…!”
“Come on, share a little between friends.”
That bastard. Even though it was break, nothing about him had changed. I leaned back in my chair with a sulky expression, telling him to do whatever he wanted, and Min Siheon, who was sitting beside me, pushed his own coffee over in front of me.
“Huh? What’s this? I only had one sip. You drink it.”
I was about to take back the coffee Yoo In-ho had stolen and return it, but Min Siheon reached out and handed the returning cup back to Yoo In-ho instead.
What are you two doing right now?
I just stared at the scene, dumbfounded.
Then Min Siheon, who had been smiling faintly, shifted his gaze toward me. He was smiling—but he didn’t look particularly pleased.
“I already had a cup this morning, so I don’t really want it. In-ho, you just drink that. And Jungwoo, I’ll give you mine. You already had a cup too, didn’t you? It’s not good for your stomach, so just have a little.”
“Huh? Uh….”
Yoo In-ho was too busy loudly celebrating his free coffee like he’d hit the jackpot. Normally, I would’ve nagged him about having some conscience. But for some reason, I felt this strange pressure and couldn’t say anything.
When I tilted my head, glancing sideways, Min Siheon’s heavy gaze dropped. With his arms crossed, staring somewhere at the table, he didn’t look very comfortable.
Was he pretending not to show it, but actually not happy about today’s meetup? He hadn’t said anything until now, so I hadn’t noticed. Min Siheon was the type who had surprisingly strong likes and dislikes.
Let’s smooth it over later. After brushing it off like that, I was about to rejoin the others’ conversation.
“Wait, you already had a cup? What time did you guys even meet? I was only 30 minutes late.”
“Yeah~ what time did we meet?”
“…….”
Shouldn’t have chimed in. That bastard Go Heemin never knew how to just let something slide.
The coffee Min Siheon had mentioned was the morning coffee he’d brewed before we left his house.
He knew that perfectly well, yet the way he piled onto Yoo In-ho’s question like he found it amusing—maybe he really did enjoy teasing me.
I avoided Yoo In-ho’s question by awkwardly sipping my coffee. I brushed it off, saying I got thirsty on the way and bought one in a hurry. Yoo In-ho quickly lost interest and wiped under his nose.
“So what’ve you guys been up to lately?”
When a bunch of guys got together, this was about as deep as the conversation ever got.
Yoo In-ho, apparently following that same tired pattern, looked around at us and asked in his rough tone.
As for us… well. We didn’t really have anything to say. To put it simply, we’d been going on dates for over a week now. Borrowing Min Siheon’s words, anyway.
Is this damn “date” thing ever going to end? I remembered the slightly offbeat argument he’d insisted on the other day.
He really had a cute side. I found myself smiling without realizing it.
Yoo In-ho’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“What what?”
“Something’s weird.”
Min Siheon, say something, will you?
I nudged his side with my elbow. Min Siheon, who’d had a faint smile on his lips, turned toward me.
He hadn’t really said much since earlier.
He wasn’t the type to talk much when we met up with the others anyway. But today he seemed especially quiet.
Was he sulking? This morning, even though he’d followed me out saying he didn’t want to be alone, he hadn’t exactly looked thrilled about it.
There was something I’d realized after we started dating. Min Siheon was someone who drew clear lines between people. Even among a group he could call fairly close, he tried not to give too much of his heart.
Even now, unless there was a reason, he didn’t try to reach out to them.
Well… with Go Heemin and Kang Taeyoon, there had been some pretty tense moments too.
They were all mature enough to gloss over it and pretend nothing happened. But there had been a history of subtle power struggles.
If it weren’t for me, I had a feeling he might’ve ended up living like an outsider.
…Or maybe that was too arrogant of me to think. Just as I started feeling embarrassed, Yoo In-ho repeated his question.
“What’ve you been doing that you can’t even answer?”
If it had just been Go Heemin and Kang Taeyoon, it wouldn’t have mattered much. But Yoo In-ho didn’t seem to know much about our situation, so I couldn’t just say whatever.
As I watched Go Heemin smoothly jump in with a casual “Just sleeping in and taking it easy,” I leaned toward Min Siheon with an anxious look.
Noticing my body pressing against his, Min Siheon leaned closer. Then he brought his lips near my ear and murmured softly.
“What?”
“It’s not ‘what.’ …You need to answer carefully.”
“Am I allowed to answer?”
“Never mind. Looking at your face, that’s a no. Just keep your mouth shut. I’ll handle it.”
Shaking my head quickly, I straightened back up. No matter how I looked at it, Min Siheon absolutely could not be allowed to answer Yoo In-ho’s question.
That’s when Yoo In-ho noticed our whispering. His eyes sparkled. Resting his arm over the back of his chair, he raised one eyebrow in a delinquent-like pose.
“So then, Mr. Cha Jungwoo and Mr. Min Siheon, what exactly have you two been up to? You bastards. You two were the hardest to reach. At least Go Heemin here replied right away.”
“Why’re you leaving Kang Taeyoon out?”
“Would you include him? It’s weirder if that guy replies. And Kang Taeyoon at least had Go Heemin vaguely filling me in. You’re the real problem. You, Cha Jungwoo.”
“Ha….”
Seeing Yoo In-ho latch onto this like he’d caught something big made my head hurt. Under the table, I reached out and grabbed Min Siheon’s thigh tightly, a silent signal to stay still.
In the cool air-conditioned room, sweat trickled down my back.
Sorry, Cha Seung-ah. Just for today, I’m going to sell you out.
I thought of my younger sister at home.
“What would I be doing that’s so different? Eating, sleeping, hanging out. Oh, and Siheon here’s the same as me. I stayed at his place for a few days. …Cha Seung-ah said she was bringing friends over. Since there were girls, I couldn’t exactly sleep there, could I?”
If I’d just said I stayed at Min Siheon’s place for no reason, it felt like a bunch of questions would follow.
So I preemptively blocked that off with another excuse. Yoo In-ho leaned back, hands clasped behind his head, looking disappointed.
“Man, you guys spent your break boring as hell.”
“What’s so special about break? It just means you don’t go to school and stay home instead.”
Now we were even running out of things to say. I sucked on my straw, taking small sips, and patted Min Siheon’s thigh. His fingers slipped over mine.
When I loosely intertwined our fingers and swayed them back and forth, Min Siheon slowly leaned his body over and rested his head on my shoulder.
As if he didn’t care about his messy hair, he rubbed his forehead against me.
The lukewarm heat seeping through his thin T-shirt made the area around my ears burn.
“Let’s go drink tonight. I found a place with fucking great bar food. Go Heemin, you in?”
“If you’re paying.”
“You rich bastards are unbelievable.”
Maybe it was because Min Siheon had always clung to me even before we started dating. No one looked at us strangely, and I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
It wasn’t exactly a secret relationship. But somehow, everyday life felt thrilling.
While Yoo In-ho and Go Heemin bickered over who’d pay for drinks, I turned to look at Min Siheon. If he was going to go this far, I figured I should put in some effort too.
“Tired?”
“No.”
“Judging by the vibe, after we eat there’ll be time before drinks. In-ho’s definitely going to start whining about going to a PC café. …Should we slip away, just the two of us?”
When I saw Min Siheon smile, I finally felt a bit at ease.
Honestly, I had more fun hanging out alone with him than being with the others anyway.
I threw him a wink as if to say, Trust me, and turned my head as if nothing happened. Under the table, I felt Min Siheon’s grip tighten around my hand.
What was dating, really? If the person you liked was happy, that was enough.
I felt like I was slowly becoming more like Min Siheon.
***
Once things naturally wound down, we cleared our cups and headed to a restaurant.
I didn’t have much of an appetite and was picking at my food when Yoo In-ho proudly laid out what sounded like today’s grand plan.
“Hey, after we eat, PC café? I don’t mind day drinking either, but that place I mentioned earlier isn’t open yet. We’ve got like three more hours. Let’s go wreck some games and then head over.”
See? Didn’t I say so?
When I shot Min Siheon a look, his eyes curved into crescents.
Might as well go on a date while we can.
Not the slightly indecent kind of date holed up at Min Siheon’s house—but a normal, small, everyday date, walking around outside like everyone else.
“Siheon and I are out. You guys go to the PC café. Send us the address and we’ll meet you there at the right time.”
“What? You traitors. What fun thing are you two planning to do alone?”
“What fun is there? You’ve got some nerve asking people who don’t even play games to go to a PC café.”
After we finished eating, I watched Go Heemin and Yoo In-ho bicker as Min Siheon and I turned to leave. As for Kang Taeyoon—that guy would definitely go along, if only because of Heemin.
And just like that, we finally had time alone.
“Hey, Siheon. Is there something you want to do?”
You’ve been sulking this whole time. If there’s something you want, say it—I gave him the chance.
Min Siheon shook his head and grabbed the sleeve of my shirt.
“This is enough.”
Boring bastard.
It seemed like he was satisfied just because those noisy idiots were gone.
Well, then I’d have to step up again.
Saying it couldn’t be helped, I grabbed his wrist and pulled him along.
I’d seen it earlier when we passed by. As we walked down the lively street, I spotted a large three-story building in the distance.
“Hey, let’s go there.”
“…There?”
Where I was pointing—was an arcade blasting with noise from all directions.
“You said we were going on a date.”
Wasn’t that what dates were? Even if he didn’t play PC games, he could handle these kinds of games, right?
We were probably going to sit around drinking all evening anyway, so we might as well burn some energy first. I flashed him a grin.
It seemed like I was the one more excited about the idea of playing with him.
