I rested my chin on my hand with my elbow propped on the table. Before I knew it, the time was already approaching 7:30. It had been quite a while since the outside had started growing dim in scattered patches. With nothing to do, I opened my phone and looked through my KakaoTalk chat list. The spectacle of 999+ messages made my head spin. It seemed I had been influenced by Do Jihoon’s compulsive need for organization. Still, actually deleting the chatrooms wasn’t easy—because I wasn’t sure what kind of relationship “Yeon Yuri” had with these people.
As I stared blankly at the chat list, the narrow scope of my social circle suddenly came into view. Do Jihoon, Kim Bo-jin, three classmates, Seo Hee-gyeom, Ki Tae-young. There were plenty of other people I exchanged messages with, but none with whom I had deep conversations.
I began scrolling through the chats. Unlike the other close contacts lined up neatly at the top, Kim Bo-jin’s chat only appeared after sliding down the screen quite a bit. It had already been a month since we last spoke.
As I stared at it absentmindedly, a hollow, bittersweet feeling settled in my chest. The first person I’d become close to after coming to this world had been Kim Bo-jin. Yet after entering university, we barely saw each other a few times a year. After becoming adults, both of us had met good people in our own lives, so it seemed we simply couldn’t spare the attention for each other anymore.
It made me feel both sorry and a little hurt. Then again, maybe I was being petty—just like Do Jihoon’s partner.
[What’re you doing]
I left him a quick message asking how he was doing, then immediately called Do Jihoon. He answered before the ringtone could even finish ringing three times.
“Hello.”
There was something strangely powerful about Do Jihoon’s voice. Even if I was depressed or angry, hearing his calm tone would settle my emotions in a way that felt almost uncanny. Or sometimes, it would make me confront feelings I hadn’t even realized I was having.
Thinking like that felt childish—like something a toddler would do—but it honestly felt true.
“Yeah. What were you doing?”
“Nothing much. Just reading.”
“Again? From now on, I shouldn’t ask what you’re doing. I’ll just say, ‘Doji, you were reading, right?’”
“That sounds reasonable.”
His voice carried a faint smile as it came through the phone. It was gentle enough that I felt myself relaxing, a smile forming on my lips as well.
“I’m about to head home now. Did you eat dinner?”
“No, not yet.”
“Anything you want to eat?”
“Not really. Pick whatever you want.”
“Hmm… Then let’s eat soy sauce marinated crab! I want to mix rice with the crab shell.”
“Alright. Should we order delivery, or go out?”
“Let’s eat out! Marinated crab is best when it’s freshly served with hot rice.”
“Okay. Let’s do that.”
I searched for a nearby soy sauce marinated crab restaurant and sent Do Jihoon the address. Then I said goodbye to Kwon Jisoo, who was busy making drinks in the kitchen, and left the café.
“Ah. The crab place is two or three bus stops away on foot. Won’t it be inconvenient for you to come from home?”
“It’s fine. I checked—there’s a bit of walking involved. About thirty minutes. Should we meet up first or meet at the restaurant?”
“Of course we meet first! I’ll go to the apartment. Oh right—want to hear what happened today?”
“Sure. Tell me. I’m curious.”
I explained everything that had happened today to Do Jihoon in great detail. He responded at the right moments, listening attentively. I always thought this, but Do Jihoon’s voice over the phone sounded lower and richer than usual, giving me a strange feeling every time we talked like this.
Before I knew it, I had completely forgotten the anger and disappointment I’d felt earlier and was fully absorbed in talking with him.
When I arrived at the apartment, I gave Do Jihoon a quick peck on the lips and hugged him tightly. Looking at my hair, he said it was messy and began tidying it. As he brushed through my hair with his fingers, I started to feel pleasantly drowsy.
When I yawned widely, Do Jihoon asked if I was sleepy and whether I wanted to sleep. I shook my head firmly and said we were going to eat first.
“Then how about we just order food? You look sleepy.”
“You already got ready to go out, Doji. We can’t do that.”
“What’s so important about that?”
“It is important! I want to look at you longer when you’re dressed up this nicely.”
Still hugging him tightly, I giggled and lightly patted his butt. Do Jihoon flinched in surprise, his body trembling slightly before he tightened the arm wrapped around me.
That day, we went to a famous soy sauce marinated crab restaurant nearby and devoured five servings of marinated crab.
Of course, three of those servings were entirely mine.
***
“Doji, want to join a club with me?”
“A club? All of a sudden?”
A few days ago, I had met up with some classmates, and they were all bragging about how fun club activities were. Lee Daeju and Kwon Jisoo were involved in the student council, while Shin Gi-hyeok was in a mountaineering club.
We spent quite a while mocking them—saying the student council looked exhausting as hell and asking if the mountaineering club was for grandpas. But after hearing about the close bonds they formed with fellow members, I couldn’t help feeling a surge of envy.
I wanted to go on a club MT and have a blast too. Play loud drinking games. Make lots of friends.
Those inner desires were shouting loudly in my head.
“So, what do you think, Doji?”
“Well… I’m not really interested.”
Unlike me, who was practically glowing with excitement, Do Jihoon sounded indifferent. Then again, despite his usual shameless face, he hated noisy places and despised crowded environments. It made sense—he was the complete opposite of someone like me who enjoyed meeting new people.
I had asked Gyeong Bae-hyun sunbae about suitable clubs to join. At first, there were over ten clubs I was interested in, but after filtering out the ones where old members dominated the social circle or the atmosphere was bad—as he advised—only three or four remained.
Joining all of them would reduce the time I spent with Do Jihoon, which I didn’t want. So I had to choose just one.
After a lot of deliberation, I chose a leisure sports club. It suited my personality since I enjoyed various activities, and it would also be perfect for enjoying together with Do Jihoon, who exercised every week.
“How about a leisure club?”
“…Sounds troublesome.”
When I asked him, Do Jihoon didn’t even bother hiding his reluctance and gave a vague answer. It would be best if we joined together, but if he truly didn’t want to, I had no intention of forcing him.
“Then think about it and tell me. I’m sending the message.”
“Alright.”
“Just so you know, if you’re going to join, you have to contact them within this week. It’s a club that recruits late, but even this one has a deadline by the end of the week.”
Do Jihoon nodded slowly.
After finishing our conversation, we walked arm-in-arm toward a nearby sundae gukbap restaurant. As we passed through the alley of eateries behind the back gate, someone suddenly called out to me from behind.
“Yeon Yuri!”
When I turned around at the familiar yet not-so-familiar voice, I saw someone I really didn’t want to run into.
The thick-skinned bastard who had called me was none other than Woo Hyun-woo. I barely managed to suppress the grimace threatening to twist my face as I spoke.
“…Yes, hyung.”
“Hey, why haven’t you been replying?”
Woo Hyun-woo casually slung his arm around my neck. My body lurched forward, and my arm slipped out from where it had been linked with Do Jihoon’s.
“Is that him?”
“Yeah. Yeon Yuri. You know him, right?”
Woo Hyun-woo wasn’t alone. He had about five or six hangers-on trailing behind him. Judging by the few familiar faces I recognized, they seemed to be classmates or seniors from the Department of Chemical Engineering.
“…Who is that?”
While I was stuck in Woo Hyun-woo’s grip, trying to suppress my irritation, Do Jihoon’s voice sounded beside me—clearly restraining anger as well. His pheromones, carrying obvious displeasure, began slowly spreading through the air around us.
But Woo Hyun-woo didn’t feel them. Being a non-manifester, he remained completely unaffected and kept me in a headlock.
I pulled his arm off my neck and stepped beside Do Jihoon, starting to explain.
“This is Woo Hyun-woo hyung, a classmate I do lab work with.”
“Ah.”
“And this is my friend, Do Jihoon.”
“…Do Jihoon?!”
Unlike Do Jihoon, who wore a faintly mocking smile that only those in the know would recognize, Woo Hyun-woo openly displayed his surprise.
Reality hit me like a truck.
The precious time I was supposed to spend happily eating sundae gukbap with Do Jihoon was rapidly shrinking. We only had an hour and a half between classes, so we had to eat quickly and get back.
Forcing a smile, I spoke to Woo Hyun-woo.
“Hyung, then we’ll get going. I don’t really have time today—I need to eat quickly and go to my next lecture.”
“Really? What are you going to eat?”
Why did he keep asking? I wanted to punch that smooth, easygoing face of his, but since I was a civilized person, I suppressed the impulse and answered calmly.
“Sundae gukbap.”
“Sundae gukbap? Sounds good. Hey, guys—are you all okay with sundae gukbap?”
The group behind him responded with enthusiastic agreement.
Trying hard to suppress the ominous feeling creeping up my spine, I calmly asked him:
“…You’re coming with us?”
