Go Hoon’s eyes immediately narrowed.
“So the appointment got canceled all of a sudden?”
“Yeah. Something urgent came up, and the other person said they can’t make it.”
Despite the suspicious look, Bae Jung-yoon remained completely composed. He met Go Hoon’s eyes head-on and nodded without hesitation. Still, that alone didn’t explain why he was standing here.
“Then why are you standing here instead of going home?”
“You said the repairs wouldn’t take long. Since I was already nearby, I figured we could head back together.”
Bae Jung-yoon answered like it was the most natural thing in the world. His unbothered demeanor didn’t feel like someone trying to lie.
Honestly, what would Bae Jung-yoon even gain from doing this? The idea that he’d go so far as to make up a fake appointment just to follow him here was… no, that was just ridiculous.
This level of suspicion must be a full-blown illness. Clicking his tongue inwardly, Go Hoon turned to see Jung-yoon nod toward the laptop bag.
“So, what happened with the laptop?”
Distracted by the unexpected reunion, Go Hoon had momentarily forgotten the thing he’d been holding in his hand.
“It’s too old, and the condition’s pretty bad. They said it’s not worth fixing.”
His voice lacked the energy it had before. At that, Bae Jung-yoon let out a low hum and nodded.
“You went out of your way to come all the way here… That must suck.”
“Can’t be helped. It’s been with me a long time, after all.”
Truthfully, the laptop had held up well without a single issue until now. It had already done more than its fair share. And really, this last malfunction was mostly his own fault. If he hadn’t spilled coffee on it, it might have lasted several more months. So, he couldn’t exactly blame the poor machine.
“Let’s go. I’ll drive you to campus. I live near there anyway.”
As if preemptively shutting down any refusal, Bae Jung-yoon added the explanation quickly—then turned around without even waiting for a reply. With no other choice, Go Hoon followed after him.
***
They caught an elevator down to the building’s underground parking garage, where Bae Jung-yoon’s car was parked.
It was the same pristine white import they’d ridden in just a short while ago. As they got in, Go Hoon pushed the laptop bag under his seat. Before visiting the service center, he’d cradled it on his lap like it was precious—but now, it was a different story entirely.
Not that he seemed to notice the shift in behavior himself. Ever since earlier, Go Hoon’s expression remained grim. Watching him from the driver’s seat, Bae Jung-yoon sneaked a sidelong glance, the corners of his mouth twitching as he fought back a grin.
Meanwhile, Go Hoon pressed his fingers into his temples, mentally calculating the expenses coming up this month. Why did so many unexpected costs keep piling up lately? He’d only just replaced his phone, and now the laptop too?
Complaining wouldn’t change the fact that spending was inevitable. So now there was only one thing to figure out—how to buy a new laptop as cheaply as possible.
While contemplating his options, he suddenly realized how quiet it was beside him.
Go Hoon instinctively turned his head—and in that moment, found himself locking eyes with Bae Jung-yoon at an incredibly close distance. Just a few centimeters separated them. Bae Jung-yoon was staring straight at him.
They were so close, Go Hoon could see his reflection in the deep black of Jung-yoon’s pupils. Each strand of his long lashes was clearly visible. He could feel the warmth of Jung-yoon’s breath brushing against his lips.
“You’re completely lost in your own world.”
As Go Hoon stared blankly, frozen, he heard the low murmur of a voice.
A long arm reached across his chest and tugged on the seatbelt. The dark strap slid diagonally across his torso, pulling tight like it was snapping him back to reality. Click. The buckle latched into place, and only then did Bae Jung-yoon slowly retreat.
He was right. Go Hoon had been so lost in thought, he’d forgotten to fasten his seatbelt.
He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Time had felt unnaturally slow while Bae Jung-yoon moved beside him. That’s how startled he’d been. Only now did he realize he hadn’t been breathing at all.
“…You could’ve just said something.”
Go Hoon muttered awkwardly, lips parting just slightly.
Just saying seatbelt would’ve been enough to snap him out of it. Why go straight for the physical contact? It felt like… like the kind of thing guys do when they’re trying to flirt with someone they like.
Maybe Jung-yoon understood the muttered complaint, because he gave a wide grin and then fastened his own seatbelt. The engine started with a purr. Go Hoon folded his arms and sank deep into his seat.
He pressed a hand against the left side of his chest, where his heart was pounding wildly. Must’ve been the shock. Fortunately, the impending financial pressure helped him regain his composure fairly quickly.
His thoughts began to wander again. ‘Yeah. Let’s try to look at this positively. I’d been thinking for a while that it was time to replace the laptop. It’s an old model—slow, too. It’s just that… I didn’t expect now to be the moment.’
Go Hoon pulled out his phone. He opened a price comparison site and started checking the going rates for new laptops. As expected, anything that looked decent had at least six digits on the tag.
‘Do I really need a high-end one? I could just buy a cheap one and be done with it.’
‘…No. If I’m getting a new one, I’d rather get something light and portable. I’ve still got two more years of college left, after all.’
If he could carry around a laptop like everyone else, doing assignments would be so much easier. No more hunting for available PCs, and his time could be used more efficiently.
He wanted something a bit lighter, and preferably with a higher-end CPU. But once he factored in all those preferences, the price inevitably shot back up.
Go Hoon bit down on his lip. A brand-new, untouched laptop was nothing more than a pipe dream. As he sorted through his thoughts, he opened a secondhand trading app and scoured the listings for recently posted laptops.
That’s when a listing caught his eye—a laptop with decent specs, not brand-new but still good, going for 700,000 won.
It was the best deal he’d seen so far. But he still couldn’t bring himself to hit the purchase button. The idea of spending unplanned money was stressing him out more than he expected.
“Haa…”
He let out a deep sigh without even realizing it. At that moment, Bae Jung-yoon, who had been driving quietly beside him, finally spoke.
“If you’re okay with used, do you want me to give you a laptop?”
For a second, he doubted his own ears. He turned to look at Bae Jung-yoon in disbelief.
“…You’re saying you’ll give me a laptop?”
“Yeah. There’s one at home I don’t use anymore. If you need it, it’s yours.”
Is it even possible to just have a spare laptop lying around unused? That thought crossed his mind, but then Go Hoon understood—right. Bae Jung-yoon has money. It wouldn’t be weird for him to have an extra laptop just collecting dust.
Still, the way he said it—it didn’t sound like he was offering to sell it at a discount. He was just… giving it. Since it was something Jung-yoon didn’t use anyway, maybe it wouldn’t be such a big deal to accept it?
His brain was firing on all cylinders at the prospect of such a lucky break, but his mouth stubbornly refused to give an answer.
Hitching a ride to the service center was one thing. But taking a laptop for free, too? That felt like a step too far. Go Hoon thought so, at least. The ride was fine, but this? This was too much kindness. No matter how he turned it over in his head, he couldn’t find a reason why Bae Jung-yoon would go this far for him.
And that’s why it felt off. ‘Why is he being so nice to me? Is he like this with everyone?’ Doesn’t seem like it.
He was confused. The question he’d buried in the back of his mind started rising again, hovering just beneath his tongue. ‘Do you know who I am? Is that why you’re doing this?’
But even if Bae Jung-yoon did know he was Kkongddeok, Go Hoon still didn’t get it. What could he possibly want from him to be going this far?
‘No way… is this guy into me?’ The thought crept in—ridiculous as it seemed.
Jung-yoon was, after all, someone who could sleep with men. That fact alone didn’t justify reading into his every move, and doing so would be pretty damn rude.
But the question marks just kept growing. If it’s not that, then why is he being so kind?
Still, that wasn’t a question he could bring himself to say aloud. Once words like that came out, there’d be no taking them back.
Come to think of it, maybe this wasn’t a case of suspicion—it was just him being overly self-conscious. ‘Bae Jung-yoon likes me?’ They hadn’t even known each other that long.
The idea made him feel foolish. He knew the world didn’t revolve around him.
And besides—there’s no such thing as a favor without strings attached. It was a truth Go Hoon had engraved into himself. As he reminded himself of it once more, he shook his head firmly.
“No thanks. I can’t just take something like that for free. It’s not exactly pocket change.”
“But they said your laptop’s unrepairable. You’ve got solo assignments, and our group’s got PPTs to prep.”
“I’ll buy a new one.”
Not having a laptop didn’t mean it was an emergency. For the time being, he could make do with internet cafés or the school’s computer lab. He’d just have to put in a bit more effort until he found the right one.
“Hoon, I’m offering it to you for free, and you’re saying you’d rather pay for one?”
But Bae Jung-yoon looked genuinely confused by Go Hoon’s refusal—and honestly, Go Hoon couldn’t understand him either.
He appreciated the concern, but he had no idea why this had become something they were going back and forth about. He opened his mouth to speak, but Jung-yoon beat him to it.
“Is it because you’re worried about the cost?”
A dead-on question that pierced right through Go Hoon’s situation.
