“Ah, shit—what the hell?”
Hoon cursed under his breath and looked up. Yoon Seong-gon flinched when their eyes met.
“You’re not even working, just lazing around—what’s keeping you so busy? It’s not like you’ve even got a love life going or anything.”
Seong-gon pouted at the blunt jab.
“…What do you know, anyway.”
Watching the guy mumble like a moody sixteen-year-old in the middle of puberty, Go Hoon let out a soft laugh without realizing it. He’d hit a nerve—clearly, Seong-gon didn’t have a comeback and was just being prickly to save face.
Seong-gon, seemingly interpreting the laugh as mockery, bristled and snapped back.
“Right now, okay? I’m in this phase of trying to figure out what I really like. You could say I’m struggling to hatch from my shell—a tiny, adorable little chick fighting for life—”
“Yeah, yeah, you little brat, you’re just so cute, got it. Now shut up and eat. Since when do men talk this damn much?”
Cutting him off, Hoon jabbed his spoon toward the hot stone bowl. Seong-gon shot him a glare, eyes flaring with defiance. But the fire didn’t last.
“Eyes down.”
At the warning, Seong-gon promptly lowered his gaze, though his mouth kept flapping.
“I swear, my dad treats me like I’m some servant born into a noble’s house.”
“Hey, at least you’re a nobleman’s servant. Lucky you.”
“Aw, come on, hyung! That’s not the point! You never take anything I say seriously.”
Convinced Hoon wouldn’t engage any further, Seong-gon gave up and finally started eating for real. Hoon watched him silently. All that complaining, and now he was stuffing his face like nothing happened.
Glancing sideways, Hoon chuckled as Seong-gon practically poured kimchi juice over his rice and devoured the soup like it was a war ration. For all his whining, the kid ate what he was given and listened when told—he was kinda cute in his own way.
“If that’s not enough, let me know. I’ll order you another bowl.”
After saying that, Hoon focused on his own meal. He was shoveling spoonfuls into his mouth, practically nose-deep in the hot stone pot, when ding-a-ling—the door bell chimed as someone entered the restaurant.
A noisy crowd bustled in. Hoon’s gaze flicked over briefly. It was lunchtime—looked like students from Hankuk University had come in to eat.
Some of them were wearing department jackets. From the logos, they looked like they were from the business school, but Hoon didn’t recognize any of their faces. Losing interest, he returned his focus to his food.
“Go Hoon.”
A familiar voice called out unexpectedly. Hoon lifted his head, not quite believing what he’d heard—and sure enough, just as he’d suspected, the voice belonged to Bae Jung-yoon.
Hoon’s eyes naturally drifted past him to the group of people standing behind, all staring curiously. Looked like Jung-yoon had brought some juniors out for lunch.
‘So he comes here often too,’ Hoon thought just as someone cut in.
“Oh! Go Hoon sunbae! Hello!”
“Hello, sir!”
One student led the greeting, and a handful of juniors—whose names Hoon didn’t even know—rushed over to bow politely.
“…Uh, hey.”
Caught off guard, Hoon gave a half-hearted nod. The juniors, now done greeting him, looked uncertainly at Bae Jung-yoon, unsure of what to do next.
“Why don’t you guys go find a table and sit down first?”
The juniors, still gauging the mood, quickly murmured amongst themselves and scurried off to find seats the moment Jung-yoon spoke. Watching them shuffle away, Hoon looked up at Jung-yoon, now standing right in front of him.
“Buying the kids lunch?”
“Yeah. They were hungover from drinking last night, said they needed soup to recover.”
‘How thoughtful,’ Hoon mused. ‘He even takes care of their hangovers.’ He was about to tell him to enjoy his meal when Jung-yoon’s gaze slid past him and landed across the table.
“Looks like you came with someone.”
Hoon belatedly remembered the lump sitting across from him like a decorative sack—Yoon Seong-gon. He turned to see the kid staring at Jung-yoon with his mouth agape.
Frowning instinctively, Hoon scowled. ‘What the hell is wrong with him now?’
“Uh… hyung… w-who is this…?”
Snapping out of his daze only after Hoon looked his way, Seong-gon threw a cautious glance at him and asked in a hesitant tone.
“Classmate from my department.”
“Ah, hello! Nice to meet you! I’m Yoon Seong-gon, Hoon-hyung’s very, very close little bro!”
Not just a “close” little brother—very, very close. The way Seong-gon put weird emphasis on the word “close” was pretty funny, Hoon had to admit. Jung-yoon smiled that usual soft smile of his and bowed slightly.
“Hello. I’m Bae Jung-yoon.”
“Oh wow, if you’re hyung’s classmate, then you must be older than me… please, speak casually!”
Seong-gon responded eagerly. Meanwhile, Hoon stared at him with narrowed eyes. ‘…What the hell is with this guy?’
His suddenly chipper voice and exaggerated gestures looked downright bizarre.
“Alright. I’ll speak casually then.”
When Bae Jung-yoon’s eyes curved into a smile, Yoon Seong-gon let out a sudden gasp beside him—like someone who had just fallen in love at first sight with the person fated to be their soulmate.
‘What a damn spectacle.’ Go Hoon smirked, twisting one corner of his mouth. Then suddenly, his gaze met Jung-yoon’s. The other held the stare like he had something to say, but never actually spoke. Hoon’s thick brows twitched slightly.
“Enjoy your meal.”
In the end, Hoon broke the silence first. There wasn’t much else to say anyway.
After a moment of silently observing him, Bae Jung-yoon smiled faintly and replied,
“Yeah. You too.”
Hoon pulled his gaze away as Jung-yoon turned and walked toward the table where his group was seated.
As soon as the moment passed, Seong-gon, who’d been silently watching everything unfold, leaned in and whispered,
“What was that?”
“What was what?”
“Why’s your friend so good-looking?”
‘Why the hell are you asking me that?’ Hoon shot him a baffled look, but Seong-gon was already lost in his own world and couldn’t be stopped.
“Seriously, how can a person even look like that? What does it take to have a face like that and a body like that?”
Hoon clucked his tongue, staring at him muttering in awe.
“Want me to ask what he ate growing up or something?”
“Nah, forget it. Probably the same food we all ate.”
Seong-gon shook his head, but his eyes kept sneaking glances at Jung-yoon’s table.
“When your friend smiled at me, I swear, for a second I forgot I was even a guy. My heart fluttered, man.”
‘Yeah, I noticed.’ His face had turned beet red. It hit Hoon that Bae Jung-yoon’s looks really did work on guys too.
Hoon turned to Seong-gon with a more serious expression.
“Are you gay?”
The moment he asked, Seong-gon snapped back, eyes wide.
“Are you out of your damn mind?! Hell no!”
“Then just say no. No need to yell like that.”
‘What’s with the overreaction?’ Hoon winced, his eardrums nearly splitting from the outburst. Even in the noisy restaurant, a few heads turned briefly in their direction before looking away.
If Bae Jung-yoon—whose orientation no one really knew—had overheard, it could’ve come off pretty insulting.
“It’s totally normal to stare at someone good-looking, okay? But no, you gotta go and ask if I’m gay. Unbelievable. You ever heard of a filter?”
Face still flushed bright red, Seong-gon grumbled at him. Hoon simply gave him a bored look, wondering what the hell was up with this kid.
“Stop talking nonsense and just eat.”
Huffing, Seong-gon returned to his meal and began clearing his plate.
***
Business Major – Bae Jung-yoon
[Where are you?]
12:32 PM
Hoon narrowed his eyes at the message that had just come in. At the moment, he was in a café, reluctantly treating Yoon Seong-gon to drinks and cake—Seong-gon had whined that Hoon should at least pay for dessert.
“What?”
Seong-gon, happily sucking on the most expensive drink he’d managed to find on the kiosk menu, leaned over with curious eyes.
“That guy you saw earlier just messaged me.”
[XX Café]
12:33 PM
[Why]
Hoon replied casually and shrugged. Seong-gon’s eyes immediately lit up.
“The hot guy from earlier?”
‘This little shit really might be gay…’ Hoon shot him a suspicious look, but Seong-gon quickly made a face.
“Told you I’m not.”
“Hey, I’m not the judgmental type. You can tell me if you are.”
“No thanks. Anyway, who messaged you? That guy, right?”
“Yeah, him.”
“Ooooh, so you guys are close enough to be texting? Didn’t you just say goodbye, like, five minutes ago? And he already couldn’t help himself?”
Seong-gon leaned in, narrowing his eyes like he was interrogating Hoon. But even under that scrutiny, there really wasn’t much to say. They didn’t have that kind of relationship.
Hoon gave a little shrug.
“Not really. We’re not that close.”
“Come on. You guys looked super close.”
Now that he thought about it, Kim Yeo-jin had said something similar—noticing how close they looked. But Hoon wasn’t sure himself.
Truth be told, “building a relationship” was too strong a term. If people were getting the wrong idea, it was all because of how damn chummy Bae Jung-yoon acted.
“So why do you always look like you’ve swallowed a lemon around him? What’d he say?”
Seong-gon leaned in like he wanted to see Hoon’s phone. But Hoon just kept staring at the chat screen.
“He asked where I was.”
“That’s it? Not much of a message.”
Seong-gon kept his tone light, then added,
“But why do you look so bothered?”
“Do I?”
“Yeah.”
Seong-gon rested his chin on his hand, studying Hoon’s face.
“You look… kinda uncomfortable. Like you’ve got something stuck in your teeth.”
He hit the nail on the head. Lately, Go Hoon had been feeling uncomfortable. It was the way Bae Jung-yoon kept hanging around without making his intentions clear.
Hoon didn’t say anything, just let out a small hum.
Seong-gon soon changed the subject.
“Think he’s planning to come over here?”
