Bae Jung-yoon rubbed his cheek as if trying to pull off an eyelash with his short, neatly trimmed nails. Watching the scene from across the table, Yoon Seong-gon’s eyes trembled slightly.
“I’ll do it.”
Before Go Hoon could catch the reaction, he leaned back casually and flicked his cheek a few times with his hand.
Drrrk—.
Just then, the pager started vibrating. He was about to tell Bae Jung-yoon to go to the pickup counter when Yoon Seong-gon suddenly sprang to his feet. Go Hoon’s puzzled gaze followed him.
“…I-I’ll go get it. You two keep talking!”
Stammering, Yoon Seong-gon quickly grabbed the pager and dashed off toward the pickup counter on the first floor.
“What the…?”
Go Hoon let out a soft chuckle. Everything happened so fast, he hadn’t had the chance to stop it. Meanwhile, Bae Jung-yoon sat across from him without a trace of discomfort, simply gazing at him.
Go Hoon glanced at him sideways—those pitch-black eyes locked onto him, unmoving. Taking advantage of Seong-gon’s absence, he threw out a casual question.
“So why did you come here?”
“Was I not supposed to?”
Go Hoon raised an eyebrow. Instead of answering, he got a question in return. But Bae Jung-yoon didn’t stop there—he pressed further.
“Was I not allowed to come here, Hoon?”
“That’s not it—”
“That’s disappointing.”
With the corners of his eyes dipping sadly, Bae Jung-yoon looked at him again. That same look—like a puppy that had just been abandoned. The kind of look that made people feel guilty. Go Hoon frowned and scratched at the ridge of his brow.
“No, it’s just… you showed up so suddenly, I wondered if something had happened.”
Looking slightly sheepish, Go Hoon explained. Bae Jung-yoon quietly scanned him from bottom to top, then tossed out a remark.
“Looks like you don’t have class today.”
Instinctively, Go Hoon glanced down at his outfit. Yeah, anyone would guess he had the day off.
He wasn’t the type to dress up much anyway, but today’s outfit was especially careless. He’d just thrown something on, like he was stepping outside for a short walk near home. And it’s not like he was meeting anyone fancy—just Yoon Seong-gon.
Wearing his usual at-home track pants, a plain T-shirt, a hoodie that had probably been lying around on the floor, and dragging along his trusty three-stripe slides—yeah, this was definitely “day-off” attire.
“Yeah. I’ve got Fridays off. Jealous?”
He replied in a flat tone, indifferent, but his eyes couldn’t help scanning Jung-yoon from head to toe. Sitting next to someone so well-dressed, his own sloppy appearance looked even worse by comparison.
If he’d known, maybe he would’ve put on something decent. That thought crossed his mind briefly, but he immediately shook it off. It wasn’t like they were meeting for some formal occasion—why should he care?
Meanwhile, down at the pickup counter, Yoon Seong-gon tilted his head.
“…I’m pretty sure there was nothing on his face.”
He mumbled aloud to himself.
“Why the hell did I jump up to serve?”
Seeing the two of them together so naturally, his body had moved on its own. But now that he thought about it, he couldn’t really explain why he’d reacted that way. Not that it mattered—it was already too late to complain.
Still puzzled, Seong-gon picked up the iced Americano and made his way back. Luckily, whatever weird tension had been in the air earlier seemed to have vanished.
“Thanks.”
Offering his thanks, Bae Jung-yoon smoothly turned to engage Seong-gon in conversation.
“I heard you’re Hoon’s younger brother. How old are you?”
“Oh, I’m twenty-two.”
Seong-gon responded politely.
“So you’re in college, then.”
“Ah… no. I haven’t started yet.”
“He bombed the college entrance exam after retaking it and now he’s just sulking.”
“Hyuuung…!”
Cutting in out of nowhere, Go Hoon added his two cents, earning a triangular glare from Seong-gon. As the kid flushed and shot him a look, Hoon silently mouthed, What?
“Haha. I don’t really know what I want to do yet, and I didn’t want to just go to any random school that matched my grades. So I’m trying to figure out what suits me.”
“I see. Well, there’s no need to rush, really.”
Watching the back-and-forth beside him, Bae Jung-yoon offered a gentle smile. That seemed to put Seong-gon at ease.
With their only son not in college and seemingly doing nothing, it was enough to make Mr. Yoon lose his mind. So much so that complaints regularly spilled out of his mouth in frustration.
It was obvious without even looking how others must’ve treated Yoon Seong-gon. He had probably taken flak from all kinds of people in one way or another. Even Go Hoon himself had scolded him plenty of times.
Maybe that’s why Seong-gon seemed to feel at ease around Bae Jung-yoon, who hadn’t said a single critical word to him. And of course, Jung-yoon naturally had a gift for making conversations flow smoothly.
Thanks to that, the more they talked, the more relaxed Seong-gon appeared. At one point, while they were chatting away, the topic of baseball just happened to come up.
Yoon Seong-gon had been a die-hard baseball fan since he was a kid. Go Hoon figured he got that from Mr. Yoon—who, if anything, was even more fanatical about the sport than his own son.
As Seong-gon gushed excitedly about a newly signed player, Bae Jung-yoon nodded along now and then, then asked in a calm, resonant voice.
“If you like baseball, I guess you enjoy going to the stadium too?”
“Of course! I love it. I used to go with my dad all the time on weekends.”
“Really? Want me to get you a Sky Box ticket?”
“S-Sky Box? Those seats are super expensive and hard to get…”
“I know someone who works at one of the group’s affiliate companies. They sometimes give me tickets.”
Go Hoon didn’t really know what a Sky Box was. But judging by the look of awe on Seong-gon’s face, he figured it must be something pretty rare and special.
At first, Seong-gon hesitated, saying he couldn’t possibly accept something like that. But eventually, he got carried away and started excitedly suggesting that all the hyungs could go together.
By that point, there wasn’t a trace of awkwardness left between the two. Go Hoon watched them, feeling strangely sidelined, like he was practically invisible to them now.
Bae Jung-yoon and Yoon Seong-gon seemed to get along surprisingly well.
This… might be my cue to make myself scarce. Feeling like an out-of-place extra, Go Hoon sat through nearly an hour of their lively chatter before finally escaping from the café.
“Anytime you feel like grabbing a meal, just give me a call. I’ll treat you.”
Eventually, before parting ways, the two of them even exchanged contact info.
“Yes, sir. Thank you, Jung-yoon hyung! Get home safe!”
Watching Seong-gon bow a full ninety degrees, Go Hoon let out a dry laugh. Damn, he’s been totally won over. Shaking his head in disbelief, Go Hoon met Seong-gon’s eyes and gave him a halfhearted wave.
“Get home safe.”
“Yup. Hyung, take good care of Catherine, and I’ll see you next time.”
That damn “Catherine” again. With a raised brow that meant that’s enough, Go Hoon jerked his chin toward the exit.
“Go on, get moving.”
As he encouraged him to head home, Seong-gon grinned and started down into the subway station. But then, halfway down, he suddenly turned around and shouted back to Hoon.
“Hyung, stop ignoring my messages!”
Go Hoon gave a lazy nod and waved his hand. Once Seong-gon’s figure disappeared completely into the station, he turned his head—and locked eyes with Bae Jung-yoon.
“Who’s Catherine?”
“Ah.”
Go Hoon let out a low sigh. Ugh, he was really gonna have to explain this?
After a brief pause, he spoke curtly.
“My bike.”
“Your bike?”
He was being honest, but Bae Jung-yoon still looked skeptical. To be fair, it wasn’t exactly normal to name your bike Catherine.
Still wearing that curious expression, Jung-yoon clearly wasn’t done with the topic, but Go Hoon pretended not to notice. He shoved both hands into the pockets of his hoodie and changed the subject.
“You heading back to campus now?”
With just the two of them left, it suddenly felt awkward.
“You in a hurry to get rid of me?”
Smiling like he could see right through him, Bae Jung-yoon answered calmly. Go Hoon’s face naturally scrunched in frustration. The guy had a way of guilting people with his words.
“It’s not like that, you punk.”
Grinding his teeth, Go Hoon replied, which made Jung-yoon laugh aloud.
“Kidding. I’ve got class, so I really do have to go.”
With a soft smile, Jung-yoon started backing away slowly.
“Get home safe, Hoon. No detours—go straight home.”
He added it like he was warning a child. After waving at Hoon, he turned and hurried off. Go Hoon missed the moment to shoot back a sarcastic Do I look like a kid? and could only stare after him.
Watching his retreating back as he walked away with steady steps, Hoon eventually snapped out of it.
“So… why did he even come?”
Still looking puzzled, Go Hoon stood there, eyes lingering on the direction Bae Jung-yoon had gone.
***
Back home, Go Hoon installed an app for food delivery riders, then sat through the two-hour online safety and health training course.
Afterward, he ordered the large thermal bag required for deliveries, and it arrived around midday the next day.
As soon as he had everything ready, Hoon decided to dive right into action. He strapped on his bicycle helmet, slung the thermal bag over his shoulder, and launched the app.
He’d already studied how to use it and made sure he had all the prep items. He checked the dispatch list immediately. A delivery request from a nearby location popped up, and he snatched it quickly.
“All right. Let’s see what this is all about.”
With a rather determined expression, Go Hoon mounted his bicycle.
