Go Hoon pedaled hard. His bicycle wheels spun swiftly along the designated path as a refreshing breeze whipped against his entire body.
Though he was only doing this because of his part-time job, it felt surprisingly enjoyable to ride a bike after such a long time. Plus, the unexpected bonus of getting some exercise didn’t feel bad at all.
He headed to a restaurant one block away to pick up food for delivery. Less than ten minutes later, he had safely transported the order to its destination. As the saying goes, getting started is the hardest part—Go Hoon quickly found his confidence.
He eagerly accepted calls and managed to complete two to three deliveries within the hour. After five continuous hours of work, he’d racked up a total of twelve deliveries. After deducting the 3.3% tax and various insurance fees, he ended up earning about 40,000 won.
That marked the end of his first day. But when Go Hoon opened his eyes the next morning, he was tormented by a brutal wave of muscle soreness. It was the price of overworking muscles he hadn’t used in ages. His thighs, in particular, felt like they were about to explode.
Because of that, he lay groaning on the floor for quite some time before he managed to drag himself to his feet. Honestly, it would’ve made more sense to take a break that day, considering the state his body was in. But he forced himself up and started work late in the afternoon.
Still, since he’d dialed down his ambition and took a more relaxed pace than the day before, the work felt manageable.
What he had worried about most when starting this job was the possibility of not getting many orders. Thankfully, the area was packed with studio apartments and multi-family homes, so requests kept coming in steadily.
If he pushed himself during lunch and dinner rush hours, the earnings weren’t bad at all. Plus, he’d heard that bad weather came with bonus pay, so he figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to work on rainy days too—as long as he was extra careful.
After two days of working delivery gigs and mulling it over, Go Hoon finally decided to buy the laptop he’d been eyeing. That same evening, he met the seller in person and completed the transaction.
He checked the product on the spot and transferred the money via bank transfer. The kind-hearted seller even threw in a wireless mouse that he had received as a promotional gift when he bought the laptop.
“Yep, the newest models really are better.”
As soon as he got home, Go Hoon started fiddling with the laptop. It wasn’t the absolute latest release, but he had chosen it carefully, and it showed—the device was sleek and performed well. Above all, he liked how light it was.
***
After spending two productive days like that, Go Hoon returned to his usual routine—attending classes during the day and heading to his factory job at night.
He moved briskly between the machines, working efficiently when his phone buzzed in his back pocket with a long vibration. Taking off his work gloves, he fished out his phone. The caller ID said it was Jo Seong-il.
What’s this guy calling about at this hour?
Frowning in suspicion, he answered the call.
“Hello?”
— “Hoon-aaaah.”
The drawn-out tone immediately made Go Hoon’s brow twitch. Jo Seong-il’s voice was unmistakably slurred with alcohol.
“Yeah? What.”
Go Hoon replied flatly, and Jo Seong-il got straight to the point.
— “I… Can I crash at your place tonight?”
It was a simple request. He’d gone drinking at a bar near the university, missed the last train somehow, and was way too drunk to make it home. He wanted to know if he could spend the night at Go Hoon’s place.
They’d been chatting recently, and at some point, Go Hoon had casually mentioned that he was living alone near the cluster of studio apartments by the school. Even in his drunken haze, Jo Seong-il had remembered that detail.
Since Go Hoon was going to be working through the night anyway, and he wasn’t the kind of person to coldly turn away a drunken friend with slurred speech, he readily gave Seong-il his home address and door code.
He also told him that there was an emergency key hidden under the second large flowerpot by the front door, so if the main door was locked, he could use that to get in.
When Go Hoon finally got home after work, he found Jo Seong-il sprawled out on the floor, reeking of alcohol and still in his street clothes, completely passed out.
“I told him to change into something more comfortable and sleep…”
Go Hoon muttered as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and took a drink. His gaze lingered on Seong-il, who was lying flat on the floor, arms and legs spread out like a starfish.
At least he’d managed to make it into the house just as instructed.
Go Hoon had been worried when he saw that the emergency key was still in its hiding spot under the flowerpot—he half-suspected the guy might have passed out somewhere on the street. Given how plastered he’d sounded on their last call, the concern had been valid.
He also feared Seong-il might have vomited somewhere in the apartment, but that, too, proved unfounded. The place was spotless, like he’d passed out the moment he walked in.
Just in case, Go Hoon even checked the bathroom, but there were no signs that Seong-il had thrown up in there either.
“This idiot should’ve at least laid out a blanket.”
Clicking his tongue, Go Hoon covered Seong-il’s body with a thin blanket. Then he lay down next to him, using a pillow and setting an alarm for an hour later, squeezing in a quick nap.
Beep-beep-beep—
The dull, repetitive chime of the alarm snapped Go Hoon’s eyes open. Seong-il, on the other hand, was still fast asleep, seemingly unbothered by the noise.
Shutting off the alarm, Go Hoon rubbed his face wearily. Even after doing that, he couldn’t shake off the sleepiness, so he forced himself upright.
He stripped off his clothes in the bathroom and took a cold shower. From head to toe, he rinsed off with ice-cold water that jolted him fully awake.
After finishing his shower, he left his hair dripping and immediately started cooking rice. Then he opened the fridge to check what he had. There wasn’t much in the way of ingredients, but luckily, he found some bean sprouts that were just short of going bad.
Considering how much Seong-il had drunk, he’d definitely need a hangover cure. So Go Hoon decided to make bean sprout soup. While he was at it, he figured he might as well fix himself a simple breakfast too.
Go Hoon usually preferred instant meals that were quick to cook and simple to make, but bean sprout soup wasn’t particularly difficult, so he’d occasionally whip it up on his own.
He thoroughly rinsed the bean sprouts in the sink and dropped them into a pot with water. Then he dumped in the other ingredients all at once and sliced in a Cheongyang chili pepper for a nice spicy kick. Once the soup had come to a strong boil and he figured the flavors had melded, he tasted the broth with a thoughtful expression.
“Not bad.”
It was spicy and refreshing—pretty decent, actually. Nodding in satisfaction, he turned off the heat and walked over to Jo Seong-il, who was now wrapped up in a blanket like a caterpillar.
“Hey, Jo Seong-il. Wake up.”
He lightly tapped Seong-il’s back with his foot and raised his voice. The lump on the floor stirred.
“Ugh… Mom, five more minutes…”
“Mom, my ass. Wake up, you bastard. How long are you planning to lie there?”
Now Go Hoon started nudging his butt with his foot.
“Ah, come on…!”
Seong-il suddenly lifted his head from under the blanket, his eyes wide open. He looked around in shock.
“Hoon…?”
He blinked at Go Hoon, clearly confused, then glanced around the room.
“…Wait, what? This your place?”
From the look on his face, he didn’t even remember stumbling in here on his own.
“Get up and eat, dumbass.”
Leaving Seong-il to slowly sit up, Go Hoon headed back to the kitchen and opened the rice cooker. He packed steaming rice and bean sprout soup into bowls and set them on the low table.
He even pulled out some prepackaged side dishes he’d bought from the supermarket to round out the meal. With everything set, he carried the tray to the middle of the room and gave a subtle nod toward the still-groggy Seong-il.
“Come on.”
Finally, Seong-il crawled over and plopped down. He held his head in both hands.
“Ugh… My head’s killing me…”
“Yeah, well, cure it with soup before it kills you.”
Go Hoon shoved a spoon into his hand. Still grimacing, Seong-il muttered a faint “thanks for the food” and took a sip of the broth.
“Damn… this bean sprout soup is amazing. You made this?”
“Who else would’ve?”
“Wow… I didn’t know our Go Hoon had skills like this. Your hands are blessed, man.”
Sipping more of the soup, Seong-il gave a big thumbs-up. Go Hoon just chuckled at the sight of his disheveled face and batted away the hand reaching toward him.
“Eat and go shower. You look like hell.”
Despite the jab, Seong-il nodded with a smile.
Thankfully, the soup seemed to suit his taste. He cleared the entire bowl of rice and, after filling his stomach with the hot meal, helped clean up the table. As he looked around the small room, he spoke up.
“Oh, hey. So you ended up buying a new laptop?”
Go Hoon’s gaze flicked to the slim laptop resting neatly on the low desk.
“They said the old one couldn’t be fixed at the service center. What else could I do?”
“Ooh, yeah, man. A college student needs a slim laptop.”
Seong-il moved closer to the laptop and poked around. He started peppering Go Hoon with questions—what model, what specs—and then, after all that chatter, groaned that his hangover was coming back and collapsed again.
Meanwhile, Go Hoon began getting ready to go out. As he took off his top to change into outdoor clothes, Seong-il’s leering gaze crawled over his body.
“Damn, you’ve got a sick body, man.”
“Stop staring at me like some pervert.”
“What, we’re both guys. What’s the big deal?”
Go Hoon scowled in disgust, but Seong-il just laughed like he didn’t care. Ignoring him, Go Hoon finished changing and grabbed his bag.
“You’re doing the dishes.”
Seong-il had said he had his first class in the afternoon. With him still lying on the floor enjoying his lazy morning, Go Hoon dumped the chores on him and headed out with light steps.
***
The morning lectures were over before he even realized it.
To be honest, he had spaced out through half of them, mentally drifting in and out of consciousness. His eyelids had grown heavy no matter how hard he tried to focus, and eventually, he just gave in and relied on his lecture recordings, dozing off here and there.
Tired. Pressing his fingers to his temple, Go Hoon grabbed his bag and sluggishly got to his feet. With no classes in the afternoon, his plan was to grab a meal at the student cafeteria, take a short nap at home, and head out for delivery work afterward.
Hungry, sleepy, and broke. The trifecta of misery. A wry smile escaped him. First things first—he needed to eat. With that in mind, he exited the building.
As the dazzling sunlight hit his head, his eyes caught a group of people chatting by the roadside. Among them stood the tall figure of Bae Jung-yoon.
By now, seeing him around so often wasn’t even surprising anymore. But despite that thought, Go Hoon’s steps came to a subtle halt. Only for a moment—he quickly forced his feet to move again, trying to pass by them casually.
“Hoon.”
But his plan was foiled by a soft voice calling out his name. His steps froze again, whether he liked it or not.
