Seo Jae-ha, feeling drained, pulled out his phone and skimmed through the flood of notifications. A hyung he knew was telling him to come out and celebrate his promotion, a noona wanted him to see her show before the run ended, and a junior was begging for help with shopping in exchange for a full-course meal… There were plenty of invitations, yet he strangely didn’t feel like going anywhere.
Not seeing Hae-hyun’s name among the messages made him lose all motivation to check the rest. His gaze lingered on their chat window, buried far down the scroll. The preview showed—again—one of those curt, one-word replies. He’d seen them so often that he wasn’t even angry anymore.
Should I ask what he’s doing…? Would that sound too clingy? Like I’m picking a fight? …Or would he just ignore me again?
Jae-ha stared at the blinking cursor for a long moment, then slipped his phone back into his pocket.
But he didn’t want to go home either. These days, the house—silent and lifeless—felt strangely foreign. It wasn’t as if Hae-hyun had always stayed home anyway, but still, it felt off.
Was it really possible to feel this restless just because Ju Hae-hyun wasn’t around? He wished he could stop him from taking a leave of absence. Honestly, dropping out entirely and moving abroad might not be such a bad idea… No. Until then, he wanted to see him as much as possible. Letting out a small sigh, Jae-ha trudged forward. That was when he spotted a familiar head in the distance.
“Su-min?”
He called out on a hunch, and sure enough, Im Su-min looked around, spotted him, and came over.
“Hyung.”
“Funny running into you here. Grabbing dinner?”
At the casual question, Su-min shook his head.
“No. I was just… training, but I felt your energy, Hyung.”
“Huh?”
Jae-ha frowned at the odd phrasing. Su-min grinned.
“Well, to be exact, I felt my own energy inside you. Since you were around, I came out. I can get everything I need from my nest, so the only reason I’d step outside is for something like this.”
In other words, every time Jae-ha had run into Su-min near campus outside of general education classes, it had been Su-min deliberately seeking him out. Jae-ha muttered sourly.
“Su-min, in the human world, there’s a word for that. It’s called stalking.”
“But if I’m just staying with you, is that really wrong?”
His eyes shone with pure innocence. At this rate, he really could grow into a junior version of Lord Yeomjeong. Jae-ha gave the little Imoogi some serious advice.
“If the other person doesn’t like it, then you shouldn’t.”
“…Do you not like it, Hyung?”
“No, it’s not that. But if you overdo it, it can be too much.”
“Then I’ll just do it sometimes.”
Well, if it’s only that much… Jae-ha almost nodded without thinking, then caught himself. He had no right to scold the Cheonrok for being scatterbrained. He’d inherited that streak just fine.
Still, wasn’t he also wandering around because he didn’t want to be alone? He decided to make the best of the situation.
“You’re in the middle of training. Is it okay to just leave like that?”
“It’s fine. Being with you helps me way more than training anyway.”
“…That much?”
Jae-ha scratched his cheek awkwardly. He couldn’t sense the Cheonrok’s energy at all, so even if it was helpful, it didn’t feel real to him.
“Yes. I want to stay with you as long as I can. Were you heading home, Hyung?”
“Hmm… still deciding.”
“Why?”
“Kinda bored.”
Su-min’s eyes widened. He looked like he’d just spotted an opening.
“Then teach me Word.”
“Huh?”
“You promised before, remember?”
Right—he had. Su-min had said writing papers was hard because he didn’t know how to use it. The memory came back easily, and Jae-ha nodded. He had nothing better to do anyway.
“Sure. You got a laptop?”
“No, I was going to borrow one from school.”
“Then let’s just use mine first. Once you know the basics, you’ll be fine on your own.”
“You brought it with you, Hyung?”
“No.”
Since today’s classes didn’t require it, all he had in his bag was a small tablet. He jerked his chin.
“It’s at my place. Let’s head there.”
On the short walk to Jae-ha’s apartment, Su-min kept looking around in wonder. It was just an off-campus neighborhood a little past the busy student streets, but he gawked as if it were a foreign land. He really did look like someone who’d hardly ever stepped beyond school grounds. Jae-ha slowed his pace so Su-min could take it all in.
His curiosity didn’t fade even after they entered the officetel, rode the elevator, and stood at the front door. When Su-min peeked at other apartments, Jae-ha grabbed his arm—stuff like that was definitely not okay these days—and opened his own door. The familiar space greeted him.
“Wow, can I really come in?”
Su-min peeked over his shoulder.
“Yeah. Didn’t you already come here with Hae-hyun once?”
When Jae-ha had been dragged to the Celestial Realm, Hae-hyun had brought Su-min over to fetch the Guardian Talisman. So it shouldn’t have been his first time. But when Jae-ha asked, Su-min pouted.
“That bastard blocked me when I tried to go in. He went inside by himself and came back out. What a jerk.”
“……”
Typical Hae-hyun. With a resigned sigh, Jae-ha stepped aside and let Su-min in.
Su-min quickly slipped off his shoes and padded into the living room. His eyes sparkled at the unfamiliar space, looking so cute that Jae-ha teased him.
“Pretty humble compared to Myeongheoseong, huh?”
“It’s fine. As long as I’ve got a place to rest, that’s enough.”
“……”
The sincerity in his voice made Jae-ha pause, watching his bright face. Then he finished taking off his shoes and stepped inside. Someday, Su-min would naturally realize that places like Myeongheoseong were rare luxuries.
“Sit down. Want some juice?”
He gestured to the sofa and headed into the kitchen. There should still be some left from when Hae-hyun had stocked up. Unlike Jae-ha, who was fine with just water, Hae-hyun always bought sports drinks or fruit juices.
Sure enough, the fridge held exactly one glass’s worth of orange juice. Jae-ha poured it, brought it over—and saw Su-min turned toward the sofa backrest, staring intently at the stuffed toys sitting there.
“Here. Drink.”
“Thank you.”
Bowing his head slightly, Su-min accepted the glass and took a sip, though his gaze kept drifting back to the plushies.
“Did you buy those, Hyung?”
“Not bought—won them.”
“Won them?”
“There’s a place called an arcade where you can win prizes. Remember at our festival, when you got that keychain from the booths?”
“This one?”
Su-min tugged at the little cloud keychain dangling from his bag. It was a different bag from the one he’d used at the festival, but he’d kept the gift attached anyway. Clearly, he liked it. Jae-ha felt a small swell of pride.
“Yeah. Same idea.”
“Can I touch them?”
His sparkling eyes were like a child discovering treasure. Jae-ha nodded easily. Su-min reached out, grabbed one, and began kneading it with clear enjoyment.
Specifically—the oversized dog plushie.
“……”
Something about it felt off, so Jae-ha just stared. The real thing hated it so much… Noticing his gaze, Su-min sheepishly pulled his hand back.
“…Sorry. I just liked how it felt.”
“It’s fine. Play with it all you want. Want to hold it?”
He hadn’t intended to scold him for something so small. So Jae-ha picked up the dog plushie and plopped it into Su-min’s arms. Su-min accepted it with a startled look but didn’t turn it down. He clearly liked it.
They both left the sofa and sat at the living room table. Sharing the small laptop screen naturally drew them closer together.
“Can you type?”
“I think I’m slower than most people. How do you type so fast?”
“Everyone grows up using computers. If you practice, you’ll get faster too.”
The old laptop was nearly spotless since Jae-ha only used it for classes and assignments. He launched Word and began explaining the basic settings and functions.
Su-min listened more intently than expected, like he was in a lecture hall. He nodded now and then, asked follow-up questions, and pointed out details Jae-ha had glossed over, so the explanations grew more detailed.
But soon, Jae-ha realized something else.
“…So for references, you put them in footnotes like this—”
“I have to reference sources too?”
“……”
This kid… The problem wasn’t Word at all.
