[Ye Mun-young]: That was crazy1111111
[K. Chan-ho]: Did well, strong show.
[Damn ♡♡♡]
[Jeong-gi]: That bastard looks drunk.
[Gi-san]: F***, work.
[Jeong-gi]: I’m gonna die… seriously…
[Won-ho]: Did everyone make it home alive?
[K. Chan-ho]: I’m about to collapse from exhaustion.
[Hae-young]: I just ordered some hangover soup.
[Hae-young]: Sh*t, I sent the wrong message to my girlfriend.
[Won-ho]: I lied to Manager Min and said I had food poisoning, took a leave day.
[Seon-jun]: Crazy bastard lol.
[Ye Mun-young]: What is this?
The translation remains the same as I provided earlier:
[Ye Mun-young] (Video)
[Jeong-gi] Cha Sa-yoon, are you insane? LOL
[Gi-san] Who filmed that?
[Hae-young] Refund me for my share of the karaoke bill, f***, I didn’t even get to sing one song LOL
[LOLLLLLL]
[Jeong-gi]: The mic hog has arrived LOLLLLL
[Won-ho]: Ah, sh*t, yesterday felt like a solo concert for Cha Sa-yoon.
[Pay up for the ticket.]
[Chan-ho: Are you a robber?
[Yeah, you’re right ㅠㅠ]
[Won-ho]: But why did Cha Sa-yoon freak out when someone said they liked him yesterday?
[Hae-young]: Huh?
[Won-ho]: Dunno, but yesterday Hyung-jae told Cha Sa-yoon, “You sing so well, hyung, you’re so cool, I really like you,” and suddenly, he just splashed alcohol all over the table.
[Seon-jun]: Thought it was a Waterbomb festival.
[Chan-ho]: He was drunk.
[Yeah, I have an allergy to compliments.]
As soon as he left the chat, the conversation pinned at the very top caught his eye—it was his chat with Sa Shin-jae. If he didn’t keep it pinned, it would get buried among the others too quickly, so he had set it that way. Unlike the other chats, which had numbers indicating unread messages from the night before, that window showed nothing.
“Haah.”
Did he get home safely? But if he sent a message first, it might feel like he was just acting superior.
Letting out a short sigh, Sa-yoon clicked on the profile instead of entering the chat. The main picture was still the one he had taken—a shot of Shin-jae’s back.
“Huh?”
He swiped through the photos absentmindedly, and in between them, a familiar cake appeared. It was the carrot cake he had hastily bought for Shin-jae’s birthday.
The hands holding up the cake were clearly his. The background was a lecture hall, not particularly aesthetic. Why would he upload this as his profile picture?
Swiping once more, the previous photo Sa-yoon had taken reappeared. Must have been an accident.
In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to send a text asking if Shin-jae had made it home, and instead, he switched to another tab. The open chat tab, which didn’t require any personal info to join, was relatively quiet.
“Oh, right.”
Only then did he remember that Killer had messaged him yesterday. Something about needing to talk.
[sry sry]
[was drinking yesterday]
[what did you want to talk about?]
A small “1” appeared next to the sent message. After casually responding to his backlog of messages, he realized he was thirsty. He stretched his stiff body and got out of bed, but a sharp pain shot through his knee.
Had he sprinted at full speed last night or something? He rubbed the sore spot like polishing a magic lamp and headed to the kitchen—only to find an unexpected guest.
“You’re up?”
“What’s with the ‘you’re up’ tone? That’s no way to greet your older brother.”
It was his younger sister, Hye-yoon, the undisputed queen of the house, now that her college entrance exams were less than a month away. She was eating breakfast with her face buried in a vocabulary book but looked up with a grimace.
“Ugh, you reek of alcohol!”
Sa-yoon stared blankly at his sister. With her bangs curled neatly around a pink hair roller, she looked especially young today.
“What? If you wanna keep looking, pay up.”
Seeing her round cheeks, still full of baby fat, made him feel strangely guilty.
No, wait, I haven’t even done anything yet.
Shaking his head as if to snap out of it, he asked, “Wait, what month were you born again?”
“You don’t even know your own sister’s birthday? It’s March 1st!”
“Oh, right. Independence Movement Day.”
As Sa-yoon drank his water, he frowned. Sa Shin-jae was born in October, meaning there was only a five-month age gap between them. Realizing that made him scoff.
Me? Liking someone six years younger? That’s ridiculous.
His hangover refused to fade, a stark reminder of how much he had drunk. Ever since injuring his knee, he hadn’t indulged this heavily…
Sa-yoon slumped over his desk, letting his arms dangle. Taking public transportation today had been a mistake. When he left home, he thought he could handle it, but by the time he got off the bus, he was practically half-dead. It felt like he’d been thrown onto a fishing boat in the middle of a raging storm.
Should’ve just stayed in the student lounge. But now, the thought of trekking back down the hill seemed just as unbearable.
Only now did the absurdity of what he had done hit him—taking a 9 AM class outside his major just to cast actors for his graduation project. And since it was a mandatory freshman course, the room buzzed with the restless energy of twenty-year-olds.
I’m skipping my afternoon classes. Survival first. He could worry about the next lecture later. Resolving to take it easy, Sa-yoon closed his eyes. A nice, cold Americano would hit the spot right now. Too bad he only remembered after he had already arrived.
He was locked in a silent battle with his queasy stomach when the classroom suddenly fell silent. Sa-yoon peeked out, scanning the front of the room. No professor.
Then why did it get so quiet?
Confused, he lifted his head, only to find a takeaway cup placed in front of him. It was exactly what he’d been craving—an iced Americano. Droplets of condensation rolled down the plastic and dripped onto the desk.
“Hyung.”
The familiar voice reached him just as his gaze traveled up from the hand that had set down the cup.
He had fully expected Shin-jae to avoid him for at least a week. This was unexpected.
“Uh…”
Sa-yoon looked up, mouth slightly open, frozen in place.
Sa Shin-jae, the very same person who had confessed last night and bolted, now stood before him—his hair neatly slicked back, not a single strand out of place. Even his fully exposed forehead looked ridiculously good.
“Looks like he came from a photoshoot.”
Someone muttered nearby. The voice was quiet, but in the dead-silent room, it rang out crystal clear.
It was only then that Sa-yoon’s eyes trailed down to Shin-jae’s outfit, and his expression scrunched up.
“What the hell are you wearing?”
Shin-jae, who had just sat down, blinked as if he didn’t understand the question.
Sa-yoon hadn’t even known that shirt collars could be decorative, but the embroidered edges on Shin-jae’s were something an ordinary person wouldn’t dare attempt. Add to that the brooch in place of a tie, and he looked just like an idol-turned-actor attending an awards ceremony.
And the suit—it was cream-colored, nearly white.
Wearing something like that and still managing to look unfairly good? It wasn’t even ridiculous; it actually suited him. So this is what people meant when they said clothes complement the person.
“Where are you going today?”
“I came to attend class.”
Had the world’s sense of TPO (time, place, and occasion) changed overnight? Judging by the reactions around them, it wasn’t Sa-yoon who had lost his mind.
He glanced at Shin-jae, who had lowered his eyes as if embarrassed, and felt an odd sensation creeping up. His outfit—it was like a peacock fanning its tail to attract a mate…
Before he could say anything else, the professor entered, bringing order to the room. Even the elderly professor spared a brief glance at the student dressed like a fashion model but seemed to dismiss it, perhaps attributing it to the festival season.
“Sa Shin-jae.”
Sa-yoon called him quietly, but Shin-jae didn’t even glance his way.
“Hyung, you smell like alcohol.”
Instead, he simply pushed the Americano toward him. Sa-yoon, caught off guard, took the cup and sipped instinctively. The nickname lifeblood wasn’t an exaggeration—the nausea that had plagued him all morning finally began to settle.
As he quietly sipped his coffee, a thought crossed his mind.
What the hell is up with him?
***
“Let’s go eat.”
Even after class ended, Shin-jae didn’t flee. Instead, he stuck close, even urging Sa-yoon to move.
“How’s the cafeteria food?”
“You’re asking that while dressed like that?”
Even after class, eyes continued to trail them. The very person who usually hated being the center of attention looked completely unfazed.
“Is it weird?”
“No, not weird, just… a little…”
“A little?”
“Flashy.”
“So you mean it looks good?”
“Ah… Well, the outfit is nice, I guess?”
Shin-jae smiled, a bit shyly. Sa-yoon, who had initially planned to deny it, ended up changing his words and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. He felt like he had just tricked an innocent kid.
“Is there anything you want to eat?”
Truthfully, Sa-yoon wasn’t in any condition to eat. Just thinking about food made his stomach churn, so he shook his head. It wouldn’t make a difference where they went at this point.
“Just pick a place you want to eat. Anywhere but the cafeteria. We need to talk.”
At those words, Shin-jae’s bright eyes scanned Sa-yoon’s face before he suddenly lowered his head slightly.
“Then… should we go somewhere we can be alone?”
His voice brushed against Sa-yoon’s ear.
Startled, Sa-yoon instinctively covered his ear and took a half step back.
Shin-jae, on the other hand, looked at him with a completely innocent expression, as if wondering what the problem was.
His stomach, which had just started to settle, was now in turmoil again.
***
He had wanted a place where they could be alone, but he hadn’t meant returning to the same upscale Japanese restaurant from last time.
“Here? You want to eat here?”
“You liked it.”
Well, he had—before he knew the price. Sa-yoon had only expected something like one of Shin-jae’s usual brunch cafés. Now, he mentally reviewed his bank balance.
“You don’t want to?”
Shin-jae suddenly turned around in the hallway, frowning deeply. That ridiculously handsome face was now marred by a sharp crease between his brows.
“If you keep frowning like that, you’ll get wrink—ah.”
Sa-yoon had reached out instinctively, smoothing the space between Shin-jae’s brows with his thumb, but his words cut off midway.
This was not the kind of casual touch you should have with someone who had confessed to you just the night before. Especially when you were planning to reject that confession later.
To make matters worse, Shin-jae had even leaned down slightly, lowering himself to make it easier for Sa-yoon to reach.
Lmao the nile is a river in egypt