“What are you doing right now?”
“What the fuck, what is this?”
The guy, who had just had his phone snatched away, jumped up and lunged. Sa-yoon stretched out his arm, holding the phone high toward the ceiling.
“Who the hell are you? Give me back my phone!”
So this bastard talks shit behind my back but doesn’t have the guts to say it to my face? He was about to delete everything right then and there. The guy was shoving against him, but it wasn’t anything Sa-yoon couldn’t handle.
Then, the man’s elbow struck Sa-yoon’s cheekbone. The sudden impact made his thumb press somewhere by accident.
“Ah, damn it! Hold on, I just need to delete this—”
Sa-yoon froze as he looked at the changed screen.
What the hell is this?
“Is it true that Ch O is a crippled fossil who had to re-enroll at twenty-six?”
The guy, who had been thrashing around like an enraged monkey, suddenly stopped. Sa-yoon read the post below it.
“Film major ‘Ch O’ spotted at the business building again today, shamelessly chasing after ‘SSJ’ like a dog in heat.”
Next post.
“Who’s that person who keeps showing up during lunch, asking ‘SSJ’ to eat together?”
And the one after that.
“By the way, why is ‘SSJ’ taking Understanding Logic separately? They’re the only one in Section E. Probably getting ostracized for having a shitty personality despite that face.”
Next.
“Doesn’t ‘SSJ’ look like they got a nose job in this photo? They keep denying it, but in person, you can totally tell they’ve had work done—eyes, nose, jaw, all of it.”
Another one.
“‘SSJ’ acts like their looks are everything. They’re always picking up girls—today, they were at the business building again looking for one.”
Next.
“‘SSJ’ ranked dead last on the Business Principles quiz. The dumbass even wrote their own initials instead of a nickname. Guess they didn’t know it’d be posted for everyone to see. Fucking idiot.”
[SSJ’s Insta is a trainwreck, lmao]
[Dropping SSJ’s number for 10 seconds only.]
[[Location Tip] SSJ is in the 3rd-floor reading room at the central library.]
[[Location Tip] SSJ seems to be drinking alone in the film booth?]
The stream of malicious posts seemed endless.
“…Hey.”
Sa-yoon had finally scrolled through all of it. He lowered his head.
The bar, packed with customers, had gone completely silent.
“You need to come with me to the police station.”
***
The café was quiet. Thanks to that, as soon as he went up to the second floor, he immediately spotted the fluffy-haired figure.
“Did you wait long?”
Sa-yoon smiled as he sat across from him. Clear eyes scanned him before the expression on his face subtly shifted.
“Hyung, what happened to your face?”
“My face?”
“Here, you’ve got a bruise.”
Shin-jae placed his index finger on Sa-yoon’s cheekbone.
“Ah…”
Did he bruise that fast from the hit earlier? Sa-yoon rubbed the spot absentmindedly and responded as if it were nothing.
“I bumped into a door on my way out.”
“Did you drink a lot?”
“No, not really…”
As he trailed off, Shin-jae suddenly stood up. With his naturally broad build, it felt like a wall had appeared in front of Sa-yoon.
“Hyung, drink this for a sec. I haven’t touched it.”
The “wall” slid the cup in front of him and disappeared downstairs before Sa-yoon could even respond. Did he suddenly need the bathroom? Watching him head toward the staircase, Sa-yoon only let out a breath once Shin-jae was completely out of sight.
For a moment, he thought Shin-jae was going to come over and check the bruise up close. Why did he even think that? Maybe it was because Shin-jae had been getting oddly touchy lately. It’s just a small bruise—nothing to make a fuss about.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Sa-yoon cleared his throat and lifted the cup. The tea, which had probably been boiling hot when it was served, had already cooled to a lukewarm temperature.
Bzzzt.
Before he could take a sip, his phone vibrated. Checking the message, Sa-yoon clicked his tongue.
[Sender: Seo Jung-hak]
-I’m really sorry. I deeply regret it. Could you cancel the report…ㅠㅠ
“This isn’t why I gave him my number.”
Seo Jung-hak. The bastard who had been posting all those malicious comments. His student ID number was four years above Shin-jae’s.
Eighty percent of the posts he wrote were slander about Sa Shin-jae. The other twenty percent were insults about people associated with him—or vile, disgusting topics that were too repulsive to even mention.
He probably found out about Sa-yoon from wondering who “the outsider who comes to find Sa Shin-jae every lunch break” was. The jealousy was as filthy and pathetic as it could get.
Once his venomous posts were exposed, Seo Jung-hak was completely speechless. Since he was caught red-handed, there was no way for him to deny it.
What was supposed to be a casual drinking session had turned into an online defamation case filing session instead. With defamation, insult, and clear intent all easily proven, there wasn’t even much effort required.
Honestly, Sa-yoon should give the bastard a round of applause for his sheer stupidity.
Sa-yoon picked up his phone again. More than fifteen people had seen him get hit, but it seemed like a good idea to have evidence just in case.
“It’s not showing up well.”
The bruise wasn’t dark enough yet, so it wasn’t capturing clearly in the photo. Even after adjusting the settings and taking another shot, it still didn’t show up well.
As he scrolled through the pictures to compare them, the screen shifted to the evidence files Yeon-hee had captured and sent him. Going through them again, Sa-yoon frowned. Yeah, he needed to document the bruise better.
He was in the middle of struggling to get a clearer shot, moving to a secluded corner of the sofa with his camera up, when—
“Hyung, what are you doing?”
“Huh?”
At the sound of his name, he turned his head to see Shin-jae approaching. The crinkling noise of a black plastic bag accompanied him.
“What were you so focused on that you didn’t even notice me coming… Oh.”
So he was taking a selfie.
Just like that, Sa-yoon was suddenly the kind of guy who got so lost in admiring his own face that he didn’t even realize someone was approaching. He quietly lowered his phone. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but for some reason, it felt embarrassingly awkward.
As he rubbed his face in mild frustration, Shin-jae shoved something into his hand. An egg. One of those two-pack boiled eggs from convenience stores.
“Why did you buy this?”
“You need to reduce the swelling. Rub it on the bruise, and make sure you get some bruise ointment tomorrow.”
Shin-jae grumbled about how there wasn’t even a late-night pharmacy around here, then peeled open the plastic case and pressed an egg into Sa-yoon’s right hand. As he instinctively accepted it, another item appeared from the bag—a hangover relief drink.
“Drink this.”
“Uh…”
With the bottle already opened and placed in his left hand, Sa-yoon barely had time to process before Shin-jae was rustling through the bag again. What, was that thing some kind of magic pouch?
“Hurry up and drink it.”
“O-okay…”
The third thing to emerge was a melon-flavored ice cream bar.
“Hyung, you always say you have to eat ice cream after drinking. I was going to get it for you earlier, but that asshole got in the way.”
Shin-jae held out the bright green ice cream, his expression unreadable. His long lashes made him look slightly sulky, while the way his lips were pressed together made it seem like he was embarrassed.
“Thanks.”
I’m going to press charges. Some asshole dared to slander and drag down a kid this kind—I’m going to hunt him down and destroy him.
“What about yours?”
“I don’t like ice cream.”
Huh. Accepting that with a nod, Sa-yoon took a bite of the ice cream. The familiar sweetness spread in his mouth, washing away the strange taste of the hangover drink.
“You should’ve just left earlier, Hyung.”
Shin-jae, who didn’t like coffee or ice cream, reached for the cup in front of Sa-yoon and took a small sip.
“They must’ve kept badmouthing me.”
“Nah, the others stopped him.”
Shin-jae tilted his head, clearly unconvinced. Seeing his puzzled expression, Sa-yoon simply bit into his ice cream, pretending not to notice.
There was no reason for Shin-jae to know everything that had happened afterward. If possible, Sa-yoon wanted him to never find out what kind of posts that bastard had uploaded to the school community.
Though that was probably impossible.
Rolling the egg over his cheekbone while eating ice cream, Sa-yoon couldn’t help but laugh. This felt like some kind of sitcom.
“You know, when I really look at you, you’ve got a bit of a rebellious streak.”
“Do you hate that?”
Shin-jae looked at him over his cup, his bright-colored eyes glistening like he might cry at any moment. Sa-yoon slowly shook his head.
“No.”
It was unexpected, but he didn’t dislike it.
“Then did I do well?”
“There’s no such thing as doing well or not. What are you going to do about your department life if you keep clashing with people you don’t like?”
Sometimes, putting up with bullshit was just part of social life. Today worked out because Seo Jung-hak was undeniably a piece of shit.
“You need to learn when to hold back and pretend not to see things.”
“……”
“If something like this happens again, just nod and let it go. There’s no benefit in making yourself stand out.”
That’s how Korean society worked. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. On top of that, reacting so strongly only made people suspicious. Seo Jung-hak had even speculated that Shin-jae might be gay just because of how defensive he got.
Sa-yoon rubbed his chin. Now that he thought about it, he was basically scolding someone who had stood up for him. He couldn’t ignore the way Shin-jae kept his face half-hidden behind his cup, pretending to drink.
“Today… well, yeah. If I had to say, you did well. But from now on—”
“Are you worrying about me right now?”
The way Shin-jae looked at him, with those slightly misty eyes, was straight out of a hot chocolate commercial. Far from looking dejected by the scolding, he was lightly blushing—completely unfazed.
“Huh? Uh?”
“I don’t really participate in department activities anyway, so it’s fine.”
Ignoring how Sa-yoon was stumbling over his words from the unexpected hit to his defenses, the human tomato continued.
“If it really doesn’t work out, I’ll just transfer to your department. You’re the one who told me to go for what I want.”
That was definitely not what he meant. Sa-yoon’s advice about chasing dreams had been warped beyond recognition in Shin-jae’s hands.
“It’d be fun if we were in the same department, right?”
Sa-yoon was the one caught off guard now, completely blindsided.
“Now that I think about it, why didn’t you drink?”
“I wanted to make sure I could take you home.”
His expression was composed, but his skin wasn’t cooperating—it was completely red.
Seriously… what kind of cherry tomato is this?
