“What the hell are you talking about?”
Kim Geon-ung asked without lifting his gaze from his phone. His fingers continued to tap away busily even as he spoke.
“What’s a way to look unattractive?”
“If it’s Tto-yul being Tto-yul, isn’t that enough?”
The reply was utterly half-hearted. In a flash of rising irritation, Lim Haeyul smacked him hard on the shoulder. Kim Geon-ung immediately scrunched up his face.
“Ah! You bastard, I almost hit send!”
“Who cares? You’re screwed either way, why bother?”
“I’m trying to die with less pain, okay? Got a problem with that?”
Their voices rose, drawing the attention of the entire lecture hall. Embarrassed, Lim Haeyul clamped his mouth shut. Meanwhile, Kim Geon-ung kept grumbling, muttering about how Haeyul had hit him right where he’d just been hit.
Lim Haeyul let out a heavy sigh and ruffled his hair.
“This is serious, you know.”
“It’s not even that hard of a problem.”
“It’s important. I’m in big trouble right now.”
“What big trouble?”
“Someone who’s absolutely not supposed to like me seems to like me.”
Kim Geon-ung, who had been furiously typing away, suddenly froze mid-motion. Slowly, he lifted his gaze to Haeyul. His expression was strangely twisted.
“What? It’s true!”
Feeling awkward under that look, Haeyul rushed to add an explanation.
Well, it was understandable if he didn’t believe it. Until now, there hadn’t been a single person who liked him. But now, there was. And not just anyone—it looked like Cha Jae-woo liked him.
“Explain it in more detail.”
Honestly, Haeyul expected Kim Geon-ung to dismiss it with some more bullshit, but surprisingly, he responded quite seriously. That in itself was unsettling, but since he was willing to listen, Haeyul figured he might as well go for it. He turned his body fully toward Geon-ung and spoke rapidly.
“Just like I said. Someone who’s not supposed to like me seems to like me. The problem is, we see each other every day. So, obviously, I need to make myself look less attractive, right? Otherwise, he’ll keep liking me more!”
At that, Kim Geon-ung’s eyebrows drew together slightly.
“Are you sure you’re not just imagining things?”
But it was only for a brief moment. He quickly lifted one corner of his mouth into a crooked smirk, as if he had never frowned at all. His voice, dripping with disbelief, made Haeyul glare and snap back.
“I could be imagining it, but you never know.”
“Why would Cha Jae-woo like you?”
“…I didn’t even say it was Cha Jae-woo.”
“Anyone could tell it’s Cha Jae-woo.”
Having no good comeback, Haeyul just stuck out his lower lip petulantly. He briefly considered insisting otherwise, but realistically, the only person he saw every day was Cha Jae-woo. Even Kim Geon-ung, whose classes often overlapped with his, wasn’t around that consistently.
Besides, Kim Geon-ung already knew about his side effects—there was no point hiding it.
“Yeah, fine. It’s him. But seriously, I really think so.”
“That’s totally your imagination.”
“No, I swear, lately he’s been acting weird. Like, actually trying to seduce me. For real!”
Haeyul didn’t mention that Cha Jae-woo had outright said he was charming him. Just remembering it made his face burn with embarrassment. There was no way he could actually say it out loud.
He fought to keep the corners of his mouth from curling up into a smile. He knew he shouldn’t be feeling happy about this, but no matter what, he couldn’t help the way it made him feel.
“I’m just a side effect, but if he ends up being serious, that’s a problem, right? So is there a way to make myself less appealing…? Of course, I don’t mean he should completely hate me! I just want it to stay at a level where he doesn’t like me!”
The mere thought of Cha Jae-woo hating him was unbearable. So it needed to be handled carefully—enough to cool things down, but not so much as to turn into real dislike. The difficulty was finding that perfect balance.
‘Ha, how did it even come to this? Him liking me, of all people.’
Lim Haeyul buried his face in his hands, rubbing at his cheeks over and over. Even though he kept telling himself this wasn’t right, a foolish smile kept tugging at his lips. Caught in a whirlwind of conflicting emotions, he couldn’t seem to break free.
Kim Geon-ung seemed to notice, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
“You look like you’re actually enjoying this.”
Of course, he hit the nail on the head immediately. Knowing it was pointless to deny it, Haeyul just shrugged exaggeratedly.
“Well, I do like him. Can’t really help it, can I?”
“……”
“Even if it’s just because of the side effect.”
If it weren’t for the side effect, this would have been something to celebrate. He would’ve been free to be giddy and thrilled without restraint. Wasn’t that natural?
But he knew all too well that he was suffering from a Guiding Block side effect. That awareness kept his reason barely intact—he knew Cha Jae-woo shouldn’t have feelings for him. At least he still had that much clarity.
“Wow, you’re a real piece of shit.”
“Tell me about it.”
Still, no matter how much he acknowledged it, it didn’t change the fact that it was bad. What was the point of having reason if his heart was already welcoming the change in Cha Jae-woo’s attitude?
The lecture was about to start, but the professor still hadn’t shown up. He was notorious for being late, so no one really cared anymore. The students continued chatting and goofing around like it was perfectly normal.
“Try adjusting the distance between you two,” Kim Geon-ung said, stretching lazily.
Despite his casual tone, his expression was surprisingly serious—an odd look for him.
“If you just leave it alone, he’s the one who’s going to get hurt in the end, right?”
At those words, the silly grin that had been plastered on Haeyul’s face instantly vanished. Maybe it was because Kim Geon-ung was being unusually sincere, but suddenly, a wave of guilt washed over him.
“…Yeah. You’re right.”
But how exactly was he supposed to adjust the distance? Honestly, he had no idea—he’d never had to do that before. Since they were already talking about it, he opened his mouth to ask.
However, Kim Geon-ung spoke first.
“But… are you really okay with Cha liking you?”
The question came out of nowhere. Haeyul tilted his head slightly and answered without much thought.
“Why wouldn’t I be? It’s not like it’s a bad thing.”
“He’s a guy.”
Ah. Now he understood why Kim Geon-ung had asked. It wasn’t the most obvious thing, after all.
If it had been before, he might have panicked at the idea of another guy liking him. But now… he was accepting it without batting an eye. No wonder Geon-ung was curious.
“Maybe it’s because I liked him first? It really doesn’t bother me at all.”
It was strange, when he thought about it. How was it that the fact they were both guys didn’t bother him in the slightest? Was it really just because he’d fallen first? Or had he never been the type to care in the first place?
“Aha…”
As Haeyul pondered the questions spinning through his mind, Kim Geon-ung let out a vague sound.
“Why?” Haeyul asked, puzzled.
“Nah, it’s nothing.”
Kim Geon-ung replied dismissively and turned his head, staring down at his phone. But he didn’t start typing a message or playing a game. It was a strange reaction.
‘Weird. Is he scared because he thinks he’s a dead man walking once he gets home? Or did something happen?’
Caught up in his own thoughts, Haeyul realized he hadn’t been paying attention to Geon-ung’s state.
He peered more closely at him. Noticing Haeyul’s stare, Kim Geon-ung glared back, but Haeyul didn’t budge.
“Ah.”
Suddenly, a thought struck him. At Haeyul’s short exclamation, Kim Geon-ung raised an eyebrow.
“Do you… like guys?”
It was a pretty reasonable theory. Maybe seeing Haeyul so unfazed by Cha Jae-woo’s supposed feelings had made Kim Geon-ung want to talk about his own sexuality. Maybe he felt it was okay to open up now that Haeyul wouldn’t react negatively.
Once the idea took hold, everything about Kim Geon-ung’s weird behavior made perfect sense.
“Hey, if that’s what’s bugging you, just tell me, you idiot. I can totally understand!”
He was his best friend, after all. If Kim Geon-ung was grappling with something like that, Haeyul was more than willing to listen. And of course, he’d stand by his side.
But Kim Geon-ung just let out an incredulous laugh and shook his head.
“What would you understand?”
Even so, he didn’t deny it. Haeyul grew even more certain that his guess was right.
“That’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’re my friend. I don’t have a single ounce of prejudice, you know? Not now, and not in the past either. I’m serious.”
“Ugh, why the hell are you being so serious all of a sudden.”
“You can talk to me about anything, anytime. I’ll listen to everything you have to say.” Lim Haeyul said resolutely, patting Kim Geon-ung firmly on the shoulder.Kim Geon-ung, brushing his shoulder off like he was shaking off a bad memory, gave a hollow chuckle, as if even he found this ridiculous.
“Ah, how very kind of you. Thanks so much.” He replied with a voice dripping in sarcasm. But to Haeyul’s ears, there was a faint thread of genuine trouble hidden behind it.
‘Maybe… he’s fallen for someone? And it’s a guy? And just now, with me talking about Cha Jae-woo, maybe it triggered even more worry?’
A thousand possibilities raced through Haeyul’s mind. In the middle of all that, one particular face flashed vividly across his thoughts. Without thinking too deeply, he immediately blurted out:
“…Hey, do you like Sol hyung?”
His voice wasn’t loud, but just in case, he instinctively glanced around after speaking. He had a strong hunch he’d hit the mark.
“Ah!”
But Kim Geon-ung didn’t confirm it. Instead, he raked Haeyul’s face roughly with four fingers, practically smacking him across the nose. The loud tsk tsk of his tongue clicking was obvious.
“Don’t say such bullshit.”
Haeyul wanted to press further, but at that exact moment, the professor walked into the lecture hall, forcing him to clamp his mouth shut.
‘So he says no… but it really feels like it’s true? Does Kim Geon-ung seriously like Sol hyung?’
If so, that was huge. And also terribly sad. Because no matter how he looked at it, Kim Geon-ung didn’t stand a chance with Kim Sol.
Haeyul gave his friend’s shoulder a quick pat as a silent gesture of comfort. Kim Geon-ung shot him a glare, clearly catching on to the intent, but Haeyul simply nodded back calmly.
‘It’s okay, buddy. Everyone goes through heartbreaks while growing up.’
Before he realized it, all the worries about Cha Jae-woo had been pushed far into the back of his mind. Honestly speaking, it hadn’t been a very serious worry to begin with. Selfish though it was, the truth was simple: he was happy.
He liked Cha Jae-woo right now. And Cha Jae-woo liked him back. Just thinking about it was enough to make his heart race.
Of course, he was fully aware that he needed to keep his head straight. Even if he didn’t know exactly how, he felt a strong need to create some distance between them.
Someday, a better Guide would appear for Cha Jae-woo. The number of times they needed to Guide together would naturally decrease. When that happened, Haeyul’s side effects would gradually fade too.
Eventually, his feelings would die down as well. Otherwise, if only Cha Jae-woo’s heart remained behind, Haeyul would have caused him unnecessary pain. That was the one thing he wanted to avoid.
Even if it felt good now, he knew he had to take decisive action.
As the professor began the lecture, Haeyul stared blankly at the front, lost in thought. Until the class ended, neither he nor Kim Geon-ung spoke a single word, each caught up in their own silent reflections.
