Only Kang Han-gyeom, right there on the spot, seemed completely unaffected by Won-hyeok’s attitude. He simply asked, as casually as ever, whether the newly put-on hat looked good on him.
“Do Won-hyeok, what’s wrong? You’re not mad, are you?”
When his friend suddenly bristled out of nowhere, Sun-woo, who had been standing quietly behind him, jolted in surprise and jabbed him in the side with his elbow. Maybe thanks to that, the light returned to Won-hyeok’s eyes. As he quickly scanned the mood around them, Sun-woo wasn’t the only one who looked flustered—two others from Han-gyeom’s group were also darting their eyes about awkwardly.
“…You’re wearing it well. Makes giving it to you worth it.”
Won-hyeok naturally tugged the corners of his lips upward. In a voice deliberately loosened, he spoke as if trying to smooth things over.
“I’m only going to wear this hat from now on.”
“Good. Ah, we’re about to order—do you want anything else?”
“Huh? I’m okay!”
Han-gyeom waved both hands hard, but Won-hyeok said he’d at least buy him some cake, then abruptly grabbed his wallet and strode off to the counter.
Left alone, Sun-woo could only force an awkward smile at the younger students before slowly trailing after Won-hyeok. Lately, there was something he kept finding himself thinking. His classmate of three years, Do Won-hyeok, had started to feel a little unfamiliar.
Do Won-hyeok was kind, had a good personality, and was handsome on top of that—there wasn’t a single lacking point to him. He had always been famous in the department, and even among the professors, for how sincerely considerate he was toward others. Some classmates even joked that if someone turned Do Won-hyeok into a manga character, people would complain the setting was too overloaded.
Sun-woo was someone who understood exactly how those classmates felt. Sometimes he even found himself admiring Won-hyeok. Teasing him for being unrealistically perfect in a good way came as a bonus.
But these days, his friend was… how should he put it. Like someone being chased by something. He looked anxious, and at times it felt like all his attention was fixed somewhere else.
He’d also started doing things he never used to do. To begin with, the very fact that he’d come to the library to study because it was exam season had been strange. Before, when Sun-woo once asked him to come along because he hated going alone, he had flatly refused, saying he didn’t like the library environment.
On top of that, his mood swings lately were basically all over the place. How many times had Sun-woo witnessed these unfamiliar sides of him—him, who usually kept an easy smile on his face and acted rationally no matter what happened, no matter what unpleasant things he heard?
Lee Yeon-su must have been pretty shocked by being shaken off by Won-hyeok at the group dinner, because afterward she didn’t even try speaking to him.
And today too. The very first thing he said the moment class ended had been completely unexpected.
“Sun-woo, want to go study at a café with me?”
Sun-woo had said he was going to the library instead, since cafés were too noisy to focus in. But what do you know—Won-hyeok, who had never done this before, started clinging to him.
“I’ll buy you coffee. Isn’t it nice to study somewhere like that once in a while? It’s a nice change of air.”
Since it was the first time his friend Won-hyeok had ever asked that insistently, Sun-woo had no choice but to follow him here as though being dragged along.
“We’re going upstairs, right?”
When he asked while watching Won-hyeok finish ordering, the other man stared fixedly at one particular spot.
“Let’s sit over there. Going all the way to the second floor feels a little annoying.”
The place he pointed to had more than enough room for two people, and just then it was empty. The only notable detail was that it was right next to Han-gyeom, who was deeply focused on a group project meeting.
“…Okay.”
Once their drinks came out, Won-hyeok didn’t sit down until he had also bought cake and bread and taken them over to Han-gyeom’s group.
“Hey, Do Won-hyeok.”
“Hm?”
“You’ve changed lately.”
Sun-woo said it flatly, flipping through his major textbook.
“I’ve changed? What do you mean by that?”
“It’s just your vibe, and the way you’ve been acting lately.”
“I’m not really sure what you mean, Sun-woo.”
As Sun-woo was wondering how to explain it exactly, he suddenly sensed that Won-hyeok, who had been talking with him, was looking elsewhere again. Come to think of it, the printouts he’d supposedly brought out to study still hadn’t been opened, and his tablet screen remained black and dark.
“…”
Sun-woo slowly turned his head to follow Won-hyeok’s gaze.
“Wow, that’s amazing. Han-ul, you’re really good at drawing too?”
Kwon Han-ul was busily sketching something in a notebook with a mechanical pencil, and Han-gyeom was leaning his upper body far forward, watching the movement with obvious interest. He was so absorbed in watching that his lips were even slightly parted.
Sun-woo looked back and forth between that scene and Won-hyeok. The closer Han-gyeom got to the other person, the darker Won-hyeok’s face became.
“I’m not good enough for it to be called good.”
“No, you really are. Seriously, you’re really good. Right, Da-eun?”
Even through his glasses, Han-gyeom’s eyes were visibly shining as he looked at the drawing Han-ul had done for him.
“Hey, that’s getting crumpled.”
“Huh?”
Sun-woo pointed at Won-hyeok’s printout with his finger. In his large hand, the clean white paper was being mercilessly crushed, and veins had even started standing out on the back of his hand.
“That part’s going to be on the test. What are you doing crumpling it?”
“I got so focused I didn’t even realize… Should we start too, then?”
The corners of Won-hyeok’s mouth twitched as if seizing. Letting out a solemn, deep breath like an athlete steadying himself before a match, Won-hyeok finally began concentrating on studying.
Sun-woo still couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling. There was definitely something suspicious and nagging at him, but his friend’s behavior was so subtle and ambiguous that it was hard to pinpoint exactly what was strange about it. And with exams starting as early as next week, he couldn’t afford to dwell on it too deeply.
Only then did Sun-woo pick up his pen as well. There were plenty of people in the café there to study, so the place was fairly quiet, and he figured it actually wasn’t such a bad environment for focusing after all. But before long, that prediction of his was completely shattered.
Just when it felt like he was finally getting into the zone, the table suddenly jolted hard. Won-hyeok’s knee had slammed straight into it.
“Hey, doesn’t that hurt? Are you okay?”
“Huh? What?”
Sure enough, once again Won-hyeok’s head was fixed toward Han-gyeom’s table.
“You should go here sometime too. It’s really good.”
Han-ul was excitedly explaining something while showing the two of them his phone screen in turn, and Han-gyeom was nodding diligently like a model student listening attentively in class.
Sun-woo let out a sigh at his friend’s inexplicable weird behavior and tried to force his focus back again, but this time he felt a vibration from somewhere. Thinking maybe he was getting a phone call, he checked the phone lying on the table, but that wasn’t it. So where the hell was the vibration coming from? It didn’t take long for him to find the source.
“Do Won-hyeok, are you shaking your leg too?”
“I’m shaking my leg? I’m not, though?”
By now Sun-woo naturally looked over at Han-gyeom’s table. Han-gyeom, who had been sitting across from them, had now moved all the way over to the seat next to Han-ul and was peering closely at his phone, laughing.
Just as Sun-woo was about to ask what the hell his problem was, Won-hyeok suddenly leaned his body to the side.
“Guys, everyone here is studying, so I think you should keep it down.”
At that, the two people including Han-gyeom immediately shut their mouths and apologized. Once Han-gyeom returned to his original seat, Won-hyeok wore a distinctly satisfied smile and gave Sun-woo an unnecessary little shrug.
The atmosphere in the café was quiet, sure, but it wasn’t to the point where anyone needed to call people out like that. There were people at nearby tables chatting softly right this second, so what the hell was with that cranky old-man comment?
And what was even more absurd happened exactly thirty minutes after Sun-woo and Won-hyeok had entered the café.
“Then let’s each make the part of the PPT we’re responsible for and upload it to the group chat.”
“Sounds good.”
Han-gyeom, who seemed to have finished the meeting just then, started gathering up his things. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he quietly whispered to Won-hyeok that he’d get going first.
“Sun-woo, I’m going to head out now.”
Noticing the shape of those lips, Won-hyeok hurriedly packed up his things too.
“What? You’re leaving? We’ve only been here thirty minutes.”
“I already finished everything I needed to do today. Stay longer if you want.”
And with that, he even handed Sun-woo his card, telling him to buy himself a sandwich or something while he stayed.
“Give me the card tomorrow when we meet.”
When Won-hyeok hurried out of the café like someone being chased by something, Sun-woo finally let out a hollow laugh.
Spotting Han-gyeom walking alone after apparently parting ways with the other two, Won-hyeok quickly ran toward him.
“Han-gyeom.”
“Sunbae? You already finished studying?”
“I’m going to do the rest at home. I can’t focus very well today for some reason.”
“I was going to head straight home today too. There weren’t any seats left in the reading room, you know?”
Han-gyeom muttered with a hint of disappointment as he showed him the school homepage on his phone.
“That works out well, then. Want to go home together?”
“Sounds good. I didn’t get to spend much time with you today anyway, sunbae.”
Just then, a payment notification popped up on Won-hyeok’s phone. He was cursing Sun-woo out in his head for stuffing himself with twenty thousand won worth of food at the café when he felt Han-gyeom’s blatant gaze from beside him.
“Hm?”
When Won-hyeok tilted his head, Han-gyeom—now familiarly—flushed red at the ears and fidgeted with his fingers. It really was an embarrassingly easy-to-read attitude.
“Sunbae, what are you doing this weekend?”
“This weekend?”
“Yes. I was thinking m-maybe we could study for exams together….”
Midterms were starting as soon as next week, so even if they couldn’t go on a date somewhere fun right away, it still seemed nice if they could at least go to a café together, or maybe study at the school library. A study date, well, something like that—if it was that kind of thing, then he could still spend the weekend with Won-hyeok.
“Ah, what should I do? I’m going to my family home this weekend because I’ve got something to take care of.”
“I-if that’s the case, then it can’t be helped.”
“Instead, let’s go on a date after exams. How does that sound?”
At those words alone, sunlight immediately poured over his dejected face. He hadn’t gotten the answer he’d hoped for about having a study date with Won-hyeok this weekend, but there would be plenty of chances to go on dates from now on. They were a couple, after all.
“Sorry. You probably hadn’t made any plans for the weekend either. I should’ve told you earlier.”
“N-no, it’s okay!”
Even aside from Won-hyeok turning him down, Han-gyeom hadn’t had any special plans for the weekend to begin with. Lately he’d been going out more often because he was seeing Won-hyeok, but normally his weekends were just cleaning the house, reading, binge-watching dramas people said were good, and things like that.
But then Han-ul’s words suddenly came back to him.
“I’ll go with you sometime when I’m free.”
He couldn’t see Won-hyeok anyway, so should he ask Han-ul whether he had time this weekend? Strike while the iron is hot—it didn’t seem like a bad idea to try now that he’d already thought of it.
When Han-gyeom clapped his hands once to himself as if deciding, Yeah, that sounds good, Won-hyeok tilted his head.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Huh? It’s nothing.”
Han-gyeom scratched his head and smiled as if embarrassed, but in contrast, Won-hyeok found himself seized by an inexplicable sense of anxiety.
