“Hmm~”
Go Heemin’s gaze was piercing. More precisely, it was burdensome the way he leaned his chin on his hand, dragging out a nasal hum as he stared at me.
It had been two days since things with Min Siheon were resolved. Right now, I was sitting in a quiet restaurant in Daehangno with those two bastards, Go Heemin and Kang Taeyoon.
We’d ordered food but were only picking at it, so the pasta noodles had swollen and gone limp. The silence hanging over us felt like we were holding a memorial rite.
“Just eat already. It’s getting cold.”
To be honest, this whole thing was basically my way of thanking the guys who’d gone through hell because of me. It was too embarrassing to say it outright, so I’d casually told them I’d buy them a meal and dragged them out here.
Yoo In-ho should’ve been here too. But unlike these two, who seemed to have figured out what was going on between us, there was something… different about In-ho. A different scent, almost. So just in case, I’d left him out for now.
That didn’t mean I was planning to brush him off with a can from the vending machine. He was probably in class anyway, so I’d already told him I’d treat him separately.
Man, my wallet’s the only one getting wrecked here. Well, it was true that several people had suffered because of me. Taking responsibility for what I should, I pushed the plates toward Kang Taeyoon and Go Heemin.
“Judging by the vibe, it seems like things worked out. But Cha Jungwoo—why isn’t that bastard here?”
“What are you talking about?”
If it weren’t for Go Heemin, I could’ve just let that slide naturally. The smirk he’d been wearing all this time was irritating.
It looked like he was dying to get a rise out of me.
“Oh ho, you’re gonna play dumb? Hey, Taeyoon. Doesn’t he look especially fun to tease today?”
“I don’t know about that. It’s just kind of noisy.”
“…Noisy.”
For a second, Kang Taeyoon’s comment made something flare up in me. They were both the same in the end. I slightly regretted deciding to set this up. But only for a moment—I took a deep breath and calmed myself down.
As annoying as Heemin and Kang Taeyoon were, they weren’t wrong.
Like Heemin said, there had almost been one more uninvited guest tagging along today.
Min Siheon had somehow found out I was meeting these two and had stubbornly insisted on coming too.
It had been two days since we started dating. The guy who refused to be apart from me for even a second came to mind.
It had been awkward, sure—but I’d just laughed it off because he was cute. That part was a secret from these two.
Back when things between me and Siheon had been going completely off-track, these two and Min Siheon had been locked in a full-blown silent power struggle.
As the only one who had witnessed all of it, I decided it would be a bad idea to put them face-to-face right away.
If they were going to meet, they could do it without me. Honestly, I was the one who felt burdened.
So I’d given Siheon a little more time to adjust and slipped away from him. Back then, I had no idea Go Heemin would act this mischievous about it.
Yesterday I’d been drained dealing with Yoo In-ho, and today I was exhausted dealing with Go Heemin. After this, I’d definitely have to soothe Min Siheon too—he was bound to whine.
Ah, my fate. For a college student, my daily life was kind of unusual. I swallowed down a sigh.
“Please, just drop it and eat.”
“If you beg me that desperately~ I’ll gratefully accept. Taeyoon, you should say thanks too.”
“…Yeah.”
Kang Taeyoon, whose side had just been jabbed by Heemin’s elbow, gave a small nod. He didn’t look grateful at all, but I decided to let that slide.
The table was filled only with the clinking of utensils and the sounds of eating. Since I’d come out like this, they probably decided not to pry into complicated matters.
Maybe it was because we were all guys. There seemed to be this tendency to just quietly let things pass.
If that was the case, I was grateful. For the first time in a while, I could finally relax a little.
When I glanced up from my lowered head, I saw Go Heemin and Kang Taeyoon busy placing food onto each other’s plates.
Normally, Heemin would’ve stopped Kang Taeyoon—but today, he was letting himself be taken care of quite boldly.
Since they’d already caught on to the fact that me and that bastard Siheon were dating, they probably assumed I knew about them too.
…Come to think of it, how much do they know about us? No, more than that—since when had they figured it out?
It had taken me a long time to even realize my own feelings for Min Siheon. But these two hadn’t just noticed—they’d even deduced his patterns of movement.
Heemin had even said something that implied blocking Siheon off at one point. They’d responded far faster than I had, even though I knew the original storyline.
Our eyes met. Maybe I looked like an idiot, because Heemin burst out laughing while accepting a tissue from Kang Taeyoon.
Trying to hide my embarrassment, I finally let out the sigh I’d been holding in.
Since it had come to this, I wanted to at least confirm something I’d been curious about.
“Jungwoo, you’ve got something you want to ask, don’t you?”
“What are you, a ghost?”
“Where else would you find a ghost this pretty?”
“Ugh.”
The shamelessness. He set down his utensils and posed with his hands under his chin like a flower. When I clicked my tongue and called him disgusting, he stuck out his lips and grinned mischievously.
Honestly, this wasn’t how you treated someone who’d helped you. But what could I do? That was just his personality.
I wasn’t the type to beat around the bush either, so I set my utensils down as well.
Before satisfying my curiosity, there was something I needed to do first. At least say a proper thank you.
“Thanks. I don’t know all the details, but it seems like it worked out because of you guys.”
“…What? Cha Jungwoo. Hey, Taeyoon. He just thanked us, right?”
“Yeah.”
As I bowed my head deeply, Heemin’s voice followed, sounding a little taken aback. It felt unfamiliar to him, but the reaction itself didn’t seem bad.
“I was out of line. I didn’t know you were doing all that behind the scenes. I guess I was pretty oblivious too. Siheon probably lashed out because he was hurt. We’re sorry for putting you through trouble. …But go easy on him. It was all my fault.”
More than anything, it was important to restore Min Siheon’s image.
If I kept seeing him, I’d inevitably keep running into these two as well. Unless someone took a leave of absence, we’d be tangled together for at least another two and a half years.
So on his behalf, I—being the biggest cause of this whole mess—decided to admit everything and apologize.
And while I was at it, offer some proper thanks too. It was shaping up to be a pretty busy day.
I hoped they wouldn’t feel offended as I cautiously observed their expressions.
Hmm… was this okay? Aside from Heemin’s wide-open mouth and Kang Taeyoon’s unreadable, indifferent face, the mood seemed fairly warm.
“Seriously though, how the hell did Min Siheon win you over?”
“Guess he charmed you.”
“Hey, Cha Jungwoo. I think you’re misunderstanding something. …Actually, never mind. What’s the point of me saying it? Anyway, we’ll take the thanks. Knowing your personality, we were just gonna eat the meal and let it go. But since you said it properly, we appreciate it.”
Listening to Heemin, I couldn’t help but snort. Seeing him laugh so openly made me feel relieved. It seemed like things had settled well enough, so we relaxed and continued eating while chatting comfortably.
“Hey, can I ask something? Since when did you know?”
That Min Siheon liked me. And that I had feelings for him too. I wasn’t a character from the original novel, so this whole situation felt strange.
It wasn’t possession, so what even was this? Either way, things were unfolding in a way that couldn’t be predicted.
“Wow, Cha Jungwoo, you’re kind of cute?”
“Shouldn’t have asked. Forget it—pretend you didn’t hear that.”
I’d long since surrendered to Go Heemin’s slick attitude. As I rinsed my mouth with water, Heemin locked eyes with Kang Taeyoon and continued.
“Looking at Min Siheon, there was no way not to notice. I mean, other people might’ve been blinded by prejudice. …But us—you know.”
It seemed like Go Heemin and Kang Taeyoon had been on the same page for a long time. They explained that since they were in a similar situation themselves, they’d been able to tell faster.
More precisely, knowing that same-sex dating was possible, when they looked at me and Min Siheon, it was obvious there was something deeper than friendship going on between us. They’d simply realized it earlier than I had.
I hadn’t expected such a detailed explanation. Watching Heemin lay everything out so frankly left me with a strange feeling.
Did that mean he trusted me that much? Both Kang Taeyoon and Go Heemin felt different from the personalities they’d had in the book I originally knew.
They weren’t without their overwhelming sides, sure—but compared to my past self who’d tried so hard to draw a line between us, they were good people.
No—if I was being precise, I was the bastard.
A hollow laugh slipped out, followed by a long sigh.
I didn’t know how the original storyline had gone off the rails, but the novel had already become a completely different story.
Honestly, I wasn’t even sure you could still call it a novel anymore. After living here for several months, I couldn’t find anything that felt different from real life.
“But you ask funny questions. Min Siheon was obvious from the start, idiot.”
“From the start?”
“Yeah, from the start. Remember the day I worked part-time at Kim Sunwoo hyung’s store? You have no idea how much he was glaring at me back then.”
As Heemin spoke so candidly, Kang Taeyoon rested his chin on his hand and looked away.
“And if you ask me, you were the same. You’d been holding Min Siheon in your heart the whole time. Well, love’s the kind of thing you want to deny, I guess. Min Siheon probably more or less knew. …Maybe he was waiting for you? I can’t say he’s not a bastard, but he’s good to you. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have let it slide.”
Bastard? Denial? The more I listened, the more complicated my head felt. I’m twenty-nine. Then again, what did that even matter now?
It wasn’t like there hadn’t been a part of me that denied everything just because I wanted to stay far away from anything troublesome. But now, I felt like I had to acknowledge and accept it all.
Who would’ve thought these kids—six years younger than me—would have such a cool attitude about their own feelings compared to me?
Of course, that included Min Siheon too—the one who’d waited for me.
