By Zephyria 
“Huh?”
“You weren’t planning to buy it?”
Cha Jeong-won looked down at the child.
“I was just looking.”
The answer was indifferent, but there was a sense of avoiding eye contact somewhere.
Just then, Yoon Seul slipped away alone toward the snack aisle. The sound of small sneakers on the supermarket floor faded into the distance.
“Seul-ah, don’t go too far.”
Haon, holding a basket, was about to call out but stopped as Cha Jeong-won moved.
He ambled off in the direction Yoon Seul had gone. Then he saw Yoon Seul standing in front of the snack display. With wide eyes, Yoon Seul alternated looking at the packages, repeatedly picking one up and putting it back down.
“What are you looking for?”
“Um… Which one tastes better, this one or that one?”
Yoon Seul held up two snack bags, one in each hand, and looked up.
“At my brother’s house, we eat this one all the time, but today I want to try something different. But what if it’s not tasty?”
His tone held a mix of caution and anticipation.
Cha Jeong-won silently mouthed the word “brother” that had come from Yoon Seul’s lips.
“Buy both.”
“My brother probably won’t buy them for me.”
“Give them to me.”
As Cha Jeong-won held out his empty hand, Yoon Seul looked at him with a mix of delight and worry.
“My brother might scold me.”
“At least you won’t be the one getting scolded.”
Empowered by those words, Yoon Seul happily handed over the snacks he was holding.
And Haon, who had come with Yoon Byeol to find Yoon Seul, witnessed everything and let out a hollow laugh.
“Who am I going to scold? And why are you buying them…?”
As he spoke, it started to sound like he really was about to scold someone, so Haon firmly pressed his lips together.
Meanwhile, Cha Jeong-won gestured with his chin toward Yoon Byeol.
“You pick two as well.”
At the implication of being treated fairly, Yoon Byeol scurried into action.
In an instant, he grabbed two bags and hugged them to his chest, beaming brightly.
Seeing this, Cha Jeong-won naturally looked at Haon.
“They look alike.”
“Of course they do.”
Haon blurted out, then quietly added a remark afterward.
“They’re my younger brothers.”
“I didn’t ask.”
At Cha Jeong-won’s quick retort—having already confirmed it through Yoon Seul—Haon merely pouted his lips.
Then, something he wanted to ask him came to mind.
“You know, that lucky plant…”
Cha Jeong-won turned to look at Haon.
Under his gaze, which seemed to be waiting to see what he would say, Haon felt as if his throat was blocked, and the words wouldn’t follow.
He wanted to ask if anything had happened after he formed a connection with him. He didn’t expect good luck, but had any misfortune been averted?
“…Is your neck doing well?”
“My neck?”
“Ah, no, the lucky plant? The lucky bamboo?”
“Yeah, yeah, I said I left a gift, remember?”
In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to say what he wanted and changed the subject.
“They say it’s not hard to take care of, but if it’s too sudden, you can just give it back to me.”
He said it, belatedly worried it might be a burden for Cha Jeong-won.
But it seemed Cha Jeong-won had no intention of returning it.
“I’ll think about it once I’ve taken good care of it and it blooms.”
“Blooms?”
At Haon’s question, Cha Jeong-won replied.
Haon had wondered if he hadn’t found the lucky bamboo, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“They say when it blooms, great luck comes your way.”
“Ah! So just having it there doesn’t bring luck?”
Haon felt a lump in his throat at this unknown fact.
There was a condition attached—it had to bloom.
“Give it back to me anytime. I’ll make it bloom and return it.”
Feeling uncomfortable, Haon spoke, and Cha Jeong-won led the children away, walking ahead.
“I’ll think about it.”
Somehow, he never lets anything pass smoothly.
＊ ＊ ＊
Having dropped the kids off at his aunt’s place early in the morning and heading to school, he couldn’t stop yawning.
Fortunately, his parents had asked him to come to his aunt’s house, so he didn’t need to go all the way to his hometown.
Still, it wasn’t entirely convenient; even though it was within Seoul, the distance was considerable and ate up a fair amount of time.
Haon scratched his head, recalling the parents he had met that morning. Thinking about it, this was the first time he had seen them since realizing he had been transmigrated into a novel.
Haon’s parents were happy to see him.
Contrary to his worries, Haon also faced them without awkwardness. The problem was that the conversation felt too familiar.
‘The kids were so happy to see you. You’ll come home during this vacation, right?’
‘Yeah, it’d be great if you came and helped look after the kids while studying.’
His father and mother took turns trying to persuade Haon.
‘I’ll be busy during the vacation too.’
‘If it’s for a part-time job, you could find one near home.’
Haon felt stifled by the circling conversation.
His parents weren’t bad people. But with the unexpected arrival of twins, they occasionally felt overwhelmed and wanted to lean on Haon.
When he was at home, Haon’s time wasn’t his own. He had no space of his own either.
Moving around with this uncomfortable feeling left him tired. Without realizing it, he stopped by a convenience store and bought banana milk, but he didn’t even feel like drinking it.
He had been pushing himself since Monday. As Haon trudged along, a familiar back came into view.
“Senior?”
It was Cha Jeong-won.
He was in front of the drink vending machine at the building entrance.
He was repeatedly tapping his card against the machine and pulling it away.
There was a beeping sound, but it seemed something wasn’t working. He tried changing the card’s orientation, tapping it again, pressing various buttons, but the vending machine didn’t budge.
It looked frustrating, but Cha Jeong-won’s broad shoulders appeared calm. It was unclear whether it was no big deal or if he was used to it.
Watching this, Haon’s footsteps naturally slowed.
“Should I go talk to him or not?”
Haon muttered to himself.
“At least a greeting… No, it might just make things awkward.”
His monologue trailed on and on.
“But we’re in the same school and same classes. Wouldn’t it be weird to pass by like complete strangers?”
He did buy snacks for the kids yesterday.
Just as his mind leaned toward going over, the next moment, another thought held him back.
“Ah, let’s not go. Yesterday, because the kids were there, he pretended to know me first, but who’s to say he’d do the same today?”
He spat it out like a sigh, then reconsidered slightly.
“Just saying ‘hello’ should be fine. Is this really something to agonize over?”
He took a long breath in and slowly exhaled.
“It is something to agonize over.”
Especially since it was Cha Jeong-won.
Standing between going and not going, Haon finally, very cautiously, moved his lips once more.
Just as he was hesitating and wavering, a minor accident unfolded before his eyes.
Cha Jeong-won, having given up on the drink, tried to retrieve his card but grazed his finger against the edge of the metal cover near the card slot.
He lifted that finger and stared at it quietly. It seemed he had cut himself.
For most people, a cut finger isn’t a big deal, but the problem was that this person was Cha Jeong-won.
Cha Jeong-won glanced down at his finger for a moment, then lightly clenched his bleeding index finger.
“What did you do to get hurt like this, getting hurt.”
The thoughts about whether to greet him or not evaporated instantly.
Almost reflexively, he dashed over. He passed by people who recognized Haon and tried to speak to him, heading straight for Cha Jeong-won.
Before Cha Jeong-won could turn around, Haon snatched his hand and clicked his tongue.
“What if you just wipe it off carelessly? Are you ignoring it because the wound is small?”
Haon shook Cha Jeong-won’s hand as if to show him.
When Cha Jeong-won raised his gaze to meet his, he looked somewhat weary.
His eyes were slightly puffy underneath, as if he hadn’t slept well. Shadows beneath them made him look sharper than usual, and fatigue pooled within.
And why does his face look like that again?
“Why again.”
His short tone carried almost no emotion.
“Why? You’re bleeding.”
Haon lowered his voice but forced himself to sound composed, though excitement seeped through.
“Starting the day seeing blood is unsettling, isn’t it? Stay still.”
With one hand, he held Cha Jeong-won’s hand; with the other, he tried to open his bag but then noticed the banana milk he was holding.
“Hold this for a second.”
He handed it to Cha Jeong-won as if entrusting it, then flipped his bag open.
Rummaging through the inner compartment, he pulled out a character bandage. It was a cute, colorful bandage with dinosaurs and stars drawn on it. He had packed it in advance since he had to move around with the kids today.
Fortunately, since the kids hadn’t gotten hurt, there were extras left.
Without waiting for a reply, Haon grabbed his hand and pulled it toward him.
A thin trace of blood was seeping from the tip of his index finger.
It looked less like a simple cut and more like the mark of an old misfortune knocking on the door again.
“This much is…”
“This much is nothing?”
As Haon tore open the bandage with familiar movements, Cha Jeong-won tried to pull his hand back.
“It’s fine.”
“What’s fine about it? Senior, just stay still.”
Haon grabbed Cha Jeong-won’s index finger again. Then he carefully wrapped the bandage around the wound.
“Just stay still.”
“I am staying still.”
“Stay even stiller.”
Each time their fingertips touched, he felt a subtly warm body heat.
57 – NOT 57