By Zephyria 
Cha Seo-jun’s chopsticks stopped dead at Haon’s casually thrown remark.
Just moments ago, he had been livening up the atmosphere with talk about assistant work, but that one sentence seemed to suck the air right out of him, his expression freezing like someone who’d had the wind knocked out of them. Haon narrowed his eyes, finding this even more strange.
“You… feeling guilty?”
Cha Seo-jun hurriedly swallowed the noodles still in his mouth. His Adam’s apple bobbed heavily once.
Then, he started to move his chopsticks again but stopped, glancing furtively at Haon. His gaze wavered before returning.
“I heard from Hyun-gyu hyung.”
His voice, trying to be honest, was oddly cautious.
Haon narrowed his eyes and looked at Cha Seo-jun. Was it a lie, or not?
A strange tension flowed between them before Haon soon shrugged his shoulders.
“Oh? Seems you talk to Hyun-gyu a lot.”
He accepted it as no big deal.
Kim Hyun-gyu wasn’t the type to go around blabbing, but he figured if it was Cha Seo-jun, he might well have told him.
As Haon spoke without much thought, Cha Seo-jun hesitated for a moment before answering. Cha Seo-jun looked back and forth between Haon and his bowl, as if pondering. Then he nodded very slightly.
“Sometimes.”
Haon picked up and ate another piece of green onion kimchi.
As the spicy flavor hit the tip of his tongue and rose up, he felt his mood clear up along with it.
Meanwhile, Cha Seo-jun secretly let out a breath.
It seemed he thought Haon wouldn’t notice.
Haon pretended not to notice that sigh. Instead, he brought up the words that had been hanging in his mind since earlier. To talk about the assistant matter, there was a name that would inevitably have to come out.
“But…”
Haon put down his chopsticks and pushed his bowl aside with his palm to tidy up.
“My graduation project… I’m going to do it with Jeong-won sunbae.”
Cha Seo-jun’s gaze immediately sharpened.
The playful atmosphere sank as if it had been a lie. The change was so swift and stark that Haon let out an inadvertent laugh.
“No wonder you went to hyung’s studio… It’s just too advantageous and powerful that you’re in the same year.”
Cha Seo-jun spoke as if feeling wronged.
“Anyway, are you going to be okay? Before, I told you not to go near Jeong-won sunbae.”
The moment Haon brought that up, Cha Seo-jun instead lifted his head.
He didn’t avoid it. He didn’t run away.
Instead, he was resolute, like someone pulling out an answer he’d already prepared.
“That’s exactly why I should do it.”
“Why.”
Haon immediately shot back.
Cha Seo-jun closed his lips for a moment before speaking.
“Isn’t it natural to want to help someone you like?”
That damn ‘like’ talk…
It was something he’d heard at the convenience store too, but hearing it repeatedly was confusing.
Was this really just the meaning of liking someone as a hyung, or a meaning that went beyond that? Haon felt stuck in an ambiguous place, unable to precisely discern that boundary.
“You, that…”
As Haon trailed off, Cha Seo-jun narrowed his eyes.
It wasn’t an expression of trying to joke. Rather, it was a face that seemed to want Haon to notice.
“Do you say that to Hyun-gyu too?”
At the question of whether he said it to Kim Hyun-gyu like he said he liked him, Cha Seo-jun let out a faint, somewhat deflated laugh.
Then, as if giving up, he changed the subject.
“Back then, Haon hyung didn’t like it, but my thoughts are still the same. It’s dangerous to be next to Jeong-won hyung.”
“It’s fine if I’m with him.”
Haon inadvertently spoke as if stating a fact.
But Cha Seo-jun didn’t seem to believe those words as they were.
“Just because hyung says that doesn’t suddenly make it okay.”
Haon tapped the edge of his bowl with his chopstick.
He felt at a loss for how to explain. Then, a scene suddenly came to mind.
“There was that day we were supposed to meet and eat instant tteokbokki, right?”
Cha Seo-jun seemed to understand what Haon meant.
“You know you and Hyun-gyu both couldn’t come, so I ended up eating with Jeong-won sunbae? Nothing happened then either. I was perfectly fine.”
Cha Seo-jun seemed unable to bring himself to retort. Haon didn’t miss that opening and wrapped up his point.
“As for the assistant thing, I’ll ask Jeong-won sunbae first.”
Cha Seo-jun’s eyes narrowed.
“What if he says no?”
“Then we can’t do it.”
As Haon deliberately lightened his tone, Cha Seo-jun finally relaxed his shoulders just a little.
“I’m going to feel disappointed.”
The conversation between them cut off briefly. They had already finished the ramen, only the scent remaining, lingering around them.
Haon poured water into a cup, took a sip, and glanced at Cha Seo-jun.
Cha Seo-jun is Cha Jeong-won’s cousin. He knows Cha Jeong-won quite well.
Without realizing it, Haon opened his mouth.
“Seo-jun-ah.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know Lee So-yul sunbae?”
Cha Seo-jun’s expression changed again. This time, it was shorter and sharper.
It wasn’t to the point of his breath stopping, but his gaze brushed past empty space as if his thoughts had momentarily halted.
Then, pretending it was nothing, he answered in a very smooth voice.
“I’ve seen his face a few times.”
“Right.”
Haon took another sip of water.
“I’m going to participate as staff at the museum where that sunbae is this time. Even if he says he’ll help with the graduation project, I don’t know how the schedule will work out right away.”
Haon trailed off.
Cha Seo-jun nodded, but it seemed more like he wanted to quickly end the conversation rather than actively engaging with it. As if to confirm that, he immediately got up from his seat.
“Haon hyung, sorry about this.”
When Haon looked up, Cha Seo-jun averted his gaze.
“I think I need to quickly organize my moving boxes.”
It was so sudden that Haon let out a laugh of disbelief.
“Now? Right after eating ramen?”
“Yes. If not now, I think I’ll just put it off again.”
Haon looked at the empty bowl and then stood up. He intended to help.
This was Haon’s nature. If someone said they were moving in, he’d naturally carry boxes with them, help organize, take out trash. He considered such things a given.
“Let’s go, I’ll help.”
But Cha Seo-jun lightly pressed down on Haon’s shoulder with his palm.
“It’s okay.”
Cha Seo-jun smiled. He was smiling, but it wasn’t the bright smile from before.
Haon noticed that subtle difference.
“Hyung, you should rest.”
Those words strangely sounded like an order, making Haon feel even more awkward.
Cha Seo-jun quickly went toward the entrance, slipped on his shoes, and put them on. Even as he was leaving, he turned back once to look at Haon. His lips parted as if to say something more, but ultimately closed.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah. See you tomorrow.”
Only after the door closed did Haon let out a breath. The room became quiet again.
‘Why did he leave in such a hurry?’
Haon started clearing the dishes. Putting the bowls in the sink and turning on the water, the sound of water lessened the silence.
After roughly finishing the cleanup, he went into the bathroom.
After showering and coming out while roughly drying his hair with a towel, he thought he heard a presence from the hallway direction. It was the sound of someone coming and going beyond the door.
It was probably just the usual living noise, but Haon felt oddly sensitive and looked toward the door once.
At that moment, Kim Hyun-gyu was walking toward his own house, carrying a plastic bag.
His steps seemed so weak it looked like he might collapse at any moment.
However, before Kim Hyun-gyu could even reach his own doorstep, the door opened and Cha Seo-jun snatched him up.
“Hyung, just a moment.”
“Cha Seo-jun?”
Kim Hyun-gyu was pulled into his house without even a chance to acknowledge the person who had grabbed him.
The hallway became quiet again as if nothing had happened.
＊ ＊ ＊
Haon lay on his bed and picked up his phone.
“Are you about to sleep now?”
It was too early to sleep, but too late to start doing something.
After thinking for a moment, Haon let out a shallow sigh and pressed the call button.
This is purely because of the graduation project.
The dial tone rang twice, and on the third ring, the call connected.
As soon as he felt the call was answered, Haon spoke first.
“I called about the graduation project.”
[…….]
Perhaps because he spoke too quickly, there was no immediate answer from the other side.
Then, after the sound of breathing cut off, words came out.
[If it’s about the graduation project, I thought we finished talking earlier. Was there something left?]
They had used class time efficiently to have a graduation project meeting.
“Seo-jun says he wants to be an assistant for the graduation project. What do you think? Ah, and did you eat more?”
Since he had been talking with Cha Seo-jun while eating ramen, the words came out following the flow of his consciousness.
[……Which of those two answers do you want to hear?]
“Hmm… Answer whichever one you want.”
[I ate samgyeopsal with someone for dinner, so I’m still digesting.]
“I wonder who you ate with.”
Even though he knew it was with him, a playful remark came out.
Haon leaned his head on one arm and pressed the phone tightly to his ear.
[You sound like you ate something again too.]
“Ah, I ate ramen…”
Could luck be transmitted over the phone too? Such a thought flashed through his mind mid-conversation.
It was the beginning of a very, very long call.
78 – NOT 78