NOT 103

Without realizing it, Haon tapped Cha Jeong-won’s arm.

Our lovers, he mouthed silently, not making a sound.

Were we so close you could even recognize the card?

Did we look that good together?

He felt inexplicably happy and a smile broke out on his face.

But Cha Jeong-won showed no particular reaction. To an outsider, it might seem like Haon had initiated the reading, but strictly speaking, it was Cha Jeong-won who had suggested they come in.

Well, he did come in because of me, though.

Still, it was a bit disappointing that he didn’t seem pleased even though a good card had appeared.

Meanwhile, the second card was revealed.

The Sun.

A large sun filled the screen. Its rays spread out radially, looking quite nice.

The tarot master nodded.

“It’s bright. When you two are together, you both become clearer. Your individual desires are distinct, and that has a good influence on each other.”

“So our compatibility is really good, then?”

In response to Haon’s question, the tarot master answered firmly.

“Yes, very good.”

“Wow! This tarot thing is really great.”

The tarot master pointed to the last card.

“Shall we turn over the final card now?”

With a continuous streak of good cards, Haon found himself growing tense without meaning to.

Two cards were already satisfying enough, but human greed being what it is, he hoped the last card would be good too.

The image on the final card was the Tower.

It depicted a tall tower collapsing from a lightning strike.

Even someone who didn’t know much about tarot could tell this wasn’t a particularly pleasant meaning.

“So this is… a tower of effort collapsing? Like, even if you do well a hundred times, if you fail once it’s all over, so you have to keep doing well? Is that the meaning?”

As the saying goes, the interpretation is more important than the dream. While Haon was desperately trying to piece together a positive spin, Cha Jeong-won remained silent.

Feeling a twinge of anxiety, Haon added a comment.

“It’s not something worse, right?”

The tarot master shook her head slightly.

“The Tower card appearing doesn’t unconditionally mean you’ll break up. However, there can be a sudden shake-up. It might not be due to a mistake between you two; it could be an external shock. Or it could be something hidden suddenly coming to light.”

Something hidden. At those words, Haon’s throat instantly went dry.

The fact that he hadn’t revealed everything, that he couldn’t reveal everything, felt like a thorn suddenly piercing the tip of his own finger.

But what was more surprising was Cha Jeong-won’s reaction.

“How can we prevent it?”

At his question, Haon’s eyes widened.

“Sunbae.”

Haon called quietly, but Cha Jeong-won didn’t look at him. His gaze was fixed on the card.

Haon had thought he would take it lightly—be pleased if it was good, dismiss it if it wasn’t. But why was he being so serious?

“Tarot doesn’t dictate the future. It reads the flow and shows points of high probability. So it’s closer to preparing rather than preventing.”

The more the tarot master spoke, the more Haon found himself leaning forward unconsciously.

Why did this resonate so much?

“Then how should we prepare?”

“There’s a simple method. Each of you prepare or make an object that reminds you of the other. Not something to hide and carry like a talisman, but something visible. It would be even better if you can keep checking on it.”

Don’t hide it, but display it?

As Haon was processing the conditions, Cha Jeong-won immediately asked.

“For example, what kind of things?”

“Couple items are good. If rings or necklaces are too much, keyrings are fine too. The important thing is that they resemble each other. You can get two identical ones, or have one each that are different but remind you of the other.”

“Couple… items?”

As he said it, his gaze unconsciously turned toward Cha Jeong-won.

He wondered what the Tower had to do with couple items, but since it was said to prevent a crisis between them, he couldn’t just dismiss it outright.

Cha Jeong-won looked at the card with a serious expression.

“Well, that’s all for here.”

The tarot master looked at them with eyes that seemed to ask if they had any more questions. Haon awkwardly got up from his seat.

“We have an appointment. How much is it? Do you take cards?”

Just as Haon hurriedly took out his wallet to pay, a hand shot out from beside him.

The tarot master took the card Cha Jeong-won offered, which was closer, and processed the payment. Haon fiddled awkwardly with his own card.

“Since sunbae paid here, I’ll buy the couple items. I actually needed one anyway, so this works out.”

The other day, right after getting up from the bed at the villa, he had felt regretful that there was nothing to leave in his place. This was a chance to buy something.

Then, a sudden thought occurred to him and Haon hastily added.

“Ah, if you don’t like it, we don’t have to buy it.”

He was someone who struggled with the Omega Amulet; maybe he was being unnecessarily burdensome.

Given the situation where he had to be cautious, he tried to backtrack.

Then, the tarot master looked alternately at Haon and Cha Jeong-won and added one more thing.

“The Tower appearing isn’t all bad. It can actually make things stronger. What collapses often isn’t the tower itself, but the unnecessary things piled on top of it.”

Haon now wanted to leave this tarot shop.

Why did every single thing she said have to be so meaningful?

“Goodbye.”

Even after leaving the shop, the tarot cards seemed to linger before his eyes.

The thirst that had arisen since hearing about the Tower card still seemed to remain, so he pointlessly moistened his lips.

Cha Jeong-won, who had come out with him, was silent.

He wasn’t originally a man of many words, but…

“Did someone glue his lips shut or something.”

He usually chatted quite well with Haon, so the awkwardness made him mumble.

He secretly wondered if Cha Jeong-won felt as conflicted as he did. It would be nice to share and soothe their feelings together.

But Cha Jeong-won remained silent.

However, he didn’t seem to be in a bad mood, but rather deep in thought, so Haon didn’t speak to him further.

Looking around to see if there unauthorized copywas a place to visit Read on Read BL Novelsour sitesit nearby, Haon subtly pulled Cha Jeong-won’s arm.

Placing the compliantly moving man beside him, Haon diligently scanned the surroundings.

It was a familiar street. As he watched the people passing by, his thoughts gradually shifted.

At first, only the Tower card had been circling in his head, but now he remembered the other cards too.

She said we were lovers.

‘Is it because tarot isn’t like fortune-telling?’

If it were strictly fate, shouldn’t it be someone else, not him?

‘I guess you can’t believe everything in tarot after all.’

She just said ‘lovers,’ but it could mean a terribly ill-fated match where I don’t fit well.

As the tarot master said, it probably depends on how you interpret it.

How much time had passed?

“Does it absolutely have to be an object…?”

At Cha Jeong-won’s words, Haon turned his head. It seemed he had finished organizing his thoughts.

“Sunbae.”

When Haon called first, Cha Jeong-won turned his head.

His expression was perfectly calm.

“Do you believe all that tarot stuff?”

Instead of answering, Cha Jeong-won briefly scanned Haon’s face. His slender eyes lowered. It looked like his expression when calculating something, making Haon feel awkward for no reason.

“Rather than believing…”

Cha Jeong-won said quietly.

“It’s closer to not believing.”

“Ah…”

Then he probably wasn’t very interested in the earlier Lovers card either.

He felt inexplicably sullen.

“Then… shall we go?”

Now they had to go for the group meeting.

Cha Jeong-won gave a small nod.

Even so, as they walked, he looked at his phone with a serious expression.

“You shouldn’t look at your phone like that while walking.”

Haon grabbed his arm.

“Or are you doing it because you know I’ll hold onto you?”

He usually didn’t act like this; it seemed really strange.

Cha Jeong-won entrusted his body to Haon.

“What on earth are you looking at…?”

Haon sneakily peeked at his screen.

“Keyrings?”

Unable to believe it, Haon looked up at Cha Jeong-won. Cha Jeong-won asked.

“Doesn’t this look like you?”

Haon pointed at the screen with his finger.

“That’s a… dog.”

Even if it were a person, maybe, but a dog looks like me?

“It suits you.”

“No, you…”

You said you don’t believe in tarot!

“Wouldn’t I be closer to a fox than a dog?”

“……”

“Or maybe a wolf?”

“……”

As soon as they entered the cafe, the packed tables caught their eye first.

“Hyung!”

Cha Seo-jun, who was just pouring coffee, waved and greeted them.

Haon waved back in the same way. To have the group meeting at Tomato Cafe again this time, following the last…

But there was a reason they had come to this cafe again.

“Yoon Haon.”

A group member who had arrived earlier, Kim Pilsu, waved. Haon approached him happily.

“You’re early.”

At Haon’s words, Kim Pilsu sighed.

“Don’t even mention it. This place is packed to the brim these days, so you have to come early to get a seat.”

That seemed to be the case, as there were no empty tables. Moreover, the spacing between chairs was narrow, so it seemed easy to bump into someone’s back.

As Haon was pondering how to sit down safely, Cha Jeong-won pulled out a chair for him first.

Even though moving between the packed tables couldn’t be easy, he didn’t seem to mind. He naturally created enough space for Haon to sit.