By Zephyria 
The employee’s gentle voice flowed from the phone like an automated announcement.
A one-night stay in a sweet room?
“Wow.”
Haon let out an impressed sigh. So there really are people who get things like that.
“Did you apply for it, sunbae?”
He couldn’t help but ask.
It felt even more amazing because he thought such luck was only possible in dramas.
“I’ve stayed at hotels, but I’ve never applied for anything.”
Cha Jeong-won’s answer was firm.
“Then how did this happen?”
Cha Jeong-won just looked at his now-silent phone without saying a word.
Haon, gauging his mood, very cautiously placed his hand on Cha Jeong-won’s phone.
Fortunately, he didn’t say anything.
―Members-Only Random Lucky Draw
―Automatically drawn from customers who used our services in the last 6 months ―Winning Room: S Hotel ○○ Branch River View Sweet Room ―Valid until December 31 of this year. If unused within the period, the prize will be automatically forfeited.
“It says it was an automatic draw.”
He read it line by line with his finger, then read the last sentence again.
“You just have to go sometime this year. Lucky you.”
So things like this really do happen.
The hotel mentioned in the call was a place Haon knew well too. Not only that. It was also a place he secretly yearned for.
How nice would a sweet room be?
The bed would be big, the bathroom pretty, and breakfast would be included, right?
Then, it suddenly struck him as strange that Cha Jeong-won had received such a nice thing.
It being members-only didn’t necessarily mean Cha Jeong-won should be excluded, but…
‘It’s Cha Jeong-won.’
It’s Cha Jeong-won!
Cha Jeong-won?
Cha Jeong-won is a person who carries misfortune with him.
So elevators stop with him too…
‘No.’
He stopped himself from thinking only in such negative terms.
“I’m jealous.”
Haon lightened the mood with a playful tone.
“Sunbae.”
Cha Jeong-won looked up.
Haon pressed his lips together once, then relaxed them.
“What happened in the elevator was purely an accident.”
Though surprised by the sweet room win, he felt he had to properly conclude this. Haon spoke carefully to prevent any misunderstanding from building up.
“It wasn’t on purpose. …Just like how you flew into me.”
Since Cha Jeong-won didn’t look convinced at all, Haon deliberately added the last part.
“We’ll have to see about that.”
He put his phone in his pocket and turned away.
Then he strode off into the distance. Haon, watching him blankly, clicked his tongue.
“Jealous of the sweet room.”
“Sweet room?”
At the voice of Kim Hyun-gyu that suddenly reached his ears, Haon turned to look at him. The elevator was under inspection.
“Didn’t the elevator stop? I came down the stairs and my legs are shaking.”
Ignoring Kim Hyun-gyu, who was exaggerating his discomfort by patting his legs, Haon started walking.
“Got it, so hurry up.”
“Hey, hey, no need to rush.”
Kim Hyun-gyu stopped Haon. Not only that, he spread his arms wide.
“Seems like the world is on my side after all.”
Having just been with Cha Jeong-won, who silently screams that the world is on other people’s side, Kim Hyun-gyu’s fussiness was grating.
“Say things like that only when you’re alone.”
Just in case Cha Jeong-won might hear.
“No, just don’t say it at all.”
Just in case a passing Cha Jeong-won might hear even by chance.
“You’re being prickly. Anyway, the professor had something come up today, so the meeting is canceled, so there’s no rush.”
“Canceled?”
“Yeah. And from what others are saying, the professor is reducing the number of students he’s taking on a bit.”
Haon tilted his head.
Since the graduation project class was set, he had already met his assigned professor.
The first day was just orientation, and now, just as formal meetings were about to begin, adjusting assigned students?
“Could we get bumped off?”
“You’d just get assigned to another professor.”
Kim Hyun-gyu replied nonchalantly and then subtly rubbed his stomach.
“Should I get something to eat before I die?”
Kim Hyun-gyu, who had said he had a stomachache, was already thinking about food. He seemed to be all better.
Haon, who had been looking at Kim Hyun-gyu, suddenly looked in the direction where Cha Jeong-won had disappeared.
This is why learning is scary.
‘Lately, I keep running into Cha Jeong-won in all sorts of places. Avoiding him is useless. Could it be that this time too, someone pushed us together on purpose?’
Avoiding and hiding from Cha Jeong-won wasn’t a solution. No matter how much he avoided him, they’d be entangled again soon.
In that case, it seemed better to take a direct look.
‘I don’t want to be treated like a weird Omega again, though.’
He had tried to distance himself because he didn’t want to hear such things, but now he changed his mind.
“Hey, I’m going ahead.”
He said goodbye to Kim Hyun-gyu and started walking.
“Why are you going that way? School is the opposite direction.”
“There’s something I need to check first.”
Haon quickened his pace and waved his hand.
“Suddenly?”
“Yeah, suddenly.”
“Check what?”
“There is, something like that.”
Going somewhere other than school was purely Haon’s impulse.
Kim Hyun-gyu, watching him walk away, tilted his head and muttered.
“Lately, he’s doing things he never used to do… Don’t forget about the welcome party!”
He shouted the last words with emphasis.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Focus, let’s think this through carefully.”
He already knew about what had happened to Cha Jeong-won.
Especially since it was that Cha Jeong-won, the curse of misfortune embedded in his fate was so powerful that he needed to use talismans.
What was Haon’s impression, having experienced a speck of Cha Jeong-won’s life?
He thought Cha Jeong-won was pitiful.
But if his own life got twisted because of Cha Jeong-won, that was a bit unfair.
“After how I’ve lived my life…”
While no one lives without effort, Haon had truly run forward with his eyes only on the path ahead.
His parents loved him, but his family wasn’t in a position to support what he wanted to do. They secretly hoped Haon would choose a stable path.
While his older brother and sister were each working and contributing to the household, in a large family with two younger siblings below him, Haon couldn’t rely on anyone even more.
Under those conditions, Haon had managed to enter this university, considered one of the best in the country. He did his utmost not to ask his parents for money, from academy fees to tuition.
Since entering university, he hadn’t taken a single semester off. To reduce expenses however he could, he also never missed being in the top ranks academically.
He had struggled that hard to endure. It would be the same going forward.
There was no one to rely on; he had to endure alone until the end. His goal was to study diligently and succeed in getting a job before graduation, so he had to prevent Cha Jeong-won’s misfortune from interfering with his dream.
Haon walked down an alley. He walked and walked through the narrow alley.
When the path forked, he unhesitatingly chose the direction his feet led him.
Even though he had lived in Seoul for several years, there were so many streets he didn’t know. Maybe he could walk them later like taking a stroll.
Walking without any particular thoughts, his mood improved somewhat.
The constant encounters with Cha Jeong-won at school lately. The accident today when the elevator stopped…
It wasn’t anything extraordinary, but now it felt extraordinarily close.
Winding and turning like that, he emerged from the narrow path. The wind brushed his face, and his view opened up.
A wide avenue, a whopping eight lanes, lay before his eyes. Haon watched the passing cars and then unconsciously looked to the right.
A familiar shoulder line, catching the morning sun, stood out clearly.
A laugh escaped Haon.
“Hah.”
It had been a blind attempt.
Something he did on a ‘what if’ whim, but there was no coincidence.
In the end, he met Cha Jeong-won again.
Even though he thought Cha Jeong-won had gone to school, seeing him, Haon showed no sign of surprise at all.
Instead, he walked towards him.
“Hello.”
At Haon’s greeting, Cha Jeong-won raised an eyebrow.
“I actually had something to give you if I saw you, so the timing is good.”
Haon nonchalantly rummaged through his pocket. Then he took out his wallet and gathered some money.
“The hospital bill I borrowed last time. Thank you.”
He had tried to pay it back at the cafe the other day too, but Cha Jeong-won hadn’t taken it then.
“I never said to pay it back. You got hurt because of me; I don’t want to burden you further.”
“I did tumble down the stairs, but while I was at it, I got more tests done than necessary. So please take this, and if you truly have consideration for me…”
“Ask for something else instead?”
Since Cha Jeong-won finished the sentence for him, Haon closed his mouth.
Just a moment ago, he thought he had eased the tension a bit by saying he was jealous of his sweet room win, but it had tightened right back up.
“What do you want? What do you want that you followed me?”
The aura emanating from him was sharp.
Haon had no intention of being on the receiving end one-sidedly either.
“I didn’t come on purpose. I just walked and ended up here.”
“Keep your excuses short.”
Cha Jeong-won was a person who spoke with razor-sharp precision.
“Sunbae.”
“Yeah. I’ll listen to anything. But don’t bother me anymore.”
The voice, threatening strongly as if he wouldn’t let it go, made Haon raise his hands as if surrendering.
“What about the opposite?”
Cha Jeong-won turned to look at him with a furrowed brow.
“If it’s not me, but you who ends up looking for me… would you take back what you said about me bothering you?”