By Zephyria 
It was a remark tossed out like a joke, but the direction it contained was clear. It was an attempt to push the conversation, which was leaning towards him, back towards Cha Jeong-won.
Cha Seo-jun’s gaze deepened. He didn’t refute it or laugh it off. He just stayed quiet.
“Words become seeds, you know. If you tell me something good will happen, who knows, maybe it really will.”
Haon deliberately continued lightly. That way, he thought, this moment wouldn’t solidify into something too serious.
Instead of answering, Cha Seo-jun tightly closed his lips. His voice disappeared, but his eyes moved even more noisily.
Haon placed the strawberry milk back into his hand.
“The reason I’m nice is because I’m getting paid to do this job, and the reason I approach you comfortably is for my own comfort.”
Even as he said it, he knew that wasn’t all of it. It was half true and half false. Still, he believed this was better for both of them right now.
“So, let’s not misunderstand. I can’t drink this. I’m going.”
He stepped back, raising the pitch of his final words slightly. He could feel Cha Seo-jun’s gaze on the back of his head.
“What is he saying things like that for?”
Haon muttered his choked-up feelings as he quickened his pace.
“It just makes me want to be even nicer to him.”
He wanted to see Cha Jeong-won quickly.
＊ ＊ ＊
The closer he got to the lecture hall, the louder the sounds of people became.
His view was filled with classmates gathered in front of the classroom, fourth-years heading towards the break room, and juniors bustling about with printouts. As he passed through them, Haon’s steps grew a little more cautious.
He subtly lifted his heels and peeked inside through the window.
He was trying to find where Cha Jeong-won was sitting.
Just then, he felt a sudden tap on his back and turned around, startled.
“Oni-hyung.”
It was Cha Seo-jun.
He took a short breath in and then let out a long exhale, as if steadying himself. His expression was more rigid than it had been at the convenience store earlier.
“Oh, Seo-jun. What’s up?”
Haon reflexively smiled and called out. After calling him, he realized his voice held a bit of tension.
“Just a moment. I was a bit harsh with my words earlier.”
Cha Seo-jun spoke first. His gaze dropped to the floor for a moment before rising again.
“You were right, hyung.”
Haon was taken aback by the overly compliant admission.
“I do say the right things sometimes.”
His tone was joking, but he tried to infuse it with a sense that it was really okay. He saw the slight easing of the furrow between Cha Seo-jun’s brows.
“But still.”
Cha Seo-jun breathed as if choosing his words once more. Then he held out what he was carrying.
“And I bought this to give to you, hyung… Please take it.”
It was the strawberry milk Haon had returned.
“What’s this, why are you so desperate to give it that you can’t even do it properly?”
Haon was momentarily speechless. Cha Seo-jun’s hand holding the milk carton was suspended at an awkward height. He couldn’t bring himself to look away.
“Because I want to give it to you, hyung. I’m at a point now where I can buy and give you all these things too.”
Somehow, it was a childish thing to say. It felt like the awkward atmosphere from just moments ago was blown away in one go. Haon laughed.
“Right, you’re all grown up now, is that it?”
Even when he first saw him, Cha Seo-jun was taller, but he only felt like a kid. But now, he seemed a little different.
“Today it’s strawberry milk, but…”
As Cha Seo-jun was speaking, another hand swiftly reached in from the side and snatched the strawberry milk.
“I’ll take this.”
It was a familiar voice.
When Haon turned his head in surprise, he saw Cha Jeong-won.
It was unclear how long he had been listening, but he naturally inserted himself between them. Then, just as naturally, he took the strawberry milk that was in Haon’s hand.
“Hyung?”
Cha Seo-jun’s eyes widened.
“Weren’t you inside the lecture hall? When did you come out?”
“Just now.”
Cha Jeong-won answered with a nonchalant face. Then he handed Haon a transparent cup he was holding in his other hand.
“This is what you should drink.”
It was an iced drink, more than half-filled with ice. The droplets condensed on the outside of the cup sparkled.
Cha Jeong-won very naturally placed the cup into Haon’s hand.
“I’ll enjoy it.”
When Haon shook the cup, the ice made a small clinking sound. He suddenly remembered his own words from a few hours ago, about his lips being swollen and needing to drink something cold.
“And this…”
Cha Jeong-won gave the strawberry milk in his hand a slight shake. As if he just remembered someone to give it to, Cha Jeong-won’s voice grew louder.
“Kim Hyun-gyu.”
At that, Kim Hyun-gyu quickly ran over from inside the lecture hall.
“Yes, Jeong-won sunbae.”
“Drink it.”
“Thank you.”
As Kim Hyun-gyu accepted it, Cha Seo-jun looked at him with an exasperated expression.
“Why did you give mine to Hyun-gyu hyung?”
Cha Seo-jun instinctively argued.
“Whoever drinks it, as long as it gets drunk.”
Cha Jeong-won retorted in one breath.
“I gave it for Oni-hyung to drink.”
“That Oni-hyung needs to drink something else. You saw it too.”
Cha Jeong-won openly pointed to the drink in Haon’s hand. Moreover, he openly mimicked Cha Seo-jun calling Haon ‘Oni-hyung’.
Words flew back and forth between the two.
Watching them, Haon finally let out a stifled laugh.
“Go now.”
Cha Jeong-won spoke as if wrapping things up and lightly touched Haon’s shoulder.
“Let’s go in. The professor will be here soon.”
“Seo-jun, take care.”
At Haon’s farewell, Cha Seo-jun looked at the two with a wronged expression but couldn’t stop them.
As he walked away dejectedly, Hyun-gyu, who had been quietly watching, muttered his impression.
“He’s like a lower-grade elementary school kid desperate to fit in with the older high-grade hyungs.”
It was a perfect analogy.
＊ ＊ ＊
Haon, who had been drinking his beverage, chuckled softly.
‘They get along well.’
He thought the commotion Cha Jeong-won and Cha Seo-jun had over a single strawberry milk was really cute. It also reminded him of the sibling squabbles he had forgotten about for a while.
Meanwhile, Kim Hyun-gyu tapped the desk and called Haon.
“What?”
At Haon’s innocent question, Kim Hyun-gyu was about to answer but suddenly glanced at Cha Jeong-won, who was sitting between them.
Then, with a fake cough, he began.
“Why are you sitting there?”
Then Kim Hyun-gyu kept pointing at Cha Jeong-won with his eyes.
“You should come sit next to me.”
Haon swallowed a laugh and looked around the lecture hall. Everyone was filling the seats, and a subtle battle of wits to secure a good spot was in full swing.
Come to think of it, one seating arrangement naturally came to mind.
Cha Jeong-won – Kim Hyun-gyu – Yoon Haon.
Normally, they would sit like that. The current seating was like this.
Yoon Haon – Cha Jeong-won – Kim Hyun-gyu.
“I wanted to sit in the corner.”
Haon retorted nonchalantly.
Then he took another sip of his drink.
Kim Hyun-gyu looked at Haon with a face that said he had more to say, then drank his strawberry milk.
As the time for the professor to enter drew near, other students also hurried to their seats. The lecture hall quickly became orderly.
Cha Jeong-won turned his head just a tiny bit to the side.
It was a glance stealing a look at Haon sitting right next to him. Kim Hyun-gyu was too close to bring it up openly.
“……”
Instead of words, he was asking with just his gaze.
Why here, of all places? Why right next to me, of all people?
You’re the one who didn’t even want to come near me this morning.
Under that gaze, Haon placed his cup on the desk. Then, leaning his elbow on the desk, he tilted his body slightly.
“I’m doing it so it’s not obvious.”
He whispered, moving only his lips ever so slightly.
The sound rolled out from within his mouth. It was so small it would only reach the person right next to him.
“You bought me a drink, so I thought sitting next to you would probably be okay.”
Even as he spoke, he felt his cheeks grow a little warm.
“And I forgot to spray the deodorant.”
He’d gone to the trouble of buying pheromone deodorant at the convenience store but forgot to spray it before coming in. So, being next to Cha Jeong-won was more comfortable than being next to anyone else.
Of course, Kim Hyun-gyu wouldn’t sense it, but it was like using Cha Jeong-won as a wall.
Cha Jeong-won took a short breath in, then turned his head forward as if it were nothing. But Haon caught sight of the very faint reddening at the tips of his ears.
“Okay.”
He barely managed to utter that one word.
He didn’t ask more or dig deeper. Instead, his right hand moved briefly under the desk before returning to its place. Looking at that hand, Haon licked his lips.
‘Can’t we just hold hands during class?’
He’s right next to me, but I can’t even hold his hand.
While feeling it was a shame, the professor opened the lecture hall door and entered.
As the class began, the air that had been restless just moments ago settled down quietly.
The sound of the projector turning on, the sound of slides changing, and the sound of pens writing filled the space in turn.
While sitting side by side looking at the screen, under the desk, their knees almost touched.
“Shall we go together after this?”
While secretly whispering, Cha Jeong-won whispered softly right into Haon’s ear.
It wasn’t words. It was numbers.
What could it be…?
“Go ahead first.”
His breath tickled Haon’s earlobe. Only then did he realize those numbers were a password.