NOT 70

As Lee So-yul finished speaking, the design lab grew noisy once more.

The sounds of chairs being pushed in, bags being zipped, and whispers urging others to leave or stay mingled together.

Haon remained seated, observing the flow. Thanks to that, he could see who was getting up and who was staying.

‘He might not do it.’

Haon tried making that excuse to himself. Cha Jeong-won might genuinely choose not to participate.

‘He’s a senior, so he’s busy, he has group projects, and he needs to prepare his graduation project…’

There were too many reasons if you started listing them.

Yet, Cha Jeong-won didn’t move. He simply remained seated, quietly crossing his legs and straightening his back.

He gave a slight nod towards those leaving, then looked forward again. That single action was answer enough.

‘He’s doing it.’

Haon muttered to himself.

It was something he couldn’t have expected in the first place. He felt a fresh wave of emptiness.

Setting aside portfolios and such, it was his maternal grandfather’s retrospective exhibition. Wasn’t it only natural that Cha Jeong-won would want to attend?

“Yoon Haon, are you going to do it?”

Kim Hyun-gyu asked from beside him.

“Me?”

Haon blinked slowly.

“Yeah. You.”

Kim Hyun-gyu pointed forward with his chin.

“You like this kind of stuff, right? It’ll go on your portfolio too.”

“It’s good if you think about the portfolio.”

Haon replied. That’s what he said, but something felt strangely unsettled in his heart.

“But why are you hesitating like this?”

Kim Hyun-gyu immediately picked up on Haon’s suspicious behavior.

“What are you agonizing over so much?”

At those words, Haon closed his lips for a moment.

Cha Jeong-won’s back entered the center of his vision, then his gaze shifted to Lee So-yul’s tablet.

He automatically imagined what might happen between the two of them.

Lee So-yul unfolding blueprints and talking, with Cha Jeong-won standing beside him, nodding. The natural flow of words between them…

‘Is there a place for me to squeeze in there?’

The question that popped into his head was precisely that.

“Hey.”

Kim Hyun-gyu poked Haon lightly in the side.

“You just gonna watch from afar like that?”

“It’s not watching, it’s considering. I have a lot to do right away, so whether I can or can’t…”

“What’s to consider? You should boldly seize it.”

Kim Hyun-gyu gave a small laugh.

His voice was playful, but his words were oddly clear and deliberate.

“Yoon Haon, this is about the portfolio, sure.”

He deliberately leaned in a little closer.

“But your relationship is also on the line, isn’t it?”

“Our relationship?”

Haon’s eyes widened.

“If you’re going around holding hands, isn’t it official now?”

Kim Hyun-gyu said very naturally.

Haon shook his head firmly.

“Just because people hold hands doesn’t mean they’re dating.”

“What are you talking about? Who was it that asked me earlier if I’d seen Senior Jeong-won and Senior So-yul holding hands?”

No retort came to mind. Seeing Haon hesitate, Kim Hyun-gyu clicked his tongue.

“If it were me, I’d stay without a doubt. Stay and secure a spot right next to him. That’s how you protect it.”

“Protect what?”

“Senior Jeong-won.”

Kim Hyun-gyu’s answer was short, but it sounded strangely, particularly loud.

For a moment, Haon felt a sinking sensation below his chest.

“It’s not like that.”

Haon said quickly.

“I was just thinking about the portfolio.”

“Yeah, yeah. The portfolio.”

Kim Hyun-gyu nodded.

Yet, seeing the corners of his mouth rise, his expression seemed utterly unconvinced.

“Then there’s no need to agonize further. Stay. If you want to do it, do it. Don’t just read the room for no reason.”

Read the room.

The moment he heard those words, Haon realized what he had been watching all this time.

Lee So-yul and Cha Jeong-won.

He was hesitating over whether he should step between them.

There was also the thought that if Lee So-yul was the protagonist he hadn’t known about, he shouldn’t interfere with his relationship with Cha Jeong-won. But he remembered Cha Jeong-won’s hand, trembling faintly.

The more he thought, the less he wanted to put the two of them together.

“…I’m really not like that.”

He muttered once more, but Kim Hyun-gyu was already zipping up his bag, preparing to leave.

“Anyway, I have a class to get to, so I’m heading out first.”

He said, pushing his chair back.

“You figure out your own spot well.”

The blunt remark needlessly struck Haon’s heart once more.

After Kim Hyun-gyu left, only about half the class remained in the lab.

The sound of two or three people huddled together, whispering softly, flowed calmly.

At the front, Lee So-yul was giving additional explanations about meeting schedules with the director and internal museum meeting schedules.

Haon stood there for a long time in an ambiguous posture, unable to even lean back in his chair.

Then, at some point, the tips of his own feet moved first.

‘My spot.’

It felt like his body knew and moved before he had even made a decision.

With each step, Cha Jeong-won’s back drew a little closer.

Beside him, he could see the heads of juniors peering at the tablet.

That was the exact moment.

“Young man standing at the back.”

Haon flinched at the voice calling him.

“You. Yoon Haon.”

Lee So-yul was pointing at Haon.

Just moments ago, he had acted like he didn’t know him, but now he was calling him in a very friendly manner.

“Come here and listen together.”

Instantly, multiple gazes converged on him at once.

‘Me?’

Haon pointed at himself.

“Thanks for participating as staff.”

Lee So-yul said with a light laugh.

Hearing that, the people around sent curious glances.

It seemed the shape of things had naturally turned into him joining, when he had only intended to observe Cha Jeong-won.

Haon was momentarily dazed, then belatedly took a step or two forward.

Without a chance to say a word, as he moved his spot, he found himself standing behind Cha Jeong-won, about half a step away.

A strangely familiar scent brushed past the tip of his nose.

Haon breathed a little more shallowly for no reason. It felt like his heart shouldn’t be discovered first.

Lee So-yul lifted the tablet again. He continued explaining, showing the exhibition hall floor plan and circulation diagrams.

Meanwhile, Cha Jeong-won kept his gaze fixed on the screen, his head slightly bowed.

Even just seeing his back, you could feel he was concentrating.

‘He really is going to do it.’

It was a moment confirming a fact he had known from the start.

Haon quietly curled his fingers into a fist beside him.

‘I can do it too, right?’

His thoughts went that far, and that’s when an unexpected movement entered his field of vision.

Cha Jeong-won turned his head slightly and glanced around. He didn’t turn all the way to look back, just slowly swept his gaze to the side and front.

Haon tensed up, thinking their eyes might meet in that gap, but Cha Jeong-won never looked back in the end.

‘He’s not looking.’

A slight sense of emptiness rose.

His mind was momentarily distracted by that emptiness when it happened.

A very soft footstep sounded, and the back in front of his eyes suddenly drew closer.

Cha Jeong-won had taken a step back without any warning.

There was no time to think.

Haon reflexively tried to step back, but his body froze in that instant.

Unconsciously, Haon’s hand ended up on his back.

It wasn’t painful, but the unexpected contact made his heart sink even more heavily.

Body heat transmitted directly. A strange sensation brushed past, like a short electric spark along the point of contact.

“Sorry.”

Cha Jeong-won said, belatedly turning his head only halfway.

Though his words said sorry, his attitude was too nonchalant.

“Didn’t know you were behind me.”

It was almost brazen.

“I thought the wall was pushing in just now. My vision went dark.”

He said it jokingly, but it really felt that way. Given his height and broad shoulders and back, it was understandable it felt like a wall suddenly approaching. Right.

Whether he was truly flustered, the inside of his cheeks burned hotly.

During that brief contact, the pheromones swayed very faintly before settling again.

Haon, still pressing down on his pounding heart, just stared blankly at the shoulders before his eyes.

‘He knew.’

That thought came to him a moment later.

The timing was too precise to be a coincidence.

He was someone who absolutely hadn’t looked back until just now.

A belated sense of indignation rose, and Haon narrowed his eyes.

“…Senior.”

He called softly.

Instead of answering, Cha Jeong-won tilted his head very slightly.

Haon glanced at the outline of that profile, then raised his eyes slightly.

Even though he wasn’t seeing it head-on, the expression was drawn.

On the slightly revealed profile, he could see the faintly upturned corner of the mouth.

It was a smile that seemed to admit his prank had been discovered.

71 – NOT 71