By Zephyria 
Thump! Mo Yeon-hu bolted upright. How could he have forgotten this?
Park Taek-yoon looked surprised by his sudden movement, but he furrowed his brow as he recalled the past.
“When was it… Uh, I think it was freezing, maybe early last year?”
Even though it was an ambiguous timeframe—more than a year but less than two—Mo Yeon-hu’s face lit up when he realized Taek-yoon remembered the weather so accurately.
“That’s it. Tell me in detail what we were doing back then.”
“You were there too, why?”
“I told you, I don’t remember.”
“What? You blacked out?”
“Yeah.”
Park Taek-yoon shrugged with a puzzled expression.
“Anyway, I think it was fun… You disappeared halfway through, so I hung out with someone else.”
“Someone else? Hey, Park Taek-yoon. You’re ignoring your friend again.”
“What? I’m not in the wrong this time. He’s the one who dumped me first.”
Park Taek-yoon pointed directly at Mo Yeon-hu.
“He did?”
“…I did?”
Not only Kim Seong-jae, but Mo Yeon-hu also widened his eyes in surprise.
“Wow, you really don’t remember a thing, do you? Well, it was another friend’s birthday, and we’d already had quite a bit to drink before getting there, so we were both pretty tipsy… You vanished while I was in the restroom, so I just did my own thing.”
……Right. He vaguely remembered. Since they had drunk quite a bit at a pub with Park Taek-yoon before heading to the party, he had already been at his limit.
“What on earth happened there? I’m serious, I completely blacked out.”
“Hmm……”
Park Taek-yoon tapped the table a few times with his fingertips before saying, “Ah!” as if something had clicked.
“First of all, the atmosphere of the party was weird. What was it… your friend… that guy.”
“Lee Seung-hwan.”
“Right. As soon as we arrived, I couldn’t tell if he was trying to screw someone over, or if he’d put in a lot of effort for some… other reason and just failed miserably…… Anyway, the vibe was strange, like some kind of gang-up was happening….”
Seeing the scene of a crowd of people rushing in form in his mind, it seemed Park Taek-yoon wasn’t remembering it wrong.
“I think the mood was pretty chilly. Honestly, I mostly just wanted to throw up back then, so I’m a bit unsure. But I remember this one thing clearly!”
“What is it?”
“The person Lee Seung-hwan kept talking to.”
Mo Yeon-hu clenched his fist.
He had a gut feeling that this was the most important part of Park Taek-yoon’s hazy memory.
“Hmm……”
Though he pretended to be calm, Mo Yeon-hu’s expression was serious. His throat felt dry from tension, so he gulped down some wine. Something important was definitely about to come out.
“He was handsome.”
Right, something like being handsome……
“Really, incredibly so.”
……Huh?
Mo Yeon-hu froze.
“What?”
Kim Seong-jae, who had been listening intently, also asked with a blank face.
“Eh? Handsome?”
“Yeah.”
Mo Yeon-hu felt the wind leave his sails.
“Hah, hey, what does it matter if a guy is handsome? If it’s not a pretty girl, I’m not interested. Right, Mo Yeon-hu?”
“Whatever……”
“Friends, I’m not interested in guys either. But his face… even while I felt like puking, it was seriously insane. Even as a guy, he was exactly the kind of person who……”
Park Taek-yoon, who had been protesting indignantly, suddenly stopped. Not only Mo Yeon-hu, but Kim Seong-jae also tilted his head in confusion.
“What’s with him…… Eh?”
Following Park Taek-yoon’s gaze, Kim Seong-jae looked surprised, and Mo Yeon-hu tried to turn around a step later.
“……?”
But first, a familiar scent reached the tip of his nose.
A sophisticated woody scent. Mo Yeon-hu knew this scent well. The fragrance that felt like it represented him every time they met.
“Hyung.”
And this voice as well.
Mo Yeon-hu whipped his head around. An exceptionally tall man was standing behind him, looking down.
A sweatshirt, comfortable pants, and a casual outer layer. It was an outfit one would commonly see around the neighborhood, but the fit was extraordinary. Even the thick clothing couldn’t hide his physique. Yet, his striking face caught the eye first.
“Yeon-hu Hyung, what are you doing here?”
The problem was that this was the face of Kwon Mi-eon, whose messages he had been ignoring for several days.
‘Why is he here? Am I dreaming?’
For some reason, his vision seemed to spin, and he felt dizzy…. He must be drunk.
While he was speechless with shock, Kwon Mi-eon quickly squeezed in and sat beside Mo Yeon-hu.
“Did you drink a lot? Your face is red.”
The movement was as natural as if they had been together all along. Kim Seong-jae and Park Taek-yoon were just as flustered as Mo Yeon-hu, who had inadvertently given up the seat next to him.
“Who…?”
“Who are you?”
The two asked with dazed expressions. Kwon Mi-eon glanced across from them.
His face was expressionless as he stared at the two. It was different from the way he had looked at Mo Yeon-hu with pleasure. As his stunningly beautiful face scanned them with an underlying sense of annoyance—as if telling anyone not to speak to him—the two felt intimidated despite having done nothing wrong.
‘What’s with that expression?’
‘What’s with this vibe?’
He was just looking at them, but strangely, they felt diminished. Unable to ask further, the two just looked at each other.
“Why are you…?”
It was then that Mo Yeon-hu finally managed to speak, unable to hide his bewilderment. At that, Kwon Mi-eon turned his head to look at him, as if he had never even glanced at the people opposite them.
“Hyung?”
Kwon Mi-eon lightly tugged at Mo Yeon-hu’s sleeve.
“How are you here? Do you have an appointment? What is this?”
“I just happened to come here because I wanted a drink, and I came closer because your back looked like yours, and it was you.”
Mo Yeon-hu stared blankly as Kwon Mi-eon spoke clearly. He wondered if he was hallucinating because he’d drunk too much, but that didn’t seem to be the case. It really was Kwon Mi-eon.
“What a coincidence. What were you doing here, Hyung?”
“I was drinking with my friends….”
“Oh, they were your friends.”
Kwon Mi-eon’s gaze shifted back to the two men sitting side-by-side opposite them, Park Taek-yoon and Kim Seong-jae. Naturally, they were frozen, remembering the cold expression he had just given them.
“Wow, hello.”
Kwon Mi-eon beamed. A gentle smile settled on his striking face. His eyes curved shut as if he didn’t know how to hurt anyone, and the corners of his mouth lifted brightly.
“It’s so nice to meet you. What are your names? My name is Kwon Mi-eon. Since you’re Yeon-hu Hyung’s friends, you must be Hyungnims to me as well….”
He reached out his hand with a bright, radiant smile.
“May I call you Hyung?”
As he looked at them with a slightly shy expression, Park Taek-yoon and Kim Seong-jae could only blink, unable to answer.
They were acutely aware of the chill that had reached them moments ago. Even though their eyes had met, hadn’t he treated them like nonexistent ghosts? He hadn’t shown a shred of interest or concern.
“Would that be difficult?”
Suddenly asking if he could call them Hyung?
Seeing his confident attitude, as if he had become a different person, they almost wondered if they had mistaken something.
Looking at Kwon Mi-eon, who was smiling with his hand extended for a handshake, Park Taek-yoon finally snapped out of it.
“Wow, I zoned out because you’re so handsome. Sorry. I’m Park Taek-yoon… if you’re Yeon-hu’s friend, you’re our friend too.”
“I’m Kim Seong-jae. I can speak casually, right?”
“Yes. Of course. Please, both of you, speak comfortably.”
As if he had been waiting, Kwon Mi-eon gripped their hands firmly and smiled brightly. He already had a striking impression, but when he smiled fully, it felt as if his face was glowing.
“I didn’t know Yeon-hu had such a handsome friend.”
“Handsome? Not at all. You Hyungs are much more manly and cool. I’m jealous.”
The two, who had been staring at the sociable Kwon Mi-eon, finally let out a chuckle.
“Wow~ Yeon-hu’s friend has a great personality.”
“Why is this handsome bastard like this? You should never start working out.”
They seemed to have concluded that they had prematurely judged Kwon Mi-eon’s first impression.
While they talked, Mo Yeon-hu maintained a look of utter confusion.
“Hey, you……”
Just as he managed to regain his senses and tried to call Kwon Mi-eon, something felt wrong with his body.
Actually, he had been feeling strangely languid for a while. His body kept sagging, and it felt as if his perception of everything was lagging by a beat.
‘What’s this, why is the room spinning?’
He hurriedly lifted his head and saw Kim Seong-jae’s face. Seong-jae was saying something to him, but the sound and the shape of his lips didn’t match……
“Are you okay?”
With a sudden pull at his waist, Kwon Mi-eon surged right in front of his face.