* * *

What is he talking about?

Even though Yejun spoke directly, Jiho found it hard to quickly grasp his meaning. As he slowly understood, he wondered why and thought it might mean something else.

But no matter how much he thought about it, his understanding seemed correct. Jiho hesitated, swallowed, and finally spoke.

“Why are you asking me that… If you like her, date her.”

“…”

Yejun’s lips tightened at Jiho’s answer. The usually soft, smiling lips were now firm and expressionless.

Seeing his reaction, it seemed this wasn’t the answer he wanted. Jiho didn’t know what response Yejun was looking for, but the atmosphere made him feel like he had done something wrong.

Jiho ruffled the back of his hair with his palm, thinking for a moment, and then awkwardly advised him.

“I haven’t met that omega, so I can’t say for sure, but Taeyun says she seems nice. If she’s good for you, it might be better to date her.”

“…”

But no matter what Jiho said, Yejun didn’t respond. An awkward silence ensued.

Jiho glanced at him nervously, and finally, Yejun let out a deep sigh.

“Never mind, I won’t date her. If I get a girlfriend, who’s going to hang out with Jiho? Right?”

“…What?”

What nonsense is he spouting now?

Jiho furrowed his brow, looking at him, and then stiffened when he saw Yejun’s lips curl into a smile, dimples forming.

I was seriously thinking about why Yejun was asking me this and what the right answer was, but now it seemed like he was just joking. Damn, I’m such a fool for taking him seriously.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Do you think I’m a loser like you with no one to hang out with?”

“Haha, you’re probably the only one who calls me a loser.”

Even though he was cursing, Yejun burst into hearty laughter.

‘I wondered what was so funny, but then I understood. Yejun is one of the most sociable people I know. Even if someone else called him a loser, it wouldn’t hurt him; it would just be a joke.’

Seeing Yejun’s amused reaction, Jiho scowled more and widened his eyes. But Yejun, seemingly unfazed, continued speaking.

“And I have high standards. She doesn’t quite meet them.”

He seemed to be referring to the omega. It looked like he wasn’t interested in her from the beginning and had no intention of dating her.

Then why did he ask me? It was as if he knew I was overly concerned about him dating someone.

Feeling intentionally provoked, Jiho coldly handed Yejun the poop bag and Coco’s leash. Although confused, Yejun took them obediently.

Jiho put on the hood of his windbreaker and spoke coldly to Yejun.

“I’m going for a run. Finish walking Coco and come back.”

“Huh?”

“I’m off.”

Without looking back at the bewildered Yejun, Jiho started running.

He heard Yejun calling his name from behind, but he pretended not to hear.

If Yejun wanted to, he could easily catch up to me, but fortunately, he didn’t. He just stood there with a puzzled expression. The crossing breeze was humid.

* * *

The class “Reading Cultural Industries Through Films,” known as an easy elective, was one that Jiho, Yejun, and Taeyun all took together.

When registering for classes, Yejun and Taeyun wanted to take the same electives as Jiho, so they agreed to attend together if they successfully registered.

Luckily, all three managed to get in, and they took the class together. This also brought Yejun and Taeyun closer.

Thanks to that, the three of them even had private drinking sessions, but for some reason, today there was tension between Taeyun and Yejun.

Jiho, sitting between them, felt like he was in the middle of Siberia. It was like having an Arctic fox on one side and a polar bear on the other, both eyeing each other over him.

Yejun, outwardly ignoring Taeyun’s glaring, exuded an intimidating aura. Despite summer approaching, Jiho felt a chill.

Jiho sighed deeply, glancing at both of them, and spoke.

“Did you guys… have a fight?”

Jiho had no desire to be caught between two people fighting. He knew from experience that intervening wouldn’t be appreciated and would only exhaust him.

However, I knew that their relationship hadn’t been bad until a few days ago, and since we would have to take a class together, I had no choice but to speak up because it would only make me uncomfortable if things stayed this way.

When I asked what was going on, Taeyun grumbled.

“That bastard screwed me over.”

“Screwed you over? How?”

“Remember when we were drinking, and I was about to introduce you to that omega, but he cut in and asked to be introduced instead?”

…Not that I was interested anyway, so technically he didn’t really cut in.

The nuance was subtle, but I understood what Yejun was trying to say. As Jiho tilted his head and asked, “So what happened?” Taeyun glared sharply at Yejun and continued.

“And do you know what he said when he met her? He said he doesn’t date boring people. Isn’t he such a weirdo?”

“Taeyun, calling someone a weirdo to their face is a bit much.”

Yejun calmly smiled as Taeyun cursed.

Can’t he just stay quiet? I had a feeling he was going to rile Taeyun up even more, and sure enough, Taeyun raised his voice in anger.

“How could you say something so stupid in front of her? And what’s so funny anyway? Should I date a comedian?”

“Hmm, never thought about it. It could be fun.”

“Huh…”

When Yejun spoke as if he would consider it, Taeyun looked bewildered and let out a breath. His eyes were filled with disdain, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

It wasn’t enough that Yejun had embarrassed the matchmaker by refusing for a silly reason, he then added fuel to the fire with his comments, making Taeyun even angrier.

“He does this all the time. Just bear with it.”

“Seriously, just when I thought he was acting normal, he pulls something like this.”

Jiho tried to soothe Taeyun, and though Taeyun grumbled, he seemed to calm down. At this rate, he would probably cool off in a day or two.

Jiho thought it was a relief and laughed lightly, but then Taeyun suddenly looked up with a bright idea. He turned to Jiho, eyes sparkling.

“Hey, Jiho, didn’t you say you wanted to be introduced to someone last time?”

“Me? When did I…”

Jiho was about to deny it but trailed off as he remembered a conversation they had a few days ago.

Taeyun had mentioned how he was annoyed by Yejun dating someone because of jealousy and had offered to introduce someone good to Jiho.

The professor had walked in before Jiho could respond, but Taeyun seemed to have taken the silence as an agreement.

As he recalled that day, Jiho noticed Yejun’s curious eyes on him. It was a look that questioned if it was true, with a single furrowed brow showing his seriousness.

Yejun seemed to have a lot to say about why Jiho had accepted after refusing meeting setups so many times.

Jiho quickly corrected Taeyun’s misunderstanding.

“I didn’t say yes, I just didn’t answer.”

“That means you didn’t want to meet anyone?”

“How many times do I have to tell you? I hate blind dates.”

“Geez… You’d be perfect though.”

Taeyun sighed in disappointment. It seemed he still hadn’t given up on introducing Jiho to that omega.

‘Why does he keep trying to set me up… ‘

Jiho was about to tell him not to expect anything when a large shadow appeared behind Taeyun.

Looking back, Jiho saw the alpha guys from Taeyun’s jiu-jitsu club. Taeyun was in the jiu-jitsu club, and his clubmates were all pretty big.

One of the jiu-jitsu guys put a hand on Taeyun’s shoulder and asked cheerfully.

“What are you guys talking about? A setup? A blind date?”

“None of your business, get lost.”

“Who is it? Set me up. Come on.”

“Ah! Stop choking me…!”

Taeyun told them to get lost, but the jiu-jitsu guys seemed really interested in the blind date and turned their friendly shoulder grab into a headlock.

As they choked him, demanding a setup, Taeyun turned pale and struggled.

Poor guy… Should I help him? Jiho looked at Taeyun sympathetically, but then Yejun’s voice came from beside him.

“Jiho.”

“What?”

As Jiho turned his head, a soft hand patted his hair.

…What is this? Is he playing a joke? Normally, Jiho wouldn’t mind, but given Yejun’s recent behavior, he wondered if Yejun was trying to start something.

“What are you doing?”

“Good job.”

Despite Jiho’s wary tone, Yejun’s words were unexpected.

Yejun’s hand gently ruffled Jiho’s hair, careful not to mess up his hairstyle.

* * *