* * *
[Ko Hyungbin: ㅇㅇㅇ]
[Jjino: Are you talking about Geuk-ja?]
[Jung Dayoon: GJ? GJ?]
[Hwang Joonbong: Geuk-ja is our speculation ^^7]
[What are you talking about ㅡㅡ]
[Jung Dayoon: We are waiting.]
[Jung Somin: The rumor about you dating Geuk Taeshin. Why haven’t you made it public? What’s the reason?]
[Shin Ilkim: Exactly.]
[Hwang Joonbong: Add one more to those waitingㅎㅎㅎㅎ]
What nonsense. My friends started pointing at me and spouting weird stuff.
“Geuk-ja” was Taeshin’s nickname. Being an extremely dominant alpha, he was called “Geuk-ja.”
They were asking about my dating life, but kept bringing up Taeshin.
With my history with Taeshin, it made me nervous.
Do they know something?
My hands trembled as I tried to play innocent.
[Dating Taeshin? What are you talking about?]
[Ko Hyungbin: ? It’s obvious you’re dating.]
[Don’t twist it, we’re just friends ㅡㅡ]
[Jjino: We need to hear what Geuk-ja has to say about this.]
[Listen up, if I’m right, I’ll come after each of you one by one ㅗ]
[Jjino: ㅋㅋ, good luck staying safe.]
[Hwang Joonbong: We probably won’t meet anyway ^^7]
[Shin Ilkim: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
They laughed when I suggested asking Taeshin. Frustrated by their disbelief, I threatened to come over if they gave me their addresses, but they just threw out foreign locations.
[Ko Hyungbin: Sigh; I bet my underwear that Geuk-ja is secretly dating.]
[Jjino: Ew, get rid of that smell.]
[Jung Dayoon: Ew, gross;;;;]
[Ko Hyungbin: Say that again, s**t]
[Shin Ilkim: S**t s**t s**t s**t s**t s**t]
Those fools who dragged me and Taeshin into their nonsense started fighting among themselves. They were just probing. I felt foolish for panicking.
Annoyed, I exited the group chat and lay back on the sofa.
Clearly, those awake during this golden holiday before college were the hopeless ones.
Sensible people would be sleeping or doing something constructive, not chatting away in a group chat.
They probably stayed up all night.
Regretting the wasted time dealing with immature high school friends, I turned off my phone and stared at the ceiling.
Suddenly!
“Why on earth!”
Why do they pair me with Taeshin!
Anger surged as I sat up, cursing those in the group chat.
It seemed like harmless teasing, but it struck a nerve, reigniting suppressed memories and thoughts about Taeshin.
Frustrated by the resurfacing memories, I glared at my phone.
Ready to exact revenge on those who stepped on a landmine, I restrained myself.
Any retaliation that might hint at my history with Taeshin would be detrimental.
Three acts of patience can avert disaster, they say.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm down.
To distract myself, I sprawled on the sofa and browsed the internet, finding solace in sensational news, realizing the world had bigger surprises.
[Taeshin♥: Sunwoo.]
[Taeshin♥: Are you up?]
It was Taeshin.
[Yeah, ㅋㅋ]
I hesitated before replying, feeling awkward after the dream.
[Did you hear?]
[Jang Dae and Seo Yijung are dating lol]
[Who knew they’d be together, right? lol]
Taeshin was also in our high school group chat.
I wondered if he saw the morning conversation, so I played dumb.
[Taeshin♥: Really?]
[Taeshin♥: Good for them.]
His indifferent response eased my mind.
Thankfully, he seemed unaware of the chat.
Taeshin often had countless unread messages in the group chat.
Park Kangseop once said the only unread message in our chat was from Taeshin, and it seemed true.
Relieved that Taeshin didn’t seem to care, I refrained from mentioning the group chat, avoiding any accidental exposure.
[Taeshin♥: Sunwoo.]
[Taeshin♥: Are you free today?]
[Taeshin♥: There’s somewhere I want to go with you.]
Holding both hands together and murmuring to be careful, Taeshin spoke up.
The mention of meeting up startled me, so I read the message twice more.
Normally, as in my usual self, I would naturally respond that I had time.
However, the fact that I hesitated for several minutes made me think something was off.
[Sorry]
[I have plans today ㅠ]
[Taeshin♥> With whom?]
Since I didn’t actually have plans, I was at a loss for words when asked who it was with.
Racking my brain for a plausible name, I settled on the most convincing one.
[Yoon Yijun ㅋㅋ]
[Taeshin♥> Gaming?]
[Yeah ㅋㅋㅋ]
[Let’s hang out next time ㅠ]
Mixing my message with a bit of regret and trying to sound as apologetic as possible, the conversation paused.
It seemed Taeshin was busy with something else, as there was no immediate reply.
After a while, Taeshin responded.
[Taeshin♥> Okay.]
[Taeshin♥> Have fun.]
The thought of lying to Taeshin, who believed whatever I said, pricked at my conscience.
Feeling guilty, I stared at Taeshin’s reply for a long time before texting my friend Yoon Yijun , who I had used as an excuse.
[Home?]
[Yoon Yijun > Yep]
Receiving Yoon’s late reply that he was home, I quickly got dressed.
The fact that I lied to Taeshin bothered me.
To alleviate my guilt, I decided I should really meet up with Yoon Yijun.
It seemed better to get some fresh air and socialize rather than stewing at home.
* * *
I entered Yoon Yijun’s apartment, known among our friends as a hangout spot ever since he started living on his own in high school.
As expected, Yoon Yijun was there, holding a game controller with the TV screen filled with a game display.
We greeted each other with just a glance, and I sat next to Yoon Yijun.
Grabbing a snack from the coffee table, I commented on Yoon Yijun’s repeated game deaths.
“You need to guard if you see the attack coming.”
“That pattern can’t be guarded.”
“You probably just missed the timing. Let me have the controller.”
When I started giving unsolicited advice on the boss fight, Yoon Yijun snapped back.
I ended up taking the controller to try and beat the boss, but died to the same pattern.
“I told you it can’t be guarded. You’re not any better at this.”
“I’m better than you, though.”
“No, you’re not. Wanna bet?”
“What are you talking about, you noob?”
“That’s… well, damn it, it’s because of bad team luck.”
We argued about who was better by bringing up our past victories.
Unable to reach a conclusion, we decided to settle it with the current game, connecting another controller.
We spent the entire day gaming, taunting each other for our lack of skill, and eventually fell asleep there.
Meeting someone and immersing myself in something else felt much better than brooding alone at home.
I was glad not to have any strange dreams when I woke up.
“Awake?”
“Gimme mine.”
“Over there.”
Smelling something delicious from outside, I stumbled out of the guest room to find Yoon Yijun unpacking takeout food.
Sitting down at the table, Yoon Yijun pointed to a corner with a set of fried rice using his chopsticks.
Yoon Yijun’s breakfast order was fried rice and a soy sauce chicken mayo set.
Sipping the bean sprout soup that came with the set, I warmed up and opened the lid of the fried rice.
While eating with Yoon Yijun, we continued arguing about last night’s boss fight, blaming each other for the failure. We were mid-meal when my phone, lying next to me, vibrated.
I glanced at the screen.
[Taeshin♥> Awake?]
It was Taeshin.
With chopsticks in my mouth, I stared at the phone screen.
I could feel Yoon’s gaze from across the table. Looking at him, I saw he was blatantly watching me and my phone.
“What? Why?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Geez.”
Giving Yoon Yijun a dirty look, I picked up my phone.
Holding it so Yoon Yijun couldn’t see the screen, I texted Taeshin back that I was awake.
After a moment of hesitation, I also sent a picture of the takeout spread on the table.
[(Picture)]
[Stayed over at Yoon Yijun’s because we couldn’t beat the boss yesterday ㅠ]
[We’ll definitely beat it today (angry dog emoji)]
Though it felt a bit underhanded, I had no choice. I needed to make it clear to Taeshin that I’d be with Yoon Yijun today before he suggested meeting up.
I wasn’t ready to see Taeshin just yet.
[Taeshin♥> Did you game all night?]
[No, I slept and just woke up]
[Taeshin♥> Take it easy.]
[Taeshin♥> Make sure you beat the boss.]
[Sureㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
After sending a laughing emoji in response to Taeshin’s encouragement, I turned off my phone.
Feeling uneasy, I placed it on the table and warned Yoon Yijun, who was watching me curiously.
“Don’t say a word.”
* * *
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