* * *

The phone that rang belonged to Hayan.

While Hayan answered the call, Jeongseo fidgeted with his phone for no reason.

There had been no further contact from Pyo Yoontae since.

“Yeah, what’s up.”

A high-pitched, delicate voice came through the phone.

A girl…? Was it a young girl?

The convenience store’s background music was just a quiet current of the latest pop songs, making the voice on the other end clearly audible to Jeongseo.

“No, just eat at home. I’m with a friend.”

The word “friend” made Jeongseo’s brown ears perk up.

Hayan’s tone was blunt, but the way he answered each question held a subtle kindness.

Jeongseo watched Hayan talk while eating ramen and a hot bar, as if he were watching TV.

“I’ll probably be home around 7:20. Don’t just eat instant noodles again; take some side dishes out of the fridge and eat properly. What? Bring ice cream? Did you eat all the ones in the freezer already? So soon?”

Hayan briefly furrowed his brows and sighed before hanging up the call with an acknowledgment.

“Never seen someone take a phone call before?”

Hayan snapped at Jeongseo, who had been staring at him blankly.

Realizing he had been too engrossed, Jeongseo smiled sheepishly.

“I was just wondering if you had plans today.”

“No, it was my younger sibling. They were asking me to bring ice cream.”

So, Hayan had a sibling! If it was a younger one, would they have the same white hair and pretty looks?

Jeongseo’s imagination began to run wild.

Would they look exactly like Hayan…?

Would their personality be similar too?

Jeongseo used to wish he had a younger sibling at times.

Having an older brother was great, but watching videos of younger siblings on TV or social media sometimes made him think they were too adorable.

If he ever had a younger sibling, he believed he would cherish them dearly.

But now that he had Sobok, his yearning for a sibling had mostly faded.

“Your sibling must be cute.”

At Jeongseo’s mumbling, Hayan frowned.

“Cute? Yeah, right. Now that they’ve grown a bit, they’re just constantly acting up. Just now, they were whining for me to hurry up and bring ice cream. I’m basically their servant at this point.”

Despite his scowling expression, Hayan’s tone didn’t carry much irritation.

Sensing that nuance, Jeongseo realized that Hayan cared for his sibling.

“You have an older brother, right?”

“Yeah! I have one brother.”

Hayan curled one side of his lips and nodded slowly.

“Don’t you need to let him know you’ll be home late? Or did you already?”

“Huh? Oh, I live alone, so it’s fine.”

Hayan, who was about to put a piece of kimbap in his mouth, froze mid-motion.

His dark eyes widened, revealing more of the whites than usual.

“You live… alone?”

“I used to live with my grandmother, but she passed away a couple of years ago. So now I’m on my own.”

With the unexpected heaviness of the topic, Hayan’s eyelids fluttered slightly as he quietly set down his chopsticks.

He wondered if he shouldn’t have asked, then spoke in a more subdued voice.

“Actually, I don’t have a mom either.”

When Jeongseo’s eyes widened, Hayan took a sip of his drink as if it was no big deal.

“I mean, there’s no point in you being the only one sharing personal stuff. I’ve been living with my dad since I was little, so it doesn’t really affect me.”

In that moment, Jeongseo felt like he finally understood how Hayan might have felt when he heard about his grandmother’s passing.

The one speaking might not feel much, but the listener could never hear it without being moved.

“…It must’ve been hard, though.”

The childlike voice that came through the phone indicated that Hayan had been old enough to remember when his mother was no longer around.

“Not really. Do you plan to keep living alone after you graduate high school?”

“Oh, no! My brother visits often, and I’ll probably only be on my own until I graduate.”

“Where will you go after that?”

“To Seoul!”

“Seoul…” Hayan murmured softly. He paused, lost in thought, before speaking again.

“Then, are you planning to go to a university there?”

A university… Jeongseo hadn’t given much thought to what he would do after graduating high school.

Having grown up just going with the flow, he assumed things would somehow work out after graduation, too.

His laid-back upbringing, where everyone around him had indulged him, played a role in this mindset.

As a result, he was optimistic and easygoing, rarely stressed by life, but it came with the downside of not having even the simplest plans for the future.

“Do I have to go to college, though?”

“If you have something else you want to do and don’t need to go, then not going is better.”

Something he wanted to do… Jeongseo racked his brain but couldn’t think of anything.

He liked his current life: waking up in the morning, going to school, playing with Pyo Yoontae, walking Sobok when he got home, and hanging out with his brother.

He knew those things wouldn’t be possible after graduation, but he hadn’t truly grasped it yet.

While he sat lost in thought, Hayan finished the last sip of his ramen broth and said:

“Senior year comes quickly and doesn’t come back. So don’t make choices you’ll regret.”

In those firm, dark eyes, Jeongseo thought he saw a flicker of unyielding determination and felt compelled to nod.

Hayan really was impressive.

Out of all the friends Jeongseo had, he seemed the most decisive and sure of his path.

Pyo Yoontae was also mature in his way and could look after himself, but he was different from Hayan.

Unlike Hayan, Pyo Yoontae didn’t seem as steadfast.

He had come looking for his first love, but all he did was play around with Jeongseo.

“Are you done eating?”

With a nod, Jeongseo finished the last bite of his sweet red bean bun.

Hayan looked at him curiously, wondering how someone could eat so much yet stay so thin.

His exposed wrists and ankles were slender, and he had a petite frame, although his cheeks still retained some baby fat, making them round.

He’d seen Jeongseo fly around during the sports festival… and he snacked a lot but was still so small…

Hayan found himself pondering how inefficient Jeongseo’s metabolism must be.

After cleaning up the table and stepping outside, they saw the sky had deepened to a twilight blue as the sun set.

“Where’s your bus stop?”

“Near the library!”

“Oh, my house is that way too.”

With full stomachs and the cool air, the mood was pleasant.

They walked side by side until they were almost at the bus stop.

Then, Jeongseo suddenly stopped and turned to Hayan with a question.

“Hey, we’re friends, right?”

Hayan, who had also stopped, glanced at Jeongseo with one eyebrow raised.

His expression was slightly annoyed, prompting Jeongseo to hastily try to explain when Hayan snorted and said:

“No, we’re not friends anymore. Talk to me at school, and you’re dead.”

Hayan’s sharp remark came as he turned to leave. Alarmed, Jeongseo grabbed his arm.

“That’s not what I meant! I just… never really had friends before, so it’s confusing!”

Hearing Jeongseo’s clarification, Hayan’s expression returned to normal, as if he understood.

“What’s there to be confused about? Friends are friends. Why does it matter?”

Jeongseo hesitated, unable to respond right away, feeling a little embarrassed about saying it out loud.

He tried to think of a way to explain it indirectly.

“Well, I don’t know… I feel like there’s something different about this friendship…”

Of course, different friends had different levels of closeness or compatibility.

But that wasn’t what Jeongseo was trying to say.

Hayan quickly caught on to what was confusing Jeongseo.

What he thought was one-sided was actually mutual.

“What feels different?”

“Ugh… um, I feel like it would be better if we were together, but sometimes it makes me tense. I know it’s more fun when there are more people around, but for some reason, I just want to hang out with you.”

As Jeongseo said this, his cheeks lightly flushed. Hayan narrowed his eyes and tilted his head back slightly.

It was frustrating that Jeongseo seemed oblivious, even though the answer was obvious.

But as he recalled that the other person was Pyo Yoontae, he felt irritated, knowing that Jeongseo would undoubtedly be grinning from ear to ear if things went well.

Jeongseo was innocent, and in his first year, he had misinterpreted things here and there because he liked people.

Even when he spoke sharply, Jeongseo quickly warmed up once they got to know each other a bit.

Hayan thought that Jeongseo was just the type to get taken advantage of, but he didn’t dislike it.

In fact, approaching him at the shoe rack today was an impulsive choice.

Normally, he would have just left without saying a word, but since Jeongseo happened to be alone, Hayan felt an urge to talk to him for some reason.

Usually, he didn’t say much because it annoyed him to see Yoontae glaring for no reason if he even greeted Jeongseo.

If Yoontae starts dating Jeongseo, it’ll cause even more trouble.

‘I don’t want to deal with that.’

As Hayan quietly watched, Jeongseo began to worry that what he said sounded really strange.

Suddenly, Hayan leaned in slightly, bringing his face close to Jeongseo’s.

Startled, Jeongseo flinched, his shoulders trembling as he instinctively stepped back.

Hayan caught him by the shoulder, and through his round glasses, his dark eyes sparkled like glass.

* * *