Upon entering the living room, the atmosphere was brighter than expected.
Jinhyeok, who had looked like death until earlier, had already finished showering and was in the living room in clean clothes, grinning and ready to greet Taeon.
“Hello!”
The chorus-like greeting from Jinhyeok and Yoonwoo welcoming Taeon was so cute that Sunjeong chuckled. Taeon didn’t seem to dislike it either, nodding his head with a slightly silly smile on his lips that was a bit different from usual.
“There’s a condition for Yoonwoo’s birthday party today.”
“Why are you, Go Sunjeong, setting conditions for my baby’s birthday party?”
“Did you give birth to Yoonwoo? Anyway, the condition is, you guys drop the honorifics with each other. I can’t stand same-age people going ‘Taeon-ssi,’ ‘Jinhyeok-ssi.'”
At Sunjeong’s words, silence fell for a moment. Without Sunjeong as a bridge, they were indeed an awkward pair.
It was Yoonwoo who broke the frozen atmosphere.
“Right, we’re all the same age and we’ve seen each other’s faces several times. Let’s drop the honorifics this time, Taeon!”
Even Yoonwoo’s voice saying this had a slight awkwardness permeating it, but Sunjeong pretended not to notice.
“Uh, okay…”
At Taeon’s awkward voice, he couldn’t pretend not to notice and ended up giggling.
Not long after the atmosphere became warm and friendly as they sat around, satisfied with Sunjeong’s heart, an incident erupted.
Jinhyeok, who didn’t particularly like alcohol but occasionally kept even a small wine cellar at home to enjoy it, inserted a wine opener into the cork of white wine and spoke as if declaring in an indifferent voice.
“Go Sunjeong, we’re moving out tomorrow.”
Sunjeong’s hand, which had been scooping mille-feuille nabe into each person’s bowl with a smile on his face, stopped dead in mid-air.
“What did you say?”
“I had a conversation with Yoonwoo while you were gone.”
“Conversation?”
“Apparently, the reason we keep getting swayed by the adults is because we’re under the adults’ shadow.”
“……”
Soon, when he succeeded in completely removing the cork, a cheerful noise cut through the air.
He could clearly see Yoonwoo smiling ambiguously while gauging Sunjeong’s mood.
Taeon was indifferently transferring the particularly large amount of beef in his bowl to Sunjeong’s bowl with an expression wondering what on earth these kids were talking about.
“Sunjeong, well…”
“No, am I Jinhyeok’s mother or something? Why does everyone keep gauging my mood?”
As even Yoonwoo opened his mouth to speak to Sunjeong with a guilty expression, Sunjeong’s voice became sharper.
“What I’m curious about is, you decided that while I was gone picking up Yoon Taeon?”
“History is originally written quickly.”
Sunjeong looked at Jinhyeok, who was saying something that didn’t exist anywhere as if it were a maxim, with a snort.
“Anyway, I’m tired of living like this now. How long do I have to keep getting called by Father to be hit, and go to Grandfather’s house to get my joints twisted?”
“Honey, they twisted your joints too?”
“No no, no no, I just exaggerated while talking to Go Sunjeong, Yoonwoo.”
Sunjeong hated seeing Jinhyeok’s expression comforting Yoonwoo, whose face had turned pale in an instant. But what could he do? Sunjeong was Jinhyeok’s very old friend. It was also Jinhyeok who had always clung to Sunjeong, who floated around without friends, pretending to be close and finally succeeded in becoming friends.
“Anyway, we’re going to become independent now.”
“My mom and dad tell me not to act like an adult when I’m still receiving allowance, Sunjeong. So Hyeok and I are going to leave home and try to be self-reliant.”
In front of Jinhyeok and Yoonwoo speaking resolutely, Sunjeong was at a loss for words.
“Where in Seoul are you going to find a room on your own?”
“We’re not staying in Seoul.”
“Huh?”
“We’re going to Jeju Island or somewhere like the countryside anyway. We’re going to start from scratch there.”
Sunjeong didn’t feel like telling Yoonwoo, who was smiling brightly before his eyes, the fact that Jeju Island was definitely not the countryside, the fact that it would be very expensive for outsiders to stay.
Although he was very surprised, he could tell without having to reflect on it that this heavy emotion surging from deep in his heart was a desire to support these two friends who had become very precious to Sunjeong.
“So we’re packing tomorrow. Answer my mom’s calls well sometimes.”
“Mother will really give you an earful.”
“Still, I have to keep tabs on the situation. Our family members are all stupid anyway, so Father and Grandfather will need me.”
In front of Jinhyeok’s confident words, always self-assured, Sunjeong pretended to snort but eventually had no choice but to nod his head.
“You can stay in the house alone until the contract period ends.”
“Your mother gave the security deposit though?”
“Hey, would my mom care about that? She’d be too embarrassed to ever say anything.”
At Jinhyeok’s boast, Sunjeong ended up making an absurd smile.
Jinhyeok, who had been looking at such a Sunjeong, asked in a low voice.
“Go Sunjeong.”
“What.”
“Are you sad? That we’re leaving.”
Only after hearing what Jinhyeok said did Sunjeong clearly look into how the new news that had completely taken over this space was creating ripples in his heart.
Rather than sad, it was closer to a lonely feeling. He wasn’t sad. They’d just made the decision right before anyway.
It was just that thinking about Sunjeong living alone in this spacious apartment from now on made him feel lonely.
Actually, he’d always been lonely anyway.
Although he’d been watching and supporting Jinhyeok and Yoonwoo’s love closer than anyone, each time Sunjeong felt like some kind of “supporting role” in a youth drama. The role of watching, supporting, and encouraging someone’s dramatic love.
Sunjeong has his own love too. There’s someone Sunjeong definitely wants to protect and win over.
Sunjeong is also the protagonist in Sunjeong’s life.
Thinking such thoughts, Sunjeong unknowingly glanced at Taeon sitting next to him.
Then he ended up making eye contact with Taeon, who had been looking down at him.
It seemed Taeon had been looking at Sunjeong until Sunjeong raised his head to look at Taeon.
Those all-too-familiar eyes. Taeon’s eyes, whose shape was quite sharp but whose pupils felt gentle, didn’t look away even though their gazes met directly with Sunjeong’s.
Because that gaze seemed to be asking Sunjeong if he was okay, Sunjeong, who had organized his thoughts for a moment, opened his mouth and spoke.
“Of course I’ll be lonely when you guys leave. It’s my first time living alone in my life. But still, we weren’t going to live together forever, were we?”
“It’s a subtle answer that’s both F-like and T-like.”
Jinhyeok, who had blind faith in MBTI that Sunjeong had never taken once because he wasn’t very interested, enjoyed analyzing what type of human Sunjeong was with four alphabet letters. Even now, Jinhyeok’s eyes saying this playfully held a different laughter than usual.
So Jinhyeok was worried about Sunjeong.
Sunjeong, who would live alone in this house when Jinhyeok and Yoonwoo left.
Sunjeong, who was still embracing his first love in an incomplete form, knowing every bit of that history.
“Contact me when things are sorted out.”
“Of course. Come visit Jeju Island during vacation.”
“Hey, Jinhyeok.”
“Yeah.”
“Jeju Island prices are totally expensive. Check your cash well and move carefully.”
“Cash?”
Opening his mouth because his intuition wasn’t good, Jinhyeok made a really surprised expression. At times like this, it was hard to believe that Jinhyeok before his eyes would become the next successor of a leading domestic conglomerate.
“You’re not going to run away and use cards, are you?”
Silence was affirmation. Seeing that even Yoonwoo sitting next to Jinhyeok made a surprised expression.
“After the party ends, before you pack, you guys need to make a proper plan first.”
“I guess so.”
Jinhyeok, who had realized an unexpected fact, nodded his head with a serious face, then opened his mouth again with sparkling eyes.
“Putting aside Yoonwoo and me, what about your love business?”
“Huh?”
“How is your love business going, Go Sunjeong?”
Love business. Sunjeong had never actually heard such an expression in his life and didn’t even know it existed.
Jinhyeok was probably the same. The reason Jinhyeok was deliberately pulling out and using this word that no one really used was probably because he was deliberately conscious of Taeon, who was coughing next to Sunjeong without eating anything, choking on his own saliva.
Jinhyeok, who had been looking at Sunjeong with a playful expression as he was momentarily speechless, now turned his gaze to Taeon.
“Taeon-ssi, no, Taeon, what about you?”
“……”
At the expression “Taeon,” which was too awkward, the atmosphere sank for a moment. Even more so because of the content of the words calling Taeon’s name.
Yoon Taeon must be unnecessarily troubled…
Thinking he was being deliberately mischievous, Sunjeong sent Jinhyeok a glaring signal and turned his head toward Taeon. But Taeon shrugged his shoulders with an expression that wasn’t troubled at all and said,
“It failed though?”
“Huh?”
In front of Jinhyeok’s dumbfounded answer, Taeon nonchalantly moistened his mouth with a sip of wine and opened his mouth again.
“My love business completely went bankrupt.”
“…Oh.”
Jinhyeok, with an ambiguous expression yet eyes shining, clearly wanted to ask if that was related to Sunjeong, but exercising maximum tact, he only drew out a very long “Oh,” like an exclamation.
“Why did it go bankrupt?”
