His cold words fell down over Munyeong’s bowed head. Munyeong stayed exactly as he was, eyes squeezed shut.
“A friend… what friend. Damn.”
His tone was cold — frigid, even — laced with contempt. Since when does someone you slept with count as a friend?
“You and friends…… forget it.”
And on top of that, the fact that Munyeong was so desperately trying to hide who he was from his own friend — scrambling frantically to pretend he didn’t know him, even concealing his name — was both baffling and, in some strange way, grating. Everything about this grated on him.
“Am I supposed to be looked down on by some nobody who doesn’t know his own place, because of you?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“In all my life, to be called a… a beg… to have someone say that to me……”
Haejeong turned it over in his mind and kept exhaling in disbelief. The more he thought about it, the more outrageous it seemed — his lips moved wordlessly, as if words themselves had failed him.
“Me? Even looking like this right now, I’m not someone people say things like that to.”
“Ah… yes. Right.”
Munyeong answered meekly, trying to soothe his steadily rising emotions.
“Even when I ran with British aristocrats, I was the one they called distinguished. Even with nothing on, I apparently just ooze class.”
“Ah… yes. You do.”
“Right? That’s right?”
“Yes. Yes…. That’s true.”
As if that had calmed him down a little, he lowered his fuming breath and eyed Munyeong, who had been quietly agreeing, with suspicion.
“No matter how poorly you live, you shouldn’t just go around making friends with anyone.”
At the dead-serious face and the genuinely meant advice, Munyeong pulled up the corners of his mouth awkwardly and answered as politely as he could manage.
“…He’s a bit rough around the edges, but… he’s, he’s not a bad person. Even so, making you hear something like that the first time you met — I really am sorry about that. I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it. I’ll apologize on his behalf.”
Munyeong bowed his head again, with a sincerity that held no pretense, carrying a genuine apology in full. The heat that had been boiling over in Haejeong’s expression subsided in a strange, quiet way. The Munyeong he was looking at was a deeply familiar sight. The way he naturally took someone else’s fault onto himself as though it were his own and apologized without hesitation. Always warm, always good. Not a behavior limited to certain people — it was simply who he was at the core.
That goodness he showed for others wasn’t reserved for Haejeong alone. He was the same toward everyone, exactly as he was now. Back then, that quality had genuinely irritated him. Seeing it again after so long, the feeling from those days seemed to be slowly rising back up — and Haejeong’s mood was getting worse and worse for it.
“……Forget it.”
Whenever he saw that — someone who could sacrifice himself for others without a second thought, who apologized on their behalf without blinking —
Haejeong cut the thought off, snatched the car key Munyeong had been holding, shoved past him as he was still bowing, and walked on. Then Haejeong, who had looked like he was about to kick the door down and storm out, stopped — and turned back to look at Munyeong, who was only now stiffly straightening himself up.
“You — that person outside.”
“……Pardon?”
He pointed toward the front door and ground out the words with a face full of irritation. He gnashed his teeth as though he were seething, and yet couldn’t seem to get the rest out, so he just kicked the front door hard instead.
“Are you having lunch with that person today?”
“Ah……. Yes.”
Munyeong nodded slowly at the out-of-nowhere question, expression slightly dazed. Haejeong glared daggers at the door for a long moment, then paused, and stood there for a while without moving. He muttered a quiet curse to himself — ah, damn — and then abruptly tossed the car key he’d been holding onto a nearby shelf.
“I’m hungry.”
He said it with the sulky face of a small child throwing a fit. Munyeong had expected him to explode, kick the door open, and leave.
“I said I’m hungry.”
He added it with the same sullen expression, meeting Munyeong’s blank stare head-on.
“…Ah….”
The reaction was nothing like the full-on anger Munyeong had braced for, and he let out a small sound before quickly replying.
“Then, lunch… would you like to join us?”
“If you insist. But not with that person.”
Of course Munyeong did not particularly insist — but if that was what it took, it didn’t matter.
“Ah, but… I’d still like to keep my plans with my friend. Is there any way…?”
“What if I said no.”
“…Then, for now, you could eat separately….”
“Who? Me?”
Munyeong shifted awkwardly, at a complete loss. He wanted to accommodate him, but he was worried that sending his friend away outside would only start another fight, and couldn’t choose. Haejeong looked down at Munyeong’s hesitating with an expression that said he simply didn’t understand.
“Hey, don’t you want to get on my good side?”
“Pardon…?”
“When I say something like this, most people drop whatever plans they have and put me first, no matter what—!”
Haejeong raised his voice, clearly having never understood Munyeong’s steady composure from start to finish — but he stopped abruptly at the sound of loud banging on the front door.
“When are you coming out! I’m hungry!”
There was another sulky person on the other side. Munyeong swallowed a deep sigh, slung his battered old crossbody bag over his shoulder like the trademark it had become, and made his request with full sincerity.
“…Could I ask just this one thing of you.”
“…….”
“I don’t want to make the situation uncomfortable….”
Munyeong pleaded with a face full of distress. He clearly wanted more than anything to keep Haejeong’s identity from his friend — enough to make a request that was so unlike him. Haejeong gnashed his teeth, looking like he couldn’t stand it. Of course he didn’t want this. Being looked down on by someone who looked like a lesser-tier person? Being treated as an equal? His pride would never allow it. And yet — his mouth, which usually moved just fine, wouldn’t move. He should’ve snapped no without hesitation, but his lips wouldn’t budge.
“I’m truly asking, please.”
Munyeong made the request again with those desperate eyes. Dark irises, and yet somehow clear as glass — Haejeong stared into them as if entranced, his own mouth opening and closing involuntarily before he answered against his better judgment.
“……J, just this once.”
“Yes. Thank you, truly.”
“This is really just once…. I don’t normally share a table with people like that.”
“…Yes. Understood.”
“I’m telling you. Just once. Really once. Alright?”
Even as he accepted the proposal, it seemed he wanted to deny it — he kept repeating the same words over and over. Munyeong nodded in small, awkward little movements. Then, toward the still-disgruntled Haejeong who had nevertheless agreed, Munyeong carefully opened his mouth one more time.
“Um, but….”
“…What now.”
“I’ve already told my friend you’re a friend of mine… so I might unintentionally end up speaking informally to you — would that be alright…?”
At the politely worded advance warning, this time one side of Haejeong’s cheek twitched. He didn’t like it — but the sheer absurdity of it wrung an involuntary laugh out of him before he could stop it. Then he looked down at Munyeong, who was shuffling his feet nervously as he made his plea, and shot back in a mocking drawl.
“…Sure―. Do whatever you want.”
Go ahead, do as you please — he added it with a teasing lilt, and Munyeong couldn’t stop apologizing, his face crumpling like he might cry. It wasn’t even a big ask — but seeing that expression of pure guilt, Haejeong nearly cracked a smile without meaning to, and caught himself, pressing his lips shut.
Why he was going along with these ridiculous requests, and what exactly was so funny about any of this — Haejeong couldn’t make sense of it. He straightened his brow back into a firm frown and trailed after Munyeong out the door.
