Chapter 17

What kind of nonsense is this? I couldn’t understand why Cha Yugeon suddenly wanted to get a medical staff whose name I didn’t even know involved with this.

He even cursed at the medical staff, saying he wasn’t good enough for me.

Haon, who was furrowing his brow as he wondered why he was acting like that out of nowhere, realized that the person he was dealing with was Cha Yugeon and soon realized the intention of his words.

“If you see someone you like, don’t you smile involuntarily?”

“What?”

“Isn’t that what you think? That’s why you think I like that medical staff, right? Haa… What should I do with you. Not everyone is like you. They don’t all smile when they see someone they like.”

He was pleased with his own retort. But he felt uneasy when he saw Cha Yugeon’s expression turned happy for some reason. He quickly thinks back to see if there was something he had just said that could have made Cha Yugeon feel better, but he couldn’t find anything in particular.

“So you’re saying you didn’t like that medical staff?”

“Yes… But why are you focusing so much on that?”

The more Cha Yugeon seemed to enjoy himself, the more Haon’s expression deteriorated.

Cha Yugeon even hummed to himself as if he didn’t care about Haon’s reaction.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“…Yeah.”

This time, the opposite situation unfolded from before.

Cha Yugeon took the lead, then stopped to ask, and Haon responded with an uneasy tone.

The two people arrived at the cafeteria and stood in front of the kiosk at the front. Perhaps because it was past lunch time, the area was quiet.

“What should I eat…”

In the cafeteria, they sold three menus: the daily changing regular meal, the special meal, and ramen.

Haon quickly checked today’s regular and special menus.

The regular menu today was stir-fried pork, and the special menu was beef rib soup.

Neither was particularly appealing, so he considered just having a ramen.

“Forget about ramen and just eat rice.”

“What, how did you know?”

Cha Yugeon decisively said as if he could read Haon’s thoughts.

Cha Yugeon grinned at the surprised look on Haon’s face.

“I knew it. Eating only ramen makes you weak like that.”

“Are you dissing ramen? Nowadays, ramen has a balanced nutritional profile, you know.”

“Whatever, just eat rice.”

Firmly cutting off Haon’s words, Cha Yugeon chose stir-fried pork for him.

Then he picked beef rib soup for himself.

Since it was a cafeteria, everything was generally cheap, but the regular menu were even cheaper than the specials.

Well, he never intended to mooch off  Cha Yugeon in the first place, but it seemed like he was trying to feed Haon the cheaper stir-fried pork while treating himself to the more pricy beef rib soup.

“I’ll pay for mine.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Cha Yugeon responded without missing a beat and ordered one more set of stir-fried pork and beef rib soup.

There were two people, but four menu items.

He looked at Cha Yugeon, wondering why, but Cha Yugeon paid for the meal without saying a word despite Haon’s gaze.

“Why order four items? Oh, do you want to eat three of them?”

“What are you saying? Two are for you.”

“Huh? Hey, what the hell. That’s too much for me. Cancel one of thems.”

“Even if you can’t eat, just eat it.”

Haon said in surprise, Cha Yugeon seems to not hear him.

Haon frowned, wondering what kind of nonsense this was, but Cha Yugeon left Haon alone and walked straight into the cafeteria.

“Stand in the regular line. I’ll stand in the special line.”

As soon as they entered, Cha Yugeon handed two regular meal tickets to Haon.

Haon accepted the tickets reluctantly.

“Hey, I said I can’t eat this much, so why are you telling me to eat?”

“You look malnourished because you never eat properly.”

“Are you… Is rudeness a natural talent for you? How the hell did you grow up to be like this?”

Haon admired his consistently rude way of speaking.

Cha Yugeon frowned, he looked displeased.

Either way, Haon was genuinely curious.

How can someone speak so impolitely?

“Enough. Do you want sauce or not?”

“Add it.”

“Green onions?”

“No green onions.”

“What a picky eater…”

“If you don’t like it, stop asking unnecessary questions?”

Haon gritted his teeth at Cha Yugeon’s complaints. However, Cha Yugeon pretended not to hear Haon’s words and headed towards the special meal distribution table.

Watching him silently, Haon sighed irritably as he looked at the two meal tickets. Since he had already received the tickets, he had no choice but to go and get the meal.

“Since you came after lunchtime, I gave you more portions. Please eat a lot.”

“Uh… Thank you.”

It was an unwarranted favor, but Haon forced a bright smile.

Although he wasn’t particularly sociable, he knew how to express gratitude to someone who showed kindness to him, even if it was unwanted.

Thanks to the generous portions of stir-fried pork, Haon returned with two hefty trays of food.

Cha Yugeon was already seated when he approached.

Upon closer inspection, both bowls of beef rib soup were filled almost to the brim.

“…Why is there so much?”

“I’m close with the auntie working here.”

It was a boastful response.

Normally, Haon might have thought that Yugeon was boasting about something bad, but at this moment, with the abundance of food in front of him, he couldn’t afford to think that way.

He was more concerned about how he would manage to finish it all.

“Do you usually eat this much?”

“You call this a lot of food? You should at leasst eat this much.”

“…That’s right, eat a lot.”

Despite his love for eating, Haon couldn’t eat as much as he wanted.

While he didn’t necessarily go on diets, he rarely ate more than a single serving.

Just the sight of the pile of food made him feel nauseous.

However, seeing Cha Yugeon starting to eat as if it were normal for him, Haon wondered how all of that could fit in his figure.

Haon forgot to eat due to the rapidly decreasing amount of food, and he stared blankly at Cha Yugeon.

I didn’t know Cha Yugeon was such a glutton.

Well, he had no reason to eat with Cha Yugeon, so it was natural for him not to know.

Although he had lived at the Center for such a long time, it struck him that he had never had a meal with Cha Yugeon.

“Why are you eating so slowly? Are you sick?”

“I’m eating diligently. And I distinctly remember telling you earlier that I can’t finish it all.”

Haon answered Cha Yugeon’s inquiry with a slight irritation.

Haon also responded in a relatively calm voice to the question that seemed to be out of curiosity rather than aa complatint.

Cha Yugeon seemed puzzled as if he couldn’t understand him.

“How can you eat only this much? Can you even survive like this?”

“…I’m in front of you aren’t I? Do you think I’m a ghost or something?”

“I really don’t understand.”

“Who cares?”

They continued their meal, engaging in an odd kind of arguing.

Haon tried his best to eat all of it, but he couldn’t finish both the stir-fried pork and beef rib soup.

“Look at this. You left some, what a waste.”

“I told you I can’t eat it all.”

Unable to comprehend Cha Yugeon’s question, Haon responded with patience.

Cha Yugeon still had an expression of disbelief, but Haon had no reason to be concerned about it.

“I’ll clean it up.”

“It’s fine, you don’t have to…”

Before Haon could finish his sentence, Cha Yugeon neatly organized the four trays.

Haon tilted his head at the unexpected sight.

What’s up with this guy? Is he sick?

Soon, Cha Yugeon carried the neatly organized trays back to the return area.

Watching his retreating figure, Haon pursed his lips.

Cha Yugeon’s uncharacteristic kindness left Haon unsure of how to react.

He never thought that the day would come when Cha Yugeon and him, who were busy growling at each other every time they meet, would have a meal together like this.

Life had never been predictable for Haon.

Haon smiled bitterly.

One day, he suddenly rose to an A-level esper and now he’s an S-level guide.

Through this journey, there was nothing Haon could have predicted.

And thinking about it a bit… well, he felt a little, just a little, melancholic.

“Let’s go.”

At that moment, Cha Yugeon was standing beside him.

Haon looked at him with confusion.

Despite his apparent confusion, Cha Yugeon seemed unexpectedly composed.

Come to think of it, when Director Han mentioned something about physical contact, Cha Yugeon didn’t seem that surprised.

If it were the usual Yugeon, he would’ve thrown a fit.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s strange.”

“What is?”

“You’re not losing your temper.”

“Do I have to lose my temper?”

“Well, you have that kind of character.”

“What are you talking about? Really.”

Cha Yugeon burst into a laughter as if amazed, but Haon was serious.

If Cha Yugeon, who rarely gets flustered, acted this way, it was a serious problem.

If someone suddenly changes, it usually means they’re about to die.

Of course, Haon wouldn’t feel sad or regretful if Cha Yugeon died.

But the idea of Cha Yugeon suddenly dying in front of him was something he couldn’t ignore.

It felt like knowing the impending death of someone and pretending not to know about it, the sense of guild would eat him up.

“Cha Yugeon.”

“What is it?”

“Don’t die.”

“…What are you talking about, all of a sudden?”

Despite Haon’s serious words, Cha Yugeon burst into a laugh and walked ahead.

Haon watched Cha Yugeon’s retreating figure and quickly caught up with him.