HSF 67

“I didn’t prepare a gift.”

“I don’t need things like gifts.”

Hee-won’s face burrowed so deeply it seemed like it would climb all the way onto his lap.

“Hee-won.”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t just an apology for not being able to get him a gift. Whether he knew it or not, a reply of “Yes” came back. Cheong-hyeon bit his lip, and without realizing it, reached out. His fingertips touched the fine hair, and he startled, pulling his hand away.

“…It’s okay to touch…”

Hee-won sat up, grabbing the hand that had moved away and pulling it to his head. Held by the larger hand, the soft texture touched his palm once more. Even after Hee-won released his hand, Cheong-hyeon remained still for a moment before slowly smoothing back his hair. During that time, Hee-won quietly closed his eyes and didn’t move.

Seeing his meticulously crafted doll-like face this close felt unreal. His hand, which had stroked his hair a couple more times, slid down to the side. When his thumb touched the clean cheek, Hee-won leaned his face into his palm. In that state, his long eyelashes lifted, and the slowly revealed eyes turned towards Cheong-hyeon. With an expression of surrender, as if entrusting everything, he only blinked, then rubbed his cheek against the frozen hand.

Cheong-hyeon, who had been holding his breath and watching all of this, abruptly pulled his hand away and stood up.

“I, I should go now.”

His heartbeat quickened irregularly, and his instincts began to warn him as if his survival was threatened. His stomach churned, and he felt like he had to leave this place right now. Hee-won grabbed Cheong-hyeon, who had turned around quickly.

“Now?”

“……”

“If, by any chance, I made you uncomfortable just now… can’t you just overlook it for today?”

“It’s late, I just came to say happy birthday today.”

“…Then I’ll take you home.”

“No, it’s okay.”

Cheong-hyeon shook off Hee-won’s hand and hurried out of the bedroom, crossing the living room without looking back. Hee-won followed him out.

“You’ll come again, right?”

Cheong-hyeon, who was putting on his shoes, paused at the anxious question. After a brief silence, he nodded.

“…Yeah.”

“Then, can I contact you?”

“Yeah, I’ll go now.”

“Okay, see you again.”

Hee-won, having been refused a ride, didn’t bring it up again. He was used to leaving his house with Hee-won, but leaving him alone in the dark house behind him felt awkward.

It was past the last train, so Cheong-hyeon had no choice but to take a taxi back home. At the sound of the front door opening, Min-jae, who had been sleeping on the living room floor, rubbed his eyes and woke up.

“What… where did you go?”

“…Min-jae.”

“Ugh… what time is it? My head hurts.”

“I am truly trash.”

“What are you talking about at this hour… just go to sleep.”

He decided to pretend to be fooled, knowing full well what he liked. He couldn’t accept Hee-won’s feelings, yet he made that choice out of selfishness, hoping that maybe they could go back to how they were before. The voice that had said he would give up, sounding exhausted, clouded his mind.

His alcohol-soaked mind fully awakened. He had expected to regret it, but he didn’t know it would be this immediate. There was no way to undo it, so he just took a long breath.

[Seo Hee-won: What are you doing?]

[Going to class]

[Seo Hee-won: Are you coming home today?]

[I’ll go around evening]

After that day, his relationship with Hee-won returned to how it used to be. Or so it seemed. Cheong-hyeon replied to the text message from Hee-won as he moved to the lecture hall. While going to his house, playing games together, eating, and spending time, Hee-won pretended not to like Cheong-hyeon anymore, and Cheong-hyeon pretended not to notice, a subtle relationship continued. It was a false relationship, but the peace that often came was addictive.

“Lee Cheong-hyeon!”

Someone put their arm around his shoulder along with the voice calling from behind. It was Ji-wook, a classmate. Several other classmates were coming towards them from behind.

“What are you doing today? We’re going out for drinks tonight, you should come too. The freshmen will be there too.”

“Why would I go there.”

“Oh, come on! The kids are curious about you.”

“I have plans today, so I can’t.”

“What plans do you always have! Don’t lie.”

When he refused outright, Ji-wook shook Cheong-hyeon’s shoulder that he was holding. Before he knew it, the other classmates surrounding Cheong-hyeon joined in.

“You haven’t come to a single get-together since the semester started.”

“Don’t regret it later and come today. The kids are out for blood.”

“Yeah, what are you always so busy with? Do you have a girlfriend?”

This guy or that guy, why were they so hung up on girlfriends? Words that he would have brushed off without a second thought before made his head throb. Leaving Cheong-hyeon, who didn’t answer, the classmates began to murmur among themselves.

“Didn’t he used to have a girlfriend? When did they break up?”

“He got dumped last year. Because he was always playing games and didn’t contact her.”

“Tsk tsk tsk… he needs to quit gaming before he can function as a human being.”

“But he got a new one again? Why bother dating if you’re just going to get dumped again?”

In the middle of campus, on a path with many people, their voices were getting louder and louder. Cheong-hyeon, unable to listen anymore, shut their mouths.

“No, I don’t have a girlfriend. I just really have plans.”

“Then how about tomorrow? We’re planning to have a simple drink among classmates, make sure to come tomorrow.”

“Why do you old geezers drink like freshmen.”

“What? Old? I’m a freshman at heart too, you know?”

“Okay, I’ll go tomorrow if I have time.”

“Don’t act so busy, just you wait if you don’t come tomorrow!”

Ignoring the shouts from behind, Cheong-hyeon quickly moved away from his classmates. It wasn’t that he disliked drinking parties, but these days Cheong-hyeon was too busy paying attention to Hee-won.

[I’ll just go straight there after class]

He sent that text to Hee-won and hurried to the lecture hall.

-Oh… what’s with Seohee doing his job healing today?

-Looks like he’s finally thinking of clearing this dungeon.

-Did Cheong-hyeon and him fight again?

-Maybe they made up and are together?

Cheong-hyeon glanced at Hee-won sitting next to him. He seemed not to hear the other guild members’ words and was just silently doing his job. Whether the words that he would give up were not a lie, Hee-won had corrected the habit of pouring heals only on Cheong-hyeon these days. On the other hand, Cheong-hyeon, who still couldn’t shake his old habits, often overdid it, assuming that Hee-won would be watching him.

[Ecstasy status abnormality effect applied.]

A golden leaf shape appeared above Cheong-hyeon’s character’s head. At the same time, a small bubble or glitter effect popped. It was a debuff that inflicted continuous bleeding damage, which was applied when entering Artirens Phase 4. There was no way to remove the debuff separately, and it was expected that the status abnormality would disappear if the boss was killed or the next phase was entered.

In this state, his health was constantly decreasing even if he stayed still, so he had to be even more careful while dealing damage. Cheong-hyeon, who checked his health, approached Artirens. It wasn’t enough to say it was sufficient, but he was used to this much. Hee-won would take care of healing him before it got really dangerous.

Cheong-hyeon, who was concentrating, was hit by Artirens’ melee attack, and his health dropped sharply. He let out a sound without realizing it, and he felt Hee-won’s gaze.

“I was uneasy from the moment you went in with that health.”

“Ah, I dodged it! How did I get hit.”

“You got hit because you didn’t dodge.”

“Hmm… it must be a bug. Heal me.”

“Be careful when you’re watching the tank’s heal.”

“Okay.”

Normally, the heal would have come right away before Cheong-hyeon even said anything, but the fact that nagging came out before the heal was unfamiliar and reminded him of the old days. The fact that Hee-won was no longer focusing only on him made him feel good, but strangely, his mood sank and he felt a bit resentful.

The changes between Cheong-hyeon and Hee-won were not limited to that. First of all, the nickname ‘Darling’, which he had jokingly called him and had become accustomed to, had completely disappeared. They kept their distance so that their bodies wouldn’t accidentally touch or make contact, and they also reduced eating out at restaurants with a good atmosphere that evoked dates. Hee-won, who had always taken care of Cheong-hyeon first, now sometimes put Cheong-hyeon in the back seat depending on the situation.

Cheong-hyeon felt more distance than he had wanted, which made him feel strange, but when he thought about it, his relationship with Hee-won had been too close, and this level was the normal distance between same-sex friends. Cheong-hyeon was lenient with skinship between men, but he was only used to contact such as bumping into each other or putting his arm around each other’s shoulders while joking around with friends. No matter how close he was to a friend, he had never touched their cheeks without hesitation, and even the thought of it made him feel disgusted. On the other hand, he was reminded of his own appearance, reaching out to Hee-won naturally without such signs.

“What are you thinking about?”

Hee-won stared at Cheong-hyeon, who was lost in thought until the break was over, and asked.