"Myeong Jaehyun!"
When the lecture ended, Seo-yun, a classmate from the same department, called out to Myeong Jaehyun.
"Want to do today’s assignment together?"
"Sounds good."
"Anyone want to go to a café?"
"Me!"
"Me too."
Soon, five people had gathered.
Myeong Jaehyun liked being around people.
He was gradually getting used to unfamiliar Seoul, and to people he was seeing for the first time.
7 p.m.
After finishing the assignment and returning to the dorm, Myeong Jaehyun stopped dead the moment he opened the door.
"...Huh?"
Taesan was sitting in front of the desk, but his laptop was turned off.
It was normally the time he’d be doing homework or reading a book.
But instead, he was just staring out the window without doing anything.
"Why are you back so early?"
"..."
"Taesan?"
"Did you eat."
It was such an out-of-the-blue question.
"Yeah. With people from my department."
Taesan gave a short nod.
"I see."
That was it.
Myeong Jaehyun set down his bag and said,
"What about you?"
"I ate."
But on the desk sat an unopened convenience-store lunchbox.
'A lie?'
Myeong Jaehyun found it oddly bothering him.
After showering, Myeong Jaehyun came out and opened the fridge.
Inside were only a carton of milk and a few bottles of water.
And one lunchbox.
It was the same brand as the one on the desk earlier.
"Taesan."
"...What."
"You still haven’t eaten, have you?"
"I’m going to eat."
"Want to eat together?"
"I’m fine."
"I’m going to make ramen."
"I’m not eating."
"I’m making two servings."
"..."
"It’d be boring to eat alone."
Taesan sighed, then stood up from his seat.
"...Just one."
Myeong Jaehyun grinned.
"I knew it."
Two packs of ramen bubbled in the pot.
Myeong Jaehyun even added an egg, wearing a satisfied look.
"This is the romance of dorm life."
Taesan looked down at the pot and asked,
"You eat like this every day?"
"Sometimes."
"You’ll wreck your body."
"You’re always nagging."
"Because it’s true."
The two sat on the floor and started sharing the ramen.
After eating noodles for a while, Myeong Jaehyun asked,
"Did anything happen today?"
"...No."
"Liar."
Taesan stopped moving his chopsticks.
"Why."
"You’re talking even less than usual."
"...I don’t usually talk much anyway."
"No, you don’t."
Myeong Jaehyun said with a serious expression.
"Today you sound like someone in a bad mood."
A brief silence fell.
Taesan let out a sigh.
"...A group project."
"Why?"
"I did it alone."
"What?"
"My teammates didn’t check their messages."
Myeong Jaehyun looked dumbfounded.
"Seriously?"
"Upperclassmen do that too."
Myeong Jaehyun put down his chopsticks.
"Then you had every right to be angry."
"...I’m used to it."
Taesan said it casually.
But Myeong Jaehyun found those words even harder to ignore.
To be used to it meant.
He’d gone through this kind of thing many times.
The next day.
Myeong Jaehyun waited for Taesan in front of the student union building.
"Why are you here."
Taesan, who had come out after class, asked.
"Let’s eat lunch together."
"What about your friends."
"I told them to eat first."
"Why."
Myeong Jaehyun smiled brightly.
"Because I wanted to eat with my roommate today."
Taesan looked at Myeong Jaehyun for a moment.
"...That’s unusual."
"You don’t like it?"
"I don’t dislike it."
It was a short answer.
But for some reason, that one line made Myeong Jaehyun strangely happy.
On the way back to the dorm after eating at the campus cafeteria.
Myeong Jaehyun stopped in front of the student council bulletin board.
"Hey, they’re recruiting volunteers for the festival."
"Yeah."
"Want to do it together?"
"No."
"Why."
"It’s a hassle."
"Let’s make some memories."
"We don’t have to make any."
Myeong Jaehyun chuckled.
"Why did you even come to college?"
"To study."
"What a boring person."
"You just look for fun too much."
It was just as the two were bickering and walking along.
"Jaehyun!"
Seo-yun, a classmate from the same department, waved from afar.
"Come with us!"
"Oh! I’m coming!"
Myeong Jaehyun turned back to Taesan.
"Wait a sec."
"Go ahead first."
"I’ll be right back."
Myeong Jaehyun ran over to Seo-yun.
The two of them started talking, laughing.
Taesan watched them from afar, then walked on without a word.
His back as he headed to the dorm alone looked no different from usual.
But strangely.
He was a little slower than usual.
Myeong Jaehyun didn’t know that.
Taesan didn’t know yet either.
Why it kept bothering him to see Myeong Jaehyun laughing with other people.
The name of that feeling.
