"Oh, could it be that we're roommates?"
Well, what do you know? It must be fate!
A voice full of enthusiasm announced its undeniable presence. Unlike Sihyun, who was thoroughly disgusted, Haewoon entered the room with a radiant smile, making Sihyun clench the keys tightly, wishing he could go back to the lobby and request a room change.
Out of 94 people, it had to be just 4 to avoid, yet somehow, out of those 4, two ended up together.
At this point, it felt as if, instead of the female lead, who couldn't possibly be roommates due to the gender difference, he, as a childhood friend, was destined to become as entangled with the Four Heavenly Kings as the female lead would have been. Otherwise, there was no way to explain this nonsensical probability and the current situation of becoming roommates.
As they lamented their fate, the sound of dragging luggage was heard. If this was Haewoon's room, then naturally, Haewoon's partner would also be in the same room. Confirming that fact, he saw a boy with blue eyes dragging a suitcase into the room.
"...."
The violet irises glanced at him before shifting to the side. Hamin, who had just come down from the second-floor bed in a slouched posture, openly provoked an expression from Haru, who was now grimacing and groaning. It was Sihyun who started feeling uncomfortable.
Why come in and disrupt others like this?
While chewing on words that couldn't be said directly, Hamin, who had entered the room, placed his suitcase in a corner. Apart from the gleeful Haewoon, everyone else fell into an awkward silence.
Sihyun, feeling the tense atmosphere that could crack even if touched lightly, nervously tapped his key against the nail, trying to alleviate the discomfort.
"Ugh, I'm so tired. Where should I use the bed?"
A lively voice shattered the silence.
He couldn't spit fire at someone who was smiling. Despite just now sporting a face as if he had stepped in something awful, Hamin, expressionless, turned around and tossed his phone from his pocket onto the lower bed. Thud. The square phone bounced a few times on the mattress. It was quite the distinct territorial display.
That seemed to be the current protocol for marking territories among the male protagonists in this school.
In any case, with Hamin rejecting normalcy, Sihyun, once again feeling the disparity between them, dragged Haru back to the bed.
Among the people quietly sitting, Haewoon, who seemed to be the only one working diligently, opened his suitcase and started organizing his belongings. Selecting one of the eight wardrobes, each holding two items per person, Haewoon efficiently tidied up. Among them, he seemed to be the most diligent. Observing Haewoon, Sihyun joined in and started organizing his belongings too.
One becomes two, and two becomes three. In the situation where even Haru had come down to help organize, Jihan, who was left alone, looked at his phone, tousled his hair, and got up from his seat. Three became four.
"I never thought we'd end up in the same room! Seems like there's something connecting us Kangs after all, right?"
"...No."
It seemed the inability to spit fire at a smiling face wasn't unique to just Hamin. Making eye contact and smiling, despite the absurdity of the statement, Sihyun, feeling compelled to respond, denied a beat too late.
Though he denied, Haewoon laughed. To an outsider, it might have seemed like I vehemently agreed.
That high-energy vibe Haewoon had seemed unrelenting throughout the day.
When viewed through the lens of adorableness, it was just cute.
It was like seeing an adorable younger brother, all '>ㅁ<' expressions. However, when faced with reality, instead of a clueless younger brother, it was more like an ignorant, petulant five-year-old. And perhaps, a quite intelligent one at that.
Simply labeling him as clueless didn't quite fit as Haewoon didn't seem clueless before my eyes. Having lived for 23 years, my intuition spoke, and instead of continuing to organize, I found myself observing Haewoon. Sensing Sihyun's gaze, Haewoon, quite astutely, burst into a wide smile. Sihyun's upper body instinctively retreated.
"What class are you?"
"...?"
"The class you were stamped with this time. Hamin was curious, so he made a fuss."
"When did I do that?"
"I can tell just by looking at Min's expression!"
"I feel like my skills have declined now."
Hamin rebutted abruptly at Haewoon's random remark while quietly organizing. It seemed a persistently curious streak, not knowing the appropriate limits.
"You don't really need to know."
"If we're roommates, then you should know!"
"I never saw that as a rule."
"I decided it was! Should I ask Hamin to add it to the rules?"
Huffing a sigh at the conversation veering off track, Sihyun looked at Hamin. 'Who are you to add rules?' His gaze seemed to say. But instead of a laugh, Hamin, who I thought would smirk, adjusted his expression and avoided Sihyun's gaze. It was unexpected.
It piqued curiosity as much as when observing Hamin and Sihyun. Haewoon, who was alternating between them, tilted his head, amused.
"That wasn't the reaction I expected... Could it be that Hamin's the son of the CEO of S Company, and you didn't know?"
"S Company?"
"Stop talking nonsense, Kang Haewoon."
A cold voice cut through the ensuing conversation. As the eyes turned ominously towards Haewoon, he immediately recoiled behind Sihyun with a gulp, hiding his body.
There was no intention from Sihyun to hide him, so when he stepped back, Haewoon covered his face with his hands.
"It was just a joke, don't get mad!"
With a brazen shout, Hamin touched his forehead. Sihyun, who found the gesture somewhat familiar, briefly glanced at him with a tinge of sympathy before turning to Haewoon. He couldn't help but think that if Hamin possessed the ability to make such a scene, maybe he was the true protagonist.
Seemingly annoying yet unexpectedly plausible, Sihyun observed Haewoon closely, tongue clicking as Hamin, with tousled hair and unorganized belongings, walked toward the closing door, which shut loudly with a bang.
"Who slams the door like that when leaving?"
As the door echoed through the hallway, Sihyun watched Hamin leave in his typical manner. Puzzled by his apparent anger, Sihyun furrowed his brow until Haewoon nudged his arm.
"I had a feeling he'd get mad."
"If you expected it, why?"
Finding it absurd to irritate Hamin needlessly, Sihyun looked back with softened eyes, almost chastising the atmosphere he had disrupted. It was an unparalleled audacity.
"Hamin being upset is kinda cute."
No, not at all.
What's cute about storming out, as if ready to break the door? Perplexed, Sihyun glanced at Haewoon, wondering if the definition of cuteness had changed unbeknownst to him. Haewoon shrugged, adding a touch of innocence to his petite face.
"You still don't understand Hamin's charm, Sihyun."
I have no desire to.
"So, you really don't know about the S Corporation?"
That S Corporation talk again. Puzzled, Sihyun narrowed his gaze at the alphabet he vaguely remembered from the character descriptions. The information he had momentarily forgotten due to recent events started coming back to him.
"His parents are the heads of the S Corporation..."
It was a sentence he distinctly recalled from Hamin's character profile.
"...I've only glanced at it."
"Hmm, your expression says otherwise."
His conscience pricked. Trying not to show it, he sent a querying glance, prompting Haewoon to playfully tilt his head, resting his chin on the carrier.
"The S Corporation, think of it as the leading guild managing awakening individuals in Korea. They also manufacture awakening-related products."
"A guild?"
Was he talking about something akin to those in games? As Sihyun blinked in uncertainty, Haewoon suddenly wore an enigmatic expression. The roundness in his eyes carried a hint of sadness.
"We learned about it in middle school. Seems like Sihyun isn't as bright as I thought..."
With a worried gaze, bordering on teasing or genuine concern, aimed at him, Sihyun, once a top student, felt unfairly judged.
Forgetting could be a fault, but not learning wasn't a sin.
"If you don't want to explain, it's fine. Let's go, Haru."
As he finished tidying up without a trace of regret, Haru was about to head for the bed when an anxious Haewoon grabbed Sihyun's arm, exclaiming he couldn't just leave without explaining, in an exaggerated manner.
"Just explain! It's crucial!"
"So?"
"...Isn't that it?"
"What?"
"It's just anticlimactic."
I'm not a side dish or a main course to be evaluated, yet Haewoon assessed the situation. Glancing at Hamin's departure, Sihyun pondered.
Being the top guild in Korea was surprising, but considering the fantasy infused into the awakening, it made sense.
"How can you not be surprised? You already knew about the S Corporation, right? I was just trying to tease you?"
As Haewoon fired information, Sihyun recalled an article he'd seen recently about 'Hahyuk'. There had been a news piece related to him.
"I wasn't interested."
"Hmm..."
"...Why?"
"Just seemed like that was it."
At Haewoon's query if that was all, Sihyun tilted his head. Shouldn't he at least feign surprise?
"That's it."
"Ugh? So underwhelming!"
It was a comment on my level of engagement, not even related to food. Haewoon assessed, while Sihyun gazed at the door Hamin had exited.
Being the top guild in Korea was unexpected, but with the infusion of fantasy into the awakening, it made sense.
There was no reason to be surprised. After all, Hamin wasn't the world's number one.
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