Lee I-seul pretended not to know who was calling

"Who is this?"

-Did you already forget my voice? It's Park Yeon.

"Ah, yes. Oppa. Did you get to Seoul safely?"

-Thanks to you, I did. More importantly, the call came quite late, didn’t it?

"It’s not even that late, though."

-I said I’d call as soon as I arrived, but I didn’t keep my word. I’m sorry.

"There’s nothing to be sorry for."

-No, keeping a promise is what builds trust between friends. I broke that, so I can’t help but feel sorry.

"If you’re that sorry, buy me a meal later."

-Of course.

"I should ask for something expensive. Hehehe."

-Ah, I should hang up now.

"Huh? Already?"

-Today starts early. I’ll text you.

Beeeeeeep—!

The call ended before she could say anything. It could have been irritating, but instead, a strange smile crept onto her lips.

"This oppa, acting like a lifelong single, and now playing push and pull?"

It was 9 PM.

Park Yeon must have arrived in Seoul quite a while ago but deliberately delayed his call.

Why?

"He probably thought calling right after arriving would make him look desperate. Cute."

She could picture it. Lifelong single Park Yeon oppa getting advice... and the one giving the advice must’ve been Seo-jun.

Well... when it comes to flirting, a bit of push and pull is necessary.

Just as I-seul coolly set down her phone, an unexpected smack landed on her back.

"You brat, what are you muttering about? You’re so loud I can’t even watch TV."

"Ah! That hurt!"

"Of course it did. You think I hit you for tickles?"

"This is child abuse! Just for talking on the phone with a friend!"

"Child abuse, my foot. And a friend?"

"Yeah!"

"Which friend?"

"Seok-jin!"

"Yeah, right. Bet it was that bachelor Park Yeon contacting you."

"……!"

"Sure, and a goldfish wants to be friends too."

"……How did you know?"

"I can tell just by looking at your face. You can't hide anything... Tell me the truth, I-seul. How many boyfriends have you had so far?"

"Haa… Are you looking down on me right now, Mom?"

"So, how many?"

"Don’t you know? I’m Namhae’s goddess, Kim I-seul. Just the guys I dated for over six months are more than ten. The only time I’ve been without a guy was the past two years."

Her mom glanced at her with fish eyes, then shrugged.

"Then that’s a relief."

-Ah! Knee kick! A clean hit with a knee kick! It looks like Lee Min-seok took some damage.

-Exactly. If he didn’t take damage from that kind of clean hit, that would be weirder.

-He’s staggering! Ahhh! What’s this? He regained his balance!

-And just like that, Lee Min-seok moves out with a side step!

-Amazing resilience! He can barely stand, but his footwork is still sharp! You could believe he’s an Awakened!

"What’s he doing without turning off the TV."

Seo-jun clicked his tongue as Park Yeon, having taken a call as soon as the drama ended, slipped into his room.

Maybe he’d pressed the wrong button on the remote, but now a sports channel was airing a martial arts match.

"Wow... he’s holding on after getting hit like that. Kid’s tough."

Hwang Tae-su had already fixed his eyes on the TV.

"Ohhh, yeah! Nice! One more! Upper! Upper! Yeah, now! Whoa… he dodged that? He’s a monster."

As Hwang Tae-su went wild, Seo-jun, who had almost turned the TV off, said,

"Are they Awakened?"

"Huh?"

"The fighters there."

Hwang Tae-su looked between Seo-jun and the TV with a blank face.

"Boss, you don’t watch sports? Not even FC-1?"

"Not really into sports."

"Not into sports?"

Seo-jun nodded. He truly didn’t care much about sports.

If he ever watched anything, it might’ve been the World Cup games sometimes, and that was about it.

"Are you even a man?"

"Would I be a woman?"

"Then you didn’t play soccer back in school?"

"Aside from during PE classes, no."

"You were always the goalkeeper, weren’t you?"

"How’d you know?"

A smirk lifted the edge of Hwang Tae-su’s lips.

"I don’t know, just kind of figured it from your… size."

"Size?"

"Never mind."

Pfft…!

Seo-jun squinted his eyes tightly. Hwang Tae-su cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject.

"If it were Awakeneds fighting, what would be the fun? It’s exciting because they’re not Awakened."

"Are all sports like that?"

"Of course. Think about it. In soccer, an Awakened shoots a long-range shot from far away and every single one goes in. That’s not soccer, that’s a circus."

"……"

"Same with baseball. An Awakened throws a pitch—who’s going to hit that? No wait… would regular folks even see it coming?"

No doubt, Hwang Tae-su was a hardcore sports fan. Excitedly ranting, his speech started breaking into fragments at some point.

"Especially in a sport like FC-1, where they go head-to-head. If an Awakened landed a hit, an orbital fracture would be guaranteed, and teeth would be flying like bonus points."

"……"

"There are spectators because there are matches, not matches because there are spectators. That’s why it was banned."

"Makes sense."

Hwang Tae-su popped a macaroni into his mouth and pointed at the fighter, Lee Min-seok, who was breathing heavily in the cage.

"But seriously, that guy’s got enough resilience to be mistaken for an Awakened. He’s taken all those clean hits and still hanging in there."

Before anyone knew it, Hwang Tae-su had opened the fridge and even pulled out a beer.

It was such a natural motion, like he had become one with the fridge, that even Seo-jun didn’t realize it until later.

With beer in hand, Hwang Tae-su became completely absorbed—as if either he had entered a trance or Seo-jun no longer existed in his vision—his attention was solely on the TV.

“Oh oh! That’s right! Tackle right there!”

“Whoa whoa whoa…! Look at that spring—he counters like that?”

“Okay, okay… 30 seconds left. Hold on! Oh, oh, oh? That’s it! Go! Go! Hit him! Hit! That’s right! His body’s open! Body, body!”

Seo-jun let out a breathy laugh in disbelief.

At that moment, Hwang Tae-su jumped up and cheered.

“Whoa! He turns it around with that? And a KO at that? Damn… Haven’t seen such a legendary match in a while. This beer hits just right… Huh?”

Suddenly feeling a sharp stare on the back of his head, Hwang Tae-su cautiously turned his head.

“……!”

“…….”

“……Boss.”

“Yeah.”

“……Pardon me, but may I ask what you're thinking?”

“It’s probably better not to hear it this time either.”

Seo-jun closed the store shutter and walked down the street. Even in the middle of summer, the night streets of District 12 gave off a bleak atmosphere.

It was a familiar vibe to Seo-jun. A few months ago, he would’ve turned his nose up at it… but perhaps it was a side effect.

Considering how it kept coming back to mind…

Seo-jun, who had only been walking, suddenly stopped in place.

“Hmm.”

He stared at a signboard, lost in thought.

Was there anything he needed to buy at the convenience store?

He already bought snacks for Seo-woo at the supermarket, and he was planning to go straight to bed once he got home. So no, nothing to buy.

But his feet moved toward the store against his will.

Ding-ling!

“Welcome!”

Seo-jun greeted with a slight nod and rubbed his chin.

What should I get?

Hmm… Maybe I shouldn’t have come in.

Just then, the food display at the counter caught his eye. It was full of delicious-looking skewers.

Old memories came rushing back. He often dropped by the convenience store due to thirst while delivering newspapers early in the morning.

He always bought a 500ml water. Then one day, he noticed the chicken skewers in the food display. But he couldn’t afford them. They were 1,500 won—way too expensive.

Now they were 8,000 won, several times that amount, but there was no hesitation in his step.

“Chicken skewer…”

“One mild.”

“Ah, this customer was here first. I’ll ring you up right after I take care of him.”

“Just give me the cigarettes first.”

As the clerk looked troubled, Seo-jun shrugged. The bowing clerk turned to the impatient customer.

“Do you want the mild in 6mg or 1mg?”

“The one I always get.”

Clerk Shin Sung-hyun fell into thought.

The one he always gets?

No clue. This store sold cigarettes worth tens of millions a month. That meant lots of customers bought smokes.

So how could he possibly remember?

Still, the odds were fifty-fifty.

Sung-hyun took a chance and grabbed the 6mg. The customer immediately scowled and tossed the pack aside.

“Ugh, useless. I said the one I always get. It’s the 1mg.”

“Ah… sorry.”

The impatient customer threw a 50,000-won bill and walked out of the store.

“Sorry about that. I should’ve rung you up first…”

“It’s fine. It’s not like I was waiting forever.”

“You wouldn’t believe how many people can’t spare even a minute of patience in this line of work. What did you want again?”

“Just one of these chicken skewers, please.”

“Sure! That’ll be 8,000 won.”

He handed over his card. As the reader processed it, Sung-hyun smiled and said,

“You’re not with that cute little guest today?”

Every time Seo-jun came to this convenience store, he found Sung-hyun’s smile to be refreshingly bright.

Maybe that’s why he kept coming back to this store?

“Today I’m going in alone.”

While they talked, the payment completed. The clerk handed over the skewer. A sweet scent typical of teriyaki sauce lingered in the air.

“Please come again!”

With that same bright smile, Sung-hyun sent Seo-jun off. Seo-jun gave a polite nod and took a big bite of the skewer as soon as he stepped out of the store.

It tasted exactly like everyone expected—classic chicken skewer drenched in teriyaki sauce.

Maybe that’s why it tasted even better. Having devoured it in an instant, Seo-jun smacked his lips.

“Maybe I should’ve bought two.”

One just wasn’t enough, honestly.

Kim I-seul lay on her bed staring at her phone, deep in thought. So deep that she hadn’t noticed anyone approaching.

“Even when I call, she doesn’t answer. I-seul!”

“Hm? What?”

“A package came. What are you ordering every other day?”

“Just bought some cosmetics.”

Responding with a disinterested expression, I-seul flopped back down. Her mother, who had been staring down at her, finally spoke.

“Why? Not going well?”

Flinch!

“You little punk, fooling ghosts would be easier. What’s going on?”

“Ah, I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? What’s not going well?”

“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t get it.”

“Hey, you think I’ve never dated or something?”

After some hesitation, I-seul spoke, her lips sticking out in a pout.

“…I think I got dumped.”

“Dumped?”

“I think Park Yeon oppa dumped me.”

“Wait, why? How much contact have you even had?”

Sure, a situationship could flare up in the morning and fizzle out by evening, but this was just too unstable.

When her mom sat down at the edge of the bed and asked, I-seul hesitated for a bit before silently handing over her phone.

On the screen was the text exchange between her and Park Yeon.

[Me] Oppa, what are you doing now? 🙂
[Park Yeon Oppa] Wtching drma