Awkward Intersections

“—Ahem… Oh, by the way, hyung, when are you going to start speaking to me informally? It’s about time, isn’t it?”

“—Hmm… the atmosphere makes it a bit hard to drop formalities…”

“—What?”

‘Look at your face in the mirror.’
‘It’s a face that makes it hard to speak informally.’

I rolled the answer around my tongue, which was circling in my mouth, and swallowed it.

‘No matter what, this is a bit much.’
‘It’s too rude.’

Unable to find a suitable reply, I bowed my head and drank my Americano.
The cold drink went down my throat, making me feel refreshed.

“—It’s nothing. Seriously, what should we do? Do you have anything in mind?”

“—Anything with you, hyung, is fine with me.”

‘I don’t really know what kids these days like.’

I sipped the remaining coffee, my mind racing furiously.
All I could think of right now were a PC bang or a bar.
Karaoke was a bit much since I don’t sing much.

‘Should I call Moon Young-yoon now instead?’

“—Would it be okay if I called a friend, if you don’t mind?”

“—What? A friend…? Oh, yes. I’m fine with that.”

Han Do-yoon’s lips subtly twitched.
‘Is he really okay?’
I subtly glanced at him while fiddling with my phone.
‘He said it’s okay, so it must be okay.’

[What are you doing?]

[Moon Young-Nom: Game.]

[I’m with PatchNote-nim, wanna come out?]

[Moon Young-Nom: ? What’s going on?]

[Moon Young-Nom: Why are you with someone you don’t know?]

[Moon Young-Nom: Stop talking nonsense. Come if you want, or don’t if you don’t.]

[Moon Young-Nom: Coming soon. Wait at the samgyeopsal restaurant.]

[Okay.]

“—Um, I’m not a very interesting person, and since we’re already out, I thought it would be better with more people…”

“—…What?”

“—Oh, Han Do-yoon-ssi, you know him too. You know Hollister’s Transparency, right? The one I thrashed with an area-of-effect skill when I first saw him. I told you once before, but he’s my university classmate.”

Han Do-yoon stared blankly, alternating his gaze between his phone and my face.

‘What is it?’
‘Is he perhaps very shy?’
‘Well, I’m shy too, so it’s not like he wouldn’t be.’

As I stood there contemplating, holding my phone, Han Do-yoon gave an awkward smile and grabbed my hand.

“—I-it’s okay. I didn’t know you were that close with Transparency-nim.”

“—I didn’t know he was Transparency either. I found out when we were drinking together. Oh, he said to meet at the samgyeopsal restaurant, so should we get going? Did you finish your coffee?”

“—Yes… I’ll clear these. Give them here.”

He took the plastic cup from my hand, his face somehow looking bewildered, and carried the empty cups to the counter.

‘He must be quite shy after all.’
‘Did I call Moon Young-yoon for nothing?’
‘I was just trying to add a mood-maker because I thought it would be awkward with just the two of us.’

‘Or should I ask YearRoundNoRest to come too?’

Even on the way from the cafe to the samgyeopsal restaurant, my worries continued.

‘It would probably be awkward with a twenty-year-old all alone among us twenty-fives.’
‘I think I’d feel more at ease if I sent a private message to YearRoundNoRest…’

I subtly glanced at Han Do-yoon, then pulled out my phone and sent a private message to YearRoundNoRest.

[You, PatchNote-nim, I, and Transparency are going to a samgyeopsal restaurant. Want to come?]

[Jung Taewon: What? What an interesting-looking combination??]

[Jung Taewon: I’m coming right now ^^]

He replied quickly.

‘If I had known he’d be so happy, I would have contacted him sooner.’
‘It’ll take time for him to get here, won’t it?’

I felt much better than when I was wallowing alone, and the corners of my lips lifted into a smile.

“It’ll be okay.”

“—What? What will be okay?”

“—Nothing.”

As I smiled faintly and even hummed a tune, Han Do-yoon gently smiled and urged me to hurry.
He seemed to have been looking forward to it, even if he didn’t say anything.

‘YearRoundNoRest will be a surprise.’
‘When the three of us are giving off awkward vibes, wouldn’t they be surprised, yet also relieved, when a close friend suddenly appears with a ‘Ta-da!’?’

My actions were motivated by goodwill, so I didn’t think for a moment that things would go wrong.

Feeling even a sense of pride, I rubbed my nose, hoping they would forget their past of PK-ing each other right from the start and become good friends.

‘Well, even if I don’t intervene, they’ll figure it out themselves.’

And I only realized later that this thought was a huge misjudgment.

‘Who is this? Where am I?’

(3)

Sizzle—

It was chilly.

Pork grease flew and landed on my chest.
Samgyeopsal sizzled on the grill.

As the smell of grilling meat spread around, my stomach, empty from not eating anything all day, screamed for food.

“……”

“……”

“—Um… the meat’s all cooked, let’s eat…”

“—Ah, yes.”

“—Right, let’s eat quickly. Oh, how delicious.”

‘You haven’t even picked up any meat. How can you say it’s delicious without eating?’

When I led Han Do-yoon to the samgyeopsal restaurant, Moon Young-yoon, who had already arrived, greeted us cheerfully.

I had felt relieved by the atmosphere, which seemed surprisingly manageable, but then I clutched my stomach at the ensuing war of nerves between the two.

Moon Young-yoon, who had greeted me cheerfully, asked Han Do-yoon, who had entered with me, “You’re PatchNote, right?” and glared at him up and down.

And Han Do-yoon, seemingly offended, also glared back at Moon Young-yoon, saying, “You’re Transparency, right?”

‘Was that when it started? The samgyeopsal meetup, which I had arranged for us to have some fun, turned into a complete mess.’

Even while grilling meat, their war of nerves was incessant.

‘I should have just gone home. Why did I do something I usually don’t, only to suffer this crap?’
My stomach ached with distress.
‘Would I feel better if I drank some alcohol?’
‘Ah, but they’re both lightweights, aren’t they?’
‘This is truly pathetic.’

I wrapped a piece of meat in lettuce and ate it, while giving a fresh smile to the two, who were still glaring at each other.

‘Let’s cut it out, seriously. What are these guys doing while eating?’

“—…Why don’t you two eat?”

“—Oh, oh, I am eating. I am eating.”

“—Stop talking nonsense and eat.”

“—Wow, the samgyeopsal here is delicious.”

“—You haven’t eaten either, so why are you talking nonsense?”

“—No, I have eaten.”

‘You only started eating after I said something.’

Han Do-yoon, whose eyes were fixed on Moon Young-yoon as he manipulated his chopsticks to pick up only meat, felt as cold as his visual image suggested.

‘He’s clearly chewing samgyeopsal, so why does it feel like he’s chewing something else?’

‘I wish YearRoundNoRest would come quickly.’

‘Wouldn’t this mess clear up if he came?’

I gazed at the restaurant ceiling with hazy eyes and recalled YearRoundNoRest’s nonsense from the guild meetup in the past.

‘Haha, I’d be lucky if it doesn’t get even messier.’

I clutched my forehead, thinking I had made a needless effort.

“You two are exchanging very intense gazes. By any chance, did you fall in love at first sight?”

“—Where did you hear such a terrible thing?!”

“—It’s not like that! You shouldn’t misunderstand! I was…!”

“—Oh, is that so?”

I alternately glared at the two, who were frantically trying to explain themselves, and twisted one corner of my mouth upwards.

It was a perfectly smug, twisted smile.

“Then stop exchanging gazes and eat your food, okay? Haven’t you heard that if you act up at the dinner table, you’re screwed?”

“—Well… I guess so. Auntie! Three bottles of soju, please!”

“Order beer too.”

Seeing Moon Young-yoon order alcohol, I remembered something and added beer to the order. He looked at me as if asking why I ordered beer when he wouldn’t even drink it.

In response, I pointed at Han Do-yoon with my chin and told him the plain truth.

“—Han Do-yoon-ssi can’t drink. I didn’t know if he’d drink today, so I just added one beer.”

“—…He can’t drink? With that face?”

“—What’s wrong with my face?”

‘Stop it.’
‘Why are you two like this?’

My head throbbed from the inexplicable situation.

‘No, when did you two even meet to be acting like this? Wasn’t this your first time meeting? Why do you seem determined to fight as soon as you see each other’s faces?’

The two of them continued their war of nerves, even grinding their teeth.

I picked up a piece of meat and quietly said to them.

“If you two act up one more time, I’m leaving you and going home alone.”

The two, who had instantly paused, finally began to focus on the meat.

“—Wow, the meat is delicious!”

“—This place is a total hidden gem! Transparency-nim, please eat some too. Here, have this.”

“—I am eating, you know? Why don’t you eat a lot instead?”

“—What are you doing, acting like little kids?”

Both of their mouths were smiling, but their eyes were definitely not.

‘Are they acting like this to mess with me? Haha.’
‘If so, I should do the same.’

I coldly glared at the two, twisting only the corner of my mouth, and they began to watch me carefully.
Then, they exchanged glances again, giving each other looks that seemed to ask, ‘What should we do?’

‘Do these bastards think I’m an idiot?’

The ordered soju and beer arrived. I picked up a soju bottle, twisted the cap off, and filled my glass and Moon Young-yoon’s glass with alcohol.

No matter how annoyed I was, I wasn’t so much of a bastard as to give soju to someone who couldn’t drink, so I filled Han Do-yoon’s glass generously with beer.

“—Alright, let’s talk openly while we drink. Why are you two acting up as soon as you see each other’s faces? Are you trying to pick a fight with me? Huh? Are you expressing your dissatisfaction with me, who arranged this gathering, in this way?”

“—Th-that’s not it!”

“—Ehh, no way. Would I do something so petty?”

“—You both look pretty damn petty already, so answer properly. Otherwise, I’ll break your heads with this liquor bottle.”

‘You think I can’t do it?’
‘Oh, right. I can’t.’

Not for any other reason, but because it would be a waste to pay for damages.

It was unlikely these two would act up and demand compensation from me, but the world contained the surprising word ‘what if.’

I narrowed my eyes, sending them a look that demanded an immediate answer, and then Moon Young-yoon finally sighed and spoke.

“—No… it’s nothing much, I just… I don’t really know what kind of person PatchNote-nim is. So I was trying to gauge if he was a good person.”