VSP 100

[Cha Dogyeong: Sejun-ah, have you eaten?]

[Cha Dogyeong: Are you feeling okay?]

[Cha Dogyeong: Is there anywhere else you want to go?]

It was as if the whole conflict over the ring had never happened. Cha Dogyeong began messaging him all the time, acting like nothing was wrong.

His attitude was exactly like that of a guy with a crush, so Sejun felt his heart pounding with excitement while occasionally squirming in awkwardness.

Every time he received those messages, Sejun didn’t know what to do with the flutter in his chest. He’d fidget for a while, unsure what to write back, then hurry to type something out.

“I ate.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’ll think about it.”

That was how Sejun replied. If he hadn’t been conscious of it, it might’ve been fine, but he was conscious of it. He worried about what to say and thought he shouldn’t reply too late, so he ended up sending those quick, dry answers that even he thought looked ridiculously cold.

“Damn.”

Damn, flirting and dating are so fucking hard. How do you all do this?

Fortunately, Cha Dogyeong didn’t seem to care about his short replies and continued messaging him, so Sejun eventually got used to it.

After the amusement park, for the next several days, Sejun got completely absorbed in sharing every detail of his daily life with Cha Dogyeong. From the moment he woke up, to eating meals, talking about small things, all the way until he went to bed.

His phone, which had long been quiet and unused to working so hard, now heated up constantly. Sejun, who rarely checked his messenger app before, now found himself opening it often, looking forward to it. It had become part of his daily routine.

What surprised him was that messages didn’t come only from Cha Dogyeong. Since that day, some very unexpected people had started texting him.

For example.

[Choi Yerin: Oppa, a guy’s face isn’t everything. Well, of course, it’s not just about his body or money either, right?]

Yerin had sent that cryptic message. Sejun blinked, wondering what she meant, then decided she probably meant he should work on his inner self, so he replied, “Thanks for the advice.”

[Choi Hangyeol: Hangyeol likes amusement parks too.]

That was nonsense, so he ignored it.

[Ryu Sehyun: Sejun-ah, did you have fun at the amusement park?]

Even Ryu Sehyun, who rarely texted him personally, sent something like that.

So you saw the article too? Feeling a little embarrassed, Sejun scratched his cheek and replied, “I guess so.”

Those were at least people he was familiar with, but then a completely unexpected person messaged him.

[Na Yookyung: Sejun-ah, did you have fun at the amusement park? ^^]

It was Na Yookyung.

Hmm. Sejun swallowed his saliva as he read it. Unlike with others, he had no idea how to reply.

Na Yookyung was difficult. Everyone else liked her for her confident, easygoing personality, but for some reason, Sejun had always found her intimidating.

Maybe it was her aura. She had a different kind of commanding presence than Ryu Sehyun, a natural leadership that created a wall around her.

She’d always been distant from him. Not only was she four years older, but among the hunters, she only really got along with Ryu Sehyun and her own guild members.

So why was she messaging him like this now, sounding amused?

He couldn’t just ignore it, so after thinking for a while, he sent, “Yeah.”

It felt a bit too curt, but she immediately replied.

[Na Yookyung: Is Dogyeong treating you well?]

The question was a little strange, but Sejun didn’t think too hard about it.

“Yeah, really well.”

[Na Yookyung: Good. I heard you’re having lunch with Yerin? Invite me too.]

Since Yookyung and Yerin were fairly close, and if Yerin had agreed, Sejun had no reason to refuse. He said okay, and that was the end of their exchange.

“……”

Sejun stared at his messenger app, lost in thought. It was strange to see so many unread messages piling up. Before, aside from obligatory group chats or messages from his parents, the only things in there had been advertisements.

The most surprising, of course, were the constant messages from Cha Dogyeong… but as he received those numerous messages, Sejun thought that something had changed a lot.

He couldn’t quite pinpoint what, but everything was definitely different from before.

The guy who used to be horrified at the idea of sleeping with Cha Dogyeong was gone. Now he was the one rolling around thinking up ways to sleep with him.

Sejun’s determination to make the first move and sleep with Cha Dogyeong was still very much alive. But there was one problem.

How exactly was he supposed to do that?

It was a worry that had been occupying Sejun’s mind for the past few days.

It was good that he had decided to do it, and it was good that he clenched his fist so that he could make it happen… … but it was a situation where he had no idea what to do.

He’s never seduced anyone in his life. Just exchanging messages with Cha Dogyeong already made his heart flutter and his face burn, and now he was thinking about sleeping with him? He couldn’t even count how many steps of the staircase he was trying to skip at once.

And it was Cha Dogyeong, of all people. Someone who’d dated plenty and probably been on the receiving end of all kinds of flirting. Even though he’d decided he wanted to sleep with him, he had no idea where to start, and that alone was eating him up inside.

“Huh.”

One morning, after days of overthinking, Sejun scratched the back of his head when he saw the red light blinking on his coffee machine, the one he always used every morning.

“Ah, shit, this again…”

The regular cleaning cycle that came every six months had arrived. He could’ve ignored it and made coffee anyway, but it was a chore he couldn’t really avoid. He switched it to cleaning mode and sighed.

He wanted coffee, but not so badly that he’d die without it. But he didn’t have much else to do, and he remembered how his mom always told him on the phone, “Go outside, even if you have to make up a reason. Get some sunlight.” So he decided to go out.

“I really am a good son,” he thought, planning to brag about it to his parents the next time he called them.

There were plenty of cafes in his well-developed neighborhood, but the one that matched his picky coffee taste was neither too far nor too close. It was a large independent cafe, always crowded no matter the time, so he couldn’t show up looking sloppy. He washed his face, brushed his teeth thoroughly, put on a hat, hoodie, and mask, then stepped out. The whole “sunlight” excuse was definitely a stretch at that point.

“One latte, please.”

After ordering, he waited for his drink and suddenly thought of the time Cha Dogyeong had asked him to buy coffee.

Dogyeong drank pretty much any kind of coffee. “Maybe I should get him a coffee machine,” Sejun thought. Though knowing him, he’d probably never bother to use it. But if it were fully automatic, maybe he’d at least make himself a cup now and then.

While thinking about that, Sejun suddenly realized there wasn’t a single part of his daily life that didn’t involve Cha Dogyeong in some way these days.

Feeling his face grow hot, he fanned himself while waiting for his coffee, then froze when someone walked in through the cafe door. Their eyes met.

“Oh.”

“Ah.”

The moment they recognized each other, both men froze on the spot.

Sejun blinked rapidly, unable to believe what he was seeing.

What the hell is Lee Dohun doing here?

It wasn’t right in front of his house, but close enough. He’d been to this cafe plenty of times before and had never once run into anyone he knew. He usually moved like a ninja, grabbing takeout and leaving immediately, but he didn’t expect to meet someone he knew, and Lee Dohun at that?

Dohun clearly hadn’t expected to see Sejun either; his eyes widened the moment they met.

They just stood there awkwardly staring at each other. It was the first time they’d met since the day of the physical exam, when they’d faced Yongseok together.

It wasn’t even lunchtime or a busy hour, just an odd in-between time to be waiting around. What were the chances they’d run into each other now? The timing was absurd.

Even though Sejun had bundled himself up with a hoodie, cap, and mask to avoid being recognized, standing there face-to-face with Dohun still drew attention. People in the cafe began to glance their way.

“Latte’s ready.”

Sejun’s drink arrived just then. With everyone’s eyes on him, and with Dohun’s gaze making him even more uncomfortable, Sejun hurried to grab his drink.

“Uh, well… hey.”

It felt too awkward to ignore him completely, so Sejun gave a quick greeting and started to walk past Dohun. He decided on the spot that he’d never come back to this cafe again.

“Seo Sejun.”

If Dohun hadn’t called out to stop him right then, Sejun would’ve kept walking straight home.