Chapter 22

That face was the kind that could make anyone falter for a second, but—

I don’t love being pressed up like this with some guy who isn’t Miyoung.

Yeonhoo, who’d gone blank for a moment, snapped back to himself fast. And he tried to shove the man away right then.

A mole?

But then his eyes caught on a mole on the man’s face. His features were so flashy he’d only noticed it late.

A little dot stamped right under his left eye, and another caught beneath the tail end of his eyebrow. Two moles—like they almost connected across the eye, and almost didn’t—sitting in a strange, uneasy placement.

I’ve seen that somewhere...

That distinctive placement didn’t feel unfamiliar.

Just as the thought hit him—like he’d glimpsed it once in passing— the streetlight flickered, and the bluish hair looked black for an instant.

A foreign country. Loud English chatter. Korean slipping in here and there. Laughter. Arms slung over shoulders. People buzzing—

“...Black hair?”

Someone with jet-black hair and pale skin. Someone who still stood out because his features were too striking—

“Remember now?”

One person floated up, hazy.

In that moment, the man smiled. Like he’d never been sulky at all, he beamed—his whole face stuffed full of joy. But Yeonhoo couldn’t smile back.

It’s the guy I saw at Seunghwan Lee’s party.

There was this guy, Seunghwan Lee, who partied filthy-hard. Even if their vibes didn’t match, Yeonhoo had kept in touch because they’d been friends since they were kids—until the last party he ever went to. After that, he cut him off.

The reason was simple.

That bastard’s a druggie.

He’d heard rumors the guy had started doing drugs.

Yeonhoo absolutely hated drugs. The second he heard, he cut contact—clean. And if the guy in front of him really was someone Yeonhoo had met at Seunghwan Lee’s party...

Ah. I get it!

Then everything about this made perfect sense.

A face that looked perfectly fine, but a way of avoiding Yeonhoo’s eyes like something was poking at him. Rambling, incoherent speech. A car door flung wide open in pouring rain. A weirdly warm, “nice to see you” greeting when they didn’t even have a memory of talking. That screw-loose behavior.

He’s a druggie too.

A bad feeling crawled up his spine—if he got entangled, it would be nothing but hassle.

“...Who are you?”

“Just now, you said black hair—”

“I think you misheard.”

Yeonhoo decided to play dumb.

Don’t get involved. Don’t, no matter what.

Seeing Yeonhoo choose the fast cut-off, the man paused for a beat, then tilted his head slightly. His long lashes fluttered a couple times, and he spoke in a blunt tone.

“You remembered I had black hair.”

“Ah... no, I didn’t.”

“You did.”

Even as the man’s attitude turned a little crooked, Yeonhoo didn’t budge. He enunciated, steady and polite.

“I really don’t know who you are, but I hope you meet whoever you’re looking for.”

While the man’s expression gradually hardened under Yeonhoo’s firm boundary, Yeonhoo moved.

I need to get out of here.

Running is a speed game.

“Hyung—wait a second.”

The man noticed Yeonhoo sliding away and reached out in a panic—

Jingle—

“Hey! What are you doing out he— ...Huh?!”

At that bright voice, Yeonhoo froze without meaning to. He couldn’t not.

“Ah—hi!”

Because Gang Miyoung was looking right at him.

Seeing her in casual clothes for the first time, Yeonhoo went rigid—then forced himself to recover.

“H-hello. Hi.”

I bit my tongue from the shock....

Yeonhoo hurriedly dipped his head. His tongue throbbed, so he covered the corner of his mouth—and his eyes met Miyoung’s again.

She was staring at Yeonhoo. Like, literally staring.

Fine rain falling. Yeonhoo and Miyoung, a little damp, their gazes crossing.

“What the hell.”

A cool voice cut right through the space between them.

“Why are you saying hi?”

The man snapped at Miyoung, who was holding the café door and peeking her head out. Hearing that voice, Yeonhoo jolted.

Is that the same guy?

The voice—cold and settled—was nothing like the one that had tried to talk to Yeonhoo a second ago. Even his expression: just before, his eyes had been sparkling, but now there wasn’t a trace of light in them. Blank. Detached. Cold.

“What—”

Miyoung reacted awkwardly to his tone, then hurriedly turned her eyes back to Yeonhoo.

“Ah! But—what do I do! It rained so much, we closed the shop a little early!”

She looked guilty, like she felt bad for closing early when a customer had come by. But none of that mattered to Yeonhoo. The whole point was to come and see Miyoung from a distance, even just a little.

“...Right. That’s too bad.”

But there was no way he could say, honestly, I came because I wanted to see you.

He barely managed to get his sanity back and answer, and the man—who’d been watching—made a thoughtful face, then asked Miyoung,

“Do you know him?”

“Ah, he’s a customer who comes to our café a lot, and....”

Miyoung and the man looked pretty close. Watching them talk casually to each other, Yeonhoo had a moment of What kind of coincidence is this?—then the next exchange made his mouth fall open.

“Mom told me to come pick you up, right?”

“Yeah. Auntie said it’s raining hard, so go to you and come back.”

Mom? Auntie?

Are they family...?

It was a relief he wasn’t some fling or boyfriend, but... Miyoung being close to a druggie?

Let’s-run.

Whatever it was, he should get out of here first and come back some other time.

“There’s no way you remember every café customer.”

“Ahh—no, I mean, he’s just a regular.”

“You? No. Your memory’s terrible.”

“You trying to pick a fight?”

“Why do you remember him?”

“So you are trying to pick a fight.”

Even while Yeonhoo watched the vibe, those two were still bickering. And since they weren’t paying attention to him, now was his chance.

The rain had stopped, too. He should get out and grab a taxi. As Yeonhoo edged away, rolling his eyes around like a cornered animal, he finally made up his mind and whipped his body around.

“Uh—wait, just a second!”

Miyoung, who’d only just noticed him because she’d been busy arguing-not-arguing with the man, called after Yeonhoo. At her voice, Yeonhoo almost turned around on reflex—but he clamped down on the urge and walked faster.

The unexpected connection nagged at him, and he thought he should ask his friends about it later.

Anyway... do I still have anyone in common with Seunghwan Lee that I even talk to?

He was combing through his memory of his contacts when someone grabbed his shoulder.

—Thud!

Yeonhoo, yanked and spun around, blinked.

“W-wait. Just a second.”

The man was right in front of him. Like he’d run full-tilt to catch up, he looked out of breath—urgent.

When did he...?

Yeonhoo flicked a glance back toward the café. It was pretty far, but the man had caught him in an instant.

Did he run?

Still startled that the man had tried that hard to stop him, Yeonhoo saw the man hold out an umbrella along with a note. When Yeonhoo just stared, the man—so bold earlier—suddenly looked a little self-conscious as he hooked the umbrella over Yeonhoo’s arm.

“It’s... raining. So. Just.”

His whole attitude was nothing like a second ago, when he’d been snapping and tussling with Miyoung.

As Yeonhoo ended up holding the umbrella without meaning to, the man held the note out again.

“This is my number.”

Rustle—he pressed the paper into Yeonhoo’s hand. Despite those sharp eyes, his manner was strangely careful.

“There’s something I need to say, so... could you contact me once? At this number?”

Yeonhoo stared at him.

This guy is supposedly friends with a druggie?

Sure, that flashy face screamed “party,” but his behavior was way too gentle. Had Yeonhoo misjudged him?

“Uh....”

Yeonhoo hesitated, lips parting—

“You—why did you leave this open?! Rain’s getting all inside!”

From far away, Miyoung shouted. Yeonhoo’s eyes shifted, and his expression cooled instantly.

Yep. Drug guy.

He’d thought only the driver’s door was open, but now that he looked again, the trunk was wide open too...

“Call me. Okay?”

He was curious what the man wanted to say, but Yeonhoo still wanted to keep his distance from anyone like this.

Still—he was someone connected to Miyoung, and Yeonhoo didn’t exactly have confidence he could win against a guy built like that.

“...Yeah.”

Yeonhoo answered without any sincerity. He nodded loosely like whatever, then lifted his head—

“I’ll wait.”

For a split second, Yeonhoo froze.

Guys’ smiles are all the same, aren’t they? No matter how you smile, it should do nothing for him—

But he couldn’t take his eyes off the face smiling right in front of him.

How is he this handsome?

“Kwon Mieon! What are you doing over there!”

From far away, Miyoung called the man again.

And only then did Yeonhoo finally learn his name.

Kwon Mieon.