Chapter 36

<img alt="insta m" src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/insta%20m.png"/>

Mo Yeonhoo’s StarGram was basically a ghost account.

He had made it, but never uploaded anything or done any kind of activity on it, and most of the people he followed were connected to Seunghwan Lee.

‘The others, fine, whatever—but when the hell did I mutual-follow Kwon Mieon?’

As Mo Yeonhoo started unfollowing Seunghwan Lee and his friends one by one, his expression naturally turned grave.

That memory that had just surfaced, this mutual follow with Kwon Mieon—taken together, it really did seem like they had gotten properly tangled up at that party. But no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t remember a thing, and that left him flustered.

When he lifted his head, his eyes met Kwon Mieon’s. He was leaning loosely back in his chair, phone in one hand.

K > <img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/>.<img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/> .

rnjsaldjs47

haha

And as if he’d been waiting for it, another message flew in.

“Um....”

“.......”

“Excuse me...?”

“...Ah! Sorry!”

He’d been so preoccupied with Kwon Mieon that he’d completely forgotten Kang Miyoung, who had been standing beside him trying to read the room. He looked at her with an awkward smile full of apology, and Kwon Mieon narrowed his eyes before crossing one leg over the other.

In the meantime, Mo Yeonhoo diligently followed the café account just as Kang Miyoung had asked, then showed her the screen.

“I followed it.”

Usually, whenever he stood in front of Kang Miyoung, Mo Yeonhoo would stiffen up completely and wear a face full of wariness. But maybe because he hadn’t slept properly and his head was such a mess right now—

“Yes! Ah, you see this post here, right? If you leave a comment, I’ll give you a dessert coupon. Make sure you use it next time you come!”

“Okay....”

Before he knew it, he was answering her more gently than usual and obediently doing as she said. Kang Miyoung glanced at him and blushed, but he had no room to notice.

His hands were following her instructions, but his mind was packed full of thoughts.

‘So who were you with all night back then? Somebody said they saw you.’

He didn’t know why that old thing a friend had once said—something he hadn’t thought much of at the time—was suddenly coming back to him now.

‘Did I seriously do something with some druggie? If I did anything weird, my allowance would get cut off. Jesus.... Don’t tell me I was on something and that’s why I can’t remember? This is driving me insane.’

Jingle—

“Welcome!”

Right then, a new customer walked in. Kang Miyoung gave Mo Yeonhoo a quick nod with her eyes and hurried back to the counter.

“One iced latte and a slice of cheesecake, please.”

“For here?”

“Yes. Ah, and....”

In the space where only soft music had been flowing, Kang Miyoung’s lively voice taking the order rang out.

Usually, her kind, clear voice would have been so cute that he would’ve been smiling to himself already, but—

K ><img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/>. <img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>.

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Right now, Mo Yeonhoo was too busy staring at the message window that had been buzzing nonstop for a while.

He slid a finger up the screen to look through the messages Kwon Mieon had sent, then frowned.

‘Huh?’

It felt like there had been several more messages higher up.

‘Can you unsend messages too?’

But they had disappeared so cleanly that he was starting to wonder if he’d imagined them, when another message came in.

K >.<img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/> .<img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>

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Yeonhoo

Yeonhoo???

Ah, now you’ve read it

He glanced up, and Kwon Mieon was still lounging crookedly in his chair, looking at his phone with one hand.

Just looking at that blank face, he seemed like someone casually browsing the web.

But—

K >.<img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/> .<img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>

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Hey

Yes

I’m right here

Were you looking for me?

What is it, Yeonhoo? haha

Kwon Mieon was in fact extremely busy sending Mo Yeonhoo messages.

How was he typing that fast with one hand? For a second, Mo Yeonhoo actually doubted whether it was really Kwon Mieon he was messaging at all, and stared at him.

Then, as if he’d felt the stare, Kwon Mieon looked back at him. Their eyes met, and Kwon Mieon flicked one eyebrow up before the corners of his eyes curved.

The coldness melted right off his face, and the way the corners of his mouth rose so easily blanked Mo Yeonhoo’s mind for a moment.

‘...Since when does some drugged-out bastard smile at me like we’re close?’

But his face turned cold again immediately, and he lowered his head with a sharp motion and focused on firing off a DM.

K > <img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/>. <img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>.

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Seriously, what is this?

Why are we friends??

You’re curious, right

Since you’re curious

Hurry up and tell me

I don’t want to tell you for free

Mo Yeonhoo stared blankly at the screen.

K >. <img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/> <img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>.

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No, but this

Wh-what

haha

‘What the hell is this?’

At this point, wasn’t it maybe something that wasn’t even important? Something he didn’t really need to hear? Watching Kwon Mieon act this carelessly light made him start to wonder whether it was really worth digging into.

And yet—

‘Are you okay?’

The curve of those eyes in the dark as they bent toward him with concern, the two moles, the way it all seemed to ask how he could possibly forget—

it kept coming back, and it bothered him.

‘I need to know what happened between me and Kwon Mieon.’

For a girl-crazy idiot like Mo Yeonhoo, the fact that he had been standing that close to a man was unbelievable enough. The fact that the man had specifically been Kwon Mieon made it even worse. He wanted to know how much of his memory was real and how much of it was fake.

More than anything, he absolutely hated this kind of grimy, unsettled feeling.

Tap tap.

In the end, Mo Yeonhoo started typing.

The speech bubble changed to typing and vanished again several times, like he was thinking it over deeply. After a long while—

K > <img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/>. <img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>.

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What do I have to buy you to make “not for free” count as paid...?

As if he’d been waiting, Kwon Mieon replied immediately.

K >.<img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/> <img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>.

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Let’s meet Saturday at one

Meet???

Yes haha

This Saturday was only two days away.

‘Why would I meet you outside?’

Mo Yeonhoo replied at once.

K >.<img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/> .<img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>

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You can just tell me now

Yeonhoo.....

For free....? T_T

No...

That damn “for free” thing again....

K ><img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/>. <img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>.

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Why, you don’t want to?

For free....? T_T

Yeonhoo

Yeonhoo?

Of course, the messages kept coming in the meantime too.

K >.<img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/> <img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>.

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You’ll see me, right? haha

(emoticon)

A cute emoticon popped up for the still-unanswered Mo Yeonhoo. The little dog wagging its tail furiously was extremely adorable, but Mo Yeonhoo’s expression only grew more troubled.

‘I don’t really have a choice.’

He didn’t like Kwon Mieon, but he liked that gap in his memory even less.

K ><img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/>. .<img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>

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Where do you want to meet???

If he met Kwon Mieon on Saturday, he’d probably find out what he had forgotten from that day, and what this mutual follow was all about too. In the end, Mo Yeonhoo surrendered.

K ><img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/>. .<img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>

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Wow

hahahahaha

(emoticon)

(emoticon)

The moment he saw Mo Yeonhoo’s reply, Kwon Mieon seemed to get excited and sent a string of emoticons for a while.

K >.<img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/> .<img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>

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(emoticon)

I’ll find a nice place myself haha

I’ll book it as soon as I find one and text you

(emoticon)

‘What kind of amazing food is he expecting me to buy him that he’s acting like this?’

Mo Yeonhoo blinked at the flood of excited dog emoticons, and then a number appeared in the chat window.

K >.<img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/> .<img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>

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010-XXXX-XXXX

But what’s your number, Yeonhoo?

If we’re meeting again, I think I’ll need it haha

Still staring at the panting dogs on the screen, Mo Yeonhoo slowly lifted his head. Unlike the cute retriever, that man sitting over there...

‘He looks like he’ll kill me if I don’t give it to him.’

His blank face, staring intently at the phone like he might bore a hole through it, looked nothing like the dog on the screen. Of course, the chill vanished as soon as his eyes met Mo Yeonhoo’s.

K ><img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/>. <img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>.

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hahaha?

That bright, innocent-looking smile again, and DMs arriving instead of actual speech.

Mo Yeonhoo hesitated over whether to give him his number, but decided that rather than dragging this out, it would probably be easier to just hand it over, so he typed his own number into the DM window.

K ><img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/>. <img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>.

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010-XXXX-XXXX

Here

Anyway, Kwon Mieon clearly had no intention of telling him here, and if he wanted to hear the story properly, they were going to have to meet at least one more time.

K ><img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/phone.png"/>. <img alt="." src="https://webview-cache.ridibooks.com/3302046707/epub/images/Images/video.png"/>.

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(emoticon)

(emoticon)

The instant he gave him his number, the little dog started jumping wildly around the DM window. Watching it, Mo Yeonhoo thought without meaning to—

‘What the hell, it kind of looks—’

Naturally, the moment that thought occurred to him, he froze.

‘Did I just think that this cute little dog looked like him?’

That druggie? Seriously?

‘Get it together. That cute dog and Kwon Mieon are different at the level of basic species.’

That huge man looking anything like this tiny dog was ridiculous. As he hastily rebuilt the wariness that had slipped for a second, the DMs kept coming in one after another.