"Sunbae, you seem to have a lot of time in your hand."
Seo Minjae leisurely look around the room before his gaze settled back. A faint smile tugged at his lips and then he denied. "Nah. Might not look like it, but I'm a terribly busy man."
"Then you can leave now."
"I think I've got just enough time to spare."
"...you can leave."
Jiho stared at the overgrown child who invited himself into the apartment like he paid rent, casually making himself at home without any shame.
To be honest, he was a little glad he'd cleaned his room yesterday.
"Oh, I can sit here, right?" Minjae patted the small cushion then sat down cheekily without waiting for a reply.
Why bother asking if you're gonna do whatever you want anyway?!
Jiho let out a low sigh and followed him. "Sunbae, I'm thankful for your help, but I can take care of myself just fine."
"I can tell. That mouth of yours works just fine."
Jiho should've just nodded and moved on. But for some reason, he didn't feel like yielding to the other party's whims. "Don't act like you know me... It's not like we're friends."
He'd been practicing staying calm and keeping it neutral however the words still sprung out in a sharp tone.
Still, Minjae calmly crossed his arms and he raised his eyes.
"That's up to me. As your sunbae and your neighbor, I'd say we're familiar enough."
Minjae's tone was too soft for a spat.
Jiho knitted his brow and in the end he was at a lost for word.
"Do you always take care of your juniors or neighbors?"
"Absolutely."
Oh.
Jiho scoffed. "I didn't know you were so kind."
"I've always been that kind of person." Minjae said brazenly. "You're welcome."
Heh.
Jiho shut his eyes for a second, barely resisting the urge to roll them.
If it weren't for this guy's absurd determination to "take care" of him, he would've shown him the door a long time ago without any hesitation and definitely without regret.
"Are we done with the interrogation?" Minjae said with a smug look on his face. He dropped a plastic bag on the table while carefully reading out precaution. "Come on, you have to apply this twice a day and if it hurts too much, take the painkiller. Make sure to do it right, we wouldn't want a scar on that ordinary face of yours."
Ordinary face—?
This guy really knows how to rub it in.
Jiho reluctantly nodded at his words and accepted the medicine.
He looks at the mirror. His forehead was already swollen. Reddish and bruised.
Might be because he already applied the balm once, the pain was bearable at the moment.
He adjusted his glasses lightly and shifted his gaze to Minjae.
"Then you-"
Minjae's phone ring at this moment, a burst of instrumental reverb that cut through the quiet room.
... Well.
Seo Minjae carelessly answered the call.
"Hey, Seo Minjae, aren't you too much? How could you bail at the last minute? Eun Dami left as soon as she found out you weren't coming. Are you seriously breaking up with her?"
A barrage of questions exploded from the other end.
Minjae reached for a tiny decoration on the table and started fiddling with it, clearly not interested in the topic.
"We can't break up when we were never really together." He casually answered.
"Damn, you heartless bastard! Guess writing code isn't the only thing you're good at."
"Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment."
What a scumbag!
Jiho didn't say it out loud but the judgement in his eyes was evident. Pretty sure it was written all over his face.
Minjae glanced at him quietly. Whoever was on the other end kept talking, but Minjae didn't bother to respond. He simply hung up.
"So when are you leaving..."
Feeling the stare burning into the side of his face, Jiho added flatly.
"Sunbae-nim."
"Right now."
"Right now?"
Jiho raised his eyes in surprise. A bit unexpected, he thought he'll toss around for a while and push his luck a little more before finally willing to leave him alone. It was a pleasant surprise.
"Why. Our Jiho doesn't want me to go?" Minjae teased, he slinging his bag over his shoulders and continue to add drama on his own. "Unfortunately, hyung is a very busy man."
Jiho walked him to the door, pursed his lips unwilling to co-operate with his antics.
"Then I won't keep you. Goodnight."
"Jiho-ya, dream of me~"
Snap.
Jiho bluntly shut the door in his face.
He'd officially hit his limit for the day.
Without even changing, he collapsed onto his bed like a system finally forced into shutdown.
"...Hiss!"
Out of habit, he accidentally rubbed his face into the pillow.
Haah.
Why was it so hard to just live a peaceful life?
"... Ah. Where is my phone?" Jiho rejuvenated instantly, searching for his phone.
He hadn't checked his phone all day.
There were a handful of missed calls and messages from Kyungho and few messages from people he barely talked to.
Why, though?
Jiho tapped on Kyungho's name first.
[Dude, are you okay?] 16:23
[Wouldn't that boy be... really you?] 16:27
[Holy shit! Dude, you're famous. Just not in the way you want to be...] 16:35
<[Missed called from Kyungho]>
[Jiho-ya?] 17:19
[Yun Jiho...] 17:20
<[Two missed called from Kyungho]>
Then he sent a string of links with excited emojis.
Jiho had a bad premonition before clicking on the first one.
Famous was an understatement.
Jiho stared grimly at the entire commentary in the university platform.
Someone had been filming the senior boys playing soccer from a distance. More precisely, they were filming Seo Minjae when the entire disaster unfolded.
The clip was uploaded and the views were climbing as he watched.
You know, Hankyeong University was the local celebrity in the area plus with Seo Minjae flaunting his skills like a highlight reel in the opening scene, the video had garnered thousands of view already.
Though technically, Jiho confirmed it was really not Seo Minjae who kick that ball but it was definitely because of him that everything went to hell.
He didn't want to talk about it.
Fuck!