Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Love Advice Over Coffee
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“The cafeteria food wasn’t as good as expected, right?”
“Hmm… It was pretty average?”
“I thought it was school lunch…”
After a long debate over lunch, we’d decided to try the cafeteria food since it was our first day at university.
We figured we’d be relying on it for the next four years to save money, so it was a unanimous choice.
— …It’s kinda iffy?
It was definitely cheap.
The price, that is.
In an era where a bowl of soup rice cost nearly ten thousand won, cafeteria food for five or six thousand was undeniably a bargain.
That said… It wasn’t bad, but it had that exact taste of school lunch from not too long ago. Just that level.
We hadn’t expected anything amazing, but maybe we’d harbored some romantic notions about university cafeteria food.
The disappointment matched our expectations, so even at the café, the conversation circled back to it.
I just silently slurped my Americano.
Because,
“Lee Jun-woo, no classes after this for you?”
“…None. Give me Seo-ah back so I can head somewhere else.”
“As if! We need Seo-ah today, so don’t be oblivious and stick around—go hang out somewhere else!”
“Yeah, yeah. You wanna squeeze in with the girls? We’re pretty, sure, but!”
“It’s Seo-ah who’s pretty. I don’t wanna hang with you guys either, so scram?”
“Ahaha…”
Lonely. I miss you, Si-woo… Jun-hyuk…
Their Monday schedules only differed in the afternoon from ours, so I’d thought we could kill time before lectures and hang with Seo-ah.
No such luck. Led by Seo Saerom, Kim Ari dragged Seo-ah off to the café, claiming they had girl talk, forcing me to tag along.
Seo Saerom kept growling at me to go elsewhere for their secret girl talk, but I had no choice.
Not right now, at least.
I could feel envious and jealous stares piling up on our table.
If I weren’t here, guys would line up like they’d drawn numbers, throwing their lines at them non-stop. I could see it clear as day.
Seo Saerom and Kim Ari alone? Maybe. But not with Seo-ah there. I couldn’t stand that, so even as Seo Saerom glared and fumed right in front of me, I couldn’t leave.
Seo-ah must’ve heard something already too. Normally she’d pick me, but now she smiled awkwardly, holding her spot like it was tricky, so yeah, they probably had girl stuff to discuss.
“Haa… Fine, Lee Jun-woo. If you’re gonna stay, give your guy’s opinion. But keep it secret, okay?”
“Sorry, but unless it’s about Seo-ah, I don’t care. Pretend I’m invisible and talk among yourselves.”
“Ugh, listen to you… Whatever, if you hear it, you’re an accomplice now.”
The moment I inwardly cursed her out, a familiar name slipped from Seo Saerom’s lips.
“Ahem… Ha Si-woo, um, he… seems to like me.”
“Oh.”
“…Invisible, my ass.”
“Oops.”
Less than a minute since I said I wasn’t interested.
A familiar name and intriguing topic had me blurting out admiration before I knew it, earning a sharp glare from Seo Saerom.
“Seo Saerom, quick on the uptake?”
“…How could you not notice? He’s so obvious…”
Seo Saerom let out a small sigh and continued.
“I wasn’t gonna CC originally, but Si-woo’s been so forward… So I wanted some love advice from Seo-ah and Ari. Even with some clueless guy butting in.”
I had no idea who that clueless guy was, but I nodded quietly to signal I’d stay out of it.
I almost said Seo-ah wasn’t fit for love advice since past friends proved it, but visions of her scolding me shut that down in my head.
“Look at Lee Jun-woo playing dumb. Hateful… Anyway, first, Seo-ah, what do you think?”
“Hmm…”
Seo-ah set down her latte, stirred it a few times like she was sorting her thoughts.
She stared at my face beside her for a moment, then calmly spoke.
“I… honestly don’t know. Not Saerom’s feelings, or Si-woo’s.”
I only know Jun-woo’s heart— Seo-ah beamed as she continued.
Of course, the other two recoiled.
“Because, you know. To us—no, to me—it looks like they’re into each other… But there’s gotta be their messaging vibes, the way they talk and act and look at each other when alone. Like with me and Jun-woo.”
Everyone nodded at Seo-ah’s confident tone, as if it were obvious.
Yeah, probably.
No matter how close friends are, you don’t treat them like the one you love.
The way you act with your beloved is yours alone, shown only to them.
That’s love.
Even now.
Like she was asking, right? Seo-ah gazed up at me with affectionate eyes as she spoke.
And my smile, eyes full of her image—that’s ours alone, a privilege from loving each other.
“If Si-woo shows Saerom those special looks that shake your heart, and you’ve got ones just for him you wanna keep showing… I think you two should give it a shot.”
Because— Seo-ah added softly.
“I’ve been so happy every day since dating Jun-woo. Not a single day missed. Honestly, I wanna marry him right now, have kids ASAP…”
“Okay, stop there. Seo Saerom, that’s enough of Seo-ah’s take?”
“Lee Jun-woo, nice timing… I was taking it seriously till that end…”
I’d been happily watching Seo-ah’s genuinely blissful expression until her sudden runaway train of thought made me desperately cover her mouth, cutting her off. Seo Saerom looked relieved too.
Of course, Seo-ah, whose soft lips got sealed by my hand mid-sentence, puffed her cheeks in protest.
I spread my hand and poked her cheeks, and she deflated with a warm puff of breath into my palm—itchy, utterly adorable.
I nearly kissed her again. If not for the two stares burning into us.
“Nice timing, what…”
“Ahem, anyway, that’s Seo-ah’s opinion. Kim Ari?”
Kim Ari glared at me briefly, but when I played dumb, she sighed and spoke.
“I… feel bad for Saerom, but…”
Kim Ari bowed her head apologetically and continued carefully.
“I can’t cheer for the CC. Hope it works out long-term, but… CC or office romances get warned against because of breakup risks, right? Especially as freshmen—we’ll see each other forever, and we’re in the same group now…”
Risks are even bigger— she added softly, and we all had to nod again.
It was on everyone’s minds.
“Plus, out of our six hanging out, Seo-ah and Lee Jun-woo were already a couple, fine. But if you and Si-woo date too? Then it feels like me and Yang Jun-hyuk gotta pair up…! Sorry, but he’s not my type…!”
Sorry, Jun-hyuk…!
I’d just asked him at lunch today if he wanted to try with Kim Ari.
Now he’d been zero-confessed behind his back, and guilt made tears well up.
And her words weren’t wrong, leaving me speechless. I’d subtly thought the same, suggesting it to him.
If Seo Saerom and Si-woo actually dated, they’d inevitably think that way too.
“Lastly…”
More?
Kim Ari had more to say than expected, spilling it all out relentlessly.
“…They all gotta enlist.”
“Gasp…!”
Her final bomb hit even me, silently nodding, hard.
You devil…!
Seo Saerom’s eyes widened in shock too.
“Right…! When do guys usually go…?”
“Varies, but second semester freshman or first sophomore year…? Saerom, can you wait?”
Under Kim Ari’s heavy fact-bomb, Seo Saerom’s eyes trembled, speechless.
In our most beautiful twenties.
Waiting idly two years is tough.
For guys, for girls.
For anyone.
Painful reality silenced us all.
“…Sorry. I only said negatives. But I meant it seriously… So I won’t date guys from our class.”
“No, Ari. Yeah… Thanks. I need to think seriously too…”
Her words were cold, irrefutable—exactly what girls our age would say.
That made it sadder. I was a guy our age, Si-woo too.
It hurt knowing Si-woo’s feelings might go unrequited for these practical reasons.
“But…”
Still, to help my friend a bit, I spoke carefully.
“If your heart truly pulls you, forget those reasons and follow it. For you, and for Si-woo.”
That’s all I could do. The rest was up to them.
More meddling would be nosy interference.
“…Yeah, thanks everyone. I’ll think it over seriously.”
Feeling our sincerity, Seo Saerom downed her cold coffee and spoke with relief.
“Haa~ Dating’s tough… Oh right, you two? No military worries?”
“Us?”
“Rubbing salt in the wound…”
The sudden splash hit me clutching my chest; Seo-ah looked puzzled.
“Yeah, you two could handle two years easy, right?”
“Hmm… Probably, but I’m trying to keep Jun-woo out of the military if possible.”
“Possible?”
“?”
Seo-ah tapped her index finger to her lips thoughtfully. When we all looked puzzled, she squirmed shyly and whispered.
“I heard if you have three kids in your twenties, you get exempted…”
“…Three?”
“…Whoa, epic.”
“…”
Seo Saerom and Kim Ari gawked at me, but I was shocked too.
Her drunken words before were serious.
And to have three in our twenties—when to start?