CWFH 05

Chapter 05

The person holding a box of chicken in one hand and a bag containing canned beer in the other was her male best friend, Seojun.

Seojun, Hyuna, and Dayeon were three close friends who had met through a university club and had remained close ever since.

They called each other “male friend” and “female friend,” and once or twice a week, they would gather at Hyuna’s house to enjoy chicken and beer together.

Seojun even knew the password to Hyuna’s house and came and went as though it were his own. Sometimes, after drinking beer, the three of them would simply fall asleep together at Hyuna’s place.

That was how comfortable Seojun was with them—like a brother.

“I figured you’d be getting off work around now, so I bought some beer and chicken.”

Seojun held up the chicken and canned beer.

“But what are you doing out here?”

“Hyuna’s boyfriend must be here. I’m going to wait a little before going inside.”

Seojun sat down beside Dayeon and clicked his tongue.

“Our Three Musketeers are facing a complete breakup crisis. How should we deal with this traitor?”

Ever since Hyuna had started dating, the three of them had been getting together to chat and drink beer less often.

“We should put a no-dating clause in our friendship agreement or something.”

“You can’t ban people from dating. We’re old enough now. We should date, get married, and all that.”

“You’re planning to date and get married too?”

“Of course. What, am I supposed to live alone and die as some lonely old man?”

At that, Seojun leaned his head toward Dayeon and looked at her.

“Whatever happened to ‘Let’s never let our friendship change’? Han Dayeon, where’s your loyalty?”

“Friendship is friendship, and marriage is marriage. Does getting married mean our friendship has to fall apart?”

“Yep. I think it does. You said yourself that the three of us having fun together like this was the most fun. If you really decide you need to get married, I’ll save you.”

“Tch, no thanks.”

When Dayeon snorted, Seojun raised his chin proudly.

“Hey, I’ve got a pretty impressive profile in the matchmaking market, you know? A matchmaking agency contacted me just yesterday.”

Seojun was handsome and a Korean medicine doctor, making him a top-tier prospect in the matchmaking market.

“They said they’d give me free membership, and they’d even pay me a fee every time I went on a blind date. They were practically begging me to meet some of their female members.”

“Oh my, is that so? Must be nice being so popular.”

Dayeon nodded exaggeratedly, going, “Yes, yes, whatever you say.”

“Every woman in the world looks at me differently, but strangely enough, you and Hyuna are the only ones who treat me like nothing.”

Seojun grumbled, and Dayeon put an arm around his shoulder.

“Of course. You’re our male friend.”

The three best friends—Hyuna, Dayeon, and Seojun—were eating the chicken and drinking the beer Seojun had brought.

Crushed beer cans and chicken bones were scattered around them.

“There are only two cans of beer left. Dayeon, go buy some more. I bought them last time.”

“I’m too lazy. Let’s just eat what we have.”

“No way. I’m still two percent short.”

“Then whoever wants more beer should go buy it.”

This time, Hyuna flashed Seojun a sweet smile.

“Seojun~ You want more beer too, right?”

“Have some conscience. I bought the chicken and canned beer, remember? You go buy it.”

Whenever the three of them drank together, they always bickered over who had to go out and buy more alcohol.

Then Dayeon remembered that she had met Jian today and thought she should tell Hyuna.

Hyuna had also attended the same high school. Dayeon had transferred there during her second year, so she hadn’t graduated from the same school as Hyuna, but Hyuna had graduated alongside Jian.

“Hyuna, do you know who I met today? You’re going to be shocked when you hear this.”

“You’ve never told me anything shocking before.”

Hyuna answered indifferently as she lifted her can and drained the very last drop of beer.

“This time I’m serious.”

“If I’m not shocked, I’m going to kill you.”

“It’s really someone who’ll surprise you.”

“Did you meet one of the guys from our Bangtan Boys? If so, I’ll admit it.”

“You might be even more surprised than that.”

“If I’m not surprised, you’re going out to buy the beer.”

“Fine. But if you are surprised, you buy it.”

“Okay. Who is it?”

Hyuna occasionally mentioned Jian, saying that she wondered what he was doing and where he was living these days.

Dayeon stared at Hyuna for a moment before speaking.

“A special project team leader joined our company from outside today. He’s a famous programmer who used to be in the U.S. But do you know who it is?”

Hyuna pretended not to care and casually put a piece of chicken into her mouth.

“Lee Jian.”

At Dayeon’s words, Hyuna’s jaw dropped dramatically, almost like something straight out of a cartoon.

Dayeon smiled triumphantly, as if to say, See? I told you you’d be surprised.

“Lee Jian? That Lee Jian? The insanely handsome guy from Jurye High School?”

“Yeah.”

Hearing news about Jian after more than ten years must have been surprising enough, but she was probably even more shocked to learn that he had become a promising programmer.

“He joined your company?”

“He didn’t actually join the company. It’s a TF team working on just one project.”

“A programmer? How did that happen?”

Hyuna had once wondered whether Jian had failed to attend university and ended up with some mediocre job somewhere, or perhaps even a shady job in some back alley of the entertainment district.

“Pretty funny, right? I was shocked too.”

“How has he changed? Is he still handsome?”

“He got even taller.”

“Huh? He got even taller than that? He must look amazing.”

Hyuna’s eyes sparkled as she smiled, and Seojun interrupted.

“Who are you two talking about?”

“There was this guy in high school who was ridiculously popular because of his looks. We’re talking about him.”

Hyuna looked as though she were lost in old memories.

“He was insanely popular. Tall, handsome, and he had that rough, macho kind of charm too, remember?”

Hyuna laughed and nudged Dayeon with her elbow.

“And you remember this too, right? There was that time our neighborhood flooded.”

“F-Flooded?”

Dayeon stammered in alarm at the word.

“During the flood, didn’t Jian rescue someone and even end up in the local newspaper?”

“I-I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Flustered, Dayeon looked away and shook her head.

“Anyway, he had that kind of heroic story too.”

Hyuna suddenly clapped her hands as though she had remembered something else.

“Oh, right. There was also a rumor that he had a girl he had a crush on. The girls went absolutely crazy over that.”

“A crush? Him?”

Dayeon asked incredulously, and Hyuna answered.

“People were talking about it for ages. They said Lee Jian had fallen so hard for someone that he stopped eating and drinking, and that he’d even gotten so sensitive that he once broke some school property.”

“He had a girl he had a crush on?”

Dayeon couldn’t believe that the seemingly perfect Lee Jian had ever experienced something like unrequited love.

“Ah, you wouldn’t know because you transferred away. That rumor probably started after you left. The girls were crying and making a huge fuss back then.”

Hyuna continued, reminiscing about Jian’s legendary past.

“There were all kinds of rumors about who the girl was. People said she’d hit the jackpot, that she must have saved the country in a past life, that she was a girl from another school, or even an older university student.”

“……Anyway, forget that! You were surprised, so go buy the beer.”

There was no way Hyuna could deny how shocked she had been when her jaw practically dropped open.

“Hey, so does that mean you’re going to see him every day now?”

Hyuna seemed more interested in news about Jian than the beer now.

“Probably for the next few months?”

Dayeon nodded as she answered, then suddenly lifted her head and frowned.

“But do you know what this bastard said? He said he wants me to work as his secretary. He said he won’t sign the contract otherwise.”

“Secretary?”

“Secretary?”

Hyuna and Seojun both looked shocked at the same time.

“Ughhh!”

As though venting all the frustration from what had happened that day, Dayeon told her friends everything.

It hurt her pride to have an old schoolmate become her direct superior, but she was still relieved to have people she could complain to like this.

“You should tell them you can’t do it even now.”

Seojun listened seriously to everything Dayeon said before speaking.

“I already agreed to the transfer. The personnel announcement has already been posted too.”

Dayeon answered with a resigned expression, but Seojun suddenly raised his voice.

“Hey, but you have a professional job! How can they make you a secretary? That makes no sense!”

Seojun was usually quiet, so Hyuna looked at him when his voice suddenly rose.

“Why are you getting so angry?”

“Dayeon, you don’t want to be a secretary either, right?”

“I didn’t at first, but it’s only for a few months. And my salary went up a lot. I might as well give it a try.”

Seojun stared at Dayeon as she answered indifferently, and his expression hardened.

“You’re going to take that job just because they raised your salary by that much? Is money really that important to you?”

At Seojun’s serious tone, Dayeon quietly looked at him and answered,

“Yeah. Money is important to me. I’m going to save up as quickly as I can, get my own place, and move out. I can’t keep living off Hyuna forever.”

After hearing Dayeon’s answer, even Seojun had no choice but to fall silent.