A truly close friend is someone you can see once every few years without feeling awkward.

In fact, even after seeing each other every day and then only once every few months after high school graduation, they didn’t become awkward or distant.

However, one-sided contact blocking and the infamous “read and ignore” that’s known to hurt feelings when on the receiving end are unacceptable.

Seung Joo approached her friend who had shown up on time, gritting her teeth at the long-awaited appearance of her friend in person.

“What an expensive face you’ve shown. Enjoying going off the grid?”

Seung Joo has a low boiling point, but she also cools down quickly.

Na Eun, who knew her friend better than anyone from spending all three years of high school together, quickly hugged Seung Joo’s waist as soon as she saw her.

“I’m really, really sorry! I had my reasons!”

“What reasons could those be!”

“I’ll tell you later, later! Sun Jin, should we eat some grilled intestines? Let’s eat grilled intestines! Seung Joo, how about grilled intestines? Intestines, intestines!”

As Na Eun jumped around deliberately creating chaos, singing about grilled intestines, Seung Joo in her arms threw a tantrum, while Sun Jin standing beside them shook her head as if she had expected this.

Having already spent a long time together, fighting and making up several times, they didn’t create conflicts over such minor issues.

I’ll let it go for now and get back at her later.

Sun Jin, who casually thought something that would have made Na Eun shudder if she knew, freed Seung Joo from Na Eun’s embrace and fiddled with her phone.

She was about to search for nearby grilled intestine restaurants, but remembering Yoon Na Eun’s personality, she looked up and, sure enough, Na Eun was reciting a list while looking at her own phone.

“There’s a really delicious place about 8 minutes walk from here. There’s a wait, but it should only be about 30 minutes, shall we wait?”

It was a gathering to hang out on a rare weekend evening.

Sun Jin, who didn’t mind waiting for delicious food, nodded readily, but Seung Joo was different.

She pointed to the meat restaurant right behind them with an extremely annoyed expression.

“I’m hungry, can’t we just go there? They sell grilled intestines too.”

It was clearly a carelessly chosen restaurant at a glance. Na Eun shook her head firmly.

“No way. It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other. We should eat something delicious.”

“And whose fault is it that it’s been so long?”

“I’m sorry about that! Then shall we walk a little?”

“Ah, let’s just eat somewhere nearby~.”

Seung Joo whined.

Na Eun grabbed her arm and pulled her along, with Sun Jin following behind. It was always like this when they went out.

Na Eun, who likes to make plans, would find a delicious restaurant or cafe to go to, while Seung Joo, who hates waiting long and likes spontaneity, felt suffocated by such fixed schedules.

If the three of them were to go on a trip, they would surely fight to death.

Sun Jin, who always played the mediator between the two, was inwardly certain.

“Just 8 minutes, okay? It’s only an 8-minute walk! Seung Joo, you’re good at walking, right?”

“Ah~ Fine!”

“If you’re just going to enter any random place, why did we come all the way to Hongdae! We could have just met near home!”

As expected. It’s started.

“I found all these delicious places so you wouldn’t be bothered! What’s wrong with going together!”

“Why do we have to go to a predetermined restaurant? Are other places not delicious?”

“If we’re going to eat grilled intestines here, we must go to this place!”

“Then I won’t eat grilled intestines. Let’s eat pizza.”

“Okay, I’ve found a good pizza place too.”

“Ah, I’m really suffocating!”

Seeing Na Eun pulling out Plan B while searching her phone as if she had been waiting for this, Seung Joo clutched her chest in agony.

How can they be so different?

Sun Jin, watching their bickering from a distance, was amazed at how these two with such different personalities could be such close friends.

Though she had no intention of being like that herself, being friends with them.

“If we go late, the wait will only get longer. Quickly, quickly!”

“Ah, Yoon Na Eun, I really hate you−!”

She was about to intervene if they kept arguing, but Na Eun won this fight.

In the end, as Seung Joo was dragged by her left arm into the alley between commercial buildings, Sun Jin, watching her back, resolved to help Seung Joo choose the cafe she wanted later.

“You’ve been sticking close to our team leader lately.”

After their bickering, they ended up enjoying dinner and finding a cafe for dessert. Sun Jin asked, resting her chin on her hand, and Na Eun rolled her eyes slightly.

“I guess so, why?”

“He’s been so busy lately that we hardly see him.”

“We’re on the same team but we work separately. Did he tell you anything about what he’s been assigned to?”

Na Eun tried not to show her surprise.

Clearly, Hee Won was investigating deeper into the incident that happened three years ago related to Han Jae Kyung.

Meanwhile, for protection, he tried to stay by Na Eun’s side as much as possible, and when not, he was busy looking into something based on the documents Na Eun had given him.

None of this had been shared with her friends, so it was natural for Seung Joo and Sun Jin to be curious.

But such an inappropriate question for a civilian like her. Na Eun feigned ignorance.

“How would I, a civilian, know? He must have his reasons. …But Sun Jin, are you hurt?”

She hadn’t noticed earlier because Sun Jin had been wearing an outer layer, but when she took off even her cardigan because the cafe was warm, Na Eun was startled to see a long cut above Sun Jin’s wrist.

It wasn’t an intentional change of subject, but a genuine reaction of surprise.

Sun Jin looked at her arm once as if she had forgotten about the scar, then smiled awkwardly.

“From a mission the other day. It’s nothing.”

“…”

“This much heals quickly. You know.”

She knows friends with incomparable healing abilities to normal humans. But Na Eun didn’t feel good about it.

Just because they heal faster doesn’t mean there’s no pain when they get hurt.

Just because they have superior abilities doesn’t mean they should get hurt easily.

Na Eun sometimes felt sorry and frustrated with her friends who acted as if it was okay.

At Na Eun’s urging to be more careful, Seung Joo laughed.

“How can we be careful? In a fight.”

“Run away if you think you’ll get hurt.”

This time Sun Jin laughed at Na Eun’s words.

“How can we fight if we’re afraid of getting hurt? And what if we run away? Who will fight those guys then?”

“…Still, I wish you’d run away if you think you’ll get hurt.”

“Are you telling us to be cowards?”

Sun Jin asked jokingly. But the answer came quickly.

“Yes.”

At Na Eun’s unhesitating answer, the two were momentarily lost for words.

Looking at her friends whose smiling expressions had faded, Na Eun hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“A hero who fights without running away from any adversity or trial, it’s really cool, but…”

She bit her lip for a moment before continuing.

“I wish you wouldn’t be like that.”

“…”

“I wish you had even just a little fear, were a little cowardly.”

So that you wouldn’t get hurt, wouldn’t face near-death experiences.

It was sincere, but Na Eun felt a moment of embarrassment at herself for saying words that were of no help to the two people in front of her, and lowered her head.

As a slightly cold silence passed over the three, and Na Eun was about to awkwardly avoid eye contact.

“Thank you.”

The answer came first from Sun Jin.

Na Eun looked up in surprise to see her friend’s smiling face.

Beside Sun Jin, Seung Joo, with a slightly embarrassed expression, pouted but said,

“Me too.”

“…”

“Since you like cowardly heroes, we’ll play that role for you.”

Sun Jin joked to change the awkward atmosphere.

I’ll run away immediately if it looks like we’re going to lose to the villains.

I’ll make a run for it, thinking only of taking care of myself, not worrying about protecting anyone.

Listening quietly to Sun Jin’s threats, Seung Joo said without thinking,

Wow, that would be totally shameless.

Hearing that, Na Eun burst out laughing, and the temperature between the three returned to normal.

“By the way, what have you been looking at?”

Na Eun asked Seung Joo, who had been holding her phone from the grilled intestine restaurant until now.

Sun Jin seemed to know the reason and smirked, while Seung Joo hesitated for a moment before saying,

“Messages.”

“With whom?”

“…With Kim Seok Hoon.”

Kim Seok Hoon? Na Eun tilted her head for a moment before her eyes widened. Seok Hoon oppa?

“You’re in contact with Seok Hoon oppa?”

“I told you before. That we met at the praise service.”

“I heard that from oppa too… When did you get so close?”

“Ah, I don’t know. It’s a long story.”

Seung Joo grumbled but didn’t let go of her phone. Na Eun glanced at Sun Jin.

Sun Jin nodded as if she understood, and Na Eun covered her mouth with her hand.

Maybe because it had been a while since they met, there were lots of surprising updates.

“So, what are you talking about with that oppa? Are you planning to meet separately? Have you made plans?”

“Why are you prying so much? I’m just… keeping in touch because it’s interesting.”

“What’s interesting?”

Na Eun asked with wide eyes. Seung Joo averted her gaze slightly and said,

“…He resembles you.”

“Me? Seok Hoon oppa?”

He doesn’t look like me at all. Na Eun looked confused, and Seung Joo changed the subject, saying there was something like that.

Na Eun became excited, not having imagined that Seung Joo’s first romantic interest might be her senior from school. I hope it goes well.

Seok Hoon oppa is a good person, and Seung Joo is a good person too. Good people meeting must surely be a good thing.

Well past midnight, the center headquarters was quiet.

No, it should have been quiet.

Bang, the iron door opened roughly, and Hee Won made a troubled expression as he confirmed the two people who burst out from beyond it.

Hee Won, who had been living only in his uncle’s house or the center dormitory since leaving his family home at some point, alternately looked at Seung Joo and Sun Jin, who had suddenly barged in with expressions like they were about to kill someone at a time when others should be sleeping.

“Explain why Na Eun has your earring on her ear.”

At Sun Jin’s cold face staring straight at him and muttering, Hee Won covered his face with one hand.

Seung Joo, standing next to Sun Jin, looked like she might strangle Hee Won at any moment.

…He had guessed this might happen while talking to Na Eun, who was excited about meeting her friends today, but he didn’t think they would come looking for him so soon.

Wondering how to control his team members’ fiery tempers from now on, Hee Won let out a low sigh and slowly opened his mouth.