Na Eun is weak towards people weaker than herself.

Of course, the expression “weak” might not be appropriate for someone much taller than her, male, and recently manifested abilities, preparing to become a hero.

However, for her, Seo Hee Won, a high school student who hasn’t even graduated yet, with a gentle personality and unable to speak up to his scary elder brother, fell into the category of ‘weak and someone she wanted to protect’.

Moreover, when that person made the admirable yet pitiful choice to sacrifice himself to help others, it was only natural for her to contact him first as soon as she heard Hee Won wanted to meet her.

However, for some reason, Sun Jin, who was said to be Hee Won’s direct senior in charge of training these days, contacted to say she would come with Hee Won, and with Hee Won, who has been sticking to Na Eun’s side like an appendix lately, joining in, it turned into quite an awkward gathering.

At this point, she thought about calling Seung Joo too, but Na Eun boldly opposed.

She didn’t want to interfere unnecessarily when Seung Joo was busy flirting with elder brother Seok Hoon.

In any case, since they were all too familiar with each other to feel awkward, Na Eun generously paid for meals for four people, keeping her promise to “buy something delicious” for Hee Won.

Weak not only towards weak people but also towards heroes, she knew they were paid for their work, but she didn’t mind buying meals for heroes who rush out day and night whenever something happens across Seoul.

Still, insisting that they should show the conscience to at least buy coffee after getting a free meal, she nagged Hee Won, and they settled in a nearby cafe.

Towards Hee Won, who was grumbling about why he had to pay, Na Eun drew the line saying, ‘You’re the highest-ranking person here,’ and Sun Jin delivered a decisive blow with, ‘You should pay, you rich guy.’

In between, Hee Won just blinked with an innocent face.

As they each chose their coffee while holding the menu, Sun Jin and Hee Won had to stare at the two people arguing across from them.

“Ah, why! I said I’ll drink it, why are you interfering?”

“If you drink this too, it’ll be your third cup today. I told you to cut down on coffee.”

“I’ve only had one cup today!”

“So what you drank in the academy’s pantry earlier wasn’t coffee?”

“…That’s an invasion of privacy! Why do you keep listening?”

“You agreed to keep your earpiece on while working at the academy.”

“You’re really annoying because you only say correct things.”

After several minutes of bickering, Hee Won finally succeeded in changing Na Eun’s menu from vanilla latte to strawberry milk, roughly decided on his own menu, and passed the menu to the opposite side.

Sun Jin received it from Hee Won with a slightly disgruntled expression.

It felt like the two of them had become too naturally close in the time he hadn’t seen them.

Moreover, the fact that Hee Won and Na Eun were wearing identical earrings on one ear each, although he knew about it, greatly bothered him.

Isn’t that nothing more or less than a bickering couple to anyone who sees it?

“…You two look really close.”

Sun Jin muttered in a slightly sharp tone. He deliberately showed signs of discomfort, but Hee Won ignored it, and Na Eun didn’t seem to notice.

She laughed and replied that they were always together these days except when sleeping, so it was an environment where they couldn’t help but get closer.

Even the content of that answer was problematic in many ways, but Sun Jin didn’t show it further.

It was to consider the special circumstances Na Eun was in, and he judged that it wouldn’t be too late to separate them later.

After everyone had decided on their menu while looking at the menu, Sun Jin pointed at Hee Won with his chin and nodded.

“You heard the orders, right? Go and order.”

Although he was older and a superior in rank, Sun Jin treated him casually, and Hee Won got up from his seat to pay after double-checking everyone’s orders without minding.

While Hee Won went to place the order, Na Eun suddenly remembered what Hee Won had said and asked.

“By the way, didn’t you say you had something to ask me? What did you want to ask?”

“…”

The promise to buy something delicious was Na Eun’s, and the message about having something to ask was from Hee Won.

However, as soon as he heard Na Eun’s question, Hee Won suddenly became flustered.

His ears turned red as he rolled his eyes in another direction. Eventually, after hesitating for a moment, he lowered his head.

“…It’s nothing.”

I’ll ask you next time, elder sister. As he changed the subject in a small voice, Na Eun wondered but let it go.

Sun Jin might still be a difficult senior, and his scary elder brother was also here, so there might be something he couldn’t say freely right now.

Thinking it would be better to meet separately next time, she didn’t probe further, and Hee Won, who had finished paying and even picked up the drinks, put the tray down on the table.

Hee Won, who had stamped the coupon as Na Eun had asked and returned it to her, sat down.

Although she had insisted on wanting to drink coffee, Na Eun put the straw in her mouth, simply happy to see the strawberry drink in front of her.

Hee Won, who smiled at her expression that seemed to have nothing to envy in the world, said casually while drinking his coffee.

“Go straight home and sleep after drinking that. Try to take a break from academy and tutoring tomorrow if possible.”

“Why?”

“You’re sick.”

It was an assertion, not a question. Na Eun opened her eyes wide at Hee Won, who was declaring the state of her body that she didn’t even know herself.

“I’m sick?”

“Your complexion doesn’t look good.”

“…The other day, that was because I had a bad dream.”

“Regardless of that, your condition isn’t good.”

Hee Won was unwavering as he spoke while drinking his coffee.

No, I’m fine. Na Eun couldn’t understand, and across from her, Sun Jin quietly chimed in.

“…You might not be in good condition. Do as Seo Hee Won says.”

When even Sun Jin, a close friend, joined in after Hee Won, Na Eun opened her eyes wide.

“I’m really busy these days with the vacation special lectures at the academy… I can’t take a break tomorrow, but I’ll try to rest the day after.”

Unable to completely ignore the advice from the people closest to her, Na Eun nodded obediently.

Meanwhile, Sun Jin’s feelings as he looked at his friend were strange.

The three friends who had been close since high school always had similar menstrual cycles.

And Na Eun often suffered severely when her period came right after the exam period.

Sun Jin calculated his next expected period date in his head and guessed that Na Eun might soon be ill.

‘…Seo Hee Won couldn’t have known that.’

Sun Jin tried not to show his uncomfortable feelings.

It was so uncomfortable that Seo Hee Won had judged just by Na Eun’s complexion what he knew from 7 years of friendship experience since high school.

“…By the way, Seo Hee Won, you’re acting a lot like Na Eun’s boyfriend.”

While accurately pointing out the ambiguous relationship between the two, it was also a kind of warning that you have no chance as a boyfriend candidate for my friend.

The effect was quite good.

Hee Won, roughly guessing what Sun Jin meant, shut his mouth, and Na Eun laughed as if she had heard something she shouldn’t have.

She stirred her strawberry milk with the straw and said jokingly,

“Seo Hee Won is good at pretending to be someone’s boyfriend, you know.”

As if dating when they’re not, as if sincere when they’re not.

It was a sentence that condensed the past of playing with the hearts of many women who had liked him.

Na Eun rolled her eyes, saying she hadn’t seen him playing like that these days, and then suddenly realized a new fact and turned to look at him sitting next to her.

“Come to think of it, you probably didn’t have time to meet anyone because of me.”

“…”

“I feel sorry all of a sudden.”

She doesn’t necessarily agree with his view on relationships (if you can call such behavior a view on relationships) of not finding a proper partner and meeting various people recklessly.

But Na Eun hesitated a little, feeling an inevitable sense of guilt towards someone who couldn’t maintain their original life or have personal time because of her.

The one who was actually hit by Na Eun’s genuinely apologetic expression was Hee Won.

Sun Jin, who was watching with satisfaction as he brought the innocent coffee cup to his mouth like a mute who had eaten honey, delivered one more blow.

“What’s there to be sorry about? This is probably the most wholesome life he’s living in his entire life.”

She smiled brightly.

“Who knows. He might meet someone he truly likes and turn over a new leaf.”

“Hahaha.”

Despite it being a statement that directly pierced the current situation, Na Eun burst into laughter as soon as she heard Sun Jin’s words.

She put down the strawberry milk she was drinking and looked at Hee Won sitting next to her, teasing him.

“Sincerely? Sincerely? Seo Hee Won, do you know the word ‘sincerely’?”

It’s not anger, nor is it scolding. Simply as a joke, she looked up at Hee Won and laughed.

“Do you understand the feeling of sincerely liking someone?”

“…You think I can’t understand?”

“Yes. I don’t think you can understand.”

He asked back, feeling upset, but lost completely.

Hee Won looked at her with a slightly aggrieved heart, and Na Eun, who didn’t avoid his gaze, said with a voice full of laughter while maintaining eye contact.

“How can someone who gets annoyed first when someone cries in front of them sincerely care for anyone?”

Then suddenly realizing something else new, she smiled.

“Come to think of it, I cried in front of this guy so many times. I must have been the most annoying woman he’s ever seen.”

As she said this, Na Eun’s eyes looking at Hee Won were no longer filled with disgust and contempt.

Rather, they were covered with deep goodwill, but such a strange kind of trust towards the other person felt quite bizarre.

Through her friend’s reaction, Sun Jin realized that while Na Eun respected Seo Hee Won as a person and had feelings close to goodwill, she didn’t let him into her line as a romantic interest at all.

First impressions are the most important, and since all the previous behaviors were like that, it’s ultimately self-inflicted.

No need to worry. Sun Jin inwardly smiled with relief.

On the other hand, Hee Won, feeling like he wanted to sink into the ground for the first time in a long while, stood up saying he suddenly wanted to drink an iced Americano.

He wanted to gulp down some cold coffee because his insides were burning.

While ordering his own drink, Hee Won also ordered a few more pieces of cake that others could eat and placed the snacks in the middle of the table.

Na Eun excitedly picked up a fork, and Hee Won, who had been awkward about joining the conversation with his elder brother and sisters, also focused on the dessert.

Sitting back down and gulping down the Americano as if drinking cold water, Sun Jin quietly took out a lipstick from her pouch in her bag and fixed her lips, chatting with Na Eun about the product, while the other two people next to her, Seo Hee Won trying to recover from the blow he received earlier, and Hee Won unable to join in on topics he didn’t know about, focused on their drinks and desserts.

Thanks to this, only Na Eun and Sun Jin’s conversation went back and forth on the table for a while.

“Do you like that? I think C company’s lipsticks are the best.”

“But don’t all their colors come out similar?”

“But they’re all pretty.”

“What’s the use if they come off easily?”

The two people with different makeup preferences had a small argument, and eventually, the topic moved on to which of the two lipsticks in Sun Jin’s pouch had a prettier color.

Hee Won didn’t understand what was different since they were both red, but for some reason, he felt like he wouldn’t be able to escape if he joined that conversation, so he only thought about it secretly.

After arguing with Sun Jin for a long time, Na Eun, feeling like they had been talking just between the two of them for too long, turned to Hee Won, who had been continuously gulping down iced Americano next to her.

Seo Hee Won. At the plain call of his three-syllable name, he lowered the cup he was holding.

Na Eun showed him two lipsticks and asked.

“Which one do you think is better between these two?”

Hee Won looked at Na Eun with a slight resentment, as she spoke to him casually after thoroughly stepping on him earlier.

But there’s no way she would notice such a gaze from him.

In the end, Hee Won gave up his meaningless protest and quietly pointed to the left with his finger.

“This one?”

When Na Eun shook the left lipstick, he nodded.

Na Eun pouted at the choice that was different from her preference and wiggled her hand holding the right lipstick.

“That’s strange. Isn’t this color more vivid and pretty?”

“That one tastes bad.”

“…”

“…”

The table, where conversation had been flowing, became quiet for a moment. Was it because he had lost his mind after drinking only Americano without joining the conversation?

Hee Won belatedly realized what he had inadvertently blurted out and flinched.

While curses were bursting out inside the surprised him, Na Eun muttered in a small voice right next to him.

“…Indeed. The perspective is different.”

Facing a gaze that now felt like a kind of admiration beyond contempt and surprise, Hee Won briefly wished for the very un-heroic desire for the Earth to be destroyed.

Eventually, Na Eun, without any other special reaction, turned to Hee Won to seek agreement, asking if the lipstick color she chose didn’t seem prettier.

While Na Eun and Hee Won were absorbed in their own conversation, Sun Jin across from them stared intently at Hee Won, who was leaning back in his chair due to his completely shattered mind.

You’re not allowed even if dirt gets in my eyes, you bastard.

This must be what it means when they say eyes communicate without words.

Moreover, while roughly answering Na Eun’s question, Hee Won’s gaze, which glanced at him, also carried a voice.

Bro, you really are an idiot.

Hee Won avoided eye contact, unable to refute the endlessly pathetic gaze that Hee Won had never shown him in his life.

It was a newfound acknowledgment, but he was indeed an idiot.