Under Creature Chapter 3.5

Lifting his gaze from the food, he looked at Seo Dohyun. The corners of his mouth, usually upturned in a smirk, were firmly closed, and his eyes even looked slightly angry.

An unexpected feeling came over him.

It was always him who got angry, but this time, the roles were reversed.

Did that mean Dohyun was trying that hard to comfort him?

Yigeom let out a short sigh and filled Dohyun’s empty glass.

“Then I’m comforted. So, what would you do in this situation?”

“I’ve never made a friend, so I’ve never been in a situation like yours.”

Dohyun answered without emptying his glass. Yigeom couldn’t hide his displeasure.

Was he really trying? He could at least pretend to think about it before answering.

“Hypothetically,” Dohyun added.

“Hypothetically, if such a situation arises, it wouldn’t be bad to follow them down the wrong path.”

“…What?”

“It’s romantic. A friend who goes to hell with you.”

Yigeom was speechless.

“The fact that you’re only sad to this extent means that your friend was only worth that much, right? Get over it. Let’s go CA hunting together.”

“What do you mean, ‘worth that much’? We’ve been close since high school. You have to go to hell together to truly care? That’s ridiculous.”

It’s not like blindly following a friend.

When Yigeom got angry, Dohyun looked at him with wide eyes, questioning,

“Why?”

“Why what? Why are you saying ‘why’ again?”

“I’d go with them.”

“Where?”

“Hell.”

That’s why he created Latter. They would move with one heart and one mind, wherever they were.

Seo Doa, Cha Jewoo, Namgoong Sanha, Yoon Yigeom.

“With you guys, without a doubt.”

🦅࿐

“What’s the passcode?” Dohyun asked, supporting the staggering Yigeom.

Although they had ordered enough alcohol for two, Dohyun’s glass had never been emptied. Thanks to this, Yigeom, who had drunk enough for two, had his cheeks flushed red and was puffing out white breaths.

“Gyeom-ah, the passcode.”

“…I don’t know.”

“This is your house.”

What a terrible drinking habit.

Wondering what to do, Dohyun randomly pressed four digits. He tried Yoon Yigeom’s birthdate, 0000, 1234, and various other combinations, but the door refused to open.

‘This is awkward.’

Just as he was wondering if he should take him to a nearby motel, the door opened from the inside.

“Who is it?”

“I should be the one asking that.”

When Dohyun asked, Kang Taeha replied languidly,

“They usually call someone who’s in another person’s house without permission a thief.”

“I’m Gyeom’s friend.”

“Gyeom-ah, wake up. There’s a thief in your house.”

“I’m his friend.”

Dohyun shook the half-asleep Yigeom awake. He opened his eyes blearily and raised his head.

“Do you know who this is?”

He mumbled, leaning against Dohyun sleepily,

“No.”

“He says he doesn’t know.”

Whether it was drunkenness or just peak laziness, he seemed to be saying “I don’t know” no matter what.

“Yoon Yigeom. Get a grip.”

Kang Taeha tried to reach out, but Dohyun blocked him, hiding Yigeom.

“A thief is laying hands on the homeowner. This is assault, right?”

“I’m not a thief…. Yoon Yigeom, are you out of it? You weren’t answering your phone, and you were out drinking?”

“Ah, was that you calling?”

Yigeom’s phone had been ringing constantly for a while, but the owner was in no condition to know, and Dohyun hadn’t bothered to check.

“Yes, it was me. So, leave Yoon Yigeom and go. Thank you for bringing him back.”

Dohyun rolled his eyes, then supported Yigeom and entered the house.

“What are you doing?”

“Staying over.”

“You said someone entering without permission is a thief.”

“We’re both thieves then. Please take care of me.”

Kang Taeha gaped for a moment, then sighed and let him in.

After laying Yigeom on the bed, Dohyun asked,

“What’s your name?”

“What’s the point of revealing our identities between thieves?”

It was an expression of his unwillingness to become friendly.

“He even rejects elegantly.”

Kang Taeha didn’t bother to reply and made honey water before helping Yigeom sit up.

“You need to wash up and lie down. Drink this and try to sober up.”

“Ugh.”

Yigeom pulled the warm blanket over himself and rubbed his face against the pillow.

“Leave him alone. He said he’s tired.”

It’s not like he’s going to die from not washing up for a day.

The more Kang Taeha urged him, the more Yigeom frowned, instinctively leaning towards Dohyun for support.

Kang Taeha’s eyebrows twitched.

“Then at least brush your teeth. You’ll get cavities.”

Pfft. Dohyun scoffed softly.

“Yoon Yigeom isn’t a child. What cavities?”

“Do adults not get cavities?”

“They don’t appear just from skipping one day. Aren’t you being too overprotective? At this rate, you’ll be picking out his clothes for tomorrow too.”

Their nerve war showed no sign of ending, and in between them, Yigeom drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

🦅࿐

This happened when Yoon Yigeom was in high school.

“Eat just a little. Lunchtime is almost here.”

“I am.”

“Half a bag is ‘a little’? You’ve already eaten half.”

“If I ate half when I wanted to eat a whole bag, that’s a little.”

Yigeom, munching on the snacks he bought from the store, retorted without backing down to Kang Taeha. It wasn’t that he was nitpicking or grumbling out of anger; it was just their normal everyday conversation.

Yoon Yigeom was in the same school and same class as Kang Taeha, and even sat next to him. He didn’t lack friends to hang out with, so there was no reason to make new ones.

Then Jooseungtae, who sat in front of them, turned around and asked,

“What do you guys usually do? Study?”

At that time, Jooseungtae was just a classmate in the same class; they weren’t that close. He could count on one hand the number of times he had talked to him.

“We play games.”

“You do?”

“Yeah.”

After school, they would sometimes wander around, or if not, they would hang out at Kang Taeha’s house. His house was filled with all kinds of game consoles.

And when they got tired of that, they would spend time on their own. They were comfortable being in the same space without necessarily talking to each other.

“When do you guys study?”

Jooseungtae was amazed that kids who ranked among the top in the school and even nationally on mock exams spent their time playing games.

“We’re doing it now.”

“During class?”

“Yeah.”

“I do it during class too!”

“You sleep.”

Yigeom said calmly, swallowing his snack.

They had recently changed seats, so Yigeom and Kang Taeha were partners, and Jooseungtae sat in front of them. And during class, he often witnessed the person in front of him slumping over like a stalk of rice.

“…That’s a kind of strategy to conserve energy and review later, since I don’t understand the teacher’s explanation.”

Jooseungtae muttered seriously, and Kang Taeha, to prevent Yigeom from eating any more snacks, tied the bag tightly with a rubber band and put it in his bag.

Licking his lips in disappointment, Yigeom said,

“You could just preview instead of reviewing. Then you wouldn’t doze off during class.”

“Then do you preview?”

“No. I understand everything well. There’s no need to preview.”

Jooseungtae clenched his teeth and grumbled,

“This is why you shouldn’t associate with smart people. They don’t understand average people like us.”

“Sorry, but I saw your grades last time, and they were below average.”

“You saw that!? When!”

“…It was on your desk.”

“Then you should forget it! You still remembered? How closely did you look!”

Yigeom suddenly burst out laughing.

“No, I just glanced at it and remembered it now.”

“Forget it! Forget it, I said!”

“Why do you leave it lying around? You should have put it in your bag.”

“Leaving it on my desk is ‘lying around’? It’s the person who looked who’s at fault!”

“What can I do if it’s visible? Next time, you’ll be charging a smelling fee because I smelled your food.”

He’d provoke the enraged Jooseungtae, and when his anger subsided, he would subtly provoke him again.

In the half-year they had been classmates, the conversation they had today was much longer than all their previous conversations combined.

Then the bell rang, and Jooseungtae’s fuming retreating figure was so funny.

“Was that fun?”

Kang Taeha asked quietly.

“Huh?”

“You seemed to be enjoying yourself.”

At his words, Yigeom blinked. He hadn’t realized it because he was always with Kang Taeha. That familiarity and comfort don’t necessarily equate to enjoyment.

So, he went in search of enjoyment. He nudged Jooseungtae’s chair with his foot and asked,

“Hey, want to study together later?”

In the end, they studied together at Yigeom’s house.

For about 10 minutes, they studied properly.

The study session that Yoon Yigeom, Kang Taeha, and Jooseungtae started together didn’t end well. Jooseungtae, who had poor concentration, was the first to give up.

“Let’s stop and play. You said you usually play games.”

“Those are at Kang Taeha’s house. I don’t have game consoles at my house.”

“We can just play online games.”

At his repeated whining, Kang Taeha gave him a disapproving look.

“We agreed to study. Go home if you don’t want to.”

“…Yoon Yigeom! Do you want to study? You said you only study at school!”

“Yeah. But it’s okay. Go home if it’s too hard. We’re going to keep studying.”

A new friend was fun, but it was awkward to take his side over Kang Taeha. They weren’t that close yet.

“…That’s mean!”

Jooseungtae jumped up and stormed out like a tragic heroine. There was no time to stop him.

Yigeom rolled his pencil awkwardly.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“It’s the fault of the person who didn’t study when we agreed to study.”

“Right?”

Kang Taeha closed his book.

“Yeah. Want to stop here and go play games?”

Yigeom also put down his pencil without a second thought and went to Kang Taeha’s house to play games excitedly.

He had long forgotten about Jooseungtae.

“Yoon Yigeom! Want some snacks?”

“Weren’t you angry?”

“About what? Never mind if you don’t want any.”

“…I’ll have some.”

The next day, Jooseungtae spoke to him casually, as if he had forgotten about yesterday’s incident.

Yigeom wisely didn’t bring up yesterday’s events. In that way, subtly, they gradually became closer.

“Yoon Yigeom! Let’s go play soccer!”

“I can’t play soccer.”

“I’ll teach you. You’re smart, so you’ll understand the rules quickly.”

He stubbornly refused Jooseungtae, who was clinging to him, asking him to go out and play during lunch break.

“I know the rules, but I can’t kick the ball.”

“You’re kidding. You got a perfect score on the PE practical!”

“…Why run around when it’s hot?”

Thanks to his constitution that wasn’t easily affected by heat, summer was much better than winter, but that didn’t mean he liked the heat. He hated sweating.

“It’s sunbathing on a sunny day! And sweating it out!”

“Why would I do something so sticky?”

“That’s why your face is so pale and sickly white. You need to go out and get some sun.”

Jooseungtae said, pinching Yigeom’s cheek.

“Ow. Stop it.”

“Huh? Are you coming or not? Let’s play soccer! I made a bet with the next class for ice cream.”

“I’m not going….”

“Even if I do this? Even if I do this?”

Yigeom’s cheeks, despite his persistent refusal, became increasingly red as time passed.

“Stop it. He said he doesn’t want to go. What if he gets bruised?”

Only when Kang Taeha frowned and intervened did Jooseungtae remove his hand from Yigeom’s cheek.

“…I’ll let you off today. Next time, you have to play soccer with us!”

He left the classroom, fuming.

As always, Yigeom spent a leisurely lunch break, chatting with Kang Taeha as if nothing had happened.

Kang Taeha became noticeably quieter when he was with Jooseungtae, and Jooseungtae was also wary of him.

Yigeom didn’t particularly care about their relationship.

Frankly, he hated troublesome things.

He had a vague conviction that this wouldn’t distance him from Kang Taeha, or make him dislike him, and with Jooseungtae, if they didn’t get along, he could just end the relationship.

However, due to Jooseungtae’s persistence, their relationship continued to this day, and now, occasionally, even Kang Taeha and Jooseungtae would converse.

They were peaceful days.