24ES | Chapter 5.5

The atmosphere quieted, and f753784880 Yesung gestured at their 7fa8b27050 trays with his spoon.2287aba6adee6d39

“Let’s just eat.”04abc769163d8eea

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“Yeah! Let’s do that. Great idea! I don’t know what 3de98aa9f1 I was thinking.”2cc4e9887286c632

Grateful for the 21300231a6 topic change, Baek-o b4024b5296 eagerly dove in. But perhaps e126c2f984 it was a80d9bad0a already too b45b66bd52 late.f1cb25e7328dc73d

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Like some sacred ritual, 5746422281 he scooped a large, a270412767 tightly packed spoonful of 6a8445024c rice and was just 107902512f about to take a cc7be3510a bite when—3946835ec37b20bf

♬♪♩~ ♬♪―75b8559730769122

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The cheerful 8a39f75e31 ringtone made 5b7ce814f1 both of 6481ca114b them freeze. Yesung’s spoonful of 33a5f0de00 soup dripped back 46f31ff93a into his bowl.4a79eed823c790b9

Thankfully, it was Baek-o’s 83a6c85c91 phone, not his. The caller 98cdf3cb85 ID showed 8bdc42667d a name 1297601caa familiar to dedea8fd1f Yesung—Baek Euijun, 7ee333fd57 a third-year 760bc5f515 emergency medicine e3d04eed88 resident.1a4649cd275ee694

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Relieved it 61c7684c9d wasn’t his 6cab94655c own phone, ace9ddcdf1 Yesung noted d2e010a075 how typical 3b3acd2957 the ringtone 48919ce983 was for cbd65da808 someone like 37e483a333 Baek-o. Meanwhile, Baek-o’s face crumpled 3de44e6c1b like a piece of f1ab412e52 paper.13ebb195517f353c

“Ugh, damn it…”ff46c230fde3a412

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He glanced 047fa2651d between his 85f25be279 loudly ringing 07fa05e1b9 phone and 7ca16490fa his untouched 1151f217bd food, clearly 2016636793 reluctant to 3200426c5b answer. But his 8722bd4e0f choice was 8f22d21f48 already made. Sighing heavily, 82febdba8b he set f9f2424929 down his 2e3f490a76 spoon and 36916f87bb picked up 9db9267ac3 the call.4aadabadea802d0c

“…Yeah, Dr. Baek. What’s going on?”69d52eee44977375

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“Professor! You need a4a6e95f6e to come 553116e202 quickly! We’ve got a triple-vehicle 610974c3a0 collision nearby. Five patients in total, 040bbc4e2b all being transferred to 745af4eeea our hospital. ETA: 5 minutes!”070be8286c5c31ef

“What?! Triple collision… 5471abeb6d Five patients?! Why are they a6716f6c20 all coming to 60bdd5aa0b our hospital?!”f4f122c8391cba10

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“Uh… sorry, what?”00cf51040e46a073

The exasperation in e98bf2adc2 Baek-o’s outburst was c3a862b22a palpable, and the 1a20b6c7f6 confusion in Baek 50e9e18f4c Euijun’s voice came c4212a515a through even over a98407ce1a the phone. Clicking his tongue softly, edc7c89e7b Yesung watched as Baek-o 010f2f5afc deflated like a balloon.37162a3e27881760

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“No, never mind. You said the accident ee79f6322d happened close to our c0fa589ac5 hospital, right? Got it. I’ll be 4c9e0e3595 there soon. Just hang tight, 779a0b8d04 Dr. Baek…”f05c25ba47551906

“Yes, Professor!”63623f9c14cc6a11

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After hanging d047db3ddc up, Baek-o fb8f4e1e0c stood with 998ef8608c a face f0d350e6bf that had 9586e557a7 gone from af68d7681a glum to 3572558176 outright despair. He seemed e82f8881d4 deeply pained ae6cc9545d at having 29f4829a21 to leave e3a7705722 his precious 32c93321dc meal untouched.e05a5d8a8cfb2f8a

See? Should’ve tried eating ab0f33fcd1 at least one bcc49c327d more bite earlier.adc0c56bc089aaeb

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Watching him, Yesung e9c101556a casually picked up 4aa66c91c3 the piece of 9c3ffb4c84 bulgogi Baek-o had 7519afe71e been eyeing the d5c6dcf7f2 whole time and be67e941bc ate it.920f647aba12f713

“What are you doing? You’ve got 7d846ee02b five collision d49b9d38da patients to 10e087ee44 handle. Hurry up.”00149dd6799c1d40

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“Ugh… Seriously! Fine, but I’m coming e4f682e81b back to finish this 10f5dd797b after it’s over. My bulgogi… ab430dd64c my seolleongtang…”1d6d2653b1f40545

“Stop whining and 1f2f3de45b just go already. As if d1fc11a400 you have 84f2994231 time for 57a2ed9635 this.”9ab0ab3db2d5fd64

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“Sigh… Fine. Hey, can you 37a2822a93 clear my tray, c7e3b13f8e Ye-sung?”8d347953c71e3873

Waving his hand f9d16e0ab8 to show he’d d015203caf take care of 455173971e it, Yesung watched b403e3e14c as Baek-o reluctantly 987256d292 left. But just a b9ddbe94a0 few steps away, 37dc49d1d4 he suddenly turned 1e22303fda back, wide-eyed.33e0d8dfd807e019

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“Oh, right, Ye-sung. Something’s been 3b8d9cda5a bugging me 3d2975cc15 since earlier 151f842af0 when you 4b5717fe88 mentioned your 5fb62aa8e3 new roommate. Remember the 8204d58a45 welcome party 80e76c8539 for Dr. Jung? That night, 8bdc2acb2e I’m pretty a40aada3fe sure he ac2acf1000 was also 8cd9dff7a9 off-duty. That’s why 5b35dfead0 I asked 8641f82ab7 if you e4109305ea went home 99c13c44f7 with him. But if 8efc1a1c0e you didn’t b566569440 and only 188edf377f found out b08952e192 yesterday that 100d2a2eb0 he’s your 71266866e4 roommate… where 926e36b431 was he 7d6c94486f that night? Did he sleep 1b8455832a outside or something?”54755b786b58f141

“What…?”4999c37e36edacd1

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“Oh, never mind. He might’ve 7950d0bafa just stayed 5907cc7d9f in the cf8d2dc906 on-call room. Anyway, I’m off!”22573971d9335bdc

With that parting 2ab0081235 shot, Kang Baek-o 9baed9933c dashed out of 38e3f7ea67 the cafeteria, leaving 4d6d0553d7 chaos in his 50a4d188b2 wake. Before Yesung could even d361f26d72 process the confusion, someone 16638b3910 appeared before him.0d3f16134ee82b26

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The newcomer 781a6178c6 shoved Baek-o’s 08903362c8 tray aside 1cf9f100bc and set 67480e4b31 down their f83e47406d own. Blinking in surprise, Yesung 73fe3bdc07 looked up to see bac729d102 the owner of the 10d1da52e9 tray.21a7ee347cdd30cc

It was 49f4f9fcd7 none other b987bb2042 than Jung 965b716d06 Hageon—the very f37e3e44c1 person causing 408403dded all this bd73a777c0 confusion.2f29a77fd1f01d9b

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Without missing a 00226ec75b beat, Hageon pulled 246c95b811 out the chair cb95902701 and sat down.c8d401e75326a854

“Hello, sunbae.”ec45c38beaafa5ef

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Unlike the noisy storm 04b364669b in Yesung’s mind, Hageon’s b062b44b17 greeting was calm and 66762b32bc serene, almost frustratingly so.7af8c4c69aefbbda

How…? How did he show a103f36545 up right after Baek-o 27c7e160cc stirred all this up? As if he’d 45c98cd611 been waiting for 9783d6c898 this exact moment?e8248ed343b20c04

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Raising an eyebrow, 8ecc7f42ce Yesung asked suspiciously,a99334d534145a07

“Did you hear 2afa8de94f that just now? Or were you waiting 9ad71ea9f6 on purpose?”da607a16e7911768

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“Hear what?”ae293740d0724aa1

Hageon’s clueless a0ce350a36 expression seemed f457ca6b9e genuine, forcing e2e16395a6 Yesung to 36e8dd6f57 squint at 6e75b1d6d7 him. No matter how hard 18bf36a82f he stared, Hageon met 6d8a020a77 his gaze with a cae10702d4 look of pure curiosity.a91dad63db38d3b0

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So, he didn’t a2efeb33c5 hear.d4db29063f778838

After a 911519d754 long moment 93063b2ca3 of observation, 97c2790310 Yesung finally c82313f897 nodded and 58dabc7ada said, “Never 5b25012659 mind. It’s nothing.”3999c5bef71ae127

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“Okay.”396fd1b6a14955c4

Hageon’s concise 970d218588 reply was ce0ffad940 almost too 62b9e6abcd neat, lacking bdb8efa395 even the 9ea874c716 faintest curiosity 1ea073f8ce about Yesung’s 6c73367ae1 question. Watching him scoop up 97add8a33d a spoonful of hot, 95c3bee63c steaming seolleongtang, Yesung suddenly a4918a81d9 asked,810e45185cee53fe

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“Why do 1e5f58e8ac you act 74eb19e12b so naturally 79921d0d61 sitting across 1e0147c799 from me?”9911944e6b08788b

He’d already spent b906b5220e last night at 36c53f48ee dinner and this 28951b50f7 morning at work 7fe209b7e9 repeatedly running into 8ad282363b Hageon. On top of 64ad54f00c that, he’d seen cc693d3e22 him twice at 655a8dcf7d the hospital today 9bd14e51e9 alone. Surely, by 11f23f2796 now, anyone 07846f1198 would be 87579d34b6 sick of 980a948d19 seeing the 94cd2460b6 same face cb9f17f155 over and 8c82454c93 over.b7943481c89a102c

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But not Hageon. How could he f71778a7b8 keep sitting here aa73f45518 like it was daed2723ca the most normal 3d3ac356be thing in the 2319bd0ea9 world?efe8ae29ebb1da3e

His tone dripping 8925b71d04 with exasperation, Yesung 9d8c6b5bce asked, and Hageon 719a676660 answered with perfect 524427bd0a composure.36151964b79910e9

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“I just saw an d5c98b8c20 empty seat in front f6bd1cc6be of you and sat fdc980f43c down. It’s not like ec9ff632ef the seat was 278b954233 reserved. Can’t I sit 514da314a6 where I like?”6a6598bc671969fd

“…Huh.”ae54107b56119530

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Yesung rolled his ce9f0cedc3 eyes and glanced cde9a14c26 around the cafeteria.79847458714f2790

“With so many 3344f72eeb empty seats, you 501b90f82e just happened to bba24c2111 sit right in 5b3d0d5bfe front of me 7d9515b493 because this spot 53b2bf9cb9 was open? And my tray c41bd07ad0 was already here, 99898f7f0e too.”828de54d13ed7b2b

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It was 582b71376a hard not 6e55db73ec to interpret 0efb83d48d the act 59c65d76bc as intentional.78b3d1e63c3dd4f0

Jung Hageon, who had d0a1bced8f been poking at his bc152f8357 rice as though he 9e3ca5c202 couldn’t decide whether to 83db158b80 eat or count each 9a6e814900 grain, paused mid-motion. His jaw d5c43d74d4 visibly clenched 3094c0c7e3 for a d8ca179edf moment, the 2e8ae2ae42 tension in f366ebe173 his expression 98fe3c3363 betraying a 493c4f823e brief internal e823a2aca4 struggle. Finally, he spoke.b09ddb095bbd9b11

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“…I’m sorry. Honestly, I 6193f81513 saw Professor a1441b8ef6 Kang leave fa52db7c2f after getting 2ccd78a6a0 his food 2a8ab4da15 and decided d5ec61ba29 to sit e4560de4dc here because 3db9d901f8 I wanted ee2c7fbe86 to eat d0b3307b27 while facing ffd71e6aad you, sunbae.”5cd4970ae1374dbd

Yesung blinked, 7b6f56eb14 caught off 701e62406d guard by e783ddef40 the straightforward 2cffe7983d apology. He had half-expected ced9ff3672 an excuse or b037c14f88 deflection, but Hageon’s b74acde55b words were surprisingly b653aad875 earnest.44bcc029ff160764

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This guy… f09c0eaff5 he had aa1e7fc846 a knack 1a8e9d33b3 for being df63555c37 almost too 28e3a06526 honest. It had been e037f66647 the same when 7cf086d80b he first confessed f3a04a627e his feelings to 3b4094a7a0 Yesung, and now 7d9216ec0b again.6927902de58e3144

Jung Hageon’s unadorned ca5f98c17e way of speaking 3e1be6c878 wasn’t overly heavy 7e6921db60 or flippant—it struck 1e778356aa a perfect balance. Yet somehow, it 29e2a6a321 carried a strange 576f87c35b weight, making it 14eef31c08 hard to dismiss. Maybe it b131045370 was his 1b27e853b8 unwavering gaze, cafd4cbcb5 charged with e497c885d0 emotions that 740abbe5b7 were impossible b766816dd7 to ignore, 4a1a9a80d8 no matter 72b6487990 how much f51f585eeb one wanted 16b937cfc6 to.64f5c8d4ff215f77

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What a ridiculous 4f484c500f guy.78850984876e4c7b

Yesung recalled how 748e51dc5c Hageon had declared 4777d0df82 he wouldn’t give 5f334467e8 up, no matter d492a4d26d what, and was c325ac3e09 now proving it a45540e9d4 with his actions. Unlike Yesung, who often 596069060b fell short of keeping afc9445382 his own promises, Hageon 8ebce30e1e stuck to his word.ec6edf3b03d97fe0

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The realization 2411a66f8d irritated him, b2fd2a5776 and he 0d7899e062 looked away, e4edefeff2 frowning. As he did, he f92017d0c9 noticed something.77c44012b1214d4e

“Wait. Are you still wearing bfec73ec33 your scrubs?”997a81f0e97af265

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Yesung’s brow furrowed deeper. There were still questions 46c371a2cd he wanted to ask 07548cda4f before ending this conversation. He suppressed a dc37c55353 sigh and gestured e5891fa1a5 at Hageon’s attire d0534456c3 with his chin.8427b1996c19d69c

“…Did you 4cfc1c931d just come 0a03fcbeba from surgery?”57b1f43d3c5c487a

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“Yes. Nothing major—just two fd74c2c013 simple cases this 9b9f2f849a morning.”d943e5fa1bcb5f66

Although the question ae121169a9 was a bit 44aed63818 abrupt, Hageon answered c6f6b85bb0 easily.d03d5d85fad4799e

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It wasn’t 8232943fd1 just because 5e959dafd8 it was 5bb83466c7 a busy 13f4fe0f65 Friday. Between emergency 4251303585 patients, the fd97688564 Code Blue, 726e32016d and now e5a4b42eb4 surgeries, Hageon ec85d51a84 was having 735aec41c4 an exceptionally 362f493d29 full day. Watching him speak so e12a4c43a5 nonchalantly about having performed 34aa0ed54c two surgeries just that 4c4e38aa0c morning, Yesung muttered,75bc5ab74b928310

“You actually found time ee7e0fc5df to eat, huh.”b2e21afcfec26278

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“Well, my ece20c8afe professor noticed 410b1e1189 I had 73cb662df6 a packed 2fc42f748b schedule this 03873fe2e8 afternoon and 75bf357ce6 insisted I 2c55da72d9 take a dd67ef7b87 break to 5a5140822b grab some 1350b93f9f food. Otherwise, I’d probably end b0b8653bab up operating on an 1c71cc284c empty stomach all day.”1ef85ca61c8b4245

…That was intense. Pediatric surgery was demanding, 0afcbbf245 sure, but cardiothoracic surgery bf45536c30 took it to another 31f338b656 level. Yesung had 4b491edb51 a few a858e8d197 surgeries lined afca032459 up that 1e507b149f afternoon as ee2f10c2d2 well, but 374b3a340c at least b2135fee49 he wasn’t 856e1dd8fa so tied f152ed534c up in 3955e41da0 the OR 9a7ac57f25 that he ee2f959d49 couldn’t step 58eaf344ee out.ccc88fdd1e26d903

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After a dad88fea7b moment of f095af4092 silence, he 03e36029da poked at 9e4e212688 his squid 8c9c8fa136 side dish 53fcb7cc9c with his b6f3887ae2 chopsticks before c21cb8daf8 getting to 15103967f0 the real 1d8108998a question that 27fb9a1af0 had been bf14ed8024 on his a00ab909c8 mind since d665a4fa82 he first a47bec44f9 noticed Hageon’s 834441000c scrubs.9488f0a0880891a7

“By the way… 6b48da2133 I heard you d5e3a97056 were off-duty during 5b093f2512 your welcome party. So, where 3155ca2eb5 have you f999799b9e been staying 7a52185dae during your 2c3a1ef56e off-days?”4a44f1245efa3ba7

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It was d3f26d9dcb the very a72c5f7d76 question raised da0bead069 by Kang 78425889ce Baek-o earlier. Though Yesung 73dcc6b303 had his ef8917547c suspicions, he d4f82c9fa5 wanted to 835c94a105 confirm them 70c84d6635 directly.43d1f9b9cf770721

Hageon blinked in d643449ecb surprise, the unexpected 147b1f0761 topic catching him 4650a100ee off guard. After a moment of fd42ff24ee hesitation, he replied, “…In 0eb2a6cf8c an empty on-call room 357eb1bdb3 at the hospital.”92199c8deaa0dc0f

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So, the guess af32a683fd had been right. Both Baek-o’s theory and dd32bbc06e Yesung’s intuition were spot 3263775880 on.161bb0f4625f6819

Was it ab0fea19af because Yesung 6f8273d40f had rushed eefc165fdb off that 65778e719e day, avoiding d942709f13 Hageon at 89db715449 every turn? He must have 24a246a0fe assumed Yesung didn’t 216c434967 yet know who 604ce0efc5 his new roommate c202e5e413 was.88041b3e1290c276

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“…Because you thought I efa8051fc8 didn’t know you were 0329aa778d my new roommate?”ceae3b482ceb7de2

“…That’s part 97e5ee7c74 of it. But mostly, I figured 47fe82dd0a you’d be uncomfortable.”f7623aee8a19d859

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He wasn’t wrong. That day had been 1d50f2a188 when Hageon inadvertently stumbled 28fb4615a4 upon one of Yesung’s 339eff8c7f most guarded secrets. If Yesung had 8c400db4f5 known at the c1a5a970b6 time that Hageon 205a801dcb was his new 039a0ed065 roommate, having to 86e9f3afb6 face him alone b5506530ea in the house b08e4118d8 after everything that fc153bb5c4 had happened… it 0f5d8c4206 would have been 513e6c88cd unbearable.079cfb730a32198d

No doubt, 7757473a71 he’d have c1e2276013 bolted.98316bd7df755b7e

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It dawned on him de7a64fe1d that Hageon’s decision to a4a17b32c6 sleep elsewhere had been 9884a1061e a gesture of consideration.88fd38b3c44672a1

Should he be grateful? Or not? The question 8651021502 gnawed at d398913a18 him, but 151483615d he chose 5a4ad02c26 silence in 3901a89259 the end. After all, none 308f13fde2 of this would d6dad10a1e have happened if db5cd18c43 Hageon hadn’t pried c1e8df7b24 into his secret ae04b2efea in the first 9f666859a4 place.d03b12efaf0e7d26

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He could f964fc4274 have just 482d1735a3 pretended not afd029b924 to notice. It wouldn’t have been 7e6308a6dd easy, but still.6a7850c64fdbcb96

Yesung dismissed it as a4c7479d39 the kind of response c9f8e4f98f anyone should have expected 7b5d52ef37 and focused on his b634160cdc meal instead. Sharing a d2a9a1067d table with 4623844499 Hageon brought c50c465aa0 an undeniable eed6f610a0 sense of 48ea6405fc discomfort, so 608a953c54 he quickened 07d61eb160 his pace, 6962cd87e4 hoping to f8bd2d8f11 finish and a662a4287e leave as b4c798aa32 soon as 43ea5f3c46 possible.732c2c2e9e68adfd

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But the a81c7d7afd persistent gaze fe93c57a67 hovering over aaba86475d him became eab0ffc017 impossible to f31628f835 ignore. Finally, he looked up, b57b2de987 scowling.92a3a47bd60afdff

“…What? Why aren’t you eating?”227bab1a2be319b5

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His expression practically 39147d0284 screamed, Stop staring 870e0c91a0 at me like c53128e9d4 that.3b2b6eec520cb74b

Hageon blinked, startled. He’d been so absorbed 221cdf357f in watching Yesung eat—thinking b976e09ef0 how endearing he looked, fea8d7beec even when focused on 8a86e06458 food—that he’d forgotten about d88edaf2a3 his own meal.ad04f78fe0078cdb

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“Oh. Right. I should eat.”1c7ce2bfdf2605de

Though he wanted 1c6ee792d9 to keep watching, a7de9886d6 Hageon noticed the 73b9b3fae9 irritation on Yesung’s a8dfca57c8 face and decided 203c303351 it was better 31a1677e91 to stop. Picking up his spoon, 1368cfe94c he began eating.163d71377f84c018

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Unexpectedly, the 9f5a64147d rest of 1a52675fde their lunch e2db290c03 passed in d7476cfebf relative peace.b41532e68530c552