The Probability of Becoming a Couple with Your Beloved

Due to the sudden appearance, Hangeom was greatly startled and stepped back. Seeing the face under the sensor light in front of the building, he froze.

“H-Hanso hyung?”

“Wow, you haven’t changed at all. You’re the same as when I last saw you. You haven’t even grown a centimeter.”

The man, patting Hangeom’s shoulder, spoke loudly.

“H-hyung hasn’t changed either. Still as noisy as ever… But what are you doing here? How did you know where I live?”

“How did I know?”

Hanso smirked.

“I asked auntie, and she told me.”

“Mom?”

Hanso nodded and began rummaging in his pocket. He seemed to be looking for cigarettes, but seeing an empty pack, he clicked his tongue.

“By the way, aren’t you happy to see your hyung?”

“Seriously, you’re n-not my real brother. We don’t have a drop of common blood.”

“Why ruin the atmosphere.”

The well-built man with a short sporty haircut standing in front of Hangeom was called Baek Hanso. They weren’t close, and certainly not family, but they were connected by rather complicated relationships.

When Hangeom had just entered high school, his parents divorced. His father left for abroad immediately after the divorce, and Hangeom, naturally, stayed to live with his mother. Before he moved to the second year of high school, his mother brought a man she was going to marry. He had a son a year older than Hangeom, and this was Baek Hanso.

So they lived as a family of four until coming of age, after which Hangeom, as soon as he entered university, left that house. Or rather, he was almost kicked out, made to feel like a burden. He didn’t communicate with his mother except for receiving money for living and tuition, and they had no separate contacts. Naturally, the same applied to his stepfather, and he wasn’t particularly close with his son Hanso either.

Hanso, who had always only had fun, surprisingly passed the entrance exams and last year entered a university in the province. The last time they saw each other was at a family dinner before Hanso left for the province to his rented apartment.

“So why did you come? Hyung, aren’t you in the middle of a semester now?”

“Ah, I dropped out.”

“What?”

“That hole, damn it, it’s not called a hole for nothing. If I had stayed there, I would have only become an idiot. So I just dropped out and came back.”

Hangeom completely didn’t understand such a rash act, but he didn’t want to interfere in someone else’s life.

Moreover, Hangeom, who often observed Baek Hanso’s usual delinquent behavior, wasn’t particularly surprised.

“Okay… Well, you know what you’re doing.”

“Hangeom, by the way, do you have money?”

After the unwanted address came words that made Hangeom start to understand why he came to Seoul and came here.

“Where would I h-have money from?”

“You’re really bad at lying. Hey, do you think I don’t know? Auntie sends you money every month. If you think about it, it’s my father’s money, isn’t it?”

Hangeom moved his lips. He wanted to object, but in fact, there was nothing wrong in Hanso’s words. The truth was that he received money from his mother, whom he didn’t even see, and that his mother, who didn’t have much economic opportunity, could regularly transfer this money only thanks to his stepfather.

“Listen, I told you I dropped out of school of my own will, and my father got angry and stopped giving me pocket money. Huh?”

When Hangeom was silent, not saying a word, Hanso’s face became even more threatening than before.

“You know my father loves me, right? What will happen if I tell him to stop giving you money?”

“Hyung… What’s wrong with you. Y-you’re still as mean…”

Hanso firmly grabbed Hangeom’s shoulder. Hangeom involuntarily shrank from the approaching hand. He gritted his teeth from the force with which veins stood out on the back of his hand.

“Alright. Even I understand that’s too low. Let’s do it like before?”

Hangeom’s eyes trembled slightly.

“…O-okay. I’ll give it. How much do you need?”

“Wow. My little brother, you’re easy to deal with. Let’s not do it here, it’s late already, let’s go upstairs. Although it’s March, it’s still cold at night, right?”

Hangeom wanted to say.

That this money he receives on the condition that he alone left that house where you, your father, and my mother live together. That this is fair money, promised to him when he was kicked out.

But Hangeom, not wanting unnecessary conflicts and worse developments, could only remain silent. Hanso seemed to be in a good mood and, putting his arm around Hangeom’s shoulders, dragged him inside.

As they were entering through the glass door, suddenly a sound like footsteps was heard from behind the alley. Hangeom turned around, but there was nothing there, maybe he had imagined it.

“Wow, you live in a place like this? It’s hard to find such an old studio apartment nowadays.”

Hanso, who finally got into the apartment, was looking around Hangeom’s room and chuckling.

“Hyung, I transferred the money.”

Hangeom’s hand lifelessly tapped on the phone screen. Actually, although he received living expenses from that house, together with tuition it wasn’t such a large amount. So he tried to somehow get a scholarship. Only by saving on everything could he live more or less freely.

He thought about part-time work, but he wasn’t at all sure he could combine it with studying. If he lost his scholarship because of this, it would be really bad, so he considered it only as a last resort.

“Oh, thanks.”

Hanso, chuckling, sat down on the floor in the living room. Checking the account, he looked very pleased.

“Ah, aren’t you leaving?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, I need to go. I need to, but… Hangeom, maybe you’ll let me stay overnight just for today? It’s late already, you wouldn’t kick out your heavenly hyung, would you?”

“I told you we’re not blood relatives, so you’re not…”

Ah, right. When Hanso jerked threateningly, Hangeom stepped back.

“A-alright… Okay.”

“I’ll make ramen.”

The already cramped studio apartment. Hangeom, thinking that he wouldn’t be able to sleep on the bed tonight, silently entered the bathroom, ignoring Hanso who was complaining that there was only this brand of ramen.

∞ ∞ ∞

Hangeom stared at the kiosk in the student cafeteria for a long time. He was staring at the screen so intently, as if having a staring contest, and there was a reason for this. Due to unexpected expenses, his living budget was literally in a state of emergency.

The culprit of all this, who suddenly appeared yesterday, ended up taking even the apartment owner’s bed. Moreover, he made noise all night playing games on his phone, so Hangeom, despite the alcohol he had drunk, barely slept. He thought about what would happen if he didn’t leave, but Hanso left this morning.

“Ugh, how can you live in such a cramped apartment? I’m leaving.”

He said this, looking around Hangeom’s room, which he considered a quite decent apartment, as if looking at some insect.

“Little brother, see you again?”

Although the last words were worrying, Hangeom was grateful just for the fact that he left.

“Hangeom?”

While he was so diligently having a staring contest with the kiosk, Kang Yubin’s face suddenly appeared in front of the screen, coming from who knows where.

“Huh? Hello.”

Confused Hangeom, greeting him, looked around. And indeed, Wonhyeok was behind him too.

“Did you get home well yesterday?”

“Yes.”

“What are you doing here? Choosing what to eat? Try this. It’s the most delicious in our university.”

The menu that Kang Yubin chose, supposedly helping, was none other than a set lunch with cheese tonkatsu for a whole 8000 won. He also suggested udon, saying it was a good choice after yesterday’s alcohol. This dish also cost 6000 won, as it included tempura.

“Ah, actually I have… a meeting.”

Hangeom, who had previously hesitated whether to eat even the cheapest dishes he usually ate, awkwardly smiled and stepped back. When his gaze met Wonhyeok’s, he even tilted his head and almost ran out of the cafeteria.

Hangeom bought one triangular kimbap at the university store and headed to the club room. Coming here, he somehow felt calmer, as if he had found a spiritual home. Maybe because of the smell of old books?

Since it was lunchtime, as expected, there was no one in the club room. Hangeom lifelessly opened the package and bit into the dry rice. Thinking that he would have to make do with this for a while, he was finishing the kimbap when suddenly the door opened sharply, and Wonhyeok entered.

“Uh… senior?”

Wonhyeok stared intently at Hangeom, holding the triangular kimbap wrapper, with an impassive face.

“You said you had a meeting. But there’s no one here?”

“Ah, that…”

A feeling of shame washed over him. While Hangeom couldn’t say anything and just scratched his head, Wonhyeok resolutely approached.

“So there’s no meeting? Come with me somewhere.”

“What? What about senior Yubin?”

“He said he’s not coming.”

Come out quickly. Following the hurrying Wonhyeok, Hangeom hastily gathered his bag and diligently walked after him. Passing through the back gate of the university and walking a bit more, they came to none other than a hangover soup restaurant.

Hangeom shifted his gaze from the restaurant sign to Wonhyeok. He had only said they would go somewhere together, but didn’t say they were going to eat, so naturally, Hangeom was surprised.

“We drank yesterday, so we need to eat hangover soup. Eat with me, don’t you want to?”

Wonhyeok asked in a slightly subdued voice.

“No. Of course, I want to!”

Hangeom waved his hands and shook his head. Wonhyeok, as usual, went ahead and entered the establishment first.

“Senior, did something unpleasant happen to you?”

Both yesterday and when they just ran into each other, Wonhyeok, unlike usual, didn’t smile once. His voice was also, how to say, a bit cold. Of course, Hangeom liked this Wonhyeok too. After all, even a cold senior was very handsome.