Jinwook kept staring at his phone. Whenever an alert sounded, he rushed to check his phone only to be disappointed. He grumbled.

“Why isn’t she calling?”

Then he looked at the time and sighed.

“This is driving me crazy.”

He hadn’t been this nervous even at the Cannes Film Festival. Yet now he seemed to have staked his life on a single phone call. Should he call first? No. With Soyu’s personality, if she said she would call, she would. Calling her first might annoy her.

“How long do I have to wait……”

As he lay on the bed glaring at his phone, the door burst open and Taeseop entered.

“Let’s go. Soyu called.”

For a moment, Jinwook was dumbfounded.

“What?”

“Soyu contacted us.”

“She called you?”

“Yes.”

“Why you and not me?”

“What’s the problem? It doesn’t matter who she called. It’s close by. Let’s go.”

As Taeseop left, Jinwook’s face reddened. D*mn… She called Taeseop instead of me? Shouldn’t she have called me? Jinwook’s ears were red as he left the room.

When he exited his room, Hyunwook was also ready to leave. Jinwook asked.

“Should we take the car?”

“No. We can walk. It’s nearby.”

Hyunwook said.

“Does she really live nearby?”

“Seems like it.”

From their conversation, Jinwook concluded that she did indeed live nearby. Wasn’t her child’s kindergarten and company close too?

“Let’s go.”

The three men left the house and walked quickly. At first, Jinwook hurried his steps, and seeing this, Hyunwook walked even faster, until they found themselves racing down the hill. Walking leisurely behind them, Taeseop said calmly.

“Don’t run. You’ll get hurt.”

Taeseop wore a fatherly smile as he watched the two.

The meeting place was a small café not far from their house. Jinwook’s eyes searched for Soyu. When he spotted her sitting by the window, his eyes narrowed. So you called Taeseop, huh? I won’t let this slide, Jang Soyu. Seething, Jinwook rushed into the café and stood firmly in front of her.

Soyu looked up from her phone.

“You came early?”

“Why did you call Taeseop instead of me? Shouldn’t you have called me?”

Despite Jinwook’s interrogation, she didn’t even raise an eyebrow.

“Sit down.”

“What?”

“If you’re not going to sit, leave.”

Jinwook quickly sat down opposite her, and Taeseop and Hyunwook entered as well. Taeseop smiled and said.

“You came early.”

“Yes. You guys came earlier than expected too.”

“We’re close by. Are you too?”

“Yes.”

Jinwook narrowed his eyes and looked at Soyu with displeasure as she spoke softly to Taeseop. Hyunwook naturally pulled up a chair and sat at the side, asking. Old habits die hard—their seating arrangement was the same as in the past. Hyunwook asked.

“Where’s your house?”

“Up the hill.”

“Oh? We’re in that area too. We might be neighbors.”

“Aren’t you guys in the wealthy area?”

“Yes. What about you?”

“We’re across from the wealthy area.”

This neighborhood was known for being affluent, but it coexisted with an underdeveloped area across a small road. Taeseop asked.

“What about Yeoul?”

“He’s reading books with my mom.”

“He must take after you. He must be smart too.”

“I guess so.”

Jinwook, unable to join the conversation between the three, anxiously shook his leg. Am I invisible? Why aren’t they talking to me? She’s so warm with the others but cold as ice to me. Taeseop asked.

“Have you had lunch?”

“Yes.”

“Should we have dinner with your mother tonight?”

“What for?”

“Just because I want to. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen your mother. The last time was in high school, right?”

Hyunwook also nodded.

“That’s right. It’s been thirteen years?”

“Wow. Time has flown by.”

“Everyone’s getting older except me. You’re all uncles now, uncles.”

At that moment, Soyu cut in.

“You guys haven’t changed at all.”

The three men looked at her simultaneously and asked the same question.

“What do you mean?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you mean?”

Her laughter burst out at their reaction. The three men were stunned by her bright laughter.

‘She laughed.’

‘She can laugh after all.’

‘She’s pretty when she laughs.’

Their inner thoughts were identical. After laughing for a while, Soyu’s eyes softened as she said.

“You’re really exactly the same as before. That’s a relief.”

The three men’s faces reddened at her words. Hyunwook stood up and asked.

“Everyone wants coffee, right?”

Soyu said.

“I’ll have iced tea.”

“Okay.”

Jinwook also said.

“I want a peach smoothie.”

Hyunwook immediately frowned.

“Just drink coffee. Smoothies are expensive.”

“Wow. You make good money but you’re so stingy. Buy me a smoothie!”

“Drink something simple when you’re not even paying.”

“Smoothie!”

Hyunwook shook his head and asked Soyu with a smile.

“You said iced tea, right?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Suddenly, not just Hyunwook but Taeseop and Jinwook also looked at her in surprise. Soyu asked.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. You… you never used to say thank you before.”

“Did I?”

“Yes. This is the first time I’ve heard you say thank you.”

“I must have been garbage. Thank you. I’ll say it more often from now on.”

Hyunwook’s face flushed as he smiled. Just then, Jinwook stood up and said.

“I’ll go buy them.”

“All of a sudden?”

“Yes. Say thank you to me too.”

Soyu frowned.

“You really haven’t changed at all.”

“People die when they change.”

“Don’t you need to change a bit to function in society?”

“I eat well and live well without changing. I’ll go get the drinks.”

As Jinwook went to the counter, Hyunwook sat down in his chair with a “Huh.”

“I never thought I’d drink coffee bought by Kim Jinwook.”

“Jinwook has changed too.”

At Taeseop’s words, Soyu asked.

“Has he changed?”

“He used to just talk big in the past.”

Hyunwook agreed.

“Right. Jinwook was like that. He consistently just talked big.”

Soyu said.

“He bought things for me.”

Taeseop and Hyunwook’s faces immediately contorted.

“That bastard bought you things?”

“Yes. Quite often.”

“Wow! Kim Jinwook, you opportunist!”

“He always mooched off us!”

Soyu laughed. Meeting old classmates after so long felt like returning to childhood. Jinwook waited at the counter and brought back the drinks on a tray. He paused when he saw his friends’ hostile expressions.

“What. Why.”

“I hear you used to buy things for Soyu?”

“Huh?”

“In high school. You always mooched off us but were generous with Soyu?”

“What’s the big deal? Should I have mooched off her too?”

“No. Why only Soyu?”

“It would have been embarrassing to mooch off her too.”

Taeseop and Hyunwook looked bewildered by his answer, which somehow missed the point.

“Soyu, iced tea, right?”

“Yes.”

Jinwook shot her an expectant look. Soyu asked.

“What?”

“Aren’t you going to say thank you to me?”

“Do I have to?”

“You’re not going to?”

“Are you a child? Even Yeoul doesn’t act like this.”

As Jinwook’s face turned red, Soyu said calmly.

“I hate childish men.”

Jinwook’s face grew even redder, while Taeseop and Hyunwook were dumbfounded. Hyunwook urgently asked.

“What does that mean?”

“Does it need to mean something?”

“It’s strange. Is there something between you and Jinwook?”

“Should there be?”

Only then did Hyunwook relax and laugh.

“I thought for a moment that you and Jinwook had something going on.”

Jinwook looked at Soyu with complicated eyes. Taeseop asked.

“Are you feeling well?”

“I’m healthy.”

“How’s work?”

“At first, it was tough doing everything alone, but now we have more employees and make a decent living.”

“You’ll be good at anything. I’ll support you.”

“Thank you. Have you all been well?”

“We’ve been good.”

Hyunwook also said.

“When did we get so old? It feels like we were in high school just yesterday.”

“You guys are really exactly the same as before.”

“We’re probably still immature. Are you seeing anyone?”

“What about you guys? Are you?”

“If we were dating, would we be living together?”

“Ah. You said you live together. All three of you?”

Taeseop said.

“Hyunwook and I have been living together for a while, but I’m not sure about Jinwook.”

Soyu looked at Jinwook and asked.

“Why not you?”

Hyunwook answered for him.

“He says there’s a ghost in his house.”

Soyu’s eyes widened, and she burst into laughter, causing Jinwook’s face to turn red. He glared at Hyunwook and moved his lips.

“Loose-lipped jerk.”

“You said it yourself. That a ghost stares down at you whenever you sleep.”

“Did you have to blurt that out?”

Soyu smiled and said.

“That can happen. I sometimes had sleep paralysis too.”

“You too?”

“Yes. It happened after my father passed away when things were tough. Jinwook must have something troubling him too.”

Taeseop and Hyunwook were surprised. At least the Jang Soyu they knew had absolutely no capacity for empathy. Unlike the two, Jinwook looked somewhat uncomfortable. Taeseop said.

“You’ve changed.”

“You have to change to survive. Looking back now, I was a prickly, self-centered person. I only realized that after my father died and I became the head of the family. I found I couldn’t do anything with that personality.”

The three men’s faces were filled with sympathy at Soyu’s calm words. Hyunwook said seriously.

“Still, it would have been fine if you had continued with that personality. This Jang Soyu is unfamiliar.”

“I have a child. That kind of personality isn’t good for children.”

Jinwook asked.

“Does Yeoul have a good personality?”

“Yes. Unlike me. He’s cheerful, bright, and has a talent for humor.”

“He must be smart if he takes after you.”

“Does he take after me… Well, he’s already learned to read Korean.”

The three men were surprised. Taeseop asked.

“Isn’t he four?”

“Yes. But I was the same at that age.”