It’s a best-friend V-log, but we’re not actually best friends - Chapter 24

“Because of you, Baek-Ha is even doing broadcasts now. I really never imagined it. In fact, I even had a serious talk with Baek-Ha’s father.”

“What kind of talk?”

Eun-Sol, whose gaze had briefly followed her elegant hand as it slowly pulled away, asked back. As if he already knew what his mother was about to say, Min Baek-Ha quietly kept grilling meat and moving it diligently onto their plates.

“You know Baek-Ha’s aunt in France, right? Since he still isn’t fully recovered, and after what happened in middle school… we were actually thinking of sending him abroad.”

“Ah… abroad.”

The topic of Min Baek-Ha’s aunt, who worked in France as a psychiatrist, was something his mother brought up from time to time. The kind of panic Baek-Ha had now was the type most prone to relapse. Still, with steady management and treatment, the chances of relapse dropped significantly.

Studying abroad would probably be a slightly better option for Baek-Ha.

Thinking that, Eun-Sol turned his head. His eyes suddenly met Baek-Ha’s as he drank water.

Noticing Eun-Sol’s puzzled look as he stared at him, Baek-Ha let out a faint sigh.

“I said I didn’t want to go. I can get treatment in Korea too, and I’ve gotten a lot better now, so why would I go all the way to where Aunt is?”

Eun-Sol had never seen him frown in front of his mother before, but Baek-Ha unusually narrowed his brows. At that, his mother replied with an exasperated little laugh.

“Oh my? Are you the only one who gets to decide you’ve gotten a lot better? Honestly, you’re ridiculous. Sol-ah, right?”

Min Baek-Ha’s mother looked at Eun-Sol, clearly asking for agreement. Before Eun-Sol could do more than part his lips, Baek-Ha stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth and said sharply,

“Now I’m even doing broadcasts with Sol, so there’s nothing to worry about anymore. And…”

Baek-Ha glanced at Eun-Sol, whose cheeks were puffed out like a hamster’s. Then he finished his sentence.

“What would I even do there by myself? I don’t want to go.”

Eun-Sol looked bewildered. With a helpless sigh, Baek-Ha’s mother burst out laughing.

“You really like Sol so much.”

Mid-chew, Eun-Sol froze.

Because in that instant, the posts mentioned in the community flashed through his mind like lightning. Tilting his head, Baek-Ha asked,

“What, does it taste bad?”

“Did it burn? Our Baek-Ha really can’t grill meat. He won’t make the number one husband material at this rate.”

“…I didn’t burn it.”

At his mother’s words, Baek-Ha muttered lowly, the corners of his eyes drooping. Eun-Sol hurriedly started chewing again and shook his head.

“N-no! It’s good!”

“Really? That’s a relief. Anyway, now that you’re even broadcasting with Baek-Ha, and since it really does seem like he’s getting better, I guess we should keep watching for a while longer.”

Baek-Ha’s mother said it calmly as she handed Eun-Sol a ssam. Baek-Ha still looked dissatisfied, but since he apparently had nothing to say back, he kept his mouth shut. After carefully chewing and swallowing even the wrap his mother gave him, Eun-Sol smiled and met her eyes.

“It’ll be okay. There are more people who like Baek-Ha, and it’s not like he’s doing it in front of people in person, it’s just chat…”

“Oh my? Sol-ah, I know that too. I watched you two during the announcement broadcast, you know?”

“……?”

“……?”

Eun-Sol and Baek-Ha both turned to look at each other. Their eyes met in midair. Both of them had their eyes wide open like complete idiots. Judging by Baek-Ha’s face, it seemed he hadn’t known either. Looking at the two of them, his mother burst into laughter.

“You two have the exact same expression? Even if I’m strict about it, I’m still a businessman’s wife. Did you really think I wouldn’t know that much?”

Still dazed, Eun-Sol and Baek-Ha looked at each other again at the same time. Baek-Ha’s mother placed another piece of meat onto each of their plates and cheered them on.

“Baek-Ha and Sol. I’m rooting for you two. It’ll definitely go well, and Baek-Ha, you’ll be able to switch back to acting too.”

“…….”

“Baek-Ha’s father was so happy. Honestly… when I was talking to him on the phone yesterday, I thought I’d die from how loud he was. He was shouting that much.”

Baek-Ha’s mother looked happier than Eun-Sol had ever seen her.

“Really?”

“Of course! Yesterday, goodness…”

As Eun-Sol listened to her gentle voice and moved his spoon, his hand brushed against Baek-Ha’s hand beside him.

Startled, Eun-Sol flinched and squinted one eye slightly. Baek-Ha’s gaze landed on him.

“What, static?”

“Ah… no. It’s nothing. Just…”

It felt like some kind of current had passed through them.

Was this also because he was an omega and Min Baek-Ha was a dominant alpha?

***

After eating with Min Baek-Ha’s mother, Eun-Sol went into midterms without fully realizing the strange emotion that kept tickling at the inside of him.

During exam period, he and Baek-Ha naturally spent their time apart studying on their own, and in the meantime Eun-Sol’s head was filled with nothing but exam prep.

Thankfully, they had already announced in the notice broadcast that it was exam season, so they were able to take a break from livestreams and videos. Since both of them were actual students, none of their subscribers criticized them for it.

And so, while Eun-Sol and Min Baek-Ha spent several days half-dead from the aftermath of midterms, the views and subscribers on the uploaded video steadily kept rising until they neared 100,000.

“Ah… freedom.”

“…Ha….”

On the last day of exams, Eun-Sol and Min Baek-Ha both lay slumped over their desks in exactly the same way, letting out long sighs.

“Wasn’t math seriously hard this time?”

Turning only his head, Eun-Sol asked Baek-Ha. He had studied hard during exam period, so he didn’t really have regrets, but the difficulty of the math test had almost driven him insane. With dark circles hanging nearly down to his nose, Baek-Ha lazily blinked and answered.

“It was so hard I thought I’d die. What did you put for number 2?”

“I got super confused whether it was 2 or 4. I kept wavering, but I think I put 4?”

“Ah… I put 2. Guess I got it wrong.”

Baek-Ha slowly pushed himself upright. At nearly the same time, Eun-Sol sat up too and let out a huge yawn. From the desks in front of them, Kim Soo-Yeon and Yoon Chang-Soo suddenly turned around.

“Hey, you guys are about to hit 100K, huh?”

As happy as if it were her own business, Kim Soo-Yeon said it to Eun-Sol. Still not fully recovered from the exam they had just finished, Eun-Sol only nodded vaguely. Sleep he hadn’t been able to catch up on clung heavily to his slowly moving eyelids. Beside Kim Soo-Yeon, Yoon Chang-Soo took the phone the class president handed him and muttered enviously for a while, then suddenly blurted out,

“Min Baek-Ha’s bait in that first broadcast was insane though.”

“Right? Even I was shocked watching it. The community was going crazy. Did you two plan to do that? Like a show couple?”

Yoon Chang-Soo grinned as he said it, and Kim Soo-Yeon nodded in agreement.

Closing his eyes a little, Eun-Sol flopped back down onto his desk and waved one hand weakly.

“What do you mean show couple. Stop talking nonsense.”

Kim Soo-Yeon and Yoon Chang-Soo’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as they looked like they were about to ask something else, but at that moment the class president stood in front of the podium and started briefly explaining the upcoming sports festival.

“Hey, guys. Sorry. I know you all want to go home fast, so I’ll explain this really quick and tell you the answer, okay?”

The class president said, tapping the podium with his hand. The students, who had all been talking about the difficulty of the exams, turned their attention to him at once.

“Yeah, yeah… please hurry. I’m dying. Was that really first-year difficulty?”

“Math was hard as hell. It’s gonna rain.”

“No, just let us go home already. What’s there to even say? If it’s boring, then screw it, whatever.”

Grumbling, the students still returned to their seats. Eun-Sol and Min Baek-Ha lay over their desks like zombies, resting their chins on top. The class president began in an almost apologetic tone.

“You know how before exam period, the class reps picked the class shirts… right?”

“Ah, right. I think that happened. Didn’t they say our class shirt overlapped a lot this year, so we had to settle it with rock-paper-scissors?”

Kim Soo-Yeon’s voice from the front carried a little loudly. At that, students from all over started throwing questions at the class president. Wearing a sympathetic expression, he answered gently,

“We got military outfits. For sports day, everyone bring a black shirt and send your size in the class group chat.”

At the same time, Eun-Sol and Min Baek-Ha looked at each other and let out disbelieving breaths. Exchanging a glance, they thought the exact same thing.

That it sounded like the perfect thing to get roasted alive in during a sports festival where they also had to run around.