By the time they had finished tidying up, Hamin still hadn't returned, but the one who kept glancing at the door wasn't Haeun or Sihyun, but Haru. He looked at Hamin's carrier bag that had been left alone by the entrance, debating with himself for a bit before picking it up and putting it away in a corner. Sihyun, who was observing this, glanced at the clock, noticing it was already 12:30. It seemed like he was a bit hungry too.
"Wanna grab some food?"
"Oh, me too!"
Although the question was directed at Haru, the answer came from an unexpected source. Smoothly inserting himself into the conversation Haeun argued for an individual's freedom of choice when it comes to meals. Well, it was a statement hard to argue against.
Haeun trailed behind with a victorious smile while Sihyun went towards the door, turning the knob with a click as it opened.
"Ugh!"
Sihyun blinked at the short groan. The voice sounded familiar, and as he opened the door further, a dull thud echoed. Another low groan followed.
As he peered through the crack in the door, Hamin, rubbing his forehead as if he had bumped into something, came into view. His forehead appeared red between his long fingers, as if he had hit it against something hard.
Surely not...
Feeling a sense of unease, Sihyun peeked out the door. Hamin, who had hit his forehead twice by now, was staring back at him with icy eyes. His grip on the doorknob tightened, expressing frustration. Sihyun hadn't imagined that Hamin, who had angrily stormed out, would be standing outside the door.
"Sorry."
'Why are you here anyway?' Suppressing words that might make things more troublesome, Sihyun apologized as Hamin twisted his hair, frowning.
Sometimes in life people open doors without thinking there would be a person standing on the other side. Muttering inwardly to himself, Sihyun grabbed Haru and headed down the hallway, followed closely by Haeun while Hamin turned to go back to the room. Then, abruptly, Haeun caught Hamin's wrist.
"Let's go with Min too!"
It felt more like a command than an invitation, as Haeun forcefully dragged Hamin in their direction. The group going for food became four instead of three.
Sihyun, feeling uncomfortable with the increased number, quickened his pace. However, the people following him could easily use their long legs to keep up. Sihyun pursed his lips in frustration.
Unfortunately, the addition of members didn't stop at just four.
The Four Heavenly Kings always stuck together wherever they went.
In true webnovel fashion, people with special hair colors should stick together. Just look at how these four seemed to move as a single entity.
By the time they reached the lobby, the group had expanded to six. Sihyun looked around at Seowoo and Geonu who had joined so naturally, and Haeun, who was happily dragging along a grumpy Hamin.
They've ended with four dead weights.
Even though he tried to shake them off they keep insisting to eat together. when Sihyun walks, they walk, and when Sihyun stops, they stop. Trying to discreetly fall behind with Haru just ended up the same, the four kings led by Haeun just kept ending up behind them, of course Hamin only followed along reluctantly.
They felt like chicks following after their mom.
Constantly getting pursued was starting to annoy him to death.
Pulling along this group of young boys Sihyun could feel countless eyes on them. Many people we're interested in Haru since his performance in the placement test, and of course the heavenly kings got attention wherever they went. Even Sihyun had become well known for being Quadruple Class.
Feeling the stares of admiration mixed with jealousy, Sihyun was embarrassed to the max. He increased his pace, eager to eat something, anything. His once sluggish steps picked up speed, reaching an alarming speed.
Before entering the dining hall, he turned around and looked at the four kings. His eyes met Seowoo, who was smiling at him. He did not return it.
"We're eating separately."
"You and Haru hyung?"
"...…"
"You don't mean with us, right?"
As Haeun pointed at himself, in shock, Sihyun just gave him a glare that said 'who else would I be talking about?' Haeun lowered his eyes.
He could hear him speaking in almost a whisper. He thought that Haeun would be a bit more persistent, so he was a bit taken back by his reaction.
"That's so harsh…"
He murmured in resignation. Sihyun let out a sigh that was directed at the entire webnovel scenario, and pulled Haru along to enter the dining hall.
As they reached the restaurant, there was only one open door, yet six boys entered together. The students eating there all turned their attention to Sihyun's group, each possessing an equally impressive appearance.
An already fatigued Sihyun tried his best to ignore the stares as he scanned the dining hall. As he took in the scenery of the room he unknowingly held his breath. This place was just as fancy as the dorms, equipped with an extremely luxurious buffet.
"Wow…"
Sihyun couldn't help voicing out his true feelings, but as he looked back it seemed like he was the only one who had such a strong reaction.
He cleared his throat a bit awkwardly and turned to the buffet. The buffet spread before him was breathtaking. There must have been over 120 different dishes.
It was like a fancy buffet straight out of a movie or drama. Having never set foot at a buffet before, Sihyun hesitated. Sensing this, Seowoo moved behind him, taking his place beside Sihyun. With Seowoo on his left and Haru on his right, Sihyun, feeling annoyed, looked at Seowoo, who was watching him quietly.
"Why?"
"Just... seemed like your first time at a buffet."
"...."
"Was I right?"
Seowoo smiled when Sihyun just frowned instead of answering. Seemingly choosing food over an interrogation, Seowoo took the lead and walked ahead of him.
Seowoo seemed very proficient at this kind of thing, so Sihyun followed, albeit a bit awkwardly, with Haru after him.
Walking to the other side of the hall Sihyun discreetly mimicked how Seowoo picked up his plate and started to pick out dishes.
He didn't usually think that he had a big appetite, but upon seeing the lavishly arranged food, an odd urge to collect them emerged, quickly filling his round plate. It seemed his appetite corresponded directly to the quality of the food.
Carefully, Sihyun chose the tastiest looking dishes from Seowoo's selections and placed them on Haru's plate. As Sihyun, like a mother bird, placed sushi on his plate one by one, Haru looked a bit awkward. He also felt like he wanted to feed Sihyun, but the moment didn't feel right, so he put his tongs down. There will be more delicious food ahead.
Bam.
A couple of well-cooked pieces of meat appeared on Sihyun's plate. Looking up, he saw Seowoo smiling with tongs in his hand, shrugging his shoulders.
"I thought you might gain some weight if you eat a bit of lamb."
Seowoo's casual tone made him unintentionally glance at his arm. His arm was thin enough that it probably wouldn't be hard at all to break it, so Sihyun couldn't deny it. He looked at the lamb steak, something that he had never eaten before.
The thick, greased meat seemed appetizing, but three pieces were too much. After a brief hesitation, Sihyun snatched the tongs from Seowoo.
Now empty handed, Seowoo looked at him. Not startled, but observing his reaction, Sihyun hastily picked up one of the pieces of meat on his plate and roughly dropped it onto Seowoo's plate.
"Too much."
Uttering the words softly, he placed the meat on his plate. Seowoo couldn't help letting out a small laugh as he watched him. Walking away from the smiley crazy guy, Sihyun checked Haru and his plates before looking for a table. Luckily, a table by the window was vacant, so he walked over and called Haru.
"I'll go get something to drink."
"Oh... I, I can..."
"Just stay here. I'll be right back, don't worry."
Insisting that Haru stay put, Sihyun found what was most familiar to him among the beverages and poured two cups. He hesitated if giving Haru water would make him seem cheap, so he poured one glass out and replaced it with mango juice instead. Carbonated drinks are bad for the body, so he didn't want to give him soda if possible.
With a cup of water filled with ice and a glass of mango juice in hand, Sihyun returned to his seat but stopped in his tracks at the sight before him. His face twisted in displeasure at the scene in his view. Clearly, there were three unwelcome faces where Haru should have been alone.
"...I said we were eating separately."
Sihyun, speaking while placing the juice in front of Haru, squinted his eyes and looked at Haeun. Haeun, feigning tears, pointed with his finger to the adjacent table.
"That's why our poor Geonu is eating by himself."
"What?"
Turning his gaze from Haeun's sniffles, Sihyun noticed Geonwoo sitting alone at a table. Seeing him sitting there with no friends looked very pitiful. It made for a very lonely sight.
Confused, Sihyun looked at Haeun, smiling cheerfully. It seemed that Kang Haeun wasn't a cute guy but more of a crazy one.
Who said to eat separately? Did someone tell them to eat separately amongst themselves?
Feeling ridiculous, Sihyun let out a forced laugh as he saw Seowoo returning with plates in both hands. He placed a salad and soup in front of me, and my gaze, which had been on Haeun, turned back. 'What kind of strange courting is this?' I wondered, eyeing the smiling boy suspiciously. The boy who was nonchalantly laughing placed a fork beside the plate.
"If you eat right away, it might upset your stomach."
First, eat the soup, then have the salad.
The owner of the gentle tone took care of me meticulously. Looking over at their friend sitting all by himself, the kindness felt very hypocritical.
Right now, shouldn't you be taking care of Geonu, not me?
Swallowing words that would have been futile to spit out, I rolled my eyes. Glancing sideways, I saw Hamin looking at Haeun and Seowoo with an annoyed expression. It was a mess.
Annoyed, Sihyun's eyes turned towards Geonu. He might've felt Sihyun's eyes on him, because he stopped eating and turned around to look at him.
He had been ignoring them up until now, but now he sat with his eyebrows drooping down, looking like a puppy that had been left out in the rain. Sihyun swallowed a sigh as he looked over at the crazy guys who had no problem abandoning their friend.
Haeun was laughing at Geonu, while Seowoo was trying to urge Sihyun to eat. In the middle of all of this Hamin was diligently emptying his plate, truly demonstrating the huge appetite of a teenage boy, Sihyun half expected him to lick the plate clean.
Sihyun could feel a headache coming on. He wanted to tell them all to go over there, but he knew that they wouldn't obediently go just because he asked. He gripped his forehead. They were already eating together anyway, so Sihyun reluctantly opened his mouth and called Geonu over.
Yay! Haeun's happy shout echoed through the hall as Geonu came over.
"You should eat now, Sihyun."
Amidst this, Seowoo was still trying to make sure he ate. Sihyun let out a tired laugh.
The four heavenly kings title really didn't suit them, they were clearly just a bunch of clowns.