Dae glanced at his phone and blinked. "Damn, it's already 3 PM. Time really flies when you're button-mashing." He rolled his shoulders. "Since I rarely get breaks from residency, how about we actually go outside? Make the most of having a whole day together."

​Jin ah cracked her body, a series of satisfying snaps heard from her back. "Right, let's ge—" Her stomach growled, a loud, undeniable rumble that cut her off mid-sentence.

Both of them froze.

Dae's stomach answered with an equally embarrassing rumble.

They stared at each other for a beat, then burst into laughter.

​"I'll turn off your PS2 while you get ready," Jin ah said.

​"Ah, no need," Dae replied. "All I need is my jacket."

​Jin ah stared at Dae, then glanced down. Dae looked down at his shorts and T-shirt, then grimaced. "Right. Pants. Definitely need pants for public consumption."

"Take your time, loser," Jin-ah teased, already moving to pack up the gaming equipment.

“Loser?! I just lost 10 times!” 

“Uh, huh. And combined with our daily game before?”

“....Damn you”

Minutes later, Dae emerged properly dressed in jeans and a bomber jacket. They took the elevator down to street level and wandered into the bustling heart of Mapo District, where the afternoon crowd was thick with office workers grabbing late lunches and students killing time between classes.

After demolishing their food at a nearby stall, they found themselves walking past Jin-ah's workplace. The ramyeon shop sat dark and quiet, its "Closed Mondays" sign barely visible through the window.

"Man, What a shame," Dae said, sighing dramatically. "I was hoping to sweet-talk Minji noona into making us her special broth."

"If the shop were open, you'd be at the hospital and I'd be working," Jin-ah pointed out. "We'd never see each other."

​"Yeah," Dae agreed.

​Jin ah suddenly paused, her gaze spotted a familiar figure standing forlornly in front of the closed shop. Even with the medical mask, messy hair, and oversized hoodie, she recognized him immediately. Dae noticed her stop.

​"Huh, Jin ah?"

"Is that Jang Beom Seok?" she muttered to herself. "Huh, he really has become a regular. But coming at this time, and on a Monday... he must have forgotten." A part of her felt a twinge of something—pity? amusement?—at the sight of him looking so lost.

​Dae squinted as well. "Jang Beom Seok? Is that the name of the one you called 'generic'?"

​"Yeah, him," she confirmed.

​"Wait, seriously? "That's him? The idol fanboy?" Dae studied the figure with obvious curiosity. "He really does look like he's trying hard to be invisible."

​Jin ah ignored him and walked toward Beom Seok, with Dae following behind her. As she approached, Beom Seok visibly flinched. His eyes, though magnified by his glasses, widened behind the mask in a flicker of surprise. He was clearly startled to be recognized, especially in his disguise.

"Didn't expect to see you during daylight hours," Jin-ah said by way of greeting.

Beom Seok seemed to collect himself, his voice a carefully modulated low tone. "I... had some free time. Thought I'd try my luck. I guess I should have checked the schedule."

“Mondays are our day off," she confirmed, then gestured toward Dae. "This is my friend, Kim Dae Bin. We were just wandering around."

​Dae gave a polite nod, his grin still playing on his lips. "Nice to meet you. So, you're the medical mask guy who actually popular at college but the one who needs a full disguise just to eat ramyeon in peace?”

Something flickered across Beom Seok's expression—annoyance? Wariness? "Something like that."

"She mentioned you're into that idol group... BTSB?" Dae's tone was conversational, but Jin-ah caught the hint of curiosity, “Not that I know anything about them."

Beom Seok went very still.

Sensing the awkwardness she’d inadvertently created, Jin-ah jumped in. "Since you came all this way for nothing, want to join us? We were just heading to the arcade."

"Yeah," Dae added, his expression softening slightly. "Anyone who has to hide their interests probably knows what it's like being an outsider. Might as well stick together."

"Outsider?" Beom Seok repeated quietly.

He glanced down at his wrist, a quick, almost subconscious check of a watch with a sleek, minimalist face that looked far more expensive than any student should own. He nodded. "I have some time. Sure."

As they started walking together, Dae deliberately fell back to walk beside Jin-ah, lowering his voice.

"Jin-ah," he murmured, "I don't think this guy is just some popular college student."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at the details. That watch? I'd bet my medical license it's a luxury brand. And look at the way the hoodie sits. There's a dress shirt underneath—you can see the cuff peeking out. That's not off-the-rack; the fabric is too fine, the cut too precise." Dae's medical training had honed his eye for minute details. "This isn't a disguise to avoid attention. This is someone with serious wealth and specific tastes trying to blend into a world he doesn't belong to."

Jin-ah's eyes widened as the pieces clicked together with a new, startling clarity. The expensive subtle accessories, the impeccable grooming even under the disguise, the practiced way he carried himself despite the slouched posture...

"You think he's a chaebol heir?"

"Rich family, private education, the works," Dae confirmed. "Which would explain the disguise. Chaebol kids can't exactly wander around freely, especially if they're into something their family might consider... beneath their status."

Jin-ah glanced ahead at Beom Seok, who was walking with a careful, measured grace that now seemed less like a nervous habit and more like a lifetime of training, and felt her understanding of him shift entirely. The nervous energy, the deep need for anonymity, the way he seemed both utterly confident and completely out of place—it all crystallized into this new theory.

"No wonder he looked so shocked when I called him generic," she whispered. "He probably never hears anything but compliments."

"Probably not," Dae agreed, though his tone was a complex mix of sympathy for a fellow outsider and ingrained suspicion of the privileged. "Let's see what the arcade brings.”