Main Male Lead Disqualified

“You?”

Hanbin was surprised. Jeong-hwan, who usually detested romance, was actually planning to do something romantic.

“It’s not like I want to do it either.”

“I know. Given your personality, it’s not something you’d want to do. You’re just doing it because you have to.”

Jeong-hwan glanced at Hanbin and spoke.

“But to be honest, I don’t really get it.”

Hanbin stared at Jeong-hwan, trying to figure out what he meant.

“I’ve never really felt emotions like ‘liking’ someone.”

Surprised by Jeong-hwan’s words, Hanbin asked,

“You’ve never had a girlfriend?”

“Nope.”

Jeong-hwan nodded with a blank expression. He didn’t seem to be lying. Hanbin had assumed that with Jeong-hwan’s looks, he must have had at least a couple of relationships. Finding it hard to believe, Hanbin asked again.

“You’ve never liked anyone?”

“…Maybe.”

Hanbin, who had initially widened his eyes in shock, soon changed his expression as if he understood.

“Now that I think about it, the way you talk, maybe that’s why.”

“Anyway, acting like that is hard for me to get into.”

“It’s difficult. this would be so much easier if Lee Jeong-hwan were just a bit more normal.”

Hanbin slumped in his chair, looking as if he was melting into a puddle. Jeong-hwan, who heard Hanbin’s words, laughed, finding him ridiculous.

“You’re pretty good at insulting someone right to their face.”

Jeong-hwan nudged Hanbin’s foot under the table and asked,

“From the way you’re talking, it sounds like you’ve had quite a few relationships. Am I right?”

Hanbin flinched noticeably at the unexpected question.

“O-Of course. Right now, I’m just taking a break, like a planned hiatus. Yeah.”

Hanbin awkwardly laughed and avoided Jeong-hwan’s gaze. The more he tried to lie, the longer and more incoherent his explanation became.

‘That’s such an obvious lie.’

Even if it’s not Jeong-hwan, anyone could tell just by looking at Hanbin’s reaction.

‘But why do I not feel great about this…?’

Even though he knew Hanbin was lying, he still felt strange. More precisely, it was strange that he felt strange. Whether Song Hanbin had dated a hundred people or none at all, it shouldn’t have mattered to Jeong-hwan.

“Either way, that kind of comic is different from reality.”

Jeong-hwan got up from his seat. He wondered if he was being childish, feeling annoyed at the thought that Hanbin might have more relationship experience than him.

“Wait, I haven’t told you yet!”

Hanbin grabbed Jeong-hwan, who was about to leave.

“You asked, but now you’re just going to walk away without listening?”

“Didn’t I already hear the answer?”

“Not that! You asked about the next episode title.”

Jeong-hwan looked down at Hanbin’s hand gripping his wrist. Then, he lifted his head and met Hanbin’s eyes again.

“The next episode is called ‘Can I Date in a Library?’ so….”

As their conversation dragged on, Jeong-hwan quickly shook off Hanbin’s hand. Rubbing the wrist Hanbin had grabbed and said,

“I just needed to know the title. I’ll figure out the rest myself.”

“You’ll figure it out by yourself?”

Hanbin wasn’t too convinced by Jeong-hwan’s words. Without responding, Jeong-hwan hurriedly left. Hanbin had thought they would leave together, so he stood awkwardly watching Jeong-hwan walk away.

“What is he even thinking?”

Looking at the empty space Jeong-hwan had occupied, Hanbin picked up the remaining snack bags and stood up.

***

“Should I give him some advice?”

Even just before midnight, Hanbin was still holding his phone, debating. No matter how he thought about it, Lee Jeong-hwan wasn’t the type to suddenly come up with good lines.

‘He said he’d figure it out himself, so I guess I don’t need to text him.’

There was a chance Jeong-hwan would get annoyed if he messaged him. Just as Hanbin was about to send a text, he hesitated and pressed the back button.

‘Twelve o’ clock…’

At that moment, the numbers on his phone screen changed. Hanbin blinked and suddenly felt something was different.

‘Is this… a dream already?’

To test it out, he tried moving his body, applying strength to different muscles here and there.

‘Only my eyelids and fingers can move? And this isn’t even sleep paralysis.’

He tried getting up and moving around, but it was useless. He couldn’t even access other apps or websites. He was completely stuck, forced to watch the webtoon.

‘Whatever. I just need to read the webtoon and leave a comment, then I’ll wake up.’

Hanbin opened the webtoon app and clicked on the latest episode at the top of the list.

Episode 4: [Can I Date in a Library?]

Seeing the subtitle, Hanbin frowned.

Neither Jeong-hwan nor a library suits for romance.’

The only relief was that the webtoon seemed to follow an omnibus format, meaning each episode didn’t necessarily continue from the last. Even if Jeong-hwan had messed up the previous episode, it wouldn’t affect this one. As long as he did well this time, it would be fine.

‘A library scene is predictable!’

Contrary to Hanbin’s confident declaration, Jeong-hwan was sitting in the library with a blank face.

[What am I even doing here?]

Even he found it ridiculous that he was in a library, letting out a small chuckle. The book he was holding was titled “Understanding Modern Philosophy”.

[Do I actually have to read this whole thing?]

Jeong-hwan grimaced as he turned the first page.

[Excuse me.]

Hearing a voice, Jeong-hwan looked up.

[Can I sit here?]

The female lead placed her book down across from him. Jeong-hwan stared at her with a questioning expression and asked,

[There are plenty of empty seats.]

His face clearly showed he didn’t understand why she wanted to sit there. The moment Jeong-hwan’s close-up appeared in the panel, Hanbin screamed. To make things worse, there was a tiny caption next to Jeong-hwan’s face that read, “Why bother?”

[Oh, that’s true.]

Even the female lead, instead of hesitating, simply nodded coolly and sat somewhere else, a bit away from Jeong-hwan.

[…]

Jeong-hwan ended up sitting diagonally across from her. Suddenly, he stared at her. The female lead, sensing his gaze, lifted her head.

[…What?]

[Do you want to read this?]

Out of nowhere, Jeong-hwan handed her his book. The female lead, bewildered, took it from him. Hanbin also had no idea what Jeong-hwan was thinking.

[Oh, um… Thanks. I’ll give it a read.]

At that moment, Hanbin realized why Jeong-hwan had handed over the book. After giving it away, Jeong-hwan immediately sprawled across the table, using the newly freed space to rest.

‘Are you kidding me?! He said he’d handle it himself, but he just got rid of the book to sleep comfortably!’

He wasn’t even trying to look intelligent by quietly reading. It wasn’t like he was showing off his handsome face either, he was just slumped over, displaying only the top of his head.

[Hmm.]

The female lead hesitated, then, as if making a decision, poked Jeong-hwan. He, still half-awake, slowly lifted his head.

[Hey.]

As their eyes met, Jeong-hwan slowly removed his earplugs and asked,

[What? I couldn’t hear you.]

That was the last panel.

Frustrated by the terrible development, Hanbin furiously started typing a comment.

“Lee Jeong-hwan, are you doing this on purpose?”

View all latest comment

[Summary of this episode:

Q. Can I date in a library?

Lee Jeong-hwan: No.]

***

“I didn’t wait in front of your house today, just like you asked.”

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Jeong-hwan appeared looking completely worn out. Hanbin did not look much better himself.

“Wow, you look like a mess.”

“You’re not one to talk.”

Mocking each other’s faces somehow made them feel a little more alive again. Hanbin hurriedly stepped out before the elevator doors closed.

‘This isn’t something to just laugh off. In the end, it was another day of hitting 0%. Again!’

Putting on a straight face, Hanbin stood in front of Junhwan.

“Guess what I’m about to say to you right now.”

Jeong-hwan looked down at Hanbin and replied,

“Uh… good morning?”

“Guess yours was a good one, huh? I was dying of frustration.”

Hanbin groaned as he rubbed his forehead, looking like he was about to grab Jeong-hwan by the collar at any second.

“What part of your action did you do, like a lead male character, huh?”

“Nagging me first thing in the morning? That’s sweet.”

Jeong-hwan plugged one ear and started walking away. Hanbin followed close beside him, berating him as they walked.

“You said you figure it out something.”

“Yeah, I tried and realized I could not do it alone.”

“What on earth you tried?”

“I tried, okay? That was me trying.”

The more he talked to Jeong-hwan, the more Hanbin felt like he was talking to a wall.

‘Wasn’t he the one who said this was about his future? Why is he so laid-back now?’

If Hanbin had been in Jeong-hwan’s shoes, he would’ve copied cheesy lines from dramas and thrown them around shamelessly.

“Didn’t I tell you to practice being nice to people? Did you even try?”

“Not really. I didn’t have anyone to practice with.”

“Then you can practice with me.”

Jeong-hwan stopped in his tracks and looked at Hanbin. Hanbin spoke with a confident tone.

“I’ll teach you. If I show you, you can do it, right?”

Hanbin wasn’t entirely thrilled about it, but he figured this might be the only way. Jeong-wan stared at him for a moment.

‘He’s really going that far? But… why?’

He couldn’t figure out what Hanbin was thinking. After a short pause, Jeong-hwan scratched the back of his head and answered,

“Well, I guess that depends on how good the teacher is.”