NOVEL NEXT chapter 27
There was nothing to say to that.
On a normal day, he would have stopped before burning it that much, but he’d been in too good of a mood this morning and ended up overcooking it.
The only survivor was the yolk sitting lonely in the center—an even sadder sight. Still, at least he hadn’t managed to break it. Yoon Hyuk, whose eyes had gone cold, let out a deep sigh.
If you’re going to cook like this, just stop bragging about taking cooking lessons.
Technically, complaining when someone cooked for you was bad manners, but after everything he’d been through, he couldn’t help it. For weeks, the man had been calling him after every class to gush about what dish he’d made, so Yoon Hyuk had actually believed he might have improved.
“I should’ve known back when you started cooking people, not food.”
Improved, his ass—today was worse than ever.
Unable to bring himself to eat the charred parts, Yoon Hyuk made a decision.
Just eat the yolk.
Touching the whites—no, the blacks—looked like a fast track to a lung cancer diagnosis. And he didn’t even smoke. That would’ve been insult on top of injury.
He stood up to grab a spoon, thinking a fork might break the yolk—but then something felt off. Normally, this guy would be whining by now about how it was a “spoiler,” or how he’d worked hard and didn’t deserve scolding. But the unusually quiet atmosphere made his senses prickle.
Realizing it too late, Yoon Hyuk whipped around.
Ye Ju-yeol stood at the table, lips tightly pressed together, staring at the fried eggs.
To someone else, he’d just look dejected over a failed dish. But Yoon Hyuk knew better. He recognized that look—it was a signal. The face he made right before doing something stupid.
And by the time he realized it, it was already too late.
Ju-yeol had grabbed the plate and was dumping the blackened fried eggs into his mouth.
The sight was so unreal that Yoon Hyuk froze for a second before shouting. Being a professional idol, he barely swallowed the curse that wanted to fly out.
“You lunatic, why are you eating that?! Hey! Spit it out!”
But he couldn’t help at least one “lunatic.”
Practically diving across the table, Yoon Hyuk snatched the plate and shoved it under Ju-yeol’s chin, shaking him by the collar. The usually docile, borderline clueless guy always managed to do something like this once in a while, and every time it made Yoon Hyuk’s blood boil.
You damned idiot. Spit it out. Spit it out right now!
He shook him hard enough to stretch his shirt collar, but it didn’t help. Even as he swayed back and forth, Ju-yeol blinked his big eyes and mumbled nonsense instead of spitting out the charcoal in his mouth.
“Angh… gonna die.”
“You are gonna die if you don’t spit it out!”
“Mmm…”
Half the burnt egg sticking out of his mouth began to slide back in. Watching that, Yoon Hyuk’s voice turned ice-cold.
“If you swallow that, I’m not running raids with you anymore.”
“……!”
“One.”
Before he could even say two, Ju-yeol’s tightly sealed lips flew open.
“I spat it out.”
“……”
“Let’s still do raids together, okay? No one else ever plays with me.”
Yeah, because you’re terrible.
Yoon Hyuk swallowed the truth that almost slipped out and shut his eyes tight.
He’d already warned him to stay away from public raid lobbies before he got publicly shamed again. Not that it mattered—no one partied with him anyway. His catastrophic gameplay had gotten him banned by multiple players already.
Simply put, unless Yoon Hyuk carried him, Ye Ju-yeol couldn’t raid at all.
It had been like that since their school days, so none of this was new.
“Hyuk-ah…”
When Yoon Hyuk didn’t respond, Ju-yeol furrowed his brows pitifully and started whining. Before he could ramp up into full-on begging, Yoon Hyuk muttered a distracted “Yeah, yeah,” and looked down at the plate.
The half-eaten egg he’d pried from Ju-yeol's mouth still held its shape—apparently, he hadn’t even chewed it. The yolk was missing, though. Maybe he couldn’t chew it, or maybe he’d swallowed the yolk whole. Either way, it was absurd.
“…Why did you suddenly put that in your mouth, anyway?”
At that, Ju-yeol tilted his head innocently.
“You weren’t gonna eat it. And I already took out the food waste this morning. I didn’t wanna go again, so I figured I’d just get rid of it by eating it.”
“…Ha.”
So when he’d stood to grab a spoon, it had looked like he was refusing to eat. Partly true, but still—eating it to avoid taking out the trash? No. Thinking any further would just give him a headache.
He swallowed his frustration out of habit, set the plate in the sink, and rolled up his sleeves. It wasn’t edible anyway; might as well wash up and take out the garbage.
“Hyukss. Did you sleep at all? I couldn’t, I’m too excited. The cameras being installed feels weird, but living with other people for two weeks sounds fun! The PD said we could look forward to our partner, right? Who do you think it’ll be?”
Watching Yoon Hyuk’s back, Ju-yeol started chatting again, as usual. He could still remember PD Jeon Jae-yeon’s face vividly, saying this season was guaranteed to be huge. That was why he’d spent half the night searching “celebrity best friends.” Yawning, he hovered near the sink.
“Hmm… maybe So-chan or Jin-gyun. That’d be funny.”
“No way. I had dinner with Jin-gyun recently—he didn’t say a word about it.”
“You didn’t either.”
“That’s true!”
“So we don’t know. Who knows? Maybe even Lee Seo-eul will show up.”
If they listed all the “best friends” who hadn’t appeared on the show yet, those two were the most likely candidates.
He knew full well that Seo-eul never did variety or even talk shows, but he said it as a joke. When no reply came, he turned curiously.
Ye Ju-yeol was standing there clutching his hair with both hands. Strands of brown hair floated in the air like dog fur.
“No wayyy… if it’s him, I can’t film, I can’t.”
Yeah, right.
Yoon Hyuk clicked his tongue, about to add something, when a loud alert suddenly rang out. Both men looked at each other.
Their heads turned toward the table, where their phones were flashing simultaneously.
Gasping, Ju-yeol dropped his hair and scrambled to the table, sitting down so fast the chair screeched. “Look! See?” he whispered excitedly.
Yoon Hyuk sighed, placed the washed plate on the rack, and approached.
A push message glowed on their screens.
chat
(NEW!) ※Best☆Friend★ URGENTNOTICEURGENT NOTICEURGENTNOTICE ☞☞Click Now
It looked exactly like a scam ad, but Yoon Hyuk didn’t even flinch. He’d weathered too many storms as an idol to be shaken by a sketchy text.
Ju-yeol, on the other hand, sparkled with curiosity and tapped the alert before Yoon Hyuk could stop him.
The app opened, and a pop-up filled the screen in seconds.
URGENT NOTICE
♨Grand Opening First-Come Event♨
The first pair to arrive at Friendly House
∑∑☞Will receive 10 coins instantly!
If you want the address, click now!
So that’s the gimmick this time…
Suspicious to the point of looking like a scam, but at least they could see what kind of “fun” the producers were going for this season.
While Yoon Hyuk muttered that it was kind of funny, Ju-yeol was already clicking like mad. “Hey, think before you tap,” he warned dryly, but Ju-yeol only hummed in response, clearly not listening. His finger tapped the screen over and over like he was speed-skipping cutscenes.
The screen changed rapidly.
Across the table, Yoon Hyuk read the upside-down text: Urgent Event… First Filming Begins… when suddenly a warning sound chimed and the page switched.
Would you like to exchange [Friendly House Address] with Yoon Hyuk?
Reward: First-Come Event Ongoing
⚠ Caution: Your best friend might [ ]...
In that moment, both realized it.
This was a loyalty test—an either-you-or-me kind of mission.
Both of them knew these game-style setups too well to mistake it [N O V E L I G H T] for an individual quest like “Today’s Best Friend.” Since their alerts had come simultaneously, whoever made the exchange first would probably be the sacrifice needed to unlock the address.
The instant they understood that, they lunged for their phones. One to throw the other’s device away, the other to complete the exchange first.
Naturally, the winner was Ye Ju-yeol, who had already been gripping his phone for dear life.
As the slot wheel spun wildly, Yoon Hyuk’s face filled with despair while Ju-yeol pumped his fist.
“Yes!”
“This is rigged. Do it again.”
“Mm, losers shouldn’t talk so much~”
“Ha…”
“Don’t worry! I told you, today’s a lucky day! I got a double yolk this morning. I’m sure the reward will be something like a mission pass or… something good!”
Come to think of it, Yoon Hyuk had pulled The Guardian Who Devoured Chaos this morning too. Remembering how well the day had started, he allowed himself a sliver of hope as the spinning slowed. And then—
⚠ Caution: Your best friend might have to [perform a girl group medley dance at double speed]...
The moment the nightmare text appeared on screen, Yoon Hyuk had no choice but to grab Ye Ju-yeol by the collar all over again.