Best Friend X Swap

So he really just fell asleep like that.
Still stunned, he stared blankly for a few seconds before checking his phone.
6:23 a.m.
Seo-eul stared at the numbers glowing on the screen, then let out a long sigh. Considering he had not woken up even once, he must really have been worn out yesterday, just like Sa-heon claimed. What was he going to do about his stamina.
Muttering a complaint under his breath, he glanced around the room. The cameras, naturally blended in with props, pointed subtly in his direction. They were camouflaged well enough that you could overlook them if you did not think about them.
Shaking off the remembered voices of his fellow actors, he pushed the half-slipped blanket aside and set his feet down. He was planning to get coffee rather than think unnecessary thoughts—when something rolled with a soft thud underfoot.
……?
He picked it up, frowning. It was a little wad of fur, its shape oddly familiar.
Where had he seen this—? He was squinting and thinking hard when, suddenly, memories of the pre-meeting hit him.
PD Jeon had taken out some white furballs—unclear whether they were dogs, rabbits, or cats—and had excitedly explained that these were this season’s mascots. Their identities were still unknown.
Ah. That was it.
He tried to remember their names, and fortunately, a black strap dangled helpfully from the thing. Reading the embroidered letters brought the memory back.
“Dda-dda? …Ah, right. Ddu-du and Dda-dda.”
The one with the long droopy ears and the heart pierced by an arrow in its mouth, grinning like an idiot—that one was ‘Dda-dda’.
The one with black ears, biting half a broken heart and smirking like a little villain—that one was ‘Ddu-du’.
〈Best Friend X Swap〉 produced new mascots every season for their popup stores. This season’s stars were this fluffy duo. Seo-eul even remembered PD Jeon’s personal plea to please give the mascots lots of screen time.
He scanned the bed, and sure enough, Ddu-du was wedged between the head pillows. Grabbing both mascots, Seo-eul hesitated. He had practically passed out last night, so he had no idea when they’d been placed on his bed… but he knew exactly what he had to do now.
Once he made up his mind, execution was easy.
He stood up at once and tiptoed toward the bed across from him.
As expected, Sa-heon was fast asleep. Seo-eul quietly placed the mascots on either side of his face. The fluffy creatures pressed their hearts toward him with intense enthusiasm. Opposites attract, after all, and the mismatch was so perfect it somehow doubled the cuteness.
“Pfft….”
Not realizing this was just proportional to his own bias, Seo-eul suppressed a laugh and hastily picked up his phone. He opened the camera app, adjusted the angle, and took the first shot. Click.
“…….”
Staring at the result, he reopened the camera.

Since he knew this level of noise would never wake Sa-heon, he snapped about twenty more photos in rapid succession.
Click. Clickclickclickclick….
The loud shutter sounds echoed as the photos saved. Checking the album, Seo-eul could not help breaking into a smile bright enough to put any “happy cat” meme to shame. There were half-body shots like a sleeping pictorial, extreme close-ups with three faces crowding the frame—it did not matter. Every angle made him look stupid and adorable, and Seo-eul was delighted.
I’m making this his call-screen photo.
He went straight to contacts and changed the picture—having no idea that eight hours earlier, Seo Sa-heon had done the exact same thing, and that in a few days, the photo would end up on Sa-heon’s Ownstar feed.
Unaware of that future, still excited, Seo-eul lowered the air conditioner temperature before leaving the room.
***
After a quick shower, he headed downstairs and slipped quietly into the kitchen. It was barely past seven, so there was no sign of anyone else in the house. He wondered what time everyone woke up. He could guess with Sa-heon, but he was curious about Ye Ju-yeol and Yoon Hyuk.
They had eaten fried eggs yesterday—well, was he sure they actually ate them? In any case, they had cooked them, so they seemed like the type to eat breakfast.
Not that he had any intention of waking two people who were probably sleeping deeply. He simply opened the refrigerator. They would get up eventually. With that mindset, he took out an apple he had bought the day before, washed it until it squeaked, and set his beans, grinder, and moka pot on the counter.
It was a vintage moka pot Sa-heon had bought for him a month earlier in Milan.
He admired the shining aluminum for a beat, then pulled himself together and took the pot apart.
He filled the bottom boiler with water, leveled freshly ground beans into the basket, placed his portable induction plate on the counter just in case, and set the moka pot on top. He adjusted the heat with practiced familiarity.
One careless moment and boiling coffee would fountain out like a geyser. Total catastrophe. So he focused solely on the pot.
He had, in fact, already made a mess twice—coffee splattered everywhere while he and Sa-heon had scrambled to clean it.
Remembering Sa-heon staring at him in alarm after one such rare mishap made him press his lips together. The “Should I scold him or not…” expression had been so awkward and innocent it had been funny.
And he had ended up saying nothing anyway. Muting a laugh with his tongue pressed inside his mouth, Seo-eul watched as the coffee began to extract with a loud bubbling sound, then switched the induction off. He preferred the very first extract because he disliked strong bitterness.
He wanted to drink it immediately, but if “someone” caught him drinking on an empty stomach, it would just create more trouble.
Letting out a sigh, he sliced half of the washed apple.
He carried the cut apple and coffee to the dining table and began eating with a bored expression. The crisp crunching filled the room for a long while. Only after finishing two pieces did he finally taste the coffee. He sipped for a good while, and as he swallowed the last mouthful—
He heard footsteps on the stairs. A moment later, Ye Ju-yeol appeared, hair sticking up like a bird’s nest, yawning.
“Heuaaam… Huh? Sunbae-nim!”
Apparently thinking he would be the first one awake, he froze at the sight of Seo-eul sitting calmly. Then, still in mid-yawn, his open mouth turned into a bright smile like a frame from an animation. Not an adult animation—one for children.
“Morning. Sleep well?”
“Yes, yes! What about you, sunbae-nim? Did you fall asleep right away last night?”
“Yeah…. I knocked out. Must’ve been nervous because it was the first shoot. I don’t remember anything after I lied down.”
“Aaah, everyone’s like that. I took a calming pill the first time I went on variety~”
Maybe he was the type who got puffy in the morning.
His impression looked much softer than yesterday.
Chatting easily, Ju-yeol looked left and right loudly enough to make a whip whip sound, confirmed nobody else was around, then dashed over to sit across from Seo-eul. Propping his chin in both hands, he grinned for no reason. Good grief. And he said he took a calming pill…?
“You don’t look like the type to get nervous.”
“Actually, my manager told me to take it, so I just did… hehe.”
Not trusting that particularly much, Seo-eul responded with a skeptical tone, and Ju-yeol confessed instantly without even a second of hesitation. ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ His eyes were like clear window glass—no capacity for deception. Without meaning to, Seo-eul smiled back and asked:
“Do you usually eat breakfast? We do.”
“We both do too. But if we ruin the cooking, we can’t eat, sooo… most of the time we just go with cereal or bread.”
Thinking of yesterday’s disaster, that did seem like the wiser choice. He almost asked if “cooking” included fried eggs but stopped himself just in time. Oil and heat—technically not incorrect.
“Then you can join us from now on. We change the menu daily; is that okay?”
“What do you meaaaan, what would not be okay about that, sunbae-nim…. We’re getting free food; we’ll gratefully eat anything! I feel bad though, since it’s like we’re making you work. So let us handle the dishes, laundry, cleaning, etc!”
That would actually make them the ones getting worked like servants. Letting out a deflated laugh, Seo-eul waved a hand.
“I’ll take the dishes, so just take the thought. Laundry and cleaning we should each handle ourselves. We can tidy shared spaces as we go. How does that sound?”
“Sounds good!”
The moment a reasonable compromise was offered, he nodded without a single second of hesitation again. They discussed other things that should have been sorted yesterday, and while answering Ju-yeol’s questions, Seo-eul suddenly noticed his cup was empty.
“Do you drink coffee? Want me to make you a cup?”
“Ah….”
“I was going to drink more anyway. Just tell me comfortably.”
“Uuumm… then just one cup…?”
“Hot?”
“…Yes!”
“I’ll add ice. Stay seated.”
His eyes betrayed him—definitely an iced-coffee-all-year-round person—so Seo-eul filtered his words accordingly and smiled as he stood up. One more cup would not hurt, so he took out the washed moka pot and ground more beans. Behind him was a constant rustling. Ju-yeol clearly wanted to help but did not dare approach for fear of causing another accident like yesterday.
It felt… strangely like training a puppy.
It was an impolite thought, so he kept it in his mind only. He set the water to boil and picked up the remaining half of the apple.
If he drank on an empty stomach, his stomach would protest, so he figured he should feed him at least this. He was peeling the skin quickly when he heard a chair scrape loudly. Ah, so he finally could not hold back and was coming over—he was just reaching to grab a plate when—
Someone came right up behind him and rested their chin lightly on his shoulder.