Best Friend X Swap

Even Ye Ju-yeol, whose small-talk skills were supposedly honed to perfection, had moments when his mouth simply refused to work. Faced with Ddu-ddu, Dda-dda, and Seo Sa-heon… lined up on the screen, his focus evaporated on the spot. He did not want to ask why on earth something like that existed in Seo-eul’s gallery. He could already imagine what kind of terrifying answer he would get, so Ju-yeol activated evasive maneuvers at once.
Well, sure, anyone can take a silly candid of a sleeping friend.
Granted, this was far too lovingly taken for something called a candid, practically dripping with affection for the subject—but whatever. For now, he decided it counted as a candid. Technically, it was not wrong. It was an “odd photo.” Right. It was like pasting a hundred colorful Kitty stickers over a noir still.
Having brainwashed himself into that excuse, Ju-yeol finally managed to recover a gentle smile. Surely, the “cute” comment was directed at those rabbit-or-cat mascots sitting on either side of Seo Sa-heon. There was no way Seo Sa-heon himself was included. Ha ha ha. Laughing too loudly, he shook the rattle toward Seo-eul in a hurry.
“Wow, the plushie. Is really cute! This plushie. Seriously came out so well! I wish we could have just had that plushie. In our room too…!”
Not once, but three times—pure staccato. Even faced with Ju-yeol’s dying insistence that only the plushie was cute, Seo-eul nodded with a mild face. “Yeah.”
Which immediately confused Ju-yeol again. Wait, what…? Did he seriously mean the plushie? Those fluffy things were just so round that they happened to be using Seo Sa-heon’s shoulder as a stabilizing base—did he just make the world’s biggest misunderstanding…? Really?
Thinking about it, it actually made sense, so he was just about to apologize in his heart—
“Want to see a few more?”
Apparently encouraged by Ju-yeol’s agreement, Seo-eul asked in a soft, velvety voice. His face was inexplicably proud as he already placed his index finger on the screen, ready to swipe. Even witnessing that, Ju-yeol could not bring himself to refuse. “Yes? Ye-es…” he answered, sounding like someone possessed, and the photos flipped immediately, as if they had been waiting.
“……”
And three seconds later, he regretted everything.
Because now he had to consume every possible angle of sleeping Seo Sa-heon: front shot, side shot, aerial shot. Drained of all life, Ju-yeol finally broke at the close-up of Seo Sa-heon’s entire face. He had at least managed to keep his eyes unfocused through the 1:1:1 shot featuring Ddu-ddu and Dda-dda, but this last one? This was just pure, unfiltered Seo Sa-heon.
Only now did he realize that when Seo-eul said “cute,” Seo Sa-heon was included—no, maybe Seo Sa-heon was the actual main subject. Ju-yeol’s expression darkened instantly.
No matter how he searched his memories, the reasons he ever photographed Yoon Hyuk were:
1. To induce shame
2. To gather ammunition
3. For Bubble or OnStar uploads at Hyuk’s own request.
Something was seriously off here.
…Or maybe not.
Is this what happens when people live together for nine years…?
Sinking again into his agonizing theory of nine-year cohabitation, Ju-yeol forced open his reluctant mouth and managed a painful show of agreement.
“Uh, that, um, really… no-ears. Yeah.”
The last sentence came out practically blurred. Unable to lie outright, he compromised by removing Seo Sa-heon’s ears altogether. Ju-yeol was now smiling with dead eyes when a sound stirred from the second floor—and salvation descended.
“…What’s this. You’re all awake already. Good morning.”
It was Yoon Hyuk.
Ju-yeol had never been this happy in his entire life. He shot up from his seat. Startled by the sudden movement, Seo-eul and Yoon Hyuk both blinked in confusion, but Ju-yeol—on the verge of tears—launched himself straight at Hyuk.

“Hyuk-ss!”
“What—uwaak…!”
Like a runaway dump truck. Yoon Hyuk screamed as his best friend came charging at him full speed at eight-something in the morning. Knocked backward, Hyuk was shoved right back up the stairs he had just descended, wearing a thoroughly bewildered expression. What if he cracked his skull open? Why was this happening at dawn?
“Hey. Please think about your size…!”
“Why are you only waking up now!”
“What? It’s not even nine yet. Creepy. Let’s talk but at a distance.”
Disgusted by the ambush, Hyuk shoved Ju-yeol away by the shoulder. The sudden proximity must have been too much; Ju-yeol’s tearful face instantly brightened. Why is he happy after getting called creepy…? Hyuk never understood him in daily life, but today it was especially impossible.
“Hrk, as expected…! There’s no one but you, Hyuk-ss!”
“What are you talking about.”
“Hyuk-ah, let’s never, ever live together. Okay? Promise me…”
“What are you talking about. Did you eat something weird again?”
Whispering with the face of someone deeply moved, Ju-yeol only got a look reserved for lunatics before Hyuk slipped away. Thanks to him, whatever faint drowsiness remained disappeared completely. Hyuk finally escaped to the dining table where Seo-eul sat.
“Hyung, why is he like this…?”
“I don’t know either…”
Of course Seo-eul, unaware he was the offender, was just as lost. And because Ju-yeol retreated to the upstairs bathroom muttering something about “cold water shock therapy,” the entire incident remained an unsolved mystery until broadcast day.
Exactly thirty minutes later.
While Sa-heon, who returned on schedule, went to wash up, Seo-eul calmly prepared breakfast. Rolled omelette with vegetables, stir-fried potatoes, tofu soup with cabbage. He had originally planned to just toast something, but after hearing that Ju-yeol had only eaten cereal and bread, he switched the menu to traditional Korean breakfast.
Even though he prepared only light, easy-to-digest dishes for the morning, the two devoured everything with impressive speed, clearly delighted by proper home cooking after a long while. Watching them eat heartily without picking at anything made Seo-eul feel oddly grateful, and he finished his bowl of tofu soup too. They were almost done eating when—
Ddanddan ddan ddarara!
That familiar sound rang as all four of their phones vibrated at once.
They had been waiting for the next alert anyway, so each immediately checked the screen.
chat
(NEW!) ※Best Friend☆Swap★ WeeklyEventOpenWeekly Event OpenWeeklyEventOpen ☞☞Join Now
While skimming the push message—which once again looked suspiciously like spam—Seo-eul tilted his head. He expected the “Friend of the Day” mission, but this time it said “weekly event.” He tapped the push without overthinking, and the app launched automatically.
The main screen now showed that the fourth menu, previously hidden behind ‘? ? ?’, had opened.
Friend of the Day
Friend Swap Log
Friendly Market
Let’s Get Closer! (NEW!)
? ? ?
“Oh, looks like a new event. This wasn’t here in the previous season!”
“Judging by ‘let’s get closer,’ sounds like a bonding quest.”
“Gasp. What if it makes us do weird stuff…? You know how friendship blooms after suffering—what if we suddenly get dragged to, like, a fish farm…!”
“Great. You said it, so PD Jeon probably wrote it down already.”
As the new event appeared, Ju-yeol and Hyuk filled the audio like seasoned veterans. Listening to Ju-yeol rattle off nightmare stories about fishing farms and extreme job experiences, Seo-eul grew uneasy and immediately tapped the menu.
Weekly Event ~Let’s Get Closer!~
[Event Period: 05.17_05.23]
-Share each other’s hobbies to earn Friendship Coins.
-Each hobby on the list earns you 5 coins each time you share it.
-For any questions, please contact ‘HELP’ at the bottom of the app.
-The production team supports your friendship.
…Thankfully, it was not an extreme job experience.
Relieved, Seo-eul read through the instructions carefully. With the event running from the 17th to the 23rd, it seemed likely there would be another weekly event next week. Curious about the hobby list, he scrolled down.
[My Best Friend’s Secret Hobby List]
1. Climbing (Not Achieved)
2. LEGO Building (Not Achieved)
3. Pottery (Not Achieved)
4. Film Watching (Lee Seo-eul starring) (Not Achieved)
“…Huh?”
Without thinking, Seo-eul’s eyes halted on the fourth item. Inside the parentheses was his own name.
If the hobby is watching films, it is watching films. Why his film specifically? As his expression tightened, both Ju-yeol and Hyuk sensed something wrong and rushed to check the new menu.
“Oh. It really is each person’s hobby list. I’ve been learning pottery lately.”
Hyuk pointed at the third item. Seo-eul agreed.
“Yeah. Number two is me.”
“Hyung, you like LEGO?”
“Yeah. The adult line is really pretty these days.”
Whenever he was not filming, Seo-eul spent nearly all his time inside his home. He had mastered almost every indoor hobby—LEGO was one of them.
With items two and three ruled out, that left only two suspects.
After reading the hobby list again, Hyuk spoke in a bored tone toward Ju-yeol.
“Hey, number four’s obviously you.”
The fact that Ju-yeol had been a longtime fan of Seo-eul was so well known that even Ju-yeol’s own fans joked about it. They had watched dozens of Blu-rays together, so Hyuk rolled his eyes as if it were obvious—but the answer came from somewhere else.
“That one’s my hobby.”