Main Male Leas Disqualified

“Uh, hey.”

Hanbin awkwardly responds to Jung-hwan’s greeting, unable to figure out what Jeong-hwan is thinking.

‘The name is one thing, but even his eyebrows and ear shape are the same. That’s kind of weird.’

Seeing Hanbin glancing at him, Jung-hwan decided to bring it up.

“Have you seen me recently?”

There was no way he could honestly say, ‘Once a week, I keep having weird dreams where I’m tangled up with some random girl, and then I hear your voice yelling in the background.’Instead, he chose his words carefully to gauge Hanbin’s reaction.

“I don’t know. I’m not really good at remembering people.”

Of course, Hanbin couldn’t exactly say, ‘I’ve been dreaming of you as the main character of a romance webtoon every week.’

Jung-hwan hesitated for a moment, then pulled something out of his pocket.

“Your number.”

Hanbin’s eyes widened in shock as Jung-hwan held out his phone, clearly expecting him to input his number. When Hanbin hesitated, Jung-hwan added,

“I think I might need it later.”

“Oh…”

Hanbin didn’t understand what “need it later” meant, but refusing seemed weirder, so he ended up typing his number.

“If I call, pick up.”

Jung-hwan, satisfied, walked away. Hanbin blinked in confusion and stared at Jung-hwan’s name in his contacts.

“What the hell? If he just wanted my number, he could’ve asked me directly— That guy is so weird.”

“…He’s weird?”

Hanbin turned, startled, at Hyunwoo’s voice. Seeing Hanbin’s uneasy expression, Hyunwoo chuckled and waved a hand dismissively.

“Nah, just kidding. He’s a little rough around the edges, but he’s not as bad as you’d think. Kind of simple, actually.”

Despite Hyunwoo’s reassurance, Hanbin still felt uneasy.

‘What is up with him?’

At first, he thought Jung-hwan might be mad at him. But looking at his actions objectively, something is definitely off.

‘What if he calls me today?’

But contrary to his expectations, Hanbin’s phone remained silent for several days. He stared at it, deep in thought.

‘So when he said he’d call if needed, does that mean he won’t contact me unless he actually needs to?’

Realizing where his thoughts were going, Hanbin smacked his cheeks.

“Wow. I am not waiting for his call, am I?”

He felt like he was getting sucked into Jung-hwan’s pace and needed to snap out of it.

“Hanbin! The PE teacher asked you to grab the file from his desk in the office and bring it to the field.”

Once a week, different students took turns as the class’s PE assistant. This time, it’s Hanbin’s turn, meaning he has to run various errands. Grabbing a file is much better than lugging gym equipment around, at least.

‘This scene feels familiar somehow…’

He shook off the strange déjà vu and hurried along.

“Ah…!”

A loose paper, stuck haphazardly in the file, suddenly caught the wind. Hanbin lunged for it, but just as his fingers were about to grab it, the paper flew further away.

‘Got it!’

Just as he finally caught it—

“Watch out!”

The moment he turned his head, all he saw was a soccer ball flying straight at him.

‘Wait, this…!’

Before he could dodge, the ball smacked him square in the face, knocking him backward. As he fell, the papers in his hands scattered everywhere.

“Hey.”

Apparently, another class was using the field at the same time. Hanbin groaned and looked up, squinting at the culprit.

“Are you walking around without your eyes open?”

Hanbin blinked in shock when he saw Jung-hwan standing there. But as soon as he processed the words, his irritation flared. Clenching his fists, he pushed himself up.

“Yeah, sure! My bad! I’ll make sure to keep my eyes open and stay away from the goalpost from now on! But, you know, as one human being to another, maybe checking if I’m okay should come first?!”

For a moment, Hanbin had been about to admit Jung-hwan was good-looking. But clearly, that was a mistake. The guy might have a nice face, but he is also the kind of person who hit someone with a bike, glared at them, snatched their number in a borderline threatening way, and now kicked a soccer ball at their face without even apologizing.

“…Who are you?”

Jung-hwan’s pupils wavered slightly at Hanbin’s outburst.

Hanbin decided he needed to get out of there before Jung-hwan really lost his temper. He quickly collected the scattered papers and turned to flee, but Jung-hwan grabbed his wrist.

“Say that again.”

“If you’re looking for a fight, I’m not interested.”

“Hold up. I’m not trying to fight.”

Hanbin tried to yank his arm free, but Jung-hwan pulled him closer instead. Lowering his voice, he whispered near Hanbin’s ear.

“You’re dreaming it too, aren’t you? That weird dream.”

Hanbin’s breath hitched.

‘Weird dream? Wait… could he be talking about…?’

His eyes flickered with uncertainty. Up until now, he had assumed he was the only one having those dreams. But was Jung-hwan experiencing the same thing?

“I… don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Though startled, Hanbin instinctively played dumb. Even if they were somehow sharing the same dream, there’s no reason to talk about it.

“…”

Jung-hwan locked eyes with Hanbin, studying him for a long moment before turning away.

“Never mind. Forget it. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Jung-hwan let go of Hanbin’s wrist, though his expression remained troubled.

‘It’s too much of a coincidence to ignore, but…’

He decided to wait one more night. If his theory was correct, the same thing would happen again tonight. And if it did…next time, he will not let Hanbin brush it off so easily.

***

Once again, Hanbin woke up at the exact same time. Groggily, he mumbled,

“Ugh, I really can’t go to school today.”

His body feels heavy, like all his energy has been drained.

‘Could this be chronic fatigue? But why does it only happen once a week…?’

Every time he had that dream, he woke up feeling exhausted.

‘And of course, it’s not here.’

Just in case, he checked his phone,but the mysterious webtoon is nowhere to be found. Staring at the screen in frustration, he is suddenly interrupted by an incoming call.

[Lee Junghwan]

Hanbin hesitated. Jung-hwan had never called before. But ignoring him seemed rude, so he cautiously answered.

“Hello?”

—I knew it. It was definitely your voice.

As soon as Hanbin picked up, Jung-hwan started rambling. Confused, Hanbin pulled the phone away from his ear and double-checked the caller ID. After confirming that it’s Jeong-hwan,Hanbin continued the call.

“What are you even talking about?”

—Don’t play dumb. The way you yell is the exact same. So why do you pretend not to know?

Jung-hwan’s voice sounded strange. Not just groggy, but… strained.

“Wait… are you sick too?”

Hanbin’s eyes widened. Could Jung-hwan be experiencing the same after effects?

“Does the pain feel like a cold, or like your body is heavy and stuffy…”

It’s Creepy not only to have the same dream, but also to wake up next morning feeling the same way.Hanbin had been to the hospital for a week and had only been told that nothing was wrong with his body. He keeps asking Jeong-hwan questions ,wondering if he has the same symptoms.

—If you’re that worried, why don’t you just come see for yourself?

Jung-hwan sounded impatient.

“It’s not worry,I’m just curious…”

—Never mind. I’ll come to you. Send me your address.

The call abruptly ended. Hanbin stared at his phone, debating whether he should actually send it. However he feels he has to talk to Jeong-hwan about the strange phenomenon that had been occurring recently.

Ding-dong.

And just as he finished changing into his school uniform he heard a doorbell ring. Even though he doesn’t live next door,Jeong-hwan arrived sooner than Hanbin had expected.

‘Already?!’

“Just talk from there.”

Hanbin has unpleasant feelings about Jeong-hwan. So instead of letting him completely into the house, he opened the door and only spoke through the crack.

Jeong-hwan frowned as Hanbin treated him coldly even though he came all the way to his home with a heavy body.When he tries to force the door open, Hanbin is surprised and tries to close it.

“We can talk just fine like this!”

Jung-hwan sighed, then suddenly pushed against the door.

“Hey! Do you think I’m gonna attack you or something?”

Jung-hwan and Hanbin bickered at the door, but in the end, Hanbin lost the battle of strength. Although Jung-hwan couldn’t fully open the door because of the latch, he managed to push it open just enough to see Hanbin’s face.

“We should at least be able to look at each other while we talk.”

Jeong-hwan looked into Hanbin’s eyes and said. Suddenly at the moment.

‘Huh?’

The moment their eyes met, the exhaustion weighing down their bodies vanished. They both maintain a brief silence, as if embarrassed.

“You felt that too, didn’t you?”

Jeong-hwan, who does not miss Hanbin’s expression, meets his gaze.

“Isn’t this the third time now? Then I guess it’s not a coincidence.”

Jeong-hwan stuck his foot through the  crack in the door to keep it from closing.

“What the heck, what do you mean it is the third time?”

“Every time I see you, my condition improves.This the third time.”

Jeong-hwan tapped the latch with his finger, signaling that he wanted the door to open.

“I think we should talk face to face.Could you open this for me?”