“Sometimes a family doesn’t invite you with words.
They simply leave an empty seat beside them.”
The lunch bell echoed through Hanyoung Middle School.
The classroom emptied in seconds.
Everyone already knew where they were going.
Everyone…
Except Jeheon.
He stood beside his desk, holding his lunch tray.
He looked around.
“So…”
“…Where does everyone usually eat?”
No one answered.
Not because they were ignoring him.
Because everyone had already disappeared.
Jeheon laughed quietly to himself.
“…Great.”
He walked toward the cafeteria alone.
The room was full of voices.
Friends laughing.
Teachers talking.
Trays clattering against tables.
But every table seemed…
Full.
He looked around once more.
“…Guess I’ll eat standing.”
Just as he turned—
“Hey!”
Heosok waved both hands from the other side of the cafeteria.
“Transfer student!”
Jeheon pointed at himself.
“No, the other transfer student.”
“There isn’t another one!”
“Exactly!”
Jiwoo sighed.
“Can you stop yelling across the cafeteria?”
“I could.”
“…But I won’t.”
Jisoo shook her head.
“I don’t know how we’ve survived being friends with you.”
“You’d miss me.”
“We’d have quieter lunches.”
Jeheon couldn’t help smiling.
He walked over.
There was only one empty chair.
Right beside Heosok.
Heosok pulled it out.
“You can sit here.”
Jeheon hesitated.
“…Are you sure?”
Heosok frowned.
“I didn’t pull out the chair for decoration.”
Jiwoo giggled.
“He actually practiced that.”
“I did not.”
“You absolutely did.”
“I was being naturally cool.”
Jisoo looked at Jeheon.
“Ignore him.”
“We’ve been trying for years.”
Everyone laughed.
Even Yongi looked up from his book for a moment.
Jeheon sat down.
For a few minutes…
No one talked about him being the new student.
No one asked strange questions.
They simply talked.
About homework.
About the terrible cafeteria soup.
About Heosok dropping his bread that morning.
“I told you the bread betrayed me.”
“The bread escaped.”
Jiwoo corrected.
“It wanted a better owner.”
Heosok placed a hand over his heart.
“You too?”
Even Jeheon laughed.
Not politely.
Not awkwardly.
A real laugh.
The table became quiet.
Heosok blinked.
“…You laugh?”
Jeheon looked embarrassed.
“…Sometimes.”
Jiwoo smiled.
“You should do it more.”
“It suits you.”
For a second…
Jeheon didn’t know what to say.
No one had ever said something like that before.
Across the table…
Yongi quietly watched.
He noticed something.
Jeheon never interrupted anyone.
He listened first.
Then spoke.
It reminded Yongi of someone.
He just couldn’t remember who.
The lunch bell rang again.
Everyone stood.
As they carried their trays away—
Heosok casually threw an arm around Jeheon’s shoulder.
“Come on.”
“We’ll be late.”
Jeheon looked at him.
“…’We’ll?'”
Heosok shrugged.
“Yeah.”
“You’re one of us now.”
The words were simple.
Almost careless.
But Jeheon carried them with him for the rest of the day.
Because sometimes…
Home doesn’t begin with a place.
It begins with someone saying,
“You’re one of us.”