The stale air in the Business Consulting Club room hung thick with the lingering scent of lukewarm coffee and desperation. Club hours had officially ended an hour ago, but a small, stubborn faction remained, sprawled across the worn leather couches and mismatched chairs. Park Sungjin, ever the animated one, was gesturing wildly as he recounted a particularly brutal case study, his voice echoing slightly in the otherwise quiet room. Beside him, Lee Minjae, perpetually more reserved, nodded occasionally, offering insightful but brief commentary. A third member, a young woman hunched over her laptop at the far end of the table, occasionally interjected with a sharp observation, her focus mostly glued to the glowing screen. Seo Juhwan sat in his usual corner armchair, a shadow amidst the muted tones of the room. He hadn’t contributed much to the post-meeting banter, content to observe the dynamics of the small group. Sungjin’s boisterous energy, Minjae’s quiet intelligence, and the focused intensity of their female colleague – he cataloged it all, consciously and unconsciously. The conversation drifted from hypothetical corporate takeovers to the more mundane realities of college life. Sungjin, ever the trend follower, was animatedly discussing the latest piercing trends he’d seen on social media. “Seriously though,” Sungjin exclaimed, leaning back and stretching his arms above his head, “some of those industrial piercings look fucking sick. Or even a well-placed septum… adds a bit of edge, you know?” Minjae, who usually favored a cleaner, more minimalist aesthetic in everything, wrinkled his nose slightly. “I don’t know, Sungjin. Seems a bit… much. Depends on the person, I guess.” Sungjin’s gaze swept across the room, landing on Juhwan, who was nursing a half-empty can of iced Americano, his expression unreadable as always. “You know what? I think Juhwan would actually look pretty good with piercings.” Minjae snorted, a rare display of amusement. “No fucking way, Sungjin. Are you blind? It’ll mess up his whole… professional aesthetic. He looks like he just stepped out of a goddamn CEO convention, not a punk rock show.” A faint, almost imperceptible smile played on the corner of Juhwan’s lips, a fleeting shadow in the dim light. He finally set down his drink, the quiet thunk drawing the attention of the others. His deep reddish-brown eyes, usually so guarded, held a hint of something akin to amusement. “You’d be surprised, Minjae,” Juhwan said, his voice a low, smooth drawl that always commanded attention despite its quietness. “I actually do have piercings.” A beat of stunned silence hung in the air. Sungjin’s jaw literally dropped. Minjae blinked, his usual composure momentarily disrupted. Even the woman at the table paused her typing, her gaze flicking up in genuine surprise. “Bullshit,” Sungjin blurted out, his initial shock giving way to disbelief. “You? Where the hell would you even have piercings?” He scanned Juhwan’s impeccably dressed form as if expecting to find a hidden stud gleaming beneath his perfectly tailored shirt. Minjae, ever the pragmatist, echoed the sentiment, albeit more cautiously. “Seriously, Juhwan? I… I can’t picture it.” Juhwan leaned back in his armchair, a genuine smile now gracing his lips, the subtle indentation of his dimples deepening the effect. It was a rare, almost disarming expression. He raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, his gaze meeting Minjae’s directly. “Well,” he purred, a suggestive glint in his dark eyes, “let’s just say they’re not exactly the kind you can see at first glance.” He paused, letting the implication hang heavy in the air. “Think… south.” Sungjin’s eyes widened further, a slow grin spreading across his face. “Holy shit… you’re talking about… down there?” Minjae’s ears visibly reddened. He averted his gaze, a mixture of shock and something akin to embarrassed curiosity flickering across his features. “Jesus Christ, Juhwan. You classy son of a bitch.”