To an older generation that used to argue over the check, each insisting on paying for the group, Gen Z's habit of "1/N" — or splitting a bill and increasingly paying only for what you personally ordered — looks unfamiliar and hard-hearted. For young Koreans, settling the exact amount shows consideration and reason in their own way, as they refuse to leave the table owing anyone anything. It goes further than etiquette. It is an attempt to secure fairness and equity at the very foundation of human relationships. 1/N: Way to protect relationships Participant 6: "For the older generation, if five friends met, one would pay today and someone else would pay next time. Even without settling every time, over the long run, it came to roughly a fifth each. So I think it is why the older generation sees today's split-it-right-now approach as lacking human warmth." Participant 5: "Older people might see it that way, but our generation has always done it like this. If you meet enough times, everyone probably ends up paying about the same, but isn't it much cleaner to just finish it there and th