* * *

After the storm-like confession, the two of them still sat there.

Time had passed, and a cold wind swept across their chilled cheeks.

“…Have you calmed down?”

“Yes, hyung… I’m sorry.”

Siwon let out a long sigh, the sorrow still lingering in his breath.

The two sat side by side, staring straight ahead, with a gap between them that felt awkwardly wide.

“Honestly, I didn’t mean to blame you. I know you didn’t do anything wrong… But, it’s true that I really do like you.”

Junhee rubbed his face, pressing his fingertips against his gritty eyes, feeling a bit more clear-headed.

“…I don’t expect anything from you. I just… liked you on my own, and planned to keep liking you. I thought I’d confess after graduating and getting a stable job. But then that guy suddenly showed up and started flirting with you, and I just lost it…”

Junhee didn’t need to ask to know the ‘guy’ Siwon was referring to was Ki Taeryu.

Recently, Siwon had been wary of no one as much as him.

“I’m sorry for not noticing. But… to me, Siwon, you’re just…”

“I know. Family. Like a little brother. I’ll work on it, I’m confident I can. I’m not asking you to accept me right now, either. I’m not that shameless. So just…”

Siwon’s words caught in his throat as he fought back his emotions.

Junhee waited patiently.

“So please… just don’t tell me to leave. Let me stay by your side. I promise I won’t expect anything more. I feel like I’d die if I didn’t have you… No, as long as I have you, I’ll be fine.”

Siwon’s trembling fingers, his wet cheeks, and blurred eyes.

His desperate words hit Junhee like a blow to the chest.

At the same time, he felt a tightness in his own chest. He was no one’s rock, no one’s safe harbor.

“I could never… cut ties with you. But I think I need some time to sort out my own thoughts.”

“Yes, I’ll wait. I can wait as long as it takes. Ha… I didn’t want to confess to you while bawling my eyes out. I’m the worst. And what’s worse… a part of me even feels relieved to have said it. I’m seriously messed up.”

“…You’ve always been a little off.”

Junhee said it to cheer him up, but Siwon burst out laughing instead.

He wiped away his tears, barely catching his breath, and then smiled clearly.

“That’s why I like you, hyung. You’re so blunt but comforting.”

Junhee, unable to handle hearing the words ‘I like you’ anymore, glanced away.

“Hyung, just answer this for me honestly. There’s nothing going on with that crazy guy… right?”

“There’s nothing going on. After the wedding, I’ll probably never see him again…”

Junhee’s phone, left between the seats, suddenly started to vibrate.

Both of them glanced at the cracked screen at almost the same time.

[Director Ki Taeryu]

“This guy is insane, right? Who calls at this hour?”

“…I’m not going to answer anyway, so don’t worry about it.”

Junhee’s words seemed confident, but inside he felt uneasy.

It was the first time he’d received a call so late.

Usually, Taeryu insisted on evening meetings or simply came by the office if he couldn’t reach him.

‘I’ll just say I was asleep.’

It was well past 10 p.m. now.

Junhee was about to press the volume button to silence the vibration when Siwon grabbed his phone.

“Jin Siwon, what the…!”

In one swift motion, Siwon had seized the phone and answered the call.

“Excuse me, but what kind of manners is it to call someone at such a late hour?”

Junhee reached out to snatch the phone back, but Siwon evaded his grasp, leading to an unintended disaster.

“If you got the message, don’t call again…”

Junhee’s fingers grazed the phone, but it slipped and fell, dropping hard to the floor.

Crash! With an ominous sound, the phone rolled down to the lower seats.

Junhee and Siwon both looked at each other, mouths agape.

“I… I’ll go get it,” Siwon said, hurrying down. When he returned, the phone was in much worse shape than Junhee had anticipated.

The cracks on the screen had deepened; it was now completely shattered and wouldn’t even power on.

“Jin Siwon.”

“…I’m really sorry, hyung. I’ll buy you a new one first thing tomorrow.”

Instead of a reply, Junhee slapped Siwon on the back.

“Ow! Hyung…!”

“Just get me a new phone, but I’ll handle everything else.”

Right now, the phone itself wasn’t as important as the contacts, photos, and other data it held.

Junhee could only hope some of it might be recoverable.

‘Well, I should have known things were too quiet lately.’

It was like all the karma that had quietly built up over the last peaceful days came crashing down at once.

---

As Junhee stepped out of the taxi, an unfamiliar car caught his eye.

Under the streetlamp, it was parked in the usual spot.

A sleek two-door sports car with a streamlined body.

‘…Please, no.’

Suppressing a feeling of dread creeping up on him, he tried to pass by quietly at a distance.

“Out for a walk?”

A familiar voice stopped Junhee in his tracks.

So, the karma he thought he’d gotten over wasn’t quite done yet.

Underneath the shadow beyond the reach of the streetlight stood Ki Taeryu.

“…What brings you here?”

“I called Junhee, but some mutt barked at me instead. Then I called again, and no one picked up, so I thought I’d check on things myself.”

By now, Junhee had grown used to Taeryu’s sarcastic tone, or maybe he was just too exhausted to react.

He held out his phone, showing the shattered screen.

“As you can see, it slipped from my hand and broke. What Siwon said…”

“Didn’t I tell you before? Broken things should just be thrown out.”

Ignoring that remark, Junhee continued, “Please just consider what Siwon said as a childish outburst and overlook it generously.”

Siwon might have overstepped, but he wasn’t entirely wrong.

Calling at such an hour was plain rude, especially for a business relationship like theirs.

Though if Taeryu respected that kind of boundary, he wouldn’t be standing here at Junhee’s doorstep.

“Fine, I suppose I could overlook it, but…”

Taeryu took a step closer, his face emerging from the shadows under the red streetlamp. His expression looked unusually stern.

“But I can’t stand the smell of a mutt.”

He wrinkled his nose as he leaned in, brushing his face close to the top of Junhee’s head.

With that sense of smell, Junhee thought, maybe Taeryu was more of a hound himself.

‘He was the same with Member Moon Doyoung; his nose is sharp as a ghost’s.’

Junhee’s grumbling thoughts were interrupted as Taeryu tilted his chin up.

“Mutt’s like that. Give them a little attention, pat them, and they’ll be wagging their tails in no time.”

“Please stop treating people like dogs.”

“See? You didn’t need to worry so much.”

Junhee’s hands instinctively wanted to swat Taeryu’s fingers away as they toyed with his chin, but Taeryu held him fast with his gaze.

“I told you, I’ll take care of everything, Junhee.”

“Thank you for your help, I ap…”

“But I’m not so sure I can take care of this one.”

Taeryu’s interruption cut through Junhee’s words, his eyes turning dark as a pitch-black sea.

“…What?”

“It seems my Junhee doesn’t appreciate his blessings.”

Before Junhee could even ask what he meant, Taeryu brushed past him.

Only the lingering scent of his pheromones remained in the air.

As the sound of an engine starting brought him back to his senses, Junhee called out in a hurry.

“Please wait, Director!”

Junhee rushed to the car, knocking on the driver’s window.

The window lowered just enough for Taeryu’s sharp eyes and neatly arched brows to come into view.

“Yes?”

“What do you mean by that? ‘This one’?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

Taeryu’s cryptic words only added fuel to the growing anxiety that ate at Junhee’s insides.

As the window began to rise, Junhee quickly slipped his hand between it and the frame.

A click, then the window stopped with Junhee’s right hand caught in the gap.

“What are you…”

A startled Taeryu immediately lowered the window. Junhee pointed to the passenger seat.

“I’ll get in.”

When he heard the locks click open, he hurried to the passenger side and opened the door.

The moment he sat down, Taeryu pulled him by the wrist, keeping him in place.

“Not like you to do something so reckless.”

With a slight, annoyed click of his tongue, Taeryu’s gaze trailed over Junhee’s wrist, still wrapped in a brace.

“…The guard’s solid, so it’s fine.”

“And in the midst of it all, you thought of that? Well, maybe I should even praise you.”

“But that’s not the point right now. Please tell me what you came here to say.”

Junhee doubted Taeryu would have come all the way here just because of Siwon’s comment.

If he’d called at such a late hour, something must have happened, something he was missing.

He hoped today’s troubles might finally be over.

“There’s an old saying from my grandfather. You shouldn’t raise a beast with black fur.”

Suddenly, Taeryu’s grip shifted, his fingers pressing more firmly against Junhee’s hand as he placed it on his thigh.

“You train it.”

Junhee held his breath for a moment, looking up at Taeryu from an angle.

The corner of his mouth twisted beneath a sharp, clean jawline.

* * *