* * *
Sure, we’re not close anymore, but why did I have to hear something like that?
And to think Cha Joobin had the nerve to call me obnoxious to my face?
‘I’ve been trying to keep my composure, pretending to be mature, even though I’ve been seething inside, but this? This is too much.’
Not long after, Joobin came out of the bathroom.
No matter how many times he told him to dry off inside, he always dried his hair right by the door, with a towel still draped over his head.
Clearly, he hadn’t grabbed any clothes before heading in, since he walked into the closet with a towel wrapped around his waist, rummaging through the drawers.
Yoochan called out to him as he lazily pulled on a pair of pants.
“Hey.”
“What.”
Joobin turned toward Yoochan, his well-built muscles catching his eye first.
But there was no time to admire his defined abs. Yoochan shot him a cold look.
“What makes me obnoxious? Speak clearly.”
Yoochan narrowed his eyes, determined to find out today.
Joobin, in turn, twisted his expression in frustration.
“Ugh, what’s the point in digging this up after everything’s over?”
“Over? I’m not over it yet.”
“Does it matter how I feel? Did you put me in charge of managing your emotions?”
“What?”
The very tone of Joobin’s voice was infuriating, enough to make Yoochan boil with frustration.
Had he always been this good with words?
Who’s really the obnoxious one here?
Yoochan felt his throat tighten in frustration.
He couldn’t believe how many sides of Joobin he was discovering—sides he had never seen during their long relationship.
Joobin glanced up at him, folding the towel he had on his head with casual indifference.
“What’s it to you, how I feel? My emotions are my business.”
“Hey, people should still have basic manners toward each other, no matter what.”
“Why do you have so much time on your hands, worrying about all this post-breakup nonsense?”
“Why are you being such a jerk?”
“First time realizing that, huh?”
Actually, it wasn’t the first time.
To be precise, it wasn’t that he didn’t know Joobin could be a jerk.
He had just been living under the delusion that Joobin would never show that side to him.
Joobin was the one who had liked him first, the one who had shyly confessed his feelings.
He had even brought over the password to his apartment just weeks after they started dating, suggesting they live together.
For the longest time, he had been nothing but kind to Yoochan.
So now that they’ve broken up, does that mean all the masks come off?
Seeing Joobin’s unfiltered personality was both shocking and disheartening.
Yoochan tilted his head, looking directly at him.
“Fine, let’s say I momentarily forgot how rude you can be. But this is too much, don’t you think? We’ve broken up, fine. But we should still have a proper conversation. I’ve been asking to talk for a while now, and you—”
I was about to say that he kept dodging me by going out all the time, but then—
“How much closure do you need?”
Joobin cut him off, his eyes now filled with suppressed emotions.
He looked like he was either angry at him, resenting him, or maybe even feeling sorrowful.
His eyes were swirling with complex emotions that Yoochan couldn’t quite decipher.
And so, Yoochan clammed up.
“Never mind, forget it.”
“Go ahead, talk. What do you want to say?”
“I said forget it.”
“You were clinging to me when I didn’t want to talk, and now that I’m ready, you’re backing out?”
“Hey.”
“Don’t ‘hey’ me. I have a name.”
“So should I call you Joobin now, in this situation?”
“That’s up to you.”
Leaving behind yet another cold, indifferent remark, Joobin slammed the door as he entered the bedroom.
Yoochan stood there, stunned.
His blood was boiling.
And the way Joobin slammed the door in his face?
Where did he learn such rude behavior?
At that moment, Yoochan realized they couldn’t stay in the same space anymore.
He grabbed a hat, a mask from the shelf by the entrance, and headed out the door.
At times like this, he knew that the best thing to do was to sit in a quiet corner of a café and crunch on ice.
“Unbelievable.”
Seriously?
Was that something you needed to say?
Forcing someone to sit down when they didn’t want to?
Clinging onto them like that?
Gong Yoochan replayed Cha Joobin’s words in his head, adding a few embellishments here and there, as he downed his cold Americano straight from the cup without a straw.
Of course, today of all days, the café was packed.
He didn’t really live his life differentiating between weekdays and weekends, so he hadn’t realized that today, the day he stormed out of his place, was a weekend.
As a result, he couldn’t even curse freely.
Gong Yoochan pulled down his cap firmly and slumped onto the table, making sure to turn his face towards the wall.
The large café near his house was well-known as a favorite spot for him and Cha Joobin.
Because of that, the stares from the moment he entered had been relentless.
On any other day, he would have gone somewhere else just to avoid being noticed, but today, he didn’t have the mental energy for that.
So, he quietly hid behind a potted plant that barely covered his face, muttering curses under his breath.
Of course, all the subjects of those curses were swallowed silently.
There wasn’t even time to wallow in idle thoughts like, ‘How did we end up like this?’ Gong Yoochan was simply frustrated and furious at the whole situation.
‘If that’s how you’re gonna act, what? You think I’ll just sit still?’
It’s over. Yeah, it’s over.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, his insides bubbling with rage to the point that it felt like his brain was being fried.
He knew nothing good would come from dwelling on it, but Cha Joobin’s mocking tone and attitude circled endlessly in his head, refusing to leave.
“Damn it.”
Gong Yoochan cursed under his breath, just loud enough for only him to hear, and crunched on his ice loudly.
It seemed like more people were starting to show up.
He considered that it might be better to just go home and hide out in another room.
Then he glanced at his quiet phone.
Normally, his childhood friend and fellow actor Kim Woosun would have messaged him by now, asking where he was, what he was doing, and demanding they hang out together.
But today, even Kim Woosun was quiet, probably busy with his schedule.
‘Man, I’m bored.’
Just as Gong Yoochan blinked lazily and decided he should probably head home, a photo book was suddenly shoved in front of his face.
It was none other than the couple’s photo book he and Cha Joobin had taken, which had gone up for pre-order the day they had broken up.
Gong Yoochan gasped, letting out a startled sound, and took a few steps back. The person in front of him awkwardly stammered.
“I-I’m so sorry. I’m really a big fan. Could you maybe sign this for me?”
Caught off guard, Gong Yoochan widened his eyes for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
These days, people rarely asked for his autograph so suddenly.
Since he and Cha Joobin mostly stayed in their neighborhood, they didn’t really have many opportunities to meet new people.
That’s why this request felt surprisingly refreshing, enough to temporarily lift his sour mood.
The fan in front of him was visibly shaking, their voice and even their lips trembling with nervousness.
So Gong Yoochan smiled kindly, accepting the pen they handed over.
He then lowered himself to meet the fan’s eye level and asked with a warm smile.
“What’s your name?”
It wasn’t hard to scribble his familiar signature.
After writing “To.” followed by the fan’s name and his autograph below, Gong Yoochan added a “P.S.” at the fan’s request.
“P.S. Next time, let’s meet with Joobin. ♡”
The heart was a bonus.
Gong Yoochan looked down at the autograph he had put some thought into.
Normally, he would have made sure not to obscure the faces in the photo, but today was different.
“Oh? Did you sign it on purpose like this?”
“Yeah… you could say that.”
Gong Yoochan chuckled meaningfully.
The autograph was placed directly on top of Cha Joobin’s face.
It was his own little act of revenge, but the fan seemed to interpret it differently.
‘I guess everything is up for interpretation,’ he thought, as he finally started to head home for real.
But just then, click. A heavy shutter sound, distinct from a phone camera, echoed from nearby.
Gong Yoochan instinctively knew it was a reporter.
He quickly turned to the side, his eyes landing on the persistent entertainment journalist who constantly tailed him.
He didn’t even want to acknowledge him.
If he did, the reporter would cling to him like a leech and make his life hell, so Gong Yoochan pulled his cap down lower and completely covered his face with his mask.
At the same time, he contacted his company’s security team.
[Reporter Jin Sanggil is at the café in my apartment complex.]
The message was a clear directive to take care of it.
Since his company was very sensitive about privacy, they were experts at handling these situations, so it was best to leave it to them.
Soon, his phone buzzed.
He expected a reply from the security team, but what appeared on his screen was something else.
[Joobin:
Stop sulking outside and come in. I’m coming out.]
It was a text from Cha Joobin, scratching at his nerves.
“That guy is just on his way to his own schedule…!”
In the end, Gong Yoochan let out a short scream, clutching his head.
Why did he have to act like he was doing a favor?
He was just leaving for work, so why did he have to make it sound like he was giving me space?
Why is he always such a jerk?
“He’s such a jerk…”
How had they managed to date for so long?
* * *
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❤
Ty for the chapter