A relationship beyond that was impossible.
He didn’t feel any affection for Kim Seunghyun, and his body didn’t react to Kim Seunghyun’s attempts at physical intimacy.
When he expressed his definite intentions, Eun Donghu said she liked his straightforwardness and laughed cheerfully.
She regretfully swept back her hair once and offered a dry chuckle.
“If that’s what Oppa wants, there’s nothing I can do. Later, if you meet a nice person like yourself, introduce me. No, tell me about him first!”
Eun Donghu didn’t wait for an answer, took out a memo pad and a pen from the bag she had brought, and wrote down her phone number.
She said writing it on his palm was too old-fashioned, so she folded the paper twice and handed it to him.
“You have to call me if anything happens. We talk about our troubles, but when something serious happens, he tends to suffer alone and only mentions it much later.”
She looked at him, implying he was closer to Kim Seunghyun than even his older sister, Kim Seulgi, and urged him to be sure to tell her.
As he gave a gentle “I understand” reply, Kim Seunghyun suddenly thrust his head onto the shoulder closest to him.
“What were you talking about? What’s that in your hand?”
“Ah. Your sibling’s contact number.”
“Why are you taking her number? Are you planning to meet separately?”
Kim Seunghyun subtly frowned and gently pressed down on his shoulder.
The paper with the contact information seemed to bother him, as he didn’t even think about sitting down.
“Why would the two of us meet when you’re not there?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’m busy just meeting you.”
His mind seemed to ease slightly at those words, and Kim Seunghyun smiled faintly and plopped down beside him.
If you looked closely, he seemed subtly jealous.
“Are you really not going to sleep at my place?”
“No. I have to sleep at home.”
“Why? Your boyfriends aren’t looking for you, are they? Then it should be fine to stay over, right?”
Normally, one might think so.
But if one knew what kind of men they were, such a remark wouldn’t come easily.
They couldn’t stand anyone else being near him for even a second, and the moment he left the house, they tried to monitor his every move.
That’s why he still felt uneasy, but he tried to think positively, believing they couldn’t find him because he’d left his phone behind.
“Right. If you don’t have urgent plans, let’s have a pajama party tonight.”
“I’m particular about where I sleep. I can only sleep comfortably at home.”
He felt that if they learned he had stayed out overnight, that house would instantly be blown up.
No, it would be devastated, or he would be dragged off somewhere and disappear into their hands without a trace, just like in the original story.
Because the three men were that terrifying, he picked up the water glass and moistened his dry lips.
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s harsh. Isn’t that too quick to answer without even considering your friend’s request to stay over?”
Kim Seunghyun pouted and gave him a look of disappointment.
He had only refused for the safety of both of them, but he felt wronged, as if he had become the mean person.
He put down the water glass he was holding and answered quietly.
“Instead, I’ll come over this week to hang out.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’ll bring your favorite sandwich.”
Pleased with the next meeting plan, Kim Seunghyun shouted, “Deal!” in a cheerful voice.
The attention of the surrounding people was drawn to them, but only for a moment.
Eun Donghu looked at them with a satisfied gaze in the friendly atmosphere.
“Look here for a moment?”
Eun Donghu, who had adjusted the camera settings, quickly touched the screen button as soon as he turned his head.
He didn’t have time to pose due to the suddenness, but Kim Seunghyun, as if used to it, held up an upside-down peace sign and laughed cheerfully.
Leaving behind Kim Seunghyun, who insisted on taking him all the way home, he hurriedly took a taxi and arrived in front of his house.
Spending the day without his phone was more inconvenient than he could count.
“I must have a ton of missed calls…”
There might also be a huge number of messages.
As he worried about how to reply, he stepped through the main gate and saw the staircase was brighter than usual.
The soft light seemed as if someone had deliberately turned on the rooftop light.
“…No way.”
The probability of the light being left on by mistake was low, so one of the three men was definitely inside the house.
Should I not go up?
The thought crossed his mind, but it was his own house, and running away to another place felt ridiculous.
What could possibly happen?
With that thought, he climbed the stairs one by one.
For some reason, stepping on the stairs felt incredibly difficult today.
“Ha.”
He sighed deeply at his feet, which were stubbornly refusing to move.
He finally managed to lift his heavy feet and stood in front of the door, where goosebumps broke out.
This was the first time he felt such fear and dread facing his own door.
He squeezed his hands, damp with tension, once and slowly grabbed the doorknob.
Creak—
The door slowly opened with the sound of rusty hinges, and his heart pounded as if it would burst.
He held his breath at the increased heart rate and then exhaled it at the sight of three pairs of shoes placed in the entrance.
Unable to lift his head, he stood there, and a gentle voice came from the room.
“Welcome home, Siho.”
His body froze as if broken, unable to move.
Slowly, he raised his head in a state of rigidity, and he saw Kang Taeyun, sitting on the bed, giving a saccharine smile.
“It’s Seo Siho. Seo Siho, who spent all day playing with another bastard.”
Yoo Joohwan stood with his arms crossed, his face expressionless.
His face was full of displeasure, like the calm before a storm.
Moon Dowon, in the kitchen, held an apple and took a large bite.
Although he didn’t speak, Moon Dowon also seemed to be in a bad mood.
He hadn’t expected the three of them to be waiting here together, so he smiled awkwardly and just tightly gripped the doorknob.
“…What are the three of you doing here?”
“Waiting.”
“…Why, then, did you wait? It’s late; you could have come tomorrow.”
As he spoke, the chilling atmosphere he sensed made the hand gripping the doorknob feel glued and impossible to let go.
The heavy yet noble atmosphere felt terrifying, as if something disastrous was about to happen.
‘Should I just run away…?’
The atmosphere was clearly extraordinary.
It was on a completely different level from when they met in Busan, and it felt devastating, enough to choke him.
If he ran out now and was caught, he felt he wouldn’t be able to recover.
Thinking that a professional smile was needed in times like this, he forced the corners of his mouth up.
“Di-did you see my phone…?”
He stammered the question without entering, and Kang Taeyun took out the object he held in his hand and showed it.
It was fleeting, but the coldness in his eyes sent a chill down his spine.
But just as quickly, Kang Taeyun smiled brightly, as if nothing had happened, showing the object.
“Are you referring to this?”
“…Oh, yes. There it was. I lost my phone, you see.”
The tone of his voice was clearly one of reciting lines.
His trembling lips looked like a liar’s, and his unnatural posture made him look unstable, like a person who had committed a crime.
This made him realize why people shouldn’t commit sins.
‘If I had known this, I wouldn’t have left my phone behind…’
He wondered if he had taken a big gamble for no reason on people who wouldn’t try to find him.
If he had just answered his phone calls properly, the situation wouldn’t have escalated this far, and he sweated profusely in deep regret.
“You lost it? I thought you had thrown it away.”
“…”
“Siho. Tell me. Did you really lose it?”
Kang Taeyun smiled warmly and asked kindly again.
His tone was so calm and flat that he wished he would just raise his voice or get angry.
When he remained silent, unable to speak, Kang Taeyun slowly erased the smile hanging on his lips.
Behind the slowly fading smile, Kang Taeyun’s cold face appeared.
“If you say so, then that’s what happened. But Siho. I misunderstood. I thought you threw it away after talking to me.”
“…”
“It pissed me off.”
A harsh curse word burst from Kang Taeyun’s mouth.
He was only startled because Kang Taeyun had never used such vulgar language towards him before.
He had only used one word, but it was enough to reveal how angry Kang Taeyun was.
“That is…”
“You threw it away, alright.”
Yoo Joohwan interjected in the conversation and uncrossed his arms.
His gaze was sharp, like he was about to seize someone.
“…Why do you think that?”
“It doesn’t make sense that a dropped phone has no scratches. If it fell in the entrance, the sound would have been loud, and it’s strange that you didn’t notice. Or did you do something bad with Kim Seunghyun?”
At the mention of “something bad,” Moon Dowon squeezed the apple he was holding.
The apple, crushed by his grip, released its juice, which trickled down his fingers and dripped onto the floor.
He looked menacing, as if he would do the same to Kim Seunghyun.
“What are you talking about? Why would I do anything bad? I told you, Kim Seunghyun is just a friend.”
“Just a friend, yet you left your phone behind. Didn’t I tell you? You must always be reachable.”
Yoo Joohwan looked betrayed, implying that this was why he shouldn’t have deleted the app.
His tightly sealed lips and cold voice made it clear that he had greatly escalated the situation.
He swallowed hard, his neck tingling with fear.
