*Back to the present, to the night when Jaewon had seen Taesan and Joshua together.*
The night stretched longer than it should have.
Laughter rose and fell around the table, bottles clinked, chairs scraped against concrete, yet none of it reached Jaewon. The noise blurred into a dull hum in the back of his head. He stared at his half-empty glass, turning it slowly between his fingers, watching the clear liquid ripple under the lights.
All he could think about was Taesan.
The same Taesan who had followed him around for years. The same quiet, predictable hyung who worried about grades and packed lunches and small, ordinary things. The one Jaewon had always dismissed as simple.
Safe. Manageable. Background.
And yet tonight, that same person had walked straight into the VIP section like he belonged there. Like it was nothing. The image would not leave his mind.
Taesan laughing softly. Sitting comfortably beside a man who looked like he owned half the city. Drinking whiskey instead of cheap beer.
Like he had always lived that life.
The thought unsettled him more than he cared to admit.
By the time Jaewon left the stall, the air had turned sharp and cold. The streets were quieter now, washed in pale streetlights and the distant glow of convenience stores. He shoved both hands deep into his pockets and walked faster, shoulders hunched against the chill.
His thoughts refused to slow.
Fragments of the conversation he had overheard earlier replayed again and again. The way Joshua spoke to Taesan like an equal. The way Taesan answered without hesitation.
Confident. Relaxed.
Nothing like the boy Jaewon knew.
Or thought he knew.
"Since when..." he muttered under his breath.
His breath came out in thin white clouds. The apartment building came into view sooner than expected. One of the hallway lights flickered weakly. Familiar. Ordinary. Grounding.
But as he reached their unit, he noticed the door slightly open. Just a crack which was enough to show someone was home.
Jaewon pushed it open quietly and stepped inside, careful not to make noise. The place was calm. Too calm. No sign of the extravagant night Taesan had clearly spent. No expensive scent. No trace of luxury. Just the faint smell of detergent and old books. The soft rustle of paper drifted from the study.
Jaewon moved toward it and stopped at the doorway.
Taesan sat at the desk under the warm glow of a small lamp, sleeves rolled up, pen moving steadily across a notebook. His hair was slightly messy, glasses resting low on his nose. The scene looked painfully normal.
Like he had never left home.
Like the VIP lounge, the whiskey, the expensive suit had never existed.
He looked small again. Quiet again.Safe again.
Taesan glanced up. "You're back late," he said calmly.
His voice carried no accusation, no curiosity. Just simple observation.
He set the pen down and leaned back slightly in his chair.
"Didn't expect you to stay out this long."
Jaewon opened his mouth, then closed it. For a second, he wanted to ask everything. About the restaurant. About Joshua. About the suit. About who Taesan really was.
But something about Taesan's expression stopped him. Too composed. Too steady.
Like nothing could touch him.
"Yeah," Jaewon said finally, shrugging. "Lost track of time."
Taesan gave a small nod and returned to his notes as if the conversation had already ended.
That was it.
No questions. No curiosity. No irritation about the late hour. Nothing.
His pen moved steadily across the page, the quiet scratch of ink against paper the only sound in the room. His posture remained relaxed, shoulders loose, expression calm. It was the same look he always wore while studying, distant and self-contained, like the rest of the world simply did not exist.
As if Jaewon did not exist.
The indifference bothered Jaewon more than it should have.
He lingered in the doorway longer than necessary, fingers tightening slightly around the frame as his eyes traced Taesan's figure. The soft sweater. The slightly messy hair. The warm pool of lamplight that made him look small and ordinary.
This was the Taesan he knew.
Quiet. Predictable. Harmless.
But it did not match the man from earlier that night.
It did not match the composed figure seated in the VIP lounge, sipping whiskey like he belonged there, laughing beside Joshua Hong like an equal.
The two images refused to fit together.
It made no sense.
Still, Jaewon said nothing.
The questions crowded his throat but never made it out. Pride, maybe. Or fear of sounding ridiculous.
So he turned away, walked down the hall, and shut himself inside his room.
For now, he told himself, it did not matter.
Days passed.
Life resumed its usual rhythm.
Classes. Friends. Cafeteria food. Late-night gaming. Noise. Routine swallowed him whole.
He buried himself in distractions, convincing himself he had imagined everything. Maybe it had been the lighting at the restaurant. Maybe the alcohol had blurred his memory. Maybe he had simply overthought it.
Yeah. That had to be it.
Taesan was still Taesan. Nothing more. Nothing special.
Yet the doubt refused to leave.
It clung to him quietly, like a shadow trailing just a step behind. Persistent. Patient. Waiting.
***
Then one evening, it happened again.
Jaewon took a different route home, lured by the sweet smell of hotteok crisping on a griddle and the spicy aroma of tteokbokki bubbling in red sauce. Vendors called out lazily to passing customers. Somewhere down the block, faint music drifted through the air, blending with the low hum of traffic and chatter.
Seoul at night felt alive in a soft, familiar way. Comfortable. Warm.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and turned the corner.
And froze. There they were.
Under the yellow glow of a streetlamp, a sleek black KIA Seltos sat parked neatly by the curb, its polished surface reflecting the city lights.
Taesan stood beside it. Joshua Hong stood next to him. They were laughing and talking like old friends; like they had known each other for years.
Jaewon's breath caught halfway in his throat. For a second, he wondered if he was looking at someone else. Because the person in front of him did not resemble the quiet, almost forgettable Taesan from their apartment.
This Taesan looked different. Sharper. He wore a tailored black double-breasted coat that hugged his shoulders perfectly, the fabric smooth and structured. Beneath it, a white turtleneck lay crisp against his skin, clean and elegant. A thin gold chain glinted faintly at his collar whenever he moved. His trousers were neatly pressed, falling in straight lines down to polished leather loafers that caught the streetlight with every shift of his feet.
Nothing about him looked accidental. Every detail felt deliberate.
Refined.
Effortless.
He looked expensive. Like he belonged somewhere high above Jaewon's ordinary world.
Joshua matched him in a different way. Less formal, but just as striking. A navy blazer with a subtle pattern, sleeves pushed up carelessly. A soft beige sweater underneath. Slim jeans that fit perfectly. And on his wrist, a watch that probably cost more than Jaewon's yearly tuition.
Standing together, they looked unreal. Like a photo shoot. Like an advertisement. Like men who belonged to a world of money and influence that Jaewon had only ever seen on screens.
They leaned slightly toward each other as they talked, their shoulders nearly brushing.
Comfortable.
Close.
Natural.
Not forced.
Not awkward.
The kind of ease that came from trust.
And suddenly, Jaewon felt out of place.
Like he had wandered into someone else's life by mistake.
Like he was watching a story that did not include him.
Instinctively, he stepped back into the shadows.
His heart began to pound harder than it should have.
He did not call out.
He did not step forward.
He just watched.
Just listened.
"I don't know if this suits me," Taesan said quietly, fingers tugging at the sleeve of his coat as if still unsure.
Joshua laughed under his breath, warm and easy.
"Trust me," he replied. "It suits you more than you think. Honestly, you pull it off better than anyone else could."
Taesan glanced away, almost embarrassed. A side of him Jaewon had rarely seen.
"I'm not used to this," he admitted. "The attention. The expectations. It feels… heavy."
Joshua's expression softened.
He stepped a little closer, lowering his voice.
"You don't have to carry it alone," he said. "I'm here. As long as you need me."
Something twisted painfully in Jaewon's chest.
The words were simple.
But the way Joshua said them.
Gentle. Certain. Sincere.
There was no teasing. No condescension. No superiority. Nothing like the way Jaewon usually spoke to Taesan. No jokes about him being slow. No casual insults. No treating him like background noise.
Just respect.
Just care.
Taesan looked at him then.
Really looked.
And for a brief second, the calm mask slipped.
His eyes softened.
Vulnerable.
Grateful.
"I know," he said quietly. "And I appreciate it more than you realize."
They exchanged a small smile.
Their glasses clinked lightly together.
A soft, private sound.
Too intimate. Too real.
Jaewon looked away first. Because watching any longer felt wrong. Like he was intruding on something he had no right to see.
His throat felt tight. For years, he had thought he understood Taesan completely. Thought he had him figured out. A simple hyung. Predictable. Safe. Someone who would always trail behind him.
Someone small.
But standing there in the cold night air, hidden in the shadows like a stranger, Jaewon felt something unsettling crawl up his spine.
Maybe Taesan had never been the simple one. Maybe he had only acted that way. Maybe all this time, Taesan had been quietly building something Jaewon knew nothing about. A life. Connections. Power. And maybe, without even realizing it,
Jaewon had been the fool all along.
——————— TO BE CONTINUED