Ha Jun-seo had been walking for quite some time. He was nearly leaving the shoreline.
“Jun-seo…”
Kim Min-seok barely managed to force his name out of his mouth. But Ha Jun-seo didn’t look back and just kept walking.
Gulp.
Saliva went down his throat.
Even while hiding as thoroughly as possible so that the two men wouldn’t find him, a part of him had still been waiting for them to come. But now that he was finally face-to-face with Ha Jun-seo, reality was crashing down on him.
He had spent three months thinking. Yet, he still couldn’t reach a conclusion. Meeting them like this, in his current state, would only lead to the same situation repeating itself. And that was the last thing he wanted.
Besides, if he followed them now, he would never be able to escape again. The two of them would keep an iron grip on him. If he wanted to run, this was his only chance.
By now, he knew the layout of this place like the back of his hand. If he ran into the crowd and disappeared, he could buy enough time to stop by the motel, grab his money, and leave.
Resolving himself, Kim Min-seok began slowing his steps, little by little widening the distance between him and Ha Jun-seo. His heart pounded violently. Once he felt he had gotten far enough, he whipped his body around and took off running. Or at least, he tried to.
Thud—
The moment he turned, he slammed hard into something as solid as a wall. The impact sent him staggering backward, and he would have fallen if not for someone grabbing his waist to steady him. Startled, he looked up—only to find Choi Sang-hyuk in a black suit holding him in place.
“Sang-hyuk…?”
Kim Min-seok gasped in shock. Before he could process what was happening, Ha Jun-seo closed in from behind and gripped his shoulders tightly.
“Were you seriously about to run away from me again?”
Ha Jun-seo’s voice was gentle, but there was something eerily chilling about his words.
“If you keep trying to bolt, maybe we should just implant a tracking chip in you.”
Choi Sang-hyuk muttered as if talking to himself. And the scary part was, he seemed entirely capable of doing just that. A shiver ran down Min-seok’s spine.
“Get in the car.”
Choi Sang-hyuk turned Min-seok around and gave him a slight push in the direction they had originally been heading. Ha Jun-seo took his hand in an almost affectionate grip and started walking toward the parking lot.
Min-seok was dragged along, his eyes darting around in panic. But with both of them latched onto him, he saw no way to escape. He had hidden so perfectly—how had they even found him?
They stopped in front of a massive black Benz. Choi Sang-hyuk opened the back door. Ha Jun-seo pushed Min-seok inside before climbing in after him. Click. The door shut, and Choi Sang-hyuk went around to the driver’s seat and got in. The engine started, and a moment later, the sound of the car locks engaging echoed through the cabin.
Gulp.
The sound of dry swallowing echoed through the car.
“You’re thirsty, aren’t you? Here, drink this.”
Ha Jun-seo pulled out an iced Americano from a tray and handed it over. It felt ridiculous to accept it in a situation like this, but his throat and mouth were unbearably dry. That much was undeniable. Kim Min-seok cautiously took the cup and put the straw between his lips.
Gulp, gulp, gulp—
Three big swallows, and the thirst eased a little. While he drank, Ha Jun-seo and Choi Sang-hyuk remained completely silent. The heavy, awkward stillness filled the space between them. Honestly, he would have preferred if they just scolded him for running away so irresponsibly.
“Aren’t you glad I brought it?”
Ha Jun-seo asked with a smile. Min-seok instinctively started to nod but caught himself. He spat out the straw and cautiously asked,
“How did you find me?”
“We finally meet after so long, and that’s the first thing you ask?”
Ha Jun-seo’s face showed a hint of disappointment. Min-seok winced, feeling guilty.
“Well, I suppose it would be weird to ask if you’ve been doing well in a situation like this.”
Ha Jun-seo muttered under his breath. Then, he pulled out his phone, tapped on the screen a few times, and handed it over. Min-seok hesitantly took it and looked down.
The next moment, he let out a breathless gasp.
It was a social media feed. Right in the center of the screen was a photo that had already been shared thousands of times. A photo of him at work. Below it, a bizarre caption with emojis was written:
[Spotted an insanely hot guy at a Haeundae café!!! (>∀<)> #Haeundae #Café #HotGuy #PartTimer #SeoHaYoon]
The image showed Min-seok smiling kindly at a customer, and right on the strap of his apron was a name tag that clearly read Seo Ha-yoon. The post had been uploaded just yesterday, and in less than a day, it had spread like wildfire across the internet.
Even he had to admit—it was a photo that was bound to get attention.
Feeling a wave of mortification crash over him, Min-seok handed the phone back and buried his face in his hands. He had gone to such great lengths to hide—living in a motel, working only part-time jobs, using cash exclusively—and yet he had been exposed like this. It was so absurdly stupid that he felt utterly defeated.
“You’ve gotten pretty famous, you know? A ridiculously handsome part-timer from Seoul suddenly appearing at a Haeundae café, always rejecting confessions by claiming he doesn’t have a phone. The ‘cold and aloof’ hottie. Your name even has its own hashtag. If you just type ‘Haeundae’ and ‘Seo Ha-yoon’ into a search bar, your workplace pops up immediately.”
“Huuu…”
Min-seok exhaled a long sigh, covering his eyes with one hand. He had never been more embarrassed in his life. He didn’t even have the courage to look at either of them.
“And to think we wasted a fortune searching for you like idiots, when all we had to do was run a simple internet search. What’s wrong? Are you embarrassed?”
Ha Jun-seo was sharp as ever.
“…Yes.”
Kim Min-seok answered in a small, crawling voice. A clicking sound of disapproval came from the driver’s seat. He suddenly wished he could shrink down into nothing and hide somewhere in the corner of the car’s floor.
Should I just open the door and make a run for it?
Covering his eyes with one hand, he subtly glanced toward the door. Unlocking it would be as simple as pulling the latch. But as if reading his mind, Ha Jun-seo suddenly reached over and clicked his seatbelt into place with a sharp clack. It was just a safety device, yet it felt like being shackled in iron restraints.
“Let’s get going. I’d rather have dinner at home,” Ha Jun-seo said.
Without a word, Choi Sang-hyuk started the car.
“But my part-time job—!”
Min-seok panicked as the vehicle began to move, yanking his hand away from his face and shouting.
“It’s fine. The café isn’t going to go out of business just because one part-timer disappeared,” Ha Jun-seo replied nonchalantly.
“But…!”
Just as Min-seok opened his mouth again, Ha Jun-seo suddenly lifted the coffee cup and shoved the straw right into his mouth. Narrowing his eyes, he whispered,
“Shhh. We’re angry right now.”
That brief warning rendered Min-seok utterly speechless. In the end, he could do nothing but sip from the straw in intervals while silently watching the familiar streets of Haeundae grow distant through the window.
When he had taken the train to Busan, he hadn’t realized it, but traveling back to Seoul by car was a grueling journey. Especially with the three of them sitting in heavy, awkward silence for hours on end.
Normally, Ha Jun-seo would have chatted about this and that, easing the mood. But this time, he said nothing. And naturally, Choi Sang-hyuk, who was never much of a talker to begin with, remained silent as well. It was so suffocating that Min-seok found himself inwardly praying for the car to reach Seoul faster.
After more than five exhausting hours, they finally entered the city. The sight of Seoul’s familiar skyline made Min-seok feel oddly relieved. More than anything, he desperately wanted to escape this small, oppressive space filled with unspoken tension.
As they entered the downtown area, the car that had been speeding smoothly down the highway gradually slowed due to traffic. On the way here, he had wished they would arrive as soon as possible. But now that they were close, he was having second thoughts.
Once they arrived, the three of them would have to sit down, face each other, and talk things out. Just thinking about it made him want to fling the car door open and bolt.
Of course, it wasn’t as if that was the only thing on his mind.
The enclosed space of the car carried three distinct scents. One was the faint aroma of coffee from the Americano. The other two belonged to the men beside him.
There was the subtle scent of Choi Sang-hyuk’s cologne mingled with his natural body heat, and the soft fragrance of Ha Jun-seo’s fabric softener. The mixture of those two smells filled his nose, making his head spin.
Truthfully, they were scents he had longed for desperately during the past three months, especially at night.
Min-seok discreetly, quietly took in deeper breaths, savoring them. And yet, at the same time, he felt so incredibly ashamed of himself for doing so.
The car pulled into the apartment complex. By now, Kim Min-seok was visibly restless.
As the vehicle entered the underground parking lot and came to a stop, Ha Jun-seo reached over and unbuckled his seatbelt. Choi Sang-hyuk was the first to step out, opening the back door before speaking.
“Get out.”
Min-seok hesitated, sluggishly stepping out of the car. Even then, his eyes darted around, frantically searching for any possible escape route.
Of course, the two men weren’t about to let that slide.
Like a criminal being escorted under heavy surveillance, Min-seok was forced into the elevator, trapped between the two of them.
