Seeing Kim Yeonwoo and Kim Doha entering the café after their kiss, Jaeyoon swallowed the sigh that was rising. Of all the numerous cafés, why did they have to come to this one? As the scene of their kiss came to mind despite not wanting to remember it, Jaeyoon bit the soft flesh inside his mouth.
‘I really couldn’t care less about other people’s relationships…’
Deciding to have the cake packed to leave once Jung Jinhoo returned, Jaeyoon turned his gaze toward the window. When will Sunbae come back?
As Jaeyoon was absently observing people walking on the street while waiting for Jinhoo, Kim Yeonwoo called his name.
“Jaeyoon.”
“What?”
Seeing Kim Yeonwoo unable to say anything after calling him, Jaeyoon frowned with a puzzled expression. What is it? With an adult’s patience, Jaeyoon waited for Kim Yeonwoo to speak.
For a moment, just a brief moment, Kim Yeonwoo’s brown eyes wavered as they looked at the iced americano on the table.
‘Ah, could it be…’
“The person I came with isn’t the student council president.”
“Huh?!”
Seeing Kim Yeonwoo’s surprise, Jaeyoon shrugged. Deliberately ignoring Kim Doha’s intense gaze from behind, Jaeyoon stood up.
With drinks and cake in both hands, Jaeyoon passed by them and approached the counter.
“Please pack the cake for me.”
Until the clerk finished packaging, Jaeyoon completely ignored their gazes on him.
With the beautifully packaged cake box in one hand and all his belongings gathered from the table, Jaeyoon quickly passed by them and left the café.
“Haa…”
Letting out a deep sigh that rose from his core, Jaeyoon took out his phone from his pocket. Is the call over now? Jaeyoon called Jinhoo, who wasn’t visible around the café. Since it was ringing, it seemed the call had ended. As Jaeyoon waited for Jinhoo to answer, feeling relieved, a hand from behind pulled his arm. This caused him to drop his phone, and Jaeyoon closed his eyes tightly at the sound of the screen cracking as it hit the ground.
‘Ah, my repair costs…’
“S-sorry…! I didn’t mean to…”
Jaeyoon stared with lowered eyes at Kim Yeonwoo, who was holding his arm. He must have come out because he couldn’t believe what I said about the student council president being nothing. Jaeyoon let out a big sigh.
“Can you let go?”
“Ah, s-sorry…! I’ll compensate for the—!”
“Not necessary.”
Realizing his words came out too harshly, Jaeyoon took a deep breath to calm himself. I don’t want to get involved over repair costs. Besides…
Seeing Kim Doha glaring at him from behind Kim Yeonwoo, Jaeyoon let out another big sigh.
“What is it?”
“Huh…?”
“What do you want?”
At Jaeyoon’s question, Kim Yeonwoo closed his mouth again. Jaeyoon bit his lip and tried to calm his anger by imagining small animals in his mind.
Hamsters, cats, Jinhoo Sunbae… Huh?
‘Why is Jinhoo Sunbae’s face appearing here?!’
As Jaeyoon frowned and pressed his temple with his finger, Kim Yeonwoo finally spoke.
“Why were you riding in Doyoon Sunbae’s car?”
“I told you that was a coincidence…”
“Do you still like Doyoon Sunbae?!”
Jaeyoon’s eyes widened.
‘What? You knew?’
***
Jaeyoon looked at Kim Yeonwoo. Kim Yeonwoo’s body trembled slightly. Looking down at the brown eyes that trembled unstably like a child who had done something wrong, a twisted smile formed at the corners of Jaeyoon’s mouth.
‘What do you know?’
Although there’s no set standard for what it means to be kind, what was certain was that Kim Yeonwoo didn’t seem to be just a character with a nice personality. Jaeyoon redefined his understanding of Kim Yeonwoo.
If he were truly kind, knowing full well that Lee Jaeyoon had a crush on the student council president, he wouldn’t deliberately invite the student council president to the room right next door and engage in romantic activities.
Even if Han Doyoon had come to Kim Yeonwoo’s room on his own, if the person he liked said no, no matter how forceful Han Doyoon was, he would surely have stopped. Anyone who wouldn’t stop was trash unworthy of dating.
So for Lee Jaeyoon, his once-close brother had betrayed him and gone to Kim Yeonwoo, and the person he had a crush on, despite knowing Jaeyoon liked him, engaged in romantic activities with Kim Yeonwoo right in front of him, as if deliberately showing off. And Kim Yeonwoo pretended not to know anything and accepted Han Doyoon’s actions… is that it?
‘Even if it’s just in a game… It’s infuriating?’
Jaeyoon brushed back his bangs. Looking at Kim Yeonwoo in front of him with lowered eyes, Jaeyoon turned his back.
He picked up the phone that had fallen to the ground and put it in his pocket without checking the screen. He didn’t want to be in the same space as these two for even a moment.
“Jaeyoon, wait…!”
“Let me warn you.”
Jaeyoon’s sharp gaze turned to Kim Yeonwoo. Kim Yeonwoo took a step back, feeling intimidated despite himself.
“Don’t ever speak to me again.”
A cold voice flowed from Jaeyoon’s lips. He was currently suppressing his anger as much as possible. Even though he knew it wasn’t really his business, he simply couldn’t deal with Kim Yeonwoo rationally. Besides, there was a limit to how much he could overlook just because he was an adult.
“Why are you being so serious? Like you’re guilty of something.”
Jaeyoon’s eyes narrowed at the voice from behind. Normally, he would have ignored it, but right now, Jaeyoon was irritated.
Looking at Kim Doha, who was standing with an arrogant expression, and then at Kim Yeonwoo, who was hiding behind him watching the situation, Jaeyoon smiled brightly with his eyes curved. Like a model in a soft drink commercial. With juice seemingly about to burst.
Kim Doha’s face crumpled. Smiling with an even fresher expression, Jaeyoon took one step toward Kim Doha. Kim Doha’s eyes wavered slightly, as if flustered.
“What? Would you like it if I did something with the student council president?”
Seeing Kim Yeonwoo’s shoulders flinch, Jaeyoon’s blue eyes narrowed from side to side.
“Is that the answer you want? Fine, then.”
“What…?”
“If that’s what you want to believe, then believe whatever you want. I went to the student council president’s mansion that day. The student council president forcibly took me there even though I didn’t want to go. So I took a bath at the student council president’s mansion, slept in a fluffy bed, and woke up late around lunchtime to enjoy brunch with the student council president. The pancakes were incredibly delicious.”
Satisfied? Seeing Jaeyoon’s eye corners curl up prettily, Kim Doha’s brow furrowed deeply. Jaeyoon took one step closer to Kim Doha, who was struggling to gauge whether his words were true or false.
Watching Kim Doha’s body flinch slightly, Jaeyoon brought his face close to Doha’s nose and whispered.
“Do you think saying this will allow you to have Kim Yeonwoo all to yourself?”
Looking at Kim Doha’s mercilessly crumpling face, Jaeyoon smiled gently. I’m glad the implied meaning of ‘Do you lack confidence in claiming Kim Yeonwoo without going this far?’ seems to have been well conveyed. You’re not a complete fool after all.
“But unfortunately, even if the student council president is so desperate for me… I don’t need him.”
‘I won’t take him even if offered, so you two squabble amongst yourselves. Don’t bother me.’
After speaking with this implied meaning once again, Jaeyoon smiled refreshingly. Kim Yeonwoo’s face was hidden behind Kim Doha’s back, but his shoulders were trembling. Jaeyoon inwardly let out a big sigh. If I’ve said this much, even the most oblivious person should understand.
But Kim Doha was less patient than Jaeyoon thought, and was a young master who had never had his pride wounded in his life.
Kim Doha grabbed Jaeyoon’s collar with murder in his eyes. Why do these kids resort to violence when words fail? Recalling Im Hangyeol in his mind, Jaeyoon raised his hand to subdue Kim Doha. But Jaeyoon had to lower his raised hand awkwardly.
WHAM!
“Argh!”
Feeling the warmth wrapping around his shoulder, Jaeyoon looked down at Kim Doha who was sprawled on the ground.
‘Wow, this is the cleanest kick I’ve ever seen in my life.’
Blinking blankly, Jaeyoon raised his head. Having apparently run over, Jung Jinhoo was exhaling rough breaths between his red lips.
The golden eyes visible through his disheveled bangs were fiercely lowered. The cold golden glow, shining brightly, looked as if it would devour Kim Doha in front of him at any moment.
‘The non-violent setting… where did it go… No, that’s not important right now.’
“Sunbae, relax… relax… That’s a student from our school after all.”
“It’s okay. I can take care of this quickly.”
Knowing that Jinhoo’s words weren’t a joke, Jaeyoon bit his lip slightly. What should I do? Honestly, it would be more convenient if he wasn’t around, but I can’t ask Jinhoo Sunbae to do such troublesome things. He’s not Han Doyoon.
He didn’t want to turn Jung Jinhoo, who hadn’t yet become a villain, into a villain because of Kim Yeonwoo and the other romance characters. For some reason Jaeyoon couldn’t quite understand, he didn’t like the idea of others influencing Jung Jinhoo in any way.
“Let’s just go. We need to get there before the store closes!”
At Jaeyoon’s action of grabbing his hand and leading him away, Jinhoo turned his gaze from Kim Doha to look at Jaeyoon. After seeming to contemplate for a moment, Jinhoo slowly nodded to Jaeyoon in response.
It meant that although he wasn’t completely satisfied, he would listen since Jaeyoon insisted.
‘How cute.’
Jaeyoon smiled brightly as he held Jinhoo’s hand and gathered the belongings he had placed on the ground. Without even glancing at Kim Yeonwoo and Kim Doha behind them, Jaeyoon led Jinhoo toward the art supply store.
Phew, a tired breath escaped from Jaeyoon’s lips. Jinhoo, walking beside him, looked at Jaeyoon with a worried expression.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Seeing Jaeyoon’s smiling response, Jinhoo’s expression turned sulky. With his lips slightly pushed out, Jinhoo muttered in a small voice as if talking to himself.
“Why are there only such people around you?”
“…I wonder too.”
Jaeyoon strongly sympathized with those words. Is it the fate of a villain? Even without wanting it, constantly getting entangled with them, clashing. It was truly exhausting to live like this.
‘If Jinhoo Sunbae hadn’t been by my side, my mental state might have already reached its limit…?’
My sweet rice cake. When Jaeyoon suddenly looked at him with a contented expression, Jinhoo rapidly blinked his eyes and rolled them around. He bit his lips firmly, with cheeks dyed pink like a peach, looking so cute.
“Tell me the name of that guy from earlier.”
“…Don’t clear him out. Sunbae doesn’t need to do such things.”
At Jaeyoon’s words, Jinhoo nodded up and down. But I’m worried… Jaeyoon looked up slightly at Jinhoo. It’s okay, I won’t do anything. As if saying this with his expression, Jinhoo had such a gentle face that Jaeyoon decided to trust him. If I can’t trust that face, what can I trust?
“His name is Kim Doha.”
“…Hmm.”
The golden eyes narrowed. Sunbae? When Jaeyoon called out curiously, Jinhoo gently curved his eye corners and asked, “What?”
“By the way, how did you know to come running?”
When Jaeyoon asked, recalling Jinhoo’s sweat-drenched appearance, Jinhoo took out his phone from his pocket.
“I heard it.”
“Ah~”
“When I answered, I suddenly heard a loud noise, so I thought something had happened…”
That loud noise was probably the sound of my phone screen breaking as it collided with the ground.
“Then I saw you being grabbed by that guy.”
“Thank you for saving me, Jinhoo Sunbae.”
“Jaeyoon, would you like to learn self-defense?”
I’ll teach you! Jaeyoon stroked Jinhoo’s snow-white hair as he spoke with shining eyes. A soft sensation was transmitted to his hand. Huh…? When Jinhoo looked at Jaeyoon with a surprised expression, Jaeyoon smiled brightly.
“Thank you. But I’m fine. I’m already trained enough not to lose to most people.”
Then, why did you just stand there? Jinhoo tilting his head and asking looked really like an adorable puppy.
“An adult hitting a minor… no, that’s not it… As the more mature one, I tried to be patient.”
Hahaha. Looking at Jaeyoon laughing with a mechanical, monotone voice, Jinhoo tilted his head again. Don’t be patient next time. If anything happens, I’ll handle—(ah, slip-up)—help you! Seeing Jinhoo slightly bending his waist and making eye contact as he spoke, Jaeyoon thought he heard the word “handle,” but he deliberately ignored it, assuming he had misheard.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
