Jaeyoon furrowed his brow at the suddenly mentioned name. In response, Han Doyoon smiled slyly. Jaeyoon almost kicked Doyoon’s shin with his good leg out of annoyance at that smug face, but he inwardly praised himself for his restraint.
“Judging by your expression, you really didn’t know.”
“Ah, yes…”
‘I didn’t know, but I don’t understand why you’re looking so confident about it.’
When Jaeyoon frowned, Han Doyoon narrowed his red eyes into crescents.
“Do you know what Jung Jinhoo has been doing while you were in a coma?”
“Han Doyoon.”
Despite Jung Jinhoo’s low, warning voice, Han Doyoon smiled with curved eyes as if finding it amusing.
“You seem to think I’m arrogant and inconsiderate.”
“So you were aware… Ah!”
Having unintentionally voiced his thoughts, Jaeyoon quickly covered his mouth with his hand. I thought he had no self-awareness, but surprisingly he does know? Should I consider this fortunate or terrible…
“That guy isn’t much different.”
“Excuse me?”
Jaeyoon’s expression crumpled. What nonsense is this? How can you and Sunbae not be much different? Who are you comparing with whom?
“You don’t believe me?”
“I think you’re greatly mistaken about who should be compared to whom.”
“Do you know what Jung Jinhoo did to Kim Doha? No, I should say what he’s still doing to him?”
At Han Doyoon’s words, Jung Jinhoo tightened his grip on the wheelchair. Feeling the presence behind him, Jaeyoon turned his head slightly to meet Jung Jinhoo’s eyes and smiled gently at his concerned gaze. Jung Jinhoo’s eyes widened at Jaeyoon’s reassuring smile.
“I thought you were…”
Turning his head back, Jaeyoon shrugged at Han Doyoon’s gaze.
“I thought you were going to say something impressive, but is that all?”
When Jaeyoon showed an indifferent expression, Han Doyoon smiled with a puzzled look. He seemed slightly taken aback by Jaeyoon’s reaction, which was completely different from what he had expected. Seeing Han Doyoon’s usually confident poker face slightly disturbed was satisfying, so Jaeyoon smiled brightly.
“You’re talking nonsense about Sunbae and the student council president being similar over such a trivial matter?”
“A trivial matter? If you knew what situation Kim Doha is in now, I don’t think you’d say that.”
“Student Council President. Do you think I’m some blank canvas?”
“What?”
Han Doyoon’s brows furrowed. In response, Jaeyoon sighed deeply and spoke.
“What, did you expect me to be like Kim Yeonwoo, with tears in my eyes saying, ‘You shouldn’t do such bad things!’? Unfortunately, I’m not that nice of a person. Though Kim Yeonwoo isn’t a nice person either.”
Jaeyoon stared at Han Doyoon with his chin resting on the back of his hand.
“I’m truly sorry I couldn’t give you the reaction you were expecting.”
“Aren’t you bothered that Jung Jinhoo is ruining Kim Doha’s family?”
“‘Aren’t you bothered’… Let me ask you in return, why should I care about Kim Doha?”
Han Doyoon blinked slowly at the clear blue eyes looking directly at him, then lifted the corners of his mouth.
“Because you’re targeting the wrong person for revenge.”
“How would you know that?”
Jaeyoon frowned at Han Doyoon’s sly smile. This guy…
“It depends on what kind of revenge we’re talking about.”
“What kind of revenge?”
“It was Kim Yeonwoo who abandoned me after saving me, but Kim Doha is one of the people who’s been bothering me all this time. So wouldn’t it be fine if it’s revenge for that?”
After all, think about how much Jaeyoon suffered from Kim Doha in the game.
To monopolize Kim Yeonwoo’s affection, Doha framed Jaeyoon for his own wrongdoings many times, mobilized drama club members to harass him, and frequently gaslighted him.
In the game, this was interpreted as an interesting narrative of a romanceable character competing for Kim Yeonwoo, but objectively speaking, those actions were villainous. People just tend to sympathize with the protagonist, which is why it was glossed over in the game.
While Han Doyoon played the decisive role in breaking Lee Jaeyoon, it was Kim Doha and other romanceable characters who pushed him to his mental limits. The constant accusations and gaslighting that he was a bad person would be hard for anyone to endure. So it was instantaneous for Lee Jaeyoon to break down when all his precious people left him, and he thought it might be his own fault.
“Isn’t it too selfish to ask me to forget everything that happened until now and judge only based on what happened on Saturday?”
Han Doyoon’s red eyes narrowed. After observing him quietly, Jaeyoon curved his light pink lips into a smile.
“If I take this opportunity for revenge, you can’t really blame me, can you? And…”
Jaeyoon’s eyes lowered. A cold gaze was directed at Han Doyoon.
“There’s a fundamental difference between Sunbae and the Student Council President.”
“What’s that?”
“Sunbae doesn’t play with people’s hearts for his own amusement like the Student Council President does.”
“That hurts my feelings. My feelings for you are genuine.”
As Han Doyoon showed a regretful expression, Jaeyoon spoke indifferently.
“When I was in a coma, were you worried about me? Or were you just curious about what had happened this time?”
“…Of course I was worried about you.”
“At least wet your lips before lying. At first, when you suddenly abandoned Kim Yeonwoo and started talking nonsense about liking me, I thought you were playing with me again, but your ‘like’ is just interest. You temporarily pour affection on people who satisfy your amusement. And when that interest fades and someone else catches your attention, you easily discard them.”
That’s why you could treat Lee Jaeyoon and Kim Yeonwoo, who liked you, that way. Like a newly bought toy, you adore it at first, but when you lose interest, you throw it away without a moment’s hesitation.
Jaeyoon recalled one of the setting documents in Byun Junghwan’s house. It contained settings about Han Doyoon and Lee Jaeyoon during middle school. Jaeyoon had thought it was one-sided love from his part, but that wasn’t the case. Han Doyoon had been interested in Lee Jaeyoon, who was loved by everyone. He was curious about how Jaeyoon was always surrounded by people despite not having exceptional wealth, talent, or anything special like himself.
So Han Doyoon showed interest in Jaeyoon and approached him. He was obviously nice only to Jaeyoon and played the role of a kind, cool senior, just as he had done with Kim Yeonwoo. But that didn’t last long either. Han Doyoon never fully understood why people loved Jaeyoon, and as his interest waned, Kim Yeonwoo appeared before him.
“You’ve never truly loved anyone until now.”
Because you’ve never been sincere to anyone even for a moment, starting and ending is easy for you.
Just like how I used to be.
“I’ll handle the Kim Doha situation myself, so I’d appreciate it if the Student Council President would stop taking interest in my affairs.”
When Jaeyoon looked up at Jung Jinhoo, he smiled as if to say ‘well done.’ Jaeyoon let out a small sigh of relief. I’m tired. I just came out for a walk because it was stuffy, and now this… As Jaeyoon raised his hand to brush back his bangs, his eyes widened at the hand that suddenly reached toward him.
“What are you doing?”
“He really guards you like a dog.”
Jung Jinhoo, who quickly blocked Han Doyoon’s arm before it could reach Jaeyoon, glared sharply at Han Doyoon, who smiled with twisted lips. Jaeyoon was reflected in Han Doyoon’s red eyes.
“You say I’m just interested, so if I become sincere, will you accept me?”
“A person’s heart isn’t like a switch that can be turned on and off. If I could change it as I pleased, I wouldn’t have suffered so much back then.”
Jaeyoon struck the back of Han Doyoon’s hand, which was gripping Jung Jinhoo’s wrist tightly. Let go. At his brief command, Han Doyoon obediently released the wrist he was holding. Jaeyoon’s brow furrowed at the sight of the pale wrist now reddened.
“This son of a…”
Almost blurting out a profanity, Jaeyoon bit his lip hard. Raising his hand, he carefully wrapped it around Jung Jinhoo’s reddened wrist and looked at him with a worried gaze. Jung Jinhoo smiled brightly as if to say he was fine.
“Shall we go in?”
“Yes, I’d like to go and rest soon.”
At Jaeyoon’s words, Jung Jinhoo smiled softly. Han Doyoon quietly watched their retreating figures for a while.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
