“Youngjae sunbae.”
Jang Juwon flashed a bright smile at Hyun Youngjae. By now, he had grown accustomed to running into him like this in front of his house.
“Did you get home safely? You woke me up.”
Jang Juwon asked with an embarrassed smile. However, Hyun Youngjae’s expression was quite dark. He slowly opened his mouth.
“Juwon-ah.”
“Yes?”
“Did you… meet with Baek Iseon again?”
“Sunbae.”
Jang Juwon raised his voice slightly and frowned. He had thought he’d gotten a bit closer to Hyun Youngjae, but here was the Baek Iseon talk again. Come to think of it, this was how he originally was.
“I… told you not to meet him…”
“Sunbae, seriously, what’s your problem? Stay out of it.”
“…”
“…Sunbae?”
“…You dirty slut…”
“What?”
Jang Juwon’s face twisted viciously.
“What? What did you just say?”
“…I said you’re dirty!”
“Hyun Youngjae, you right now…”
“Jang Juwon, you like Baek Iseon, don’t you!”
Suddenly, Hyun Youngjae squeezed his eyes shut and yelled. Jang Juwon was flustered. He himself had only just realized he liked Baek Iseon, so how did Hyun Youngjae know? He must be jumping to conclusions just from seeing him get rides in his car a few times. Besides, there was absolutely no reason he should have to hear those words just because he liked someone. Anger surged up. He was completely dumbfounded.
“What kind of fucking bullshit are you spouting right now? Hyun Youngjae, are you crazy?”
When Jang Juwon shouted, Hyun Youngjae flinched. He hesitated for a moment, then spoke again with confident eyes.
“…I saw everything yesterday.”
“What…”
“You, in the bathroom, by yourself…”
“Huh…!”
Jang Juwon took a deep breath. How, how did he see? He was certain he’d been asleep.
Thump, thump. Blood pumped wildly from his heart, reverberating through his entire body. His dilated pupils shook. Adrenaline began to surge.
“I thought… I thought you’d be different… You spread your legs for him, didn’t you? As expected, a dirty slut who only cares about looks…”
“You son of a bitch!”
Thwack. Jang Juwon’s fist struck Hyun Youngjae squarely in the face. Hyun Youngjae fell backward limply and landed hard on his butt. He clutched his reddened cheek and looked up at the extremely agitated Jang Juwon.
“Juwon-ah. You’d better not do anything you’ll regret.”
“Fuck, what the hell are you…!”
Hyun Youngjae held out his phone in front of him. Instantly, Jang Juwon was speechless. His entire body froze. He couldn’t do anything. Nothing except stare intently at the screen of his phone.
“…”
On his phone were displayed pictures of himself. All of them were profile pictures he’d uploaded to Tintin. His legs began to tremble violently. Fuck, fuck. The curse slipped out reflexively. Jang Juwon deliberately tried to speak as if it were nothing, acting fierce, but he couldn’t help his voice shaking.
“S-so what are you going to do with that? Are you trying to blackmail me or something?”
“Yeah… I am. Since you won’t listen to me, I have no choice…”
Thwack. This time, Jang Juwon threw his fist at Hyun Youngjae’s other cheek. Hyun Youngjae tumbled all the way to the ground. Jang Juwon climbed on top of him, grabbed him by the collar, and raged.
“How can you talk about having no choice when you’re blackmailing someone?!”
“It’s all for your sake, Juwon-ah.”
“Shut your mouth!”
“…See, I told you not to meet Baek Iseon…”
The hand gripping Hyun Youngjae’s collar tensed with strength. He couldn’t understand why Hyun Youngjae was so obsessed with his meetings with Baek Iseon.
“Why? Why are you doing this?!”
“Anyone else would be one thing… but Baek Iseon is trash…”
It was absurd. At least to Jang Juwon, Baek Iseon wasn’t someone who deserved to be called trash. If anything, the trash was Hyun Youngjae right in front of him.
“Hey, Hyun Youngjae. You’re the trash for blackmailing someone with something like this.”
“You’ve already fallen for him too. Well, everyone does. Just because he’s handsome, they easily develop feelings for him.”
“What the hell are you talking about… You’re the only one doing trashy things here.”
“Calm down, Juwon-ah…”
“Do I look like I can calm down? Why are you doing this to me!”
“…Don’t meet Baek Iseon.”
Unlike the extremely agitated and raging Jang Juwon, Hyun Youngjae was composed. He stared at Jang Juwon and muttered quietly but firmly.
When their eyes met, Jang Juwon felt a sense of déjà vu. The eyes looking up at him felt somehow familiar. They were the kind of eyes he’d seen in a mirror. Those were the eyes he’d made last night while secretly thinking of Baek Iseon behind Hyun Youngjae’s back. His own reflection glimpsed in the mirror and Hyun Youngjae looking at him overlapped. Only then did Jang Juwon understand Hyun Youngjae’s intentions. A bitter laugh escaped on its own.
“Ha, haha…”
“…”
“Hyun Youngjae. Don’t tell me you like me?”
“…”
“Right, fuck. Haha…”
Moisture began to well up in Jang Juwon’s eyes. He felt wronged and angry. The person he actually wanted was someone else. It wasn’t enough that the wrong connection had latched onto him—he was even threatening to ruin his life.
‘Why am I always surrounded by people like this…’
Jang Juwon’s teeth ground together with a grinding sound. He had never wanted this kind of love.
“Juwon-ah…”
“Ha! And yet you call me a slut? Aren’t you only liking me because of my face too?”
“No! You’re a good… kid.”
“What do you know?”
“When you were a sophomore…”
“Fuck, don’t talk about that time!”
Jang Juwon’s hand gripping Hyun Youngjae’s collar trembled violently. The tears filling his large eyes finally flowed downward. Lukewarm droplets fell onto Hyun Youngjae’s swollen red cheek.
“You fucking bastard…”
“Juwon-ah… Just don’t meet Baek Iseon… Then nothing will happen.”
“You’re in the same position as me, so who are you to blackmail who? If you tell, I’ll tell too!”
Jang Juwon shouted. He wanted to make him feel the same way he did. But surprisingly, Hyun Youngjae was calm.
“It won’t work… Why do you think I’m showing Donghyuk the answer sheets?”
“…What?”
“I even took a leave of absence, but rumors don’t disappear easily, Juwon-ah…”
“…”
“So it won’t work…”
“…”
The strength drained weakly from the hand gripping Hyun Youngjae’s collar. With the same calm expression, he carefully placed his hand over Jang Juwon’s hand that was gripping his collar.
“Juwon-ah, I’m doing this for you…”
“Bullshit… Ugh, huk…”
“Don’t cry… Okay?”
Even though he clenched his teeth trying not to cry, it was useless. Sobs leaked out between his teeth. Jang Juwon realized he couldn’t escape this situation. In the end, he would have no choice but to act as Hyun Youngjae wanted. He didn’t know if he could call this fortunate, but what Hyun Youngjae wanted was just one thing. But that was also something Jang Juwon desperately wanted.
However, he thought he couldn’t just meekly play along with Hyun Youngjae like this. In his head, he carefully selected words that would hurt him as much as possible. He wouldn’t give in easily. Jang Juwon knew what words could screw Hyun Youngjae over. It was because he was in the same situation as himself.
“…Fine, good. I’ll grant your wish and not meet Baek Iseon.”
“Really? That’s a good decision, Juwon-ah…”
Relief spread across Hyun Youngjae’s face. Jang Juwon did his best to sneer at him.
“You definitely called me a slut, didn’t you?”
“That’s because you’re being careless with your body…!”
“You’re right, Hyun Youngjae. I’ll… show you what a real slut is.”
“…Huh?”
Hyun Youngjae’s pupils began to shake as he sensed unease. Jang Juwon felt that the words he’d chosen were right.
“Even if I die, I’ll never meet someone disgusting like you for the rest of my life.”
