“Why is this here?”
At Seungyeon’s reaction, startled as if he’d seen a ghost, Go Won raised his eyebrows.
“Is there a problem?”
“No…”
But this… shouldn’t this not be here?
Seungyeon’s pupils trembled finely. It felt like homework he’d been avoiding and shoved into a corner had suddenly popped up before his eyes without him realizing. The watch he’d encountered again in an unexpected situation felt less like a simple object and more like some kind of warning.
Even before stopping by Baek Sehee’s house, Seungyeon had thought about the watch. In the original story, Baek Seungyeon had taken it, and because of that, complicated situations followed. Stealing the watch at that place at that time was the ‘role’ Baek Seungyeon was assigned.
However, since leaving that house in a daze, Seungyeon hadn’t even gotten to see the watch. He’d acted differently from the original, but the status window still hadn’t imposed any sanctions until now. Since the status window’s standards were always unpredictable, he’d thought maybe it would let this slide too…
What if all of this is something Seungyeon couldn’t decide in the first place? Maybe a choice like ‘ignoring the watch’ never existed for him from the start. No matter how much he wanted to avoid it, what was supposed to happen was set to happen. Like this watch that appeared before him after going round and round.
“What’s inside should be a watch.”
Go Won leisurely tilted his head. Seungyeon looked up in alarm. Go Won pointed at the shopping bag with his fingertip.
“You looked like you’d seen a ghost. That’s just a watch. Not a haunted watch.”
“Ah… yes.”
He answered awkwardly to the words that may or may not have been a joke and shut his mouth tight.
Go Won, who had no way of knowing Seungyeon’s complicated thoughts, led him saying he’d take him home.
Despite his refusal that it was okay, Seungyeon trudged through the hallway following Go Won, who paid no mind. Even in the midst of this, the chaos in his head showed no signs of subsiding.
It felt like he’d been burdened with a heavy load rather than a watch. Should he get rid of the watch before Baek Sehee came to get it? Could this absurd situation where the watch absurdly ended up in his hands possibly be a last chance? If his role was to lose the watch and put Baek Sehee in a difficult position… then should he at least pretend to do that?
Or should I just close my eyes and ignore it this time too?
If he returned the watch to Baek Sehee and it came back again, then he’d really think there was something to it, but right now, couldn’t it just be coincidences piling up? Maybe he was giving too much meaning to a coincidence that just happened.
Or not? Am I being too complacent again? Is the status window really going crazy this time and about to give me a penalty?
The more he tried to find a solution, the more he painfully felt there was no answer. This problem even had a time attack. Since Baek Sehee said she’d come to the house to get it, he had to choose something by then.
“Didn’t you come to run an errand for Noona last time too?”
Before getting in the car after arriving at the parking lot, Go Won spoke as if in passing. Seungyeon, who’d been sitting in the passenger seat fastening his seatbelt, glanced at him.
“I did.”
“You must be pretty close with Noona?”
“Just, well, moderately.”
“It’s good to be moderate about anything.”
Go Won, gripping the steering wheel, leisurely stepped on the accelerator. Glancing at the profile whose thoughts were completely unreadable, Seungyeon fidgeted with his fingers.
Should I have just said I’d go home on my own? On top of already being disturbed, why did he accept a ride to have a conversation with this person? Of course, it was nice to get home comfortably…
Watching the scenery outside the car window rapidly passing by, Seungyeon let out a sigh. As if a heavy stone had been placed on his chest, he kept losing energy. What should I do with that damn watch? Get rid of it? Don’t get rid of it? Don’t get rid of it and wait? Don’t wait, don’t get rid of it, and wait?
Like a red flag white flag game, his decision changed once per second. Seungyeon, whose head grew dizzy, shook his head slightly. Thinking he should change the subject instead, he brought up anything.
“But, you—no, Go Won-ssi, do you meet with my noona often? I didn’t know you’d even help with errands.”
I wonder what Baek Sehee asked for him to have this. Seungyeon fiddled with the surface of the shopping bag placed on his lap.
“Not often, just helping occasionally. We’re moderately close too.”
“Ah, I see…”
An unenthusiastic answer flowed out without him realizing. Though he didn’t know Go Won well, he didn’t seem like the personality to show kindness without reason. How could he brush off with words like ‘moderately close’ when a man who looked formidable from just his back kept hovering around Baek Sehee helping her?
Well, he must have his own worries too. As far as Seungyeon knew, Go Won liked Baek Sehee. That’s why he became a helper and assisted her until the end, wasn’t it? That man even properly backstabbed his close friend Tae Muhyuk.
Even if not all of that decision was feelings toward Baek Sehee, wouldn’t about half of it be? Thinking about it that way, Go Won was, how should he put it, he seemed like quite the pure-hearted romantic despite not looking it. At least his sincerity toward Baek Sehee wasn’t inferior to the male protagonist’s.
If you like your friend’s spouse, and that person is being mistreated and suffering in their household… Would you inevitably waver? Enough to want to betray your friend?
“Sehee-ssi doesn’t really talk about her family, does she?”
“What family talk?”
If it’s family, he must mean the Tae Group side, right? When Seungyeon showed interest, Go Won also smoothly spoke. Inside the car that had stopped in the stagnant traffic, their gazes met.
“Just this and that. Sehee-ssi isn’t the type to talk about her own hardships.”
Does Go Won know something? Well, if there was any connection, that man would know the most. Wasn’t that also why Baek Sehee entrusted the watch to him?
“Are you curious?”
Go Won asked meaningfully. When he nodded as if entranced, a faint smile soon spread.
Ah, that person… smiles like that. It was somehow fascinating how his cold and chilly impression melted in an instant. To Seungyeon, who was staring blankly at Go Won, he extended his hand.
“Phone.”
At the beckoning gesture, Seungyeon obediently handed over his phone. After receiving the phone, he tapped and entered something on the screen.
Before long, a ringtone sounded from his pocket. Without taking his eyes off, Go Won returned the phone.
“Save it. I’ll contact you again soon.”
A strange number was entered on the phone screen placed on his palm. As the traffic cleared, Go Won leisurely turned his head following the moving cars.
Seungyeon hesitated for a while before saving that number. Though just one number had been added, somehow the phone felt heavier than before. He silently shoved the phone into his pocket.
Very slightly, secretly enough that only Seungyeon could notice, his heart pounded faster than usual.
***
Beep-.
Along with the cheerful door lock sound, he pushed the door open. Yoon Taerim, who’d entered the house without much thought, stopped mid-motion while trying to take off his shoes. A pair of shoes was neatly placed in the entrance.
“Hm?”
Definitely familiar. As if to prove Yoon Taerim’s guess, a clattering sound came from far away. At the pitch-black silhouette that rushed in with the momentum to catch a thief, he let out a hollow laugh.
“…What, Sanho, why are you here?”
Jung Sanho, in clothing as comfortable as if it were his own home, crossed his arms in a crooked posture. At the face full of will to pick a fight, a sigh naturally escaped. Rather than dealing with him, Yoon Taerim focused on finishing taking off his shoes and neatly arranging them.
“When hyung told you to come hang out, you never came. What brought you here today?”
“Stop talking nonsense. What did you do with Baek Seungyeon today? Where did you go? Until what time were you together? Why aren’t you sending that timestamp authenticated photo I told you to?”
“Sanho, can you ask one question at a time? Hyung’s brain doesn’t turn as quickly as yours.”
Yoon Taerim passed Jung Sanho and headed to the living room. Impatience was readable in the footsteps following behind. Just how long has this kid been waiting here? He had no sense of how spectacularly he was doing his first love. To Yoon Taerim, who knew the usual Jung Sanho, everything was just unfamiliar.
He put down the car keys on the side table and flopped onto the sofa. Jung Sanho, who sat right next to him, grabbed Yoon Taerim’s shoulders and shook him.
“You have to share. Don’t you remember the contract? No secrets! Absolutely forbidden!”
“I got it. I got it, so stop shaking me. I’m really getting dizzy.”
His vision spun round and round with each shake. Only after saying to stop it since he understood about five more times did Jung Sanho’s hands move away. Only after clutching his head for a while to calm down could Yoon Taerim barely open his mouth.
“We briefly stopped by the amusement park, ate, and came back. The timestamp… you’re not planning to tell me how to do that first?”
When Yoon Taerim held out his phone, Jung Sanho quickly snatched it. Glancing at Jung Sanho earnestly tapping and searching for something for a while, he swallowed a sigh.
“While you’re looking, can you check the messages too? There should be an audio file that came in.”
“Audio file?”
“Yeah. I think you need to hear it too.”
The words themselves felt strangely meaningful. Yoon Taerim, leaning back against the sofa, swept his hair back while watching Jung Sanho.
“You said no secrets. It’s all in there. What intentions Baek Seungyeon had when approaching you.”
