But before Yeonjun could look away, the screen lit up and displayed a message from Beomwook.
Executive Director: [Simple arson would be a problem. How about we handle it as an accident instead. It can be done without any casualties. Yeonjun.] 9:32 AM
“…….”
By the time Yeonjun had read down to the final period, his face had drained of all color. He’s insane, what is this! The composed, clean-cut face of Beomwook — bringing up arson so casually, with a straight face — flashed through his mind. Yeonjun quickly typed back with a stiffened expression, letting him know it had been a joke.
His alma mater had nearly been reduced to ashes in an instant. Yeonjun slowly exhaled and lifted his head.
I can’t even joke around in front of him. Is he not just a little too adorable.
As one thought chased after another, the corners of Yeonjun’s lips began to lift as his gaze drifted back to the screen.
“…Are you seriously doing this? Ha Minseok?”
“What. I’m the one who got hurt when our friendship was ripped to shreds. You don’t exactly have the right to be angry at me right now.”
Yeonjun sat in the chair, staring at the locked seminar room door and let out a sigh. He swept his eyes over Ha Minseok and his junior Seowon, and bit down on his lip.
These guys, I swear! Yeonjun reined in his boiling irritation and shot Minseok a sideways glare. The ones who had been dying to know what had gone down between him and BS — what the full story was — had stabbed him in the back. They’d fabricated some material he’d supposedly asked for and even reserved the seminar room.
The moment Yeonjun had pushed open the seminar room door and stepped inside, the phone in his hand was snatched away by Minseok, who had been standing right in front of him. And Seowon, standing beside him, locked the door handle and dragged him off like a prisoner being hauled in, sitting him down in a chair they’d set up in advance.
And so here he sat.
Yeonjun shifted his gaze to the phone in Minseok’s hand. My phone…. He understood that Minseok felt hurt — but Yeonjun genuinely hadn’t had the time or the mental space to explain. The more he thought about it, the more wronged he felt.
“If you won’t talk, we’ll make you.”
Minseok said, waving the phone. The somewhat sly smile on his face was unsettling. Make me do what? Yeonjun let out a short, incredulous laugh — and Minseok, as if perfectly familiar with the phone, moved his fingers across the screen and then held it out in front of Yeonjun again.
“If you don’t talk, I’ll do the thing that will hurt you the most.”
“…Ah, no! Ha Minseok!”
Yeonjun let out a sharp cry. On the screen was a message Minseok had composed in advance.
[Professor. This is Baek Yeonjun. I’ll look into the graduate school offer you proposed. I apologize for the late reply.]
This maniac! Yeonjun’s face went pale and rigid. He’d been persistently encouraged to pursue graduate school since last year — but since he’d been weighing the option of going straight into the mid-sized company his father ran after graduation, he hadn’t yet given the professor a clear answer.
“Hey, you’re not actually going to send that, right? Are you?”
“Why not? If you don’t talk, I’m sending it right now.”
Profanity surged all the way to the tip of his tongue, but Yeonjun breathed out long and held it back. Fine. I’ll give them some kind of answer. It’s not like they’d be able to tell what was true and what wasn’t even if he fed them a story. Yeonjun steadied himself and gave a slow nod.
“Alright. I’ll tell you. Give me my phone back.”
Minseok’s expression visibly brightened. But ignoring Yeonjun’s outstretched hand, he dragged the empty chair next to him over and sat down beside Yeonjun.
“I’ll give it back once you’ve answered everything, dumbass.”
“…Fine. Fine, just ask quickly then.”
It was like its own little press conference. Seowon, who had taken a seat right next to Minseok, spoke first.
“First question. Is that person in the photo really you, hyung?”
“…Yeah. That’s me.”
That was more realistic than claiming the photo was faked. Minseok, his expression even more stunned upon hearing the answer, fired the next question. From there it was rapid-fire.
“Holy shit, so you’re actually dating the BS Executive Director?”
“…No. That’s not—”
“Then why were you at the wedding?”
“…Ah, well, my dad runs a business, right. He has a connection with the family, so I got invited to the wedding and went.”
“Then why did articles come out saying the engagement was broken off because of you, hyung? It’s not like there were only one or two people there — it doesn’t seem like something that just came out of nowhere…….”
Yeonjun let out a short sigh. His hands were even tingling for no reason. Lying to his close friends felt wrong. Still — given the circumstances, it seemed best to play along with Beomwook’s plan for the time being.
“It was a misreport. I don’t know the full details either, but what came out in the articles is complete nonsense.”
“Honestly, those trash journalists…. Anyway, so you and the BS Executive Director just know each other, is that it?”
“Yeah. We know each other. And I was so flustered when the articles came out that I didn’t have the bandwidth to explain anything to you guys. I’m genuinely sorry about that.”
At the sincerity in Yeonjun’s voice, Minseok and Seowon fell quiet and exchanged a glance. The voice that followed was Minseok’s, carrying his usual playful edge.
“…Yeah. Honestly if it were me, I think I would’ve been so freaked out I couldn’t think straight either. But like, I mean — is it because of how you look, or why did something like this have to happen to you of all people…….”
“What, what about how I look.”
“Oh, hyung. Wasn’t there talk that BS is like, a gangster family?”
“Oh wait, that’s right. Hey, Yeonjun. You’re not being threatened or anything like that, are you? Honestly, the reason I got suspicious was that in the photo, you just — even at first glance, it looked like you were being dragged somewhere…….”
Threatened. But for a moment Yeonjun’s brow tightened as Beomwook’s voice surfaced in his mind.
‘And the things Seo Ihyeon said at that time — you must never, under any circumstances, mention them anywhere. …I’m telling you this for your own sake.’
When he’d first heard those words, he hadn’t felt threatened at all. It had been Yeonjun himself who’d asked whether it was a threat — but that had just been the remnants of his buzz talking back.
But Minseok’s expression was growing darker and darker at Yeonjun’s continued silence in response to the question of whether he was okay. Soon a serious voice broke through the quiet.
“…Baek, you didn’t get like… eaten and discarded, did you?”
“What?”
Yeonjun let out a baffled, hollow laugh. What kind of nonsense is that. Eaten and discarded, all of a sudden? He hadn’t been the one doing the eating or getting eaten, so what was he on about.
“Wait, hyung. Is that real?”
“That’s ridiculous—”
“Hey. Baek. You’re sure you and the BS Executive Director are just acquaintances? You didn’t get dragged all the way to some waiting room under threats, did you?”
Caught off guard, Yeonjun clamped his mouth shut. It wasn’t entirely wrong either. Thinking back to how the situation had played out when it hit the articles — at the time, he really had been dragged along by Beomwook against his will.
“According to the gossip columns, Do Beomwook is a beta but apparently goes absolutely wild for alphas. They say he’s in and out of hotels all the time like that.”
“…What?”
Yeonjun’s head snapped up. Articles about Beomwook weren’t hard to find that kind of rumor in, actually. Of course, Yeonjun didn’t know what kind of person Beomwook truly was. The rumors that Beomwook chased after alphas and spent nights at the hotel with a different alpha every time — those could be true, too.
“…He’s not like that.”
“Taking his side? Oh come on. That’s even more suspicious. You said you just know each other — so how would you know, Baek?”
Yeonjun felt an emotion surge up in him and clenched his fist tight, brow hardening. Why does this bother me so much. It was even more unpleasant than when his phone had been taken and he’d nearly been forced to become a grad student. He lifted his gaze toward the two pairs of eyes that were boring into him without blinking.
“…We’re not just acquaintances.”
“What?”
“…He and I… we’ve met a few times.”
The anger that had lost its way came spilling out in a ridiculous lie. I’ve done it now. I’ve lost my mind. The faces of those two — who hadn’t let go of their suspicion — started gleaming with sharp interest.
“Met? Holy shit, did you sleep together?”
“…It’s not like that.”
“They did it, they totally did it.”
