It was past 10 PM as Jaegyeom was standing in the middle of a bustling downtown area that never sleeps.
Having finished his work for the day, Jaegyeom immediately hailed a taxi as soon as he left the main office. His destination wasn't home, but the bar Kim Semin had told him about. The taxi dropped Jaegyeom off at exactly the location Kim Semin had mentioned.
Jaegyeom paid the fare, emptying out his loose change, and got out of the taxi.
Upon arriving at his destination, he carefully surveyed the entrance of the building from which loud music was blaring. It wasn't difficult to find the entrance since the entire building was a bar. The establishment was so upscale that there was even a valet parking attendant at the entrance. The exterior looked quite sophisticated as well.
As he examined the building, Jaegyeom took out his phone and called Yoon Taehee.
Il can't take your call right now... Please leave a message af...]
If Yoon Taehee had answered the phone, Jaegyeom had planned to tell him that he was in front of the bar and ask him to come out for a quick chat. But as
expected, he didn't answer. Jaegyeom hadn't really expected him to.
Given the situation, there was no choice but to storm in and drag him out personally.
With a cold expression, Jaegyeom looked down at his phone and then entered the building. It was peak hours, so several groups were lined up at the entrance waiting to get in. Craning his neck to discreetly scout the area, Jaegyeom noticed people taking something out of their wallets and showing it to the staff one by one, suggesting they were checking IDs. Without an ID, he immediately turned back.
Damn it, what now?
Jaegyeom lingered around the building, fidgeting with his lips.
Isn't there some kind of back entrance or something?
As he pondered, he quietly headed towards the back of the building. Behind the building was a dark parking lot, with a pile of large garbage bags stacked on one side. Just then, he saw someone coming out of a back door, pulling a flat handcart. It seemed they had come out to take out the trash. While the employee was away disposing of the garbage, Jaegyeom seized the opportunity and slipped through the door.
Having stealthily entered the building, Jaegyeom looked around, turning his head this way and that. It appeared to be some kind of strange storage area accessible only to staff. Jaegyeom quickly searched for another door, suppressing any noise. Opening the door, he found himself in a brightly lit corridor. People who looked like customers passed by him, laughing loudly. Having successfully infiltrated the bar, Jaegyeom started walking aimlessly.
Inside the bar, there was a large lounge, with separate rooms dividing the space. Since it wasn't an open area, the only way to find Yoon Taehee was to open each door and check who was inside. Jaegyeom began roaming the corridors, opening doors in search of Yoon Taehee.
"Hmm? What?"
Each time he flung open a door, he found three or four people at minimum, and up to five or six at most, drinking. The people who were merrily drinking looked bewildered at jaegyeom's sudden entrance without knocking. "Who are you?" Every time this happened, Jaegyeom quickly scanned the faces of the people inside, and only after confirming that Yoon Taehee wasn't there did he belatedly pretend he had entered the wrong room, mumbling, "Sorry..." before hastily closing the door. He went in and out of several places like this, but they were all unfamiliar faces.
After opening about ten doors, he started to wonder what he was doing.
"..."
Let's just check three more places and then leave.
Suppressing his anger, Jaegyeom moved on, breathing heavily. He opened the door at the very end and peeked his head in. But the scene beyond this door was different from what he had seen so far. It was the largest room he had encountered, and there were more people.
Inside were over ten young men and women, mixed together.
The place Jaegyeom had entered was the best VIP room in this establishment.
In the spacious room, there was an enormously large table surrounded by a huge built-in sofa in a - shape along the walls. On the table, various expensive imported liquors were lined up. A beautifully crafted, ornate chandelier hung from the ceiling.
On one side, there was a round table for card games and a pool table for playing pocket billiards. A dart machine was attached to the wall, and it seemed a game was in progress as five or six people were gathered in front of the dartboard with drinks in hand, while the rest were seated on the sofa.
"What's up?"
As Jaegyeom half-opened the door and poked his head in, the boisterous atmosphere subsided, and all eyes turned towards the doorway. At that moment, Jaegyeom quickly scanned the interior, surveying people's faces.
Suddenly, a familiar figure caught his eye among the crowd. Yoon Taehee, with an unlit cigarette in his mouth and poised to throw a dart, belatedly turned around.
Their eyes met precisely.
"..."
"..."
Jaegyeom's lips twitched.
"You..."
You fucking bastard, I finally found you!
As their eyes met, Jaegyeom's expression turned fierce. His gaze conveyed the message: "Hey, you bastard, what the hell are you doing here?" He stared at Yoon Taehee with intense eyes.
"What's this, honey? Who is it?"
Just then, someone rested their chin on Yoon Taehee's shoulder and looked at Jaegyeom. It was the face he had seen in the photo Kim Semin had shown him earlier that day, the person who had referred to Yoon Taehee as 'our sweetheart. Shin Jihye had long wavy
hair and was wearing a dress long enough to cover her feet.
Jaegyeom hesitated, looking back and forth between Yoon Taehee and Shin Jihye.
"Sweetheart, you know him?"
The short-haired woman asked Yoon Taehee again, noticing that Jaegyeom's gaze was fixed on him. Yoon Taehee, who had been staring at Jaegyeom with an expressionless face, averted his gaze and said,
"No, 've never seen him before."
At Yoon Taehee's response, Jaegyeom's eyes shook violently.
What? He's never seen me before?
Jaegyeom, who had been momentarily frozen, opened his mouth in confusion.
"Yoon..."
At that moment, Yoon Taehee interrupted Jaegyeom's words in a slow voice.
"I think he's mistaken and entered the wrong room."
Finally, Jaegyeom's face hardened. Those words were clearly treating him as an unwelcome guest. In other words, it meant 'get out'. He was taken aback by the attitude that treated him like a complete stranger. He couldn't understand what was going on. With people around, it wasn't a situation where he could question or argue. As Jaegyeom stood there blankly, at a loss for words...
"Hey, how old are you?"
Just then, someone approached Jaegyeom.
"What?"
"You look young, how old are you?"
Jaegyeom, whose mind had gone blank and whose thoughts had stopped, turned his gaze to the person who had come near him. The person who had asked Jaegyeom the question was a woman with short hair. Jaegyeom was flustered by the sudden question about his age. He knew that others often treated him as younger than he was.
"T-t-twenty-two."
Jaegyeom stammered, averting his gaze slightly as he answered.
"Oh, you're just a baby. Are you looking for your friends?"
"Huh? Yes..."
"Can't find which room they're in? If you ask at the counter, they'll tell you right away."
The short-haired woman said kindly. Jaegyeom nodded unconsciously and then looked at Yoon Taehee. Yoon Taehee, who had been chatting with Shin Jihye while holding a glass, seemed to sense Jaegyeom's gaze and turned to look at him. After exchanging a glance, Jaegyeom closed the door and returned to the corridor.
Back in the corridor, Jaegyeom leaned against the wall and waited for Yoon Taehee. Although he wasn't sure exactly what was going on, he figured that Yoon Taehee now knew he was here, so if he left now, he would probably make some excuse and follow him out. But...
"..."
Why the hell isn't this fucker coming out?
No matter how long he waited, Yoon Taehee didn't come out. Jaegyeom fidgeted with his lips, pondering, then opened the door again. He saw Yoon Taehee and Shin Jihye standing face to face, talking.
"Huh? What is it this time?"
As Jaegyeom appeared again, people looked at him with puzzled expressions.
"Uh..."
Jaegyeom hesitated and looked at Yoon Taehee. But he was looking at Jaegyeom as if they really were strangers, with a completely indifferent expression.
Yoon Taehee was usually incredibly quick to pick up on things. There was no way he couldn't have understood why Jaegyeom was here and what he wanted from the signals he was sending with his eyes.
Something was off. This wasn't like Yoon Taehee at all...
Just then, the short-haired woman suddenly grinned mischievously and grabbed Jaegyeom's wrist.
"Oh, I get it."
Jaegyeom flinched as this woman he had just met grabbed his wrist.
"You're a fan of Jihye, aren't you?"
"Yes?"
"Tell the truth, you actually came to see Jihye, right?"
"...What?"
"You're Jihye's fan, so you made up an excuse to come see her, didn't you?"
At the short-haired woman's words, Shin Jihye burst out laughing.
"Oh, was that it? If that was the case, you should have said so from the start!"
"What? Uh... well, that..."
As Jaegyeom was at a loss for words, looking around helplessly...
"I guess it's true, he can't even look me in the eye properly."
When Jaegyeom reappeared, people couldn't help but misunderstand. There were quite a few people who came around asking for autographs or lingering nearby, claiming to be Shin Jihye's fans. Normally, she wouldn't have paid any attention, but Jaegyeom looked so young and awkward that Shin Jihye found him utterly adorable.
"What do you want? An autograph? Or a picture?"
Shin Jihye came closer and asked, ruffling Jaegyeom's hair vigorously.
"Look how red his face is getting. So cute."
Shin Jihye and the other women giggled, showing interest in Jaegyeom. Jaegyeom, who had boldly searched rooms to find Yoon Taehee, was now sweating profusely, faced with this unexpected situation.
"Or do you want to hang out with us? But you can't tell anyone about this, okay?"
Surrounded by women, Jaegyeom looked at Yoon Taehee with a bewildered expression. However, Yoon Taehee, mingling with a group of men, was leaning against the wall, engaged in conversation with someone else.
Yoon Taehee seemed completely uninterested in whether Jaegyeom joined them or not.
"We were playing a game, why don't you join us?"
"Huh?"
"We were having a dart competition."
"What? But I don't know how to play this..."
Jaegyeom, suddenly roped into the game, found the situation utterly perplexing. He just wanted to leave, but the short-haired woman brought over some darts and started explaining to Jaegyeom. She said the game rules were that the team with the highest score wins.
The short-haired woman told him which areas to hit for the highest points. She explained that you could score from 10 to 60 points, and the higher the score, the better.
"Give it a throw."
The short-haired woman urged, handing Jaegyeom a dart. Jaegyeom wondered what he was doing here, but he took the dart anyway. He half-bent his arm, then straightened it, closed one eye to gauge the distance, and threw the dart casually. As the dart stuck into the target, flashy lights blinked around the dartboard's rim and a sound effect played.
60 points. The most difficult score to achieve.
"Oh my god."
People who had been drinking and chattering noisily opened their eyes wide. There was a burst of cheers.
Yoon Taehee was watching the scene with a bored expression, arms crossed, drinking.
Jaegyeom picked up the second dart.
Another 60 points. People screamed.
"Wow, what's this? How are you so good?"
As praise poured in, Jaegyeom unconsciously glanced at Yoon Taehee. He could see him, standing a few steps away from the dartboard, whispering something to Shin Jihye. Shin Jihye laughed and hit Yoon Taehee's arm. The two of them, bending over and laughing, looked very happy.
"..."
After a moment of silence, Jaegyeom muttered very quietly.
Taehee.
At that moment, Yoon Taehee's presence seemed to falter slightly.
Not missing that opportunity, Jaegyeom slightly adjusted the angle of the last dart and threw it. The dart flew like an arrow towards the area near Yoon Taehee's ear. Yoon Taehee sharply tilted his head to the side, dodging the dart.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
"..."
A chilling silence fell as if time had stopped. Yoon Taehee, who had sharply tilted his head back to avoid the dart, slowly raised his eyes. "It's troublesome to act like this when we've just met," he muttered, frowning slightly.
"Sweetheart! Are you okay?"
Shin Jihye, who had been frozen, rushed to Yoon Taehee in shock. Shin Jihye frowned and grabl Yoon Taehee's cheeks. Looking at Yoon Taehee's face in alarm, she whirled around to face Jaegyeom.
"What are you doing? He could have been hurt!"
Jaegyeom glared at Yoon Taehee with clear eyes, then said,
"Sorry... I have poor night vision."
That was a test just now.