The gentle breeze drifted through the young man's wavy hair, and the warmth of the evening air painted his cheeks pink like cherry blossom petals. As the sun slowly set, golden and ivory rays spread across the surroundings, making his eyes appear brighter than usual.
Jenyeong was sitting on a bench beside the lake in a park near his house with Wooyeong.
The atmosphere was peaceful and pleasant. Aside from a few people passing by and the distant chirping of birds, there was almost no noise. As darkness gradually began to settle over the park, the silence was broken by the ringing of Jenyeong's phone.
He wasn't expecting Taeyeon to call him.
Especially not after the conversation they had shared the previous night.
After hesitating for a moment, he answered. At the same time, his eyes drifted toward Wooyeong, who had already begun sulking after seeing Taeyeon's name on the screen.
"Hello, Taeyeon hyung?"
"Can you come over tonight?"
The directness of the question caught Jenyeong off guard.
"Come again?"
"You heard me. Come over tonight. Let's have a drink together."
"I thought you didn't want to see me."
"Don't be ridiculous. I'd never want that."
"So you just want to spend time with your beloved 'little brother,' is that it?"
"Yes? Is wanting that such a bad thing?"
"No, no. Not at all." Jenyeong smiled faintly. "Alright then. I'll be there soon."
After hanging up, he turned toward his friend, who was staring at him with an unimpressed expression.
"Oh, for God's sake. When are you finally going to stop chasing that man around?"
"When he starts chasing me instead."
"So... never?"
"Trust me, Wooyeong. One day he'll be the one standing at my doorstep like a loyal servant. Then you'll see that I was right."
"About what? That he's in love with you? If he loved you, he would've shown it by now."
"You can say whatever you want. But he loves me too. You'll see soon enough."
"If you say so."
"Anyway, I'm leaving. Apparently my prosecutor is waiting for me."
Jenyeong stood up with a wide grin on his face.
"Whatever. You're hopeless."
Wooyeong laughed and waved him off.
As the sun finally disappeared beyond the horizon, the two friends parted ways.
Before heading to Taeyeon's house, Jenyeong took a quick shower and changed his clothes. He didn't need to put much effort into looking good.
Even like this, he was breathtaking.
And he knew it.
The moment he stepped inside Taeyeon's house, a sweet scent greeted him.
His favorite coffee.
And caramel ice cream.
"Welcome!"
Taeyeon greeted him with a bright smile. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and his hair was slightly messy.
"I've been waiting for you. Come sit down."
As Jenyeong settled onto the couch, Taeyeon brought over the coffee and ice cream before taking a seat beside him.
His still-damp wavy hair somehow made him look even more beautiful than usual.
And he smelled incredible.
For a brief moment, Taeyeon felt an overwhelming urge to run his fingers through Jenyeong's hair.
Of course, he didn't.
Instead, he cleared his throat and tried to start a normal conversation.
"Were you with Wooyeong?"
"Yeah. We were hanging out at the park near my house."
"Don't you ever get tired of each other? Every time I see you, you're either with him or coming from somewhere with him."
"What? Are you jealous?"
"Why would I be jealous of him? Honestly, I get the feeling that he's the one who's jealous of me. Every time we meet, he glares at me. Even at the restaurant, he wanted to leave the second he saw me."
"Well... maybe not jealous exactly, but he definitely hates you."
"But why?"
"Wooyeong has never liked people who get close to me. He was the same when we were kids. Once, back in elementary school, he even beat up one of my classmates. Our fathers got called to the school afterward."
"He beat someone up?!"
"Yep."
Jenyeong chuckled softly as though he had been transported back to that day.
"The poor guy's only crime was admitting he liked me."
"Are you sure Wooyeong doesn't have feelings for you? It really sounds like he does."
"I know that's how it looks from the outside, but I'm sure he doesn't. If he liked me, he would've confessed a thousand times by now and never left me alone. Besides..."
Jenyeong paused before continuing in a gentler, more serious tone.
"Wooyeong falls for people way too easily."
Then he looked directly at Taeyeon.
"Why did you want to see me today? Normally I'm always the one calling or asking to come over."
"No particular reason. We just haven't spent time like this in a while."
"I was literally here a few days ago. And before that too."
"..."
"Come on. Spit it out."
"I just... um..."
Taeyeon took a deep breath.
"Wait here for a second."
He placed his coffee on the table and disappeared into his room.
Jenyeong watched him leave with a puzzled expression.
A few moments later, Taeyeon returned holding a bouquet of flowers.
"I wanted to give this to you."
He held the bouquet out toward Jenyeong.
"To me?"
Jenyeong blinked several times, looking from the flowers to the man standing in front of him.
"Am I dreaming right now, or are you not actually Taeyeon?"
He was doing everything he could to hide the happiness bubbling up inside him. At the same time, he lightly pinched his own cheek to make sure he wasn't imagining things.
"No, it's real."
Taeyeon smiled awkwardly.
"When I saw them, they reminded me of you."
"Really?"
Jenyeong accepted the bouquet, only to hold it back out toward him a moment later.
Taeyeon frowned.
"What happened? Don't you like them?"
He hadn't expected that reaction at all.
"No. Quite the opposite. I love them."
"Then why are you giving them back?"
Jenyeong's smile softened.
"Because the other night, you told me you didn't have feelings for me. And now you're sitting here, giving me flowers because they reminded you of me."
His fingers tightened slightly around the bouquet.
"All you're doing is giving me hope."
His lips were curved upward as he spoke, but it was the same painful smile he had worn that night.
The sight made something ache inside Taeyeon's chest.
"I'm sorry."
His voice came out quieter than intended.
"I wasn't trying to hurt you. I just care about you, and I thought you'd like them."
He offered the bouquet again.
"Please don't refuse them."
Jenyeong stared at him for a moment before finally taking the flowers.
"Alright."
At that moment, Taeyeon had no idea how hard Jenyeong was struggling not to grin.
The fact that Taeyeon was slowly beginning to do things for him made him absurdly happy.
"Anyway, enough about me."
Jenyeong carefully set the bouquet aside.
"How have you been? Last time I came over, you looked exhausted."
"Same old things."
Taeyeon leaned back against the couch.
"Normally I don't get this stressed, but this case has been getting on my nerves for months."
"That's understandable. Anyone would be stressed."
Jenyeong's expression softened.
"These aren't ordinary murders, after all."
After a brief pause, he continued.
"You know how you told me the other night that I could talk to you whenever I wanted?"
Taeyeon nodded.
"That goes both ways. You can talk to me whenever you want too."
Jenyeong smiled gently.
"I'm sure constantly dealing with corpses can't be easy. Maybe talking about it would help. Who knows? Maybe I can even be useful."
Taeyeon looked at him for a second before laughing quietly.
"Thank you, Jenyeong."
His eyes softened.
"You're honestly a perfect person."
As he spoke, he placed a hand on Jenyeong's shoulder.
Jenyeong simply smiled in return.
The hours that followed passed pleasantly.
Jenyeong shared old stories about the trouble he and Wooyeong used to get into as children, while Taeyeon talked about his first years as a prosecutor.
Perhaps Jenyeong had already heard these stories a hundred times.
But he never grew tired of listening.
That night, after Jenyeong left, Taeyeon felt a sense of relief.
It seemed as though some of Jenyeong's hurt feelings had finally eased.
And despite his initial hesitation, he had accepted the bouquet in the end.
For the first time in days, Taeyeon felt calm.
Happy, even.
Until his phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number.
"Hello, Taeyeonnn~ I'm Minjae! Your mother told me about you. Are you free sometime this week?? Maybe we could go somewhere together!!"
After reading the message, Taeyeon let out a long sigh.
Whoever this girl was, he already didn't like her.
She wasn't even using proper honorifics.
The sooner he got this meeting over with, the better.
"Of course. If it works for you, we can meet Wednesday afternoon. I know a nice restaurant nearby."
The reply came almost instantly.
"That sounds greattt!! Let's talk again later then. Good nighttt~"
"Good night."
...
Wednesday arrived.
Taeyeon climbed out of bed with little enthusiasm and went through his usual morning routine.
As if the Eclipse case wasn't already enough of a headache, now he had to deal with this meeting as well.
His irritation was written all over his face.
Wonyoung noticed.
But he didn't ask.
He already had a pretty good idea what was going on.
Sure enough, a little while later, Taeyeon mentioned that he was meeting Minjae.
"I still think it's ridiculous that you're doing something you don't want to do."
"It's just this once."
Taeyeon shrugged.
"It won't happen again."
"You're leaving during lunch break?"
"Yeah."
Wonyoung leaned back in his chair.
"What should I tell Jenyeong if he comes by?"
"Jenyeong?"
Taeyeon froze.
Only then did he remember that Jenyeong came by almost every day with food.
And if he found out Taeyeon was having lunch with Minjae...
He didn't even want to imagine the reaction.
"Tell him I had to leave the city for an urgent case."
"Got it."
Wonyoung smirked.
"Just don't drag this date out too long. Get back before things get worse."
"I'll try."
A few hours earlier, Taeyeon had already sent Minjae the restaurant location and meeting time.
When lunch break was only ten minutes away, he gathered his things, left his office, and got into his car.
Meanwhile, Jenyeong arrived at the office carrying a container of shrimp pasta he had carefully prepared that morning.
The moment he stepped inside, disappointment washed over him.
The office where he expected to find Taeyeon contained only Wonyoung.
"Where's Taeyeon?"
"Out of town."
"What?"
Jenyeong blinked.
"Why?"
"Urgent investigation."
"What city?"
"Incheon."
"When's he coming back?"
"How should I know? Probably sometime this evening."
Jenyeong looked down at the container in his hands.
"So what am I supposed to do with this?"
"What is it?"
"Shrimp pasta. Taeyeon hyung likes it."
"Then give it to me."
Before Jenyeong could object, Wonyoung snatched the container, opened it, inhaled deeply, and immediately began eating.
"Wow."
His eyes widened.
"This is amazing. You have no idea how terrible the cafeteria food is."
Jenyeong sighed.
"Well... enjoy."
"Mhm."
Wonyoung waved while chewing.
"See you later."
Unable to do anything else, Jenyeong left.
Since he couldn't see Taeyeon, he spent the afternoon with Wooyeong instead.Meanwhile, Taeyeon was experiencing what was quite possibly the most boring afternoon of his life.
By the time he arrived at the restaurant, Minjae was already seated at a table waiting for him.
Although they had never met before, she must have known what he looked like, because the moment she spotted him, she enthusiastically waved him over.
She was short—probably somewhere between 155 and 160 centimeters tall—with wheat-colored skin and light brown hair that fell to her shoulders.
Her makeup was heavy enough to be considered excessive, and the scent of her perfume was overwhelming.
According to his mother, she was twenty-five years old and currently unemployed.
She deliberately made her voice sound higher than it naturally was, and her laugh was loud enough to turn heads.
Worst of all, she seemed to laugh at everything she said herself.
As far as first impressions went, Taeyeon thought it couldn't have been much worse.
"Can you believe it?! It was seriously amazing!"
"Yeah... sounds nice."
Taeyeon had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.
At this point, he had completely stopped listening.
He simply smiled whenever necessary and responded with vague comments while she jumped from one topic to another.
"You've never had a girlfriend before, right?"
"That's right."
"Aww."
She giggled loudly.
"Then I'll be your first."
Another laugh.
Another headache.
"I had a boyfriend once, and—"
As Minjae continued talking without pause, Taeyeon found himself checking the time every few minutes.
He desperately wanted to leave.
If he had known Jenyeong was in the same restaurant, he would have invented an excuse and walked out immediately.
But he didn't know.
Not yet.
After leaving the prosecutor's office, Jenyeong had gone to meet Wooyeong.
Originally, they had no intention of eating at this particular restaurant.
But, as usual, Wooyeong's hunger had ruined whatever plans they might have had.
They could have gone anywhere.
Yet somehow, it felt as though fate itself wanted Jenyeong to witness what was about to happen.
When they entered the restaurant, neither of them noticed Taeyeon at first.
Their table was farther toward the back.
After ordering their food, they fell into casual conversation.
Then a shrill laugh echoed across the restaurant.
Both of them turned instinctively toward the sound.
And everything changed.
At one of the tables sat Taeyeon.
Across from him sat a woman.
Laughing.
Eating.
Spending time together.
Wooyeong immediately looked at Jenyeong.
He was afraid of what he might do.
But strangely enough, Jenyeong looked calm.
At least from the outside.
His expression was completely blank.
His eyes remained fixed on Taeyeon and Minjae.
He wasn't looking anywhere else.
Not moving.
Not speaking.
A suffocating silence surrounded him.
"Jenyeong."
Wooyeong's voice was unusually serious.
He rarely called him by his name.
Only when something was genuinely wrong.
"Are you okay?"
"..."
No answer.
Jenyeong simply tightened his grip around the fork in his hand.
The metal began to bend.
"Jenyeong."
Wooyeong reached for the fork.
"Come on. Let's go. Let go of that."
Still, Jenyeong couldn't take his eyes off them.
They lied to me.
The thought echoed endlessly inside his mind.
They lied to me.
As Wooyeong practically dragged him out of the restaurant, he apologized repeatedly to the staff and offered to pay for both the damaged fork and the untouched meals they hadn't even eaten.
At the same time, Jenyeong quietly approached one of the waiters.
After slipping him a generous tip, he made a small request.
The waiter seemed more than happy to help.
A few minutes later, while Taeyeon and Minjae were still sitting together, a waiter approached their table carrying a slice of cake.
"Your red velvet cake, sir."
Taeyeon frowned.
"I think there's been a mistake. We didn't order cake."
The waiter smiled politely.
"A young gentleman and his friend ordered it for you."
Then he added,
"It's a gift from your 'little brother.'"
Taeyeon froze.
His blood ran cold.
He knew exactly who that was.
Red velvet cake was Jenyeong's favorite.
How?
How had he found out?
No.
The worse question was—
What was Jenyeong thinking right now?
While a storm raged inside Taeyeon's head, Minjae simply stared at the cake with visible displeasure.
"I don't even like red velvet."
She wrinkled her nose.
"Wait. You have a little brother? I thought you were an only child."
"I am."
"Huh?"
She blinked.
"Then who sent this?"
"Minjae."
Taeyeon abruptly stood from his chair.
"Let's stop here for today."
"What?"
"I need to get back to the office."
Before she could protest, he paid the bill, offered a brief apology, and left the restaurant as quickly as possible.
The moment he got into his car, he headed straight for Jenyeong's house.
He could already imagine what kind of reaction he would face.
After all, Jenyeong was in love with him.
And like anyone else, seeing the person you loved sitting across from someone else would hurt.
But Jenyeong wasn't the only one hurting.
A sharp pain had settled deep inside Taeyeon's chest.
His heart was pounding.
His palms were sweating.
His thoughts were spiraling out of control.
What was he supposed to say?
What explanation could he possibly give?
And why did he feel like he needed to explain anything at all?
He had already told Jenyeong that he didn't return his feelings. There was nothing wrong with going on a date with someone else.
He didn't owe Jenyeong an explanation.
At least, that's what logic said.
But Taeyeon's heart refused to listen.
The only thing he could think about right now...
was apologizing.
Even though he wasn't guilty of anything.