"THAT LYING BASTARD!"
The first thing Jenyeong could get his hands on—a wine bottle—was sent flying across the room.
It shattered against the wall with a deafening crash.
Glass and red wine sprayed everywhere.
Standing off to the side, Wooyeong watched silently, waiting for his friend's outburst to burn itself out.
He had never seen Jenyeong this angry before.
The abandoned warehouse hidden deep within the forest was the only place where Jenyeong could vent his rage without restraint.
During the drive there, Wooyeong had already called Chanyeong and briefly explained what had happened.
He would probably arrive any minute now.
Sure enough, while Jenyeong continued cursing Taeyeon between ragged breaths, Chanyeong stepped inside.
"For God's sake, what happened here?"
Since Jenyeong was too busy having a meltdown, Wooyeong answered instead.
"Exactly what I told you on the phone. He saw that bastard Taeyeon having lunch with someone else and completely lost it."
Wooyeong crossed his arms.
"Honestly, be grateful he didn't do anything at the restaurant. He looked ready to kill someone. This is probably his version of being calm."
"Hah."
Chanyeong sighed.
"I knew something like this would happen eventually."
Then he glanced at his younger brother.
"How long has he been like this?"
"About an hour."
Wooyeong shrugged.
"When do you think he'll calm down?"
"If I had to guess, he'll stop destroying everything in another thirty minutes."
Chanyeong smirked.
"But the complaining and swearing? That'll last much longer."
"It's all that bastard's fault!"
Wooyeong immediately pointed toward Jenyeong.
"I've been saying from the beginning that Taeyeon isn't trustworthy. Nobody ever listens to me."
"I'm sure Taeyeon has an explanation."
Chanyeong's voice remained calm.
"I honestly don't think it was a real date."
"Aren't you supposed to be on Jenyeong's side?" Wooyeong snapped.
"Why are you defending that bastard?"
"Of course I'm on my brother's side."
Chanyeong rolled his eyes.
"But we all know Taeyeon. There has to be a reasonable explanation. Once Jenyeong calms down, you can tell me exactly what happened."
Meanwhile, Jenyeong continued throwing and smashing whatever he could reach.
Then one of the broken shards of glass sliced deeply into his hand.
Blood immediately began dripping onto the floor.
Jenyeong didn't even notice.
Or perhaps he simply didn't care.
The sight made Chanyeong frown.
He walked over, grabbed Jenyeong's wrist, and gently stopped him.
His voice was surprisingly soft.
"You're hurting yourself like an idiot."
He carefully examined the wound.
"Come here. Let me bandage your hand first. Then you can go back to destroying whatever's left."
Still sulking, Jenyeong allowed his brother to wrap the injury.
He was calmer now.
At least physically.
The fire in his eyes hadn't faded at all.
"Does it hurt?"
Chanyeong finished tying the bandage and looked up.
"Emotionally or physically?"
"Both."
"...Yeah."
For a moment, silence settled between them.
Then Chanyeong spoke again.
"What happened exactly? Wooyeong told me a little, but not much. Start from the beginning."
Jenyeong took a deep breath.
"I made food for Taeyeon like I always do and brought it to his office."
His jaw tightened.
"But when I got there, only Wonyoung was there. He told me Taeyeon was out of town and wouldn't be back until evening."
"So I left and went to see Wooyeong."
He stared at the floor.
"Then he got hungry, so we went to a restaurant."
His expression darkened.
"At first we didn't notice anything. Then we heard someone laughing."
He stopped.
His hands clenched into fists.
Just remembering it made him angry all over again.
Seeing this, Wooyeong picked up the story.
"And that's when we saw that bastard sitting there with a woman."
Wooyeong shook his head.
"I swear, I thought Jenyeong was going to murder someone right then and there."
"So I dragged him out before he could."
Chanyeong looked thoughtful.
"Taeyeon didn't notice you?"
"He didn't."
Wooyeong snorted.
"But thanks to Jenyeong, he noticed eventually."
"How?"
Jenyeong finally spoke again.
"I sent a cake to their table."
A faint, dangerous smile appeared on his lips.
"And I told the waiter to say it was a gift from his 'little brother.'"
Chanyeong immediately laughed.
"That is such a Jenyeong thing to do."
Jenyeong merely rolled his eyes.
Then his expression darkened again.
"I'm angry at Wonyoung too."
Wooyeong blinked.
"What did I do?"
"You lied to me."
"I'm pretty sure you mean your Wonyoung."
"Whatever."
Jenyeong leaned back against the wall.
"He knew exactly where Taeyeon was. I'm sure of it. And instead of telling me the truth, he chose to cover for him."
"Why would you trust my brother in the first place?"
Wooyeong scoffed.
"He's an idiot too."
After a moment, Chanyeong asked,
"Did Taeyeon try to contact you after that?"
"He called a few times."
Jenyeong shrugged.
"I hung up."
"Who knows what excuse he's going to come up with this time."
"Wooyeong."
Chanyeong shot him a warning look.
"The kid's already upset. Stop making it worse."
"I'm not saying anything wrong."
Wooyeong muttered.
"Someone has to tell the truth."
"Can both of you drop it already?"
Jenyeong suddenly snapped.
"My nerves are shot. I don't want to talk about this anymore."
The room fell silent.
Then Chanyeong smiled slightly.
"How about we go back to my place?"
He nudged his brother's shoulder.
"We can grab your favorite chips on the way."
Jenyeong hesitated.
Then finally nodded.
"...Okay."While the three of them headed toward Wooyeong's house, Taeyeon was standing in front of Jenyeong's apartment building.
None of his calls had been answered.
After trying repeatedly, he had come here directly instead.
Of course, nobody opened the door.
So he waited.
And waited.
But nobody came.
After nearly an hour, Taeyeon finally accepted that Jenyeong wasn't coming home anytime soon.
Reluctantly, he returned to the prosecutor's office.
Wonyoung, whose stomach was full and whose day had been perfectly peaceful until then, immediately realized something was wrong the moment Taeyeon walked into the room.
"What happened? Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"
"He saw us..."
Wonyoung frowned.
"Who saw what?"
"Jenyeong."
Taeyeon's voice was strained.
"He saw us together."
"What?"
Wonyoung nearly choked.
"How? Wasn't he with Wooyeong?"
"They came to the same restaurant."
Taeyeon ran a hand through his hair.
"I never noticed them, but they definitely noticed me."
"Okay, slow down and explain."
Taeyeon sighed heavily.
"I was having lunch with Minjae. Then all of a sudden, the waiter brought us a cake we never ordered."
Wonyoung immediately looked suspicious.
"A cake?"
"Red velvet."
The moment he said it, Wonyoung winced.
"Oh no."
"Exactly."
"The waiter set it down and said, 'A gift from your little brother.'"
For a second, complete silence filled the room.
Then Wonyoung buried his face in his hands.
"Oh, you're screwed."
"I know."
Taeyeon leaned against his desk.
"I paid the bill and left immediately, but I couldn't find him anywhere."
"He won't answer my calls either."
"I went to his apartment."
"Nothing."
"So where do you think he is?"
Taeyeon's voice lowered.
"Do you think he'll do something stupid?"
"Nah."
Wonyoung shook his head.
"Jenyeong isn't dumb enough to hurt himself."
A pause.
"...At least, I don't think he is."
That answer did absolutely nothing to reassure Taeyeon.
"What am I supposed to say to him?"
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"How do I explain all of this?"
"What if he hates me?"
"Relax."
Wonyoung shrugged.
"He won't hate you forever."
Taeyeon immediately looked up.
"What do you mean forever?"
"I mean..."
Wonyoung grimaced.
"There's absolutely no way he doesn't hate you right now."
Taeyeon closed his eyes.
Fair enough.
"You know Jenyeong."
Wonyoung continued.
"Do you seriously think he's going to react normally to something like this?"
"...No."
"Exactly."
After another moment of silence, Taeyeon nodded.
"I need to talk to him as soon as possible."
"He's probably angry at me too."
Wonyoung sighed.
"If he saw you, then he definitely figured out I lied."
"When do you think he'll come home?"
"Tonight?"
Wonyoung laughed.
"No chance."
"Maybe in a few days."
Taeyeon let out a long breath and rubbed his face.
Suddenly, breathing felt difficult.
He loosened his tie and undid several buttons of his shirt.
"Taeyeon."
Wonyoung's expression softened slightly.
"Go home."
"What?"
"Go clear your head."
He gestured toward the stacks of case files.
"I'll handle everything here today."
Taeyeon stared at him for a second.
Then nodded.
"Thank you."
His shoulders slumped.
"I can't focus on work anyway."
---
"Feeling any better now?"
Chanyeong handed his younger brother a glass of water.
Jenyeong accepted it.
"Not better."
He took a sip.
"But I'm too tired to destroy anything else."
"That's progress."
"It counts."
Before the conversation could continue, Wooyeong suddenly slammed his hand against the couch.
"Just let me go shoot that bastard already—"
"WOOYOUNG!"
Chanyeong barked immediately.
"Would you shut up?"
He pointed at Jenyeong.
"He only just started calming down."
"I don't need you to do anything."
Jenyeong interrupted.
His voice was calm now.
Dangerously calm.
"I already know what I'm going to do."
"Are you going to talk to Taeyeon?"
Chanyeong asked carefully.
"Yes."
Jenyeong nodded.
"But not right now."
A cold smile appeared on his lips.
"If I go talk to him now, Wooyeong won't need to shoot him."
The room fell silent.
"Because I'll do it myself."
"Jenyeong."
Chanyeong's voice sharpened immediately.
"Don't do anything stupid."
Jenyeong rolled his eyes.
"Trust me."
He leaned back against the couch.
"If I wanted to do something stupid, I would've done it at the restaurant."
He closed his eyes.
"You don't need to worry."
"Whatever."
Wooyeong shoved a handful of chips into his mouth.
"Can we stop talking about this now?"
For the first time all day, Jenyeong actually laughed.
A small one.
But it was enough.
That night, the three of them stayed together.
Meanwhile, Taeyeon sat beside his phone, staring at the screen.
Waiting.
For a call.
A text.
Anything.
Nothing came.
Jenyeong had silenced his phone.
And even if he saw the messages, he had no intention of answering them.
Taeyeon barely slept that night.
The first thing he did after waking up was check his phone.
Still nothing.
No messages.
No missed calls.
No Jenyeong.
He tried calling several more times.
No answer.
Before heading to work, he stopped by Jenyeong's apartment again.
Nobody was there.
Just like Wonyoung predicted, Jenyeong hadn't gone home.
As if the guilt eating away at him wasn't bad enough, he spent the entire day buried beneath murder case files.
It felt like torture.
By the time evening finally arrived, he was exhausted.
He returned home, grabbed something quick to eat, and collapsed onto the couch.
Then his phone buzzed.
His heart immediately jumped.
Jenyeong?
He grabbed it without hesitation.
Only to feel his excitement die instantly.
It was Minjae.
She was asking when they could meet again.
Taeyeon didn't even open the message.
With an irritated sigh, he dragged a hand through his hair.
As if he didn't already have enough problems.
A few more hours passed.
The anxiety in his chest only grew heavier.
Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore.
He got back into his car and drove to Jenyeong's apartment once again.
This time, he rang the bell.
Then knocked.
And knocked again.
Just as he was about to give up and leave—
The door opened.
For a brief second, their eyes met.
Then—
SLAM.
The door immediately closed again."Jenyeong, wait!"
Taeyeon immediately stepped forward and knocked on the door.
"Open the door. We need to talk."
"Go away!"
Jenyeong's voice came from the other side.
"I have nothing to say to you!"
"Just listen to me."
Taeyeon pressed a hand against the door.
"I can explain."
"I don't want an explanation!"
The response came instantly.
"Get lost!"
Taeyeon closed his eyes briefly.
Then he took a deep breath.
"Fine."
His voice softened.
"Then I'll stay right here until you open the door."
And he meant it.
He sat down in front of the apartment door and waited.
Summer nights were warm during the day but surprisingly cool after sunset.
Still, Taeyeon didn't move.
He wasn't leaving.
Not until Jenyeong opened that door.
And Jenyeong knew it.
At first, he fully intended to leave him out there.
If Taeyeon wanted to suffer a little, then good.
He deserved it.
But after nearly an hour, Jenyeong finally decided he'd punished him enough.
With an irritated sigh, he unlocked the door.
"Fine. Get in."
He stepped aside.
"If you catch a cold, don't blame me."
Taeyeon was on his feet immediately.
The two of them moved into the living room.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Taeyeon's eyes landed on Jenyeong's hand.
Wrapped in bandages.
His expression immediately changed.
"What happened?"
He instinctively reached toward him.
"Are you okay?"
Jenyeong pulled away before he could touch him.
"It's nothing."
His voice was cold.
"It doesn't concern you."
The rejection stung more than Taeyeon expected.
"...Did this happen because of me?"
Silence.
That silence was answer enough.
Pain twisted inside Taeyeon's chest.
Jenyeong had gotten hurt because of him.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Jenyeong finally broke the silence.
"Go on."
His arms crossed over his chest.
"I'm listening."
Taeyeon swallowed.
"Look... nothing is the way it seemed."
Jenyeong let out a dry laugh.
"Funny."
His eyes narrowed.
"That's always what people say."
He leaned back against the couch.
"Well?"
Taeyeon hesitated.
"I wasn't on a date with her."
"What were you doing then?"
"We just had lunch."
Jenyeong stared at him.
"...That's it?"
"I..."
Taeyeon rubbed the back of his neck.
"I had to."
The response came immediately.
"Why?"
Jenyeong's voice sharpened.
"Did she drag you there by force?"
"No."
"Is she your boss?"
"No."
"Then what exactly do you mean by 'I had to'?"
His frustration finally exploded.
"Because it looked a lot like you willingly went to meet her!"
"Jenyeong, please."
Taeyeon raised both hands.
"Calm down and let me explain everything from the beginning."
A long silence followed.
Eventually, Jenyeong nodded once.
"Fine."
Taeyeon took a deep breath.
"Do you remember the day you brought me that cake?"
"Of course."
Jenyeong's expression darkened.
"That's the day you told me you didn't have feelings for me."
"...Yeah."
Guilt flashed across Taeyeon's face.
"That night, you asked if I was okay."
Jenyeong said nothing.
"There was something bothering me."
Taeyeon continued quietly.
"The morning after you left, I went to my parents' house for dinner."
Immediately, Jenyeong looked suspicious.
"My mother brought up marriage again."
Taeyeon sighed.
"She wanted me to meet the daughter of one of her acquaintances."
Jenyeong blinked.
"What?"
"I refused."
"Several times."
"But my father agreed with her."
Taeyeon looked exhausted just remembering it.
"In the end, I gave up arguing."
His shoulders slumped.
"I only agreed because I wanted to put an end to the discussion."
"It was supposed to be one meeting."
"Nothing more."
"My only goal was to stop my mother from worrying."
For a second, Jenyeong simply stared at him.
Then—
"WHAT?!"
His voice echoed through the apartment.
"Why didn't you tell me that?"
Taeyeon immediately winced.
"Would you have reacted calmly if I had?"
"No!"
Jenyeong shot to his feet.
"Of course I wouldn't have!"
He pointed toward him.
"Because that's not normal!"
His anger was back in full force now.
"Do you seriously think finding out this way was any better?"
"And on top of that, you had Wonyoung lie to me!"
Taeyeon lowered his head.
Jenyeong continued.
"Just because your parents want something doesn't mean you have to do it!"
"You're twenty-seven years old, Taeyeon!"
"Twenty-seven!"
"You are way too old to be blindly obeying them!"
His breathing was uneven now.
"For God's sake, start acting rationally!"
The room fell silent.
For a long moment, Taeyeon said nothing.
Then finally—
"...You're right."
The words were quiet.
Honest.
"I'm sorry."
His eyes lowered.
"I never wanted to hurt you."
A bitter laugh escaped Jenyeong.
"You're always saying that."
Taeyeon looked up.
Jenyeong's voice had become softer.
But somehow, that hurt even more.
"You never want to hurt me."
A pause.
"And yet somehow..."
His gaze dropped to the floor.
"I always end up getting hurt."
For the first time that evening, Taeyeon had no response.
Because Jenyeong was right.
Completely right.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"You can blame me for all of it."
His voice was sincere.
"I deserve it."
He looked directly at Jenyeong.
"But I promise I'll make it up to you."
A small smile appeared.
"I'll earn your forgiveness."
Neither of them noticed how much this sounded like a fight between lovers rather than friends.
One angry.
One guilty.
Both hurt.
Both far more emotionally invested than either of them wanted to admit.
The silence stretched between them.
Then Taeyeon spoke again.
"Are you free this weekend?"
Jenyeong frowned.
"...Why?"
"Let's go out to eat."
"I'm not sure."
His expression remained stubborn.
"I'm still very angry with you."
"Please?"
The single word sounded almost pathetic.
Jenyeong rolled his eyes.
"I didn't say yes."
He crossed his arms.
"I'll think about it."
Taeyeon's smile widened.
"Then I'm taking that as a yes."
Jenyeong immediately scowled.
Meanwhile, internally—
He was screaming.
Absolutely screaming.
If anyone could see inside his head right now, they would assume he'd completely lost his mind.
Which, to be fair, wasn't entirely inaccurate.
After all, according to most people, the Eclipse Killer was already insane.
"If you're done talking, leave."
Taeyeon raised an eyebrow.
"You used to beg me to stay."
"And now you're kicking me out?"
"This isn't the time for jokes."
Jenyeong pointed toward the door.
"I'm tired."
His voice softened slightly.
"And I want to be alone."
Taeyeon studied him for a moment.
Then nodded.
"Alright."
He stood up.
"I won't force you."
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Good night, Jenyeong."
His eyes drifted toward the bandaged hand one last time.
"And please take care of yourself."
A pause.
"Don't hurt yourself."
Jenyeong deliberately waited several seconds before answering.
"...You too."
For some reason, hearing those two words made Taeyeon feel lighter than he had in days.
When he finally returned home, relief flooded through him.
He had explained everything.
Jenyeong had listened.
And most importantly—
There was still hope.
The weekend wasn't confirmed yet.
But Taeyeon already knew what the answer would be.
He knew Jenyeong well enough for that.
As for Jenyeong?
Despite feeling happier than he wanted to admit, he was still furious.
Especially after hearing the full story.
He had never liked Taeyeon's mother very much.
Now he outright hated her.
But that was a problem for another day.
Tonight, there was only one thing occupying his mind:
The weekend he would spend with Taeyeon.
And he wasn't going to let anyone ruin it.