Chapter 69: The Calm Before the Storm
by GideonYeo Si-ha was right. This relationship—where I only pushed and Do Zion only pulled—was a recipe for falling into a swamp of misunderstandings.
I tried to deflect the conversation naturally, fearing that denying it too sharply would only make things more awkward.
“I thought you were just friendly with everyone,” I said, trying to imply there was nothing special about his behavior.
“Sunbae, I’m only like this with you.”
My excuse had fallen flat.
“Was I…?”
Jubin trailed off with an awkward laugh. He desperately wanted to escape this suffocating tension.
He felt as if his own hidden feelings—feelings he hadn’t even fully acknowledged—were about to be exposed.
“What’s with all the hair on your clothes?”
Jubin glanced down at his sleeve and gasped. He’d slept with Cheese in his arms, and now his clothes were covered in fur.
“Oh, I slept with my cat,” he explained.
Zion let out a short, dry laugh as if he’d just realized something. “I was wondering who you’d slept with… turns out it was just your cat.”
“Did you think something else?” Jubin asked casually, picking off a few stray hairs from his sleeve.
The way Zion looked so flustered and apologetic—as if he’d just been caught doubting him for thinking he’d slept with Yeo Si-ha—was actually kind of cute.
Jubin turned his head to look out the window. The subway station was just ahead.
“Hey, there’s the station. Drop me off here.”
“I’ll drive you home.”
“No, I’m fine. I’ll just take the train.”
“It’s late. It’s dangerous.”
Jubin forced a calm smile and continued.
“It’s just that your pheromones are more dangerous to me right now. Please understand.”
Zion’s face hardened for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure and started the car.
They drove in silence, listening to the soft music playing. The distance was short enough that they didn’t need much time to travel, and Jubin wanted to give Zion some space to collect his thoughts.
Before they knew it, they had arrived near the subway station.
“Thanks,” Jubin said softly.
Zion accepted the thanks with his usual nonchalance, as if it were just another routine exchange. But just as Jubin was about to open the door—
“From now on,” Zion’s voice stopped him.
Jubin paused and turned to look at him.
“I’ll suppress my pheromones as much as I can.”
His words sounded like a vow.
To hide his pheromones meant to hide his emotions, too—every last one of them.
This was the first boundary he had ever drawn. I had assumed that even if I stepped back, he would still hold a place for me in his heart. Now, that unconscious hope felt like it was slipping through my fingers.
This was a confusion I never wanted. I had only tried to manage our relationship, yet a guilt-like discomfort was shaking my self-esteem.
“See you tomorrow.”
Come to think of it, tomorrow was the first day of diving class. Jubin forced the words out with difficulty.
“…Uh, yeah. You get home safe, too.”
I tried to smile, but I couldn’t tell if it looked natural. I hurriedly ran into the station.
I’ll do my best to hide my pheromones from now on.
His words kept playing over and over in my head. I should have been relieved by the distance he’d put between us, but instead, a strange sense of dread crept in.
The train arrived soon, and I slumped into an empty seat, my upper body collapsing forward.
My mind is such a mess. I felt like I was standing alone in a place of high entropy. My anxiety refused to subside.
The nerve of me. I was the one who had drawn the line so arbitrarily, yet the moment Zion drew his own to keep his distance, I was the one drowning in a sea of conflicting thoughts.
A suffocating urgency took hold of me—a feeling that I had to do something now or I wouldn’t be able to stand it.
I knew I had to strip away all emotion and treat Zion normally, but the thought of seeing him tomorrow with this turmoil in my heart made my worries deepen.
“I don’t want things to get awkward…”
Looks like I’ll be going to bed with a heavy heart again.
On my way home from the subway station, a voice raised in anger echoed through a dark alley.
“Fuck, where do you think you’re going?”
“Let go! I told you I don’t want to do this today!”
The voice from the distance sounded strangely familiar, and I turned my head toward it.
“You couldn’t even land a contract renewal. Did you find some new dick to suck up to already?”
“Stop saying that crazy shit!”
“Fine, Lee Seo-rim. Who else would even want you? Who’s going to like a cheap knock-off like you?”
The voice of the one being verbally abused was familiar for a reason—it was my student, Lee Seo-rim.
He’d been on my mind ever since he stormed out of the CEO’s office on the day he was supposed to renew his contract.
Jubin stopped in his tracks, hiding for a moment as he watched the scene, torn between intervening and staying out of it.
“You’re the only one at MOON Entertainment who failed to renew your contract. How pathetic of you to mess up something so simple.”
“This is all because of you! You threw a fit and threatened to kill yourself every time my shoot was scheduled! Whose fault do you think this is?”
Is this guy insane? Jubin wondered. What kind of relationship does he even have with Lee Seo-rim? This feels like way more than just a simple partnership.
“My fault? Of course it’s my fault—because I love you so much. I’m driven mad when I can’t see you. Do you really doubt my feelings?”
“You claim to love me, but now you’re blackmailing me with photos you took without my consent?”
Hidden photos? The situation was getting worse by the second. So that’s why he can’t do a damn thing against this guy—he’s been blackmailed.
“Fuck, you were practically begging for it when I had you pinned down. Should I just leak them all right now?”
Seo-rim flinched at the threat of exposure, taking a step back. Only after he cowered did the other man’s demeanor soften into a mock-gentle smile.
“Listen to me. You need to be more aggressive with your image positioning. You have to study your target more closely to cover them. That’s the only way you’ll become the person you want to be.”
“You’re just using me to fulfill your own fantasy!”
“I’m trying to help you! So you can look more like him!”
“I don’t need that anymore!”
The anger Seo-rim had been suppressing finally erupted.
“You’re the one who got humiliated by CEO Park because you kept ignoring my advice and trying to ‘find your own color’ like some pathetic amateur!”
The man crushed Seo-rim’s outburst with effortless ease. It was a blatantly unfair dynamic—the power balance in their conversations was completely skewed in one direction.
Worst of all, the man wasn’t listening to a word Seo-rim said.
“Am I wrong?”
Whether it was because his self-esteem had been shattered after failing to renew his contract, Seo-rim no longer fought back or resisted the man’s verbal abuse.
No, it was more like he couldn’t.
When you’re constantly denied and ignored, you eventually get used to the feeling. Your own sense of judgment completely crumbles.
“I was only trying to help you. I loved you more than my own life.”
Using ‘love’ as a pretext to control him and neutralize his emotions?
This bastard has done this a thousand times before. This isn’t just a simple argument. This is gaslighting—a continuous, repeated assault on Seo-rim’s mind.
“I’ll help you get a better contract. Let’s go back inside. You’ll feel better after you sleep with me.”
“No! Let go of me! I’m not in the mood!”
Despite the man’s attempts to coax him, Seo-rim firmly refused, especially when it came to sex.
“Fuck, I’ve had enough of your shit!”
A dull thud echoed through the alley.
“I try to be nice, but you just won’t listen, will you? This is why no one will hire you.”
The man’s patience had finally snapped.
Jubin rounded the corner and shouted, “Seo-rim!”
The man stared at Jubin, his eyes wide with shock.
“M-Mr. Jubin…”
Seizing the moment while the man’s grip slackened, Seo-rim tore his wrist free and sprinted to Jubin’s side.
Hiding closely behind him, Seo-rim’s breathing was ragged and uneven.
“I’ve been watching from a distance, and he clearly said no.”
The man pulled his cap down low, obscuring his face.
“Hey, get over here. Unless you want to die.”
He gestured with a flick of his finger, commanding Seo-rim to come closer.
“Threats like that are considered dating violence,” Jubin said. “And since this seems to be a pattern, I think you should stop.”
Beneath the brim of his hat, the man’s split lip twisted into a strange smirk.
“The real deal is definitely different.”
What the hell is he talking about?
As if he’d had enough, the man spun around to leave.
“Lee Seo-rim, if you leave me on read, you’re dead.”
He threw the sharp threat over his shoulder and quickly vanished from the scene.
Hiding behind Jubin’s back, Seo-rim fidgeted restlessly.
“Does he live around here?”
“…Yes.”
“What’s your relationship with him?”
Seo-rim just kept his head bowed, unable to answer. Part of him wanted to tell Jubin to dump that guy right now and find someone better, but he knew that offering unwanted advice was just plain rude.
“Alright, let’s talk about this later.”
Though his eyes were full of things he wanted to say, Seo-rim’s lips remained sealed.
“I’ll drive you home.”
Since Seo-rim lived nearby, Jubin asked him to wait on the first floor for a moment before going to grab his car keys.
“Seo-rim, the car’s in the garage. Let’s go down.”
Jubin rarely used his own car, but he couldn’t bear the thought of sending the trembling boy off alone in a taxi.
“Fasten your seatbelt.”
Just then, a message from Do Zion popped up on his phone.
Do Zion: Did you get home safe?
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