Chapter 67: Yeo Si-ha
by GideonHis pride slightly wounded, Jubin leaned on the desk and asked, “Are you serious?”
“Yeah, dead serious. You might quit drinking, but you’ll never quit smoking or sex. I’d sooner believe a monk left his temple, a nun stopped praying, and an imam started binge-eating.”
Jubin figured everyone around them—except maybe Zion—would react exactly like Si-ha.
“I’m recording this. Say it again.”
A stubborn streak flared up in Jubin as he tapped the video record button.
“Oh, really? Should I start recording too?”
Si-ha didn’t back down, pulling up his own camera app.
“If I successfully quit smoking, you have to call me hyung for the rest of your life and behave like a proper younger brother.”
“Fine. And if you fail, you have to marry me.”
The recording and filming stopped simultaneously. All that remained was their stubborn pride.
“I’m going to make a call.”
“Go ahead.”
Jubin stepped out onto the terrace, phone in hand. The humid summer air felt suffocating. Suddenly, he craved a cigarette, and his thoughts drifted to Zion.
He couldn’t bring himself to call out of the blue, so he spent a long time typing and deleting messages. While he was still hesitating, his phone buzzed—as if Zion had been waiting for him to reach out.
The sudden vibration startled him. He hesitated, wondering if he should answer right away.
After taking a deep breath to steady himself, he finally picked up.
“…Hey, Zion.”
—Are you at home?
“No, still at a friend’s place.”
—Still? What have you been doing all this time?
Just then, the soft sound of a door opening echoed beside him.
“Sunbae.”
The familiar voice called out.
Jubin turned his head to find Zion standing there, phone still in his hand.
“Ah…”
A gasp of surprise and realization escaped him. He knew Zion lived next door, but he hadn’t expected him to be this close.
It felt strange and new all over again.
“It’s hot out. Are you okay?” Zion asked over the phone.
Even though they were neighbors, the distance between their apartments was still too far to talk face-to-face.
“Yeah. Why did you come out?”
Zion leaned against the railing, a smile playing on his lips.
“I came out because I wanted to see you, Sunbae.”
Jubin couldn’t help but laugh at the unexpected flirtation. He was getting used to Zion’s sweetness now.
Will I ever get so close to him that I’ll miss this kind of flirting if it stops? he wondered, letting his imagination run wild again.
“What about your friend?” Zion asked.
Jubin glanced down at the studio beyond the terrace window, where Si-ha was working hard to meet a deadline. He smiled. “He’s working.”
“What are you doing, Sunbae?”
“I’m…”
Jubin couldn’t bring himself to say, I’m making a gift for you.
“I’m helping my friend with his work.”
“When are you going back inside?”
“Soon.”
“What does your friend do?” Zion’s questions kept coming, each one laced with gentle curiosity.
“He’s a webtoon artist.”
“Since you’re close with a webtoon artist, you must be good at drawing too, right?”
“No, I’m terrible at it.”
I’m talking too much about myself, aren’t I? I quickly changed the subject.
“So, what did you do after eating that braised chicken?”
—I’m baking cookies.
He really does love his desserts. It was already common knowledge in the industry that he shared the treats he baked as a hobby with the rest of the staff.
He pulled the phone slightly away from his ear and asked, his voice a bit louder.
“Do you want some?”
“If you have any left over.”
—Stop by my place for a bit.
He invited me to his home as if it were nothing. Thank goodness the warning bells were already ringing in my head, or I might have fallen for it.
“Next time. It’s too late today.”
Of course, having sex with him was a stronger rush than any other dopamine hit, but I was still too cautious to enter his private space.
—Did you eat dinner?
“No, I ate way too much braised chicken for lunch, so I’m not hungry yet.”
—You still need to eat dinner.
As I kept talking on the phone, I felt a sharp gaze piercing my back. I turned around to find Si-ha spinning her pen with a practiced flick of her wrist, her eyes flashing with a dangerous intensity.
“So, what are you gonna eat?” she asked.
—I’m still thinking.
Si-ha, who had been relentlessly spinning the pen with just the tips of her fingers, suddenly shot up from her seat. She snatched a cigarette from the drawer and clamped it between her lips. Why is she even doing that? She hasn’t even lit it.
And why is she grabbing a piece of melon? Why is she walking toward me?
The look in Yeo Si-ha’s eyes as she approached was unsettling. The smile on her lips didn’t look normal either.
That look… Her trigger’s been pulled.
—I’ll hang some cookies on your door handle when you’re done with your call. Give some to your friend and take the rest home.
Even her stride was dangerously unsteady, making my heart race with anxiety, but I forced myself to answer calmly.
“Uh, yeah. Thanks.”
—Oh, and I’ll give you a ride home later. It’s getting late.
“No, it’s fine. The subway’s quick.”
—It’s a long way, and you’ll have to transfer.
Just then, the terrace door swung open.
A drunken Yeo Si-ha spat out the cigarette he’d been holding and reached out, calling out affectionately.
“Babe.”
My pupils shook at the cringeworthy word I’d never heard from his mouth before.
“Who are you talking to?”
This crazy bastard suddenly pulled my head back by the hair and pretended to kiss me. Startled, I shoved his shoulder hard and spat out a string of curses without hesitation.
“You crazy fuck…!”
Just as I was about to continue my tirade, Yeo Si-ha stuffed a bite-sized piece of melon into my mouth, silencing me.
“Eat slowly. Slowly. You can kiss me after you’re done.”
I wanted to scream, What kind of crazy shit are you talking about? but Si-ha just casually turned his head to the side.
Meeting Do Zion’s eyes, Jubin greeted him loudly.
“Hello, Do Zion! I didn’t know you lived next door. See you around.”
As Jubin hastily chewed and swallowed the melon in his mouth, Si-ha threw an arm around his shoulders and pulled him sharply inside.
“Babe, let’s go in. It’s too hot today. Want to shower together?”
Jubin violently shook off Si-ha’s touch. He hurriedly turned his head to look at Zion, but the man, who had been watching the scene in silence, simply closed the terrace door and went inside.
The call had also just ended.
For a moment, Jubin was so dumbfounded he couldn’t even process it.
“You should come in too,” Si-ha said, his voice low as he beckoned with a finger.
Jubin slammed the terrace door shut and stormed inside, shouting, “Hey, Yeo Si-ha!”
Even at Jubin’s raised voice, Si-ha didn’t even blink.
“Stop holding back on him.”
“…What?”
“I said, stop being so fond of Do Zion.”
Yeo Si-ha never knew how to hide his feelings. Or rather, he didn’t even try. There was no room for composure in the raw emotion he poured out.
“Who the hell is he? Why are you being so sweet to him, treating him with the same care you show me?”
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
“Just how much are you playing with me?”
Jubin had forgotten. Yeo Si-ha knew too much about him.
“A ‘cherished junior’? You’re not just cherishing him. He’s a special junior, isn’t he?”
This is why childhood friends are so dangerous. Jubin let out a deep sigh and ran a hand through his hair.
“So what? What’s your problem?”
“Stop smiling at him with that same delicate smile you give me. Stop being so considerate of his feelings. And stop drawing the kind of pictures for him that you’ve never once drawn for me.”
Si-ha wasn’t drunk on alcohol—he was drunk on his own emotions.
“…Are you jealous?”
“No. Can’t you see I’m obsessed? I’m supposed to be the only special person in your life.”
Silence fell between them.
It was a one-sided silence, filled only with the turmoil churning inside Yeo Si-ha.
“Yeo Si-ha, are you lonely?”
Si-ha ran a hand through his hair in frustration, his tone turning sharp.
“Yeah, I’m fucking lonely. Lonely that you might meet someone else again.”
Since they were young, he had harbored a fierce protective instinct and a possessive streak toward Jubin—a feeling that was distinct from love.
“You lose your damn mind whenever you date someone.”
Si-ha thrust his possessiveness forward, masking it as concern. He hated how Jubin always stopped contacting him properly whenever he was in a relationship, and he had seen Jubin fall apart too many times after breakups. Watching it all unfold had become unbearable.
It wasn’t just that his feelings went beyond simple friendship. He’d come to think of Si-ha as family, and the thought of facing that tangled mess of attachment, dependence, and worry again was unbearable.
But does he have to act like this? I couldn’t understand Si-ha for the life of me. He was being way too overbearing.
“I get that you’re worried, and I get that you’re anxious,” I said, “but do you really have to drunkenly vent your loneliness like this?”
Si-ha averted his gaze, as if I’d struck a nerve.
“Hah, cut it out with the attitude. Think about my position for once. My only damn friend…”
A sigh escaped me as I thought of Zion, who had left without a word.
I’d even let him mark me—taking a risk just to soothe his anxiety—and now I was flooded with guilt and remorse.
Yet, I fumed, Yeo Si-ha was the one who crossed the line. Why do I feel like the one in the wrong?
“Sigh, I think Zion got scared and gave us some space. But if I see him, how am I supposed to explain…?”
“Why are you so worried about explaining yourself? It’s not like we’re dating.”
Si-ha shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets as if it were no big deal.
“If the other guys misunderstand, they’ll just assume we’re a couple. What’s the big deal?”
He was right. Rationally, there was no reason to go out of my way to explain things to Zion.
We were just partners, after all.
But if Zion asked, I wanted to make it absolutely clear that Si-ha and I were not dating.
“I just don’t like the misunderstanding. I don’t want people thinking that.”
“Since when have you ever bothered to correct people when they assumed you were in a relationship with your partners?”
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