Chapter 90. Seoul. Broad Daylight. In the middle of a downtown street.
by GideonHe sat down, pressing his body close to Jubin’s side. I guess I can’t fool Do Zion after all…
“I’m sorry.”
The words were short, a mix of gratitude for the comfort and a touch of embarrassment.
“What are you sorry for? You’re doing great, Sunbae. Don’t worry about it, just eat this.”
He held out the hand he’d been keeping clenched. In his palm lay a piece of sweet chocolate.
“Sweets are a must when you’re feeling down.”
“…Yeah, thanks.”
Grateful for the gesture, Jubin tucked the chocolate into his pocket. He wanted to eat it, but his stomach was too unsettled.
“If it were raining, I’d be running around getting soaked,” Do Zion said, his voice laced with regret as he stared past the shimmering heat haze that made the world look like it was trapped inside a giant oven.
“Do you like the rain?”
“I do, in the summer. How about you, sunbae?”
“I’m indifferent.”
Zion paused, then added as if remembering something. “Ah, you said the pheromones make it hard for you.”
Jubin nodded. Yeah.
Even now, the damned side effects of the pheromones kept making him sigh. The heavy, suffocating surge of sexual desire was becoming too much to bear.
“If you hate the rain so much, why were you smoking out there on our first reading day, soaked like a drowned cat?”
“Ah, that was…”
Just then, raindrops began to patter onto the ground. Soon, they were pouring down with a heavy thud.
The rain-soaked, baking-hot earth released the damp scent of soil.
Tap, tap.
The sound of raindrops falling made me tilt my head back. The stairs leading to the second floor acted as an eaves, keeping me dry.
“It’s a secret, but CEO Moon actually sent me that day to appease Director Bae in his place.”
Perhaps because I was confessing a hidden secret to him, the anger that had flared out of control was gradually washing away, leaving me calm.
“I purposely got hit, thinking that if I looked as miserable as possible, Director Bae’s fury would be less severe.”
Zion burst out laughing.
“Did Director Bae see that and immediately demand we add a rain scene?”
“Haha, that would be a problem. We’re already overwhelmed with just the cliff scene.”
Just like this, Zion’s presence brought a strange, soothing comfort. Without even trying, they had already started using the word “we” as if it were the most natural thing in the world, slipping into each other’s daily lives like a chair offered to a guest.
It was a certainty—a feeling that they were enough for each other.
“Zion.”
Jubin murmured his name, cupping Zion’s cheek. The green eyes meeting his seemed to drown out the roar of the rain.
“…Can I?”
“Why are you asking permission for every little thing?”
As their lips met, a vivid, undeniable rush of euphoria swelled between them. The greater the weight of their feelings, the more this euphoria—like inertia—strove to prolong the moment.
The intensifying rain muffled the quiet sounds of their intimacy.
The long summer was finally drawing to a close.
After training, Zion and Jubin walked toward a nearby restaurant, their footsteps echoing on the rain-slicked pavement.
“You finally mastered it,” Zion said, his tone genuinely impressed as he pulled his cap lower. “Changing the sequence was the right call.”
He had managed to defend against Zion’s attack, achieving a perfect exchange.
“Yeah, thanks to you,” Jubin replied, adjusting his bag and giving Zion all the credit.
Finishing the training session without any issues had lifted his mood.
But still…
“I’m starving,” Jubin muttered, fingering the chocolate bar in his pocket.
Maybe he’d burned too much energy. He was so hungry he’d even eat noodles—a dish he usually despised.
“Here we are,” Zion announced, pointing to the restaurant Kang Mu-hyeon had recommended.
The brief rain shower had only made the heat more oppressive, leaving the streets completely empty of even the stray cats.
“Sunbae, you go on ahead,” he said, pointing to a nearby convenience store. “I need to stop in for a second.”
I considered going with him, but then thought about the cigarettes I’d see the moment I walked in. The mere sight would reignite my craving, so I changed my mind.
“I’ll order first and wait. Hurry back.”
“I’ll be right back.”
He hurried into the store. Eager to eat, I headed toward the restaurant and checked my phone.
[ Do Zion’s Birthday D-DAY 7 ]
It was a paid notification.
His birthday’s coming up.
What should I get him? We’d agreed not to exchange expensive gifts, so maybe I should subtly ask if there’s anything he needs?
As I cleared the notification, someone suddenly appeared from the alley between the buildings.
In that instant, the metallic stench of blood filled the air.
As I slowly lifted my head, I saw him. He stood there, clutching his throat as blood gushed from his neck.
I froze. The sight was so shocking it sent a sharp pang through my heart.
For a moment, I couldn’t even breathe as I stared at him.
His blood-stained hand clawed at the air, and his ragged breaths came in desperate, dying gasps.
This was a scene straight out of a movie or a drama.
And I had always assumed it would only happen to someone else.
“…Seo-rim?”
At the sound of my voice, his eyes rolled, as if trying to find me. The one staring back with a desperate plea for help, recognizing me, was indeed my student, Lee Seo-rim.
In broad daylight. In the middle of a busy Seoul street.
“Teacher…”
I took a step toward him, unable to believe my eyes. The whole situation felt utterly surreal.
Seo-rim’s ragged, broken sobs tore through Jubin’s mind.
“H-help…”
Seo-rim’s clothes were already soaked in crimson. His lips trembled violently before he swayed and collapsed.
“Seo-rim!”
Startled, Jubin instinctively reached out to catch him, supporting Seo-rim’s shoulder and waist.
“Lee Seo-rim! Wake up! Seo-rim!”
The wide road was completely deserted. In a panic, Jubin fumbled for his phone and dialed 119.
“Someone’s hurt! He’s bleeding—he’s bleeding too much!”
He couldn’t even remember how he’d managed to describe their location. He just blurted out whatever came to mind as the dispatcher calmly asked questions.
After hanging up, he looked at Seo-rim’s neck. The wound looked like it had been inflicted by a sharp weapon.
Jubin hastily pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it against the wound to stop the bleeding.
“Please, stop.”
The handkerchief was already soaked in crimson.
The ambulance has to get here. It has to…
Is there anyone who can help?
Gasping for air, Jubin turned into an alleyway, only to sense someone’s presence.
A man holding a weapon stopped in his tracks nearby.
His black pupils were blown wide. His thin lips were pressed into a hard line. Despite the blood-smeared blade in his hand, he exuded an unnervingly calm aura.
The moment their eyes met, Jubin’s heart hammered violently against his ribs.
It was the raw terror of facing a killer.
That man… it’s him.
The psychopath who had been gaslighting Seo-rim.
That bastard is the attacker.
“…You again?”
His thin, pressed lips slowly parted.
The sunken eyes had already gone mad.
“Die!”
The man with the knife charged in an instant.
Jubin gently set the injured Seo-rim on the floor. Using his bag as a shield, he swung it with all his might, smashing it into the attacker’s face.
This is the move Zion taught me for emergencies, he thought. The one we’ve been practicing all day.
He followed up by shoving the bag into the man’s throat, aiming for a vital spot. He expected the attacker to lose his balance and fall backward, but the man only stumbled. Jubin’s muscles were too spent from their training session; he lacked the explosive power for a decisive blow.
“You little shit…!”
The killer’s eyes seethed with a murderous rage, his resolve to kill Jubin now absolute. Just as the man, furious at being struck, raised his weapon—
“Sunbae!”
Zion intervened, kicking the weapon out of the attacker’s hand with a powerful strike. The blade clattered across the floor, skidding far away.
In a flash, Zion twisted the assailant’s arm, pinning him to the ground with his entire body weight. He pressed the man’s head into the floor, making sure he couldn’t budge. It was a complete and absolute takedown.
“Fuck, let go! If you hadn’t stolen my role…!”
Even pinned down, the assailant struggled desperately, trying to get one more look at Jubin’s face. His dark eyes glared with murderous intensity, as if trying to memorize every detail of Jubin’s features without even blinking.
“…You, fucker. I’m going to find you and kill you.”
“Shut your fucking mouth,” Zion snarled, twisting the man’s head in the opposite direction. He slammed the assailant’s face into the floor, silencing him completely.
The madman’s gaze finally dropped…
My heart, my body… it’s shaking so hard I’m going to burst. I’m dizzy. I feel like I’m going to throw up.
Still, Zion rushed to Seo-rim’s side, who lay collapsed on the ground, bleeding.
Seo-rim’s face was deathly pale from the severe blood loss.
Zion grabbed a clean handkerchief from a bag that had fallen nearby and pressed it firmly against the wound to stem the bleeding.
“It’s okay. Seo-rim, you’re going to be okay…”
Just then, a group of people who had just come out of the building cried out in shock.
“Hey, someone’s…!”
“What happened?”
“Holy shit, there’s a body!”
A crowd gathered in an instant.
“Is that… Do Zion?”
With his hat gone, everyone recognized him.
“…Do… Zion?”
The killer’s voice, as he murmured Zion’s name, sounded strangely excited, sending a chill down Zion’s spine.
In the distance, the sirens of ambulances and police cars wailed.
The scene was immediately cordoned off. After receiving emergency treatment, Seo-rim was transported to the hospital.
The crimson blood pooling on the floor bore silent witness to the horror that had unfolded…
The perpetrator was arrested on the spot, bringing the incident to a close.
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