He Smelled Like He’d Moved On

A breakup can come to anyone.
In a world where couples who’ve had children and lived for decades get divorced, the time Oh Jaeyeol and Seo Haeyoon shared? It’s nothing.
Like all other couples, the two could have broken up at any time.

But no one needs to treat their ex in the worst possible way like this.
They don’t have to.
But it was nonsense to expect such common sense from someone who, from the start, had an affair with their lover’s best friend.

“…Forget it.
What’s the point of having this conversation with you, hyung.”
Without even waiting for Jaeyeol’s answer, Haeyoon was the first to avert his gaze.
Jaeyeol stood vacantly, helplessly watching the face of Seo Haeyoon turning away from him.

For a moment, an unfamiliar pain pierced his heart.
This cold Haeyoon was a first since he had known him.
Until the very moment of the breakup, Haeyoon had loved him so desperately that even while delivering the breakup, Jaeyeol could see the hot affection in his eyes.

But what about Seo Haeyoon now?
He was calm, as if he had already overcome all his wounds, and now he didn’t even look at Jaeyeol anymore.
While carrying the scent of some unknown Alpha’s pheromones.

This was unfamiliar.
It was uncharacteristic of Seo Haeyoon.
The subtle discomfort he had felt since the reunion instantly swelled in size and surged through Jaeyeol’s body.

“Prepare well for the wedding.
I’ll go ahead.”
Leaving the frozen Jaeyeol behind with those final words, Haeyoon was the first to move.

The unfamiliar pheromones wafting from Haeyoon as he passed by continued to grate on Jaeyeol’s nerves until the end.
In the end, the one who remained there, watching Haeyoon’s retreating back until it disappeared, was Oh Jaeyeol, who had been the first to decide to abandon him.

* * * *

[Did you get home safely?]
Haeyoon had been staring at the message on his phone for several minutes.
The message, which arrived while he was showering and tidying up after getting home, was already several tens of minutes old.
The sender was Baek Jeongha.

‘Should I have asked if he got home safely first, since I’m the hyung?’ he thought.
‘Don’t just think of using me for the wedding and then discarding me.
You have to take good care of me.’
The voice that had spoken as if earnestly advising came to mind.
Did such minor contact also fall under ‘taking care’?
A belated realization washed over him.

A relationship that was neither friend, lover, nor colleague—it was ambiguous.
Normally, he would have taken it slowly until the relationship became a little clearer.
But the special situation Haeyoon was in now had haphazardly shaken the distance between Jeongha and Haeyoon.
Frankly, Haeyoon thought he had already become unprecedentedly close to Jeongha at a rapid pace.
So it was difficult to judge how to make further efforts here.

On top of that, his encounter with Jaeyeol had left his mind in disarray, making it hard to sort out his thoughts easily.

Thinking he should at least reply before it got even later, Haeyoon was just about to tap the screen when he felt a vibration from his phone.
It was a call.

“Hmm…”
Haeyoon let out a short sigh.
The name ‘Baek Jeongha’ was displayed on the screen.
Rubbing the back of his neck, which had gone oddly cool at the perfect timing, Haeyoon answered the call.

“Hello.”
– Huh? You picked up?

At the voice that asked point-blank, Haeyoon’s subtly stiffened expression loosened slightly.
Jeongha’s unexpectedness like this always loosened Haeyoon’s tension.

“You’re the one who called.”
– No, I thought you wouldn’t pick up either since you ignored my message.

“I didn’t ignore it.”
– You didn’t reply.

“I saw it late because I was showering.
I was about to reply…”
– Ah-ha.

The indifferent retort somehow sounded like he didn’t believe Haeyoon’s words.
Was he sulking?
Haeyoon rolled his eyes.
He didn’t seem like the type to sulk or be like that.
But then again, he knew nothing about Baek Jeongha to guess.
After all, the Baek Jeongha Haeyoon knew wasn’t someone who would join in on someone else’s childish revenge drama, unrelated to him.

“Um, so what’s up?”
Thinking it was pointless to insist he had really been about to contact him, Haeyoon quickly moved to the main point.
After a rustling sound like blankets shifting, Jeongha’s voice was heard.

– I already stated my business.
“Huh?”
– I asked if you got home safely.
“Ah……”

Haeyoon opened his mouth like a fool.
From the message to this call now, it wasn’t easy for Haeyoon to follow the flow.
Being on the phone with Baek Jeongha at this hour, asking such trivial well-being, felt unfamiliar.
Suddenly, the memory surfaced of a time when Ahn Seonwoo, resentful that Baek Jeongha wouldn’t even take his calls anymore, had borrowed Haeyoon’s phone to call him.

Realizing that this very call was the moment Ahn Seonwoo had so desperately wanted back then made the feeling even stranger.

“I… got back safely.”
For a moment, the encounter with Oh Jaeyeol on the street came to mind, but there was no need to mention it.
Nothing particularly special had happened anyway.
Instead, Haeyoon returned the question, asking, “And you?”
A snickering sound was heard from the other side of the phone.

– You really don’t seem curious at all.
“Huh?”
– Honestly, you’re just asking out of courtesy, right?
“That… um…”

Completely caught off guard by the question, Haeyoon couldn’t find words and assumed Jeongha must be upset.
But the voice that followed still carried a hint of laughter.

– Hyung, how are you going to manage with acting skills like this?
Haeyoon tilted his head slightly.

“Do I need to be good at it?”
– On the wedding day, you have to pretend to be my lover while nervous.
Are you confident you can do it without it being awkward?
“……”

Struck by the unexpected question, Haeyoon promptly pressed his lips together.
It was a valid point.

Haeyoon had rarely ever ‘pretended’ in front of others in his life.
Even knowing his first impression or personality made it hard to make friends, he never hid it.
Sometimes he was misunderstood, sometimes he got caught in unintended situations, but he believed sincerity would get through someday.
Perhaps because of that, he was sometimes called ‘unexpectedly romantic’ among his friends.

“That’s true…”
But now the situation was different.
A look of realization dawned on Haeyoon’s face as he answered belatedly.

Oh Jaeyeol and Ahn Seonwoo—they were the ones who had known Haeyoon the longest.
They were people who knew everything about him, from minor habits to what expressions he made when feeling certain emotions.
If he wasn’t properly prepared, he’d be caught.
He could end up looking ridiculous, attempting a clumsy revenge.

Releasing the tension that had built up in his body from the sudden call, Haeyoon leaned back on the sofa and spoke.

“I… don’t have a talent for getting close to people quickly.”
– Is that so?
“Yeah.
So honestly, even with you… it’s a bit hard to gauge how to act.
It’s always been like that when I meet new people.
So Seonwoo always…”

Haeyoon, who had been unconsciously rambling, suddenly closed his mouth.
He hadn’t intended to bring up Seonwoo; it just slipped out naturally.
To that extent, Ahn Seonwoo was an indispensable presence when talking about Seo Haeyoon.
Haeyoon’s school years were entirely connected to Ahn Seonwoo.

At this renewed realization, Haeyoon swallowed dryly for no reason and spoke in a slightly lower voice.

“…Seonwoo always helped me.
In the past.”
Pretending something doesn’t exist doesn’t make it go away.
Even if it made him look like a fool who couldn’t even make friends properly, he couldn’t help it.
Because it was the truth.

Once the floodgates of thought opened, the contemplations he had tried so hard to avoid came rushing in.
Was it the same for Ahn Seonwoo?
Did I seem easy and pathetic?
So much so that even betraying me wasn’t enough, he had to go that far, to that extent.

– Then we’ll have to meet more often before the wedding.

Then, blocking the deepening abyss of his thoughts, Baek Jeongha spoke.
Surprised by the sudden shift in conversation, Haeyoon quickly surfaced and asked back.

“…Huh?”
– Isn’t that right?
If getting close quickly is hard, then we have no choice but to meet often to close the distance.
We don’t have much time.

“Um, I suppose.”
– Seems that way.
Jeongha’s answering voice somehow sounded excited.

It wasn’t a wrong statement.
There was no time to get close leisurely.
He didn’t need to become genuine friends, but he at least needed to shed this current awkwardness.

Clenching the fist resting on his knee, Haeyoon spoke slowly.

“Then… when are you free?
Shall we have a meal… together?”
At the stiff tone, as if proposing to a superior, Jeongha burst out laughing this time.
Since Haeyoon himself felt his tone was ridiculous, he couldn’t blame him.
Jeongha answered without stopping his laughter.

– Sure.
Let’s have a meal.
Even though he laughed, his tolerant response made Haeyoon secretly let out a sigh of relief.

The wedding of Oh Jaeyeol and Ahn Seonwoo was now less than a month away.