I Was Sick… So Why Did I Call Him?

After hanging up, Haeyoon lay in bed hugging his blanket, lost in thought with a dazed expression.
No matter how much Sua told him to rest without thinking, it was impossible.
Especially after hearing Jeongha’s name.
It was as if someone had cast a spell; that single word filled his mind with Baek Jeongha in an instant.
And that was quite a strange experience.
Haeyoon had attended the wedding of his ex-lover and his friend today.
Logically, his mind should have been full of thoughts about those two.
He should be dealing with emotions related to them—betrayal, anger, satisfaction, whatever.
Yet, most of his tangled thoughts right now were about Baek Jeongha.
The voice that had asked if he truly only treated his feelings as a game lingered like a breeze.
That voice had a strangely tender quality that left a deep impression on Haeyoon.
Baek Jeongha had acted, in that moment, like someone who harbored special feelings for Seo Haeyoon.
“…There’s no way.”
But Haeyoon soon dismissed the futile thought.
Literally, there was no way.
The man who hadn’t fallen for Ahn Seonwoo, who had ultimately gotten Oh Jaeyeol, wouldn’t develop feelings for him—a boring, uninteresting Beta.
Friends just come into your life in various ways.
Haeyoon decided not to read special meaning into the fleeting atmosphere.
He already had plenty of people in his life whom he’d grown close to through unexpected circumstances, even when it seemed like they’d never be friends.
“Hoo….”
He let out a deep breath, as if shaking off his feelings.
He felt himself sink deep into the bed.
It felt like too much had happened in just one day, and exhaustion washed over him.
Hoping he would wake up feeling lighter than today, Haeyoon closed his eyes.
Contrary to his expectation that he wouldn’t fall asleep easily, the Sandman quickly overtook him.

* * * *

Jaeyeol sat alone at the hotel bar, tipping back his glass.
No matter how much he drank, he couldn’t get drunk, and even sighing as if the ground would collapse didn’t ease his frustration.
After Seonwoo stormed out of the room, Jaeyeol had immediately come down to the hotel bar.
His head told him he should go after Seonwoo and soothe him, but the problem was he had no desire to do so.
He, too, was struggling with unorganized thoughts and feelings.
Baek Jeongha.
A name he hadn’t thought about in a while.
He knew Seonwoo had once been obsessed with the guy.
But unlike Haeyoon, he hadn’t known the depth of it.
Back when Seonwoo was in the throes of his crush on Baek Jeongha, they had rarely had deep conversations.
Jaeyeol didn’t know, but back then, Seonwoo had looked down on him for dating a mere Beta like Seo Haeyoon.
Because if Jaeyeol was a nobody, then Seo Haeyoon was also a nobody, and Ahn Seonwoo had consciously tried to believe Jaeyeol was insignificant.
So naturally, Seonwoo had no reason to tell Jaeyeol how obsessed he’d been with Baek Jeongha.
And Haeyoon, no matter how close they were as lovers, wasn’t the type to casually talk about his friend’s pain.
Jaeyeol had simply thought Seonwoo had a run-of-the-mill crush and heartbreak and had gotten over it.
But the reaction Ahn Seonwoo showed today was enough to plant a small seed of doubt in Jaeyeol’s mind.
He was angry that Seonwoo had given Haeyoon an invitation without saying anything, but for him to then act so arrogantly and get angry himself was beyond absurd.
The bigger issue was that the reason for his anger was ambiguous.
It didn’t make sense for him to be so angry just because Haeyoon attended the wedding after Seonwoo personally gave him the invitation.
If that was the case, the reason for Ahn Seonwoo’s anger—the variable—was ultimately Baek Jeongha.
There was no way Ahn Seonwoo still had lingering feelings for Baek Jeongha, yet Seonwoo’s attitude today was incomprehensible, and it left Jaeyeol’s head spinning.
Honestly, wasn’t he the one who should be angry about today’s events?
Seo Haeyoon—the one who had only ever looked at him all those years, who couldn’t even utter a harsh word after being betrayed—had brought Baek Jeongha, of all people, to his wedding just months later.
Who should feel the most insulted by that?
Even without involving Ahn Seonwoo, Jaeyeol had never liked Baek Jeongha.
Though they were seniors and juniors in the same department and not on particularly bad terms, Jaeyeol had always found him uncomfortable for no reason.
His arrogant gaze, as if looking down on everyone, was irritating, and he didn’t like how the Omegas around him sang his praises either.
Their outwardly normal relationship had become openly strained because of Ahn Seonwoo.
After Seonwoo’s nagging led to them setting up a gathering without telling Jeongha first, Jeongha had later approached Jaeyeol and told him bluntly never to invite him to any event where Ahn Seonwoo was present.
Though he had tried to be polite, considering the aura Baek Jeongha had emanated, it was practically a blatant warning.
At the time, Jaeyeol’s pride had been significantly wounded.
It wasn’t just that his junior was being insolent; what made him feel humiliated was his own inability to even get angry in front of him.
Even though he was an Alpha who wouldn’t be outdone anywhere, Jaeyeol strangely felt intimidated whenever he was in front of Baek Jeongha.
That incident, which he couldn’t even bring himself to confide in Haeyoon, had stuck in Jaeyeol’s heart like a thorn for a long time.
So Jaeyeol had always disliked him.
He’d also pitied Ahn Seonwoo, who was fooled by his flashy facade and obsessed over him.
And then that same Baek Jeongha had appeared at his wedding—the unrequited love of Ahn Seonwoo, who was now his spouse—as Seo Haeyoon’s boyfriend.
“f*ck.”
The curse slipped out.
The bigger problem was that he wasn’t even sure why he was so upset.
Was it because the person he loved, the person he married, had her former crush show up shamelessly at their wedding?
If he had to find a reason, that would be it.
He didn’t think Seonwoo still had feelings for Baek Jeongha, but as a husband, it was a situation he couldn’t be happy about.
Thinking like that, it all seemed natural.
Jaeyeol was the one who discarded Seo Haeyoon first.
He had been so indifferent to Haeyoon that marrying his closest friend didn’t bother him.
So this filthy feeling, like being buried in a sewer, must be jealousy over Ahn Seonwoo.
It definitely wasn’t because of Seo Haeyoon.
But was that really true?
Was the reason he was sitting here alone, drinking instead of going to find Seonwoo, really because of that?
“Hoo….”
Jaeyeol let out a deep sigh, rested his arms on the bar, and pressed his forehead against them.
When he closed his eyes, feeling momentarily dizzy, he vividly recalled Seo Haeyoon standing before him, holding Baek Jeongha’s hand, congratulating him on the wedding.
The pheromones of Baek Jeongha, which had vibrated so strongly his head ached in that moment, still seemed to linger in his nose.
Seo Haeyoon, who should have been standing beside him in dazzling beauty, who had once been Jaeyeol’s earnest dream and future, whom Jaeyeol had ultimately cast aside with his own hands.
Jaeyeol had created this situation; it was entirely his decision to push Haeyoon out of his life.
So why was he now writhing in a sense of loss, as if he’d let Haeyoon slip away?
Letting out another sigh, Jaeyeol tossed back the remaining liquor and rose from his seat.
He instinctively felt he shouldn’t let his thoughts deepen any further here.
After all, Oh Jaeyeol and Ahn Seonwoo were already married, and they had to leave for their honeymoon tomorrow.
He couldn’t just leave Seonwoo like this.
Going on a trip with a deeply upset Seonwoo was not a good choice for him either.
Jaeyeol forcibly ignored Haeyoon’s number, which kept naturally popping into his head, and called Seonwoo as he left the bar.
The image of Seo Haeyoon that persistently followed him couldn’t mean anything.
It had to be that way.

* * * *

The moment Haeyoon opened his eyes, he instinctively knew something was wrong.
An unpleasant heat radiated from his entire body, and he was so heavy he could barely move.
“Ah….”
Soon, he felt a prickling pain even from the skin touching the blanket.
It was a severe case of the flu.
His vision was blurry; he blinked repeatedly trying to focus, but instead of clearing, the ceiling started spinning.
On top of that, he felt nauseous.
A bitter laugh escaped him at his own weakness.
He could only attribute this to the aftermath of yesterday’s wedding.
He’d thought he was handling it calmly, but apparently, his body had absorbed all the pressure.
His body trembled, feeling both feverish and chilled.
It seemed like it wouldn’t be solved by just sleeping it off.
Breathing out hot air, Haeyoon reached for his phone.
“…….”
But he couldn’t easily make a call.
He had plenty of people to ask for help.
Friends who would drop everything and rush over at a single word, family too.
The problem was that a different person currently filled his mind.
Baek Jeongha.
Haeyoon steadied his blurry vision and searched for his contact.
He knew it was an illogical choice.
He knew it was a terrible decision to ignore all the friends who would run to him and instead call Jeongha, whining about being sick.
But he wanted to call him.
The image of Baek Jeongha standing in front of him, blocking the insults that had been hurled at him, floated before his eyes.
He wanted to spill out this indescribable pain, this agony, this feeling like his heart was being torn into a thousand pieces and bleeding, right in front of Baek Jeongha.
If he did, wouldn’t he protect him from this pain once more?
Maybe he was losing his mind from being sick.
He was aware his rational thinking wasn’t working, but that didn’t stop Haeyoon.
Soon, as if possessed, Haeyoon’s finger pressed Jeongha’s number.