Yeonwoo was about to sit down on the bed when he changed direction and picked up his phone. The caller was Sanggyun.
"Yes, hyung."
—You two fought, didn’t you?
Of course. Yeonwoo had expected it would be about Chahyun. Brushing his hair out of his face, he answered calmly.
“It’s not going well.”
—Is it because of what happened last time…?
“Is that why you’re calling? Did Baek Chahyun tell you to?”
Though Sanggyun was someone Yeonwoo knew personally, he was, if anything, more aligned with Chahyun’s side. So it was only natural Yeonwoo wasn’t thrilled about this call.
—Yeah. He called saying you’re sick and asked if I could do a remote consultation.
“…Hyung, do you even do that?”
—Of course not. But that bastard kicked up such a fuss I figured I should check on you anyway.
“You’ve got it rough too, huh.”
—So what are your symptoms? I heard you were sick.
“I’m okay now. It wasn’t anything serious.”
—I heard you vomited, hyperventilated, had convulsions. Your circulation was all messed up too.
“He told you all that already?”
—Yeah. Just from what I’ve heard, it sounds like a panic attack…. I can prescribe you something for the physical symptoms, but if it’s psychological, you’ll need to go to a psychiatrist.
A psychiatrist. Honestly, with how things were going, it did feel like Baek Chahyun was driving him to a full-blown breakdown.
“No need. Let’s just call this a consultation. You’re always way too accommodating whenever it’s about Chahyun.”
Yeonwoo mumbled with a faint note of accusation.
—Hey, come on. You know what he’s like.
“I’ll just tell him the consultation went great.”
—You think he’ll believe that? He’ll throw a fit and threaten to stop donating to the hospital.
Sanggyun practically shuddered at the thought.
“Is he really that incapable of separating work from personal life?”
—He’s Huiseong’s golden boy. You know that better than anyone.
True enough. Yeonwoo had witnessed Baek Chahyun’s inability to separate business from personal matters more than anyone.
—So, what are you going to do now? Are you not going to make up?
“If it were that simple, we’d have done it already.”
—Are you really going to break up?
“What, should I keep seeing him? I may not have money, but I’m not stupid enough to live with a guy who’s already getting married.”
Yeah. Yeonwoo had enjoyed plenty thanks to Chahyun, so he wasn’t exactly in a position to say much. But still—he had no desire to cling to a man who was about to become someone else’s husband. He still had that much self-respect.
—…I get it. Not like I can interfere in your relationship anyway. Still, try to swing by the hospital sometime. Baek Chahyun’s seriously worried. He didn’t seem right in the head at all.
“I got it. If I have time.”
—Don’t just brush it off. When he called me, I really thought he’d gone completely off the deep end.
“Hyung, he has gone off the deep end.”
—Ugh.
After the call ended, Yeonwoo figured he might as well lie down and get more rest. Now that he’d confirmed he wasn’t pregnant, he could finally start letting go of the tension.
He’d take today to rest, and if he felt better, he’d return to work at Neo Belle tomorrow. Just because things had fallen apart with Chahyun didn’t mean he could keep avoiding the café.
And thinking back to the last thing Chahyun had said through the hotel door, it didn’t seem like he was going to force him back into anything—for now. If they could talk things out properly, that might be for the best.
***
“Boss! Good morning!”
The next day, Yeonwoo arrived at Neo Belle a little earlier than their official opening time. He was handling a few pre-opening tasks alone when one of the part-timers showed up for his shift.
“Oh, Moonki. You’re here.”
“I heard you might be gone for a few weeks, but you’re back pretty early.”
“Something came up, but it’s resolved now. Minhyuk closed up yesterday, right?”
“Yep. We’ve had so many takeout orders lately—lots of people coming in for meetings and stuff this week.”
“That must’ve been rough. Thanks for handling it.”
Their conversation ended quickly as customers began trickling in. Even though it was only 7:30 a.m., plenty of office workers were already lining up. Most of them ordered Americanos in a daze, eyes bleary with exhaustion.
Thanks to the café’s reputation for good coffee, not only staff from the Huiseong building but also workers from nearby offices would come by.
The Instagram-fueled customer traffic usually started after 10 a.m., but the café experienced two major rushes every morning: the office commute crowd, and the mid-morning influencer crowd.
Once the first rush had passed and things quieted down, Yeonwoo found his eyes drifting toward the building’s front entrance.
Was Chahyun not coming in today?
Usually, whenever he glanced at his phone during breaks, there’d be a message or a missed call. But aside from yesterday, even today—nothing.
If things with Chahyun quietly ended like this, that wouldn’t be so bad. But—
“Baek Chahyun’s really worried. He didn’t seem right in the head.”
“When he called, I seriously thought he’d lost it.”
Sanggyun’s words kept echoing in his mind.
If Chahyun reached out first, Yeonwoo was open to having one final, calm conversation—to end things properly.
Maybe it was time Chahyun finally learned something from this. After all, he’d grown up sickly and pampered, the youngest in a wealthy household where he always got what he wanted. It wouldn’t be surprising if this was the first time he’d ever been forced to accept a breakup he didn’t want.
“And don’t feel bad about the sleeping pills. I only felt dizzy for a bit—it passed quickly.”
And Yeonwoo wasn’t guilt-free either. He had, after all, drugged his boyfriend with sleeping pills.
Was he really okay? He’d have to ask him again, if he got the chance.
He also needed to discuss what to do with Neo Belle and the apartment.
Neo Belle might’ve been funded and set up by Chahyun, but Yeonwoo had been hands-on with everything—from the interior design to the menu and marketing. If possible, he’d like to keep running the café, even if it meant paying proper rent. But he didn’t know if Chahyun would allow that post-breakup.
The café and the apartment—both were technically things he owed to Chahyun. It made sense to leave those decisions in his hands.
***
“I swear, boss. People working office jobs must have no memory. She ordered a hot drink and then insisted she asked for iced!”
One of the part-timers who’d just dealt with an angry customer came to vent. Yeonwoo had been nearby and saw it all—the customer had definitely ordered hot.
“Yeah, there’s always at least one like that. Don’t waste your energy. Just remake the drink.”
“Still pisses me off! She made the mistake and still acted like she was right.”
“What can you do. Just let it go—pretend she forgot. No point arguing with customers every time.”
Yeonwoo preferred making a fresh drink over trying to prove who was right. Especially during rush hours or when customers were taking photos. A manager fighting with customers didn’t look great.
“Come to think of it, that scary guy hasn’t been around lately.”
“Scary…? Oh.”
Yeonwoo flinched mid-laugh. The kid was right. Since checking out of the hotel the other day and returning to the café, Chahyun hadn’t contacted him at all.
And he hadn’t shown up even once while Yeonwoo had been gone, so it made sense the staff were wondering.
Even today, there was still no word from him. No sign of him arriving at the building. Not even a quick stop by the café. It had been two full days since he’d seen so much as a strand of his hair.
Before, he’d always shown up uninvited, even when told not to.
Was he really going to leave things like this? What about the stuff still at the apartment? What about Neo Belle?
Yeonwoo checked his phone out of habit—and blinked at the missed call notification.
Of course, he assumed it was from Chahyun.
But it wasn’t. It was from his mother.
The puff of hope that had filled his chest popped instantly. Yeonwoo realized just how conflicted he really was. If he was this eager, why not call first himself? But that… still didn’t feel right either.
“Minhyuk, I’m going to step out and take a call.”
“Sure thing.”
Yeonwoo checked that there were no customers inside, then walked toward the emergency stairwell.
They weren’t a family that kept in close contact, so this recent uptick in calls made him uneasy. His father had tried calling recently, too—he hadn’t answered, but it lingered in the back of his mind.
And his gut told him something was wrong.
That kind of unease was never wrong.