“When was it decided? Baek Chahyun’s marriage.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to hear that directly from Chahyun? If he hasn’t said anything himself, it’s hard for me to say anything either.”
That was the moment the last bit of hope Yeonwoo had been clinging to shattered completely.
So everyone knew except him. He was the only one in the dark.
“If he’d told me himself, I wouldn’t have come to you. You know, don’t you? There’s no one around me who’d tell me something like this…”
Sanggyun scratched his head as if deliberating, then glanced over at Yeonwoo’s face.
After a few heavy seconds of silence, he finally spoke.
“The talk about marriage… it’s been around for a while.”
“Since when, exactly?”
“I think… since around when he was in university.”
“……”
“It was something the adults arranged, so I doubt the people involved gave it much thought.”
Before Yeonwoo could say anything, Sanggyun quickly added that.
“You know how it is here. It’s common. Most people get married not because they want to, but because that’s just how things are.”
The more he heard, the more hollow and betrayed Yeonwoo felt.
So everything Chahyun’s mother said yesterday was true. It wasn’t some made-up story to drive him away. It wasn’t a misunderstanding.
And maybe that’s why, in the end, she’d looked at him with pity in her eyes.
“Since university… If this talk has been going on that long, how could I not have known?”
The more he replayed it in his head, the more stunned he became, his thoughts turning blank.
How could something like this happen?
That question alone filled his mind.
He’d come this far telling himself there must be a misunderstanding, that it was too early to jump to conclusions—and now he felt pathetic for it.
“By the way, who told you about this? It wasn’t Baek Chahyun, right? I had a feeling something was off when you didn’t go to therapy yesterday.”
“Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“…Hyung.”
“What is it, you punk. You’re scaring me…”
Yeonwoo stared blankly at him, then shook his head like it was nothing.
“I… I’ll get going. Thanks for making time for me even though I just showed up out of nowhere.”
He turned away, his voice stammering as he spoke. Sanggyun reached out to stop him.
“Hey, Hong Yeonwoo! Wait. Look, it’s not really my place to interfere, but…”
“……”
Sanggyun looked at Yeonwoo, who seemed half out of it, and fell silent. But a few seconds later, he seemed to make up his mind.
“Just… try not to think too badly of it, okay? It’s not like Chahyun told you to break up because of the marriage.”
Yeonwoo stared quietly at Sanggyun, as if he were trying to comfort a child.
“He helped you set up that café, it’s doing well, and the officetel—right? You got to live there too. And more than anything, Chahyun isn’t the kind of guy who puts a lot of meaning into getting married.”
“It’s his own marriage. How could he not attach meaning to it?”
“To you, it might sound strange. But around here, it’s not unusual for people to get married and still keep lovers.”
“……”
“Marriage doesn’t mean everything ends or you break up. It’s just something people do because of property, obligations. His brother and sister got married that way too. So if you can just…”
“Guess you’re not on my side either, huh.”
“What?”
“I’m really going now.”
Feeling like there was no point in listening any further, Yeonwoo cut him off and left the hospital quickly.
***
When Yeonwoo returned to the café, the one who greeted him wasn’t a customer—but Chahyun’s secretary. Unlike Chahyun, who always had a swaggering, cocky posture, the secretary stood quietly to the side, nodding slightly in recognition.
“Mr. Hong Yeonwoo.”
“What is it?”
The secretary gave a small bow, then quickly got to the point.
“The Executive Director asked me to bring you in.”
“I’m busy with work right now. Please tell him we’ll talk later.”
Yeonwoo passed by with an exhausted expression, but the secretary tried again.
“He said it’s urgent. If you’re not too busy, he’d like you to come with me now.”
Though his manner remained courteous, there was a faint undercurrent of nervousness in his voice he couldn’t quite suppress.
Yeonwoo let out a long sigh.
The part-timer, Sanggyun, now the secretary—why was everyone so tense when it came to Baek Chahyun? Sure, he was a spoiled youngest son of a chaebol family and had a domineering personality, but he wasn’t terrifying to this extent.
Yeonwoo considered ignoring him to the end—but then thought about what might happen to the secretary if he failed to bring him. That thought pricked his conscience.
He had wanted to clear his head and try talking to Chahyun calmly, but nothing was going his way, and the frustration was building.
“…Fine. Should I just go straight up?”
“I’ll escort you.”
The secretary responded immediately and led the way.
Once they arrived on the executive floor, the receptionist at the desk stood to greet Yeonwoo. Yeonwoo gave a slight nod in return and glanced around the interior.
It had been a while since he’d come up to this floor. Because they kept their relationship secret, Yeonwoo had tried to avoid coming to see Chahyun or meeting inside the building.
Now that he thought about it, Chahyun had said he’d be starting at the company as an entry-level employee. But without even working a few years, he already had a private office.
“You can go in now.”
The secretary opened the door for him and gave a small smile. Yeonwoo bowed slightly in thanks and stepped inside.
“Why’d you call me.”
Confirming that Chahyun was the only one in the office, Yeonwoo got straight to the point.
“Don’t you ever stay put at that café? Do you even want to run a business?”
The moment he saw Yeonwoo, Chahyun sneered. He was lounging in a leather chair with his legs up on the desk.
Yeonwoo didn’t respond. He just stood at the door and stared at him.
“Why aren’t you answering my calls. Are you just ignoring me now?”
So that’s what all the missed calls were in the car earlier—it had been Chahyun.
“I was busy.”
Only then did Chahyun drop his legs from the desk and close the file he’d been reading.
“What’s up with you since yesterday?”
“What do you mean.”
“You’re acting weird. It’s annoying.”
“……”
Yeonwoo quietly met his gaze. His lips kept twitching involuntarily, so he pressed his lower lip tightly with his upper teeth.
Seeing that, Chahyun furrowed his brows.
“If you’ve got something to say, just say it.”
“Not here. At home later.”
“So there is something.”
“……”
“Say it now.”
“I said we’ll talk at home later!”
“Then let’s go home right now. Come on.”
Chahyun shot up and grabbed his jacket. He was being forceful from start to finish. Whenever something didn’t go his way, his rude tone and behavior only got worse. He grabbed Yeonwoo’s arm tightly, ready to drag him out immediately.
Usually, Yeonwoo could let it slide—he rarely clashed with Chahyun, and he’d always known this was how he was. But not today.
“Are you getting married?”
Yeonwoo yanked his arm away and snapped.
“Is it true you’re engaged to someone?”
Chahyun, standing in front of him with an annoyed expression, froze. His eyes flicked to the side, and his lips pressed tightly together as if facing a bothersome situation.
“Who told you that.”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“Answer me. Are you getting married?”
A brief silence fell. Yeonwoo’s chest tightened. All his nerves stood on edge, waiting for whatever Baek Chahyun would say next.
Honestly, it still didn’t feel real. He’d never imagined he’d be asking Baek Chahyun something like this.
They were never a couple that constantly said “I love you,” or acted overly affectionate—but Yeonwoo had believed there was at least a baseline of respect and commitment.
He was sure their relationship wasn’t something that could be discarded overnight.
“Fuck, this is annoying.”
Chahyun ran a hand through his hair, furrowing his brow deeply. His neatly styled hair instantly became a mess.
From that attitude alone, Yeonwoo got his answer. And he felt pathetic for having wanted to believe in him until the very end.
Just then, a knock sounded outside the office.
“Executive Director, the afternoon meeting starts in ten minutes.”
So focused on Chahyun’s reaction, Yeonwoo hadn’t even noticed the time.
He brushed past Chahyun without a word of farewell.
“Where are you going, Hong Yeonwoo.”
“Move. I have nothing to say to you.”
“We’re not done talking. Who told you?”
“Executive Director, may I come in?”
With no reply, the secretary knocked again. Chahyun’s sharp gaze shot toward the door.
And in that moment of distraction, Yeonwoo yanked open the office door and bolted out.
He heard Chahyun calling after him from behind—but ignored it completely.