He had to get out of here as soon as possible. If things went sideways now and he got aroused even a little, he’d end up clinging to Chahyun, driven by instinct and stripped of all sense.
Yeonwoo gave up on the bag entirely and bolted toward the front door.
“Let go, you fucking psycho!”
Or—he tried to.
But Chahyun grabbed his shoulder in an instant and didn’t let go. As their bodies made contact again, the pheromones burrowed even deeper into his skin.
It was getting hard to breathe under the torrent of alpha pheromones. He was releasing them in waves—excessive to the point of absurdity—and clearly for one purpose: to arouse him. That familiar pressure along his lower back was already beginning to stir sensual memories in his body.
“Don’t. Stop it—what are you doing, Baek Chahyun.”
“Hong Yeonwoo, you’re the one who needs to calm down.”
“Talk to me after you let go! Let go!”
Summoning strength from who knows where, Yeonwoo shoved Chahyun away and broke out of his grasp.
As he flailed wildly, one of his arms must’ve struck Chahyun directly, because he glimpsed Chahyun collapsing onto the floor. Yeonwoo took the chance to escape—but even as he fell, Chahyun reached out his long arm and grabbed Yeonwoo’s calf.
Yeonwoo, mid-stride, was tripped and went down hard.
“Agh!”
His vision spun. The unexpected pain came a moment later.
He had twisted his ankle when he fell. And of all things, it was his right ankle—the one that already wasn’t in good shape.
Yeonwoo groaned and rolled on the floor, clutching his ankle. Chahyun scrambled over in a panic.
“Hyung! Are you okay?”
The expressionless face he’d worn all this time disappeared, replaced by genuine shock. He hovered anxiously, reaching for Yeonwoo’s ankle.
“Ah…”
“Let me see. Does it hurt a lot?”
Yeonwoo grimaced, holding his ankle, but said nothing. Chahyun, frustrated, asked again.
“Should we go to the hospital?”
“No.”
“Just let me—”
“Baek Chahyun.”
“How bad is it—”
“Get out of my way.”
Yeonwoo shoved him aside with irritation and tried to stand. He wobbled, careful not to put weight on the injured ankle. Chahyun, at a loss, stayed where he was and just looked up at him.
“Yeonwoo hyung.”
“Move. I’m leaving.”
Chahyun, still sitting on the floor, stared blankly at Yeonwoo.
“If you’d just let me take you to the hospital…”
“Don’t pretend to care. I’ll take care of it myself.”
Yeonwoo said it even though he knew it wasn’t pretending. But he wanted Chahyun to hurt, even if just a little—as much as he’d been hurt.
Just moments ago, Chahyun had done everything he could to keep Yeonwoo from leaving. But now, all he could do was silently watch Yeonwoo limp out the door.
Afraid he might change his mind and try to grab him again, Yeonwoo left the apartment as quickly as he could.
***
He hadn’t been able to take his bag, but luckily he still had his phone, credit card, and car key in his pocket.
Even though he’d run out like he was escaping, his twisted ankle made driving impossible. Yeonwoo stepped out to the main road and flagged down the first taxi he could find.
“Where to?”
The cab driver asked, but Yeonwoo, who had all but thrown himself inside, found himself speechless.
“……”
Where should I go?
Most people would go to their family in a situation like this—but his mother was down in the countryside. He hadn’t been in contact with his gambling-addict father in years.
His few remaining friends… he hadn’t kept up with them since moving in with Chahyun. The rest were people he’d met through Chahyun. The café he ran, the apartment he lived in, the people he knew—all of it was connected to Baek Chahyun.
What the hell have I been doing with my life?
Yeonwoo bit back that bitter thought.
“Take me to Hangang Park, please.”
After a long pause, he finally gave an answer, then stared out at the darkness beyond the window.
He just wanted to be somewhere wide open for a bit. He needed to clear his head, which was tangled in one negative emotion after another.
Deciding on a destination felt like solving at least one piece of a difficult puzzle.
As the scenery flew past the window, Yeonwoo stared blankly. Then suddenly, he remembered a text he’d received from a friend a few days ago.
He pulled out his phone and opened his saved messages.
[Yo, Hong Yeonwoo lol how’ve you been? I’m getting married haha—I’ll send you the invitation, hit me up when you can~ Sent the mobile one too]
Right. Park Yoongeon had said he was getting married soon. Yeonwoo had seen the mobile invitation and sent a wedding gift, but had forgotten to reply.
He stared down at the message for a while, then moved his fingers.
***
“Dude. You always hit people up out of nowhere. What if I’d had to work late today?”
“Thanks for coming.”
Yeonwoo had messaged out of the blue, but Yoongeon had replied warmly, saying he was just getting off work anyway. And he came straight to Hangang Park.
Yeonwoo handed him a fresh can of beer from the stash he’d picked up at a nearby convenience store.
“But why are you out here? If you were gonna drink, you could’ve picked a proper place.”
“I don’t know. This was the only place I could think of. Wanted to see the night view too.”
“Yeah, something’s up with you.”
Yoongeon cracked open the beer and gestured with his chin like he already knew.
“Come on, spill it. I’ll listen, consider it payment for that fat wedding gift.”
“Haha.”
“Didn’t you say you live with your boyfriend? Did you guys fight?”
The casual guess hit square on the mark.
“Something like that. I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
“What’s there to fight about? Isn’t your boyfriend loaded? A gold spoon, right? Didn’t he set you up with that café and help with the apartment too?”
The more Yeonwoo thought about it, the more he realized—that was exactly the problem. His entire life had become too deeply entangled with Baek Chahyun.
Was that why Chahyun could so confidently plan to marry someone else? Because even if he dumped the news on Yeonwoo out of nowhere, he assumed Yeonwoo wouldn’t be able to walk away from everything?
Yeonwoo stared out over the Han River at the densely flickering lights of the city beyond and was consumed by humiliation.
The more comfort Chahyun had given him, the harder the betrayal hit.
“…Anyway, forget me. How are you doing, Park Yoongeon? Wedding plans going okay?”
“Oh, right! I was gonna give you the invitation. Hold on. I grabbed a few from the office… this design’s actually…”
Yoongeon looked like any other groom-to-be, giddy with excitement. His bride was also a Beta, and just from the way he talked, it was clear they were completely smitten with each other.
It was a brutally stark contrast to Yeonwoo’s situation.
Yeonwoo stared quietly at the thick, white wedding invitation bearing the bride and groom’s names and listened as Yoongeon proudly shared all the details. He washed it down with the rest of his beer.
So many lights spread across the river’s surface—but not a single one of them led to a place he could return to. That was the bitter truth.
“Who brought up marriage first?”
Listening silently for a while, Yeonwoo suddenly asked. Yoongeon scratched his cheek sheepishly as he opened another beer.
“I guess… I did. But once you’re in a relationship, both sides start thinking about it naturally.”
“Yeah.”
“Before I proposed, we had dinner with both families, talked about where to live… you know, that kind of stuff just comes up.”
“……”
“You’ve lived with someone—you get what I mean.”
He didn’t. Thinking back on it, everything had gone the way Baek Chahyun wanted. Using his ankle injury as an excuse, saying it was easier if they saw each other more often—little by little, Yeonwoo had lost all agency in the relationship.
That’s why Chahyun never felt the need to explain the marriage. That’s why everyone else knew, and he was the only one left in the dark.
As Yoongeon went on and on, Yeonwoo absentmindedly rubbed his right ankle. It had been sore when he first stormed out of the apartment, but by now, it seemed fine. At least it wasn’t seriously injured.
The wind blowing off the river was chilly, but it still wasn’t enough to cool the burn inside his chest.
***
In the end, Yeonwoo lingered in the park with Yoongeon until dawn. Once Yoongeon started swaying, saying he really should go home, Yeonwoo flagged down a cab and sent him off. Then he moved locations and drank at a bar until sunrise.
A few alphas tried to hit on him, but he didn’t respond at all—so they quickly lost interest.
Strangely, no matter how much he drank, he didn’t feel drunk.
Yeonwoo left the bar with a mind that only felt sharper and clearer, and ate breakfast at a nearby diner.
At exactly 9 a.m., he called the realtor and said he wanted to list his officetel for sale. If he was going to break up with Chahyun, it was time to start severing all ties—one by one.
After a short call with the real estate office, Yeonwoo found he still had nowhere to go. So, ironically, he headed back to the very officetel he’d just put on the market.
It had been where he lived before moving in with Chahyun—but technically, even this place had been bought and put under his name by Chahyun.
Still, he didn’t want to go back to the apartment. Not now.
The officetel, which he hadn’t entered in a long while, smelled faintly of dust and the dry scent of paper rising from the walls.
He flipped on the light and stepped inside.
And then he saw them—one large pair of dress shoes neatly placed at the entryway.
Yeonwoo’s head snapped up.
“…Why are you here.”
Baek Chahyun, dressed in a suit, was leaning against the far wall of the living room with that huge frame of his.