By Zephyria 
‘Why is Lee Seung-hwan in Korea?’
He rarely returned to Korea unless it was for something significant. Therefore, Mo Yeon-hu had assumed he was still overseas, so why was he here? Lee Seung-hwan looked at the startled Mo Yeon-hu and smiled as if he knew exactly why.
“What, are you surprised that a bastard who shouldn’t be in Korea suddenly showed up?”
As Lee Seung-hwan approached with a swaggering gait, Park Taek-yoon, who was standing beside him, immediately frowned.
“Why is that guy talking like that? Isn’t he your friend?”
“I already cut him off.”
“What? Then why is he acting like they’re so close?”
Despite the two of them whispering quietly, Lee Seung-hwan approached with long strides, indifferent to them. Then, as if only just noticing him, he reached out a welcoming hand toward Park Taek-yoon.
“Wow, this friend was here too. Long time no see. Do you remember me?”
“…….”
It was obvious that getting entangled with Lee Seung-hwan, who was slurring his words in a drunken stupor, would only lead to troublesome affairs. Park Taek-yoon signaled with his eyes to ‘let’s get out of here,’ and Mo Yeon-hu, agreeing, tried to stand up from his seat, but…
‘Damn. I’m dizzy.’
He wasn’t in good condition today. Because of the alcohol he had downed on an empty stomach, the moment he tried to raise his body, his stomach churned and the world spun.
“Hey, Yeon-hu~ Yeon-hu.”
Lee Seung-hwan, who had closed the distance in the meantime, clung to Mo Yeon-hu and chuckled.
“I’ve been thinking, no matter what, isn’t it too much to cut off all those years between us just because of that bastard?”
“Let go of me and talk.”
“It’s not like I was trying to screw you over, huh?”
“Hey, Lee Seung-hwan. While I’m still being nice—”
“If you hadn’t interfered with me screwing over Kwon Mi-eon in the first place…….”
In the midst of his dizziness, Mo Yeon-hu, who had been pushing away the clinging Lee Seung-hwan in discomfort, froze.
…What? Who?
“Say that again.”
“Say what.”
“Kwon Mi-eon.”
“Ahaha, yeah, that bastard. Because of that bastard, our Ye-jin……”
“Oppa, I’ve been looking for you. Isn’t our table over there? What are you doing here?”
At that moment, a woman who had been looking around from a distance approached them.
“Our Ye-jin!”
As if extremely glad to see her, Lee Seung-hwan immediately wrapped his arm around the waist of the woman beside him.
‘Lee Seung-hwan’s girlfriend?’
She was a woman with curly hair, and seeing as her face looked familiar, she seemed to be the lover Lee Seung-hwan had doted on even before the cutting off.
“Kwon Mi-eon is the bastard who seduced our Ye-jin.”
What on earth is he talking about?
“But then you came and ruined the whole setup, don’t you remember?”
“…I did?”
“Yeah. Wow, are you playing dumb now?”
Lee Seung-hwan chuckled and lightly swirled the glass in his hand. The clinking sound of the glass and ice could be heard.
Plop—. Then, something sank into the glass filled with alcohol.
“Even after this?”
It was the wristwatch Lee Seung-hwan had been wearing. Mo Yeon-hu, staring blankly at the watch sinking into the transparent liquid, suddenly snapped his head up.
In an instant, he…….
‘Fuck, look at this bastard. Look at the way he’s staring.’
‘This idiot is trying so hard to act cool.’
A space vibrating with nauseating smoke and the damp scent of grass. People sprawled everywhere, and in the center, a particularly bright red leather sofa.
‘Drink it, can you or can’t you? Ah, did you say you can’t drink? But what to do, I’ll only give this back if you drink it.’
Lee Seung-hwan, chuckling as if he were enjoying himself, and a man sitting precariously at the table in front of him.
‘Kwon Mi-eon, are you mute? Why can’t this bastard speak?’
It was Kwon Mi-eon.
That day was cold. He hadn’t wanted to move, but many of his friends were throwing parties that day, so it was a day when he had stopped by Park Taek-yoon and a friend’s birthday party and then got invited to Lee Seung-hwan’s gathering.
“Your friend’s name is Lee Seung-hwan?”
“Yeah. But I’m tired, so let’s just hang out for a bit and then leave.”
“Sure.”
Lee Seung-hwan was an old friend, but he had a somewhat obsessive side. He was the type of personality who would make things up behind your back for a long time if you didn’t show your face when called, so Mo Yeon-hu entered Lee Seung-hwan’s house with the intention of just giving a clean greeting and leaving. The house was far filthier than expected.
From the entrance, the smell of strong alcohol and a musty scent of grass stung his nose. Mo Yeon-hu, already feeling the effects of alcohol, looked around for Lee Seung-hwan, thinking he wouldn’t drink any more.
“Ah, is it motion sickness? I feel like throwing up, I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Yeah. Got it.”
Park Taek-yoon, who had been moving with him, disappeared into the bathroom, saying he couldn’t take it anymore. Mo Yeon-hu was also in a state of having drunk a lot, so he was dizzy, but fortunately, Lee Seung-hwan was in a visible spot, making him easy to find.
‘Found him.’
Mo Yeon-hu, striding toward the shimmering platinum blonde hair, hesitated.
“Hey, Lee Seung-hwan. I’m her—”
He hadn’t noticed from afar, but as he got closer, the atmosphere was very strange. Unlike the noisy surroundings, this place was relatively quiet despite the large number of people.
“Hey, hey, aren’t you drinking more? Huh?”
At the end of Mo Yeon-hu’s gaze, mixed among the people, Lee Seung-hwan had his arm around a woman’s shoulder and was holding something out to the person opposite them.
‘A glass?’
Was he encouraging someone to drink? Shifting his gaze, he saw that friends close to him were surrounding one person as if encircling them.
The man sitting slanted on the sofa, holding a glass, was…….
‘He’s handsome.’
Mo Yeon-hu was quite impressed.
The lean jawline, jet-black hair, and the features carved into pale, blanched white skin were as vivid as a precisely crafted sculpture.
‘What does he do? Is he a model like Lee Seung-hwan?’
But he seemed to have a very different vibe. His exceptionally neat attire, which didn’t fit in with this space, was particularly striking, and above all, Lee Seung-hwan and that man did not seem intimate at all.
“Why, is it fucking annoying?”
As expected, Lee Seung-hwan shook something while exuding a hostile atmosphere that anyone could see, and the man’s face instantly turned fierce.
‘…A watch?’
What he was holding and shaking was a watch with no particular distinguishing features. However, it was certain that both Lee Seung-hwan, who was holding it, and that man were focused on that watch.
“Hyung, let’s just settle this amicably.”
The voice speaking curtly was a very low bass, seemingly devoid of any emotion.
The man set down the empty glass he was holding as if tossing it aside, stood up, and gestured with his chin.
“I drank it. Give it back.”
There was the watch that Lee Seung-hwan was shaking.
“Didn’t you say he can’t drink a single glass?”
“That’s true. Actually, did he drink it well?”
“What are you talking about, there are more than a few people who saw him struggling after one glass at a previous after-party.”
Hearing the whispers from around them, he could roughly guess the situation.
‘…Ah, Seung-hwan.’
Lee Seung-hwan would stay quiet and then occasionally pull some psycho prank, and what he especially loved was making others drink. What’s the problem with just making someone drink, you ask?
‘How many people have been carried away already.’
The problem was that he didn’t just let them drink simply. He would egg kids on by saying he’d give them money if they drank, and it gradually became excessive to the point where he had knocked people unconscious quite a few times, and he had a long history of forcing people to drink.
‘Did he say he’d give that watch if he drank? It doesn’t look expensive.’
It seemed that this time, that strange psycho behavior was directed at that man. However, it was a bit puzzling. He had often seen him play pranks with expensive watches or car keys, but that watch didn’t seem to have much value.
“Then why did you hit on our Ye-jin, huh?”
Moreover, it seemed like a situation where not just a watch, but a romantic dispute was mixed in. At Lee Seung-hwan’s sarcasm, the man immediately denied it firmly.
“I never did that.”
“What bullshit is that. Hey, Ye-jin said so. She said you seduced her while putting the watch on her yourself. You wear this every day, don’t you? Huh?”
“It’s there because I stole it.”
The man snapped cynically.
“At the last show, she asked me to let her check because she thought her belongings had gone into my bag, so I let her in, and she stole it then. What bullshit is this about putting it on her?”
“What? Ye-jin.”
“No! When did I ever say that! He, he gave it to me first!”
“Ha! Look at this bastard? Ye-jin says you didn’t!”
The woman, stammering and playing innocent, looked like she was lying to anyone. But to Lee Seung-hwan, who had already lost his sense of judgment, the truth didn’t matter.
“I didn’t like you from the moment you joined the team. Open your eyes wide, you bastard.”
Of course. In the end, all the other reasons he gave were fake, and that was his true feeling.
“…Whatever. I’m sorry.”
The man, having noticed this as well, spat it out as if it were a nuisance. Of course, contrary to the content, his tone didn’t sound like an apology at all.
“I failed while trying to seduce her, and it’s all my fault, so just give it back.”
“Ha, this bastard.”
As if this soulless apology had properly touched a nerve, Lee Seung-hwan’s eyes gleamed.
“Hey, give me that.”
He had an acquaintance beside him bring another glass. Unlike the previous one, this one was larger, and the cup was colored so the contents couldn’t be seen.
“Drink.”
When he held it out to the man, the man raised an eyebrow.
“If you drink just this, I’ll really give it back. Really. Huh?”
Lee Seung-hwan, grinning, faced off against the man. Between the annoyed expression, a momentary emotion of ‘should I just flip everything over’ seemed to flicker, but the man eventually chose the alcohol.
“This is the last time I’ll play along.”
As the man took the glass, speaking as if giving a warning, Mo Yeon-hu became anxious.
‘There’s no way Lee Seung-hwan didn’t do something.’
With his pride, he would never back down there; will that person be okay?
The only saving grace was that seeing how he was standing so well despite the table being crowded with glasses, it seemed the man had a fairly high tolerance.
‘Then it should be fine. Is Park Taek-yoon still in the bathroom?’
Since the situation was what it was, Mo Yeon-hu intended to greet them later and go look for Park Taek-yoon, but he froze when his eyes met the man receiving the glass. The atmosphere was strange.
The man’s eyes, which had been coldly sunken, were trembling slightly. Beads of sweat formed on his pale face, and his clenched fists were taut as if they would burst.
“Keep your promise.”
Contrary to his strange state, his firm voice was excessively calm. Just as the man was about to bring the glass to his lips, the moment he saw Lee Seung-hwan giggling while making eye contact with his group, a strong warning alarm rang in Mo Yeon-hu’s mind, and his body moved first.