131 – Recolor

After staring down at the frozen chat room for a while longer, Eun-ha set his phone down haphazardly. He rested his wrist on the steering wheel and tapped it with his fingertips. Like someone who was anxious.

Gnawing on his lower lip, he stared blankly out the car window before shaking his head at some point. What was there to be anxious about? This time, they had really broken up.

He took a deep breath, filling his lungs, and then let out a long sigh. Finally having made up his mind to return, he started the engine. Feeling a heavy sinking sensation in his gut, he drove steadily in one direction. Then, upon some realization midway, he changed his route. With a short, hollow laugh, he updated the destination to the officetel. Just as he had for the past few days.

During the twenty-minute drive home, several calls came in from Mom. Already irritable, Eun-ha chose to simply ignore them. It was obvious what she would pour out. How hard was it to set up that meeting, only for you to have a meal and break it off? Didn’t you even make a date for a second meeting? She would probably nag him with things like that.

Upon arriving at the parking lot, he checked the five-plus missed calls and got out of the car. Immediately, the smoking area where he used to smoke quite often came into view. The urge to smoke surged again. Eun-ha stared at the spot for a moment, but soon clicked his tongue and looked away. It had been quite a while since he quit. About a year. It was an achievement reached after Yeon-jun had persistently interfered and clung to him about it.

Though after breaking up with that boy, the craving had become almost unbearable.

He forced himself to endure. He had worked so hard to quit. Licking his lips with a dry taste in his mouth, he headed toward his destination. It was just as he stepped off the elevator, trudging along.

As he unconsciously stepped into the hallway, Eun-ha froze.

Staring intently at the area beside the front door, he slowly began to move his feet after a long silence. He felt a gaze turn toward him upon sensing his presence, but Eun-ha didn’t care. He looked only straight ahead, as if he couldn’t feel a gaze at all. It was just as he reached the door and was about to press the door lock.

His raised arm was suddenly grabbed. After staying [visit our site]visit our site -->like that for a moment, the hand slid down and began to fiddle with Eun-ha’s empty ring finger. As if there was something bothering him.

“Where did your ring go?”

It was a flat voice, devoid of inflection. Eun-ha parted his lips slightly, then closed them. Then he answered indifferently. Still looking straight ahead.

“What ring?”

“Why do you keep taking it off whenever you feel like it?”

“What do you mean ‘whenever I feel like it’? We broke up.”

At the blunt response, he felt a gaze snap up toward him. Even under that accusing look, Eun-ha remained steadfast. As he stubbornly kept looking forward, he heard a faint sigh from below. The grip on his wrist tightened slightly.

How long had he been held there? Suddenly, Yeon-jun stood up. Eun-ha instinctively took a half-step back in the opposite direction at the sheer presence of the physique that suddenly blocked his side. To him, Yeon-jun was not a threatening presence at all, but Eun-ha would occasionally flinch instinctively at his size.

“What about dinner?”

“…….”

“Are you on your way in after eating?”

He asked while leaning sideways against the hallway wall. Without letting go of the wrist, he tilted his head slightly as if peering into him. Just like usual. As if nothing had happened between them…….

Not wanting to respond to that nonchalant attitude, Eun-ha remained silent. Then, Yeon-jun pulled his wrist slightly. As if urging him leisurely.

“Hyung.”

“…….”

“Aren’t you going to look at my face?”

“I don’t really see why I should.”

“It’s already been a week since I’ve seen you.”

Right. It’s already been a week. And you didn’t contact me during that time. The last face I saw was an irritated one. So I thought that this time, you had truly lost all affection for me. I thought we had really broken up. But now, after all this…….

“Hyung.”

“…….”

“I want to stop this now. I’ve barely slept…….”

A somewhat exhausted voice filled his ears. As if suggesting that the past week had not been smooth.

At that weakened voice, Eun-ha slowly lifted his eyelids. He glanced to the side. His eyes immediately locked with the pupils that had been directed toward him all along. Just as he said, they were tired eyes. Like someone who hadn’t slept a wink.

Ridiculously, his mood softened a bit at the sight of him looking so worn out. Even he thought this psychology was not normal. To feel relieved by the fact that the other person had suffered because of him.

What was more ridiculous was that Yeon-jun wasn’t unaware of it either. That Eun-ha’s notice of breakup wasn’t sincere, and that it wasn’t just a very mean impulse to verify the authenticity of their relationship. That he was trying to fill a void in the wrong way.

Despite that, Eun-ha couldn’t understand why that boy, without getting tired of it, kept coming back to hold onto him time and time again. Always.

Or perhaps, he still didn’t want to believe it.

“So, let’s just go inside first…….”

Speaking like a sigh, the boy straightened his body. Naturally closing the distance, he stepped behind Eun-ha. Just as he leaned in and was about to press the door lock password.

He stopped abruptly, like someone whose attention had been caught by something. Read on Read BL Novelsunauthorized copy -->-->After staying still for a few seconds, he suddenly grabbed Eun-ha’s shoulder. Eun-ha was helplessly pulled along by the grip that whipped him around. What Eun-ha faced was a chilled gaze. Eyes that had sunk as coldly as possible.

That was a very rare occurrence. At least for Eun-ha. Because he was a boy who rarely let his expression harden. Even when Eun-ha suddenly asked to break up for no particular reason, he might have been bewildered, but he never turned cold with his whole heart. Just as he was becoming puzzled.

“The smell of perfume.”

“…….”

Ah.

Recalling the blind date partner who had been drenched in a thick scent of perfume, Eun-ha opened his mouth silently. Since he had naturally intended to keep today’s incident a secret from Yeon-jun, he couldn’t help but flinch visibly for a moment. He hadn’t realized it had rubbed off on him.

And that was the fatal mistake. There was no way Yeon-jun wouldn’t recognize such a suspicious reaction. It had been a long-standing fact that Eun-ha was not good at lying, and above all—they had been dating for three years now.

A sharp gaze immediately pierced through him. Stung by the sudden drop in temperature, Eun-ha felt a surge of pettiness rise again. It was annoying that he was giving him a look as if he had committed some great crime. He himself hadn’t slept a wink during the more than a week of radio silence.

He knew it was a contrarian mindset, but he couldn’t help the rising anger. What did I do wrong? Why look at me like that? We’re broken up anyway. I really thought we were.

“What.”

“Why is your reaction like that?”

“…….”

“What did you do?”

“I went on a blind date.”

“…….”

“Mom keeps telling me to get married. As you know.”

“…….”