By Zephyria 
* * *
Seo Baek-han flicked the drops of blood gathered in his hand.
“……What is that.”
Liam, sticking close to Joo Tae-hyun as he headed toward the lab, kept looking back this way multiple times. And he did so with only one corner of his mouth cocked up askew.
“Hmph.”
Could it be that he was trying to check me right now?
The absurdity of it lasted only a moment before he seriously considered that he needed to get that bastard away from Joo Tae-hyun.
If he had crashed into the wagon by himself, he might have found it laughable but accepted it.
But hadn’t Liam endangered Joo Tae-hyun just a moment ago?
While the villains in teen romance movies are watched for their childish charm, it’s a different story when it comes to the psychopathic villains in horror movies.
“Director Seo Baek-han! It’s been a while.”
“……Ah, yes. Have you been well?”
“I heard the news. I heard you’d be staying for a semester, is that true?”
“Yes. Still, I think I’ll have to go back to Korea from time to time.”
……Or not. Was this also an overreaching thought? Seo Baek-han tried hard to suppress the urge to control that was creeping out of him without his knowledge.
Right. Would Joo Tae-hyun not know such shallow tactics? In any case, there must be a reason he keeps such a whelp by his side. Let’s just be mindful to prevent situations like just now, where Joo Tae-hyun could get hurt.
“I’m speaking comfortably because Director Seo is here, but we have very high expectations for Prince Lee, or rather, the new Crown Prince.”
“That’s right. As Director Seo well knows, the recent direction of international morphology policy…”
Seo Baek-han shook hands with those who eagerly greeted him, and he took in the sight of Joo Tae-hyun’s retreating back as he slowly disappeared around the end of the corridor.
Seeing him like this, it wasn’t about genres like teen romance or horror. The priority was to figure out how to get his name alongside Joo Tae-hyun’s in the ending credits and achieve a happy ending.
*
He should retract what he said about Liam being similar to Cheon Seung-pil. Joo Tae-hyun pressed his eyelids with his thumb and index finger before standing up. He already felt tired before even checking the message he sent.
“Is this enough for a meal? It seems too meager.”
Of course, the main culprit making Joo Tae-hyun tired these days was someone else.
“We still have time, let’s go out.”
Seo Baek-han wore a displeased expression as if the sandwich Joo Tae-hyun had chosen was the embodiment of evil.
It had only been a week since the morphology policy project began. He couldn’t believe only a week had passed.
“Wasn’t the next topic supposed to be the Royal Hospital’s turn?”
“Right.”
It wasn’t easy to answer the barrage of questions from people while appropriately concealing the sensitive internal situation. That’s why he had indirectly told him to stop lingering here and go prepare for his presentation…
Then again, who was worrying about whom right now? It was Seo Baek-han, of all people. He would surely handle it well.
“Ah, were you perhaps worried about me?”
“…….”
“Thank you. But I’m more worried about Tae-hyun’s meal menu right now than the presentation this afternoon.”
No, what was wrong with the sandwich? He himself had studied abroad in America, so he knew the situation perfectly well, yet he didn’t understand why he was picking a fight like this. Like any university cafeteria, this place wasn’t fancy, but it was sufficient for a quick meal. Moreover, it was on the pricier side compared to other cafeterias, so the taste was decent enough.
“……Is it true that Kim Seung-jun is still holding out abroad?”
Finally, Joo Tae-hyun took the initiative to change the subject. He had originally planned to ask casually after today’s presentation concluded. If it wasn’t a matter of this weight, he wouldn’t have stopped pestering him to go eat.
Seo Baek-han these days… how should he put it. He was acting childishly, unlike himself.
When he was with others, Seo Baek-han was just as Joo Tae-hyun remembered him, but when they were alone like this, he would openly display his emotions.
He didn’t seem to be acting, as he didn’t even seem aware of it himself… He didn’t know. Joo Tae-hyun decided to stop his meaningless observations and satisfy his own curiosity.
“It’s a bit awkward for me to say this, but PJ isn’t that influential a company, is it?”
“Hmm, it isn’t.”
Seo Baek-han crossed his arms and leaned back against the chair. His brief moment of deliberation as he chose his words felt both familiar and strange.
He always maintained a perfectly put-together suit from head to toe. Even at home, he would always wear a robe, unwilling to show himself in loungewear, but now he was in a knit and jeans. It didn’t seem like he wore such comfortable clothes to school even when he was a university student himself.
“The dethronement is already confirmed. The Crown Prince himself knows that. Nevertheless, he’s making a final desperate effort to keep as many of his people as possible.”
In some aspects, the survival of PJ Group and preventing Kim Seung-jun’s return and arrest were more important than anything else. While there were plenty of people with higher status than them, the collapse of PJ in the current situation would become the catalyst to permanently block the Crown Prince’s comeback.
“That’s why I came myself. Kim Seung-jun’s current whereabouts are identified as being in the United States.”
“Not Europe?”
“If it were Europe, he could have been apprehended much faster.”
After that, Seo Baek-han continued to answer Joo Tae-hyun’s questions diligently.
He felt a bit unaccustomed to such kind explanations, as he had only engaged in conversations where he had to constantly gauge the other person’s intentions, answer their questions, and find the core of the matter, as if he were on trial every moment.
“By the way, what is that medicine?”
After finishing his meal, Seo Baek-han cautiously asked Joo Tae-hyun, who was popping a pill into his mouth.
“It’s rare to need medicine at lunchtime.”
Joo Tae-hyun carried his medication in a portable case, portioned out individually. Even though the pills were small enough that it was difficult to tell their type at a glance, he did it to prevent any awkward situations if the packaging were seen by someone.
“Kireuroid.”
Was he really asking because he didn’t know? Joo Tae-hyun was a little puzzled, but he answered honestly nonetheless.
“Kireuroid? That’s-.”
Why would you… take medicine for Omega experiencing hormonal dysfunction…
Seo Baek-han muttered with a puzzled expression as if he couldn’t understand, then quickly realized the reason and shut his mouth tightly.
Ah. Did he really not know?
He had thought Seo Baek-han would know everything. He assumed Seo Baek-han would naturally know what medicine he took, given that he knew the house he lived in and the places he frequented on campus.
Was this also a habit he couldn’t fix?
Unconsciously assuming that Seo Baek-han would know everything about him. And that he would obediently answer whenever asked…
“It’s for potential post-miscarriage aftereffects.”
Joo Tae-hyun gathered his belongings and picked up the tray in front of him. He didn’t particularly want to know what expression Seo Baek-han was wearing now, or how troubled he was.
He hadn’t even intended to retort with a sharp tone to mock him. He was just grumbling out of embarrassment after realizing his own actions, which he hadn’t even been aware of.
“……I’ll throw it away.”
Seo Baek-han, who got up belatedly and followed Joo Tae-hyun, extended his hand, saying he would clean up. Not wanting to argue over something as trivial as throwing away trash, Joo Tae-hyun told him to do as he pleased and left.
He had also hurried away because he felt embarrassed to face him.
“……Tae-hyun.”
Seo Baek-han, who quickly finished cleaning up, called his name repeatedly in what he thought was a very gentle voice. Not knowing what was going on in Joo Tae-hyun’s mind.
Well, if he had been someone who could gauge ‘other people’s minds,’ things wouldn’t have gotten to this point.
“I was thoughtless again, I’m sorry.”
He had considered Seo Baek-han’s every word and his replies as a form of attention. So, he had tried his best to treat him as indifferently as he treated others.
But when he realized that his composure wasn’t from equanimity but from a bad habit he hadn’t managed to shed, he felt ashamed of himself.
“Tae-hyun, Joo Tae-hyun.”
Hearing his name called in that coaxing tone, he strangely felt a surge of emotion.
Seo Baek-han must have noticed too, right? That he hadn’t erased the past when he was accustomed to him.
How easy must he have seemed all this time? Looking back, it wasn’t just Seo Baek-han who was acting childishly. Joo Tae-hyun was also incredibly immature.
“……Come to think of it, Hyung, you said something. You said, since no one died, what would be impossible about correcting our mismatched timelines?”
Even though he knew it was better to stay silent at times like these, he couldn’t overcome his embarrassment and blurted out anything.
“But, when I think about it, someone did die, didn’t they? As Hyung said, ‘regrettably’.”
He had no intention of giving people gossip fodder by deliberately showing distance. In any case, Seo Baek-han wasn’t someone who would stay here forever.
“Whether you live next door or chase me to eat together, do as you please, Hyung. But-.”
And he had mistaken himself for becoming more mature by acting that way… but it wasn’t true. He still had a long way to go before he was okay, before he truly felt nothing.
“There are things in the world that are irreversible.”
He said it so easily, as if he would die in place of a child.
“……Yes, I’m sorry. That is indeed something I cannot do anything about.”
After a slight silence, Seo Baek-han offered a somewhat unexpected reply.
Only then did Joo Tae-hyun realize that he had spoken exactly what he had been thinking.