Minho emerged from his father's office, a wide smile plastered across his face, the echo of their conversation still fresh in his ears. Just then, a vibration pulsed through his pocket. A message. He fished out his phone, the screen illuminating Seo-Jun's name. "I have to go to the track tonight. Are you coming with me?" Minho's lips curled into a soft giggle as he typed back, "I am coming."
Lost in the glow of the screen and the promise of the evening, he didn't see the figure that bumped into him until it was too late. "I am sorry-" he began, his voice automatically offering an apology, but then his gaze lifted, and his words died in his throat. It was Jae, his face a thundercloud. Jae's eyes, devoid of warmth, met his, a cold, dead stare that sent a shiver down Minho's spine. "Ha," Jae uttered, a sound that was more a dismissal than a word, before turning and disappearing back into the shadows. Minho sighed, the weight of Jae's disapproval settling upon him. "Jin probably told him about the plan... it would be a lie if I said that I didn't expect his reaction to be just like that... But he will get used to it, he doesn't have anywhere else to go or do so..." With a newfound resolve, he turned towards the exit, the grand doors of the mansion beckoning him toward the freedom of the day.
Meanwhile, across town, Lily, finding herself alone in the house, saw her chance. She grabbed her phone and dialled Seo-Jun's number. Seo-Jun, engrossed in paperwork in his office, answered with a curt, "Hi, Lily. What's up?" Lily's voice dripped with a manufactured casualness, "Oh, nothing much." But then, the facade crumbled. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU GAVE YOUR RING TO MINHO?!" she shrieked into the phone. Seo-Jun, momentarily taken aback, pulled the phone away from his ear, his expression hardening. "Was I supposed to tell you?" he asked, his voice flat. "Ah, YES! Of course! Giving your ring means that you two are finally together!" Lily's voice dripped with a mixture of anger, excitement and disbelief.
The air crackled with unspoken tension, a silent battleground of emotions. Seo-Jun sighed, the sound a weary surrender, and the words that followed were clipped, sharp as shards of glass: "First, stop torturing my ear with your yelling. And second, we are not together." Lily's response was a tempest of confusion and anger. "What?! But then why is your ring on his hand?! Didn't we make a promise to give the rings to our special ones in the future?!"
Seo-Jun fell silent, the weight of his actions pressing down on him. He had given the ring to Minho. A decision made in haste, a gamble on emotions he was still trying to decipher. With another sigh, this one laced with the bewilderment of his own heart, he confessed, "I am... still trying to figure it all out..."
A beat of silence hung in the air, then Lily's voice, soft but laced with a hint of hope, broke the stillness. "But still... you gave it to him..."
Seo-Jun's thoughts swirled, a chaotic mix of regret and longing. "It was foolish of me to do that… and now I can really confuse him and even myself. I should have given it to him after I was certain of what I am feeling for him, but… seeing him every day… day after day, makes it impossible to deny that I have drowned myself in this feeling… the feeling of being close to him. When he is not with me, I get bored and irritated, and when he is with me, time goes by so fast… Maybe I do feel something for him."
Lost in the labyrinth of his own emotions, Seo-Jun fell silent, the world around him fading. "Jun, you there?" Lily's voice, a lifeline in the sudden silence, pulled him back to the present. "Yes, sorry…" he replied, his voice regaining its composure. "I know I gave him the ring… but for the time being, this is the only way I can signal to him what I'm attempting to do."
Lily's voice, thoughtful and laced with concern, cut through the air. "Are you sure he understands what you are trying to imply with this, though?"
Seo-Jun's answer came swiftly, a verbal arrow loosed without hesitation. "Of course." he affirmed, the words laced with a certainty that admitted no debate. His voice, usually a controlled instrument, now held a note of something akin to desperation. "I act differently around him. I'm softer, more cautious. I weigh my words before they leave my lips. I find myself protecting him, shielding him. And, as if that weren't enough, I gave him my ring. Doesn't that scream it out loud? I doubt he will be this dumb not to notice it."
A beat of silence followed, a space where the unspoken could linger. Then, a subtle shift in Seo-Jun's expression, a widening of his eyes that spoke of a sudden, disquieting realisation. "Wait…" he thought, the confidence momentarily faltering. "Now that I truly consider it, those actions were rather... audacious. What in the world was I thinking?!"
Lily's response was a gentle echo of agreement, a quiet affirmation that hung in the air. "Yeah, I believe you're right... He probably knows what you are trying to say to him." She settled back against the plush cushions of the couch, a playful smirk beginning to tug at the corners of her mouth. "But regardless, you're head over heels for him. Ha, I knew it! I've known it from the very-" The sentence was cut short, the words dissolving into the sudden, icy stillness of Seo-Jun's face. The playful banter was replaced by a stony mask. Before Lily could complete her thought, the connection was severed, the call abruptly terminated. A sharp intake of breath, and Lily slammed her phone onto the table, her voice rising in a frustrated crescendo. "THIS IDIOT! HE HUNG UP ON ME!" The final words echoed in the sudden silence, a testament to the unfinished conversation and the abrupt end.
The abrupt click of the phone disconnecting echoed in the sudden silence of Seo-Jun's office. His gaze drifted to the glowing screen of his computer, the unfinished project a stark reminder of the hours lost to distraction. The weight of his thoughts pressed down on him, a jumble of emotions swirling in his chest. "What is wrong with me?" he muttered, the words a hushed confession. "Having feelings... especially for someone who is my rival when it comes to business... is not..." The sentence trailed off, unfinished, a testament to the turmoil within.
A sigh escaped his lips, a release of the tension that had coiled within him. The reality of the situation settled over him, and a new resolve began to form. "I should draw a line there." he thought, the words solidifying into a decision. "Enough is enough. I should get it together and ask for my ring back. And I will stay away from him for a few days. Just to clear my head and think of what will be best to do next." With a decisive movement, he reached for his phone, his fingers flying across the screen as he composed a text to Minho. "Something urgent came up in the office. I am not going to the track, and I will be away from home for a few days."
Meanwhile, on his way to Seo-Jun's house, Minho's phone buzzed with the incoming message. His brow furrowed in confusion, a sense of unease settling over him. "What?!" he exclaimed under his breath. "What is so urgent that he needs to stay in the office?!" A wave of worry washed over him, a knot forming in his stomach. He shook his head, trying to dispel the negative thoughts, and quickly typed a reply: "Is everything alright?"
The message arrived on Seo-Jun's phone, its arrival a swift interruption to his internal monologue. The words on the screen, a beacon of concern, dissolved the carefully constructed wall he had built around his emotions. A soft smile played on his lips, a subtle betrayal of the turmoil he had just experienced. He typed a brief reply, his fingers moving with a newfound lightness: "Everything is fine. I just need to be here for now."
Minho, still confused and concerned, stared at the screen, the weight of Seo-Jun's words settling over him. He had no choice but to accept Seo-Jun's decision, the unanswered questions hanging heavy in the air.