As they walked away from the café, the female lead’s phone rang again.
[Taesan]Where are you?
[Taesan]You haven’t replied since earlier.
[Taesan]Pick up the phone already.
When the female lead checked the screen, Jaehyun glanced over too.
“It’s Taesan again.”
“Yeah. Why does he keep contacting me like this?”
The female lead snorted and turned her phone over.
But Jaehyun, who had been walking beside her, went quiet.
“Why?”
“Nothing.”
“What is it?”
“Just because.”
“Are you pouting again?”
“I’m not pouting.”
The female lead looked at Jaehyun’s expression.
Sure enough, he looked more rigid than usual.
“No, it’s written all over your face.”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t seem fine.”
Jaehyun didn’t answer.
At first, the female lead laughed as if it were a joke.
“Don’t tell me it’s Taesan again?”
“....”
“Seriously?”
Jaehyun let out a short sigh.
“He keeps contacting you, so yeah, it’s annoying.”
“But I’m not the one contacting him.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you taking it out on me?”
“I’m not blaming you.”
“But your face looks like you are.”
Jaehyun stopped walking.
“I’m just not in a good mood right now.”
“So what am I supposed to do?”
“Do nothing.”
“So I’m just supposed to sit here and watch Taesan keep calling?”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“Then what do you mean?”
The female lead’s voice gradually rose.
At first she’d been joking, but as Jaehyun kept giving short replies, she started to feel wronged too.
“You’re always like this.”
Jaehyun’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“Like what.”
“When you’re in a bad mood, you just go quiet without saying anything. You make me walk on eggshells even though I don’t even know what I did wrong.”
“…Mun Hana-”
“Taesan’s just a friend. It’s not like there’s anything going on between me and him, so why do you keep doing this?”
“Mun Hana.”
“No, seriously, that’s exactly what it is.”
“Let’s stop.”
“Why? You said to say it if I had something to say.”
Jaehyun looked at the female lead for a long moment.
“Right now, it doesn’t seem like you’re trying to listen to me.”
“I’d like it if you listened to me too.”
That was the moment.
The last bit of emotion left on Jaehyun’s face vanished all at once.
He didn’t even look visibly angry.
He just went cold.
“Fine.”
“....”
“Then let’s leave it here.”
“What?”
“If we keep talking right now, I think we’ll just end up upsetting each other more.”
Jaehyun’s voice was low and calm.
But only then did the female lead sense that something was off.
Until just a moment ago, he had at least looked hurt, but
now he truly had no expression at all.
“Jaehyun…”
“What.”
The female lead’s voice got smaller.
“Are you really mad?”
Jaehyun looked at her for a moment before answering.
“Yeah.”
It was brief.
At that one word, the female lead’s face stiffened.
Only then did the things she’d said a moment ago come back to her one by one.
‘What did I do wrong?’
‘Then what am I supposed to do?’
‘Taesan’s just a friend.’
‘I’d like it if you listened to me too.’
At first, they were words she said because she felt wronged.
But Jaehyun had been holding it in this whole time.
The female lead pressed her lips together.
“…Sorry.”
Jaehyun didn’t answer right away.
“I was being too sharp.”
After a moment, Jaehyun said quietly,
“I know.”
“Are you… not mad anymore?”
Jaehyun shook his head.
“Not sure.”
The female lead couldn’t say anything else.
Jaehyun looked away first.
“I need to calm down a little.”
He left those words behind and slowly walked ahead.
The female lead stood there for a long time before quietly following after him.
This time, she didn’t make any excuses or argue back.
Only then did the female lead finally understand the situation properly.
What Jaehyun had wanted wasn’t for her to stop contacting Taesan.
He had just wanted her to understand that he was hurt.
