The Worst Possible Timing
What awful timing this bastard always had...
Go Young-in felt as if he finally understood what people meant when they said their hearts nearly dropped out of their chests every time they saw something they were terrified of.
Bae So-jin had gone rigid too, glaring at Cheon Sa-yoon with a face that had gone pale and hard.
Whatever the two of them were feeling, Cheon Sa-yoon—holding out a can of drink with an expression so guilelessly innocent it was almost offensive—broke the silence with a shy smile.
"Please take it. I picked it for you."
"...All right."
Go Young-in accepted the drink in a daze, and Cheon Sa-yoon immediately held out the other one to Bae So-jin.
"You should have one too, So-jin."
Bae So-jin's face kept draining of color, but Cheon Sa-yoon didn't care in the slightest and kept the can extended toward her.
"......"
Bae So-jin looked back and forth between Cheon Sa-yoon and Go Young-in, then said in a doubtful tone, "No, thanks."
"Then I guess I'll drink it myself."
Cheon Sa-yoon casually reclaimed the drink he had been offering, cracked the can open, and took a sip.
Only now did Go Young-in notice the familiar brand. It was the same flavor as the drink he'd picked for Cheon Sa-yoon last time.
This was supposed to be a serious situation, but watching him drink so casually, as if he were on the set of a commercial shoot by himself, was absurd enough to make him want to laugh.
If that bastard didn't have that gorgeous face, he'd have been cut off from society long ago. A man one had to thank his genes for.
"Hyung, you should try it too."
"Yeah... thanks. I'll drink it later."
If I don't answer, he'll just make a scene again. He gave a halfhearted reply with a small smile. Cheon Sa-yoon didn't look away, blinking at him with bright, childlike eyes.
"Why?"
"Aren't you going to drink it now?"
So inexplicably on-brand it was almost impressive.
...Do you really want to drink in this situation?
He wasn't oblivious, so why was he like this? Cheon Sa-yoon had a way of ignoring other people's feelings that made Go Young-in suspect he did it on purpose.
"...I'll drink it later."
He couldn't even remember what Cheon Sa-yoon had eventually done with the drink he received. Had he enjoyed it?
Cheon Sa-yoon wasn't exactly the type to say, I want you to drink it because it tastes good, but still...
"Why? I brought it because I wanted you to drink it now."
Fuck, how good could it possibly be for him to keep acting like this? This was insane.
He couldn't just ignore him, either, because he knew the bastard would latch on and keep digging forever. He'd keep at it until he got the answer he wanted. So Go Young-in gave him a lazy, almost perfunctory question in return.
"Is it really that good?"
"It tastes like shit."
"......"
"I thought, wow, Hyung Young-in is actually shoving trash like this into his mouth."
Not It's gross, but...
So this bastard had dragged him into this whole thing on purpose while knowing it tasted awful? Seriously, why was he still drinking the disgusting thing himself, then?
Even when Go Young-in stared at him in disbelief, Cheon Sa-yoon just kept smiling cheerfully.
A scraping sound cut through the room as a paper box was dragged across the floor. Looking forward again, Go Young-in saw Bae So-jin picking up the things she'd set down earlier.
"Anyway, I just wanted to say you shouldn't trust people too much. Maybe that doesn't apply to everyone, but you've had a lot going on this second half of the year, Young-in."
With ice in her eyes, Bae So-jin went on, "Though I suppose I didn't need to say that after all. Anyway, I'm leaving."
"Ah..."
"Take care."
Unlike Go Young-in, who could only blink blankly, Cheon Sa-yoon calmly smiled and saw Bae So-jin off.
It almost felt like her expression had grown colder. Or maybe not. As Go Young-in was still puzzling over it, Cheon Sa-yoon spoke in a bright, almost refreshing voice.
"Now anyone would think we're in this together."
"Who would?"
"You and me, hyung."
What the fuck? Me? What had I done?
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't remember saying anything odd. Was Cheon Sa-yoon not acting like his usual self either?
As though he could guess what Go Young-in was feeling, Cheon Sa-yoon added cheerfully, "I thought you wouldn't understand. Keep acting like that and people will start calling you a moron."
He had been saying things designed to make people lose their minds since earlier.
"I acted normally in front of you, and you took it in stride."
"How is that... ah."
Bae So-jin had clearly assumed Go Young-in knew nothing about Cheon Sa-yoon's true nature when she spoke to him, but when she saw him accept Cheon Sa-yoon's bullshit about the drink tasting like shit without batting an eye...
Fuck. So she thought I already knew and was in on it too.
So he'd staged the whole thing with the drink just to make it look like that?
To be lumped in with this bastard as an accomplice was so unfair it was almost enough to make him insane. Go Young-in ran a hand over his face.
"When did you get here?"
Had he heard everything? Where had he started listening from? Go Young-in hadn't noticed a thing; there'd been no sound of anyone approaching, and even the status window had stayed quiet.
"Is that what you want to know?"
"Ah..."
"Haha. If you're curious, then I should tell you. I'm such a good little brother, after all."
So he'd been listening from the beginning. Go Young-in had suspected as much, but he really was a disgusting, sly bastard just as everyone said.
"So what was all that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what it sounded like: watch out, because I'm a fucking bastard."
So how had Bae So-jin found out? Cheon Sa-yoon still answered as if he didn't know what Go Young-in was asking, though he knew perfectly well. He let out a long breath.
"You must have thought it was some huge secret of your own, so that's a shame."
One reason Cheon Sa-yoon was such a goddamn bastard was that he arranged things with his own hands and then sincerely sounded sorry about it.
Still, if he could say things like that while putting on a mask of sweetness and innocence, then their relationship must be pretty... intimate, right?
And that wasn't the only thing nagging at him. What Bae So-jin had said earlier kept echoing too.
So you and So-jin...
No matter how he looked at it, there had to be something there. Right. It was strange that this guy had never dated anyone and had stayed so quiet all this time.
Go Young-in had become so stunned by Zero One's collective lack of decency that he kept trying to forget what exactly they might have done.
"Hyung Young-in."
Cheon Sa-yoon called to him with a surprised face, then smiled softly.
"It's only when someone is a reasonable amount of stupid that stupidity starts looking cute."
Go Young-in froze for a beat.
So that's it... I'm being too stupid right now.
Hearing it said with that expression on his face only made him even more irritated. Thanks to Cheon Sa-yoon, he felt like he was about to cure his own nonexistent low blood pressure.
"Did you think we were actually dating or something?"
"Well, So-jin said..."
[Article 35 | A kind idol leader does not suspect a member without cause.]
Fuck, the words won't come out. Damn status window.
If Cheon Sa-yoon didn't have a history of shady behavior, Go Young-in wouldn't have thought this far.
And the status window was acting like that on top of everything... so this wasn't some messy love triangle, then? That was at least a relief, he supposed.
Then what the hell had Bae So-jin been angry about? After sticking together like that all this time...
Ah. Because they stuck together, maybe. If you had to put up with that personality day after day, it made sense.
Whether the story was true or not, Go Young-in still couldn't understand why Cheon Sa-yoon was acting so relaxed when Bae So-jin was likely to go out there and say something.
"Hyung."
What now? Don't call me like that. It only made his skin crawl when Cheon Sa-yoon said his name in that sweet voice. It always felt as if he were the shameless one for having accused an innocent man.
"I only helped because she said she was having a hard time from workplace bullying and needed someone to help her. I comforted her, listened to her story..."
So maybe that wasn't it. Just as Go Young-in started to relax...
"She asked me to stay with her, so I stayed with her."
"What?"
Stayed with her how? So that meant they were alone together, right? Had he understood that correctly? That damn status window—no, maybe it hadn't spelled everything out, but it had never been wrong before.
Seeing Go Young-in's shocked expression, Cheon Sa-yoon guessed what he was thinking and continued with a bright smile.
"It's not like all men and women being together means they're dating. Hyung Young-in, you've got a surprisingly narrow view of things."
"Yeah, that's true... I was just asking to confirm. It's a time when you have to be careful."
"Hmm, really?"
"...Why?"
"No reason."
Cheon Sa-yoon smiled sweetly.
"Did you think we met up and fucked?"
What kind of nonsense was that? Go Young-in felt his mind go distant.
As the confused Go Young-in stared at him, Cheon Sa-yoon let out a tiny, delighted little sound.
"If we did anything, it would only be when the other person wanted it, so don't worry."
Fuck.
"Sa-yoon, please. Just be a little more careful with what you say, okay?"
"'Fuck' is fine, but 'fucked' isn't? They're basically the same damn word."
"...I mean you should watch where you say it."
Go Young-in could at least tell, thanks to the status window, whether anyone was nearby or not, but he had no idea what Cheon Sa-yoon was relying on to act so brazenly.
"Exactly. You should avoid 'fuck' too if you're going to be like that, but you treat them differently. 'Fuck' and 'fucked' are both the same f—"
"Fine. Sa-yoon, I'm sorry. Please stop, okay?"
"Yeees."
Did this bastard not know shame? His face didn't change at all. How?
Maybe Cheon Sa-yoon really was cursed. Cursed so that every word that came out of his mouth turned filthy. Surely when the world made him, it had accidentally dumped every stat point that should have gone elsewhere into his face and balance-patched him that way.
Haa... He felt like he shouldn't learn too much more. Instead, he asked the thing he was even more worried about.
"Sa-yoon... you're really okay, right? Earlier, with So-jin. If there's anything you need to clean up, tell me ahead of time."
"Are you asking whether 'okay' means the group's not affected? Or whether I'll be the one who gets hurt?"
Even though he'd understood perfectly, Cheon Sa-yoon was deliberately needling him. Was it enough to just smile with such an angelic face?
It felt like his energy was being drained out through a straw.
I don't even have the strength to swear anymore. Fuck...
"I'm worried about you..."
"What do you mean it won't be okay? I haven't committed a crime yet, and I haven't used physical violence."
...Saying it like that made it sound as if he planned to do it someday.
Why had he bothered showing his true colors after all this time of being so careful?
"You know that's not what I'm asking."
"Is there anything special about it? I just did what I was asked to do. If someone wants comfort, I comfort them, if they want it, I give it, so..."
"Please..."
"Ahahaha."
"You said you kept in touch with her. Then..."
"What kind of idiot only owns one phone?"
The idiot is standing right here, you little shit.
"If a company's image could be swayed by one measly former employee, then why would the company even exist?"
That, too, made sense... From the way Cheon Sa-yoon was talking, the company must already have been informed about Bae So-jin, and they would be keeping a close eye on it.
If Bae So-jin went online with it or tried to find a reporter, companies usually had no trouble suppressing stories with no solid proof behind them.
"You think of how much money we invested. Given the plans ahead, it'd be strange if we weren't paying attention."
Plans ahead?
Ignoring Go Young-in's confusion, Cheon Sa-yoon smiled with a look that said there was something he wasn't saying.
"Hmm... if it gets exposed, then that just means the company's media team is that incompetent."
He didn't say the rest out loud, but it felt like and if it does get exposed, I don't care hung in the air behind it.
Was he really saying he wouldn't care even if it came out?
Haha... haha... So that was it...
If what he was saying was true, then even if Bae So-jin shouted until she was blue in the face, it would just become one more rumor circulating online.
Just as Bae So-jin had said, he really was playing with people however he pleased. Even though it wasn't something Go Young-in himself had done, he still felt a strange pang of guilt.
"Still... let's not do that next time, if we can help it."
"Do what?"
"This kind of thing. So-jin looked really angry."
Hmm. Cheon Sa-yoon still looked puzzled, but he added innocently, "She was the one who expected whatever she wanted and got disappointed when things didn't go her way. Hyung Young-in, do you trust a fired employee more than your own member?"
"Fired?"
"Well, then she should've been fired. An entertainment company can't keep an idol stalker around forever."
...Fuck?
For someone who had just tossed out something that enormous, Cheon Sa-yoon still looked perfectly calm all by himself.