Chapter 79. Lee Dohyun (9)

Jaeheon leaned back against the headrest, picking up his phone, which was on speaker.

On the other end, Kim Haeda let out a long, heavy sigh.

— Let me ask one more time. This is the last. Lee Jaeheon… you really didn’t know?

A faint smile tugged at Jaeheon’s lips as he stepped out of the car. The sunset bathed everything in red, casting long shadows behind him.

“Are you seriously doubting me now?”

He descended the steps toward the studio in measured strides. The place still smelled faintly of coffee beans, but since Haeda had taken time off, the usual scent had nearly disappeared.

— You’re the one who told me about Jo Yeonju. You told me what Lee Dohyun was doing with her. I would’ve never known if it weren’t for you.

“And?”

He opened the studio door and walked into the stale, humid air. He cracked open a window and switched on the AC, then noticed the wilting plants.

It had only been a few days away, and yet some couldn’t survive without light and air. As lukewarm air hummed through the room, Jaeheon switched the call back to speaker mode.

— Lee Jaeheon… I’m scared of you. Seriously, you scare me. What the hell are you, man?

“What’s with the sudden drama?”

— The timeline doesn’t add up!

For someone who usually kept calm, Haeda’s voice cracked as he shouted. Something clattered in the background, as if something had been thrown.

Jaeheon dropped onto the sofa and stared at the inside of the cabinet.

Without Eunkyo, the building felt dead. Dim. Stale with humidity. A hollow space without wind or light.

And the wilted plants… were himself.

‘I already miss her.’

— I remember clearly, so don’t think I forgot. You told me Yeonju was pregnant. That’s why we tried to push Dohyun away from Eunkyo. But that wasn’t true. The kid came after you told me—do you get what I’m saying? How do you explain that?

His eyes swept the cabinet’s interior—photos of Eunkyo, pasted across the surface. All of them had come from this very building’s old storage room.

Discarded memories. Forgotten moments.

And Jaeheon had picked them all up.

“Why does that even matter? Is the order so important? In the end, Dohyun cheated on her. He screwed around, didn’t use protection, and got someone pregnant. That’s why all this happened, right?”

— What? That’s not just a misunderstanding—do you have any idea how many lives got messed up because of this?

Uncharacteristic fury trembled in Haeda’s voice.

Jaeheon casually spun the car key in his hand.

“Hyung, you think I’m some psycho or something… but I just liked Jung Eunkyo enough to see everything clearly. If she was that important, he shouldn’t have messed around. Shouldn’t have made her cry. You know what pisses me off the most?”

A flicker of something manic passed through Jaeheon’s usually calm eyes.

“My brother doesn’t know his place.”

The word ‘brother’ dropped from his lips with unusual weight.

Jaeheon closed his eyes and leaned back. He remembered a few days ago—over dinner, when Dohyun had casually said he got a new place for Eunkyo.

The expression on his brother’s face held a quiet confidence. Like it was only natural things would work out with her again.

And that confidence burned Jaeheon up.

Because Dohyun still had something Jaeheon didn’t: certainty.

— Lee Jaeheon. You’re not normal either.

Haeda inhaled through what sounded like a cigarette.

“I know. But if you’re going to keep lecturing me, why not just give me a job already? You said you needed help.”

Jaeheon closed the cabinet and turned on the 3D printer. He booted up his laptop, and the jewelry software he’d been working with resumed.

— You want a job? Bring a resume. You even know how to handle the equipment?

“Hyung, I’m not that clueless. What if something happens to you while you’re working alone?”

— I don’t need some brat talking back to me on the job.

“I’ll be good. I’m good at what I do.”

A faint smile curved at the corner of Jaeheon’s mouth.

— You’re seriously nuts. Fine. Bring your resume. I’m putting you through a proper interview, and you’ll have a probation period. Got it?

“Whatever you say.”

He ended the call. Pulling a stool closer, he clicked a few times, and the 3D model on the screen rotated in a soft arc.

His first jewelry design. Simple but intentionally built for layering—two rings that could be worn as a set, carefully balanced, each engraved with delicate detail.

But he had no intention of giving her a ring right now. To Eunkyo, a ring right now would be nothing more than a piece of metal buried in a drawer.

He just wanted to make something for her.

Something soft. Something gentle. Something that reminded him of her—not cruel, not desperate.

He thought those feelings inside him had long since vanished.

***