During exam, Seungmin's days became mechanical.
He would wake up late, wash his face without really looking at himself in the mirror, go to school, write the paper, come back home, sleep again. No revision. No panic. No last-minute cramming like everyone else.
It wasn't that he couldn't study.
It was that he didn't see the point.
Ms. Hong noticed.
She mentioned it casually to Jaehan one afternoon. "He doesn't look focused. He is always sleeping. He just stares at the books sometimes."
So the next day, right after Seungmin returned from his exam, Jaehan called him into the study.
"Seungmin," he began, folding his arms, "why aren't you studying properly? It's not like you can't."
Seungmin leaned against the door frame, already irritated. He hadn't come there for advice.
He rolled his eyes. "I don't want to."
Jaehan sighed, long and tired. "Don't make your father angry. He just wants you to get good marks and enter a good university."
Seungmin was always dry and sharp.
"Really?" he said coldly. "He cares?"
"Yes," Jaehan replied firmly. "He does."
Seungmin's jaw tightened. He didn't argue further. He was used to this script.
Then Jaehan added, casually but not casually at all, "And one more thing. Will you date Han or not?"
The air shifted.
Seungmin's expression went completely still.
"I'm not doing it," he said quietly. "Even if he kills me. I won't let him use Han the way he used Jisoo."
Jaehan looked at him for a long moment.
"Really?" he said slowly. "I think this time your father is actually saving him."
Seungmin straightened. "What do you mean by that? Saving him from what?"
Jaehan hesitated, then said, "Boy, you should be thankful. Your dad treated you and your mother much better than he could have."
The moment the word mother left his mouth, something snapped.
Seungmin stood up instantly.
That topic.
The only topic he refused to hear.
"Just because he treats me better now doesn't mean he treated us right," he said through clenched teeth. "And Jaehan don't you ever take that woman's name in front of me again."
His voice wasn't loud.
It was shaking.
Then he walked out before he lost control.
But once he was alone in his room, anger wasn't the only thing left.
Something Jaehan said had stuck.
Saving him.
Saving Han from what?
Why would dating him be safer?
Why did it sound like something worse was coming?
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.
He didn't even know why he was worried.
Han wasn't his responsibility.
He had made that clear.
Still…
He didn't sleep properly that night.
The next day at school, his eyes kept drifting toward Han without him realizing.
Han was laughing with Chahyuk.
Han was writing seriously during class.
Han was eating quietly during lunch.
Seungmin watched everything.
He told himself it was nothing.
After school, when Han walked out of the gate alone, Seungmin followed.
Not close enough to be obvious.
Far enough to pretend it wasn't intentional.
Han stopped at a convenience store. Seungmin waited across the street.
Han crossed a busy road. Seungmin followed after the cars passed.
When Han finally reached home and went inside, Seungmin didn't leave.
He stood there.
Under a streetlight.
Hands in his pockets.
Watching the gate.
Waiting.
Minutes passed.
An hour.
Two.
Midnight came.
Han didn't come out again.
Only then did Seungmin turn and walk back.
The next day, he did it again.
Following him.
Watching him.
Making sure no unfamiliar car slowed down near him.
Making sure no one approached him.
He didn't call it protection.
He didn't call it care.
He didn't call it fear.
He told himself it was just checking.
Just in case.
But deep inside, something was shifting.
And he didn't know whether he was protecting Han from his father or protecting himself from losing someone else.