It was close to two in the morning when Taesan finally reached his apartment building. The hallway lights flickered faintly, casting dull yellow shadows along the walls. His footsteps echoed in the quiet as he stopped in front of his door and reached for his keys.
He paused.
The door was not fully shut. It stood slightly open, just enough to notice.
His chest tightened.
Slowly, he pushed it inward. The hinges let out a low creak that sounded louder than it should have in the stillness. The apartment looked the same as always. Nothing overturned. Nothing missing. The clock on the wall ticked louder than usual. A faint smell of alcohol lingered in the air, sharp and unfamiliar. Someone had been here long enough to settle in. Yet the air felt different, heavy, like something had been waiting.
Then he saw him.
Jaewon sat on the couch as if he owned the place, one leg crossed over the other, a half filled glass of wine dangling loosely from his fingers. His tie was gone, shirt collar open, hair messy. His cheeks were flushed from alcohol.
"You're home," Jaewon said casually, not even looking up at first. "Late as usual."
Taesan stayed near the doorway, fingers slowly curling into fists. "Are you drunk?"
Jaewon let out a dry laugh. "Does it matter?"
Taesan stepped inside and shut the door behind him. "What happened, Jaewon?" he asked, voice mild, almost innocent. Only his eyes were sharp.
"Don't play dumb," Jaewon snapped, pushing himself up from the couch. The glass hit the table harder than necessary. "The mansion. My accounts. My money. I know what you did."
For a second, silence filled the room.
Then Taesan smiled faintly.
"So you finally checked," he said. "I was wondering how long it would take."
Jaewon's jaw clenched. "You hacked into everything. You sold the mansion behind my back. You drained every account I had." His voice shook with anger. "After everything we went through, this is what you do to me?"
"Do to you?" Taesan repeated softly.
He set his own glass down and stood. The calmness drained from his face.
"Don't act like you're the victim."
His voice sharpened.
"You're the one who betrayed me first, Jaewon."
Jaewon faltered. Old memories flashed through his head, things he had buried, things he had convinced himself were small.
"That was different," he muttered. "That was years ago."
"And you think I forgot?" Taesan stepped closer. "You used me when it was convenient. Lied to me. Made me look stupid in front of everyone. Then you walked away like I meant nothing."
His voice rose without him noticing.
"Do you have any idea what that did to me?"
Jaewon swallowed, then forced himself to stand straight. "Even if that's true, this doesn't justify what you're doing now. You didn't just get back at me. You ruined me. My house, my money, everything's gone."
"And now my car," Taesan added quietly.
Jaewon blinked. "What?"
"The car," Taesan repeated. "It's mine."
Jaewon stared at him like he had misheard. "What are you talking about? That car is ours. We bought it together. You can't just say it's yours."
"I paid the remaining loan," Taesan said flatly. "Transferred the ownership last week."
Jaewon's hand tightened around the back of the chair until his knuckles turned white.
"That car was ours," he said quietly. "We picked it together."
Taesan smiled, "And I took it."
Jaewon's face drained of color. "You took that too?"
His voice cracked this time.
"That was the only thing left."
Taesan let out a humorless laugh. "Now you know how that feels."
The room fell quiet except for their breathing.
"Destroyed your life?" Taesan said softly. "No. I just showed you what it's like to have everything taken away. To stand there and realize nothing was ever really yours."
He looked straight at Jaewon.
"The same way you made me feel."
The tension between them thickened, heavy and suffocating, neither willing to look away first.
The tension in the room is palpable, the air thick with unspoken emotions. Jaewon's chest rises and falls rapidly as he struggles to process Taesan's words.
"This isn't just about revenge, is it?" Jaewon says finally, his voice quieter now. "You've changed, Taesan. The person I knew would never have done this."
"The person you knew is gone," Taesan replies coldly. "You made sure of that."
Jaewon takes a shaky step forward, his voice trembling. "And that bastard Joshua? Is he part of this, too? Or are you just using him like you're using me?"
Taesan flinches at the question, but he recovers quickly, his smirk returning. "Joshua understands me. Something you never did."
"Understand you?" Jaewon's voice rises again, his frustration boiling over. "Or enable you? Because from where I'm standing, he's only helping you burn everything to the ground!"
The room went still. Even the refrigerator hum sounded loud. Taesan's eyes narrow, his calm facade slipping further. "Get out," he says, his voice low and dangerous.
But Jaewon doesn't move. "No. Not until you tell me the truth. What are you planning, Hyung? What's the endgame?"
Taesan glares at him, his jaw tight. "The truth? Fine. I want you to feel what I felt. Helpless. Alone. Broken. I want you to understand what it's like to have the world ripped out from under you."
"And then what?" Jaewon demands, his voice cracking. "What happens when I'm nothing? Will you be happy then? Will you have finally won?"
Taesan falters, his resolve wavering for just a moment. But then his expression hardens, and he steps closer to Jaewon, their faces inches apart.
"You don't get to ask me that," Taesan says, his voice venomous. "Not after everything you've done."
Jaewon stares at him, his anger giving way to something deeper—regret, guilt, and a lingering affection he can't quite shake. "Taesan… this isn't you," he says softly. "You're better than this."
Jaewon let out a hollow laugh that didn't sound human. It scraped out of his throat, uneven and bitter. He ran a hand through his hair, unsteady on his feet, the alcohol loosening both his balance and his mouth.
"Better than this?" he repeated. "Don't act righteous with me, Taesan. You're not some tragic hero."
Taesan's eyes hardened. "Watch your words."
"Why?" Jaewon shot back. "Truth hurts?"
He staggered a step closer, close enough for Taesan to smell the wine on his breath.
"You talk about betrayal like you're innocent," Jaewon said. "But what are you doing now? Sneaking around, hacking accounts, stealing property. Sounds worse than anything I ever did."
"You don't get to decide that," Taesan replied.
"No, you decided everything already, didn't you?" Jaewon laughed again. "Especially with Joshua."
Taesan stiffened at the name.
Jaewon noticed and smirked. "There it is. I knew it."
"Stop."
"What? Did I hit something sensitive?" His voice turned mocking. "Rich, tall, perfect Joshua. That guy has money, connections, a car collection. Of course you'd run to him."
"Shut up, Jaewon."
"What, is he funding all this?" Jaewon continued, words slurring but sharp. "Helping you ruin me because he feels bad for you? Or are you just clinging to him because he can buy you things I couldn't?"
The insult landed heavier than a slap.
Taesan grabbed Jaewon by the collar. "Don't talk about him like that."
Jaewon looked down at Taesan's fist gripping his shirt and laughed softly. "Look at you. Getting protective already. Guess I was easy to replace."
"You replaced me first," Taesan snapped.
"Oh please," Jaewon said. "Don't twist it. You just found someone richer. Someone useful. Isn't that what you accused me of doing to you?"
Taesan's grip tightened.
"Maybe you're not that different from me after all," Jaewon muttered. "Using people when it benefits you. Sleeping at their place, taking their help, acting all pitiful so they stay."
"That's enough."
"What does he give you, huh?" Jaewon pressed on. "Money? A place to stay? Does he pat your head and tell you everything's okay?"
Before Taesan realized it, he shoved Jaewon back.
Jaewon stumbled into the table, bottles rattling loudly.
"Don't you dare cheapen him," Taesan said, voice shaking with fury. "Joshua never used me. He stayed when you left. He helped when you laughed. Don't compare yourself to him."
Jaewon wiped his lip, eyes glassy but burning. "So that's it. He's the hero and I'm the villain."
"You made that choice yourself."
Silence fell for a second.
Then Jaewon spoke quietly. "You really hate me that much?"
Taesan didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
Jaewon looked away, jaw clenched, pride cracking through the drunken haze. "Fine," he muttered. "Destroy everything. Take the money, the house, the car. Take it all."
His voice dropped, raw and tired.
"But don't pretend you're doing this for justice. You're just angry. Just as ugly as me."
The words hung between them, heavy and unforgiving.
Taesan's eyes wavered.
For a second, just a second, something fragile surfaced in them. The anger loosened. The cold certainty slipped. It looked like he was about to speak, like the words had finally reached his throat after years of being buried alive. Something honest. Something that hurt.
Maybe an apology.
Maybe a confession.
Maybe the truth.
Jaewon held his breath without realizing it.
Then a sharp car horn sounded from outside the building, loud and sudden in the quiet night.
The moment shattered.
Taesan blinked, and it was gone.
His face hardened again, every emotion locked away with practiced ease. The walls went back up so quickly it almost felt cruel. He stepped away as if distance alone could erase everything that had just passed between them.
"Leave, Jaewon," he said.
His voice was flat. Cold. Empty.
He turned his back.
"Before I do something we will both regret."
The words landed heavier than a threat. They sounded like a plea he refused to admit.
Jaewon stood there for a long time, staring at Taesan's back. At the familiar shoulders he used to lean on. At the person who once laughed too loudly at stupid jokes and stole fries off his plate and stayed up all night talking about dreams that felt too big for the world.
Now Taesan felt like a stranger wearing his face.
"This isn't over," Jaewon said quietly, forcing strength into his voice.
Taesan didn't turn around.
That hurt more than anything.
Jaewon swallowed the tightness in his throat and walked out. Each step felt heavier than the last, like the air itself was pulling him down. The door clicked shut behind him with a soft sound that echoed louder than it should have.
The hallway felt colder.
By the time he reached his car, his hands were shaking.
He drove without thinking, the city lights blurring past the windshield. Red. Yellow. White. None of it registered. All he could see was Taesan's expression. That distant, hardened look. Like Jaewon meant nothing.
Like they had never meant anything.
But he had seen it.
That tiny crack.
That flicker of pain Taesan couldn't hide fast enough.
And it stayed with him the entire drive.
Inside the apartment, the silence pressed down on Taesan's chest. He stood still for a long time, staring at the closed door. His fingers slowly curled into fists.
The anger was still there. The resentment. The need to make Jaewon feel the same helplessness he once felt. But beneath all of it was something far worse.
An ache. Deep. Old. Familiar.
He hadn't expected it to hurt like this.
For all his planning, for all the nights he convinced himself that revenge would feel satisfying, he hadn't prepared for the hollow feeling spreading through his ribs.
Jaewon had not always been the enemy. Once, he had been everything. His best friend. His constant. The one person who knew him without explanations. Back when life was smaller, simpler, warmer. They had shared cheap meals and stupid secrets. Late night walks. Dreams about the future they thought they would chase together. They used to laugh until their stomachs hurt.
There was a time Taesan trusted him more than anyone else in the world.
Maybe too much. Maybe enough to call it love, even if neither of them had ever said the word out loud.
Now all that remained were ruins. Trust had turned into suspicion. Warmth into bitterness. Memories into weapons. Still, no matter how hard he tried to bury it, his chest tightened. Because revenge did not erase the past. It only reminded him of what he had lost. And that hurt more than anything Jaewon had ever done.
Because losing an enemy was easy. Losing someone once loved was not.
——————— TO BE CONTINUED