mr. socialite. | 희승 √

CHAPTER 35

(LONG CHAPTER INCOMING, JAKE'S CHAPTER)

I look down at the address Ni-Ki decided to text me. I stand in front of a club, not a bar. Yeah, okay, they're the same. Whatever. I scratch my head as I show my ID to the bouncer, yawning as I check the time. It was an hour before midnight—did he really have to come here at the dark of night and stay until the dawn of day?

Seeing him in the distance, he drowns himself with expensive wine, causing me to raise an eyebrow. I can see why he stays for so long—the ambiance was quite nice.

Well, that explains a few things. Would I be able to convince him?

I take a seat next to him—and it seems he's still on his first bottle of wine. When I grab the bottom of his glass, he finally sneaks a peek at me. Finally, he turns a full 90 degrees my way, his hand instantly putting the glass down. "Why... are you here?"

"I'm here to either take you back to your dorm drunk, convince you to stay in the band, or both."

"How about neither?" Jake subtly chuckles, shaking his head. "I'm done drinking now that you're here—and not in a rude way. I know you have things to ask me—considering your second statement."

"Agreed," I cross a leg over the other, leaning my head on my elbow against the counter. "Now, tell me, what has you making your liver suffer? Why are you treating it like this?"

He mocks my position, tilting his head as he swirls the wine with his free hand. "I just... feel bad, you know?"

"In what way—I presume... for everyone but Heeseung?" I raise an eyebrow, making him chuckle and shake his head. He offers me his glass, which I humbly decline. 

"No, I also pity my hyung—and I pity myself," He sighs, taking a sip before cringing to the taste. "Maybe it's because he's taken care of me my whole life growing up. He's showed me what fun looks like, and I depend on him so, so much."

I let him continue, listening to his vent. "It was inevitable that I'd learn it eventually—whether from him or you—and I expected it. That day, I had a feeling something was off about Heeseung hyung. He was staggering, scratching his head in uncertainty as we hid from the seniors of high school popularity. However, I had the time of my life despite almost getting arrested."

"So, would you say you don't feel betrayal, instead..."

"I feel nothing, Iseul," He chuckles with no sense of emotion, staring at his wine once more. "You could say I was the lucky one. I got lucky with the feeling of betrayal—and won nothing nor lost anything. So, how about you, Iseul?"

"What about me?"

"Do you feel like you lost something? Or won something?"

His question causes quite the whiplash as I stare at him, his eyebrows raised as he waits for my response. "I don't know what I've lost nor won. I feel like I'm at an equilibrium, like you—but instead, I know I've lost and won something. I just will... never know what it is."

"Interesting. Shall we say we make quite the equal pair, then?" Jake chuckles aimlessly, putting down his glass. I think that's the last time he'll be drinking tonight with me. "We both have nothing to be doing. We choose to do it, but we don't have to. I know you're doing it for the group, but you don't have to."

"Why do you feel the need to say it like that, hm?" I laugh, shaking my head. "Sounds like you know the group won't get back together."

"It's not that," Jake laughs as well, rubbing his temples. "I'm saying that you've done enough. for us already. It was inevitable by the end of the fight we'd disband, but your love for our musical pair of misfits is still keeping us together..."