To Aerin's surprise, Seungcheol didn't react the way she'd imagined. In fact, the confusion on his face only made her wonder how she'd expected this to play out in the first place. She'd built up an entire scenario in her head—something dramatic, like a K-drama climax, where he would either shout in concern, "Are you okay?" or smugly say, "I told you so." Yet, here they were, with only a long silence stretching between them, each second dragging painfully on.
The silence felt almost unbearable. It was as if time itself had slowed down, stretching those five seconds into an eternity. Aerin's mind was racing through a dozen different scenarios—none of which were playing out the way she had imagined.
"So..." Seungcheol trailed off, his voice pulling Aerin from her spiraling thoughts. She instinctively braced herself for whatever he would say next, trying to predict his reaction.
"Is this about the food poisoning thing?"
Well, obviously, what else would it be about? Aerin's internal monologue nearly shouted in frustration, but she held it back, her face betraying none of her irritation.
"Yeah," she started, her tone quieter than she intended. "She's been acting strange lately, avoiding me. I don't want to point fingers, but... you might have been right."
Aerin avoided his gaze, unsure of how to convey everything that had been building inside her. When she finally looked up, Seungcheol was casually leaning back into the couch, picking a grape from a bowl she hadn't even noticed until now.
"And so... what exactly do you want me to do about it?" He glanced at her, a trace of curiosity in his expression. "I was just theorizing."
"I need you to help me find evidence," Aerin blurted out before she could stop herself.
Seungcheol froze mid-bite, the grape half in his mouth. He choked, sputtering as he gasped for air. Aerin froze too, unsure of what to do. She could either slap him on the back or just watch him figure it out on his own. The latter felt far less awkward, though she couldn't help but feel a guilty smile tug at her lips.
Once Seungcheol finally composed himself, he leaned forward, still recovering from the shock.
"Help you find evidence?" He looked at her, wide-eyed. "Look, I'm glad you're on the right track, but my schedule is packed—"
"Don't lie," Aerin interjected, cutting him off. "Your promotions ended this week. You've got about two months of break time before preparations start again."
The moment she finished speaking, Seungcheol's mouth snapped shut. There was a brief, almost imperceptible pause before he relented.
"Fine," he said with a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "But listen, we have to be careful about this. We can't go barging in all obvious-like. We'll need more chances to talk, and right now's not the time. Here's the plan: we gather what we can about Hyunjae, starting with everything you know, Aerin, and then use the coffee meeting, which we'd previously set for me to give you your jacket, as a chance to digest everything. We'll be discreet, though, okay? As far as we know, we're just being superstitious. Hyunjae's just in a bad mood... right? There's a 50% chance this could be nothing, and the same chance it could be something. And we don't know which."
Aerin took a moment to process his words. It was clear why Seungcheol was the leader—his mind worked quickly, coming up with solutions and plans at the drop of a hat. His decisiveness was something Aerin admired, but it also made her feel like she was stumbling through everything. His tone was no-nonsense, and she could tell that behind it was a clear message: follow this plan, or I'm out.
"Okay, but like... can't you just give me the jacket now?" she replied, her voice amusingly curious.
Seungcheol rolled his eyes, "Nope, unfortunately Jihoon has a knack for placing things where no one can find them! And since he's not here right now, there's no hope."
"Um alright, I guess. I'll get going now—"
"Not so fast," Seungcheol interrupted, his words halting her before she could dart off.
Aerin turned back toward him, curiosity piqued. "What is it?"
He leaned back on the couch, looking at her with a smirk that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I'm only helping for two reasons. Reason one: you're Jihoon's cousin. Reason two: one of my members is acting off, and since you seem to have some free time, I need you to keep tabs on him. No, I don't mean stalk him, but... well, yeah, kind of stalk him. Whenever you see Yoon Jeonghan, report back to me with what he's doing. You get what you want, and I get what I want. It's a deal. I don't help without getting something in return."
Aerin blinked in surprise, her mind struggling to keep up with the sudden shift in direction. Yoon Jeonghan? That was the same guy she'd been wary of for a while now, though she hadn't voiced it to anyone.
If his objective was to track Jeonghan, then maybe this wouldn't be so difficult after all. But Aerin wasn't sure whether to be relieved or concerned. The plan was... irrational. She was essentially being asked to spy, to create some sort of game out of something that felt much more personal.
Aerin sighed, a small, resigned smile forming on her lips. "Looks like my family's wealth is finally going to come in handy for something."
