Aerin froze as Seungcheol said her name. For a moment, it looked like she might bolt, her hand gripping the strap of her canvas bag as though it were her lifeline. Without a word, she turned toward the door, ready to escape the suffocating tension in the room.
"Wait!"
She stopped mid-step, every instinct screaming at her to keep walking. She didn't want to hear what he had to say—didn't even want to see him, not after everything. But something in his voice rooted her to the spot, leaving her standing in the doorway, back turned to him, bracing for whatever came next.
Seungcheol knew this was it. If he didn't say the right thing now, she would walk out, and the distance between them—this unspoken, unbearable weight—would only grow. That thought terrified him more than anything.
Taking a shaky breath, he faced her unmoving figure, trying to steady his voice. "Aerin, please. Stop ignoring me. Did I do something wrong? Just tell me—anything—because this is driving me insane."
The words spilled out faster than he intended, raw and unpolished, betraying the turmoil he'd been trying so hard to suppress. He hadn't planned on saying this much, hadn't meant to reveal how much her silence had been eating at him.
She turned slowly, her expression guarded, a bitter scoff escaping her lips. "Seungcheol." His name fell like a stone between them, heavy with frustration.
"We're idols," she began, her voice sharp with conviction. "Idols. Do you get how stupid this is? All of it—this ridiculous investigation, this industry, this situation. And me? I was stupid to think we could ever be anything more than strangers who occasionally have to tolerate each other."
Her hands worked furiously as she shoved items into her bag, her words spilling out in fragments—sharp, cutting. "Not that we were even friends. The only reason you ever talked to me was because of your whole thing with Jeonghan, right?"
Seungcheol felt like he'd been slapped. "Rin, wait," he said, his voice rising, desperate. "That Jeonghan thing—it was fake. All of it."
Her hands froze mid-motion, her head snapping up to look at him. "I'm sorry—what?"
"I lied," he admitted, his voice softening under the weight of her confusion. He ran a hand through his hair, frustration evident in every line of his body. "I lied because I wanted to talk to you. I wanted a reason to get close to you. You frustrate me so much, Aerin, because you're so—so blind to how much I—"
"Me?" she interrupted, disbelief laced in her voice. "I frustrate you? That's rich coming from the guy who lied to me, dragged me into this mess, and made me question everything."
"Aerin," Seungcheol snapped, louder this time, his frustration spilling over. "You frustrate me because you're so goddamn blind!"
She froze, her scowl deepening as she took a step closer, her brow furrowed in confusion. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
He didn't want to say it—not like this, not here—but the words burned in his throat, leaving him no choice.
"I brought Jeonghan into this because I wanted to get to know you. I helped you, I did everything I could to be around you, because—because I like you, Aerin. I like you. And now you're shutting me out, and I don't know what to do anymore!"
The confession hit like a tidal wave, leaving the room steeped in a heavy silence. Aerin took a step back, her mind reeling.
"You... like me?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"Yes!" he groaned, dragging both hands down his face. "Yes, I like you! I didn't plan to say it like this—I didn't even mean to say it at all—but there it is. I like you. I care about you. And you're driving me insane."
The realization sank into Aerin like a stone, heavy and unexpected. This wasn't how she'd envisioned things—not even close—but now that the truth was out, she couldn't ignore the feelings she'd been trying so hard to bury.
For several agonizing seconds, neither of them spoke. Then, without warning, she stepped forward, grabbing the front of his shirt, and pulled him down into a kiss.
Seungcheol froze at first, too stunned to react, but the warmth of her lips against his erased every coherent thought. His hands instinctively found her waist, pulling her closer, deepening the kiss with an urgency neither of them had expected.
The world around them faded—no cameras, no industry, no expectations. Just them.
As they pulled apart, gasping for air, Seungcheol's lips curved into a disbelieving smile. "So... does that mean you feel the same?"
Aerin laughed softly, her forehead resting against his. "I guess I do," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.
For the first time in weeks, the tension between them dissolved, replaced by something far more terrifying—and infinitely more exhilarating.
