Kim Dan walked down the hallway toward the break room, his stomach twisted into knots.

The message had been short and direct. Come. Now.

It wasn’t hard to guess why.

He’d felt Jaekyung’s gaze long before the message arrived. Heavy. Fixed. The kind of attention that never misses. Kim Dan knew exactly when everything had shifted: when he’d smiled a little too much, when he’d been too kind answering the new guy, when he’d let the conversation go on longer than it should have.

Dan noticed it too late… and so did Jaekyung.

He pressed his hands against the sides of his pants as he stopped in front of the door. Took a deep breath. Tried to convince himself he hadn’t done anything wrong. But that thought never lasted long when it came to him.

He pushed the door open carefully.

Jaekyung was there, seated, looking at his phone. His body tense—like before a fight. He didn’t look annoyed… he looked furious in a restrained way, which was worse.

Dan swallowed and gently closed the door behind him. “Y-you called for me,” he said quietly, breaking the silence.

He stayed standing, not getting too close, his hands restless, avoiding Jaekyung’s gaze for a few seconds. He could feel the pressure in the room—heavy, suffocating.

“I was just doing my job,” he added, almost like a preemptive defense. “Nothing strange happened.” He finally looked up, meeting Jaekyung’s eyes. His heart jumped.

“If I did something wrong… I’m sorry.” Dan stayed there, still, waiting.

Because he already knew how these situations usually ended.