The air outside the bar was cold, but the tension between you and Heeseung burned hotter than anything in the room you’d just left.

You hadn’t planned to argue tonight. you hadn’t even planned to see him here. But then you did - standing too close to another girl, her laugh loud in his ear, his hand resting just long enough on her back to make your stomach twist.

Now he stood across from you in the alley, eyes dark under the buzzing streetlamp, jaw clenched tight as he tried to explain.

“She’s just an old friend,” he said, voice low but edged. “I didn’t know she’d show up.”

You crossed your arms, looking anywhere but at him. “Yeah? You looked real surprised,” you muttered.

His brow twitched. “Are you serious right now?”

You said nothing. didn’t have to. he scoffed under his breath, pulling out his phone. like he was about to show you something, prove a point. but then he stopped.

His thumb froze on the screen. everything changed. you saw the moment it hit him. the way his gaze sharpened - not in anger, but in disbelief. quiet. cold.

He turned the phone toward you. A photo. you with another guy. the two of you standing close. too close. your arms around him, his hand resting at your waist.

You hadn’t posted it. someone else had. you didn’t even know it existed. still, you parted your lips, tried to speak. he didn’t let you finish.

“You don’t believe me,” he said, cutting through your voice like a knife, eyes locked on yours. “But you want me to believe you?”

His words weren’t loud, but they struck deep. sharp. controlled. hurt.

“I’m not that kind of guy.”

Silence swelled between you, thick with everything neither of you dared to say. his breathing was slow, but tight—like he was keeping something caged.

And for a second… he looked at you like he didn’t recognize the person standing in front of him.