Rina held up a pair of matte white loafers. "These are worth more than our tuition."
Ha-eun didn't answer.
She just stared down at the shoes.
And for a moment, she didn't know whether to cry or laugh.
———
Back at the Studio
Seo Jun leaned back in his chair, the music humming low behind him.
Yoon-woo stepped into the room, holding his phone.
"You saw Ji-won's interview?"
"I did."
"She's doubling down on the fake relationship. PR wants to know if you want to deny it."
Seo Jun exhaled.
"Not yet."
Yoon-woo frowned. "Why not?"
Seo Jun's voice was quiet. Steady.
"Because I want her"—he meant Ha-eun—"to know I'm not running from this."
"From what?"
He smiled faintly.
"From the noise. From the eyes. From the price of choosing someone who doesn't live under a spotlight."
Min-jae looked up from his screen. "What now?"
Seo Jun checked his phone.
A message from Ha-eun.
You saw it.
He typed back.
They see the shoes. I see the girl who walked in them.
Then he stood.
"Mic check," he said. "Let's record."
*************
The sun dipped behind the skyline, soft gold spilling across Seoul's streets, but the breeze that slipped past Ha-eun felt strange.
Like attention.
Like being seen when she didn't want to be.
She adjusted the strap of her tote as she and Rina stepped through the side gate near the subway exit, past their parents tteokbokki cart. Rina had been quiet all afternoon. But today, silence made sense.
Just ahead, a figure leaned by the ginkgo tree outside the gate, slim, styled, unmistakably familiar.
A pale peach jacket, pleated cream skirt, and a bob that gleamed in the late light.
"Jiyoung?" Ha-eun blinked.
The girl turned, already smiling. "Ha-eun-ah!"
They hugged. A too-tight embrace that tried to close three years of distance.
"I thought you were still in Tokyo," Ha-eun said, stepping back.
"Just got back," Jiyoung replied brightly. "Mom remarried you know right ? She's staying in Japan with her new husban, I came here to live with Appa for a while."
She looked even more polished than Ha-eun remembered, heels, delicate gold earrings, a designer handbag slung casually over one shoulder. Like she'd walked out of a campus fashion magazine.
Behind Ha-eun, Rina crossed her arms. Watchful. Quiet.
"I didn't know you were back," Ha-eun said.
"Surprise." Jiyoung laughed, then glanced down.
"Oh..." She crouched slightly, eyes narrowing. "Wait—are these K.J. Seoul?"
Ha-eun stiffened.
"I—I don't know," she said too fast.
"No, they are," Jiyoung insisted, tapping the soft leather. "I saw these in GRAZIA. Limited drop, sold out in hours. Where did you get them?"
Before Ha-eun could answer, Rina stepped forward, voice flat. "Why do you care?"
Jiyoung didn't flinch. "I just noticed. That's all."
But her gaze lingered, calculating. They all felt it, even if no one said it aloud.
The viral photo. The worn-out sneakers. The flood of online mockery.
And now, this.
Ha-eun's phone buzzed in her hand. Jiyoung's eyes flicked toward the screen.
"Oh?" she said, all sweetness. "Seo Jun?"
Heat flared in Ha-eun's cheeks as she turned the phone slightly away.
"So it is true," Jiyoung murmured. "You're the girl from the photo."
"I never said that."
"You didn't have to. I recognized you the second I saw it."
Ha-eun glanced at Rina, whose jaw was clenched.
"I mean, wow." Jiyoung smiled. "The Seo Jun. I saw the fan pics too. That trip wasn't public, right?"
"It wasn't... planned," Ha-eun said quietly.
Rina stepped closer. "You seem very invested."
"I'm curious. Wouldn't you be?"
"No," Rina snapped. "Not when curiosity stinks of envy."
Jiyoung's smile thinned, but she let it pass. "Relax. I'm just happy to see an old friend trending on Naver."
She brushed her hair back. "Oh—and did you see the actress? Han Ji-won? She went on air yesterday saying she and Seo Jun never broke up."
"Yeah," Ha-eun muttered. "I saw."
"Messy," Jiyoung whispered, voice gleaming with faux concern. "Aren't you worried?"
Ha-eun stared down at her shoes.
"I'm staying in Korea for a while," Jiyoung added. "Maybe I'll run into him too. Korea is so small."
"We should go," Rina said, already walking. "We have work."
Jiyoung moved in for another hug. "We'll catch up soon, okay? You can tell me everything, and I'll tell you all about Tokyo."
Ha-eun nodded stiffly.
Jiyoung winked. "Tell Seo Jun I'd love to meet him sometime."
The moment she disappeared down the road, Rina muttered, "Stay away from her."
"She's my childhood friend."
"She's not anymore."
"That's harsh."
"No—it's honest." Rina didn't stop walking. "Don't talk about him in front of her. Don't bring up his name. And don't you dare introduce them."
"You're overreacting."
"She's calculating, Ha-eun."
"You don't know that."
"I do." Rina's voice was cold now. "Girls like her smell opportunity. You've got a spotlight on you, and the moths are circling."
They were almost at their house when a voice called from behind.
"Excuse me!"
A girl in a mask and bucket hat stepped in front of Ha-eun, holding up her phone. The screen showed a blurry photo, Ha-eun outside Seo Jun's van, just before the trip to his grandmother's.
"This is you, right?" the girl asked breathlessly. "I knew it. The eyes—it's you!"
Ha-eun felt her heart punch against her ribs.
"I think you've got the wrong person," she said calmly.
The girl's face dropped in disappointment.
Before she could protest, Rina grabbed Ha-eun's wrist. "Let's go."
Inside the house, the world finally quieted. Rina exhaled hard.
"You need to be more careful."
"I know."
Rina leaned. "And Jiyoung? She's not just some girl from your past. She's competition now."
Ha-eun looked down at her shoes.
What had changed?
Was it really all because of him?
Because she'd stepped out of her quiet, invisible life into a world where strangers whispered her name, and sneakers became symbols?
Where old friends measured her worth by the company she kept?
"Do you ever regret it?" Rina asked softly.
Ha-eun blinked. "What?"
"Letting him in."
Ha-eun didn't answer.
Because the truth was already forming in the back of her throat.
She didn't regret Seo Jun.
She regretted the spotlight that followed him.
——-
The house was quiet.
The kind of hush that settles only when the rest of the world keeps moving, and you've managed to step just outside of it.
The private residence nestled into the hillside belonged to an old friend of Seo Jun's label. It was discreet, tucked behind trees thick enough to muffle even the sound of Seoul's breath. No cameras. No crowds. Just stone floors, deep leather couches, and the low hum of jazz slipping from an old turntable.
Seo Jun leaned into a low armchair, a chilled bottle of Chamisul sweating on the table beside him. The cap already flicked off. Next to him, Gu Min Jae sat cross-legged on the rug, stirring Grapefruit Soju into a tall glass of ice and sliced oranges. He slurped through a straw, smirking like he knew something.
"Okay," Min Jae said. "So tell me."
Seo Jun raised an eyebrow. "Tell you what?"
"Don't act like I didn't see you checking your phone every five minutes. You're pretending this is about Ji-won's interview, but it's not."
Seo Jun exhaled. "She's lying."
"I know that."
"We were never together."
"Doesn't matter. She said you never broke up because—what was it?—'there was nothing to break.' She made it sound like you two are still a couple."
"Because she wants the attention. Always has."
Min Jae swirled his drink. "You didn't look this annoyed when Dispatch caught you with her in 2019."
"I didn't care then. My agency told me to go along with it. Exposure, they said. I didn't have a choice."
"But you do now," Min Jae said.
Seo Jun didn't respond. He glanced at his phone again. Headlines still bloomed: K-Drama Sweetheart Han Ji-won Hints She's Still Dating K-Pop's Golden Boy.
He locked the screen.
Min Jae tilted his head. "So if this isn't about Ji-won..."
Seo Jun hesitated.
Then, quietly: "I think I'm catching feelings."
Min Jae stopped mid-sip. "For who?"
Seo Jun smiled to himself, like the name alone tasted private.