Into The Thrill

"Yes."
"......"

"Hello. Please speak. You don't need to worry about eavesdropping."
At the mention of "eavesdropping," they all widened their eyes and stared at Haewon.
"Under the whistleblower protection program, I assure you that your safety and compensation will be handled. Further actions will be promised. Hello?"

The ponytail girl's eyes frantically shook with anxiety. Haewon silently put a finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet.
"Is it difficult for you to speak? I will begin location tracking through this number now."
Before Haewon could stop her, the ponytail girl, startled, ended the call abruptly.

"What is this? Is this the police? You said he was a scammer?"
"Yes, he’s a scammer. Why did you hang up? We need to hear more of what he’s saying."
"Is he a cop?"

"No, he’s not. Send me the recording to my phone."
The ponytail girl, clearly regretting her actions, grumbled under her breath, wondering if they would get caught by the police. Despite her reluctance, she sent Haewon the voice file. Haewon downloaded the file and played it, holding his phone to his ear, trying to hear his voice more clearly.
"Yes."

"Hello. Please speak. You don't need to worry about eavesdropping."
"Under the whistleblower protection program, I assure you that your safety and compensation will be handled. Further actions will be promised. Hello?"
"Is it difficult for you to speak? I will begin location tracking through this number now."

Haewon listened to his voice twice. It sounded like sweet music. He hadn’t realized before how soothing his voice could be, and listening to it now made him feel like he was hearing it for the first time.
How wonderful would it be if this voice called my name again?
No matter how many times he played the recording, the longing didn’t lessen. In fact, it made him realize just how nice his voice really was. Why had he let it go so easily? He had been foolish. Haewon forgot that he called to curse him, and instead, he listened to his voice as if he were savoring it.

"Hey, aren’t you the scammer? I can’t believe this. Don’t you think you should call and tell him it was a prank? What if the police really show up? Won’t they be able to track the number easily? Should I just turn off my phone?"
"Probably not. It sounds like a prank call, so they’re just trying to scare us. He’s a scammer, so of course, it’s a scam."
"The voice didn’t sound like a joke."
The ponytail girl and her friend bickered about whether it would be better to admit it now, whether they should just ignore it and pretend it was a joke. Haewon, meanwhile, kept listening to Hyun Woojin’s voice over and over again, more than ten times.

It wasn’t long after, as they continued drinking, when the door to the restaurant opened with a screech, and two men who looked quite intimidating entered.
"Is the owner of the 5502 number here?"
The ponytail girl’s friend slapped her arm in shock. Staring blankly at Haewon, the ponytail girl widened her eyes, and they exchanged a quick glance before heading straight to Haewon’s table.

"Is this the phone with the 5502 number?"
"Huh? Oh, no... How did you—? I’m so sorry, it was just a prank call. I didn’t think you’d actually show up. I’m really sorry."
The ponytail girl stood up, bowing her head as she apologized. The man, who looked frightening without even trying, let out a loud, exasperated sigh, and everyone in the restaurant could hear it. He muttered some curses as he made his way through the room.

The atmosphere in the entire restaurant became suddenly tense. The waiter, who had been peeling garlic, kept glancing at the intimidating man and then back at them.
The ponytail girl, pale as a ghost, turned to Haewon. She wanted him to say something. Haewon, watching her in this awkward situation, downed another shot of soju.
"Did you say it was a prank call?"

"Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d really show up. I’m so sorry. It was just a prank, really."
The ponytail girl couldn’t lift her head, still apologizing. The man pulled out his phone and made a call.
"Good work. This is Kim Seok-ho from the Public Safety Division. Yes, we found the phone, but it seems like it was a prank call. What’s the deal with this girl? She’s a civilian drinking. What should we do?"

He asked someone for instructions about what to do with the ponytail girl. It didn’t seem like this would just end with an apology. The ponytail girl was on the verge of tears, and her friend looked embarrassed, glancing at Haewon.
"But how did you know the number? Why did you prank-call it?"
He didn’t hang up the call, instead turning to the ponytail girl. She looked directly at Haewon, glaring at him. As her gaze met his, the man turned to look at Haewon.

"Give it to me."
Haewon stood up and reached out for the phone. Kim Seok-ho, suspicious, handed it to him. Haewon brought it to his ear.
"I did it."

"......"
He didn’t answer. His expression, compared to the one he had earlier, was completely different.
"I did it."

"Who are you?"
His words made Haewon’s anger rise uncontrollably, and at the same time, his heart sank. Here he was, feeling all of this, unable to eat, unable to taste even the samgyeopsal. But Hyun Woojin was asking him who he was. Haewon mimicked his cold tone.
"Don’t know who I am? Fine, you don’t have to."

"Give me Kim Gyeong-jang."
Haewon didn’t follow his order. He ignored the look of confusion from Kim Seok-ho, who was glaring at him, and continued to stare at the phone.
"Give me Kim Gyeong-jang."

"......Is that all you have to say?"
"Give me the phone."
"Is this my fault? Who acted in a way that would make people misunderstand? It was a situation where anyone could have misunderstood."

"Don’t make this a bigger deal, just give me the phone."
His cold tone held no change in emotion. His voice was steady, the highs and lows unchanged. He was consistently ignoring Haewon’s words and trying to exclude him from his life.
"......I’m sorry."

His voice trembled with emotion as he apologized, not for making a prank call, but for not trusting him, for hurting his heart. He was apologizing for not believing in him.
He was sorry and begging for another chance, hoping for him to take him back.
By the time the call ended, Haewon stared at the phone in his hand, lost in thought.

Kim Seok-ho, who had taken the phone from Haewon’s hand, gave him a perplexed look. His phone rang soon after. He answered with a polite, almost formal demeanor.
"Yes, prosecutor. Oh, I see. No, no, it’s fine. We were just nearby, so we thought we’d check."
Kim Seok-ho, usually stern and intimidating, now sounded overly polite, almost apologetic, like he was doing something he didn’t want to do.

Haewon, feeling cold and detached, could only reflect on Hyun Woojin’s distant voice. Despite his apology, Haewon knew the call had already been ended. He had been clinging to it, but Hyun Woojin had rejected him. His heart felt like it had been trampled on by strangers.
Kim Seok-ho whispered something to his colleague, who glanced at Haewon with a smirk before chatting away. Kim Seok-ho, looking serious again, turned to Haewon.
"Don’t do this again. If it happens again, you’ll be punished."

"Yes, I'm sorry. I'll never, ever do it again. Really. I'm sorry. Would you like a piece of meat?"
Feeling guilty for having made the police waste their time, the ponytail girl quickly made a lettuce wrap with thick slices of meat and handed it to Kim Seok-ho. His eyes twitched as he looked at the lettuce wrap. He grimaced and turned away with his colleague. As they left the restaurant, the quiet interior became noisy again.
"Hey! What the hell was that? You almost got us caught! Who did you call?"

The ponytail girl yelled at Haewon. Her friend, quietly grabbing her arm, whispered to her just as Kim Seok-ho had whispered to his colleague. The ponytail girl's eyes twisted at Haewon but soon softened with sympathy.
"What are you whispering about?"
Haewon asked, noticing their strange looks. The ponytail girl's friend tore apart a piece of kimchi with her chopsticks and said,

"You got put on a mental evaluation list, right?"
"What’s that supposed to mean?"
It was Kim Seok-ho's words. It seemed like Hyun Woojin had told the police that Haewon was undergoing a mental evaluation and that he was pranking and tormenting her as revenge.

"You don’t know what it is? Mental evaluation list."
"So what’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying my mind is juvenile and my emotions are juvenile?"
Haewon genuinely didn’t understand, so he asked. The ponytail girl and her friend burst into laughter, their stomachs aching with amusement. They quickly forgot about almost being caught by the police, now back to their lively, playful selves.

"You're really cute."
"You are cute."
"What is it, old lady?"

Since they weren't sharing any useful information, Haewon took out his phone and searched.
Mental evaluation list: A measure where a defendant is detained in a hospital or other appropriate place for evaluation of their mental or physical state.
"Fucking bastard..."

Hyun Woojin had told the police that Haewon was a mental patient. Hearing this, a rage that words couldn't describe swelled inside Haewon.
Who does he think he is? Does he think I’m clinging to him because I can't find anyone else to meet?
Thinking about how he had said sorry but still hung up the phone so coldly made Haewon even angrier. Those words weren't something you just casually throw out. They were words spoken when everything was laid bare.

If he knew how much I struggled just to say those words, he wouldn't have hung up so easily. If he knew how hard it was to say those words, he wouldn’t have treated me like a mental patient.
Haewon stood up abruptly, grabbed his coat, and ignored the ponytail girl shouting at him to pay and leave. He left the restaurant. He caught a taxi and headed to the casual bar near the hotel where he used to frequently go to catch men before meeting Hyun Woojin.
The place was one where people with specific intentions gathered, and without a member’s introduction, entry was difficult. It was a place mostly frequented by professionals with money, offering a low chance of failure and making it easier to get what you wanted.

Getting out of the taxi, Haewon pushed open the heavy glass door. The casual bar was mostly filled with people in their twenties to mid-thirties, with only a few seats left at the table.
Haewon sat at the oval open bar and ordered a blue margarita. A few men, seemingly friends, were throwing darts in front of a dartboard on one wall, causing a bit of noise, but the overall atmosphere was quiet.
After ordering the cocktail, Haewon went into the bathroom. Staring at his reflection in the mirror, the man he saw didn’t look like someone who would be called a mental patient. Haewon wetted his hair and swept it back. Looking at his forehead, he couldn’t understand how Hyun Woojin could have let him go.

That bastard thinks he's so great, but I’m not any worse than him.
"Sigh..."
Staring at his face in the mirror, which looked like a fool, Haewon sighed and shook his head. His hair, once neatly done, was now messy. He really felt like a fool.

He washed his ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ face with cold water. He was alone, hitting himself emotionally. Hyun Woojin didn’t care, yet here he was, being tossed around by his words, unable to do anything about it.
A light blue cocktail was already waiting for him at the spot where he had left his coat and phone. Haewon wiped his face with a paper towel and sat down on the stool. He took a small sip of the cocktail.
He picked up his phone and played the voice file the ponytail girl had given him. The music in the background made it hard to hear his voice, so Haewon held the phone close to his ear to listen more carefully.

"Yes."
"Hello. Please speak. You don’t need to worry about eavesdropping."
"Under the whistleblower protection program, I assure you that your safety and compensation will be handled. Further actions will be promised. Hello?"

"Is it difficult for you to speak? I will begin location tracking through this number now."
Listening to his voice again made Haewon want to cry. He hadn’t intended to cry, but now he felt as if the tears were about to spill over. He drank the rest of his cocktail in one gulp. The tequila burned as it went down, and a wave of thirst hit him. He ordered a beer.
Unable to take his eyes off his phone, he searched for the photos of Hyun Woojin he had taken a while ago. It was a photo of him asleep, his hair styled in a sharp part, which looked completely out of place with his serious expression. Looking at his face, Haewon couldn’t help but smile. He flipped through the photos with a small sigh.

I should’ve taken more pictures.
There weren’t many pictures. Haewon kept going back to the same one, staring at the clear shot of his handsome face for a long while.
I miss him…

He had treated him like a mental patient, but now he couldn’t stop wanting to see him. He had been drinking soju, cocktails, and beer, and his eyes were growing hazy. His posture faltered as he leaned on his elbow, staring at the screen.
"What did I do so wrong? Didn’t you know how careful I had to be with my words? Why is this happening now? Did my calling you a dog really make you feel that bad? If it did, why didn’t you say anything?"
If I had said sorry, would you have listened?

I told you I was wrong.
He mumbled, complaining to himself, his frustration bubbling out. He set his phone down on the wooden standing table and stared at the screen aimlessly.
Anyone who saw him like this would think he was drunk and sprawled out. But Haewon lowered his head to the phone’s screen, pressing his lips to it. He kissed Hyun Woojin’s face on the screen. And then, for real, he wanted to cry.

Someone once told him, crying helps you forget. As you cry, your longing, the resentment, the anger—all of it is swept away by the tears.
"Hey, are you okay?"
The hand that tapped his back made Haewon lift his head and straighten his back.

"You seem really drunk. Are you okay?"
"......"
Do you think I’m doing this because I can’t meet anyone else?

Do you know how hard it is for me to admit that I’m wrong? Do you know how important it is that I skip my violin practice? Do you know how big of a deal that is for me?
He was one of the group throwing darts earlier. With one hand in his pants pocket, he eagerly threw darts, rolling up his shirt sleeves to his elbows. He looked likable, and what mattered was that he looked younger than Hyun Woojin.
"Are you okay?"

He looked at Haewon with curiosity. Haewon mumbled confusedly.
"Are you okay? No, I’m not okay. Or, I don’t know."
"Yes?"

Haewon shook his head, muttering to himself, and he smiled widely, as if something had struck him as funny.
"You’re really cute."
"You are cute."

"Seriously, what’s your deal, lady?"
Haewon didn’t want to drink with his friends, and when the man asked, "Do you want to drink with us?" he responded, "I’m too lazy to go out."