Chapter 98

In that suffocating standoff, it was Ryu Do-gyeong who looked away first.

He gave Woon Seong-ha one slow once-over, head to foot, then said, flat and indifferent:

"Ah. Sae-i's seatmate?"

He said it dryly, almost carelessly, then rose from his seat. The unspoken signal was clear — he'd step aside, so Seong-ha could go back to his own place.

Something about that attitude scraped at Seong-ha's nerves. Seong-ha lifted the corner of his mouth and answered, deliberately clear and loud enough to be heard.

"Not 'ah, Sae-i's seatmate.' Friend."

"....."

"I'm Sae-i's friend. And we work together, too."

He put extra weight on "work together" on purpose. A childish little display — as if to say there was a world between the two of them that Do-gyeong knew nothing about.

Do-gyeong, who rarely let himself get pulled into anything emotionally, frowned immediately. His expression made it plain he found it…