On Pause

※ This is a work of fiction. All backgrounds, organizations, and events depicted are entirely fictitious and bear no relation to reality.

His second older brother married his lover’s older sister.

Bound together as family under the name of in-laws, Lee Shin and Cha Se-woong crashed against the wall of reality, bringing their eight-year relationship to an end. Yet Shin, having rebranded himself as a mere friend, is acting strangely.

“Ah, I nearly forgot,” Shin said, breaking the silence. “Woong-ah, stop by my place later for a bit, will you?”

“To your home, sir?”

Shin offered an airy excuse. “There’s a delivery waiting at my door. What if it gets stolen? It’s extraordinarily expensive.”

Not only does he lure Se-woong to his apartment under the pretext of a package, but he goes even further.

“Wait, are you telling me the Task Force is pulling Captain Cha?” an officer asked in disbelief.

Shin replied with crisp military precision, “Yes, that is correct. I requested Captain Cha’s reassignment as working personnel to report directly to the Chairman.”

Exploiting his authority as a superior officer, Shin drags Se-woong right before his eyes. If that were all, Se-woong might have tried to endure it.

“I hear Major Lee has been going on arranged marriage dates non-stop lately,” a colleague noted.

“…”

The colleague leaned in, curiosity piqued. “Aren’t the two of you close? Haven’t you heard anything?”

Just what on earth is he playing at?

A couple who broke up, yet could never truly part. What is to become of us now?

“You…” Shin exhaled a long, heavy breath, barely mastering the tension that locked his jaw tight. It was a long while before his heaving chest finally sank back into place. “Your heart aches for a goldfish with a torn tail in my apartment. You lose sleep over some bastard who might be a spy or a defector worrying about his friend’s funeral. You even fret over how some dim-witted subordinate of yours settled his meal receipts.”

As Se-woong looked at him, his composure slowly began to crumble. The grip crushing his hand was growing fierce.

“Why can’t you look at me? Why don’t you ever worry about me, Se-woong-ah?” Shin pleaded, his voice fracturing with raw desperation.