Chapter 22: A friend or an enemy

"Chunhee? What's wrong, Chunhee? Please open this door."

"Are you okay, Chunhee?"

"Chunhee? Chunhee! Please, say something or we'll have Youngjae kick this door open now!"

Chunhee braced himself as he opened the door. He glanced at his friends - watching their horrified faces turn blank as soon as he looked at them.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened his lips and uttered, "I'm–I'm sorry. I was just… too shocked… and excited..."

Excited my butt, Chunhee thought inside. Of course, it was just pretense. He couldn't tell any of these people what truly happened and what he felt. Not now, most especially, when Chunhee already knew the truth. At least, one of the many truths he still had to find out and face himself.

Slowly, the tense shoulders of Daehyun and Jinho relaxed as they both sighed.

Jinho was the first to speak. "Chunhee, why don't you sit down first? We know you're too excited right now but don't forget you're still in the process of recovery."

"He's right, Chunhee," Daehyun commented as he walked towards Chunhee and assisted him back to the bed. "Take it easy, okay? Besides, your engagement will be held in three days. You still have time to prepare."

"Right, you might get a heart attack if you feel or think too much. Just relax. No one's going to come and get you," Jinho further encouraged.

"He's in the hospital so he'll be fine," Youngjae, for the first time, spoke. He took large steps and only stopped as he stood by Chunhee's side.

Chunhee, who was already on the bed at the time, looked up and met Youngjae's eyes.

Youngjae looked back, his eyes seemingly holding the same intensity as Chunhee's eyes did.

As if they could understand and read what the other meant to say, Youngjae uttered, "It'll be best to give him time to rest."

Daehyun and Jinho halted, their grin disappearing as they glanced at each other before looking at Chunhee.

Noticing how Chunhee didn't say anything at that, Daehyun cleared his throat, "Hm, right. Right, of course. Let's head out first so Chunhee can rest." Then he looked at Chunhee and gently asked, "Chunhee-ah, are you sure you'll be fine on your own?"

Chunhee glanced at Younjae for a brief moment before he turned to Daehyun and Jinho, a smile plastered on his face. "Y-Yes, I'm fine. And I think you're all correct. I really should calm myself and try not to be overly excited."

Daehyun nodded, "You should. And if you're thinking about Yujin, there's no need to be anxious."

Jinho nodded, "Yeah. We all know him. He is a man of his word."

Chunhee's fingers subconsciously gripped the white sheets on his body. "Yeah, of course… I know that..."

Soon, the familiar voices disappeared and the door of the hospital room closed. As soon as it did, Chunhee shut his eyes and let out the deep and shaky breath he had been holding the entire time. The clenched hands slowly unclenched and clenched back again. His head slowly turned up as he opened his eyes, his face expressionless as he stared at the door pointedly.

It was one of them.

The 'voice', the mysterious caller, who communicated with Chunhee said so itself.

The person in that future, the one who betrayed Chunhee by having an affair with Yujin, the friend whom Chunhee trusted through and through – he was one of those three people. Who among them was a question Chunhee wanted to know but this wasn't answered nor was it the main question Chunhee first thought about. Instead, it was the question – why.

Why did that friend betray Chunhee? What was his purpose in tearing Chunhee and Yujin apart? Why did he choose to break Chunhee's heart as if it was nothing?

Did he hate Chunhee all this time?

Chunhee's eyes were wide open as he stared at the white sheets on his lap, the realization making him sweat on cold ice.

Daehyun, Jinho, and Youngjae… One of them was secretly hating Chunhee even at this time, wasn't he?

At the thought, Chunhee's heart couldn't help but feel a little throb. Little by little, a strained smile appeared on his face.

Just who was he kidding, thinking that there was a chance he could create a happy and safe life this time? It wasn't possible.

The mysterious caller said so himself. It wasn't possible to live a life that wasn't "Han Chunhee". At least not before his marriage to Yujin.

He wasn't able to explain anything further earlier but Chunhee knew the more he spoke to this caller, the easier this "fated plot" would be for him.

"If you don't want any more accidents to happen, whether to you or anyone you care about, you will listen to every word I say," the caller said back then.

Chunhee was confused but he had to listen. There was no time to ask questions either. And somehow, the way the caller spoke reminded Chunhee of something strangely familiar – too familiar that it oddly calmed him down even.

That caller held that robotic, static noise in a deserted island, feel when he called Chunhee's name. "Han Chunhee, listen carefully. In three days' time, you and Park Yujin will be engaged. On that day, you need to make it evident that you love Park Yujin and are overly attached to him like your original role is supposed to be. Be it highly visible, not just to him, but to everyone else at the gathering."

"And if I don't?" Chunhee dared to ask.

But the caller was more brutal and direct. "Then you will die."

The static sound doubled and started to blur the words being spoken but Chunhee managed to catch them all. There was no way he couldn't.

"Not in the future anymore, but as soon as you say no… If you don't get engaged with Park Yujin within three days, you will meet another accident and die. If you don't believe me, you can take a look at the venue of your party. Spot it and you will meet a similar accident if the major point is not crossed. You can see for yourself whether I'm lying or not… And one more thing. You can't trust anyone in your circle of friends."

Chunhee's blood turned cold. He had the feeling he wouldn't like the following words of this caller. "Why?"

"Because one of them wishes you to disappear," was another brutal answer from the mysterious caller.

Chunhee's face turned blank. "Wishes for me to disappear…?"

"Your heartbreaking guess right now is correct. Yes, I'm telling you that is exactly the case. One of them is the person who will betray you in the future, your friend who is a traitor, a cheater – the wrecker in your love story with Park Yujin."

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