bad desire | sim jaeyun

twenty-eight🦇

Jake didn't say anything at first. But then he perked up, eyebrows raised, as if Sunghoon's word had just sunk in. "Why? Cuz you've fallen for me?"

"NO-" Sunghoon snapped, cheeks warming. "Just... listen please."

Jake held up his hands as if surrendering. "Okay, okay."

Sunghoon exhaled shakily.

"You're not what he said you were. Not even close. But if I don't go through with it... then I'm not just disappointing my father. I'm a disgrace to the entire Park clan. And I can't- I can't do that."

Jake studied him for a moment. Not mockingly nor teasingly.

"I get that," he said softly. "But, Hoon-"

"Don't call me Hoon."

"Fine, Sunghoon," Jake sighed, rolling his eyes. "Look... if you really want to kill me, go ahead."

Sunghoon's head snapped toward him. "What?"

Jake shrugged, expression strangely gentle.

"If that's what you truly want, then do it. Or you can try. But just so you know..."

He nudged Sunghoon's knee with his own.

"It's your life. Not your father's or your clan's."

Sunghoon froze.

"No one gets to force you into anything," Jake continued.

"And if your father thinks you're a disappointment because you chose your own path? Then he's the bigger disappointment, for thinking so little of his own son."

Those words hit hard. Sunghoon didn't know what to say.

Because for the first time in his life... someone wasn't telling him what he had to be.
Someone was telling him what he could be.

Someone who was supposed to be his enemy.

Back in the present, Sunghoon ran a hand through his hair, heart twisting painfully.

How was he supposed to kill someone like Jake?

Sunghoon didn't even have time to wipe the exhaustion from his eyes before his bedroom door burst open.

"Sunghoon!" his father thundered, voice slicing through the quiet like a blade. "What the hell is this?!"

He shoved his phone into Sunghoon's hands.

A news article glared up at him. Red emergency tape, crowds in chaos, a woman dead. {eople screaming about a cannibal at the mall. The description made Sunghoon's blood run cold.

Heeseung.

It had to be.

But before he could breathe, his father barked, "Obviously demon work. I warned you this would happen. And I warned you that Jaeyun would escalate if you didn't deal with him!"

Sunghoon shook his head instantly. Too fast. Too instinctive.

"No. It-It can't be him."

His father's head snapped toward him. "And how would you know that?"

"I just-he-" But saying he saved me felt too fragile to voice.

His father's eyes hardened, fury simmering. "It's clear you haven't done what you promised. Again."

Sunghoon clenched his fists. "If you're so worked up about it, why can't you do it yourself?"

The room went dead silent.