"And right now, the 'top dog' standing next to Go Yohan… is you."

"……."

"I’ve always wondered why that was. What’s your case? Objectively speaking, you’re not on equal footing with him. You’re below. The answer was simple. Instincts always come from the subconscious."

"……Then, what do you think my case is?"

"I didn’t want to say this."

The voice, once filled with certainty, softened into something faint.

"I’m genuinely afraid of Go Yohan. I want to be careful. I’m just an ordinary high schooler, after all."

Shin Jaehyun clearly had a genius-level ability to read the flow of conversations.

Maybe it was because of the prolonged bullying he endured when he was younger. That thought crossed my mind. But there was one thing Shin Jaehyun overlooked. I’ve spent my whole life pretending. No matter how angry I was, I never crossed the line. No matter how much I hated something, I never let it show. Just like Jaehyun has his assets, I have my own.

"Jaehyun."

I knew how to charm people.

"…You’re sharp."

I was good at pretending to be genuinely surprised. I lowered my head, clutching my chest tightly with my hand—for added dramatic effect.

"I never even considered it that way before. You really caught me off guard."

"That’s just from living my whole life watching my peers. Especially through the chaos of puberty. In a foreign country, no less."

"…I see."

When Shin Jaehyun gave me a soft smile, I smiled back lightly and added, almost in a whisper:

"…Yeah. I was just putting on a front. I’m scared of Go Yohan too. Sorry for acting tough."

As expected, the world’s best at playing the victim—Kang Jun. I mimicked the look of a frightened high schooler. It wasn’t hard. What I just said wasn’t a lie. It was just… exaggerated truth. From what I’ve seen, Shin Jaehyun has a soft spot for people he pities.

"But I believe you’ll understand. You know me, Jaehyun. You know what I’ve been through. How Go Yohan has treated me."

"…Kang Jun."@@novelbin@@

"You must’ve helped me because you understood. You saw that we shared a similar experience. And you didn’t even mention it, not wanting to make me feel burdened. I know that too."

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