What the hell had he been thinking?

Ye Jun briskly made his way home after his final class had ended for the day, his mind reeling.

It had already been three days since the karaoke night when Ye Jun had physically pulled apart Jong In and Si Woo, surprising all three of them.

The sunbae had merely been comforting Jong In, who had experienced an unexpected and discomfiting scenario at the hands of that annoying sunbae. Thus, Ye Jun’s reaction made no sense no matter which way he pondered it. If anything, Ye Jun should have been grateful to Si Woo. After all, if it had been he who had to comfort Jong In, if he had been the one to touch him that way, it would have likely sent the wrong message.

Yet the fact remained that he had been consumed by a gnawing, ugly feeling, and that feeling had been the reason for his action.

But why? Why had he done it? And what was that feeling?

“I’m going to kill him!” yelled a nearby voice.

Ye Jun paused for a moment then decided to ignore the voice as he continued to walk.

“Why? Are you jealous?” a female voice replied, and Ye Jun paused for a second time. “That’s the only reason you’d act in this way.”

Ye Jun turned to look at the couple. They were near a large tree behind the undergraduate sciences building, in a location where students rarely hung out.

“I don’t like seeing you together,” the man said in a tight voice.

The girl gazed up at him and Ye Jun could almost feel the tension in her voice. “What’s the point of being jealous now that we’ve broken up?”

The man slammed his fist against the tree and Ye Jun took an involuntary step towards the two of them when the man backed off slightly. “Yeah, whatever,” he said after taking a deep breath and walked away from her.

Ye Jun stood still for a moment, watching the woman as she gazed at the retreating man’s back. She looked dejected, but it wasn't any of his business, so he turned away.

Jealous. The word stuck out to him. Could that be it? Could he have possibly experienced jealousy that night in the karaoke room? That elusive emotion so many countless women had tried to evoke in him? That jealousy?

He laughed softly, incredulously. No. It couldn’t be.

How could he have possibly been jealous? And over a man no less?

He paused, suddenly struck by a thought. Who exactly had he been jealous of in that scenario? Was it Jong In? Or the sunbae?

He shook his head. No. No. What the hell was he even thinking? Why was he even entertaining the possibility? Jong In was his best friend and a guy. In all the years that he’d known him, Ye Jun had never felt that way about him. He had never seen him in that light.

And that sunbae…well, he certainly was beautiful.

There was definitely something about him that was undeniably attractive, even Ye Jun had to agree to that. Still, he too was a guy, and Ye Jun had only ever been interested in women.

He, who desired nothing, had no reason to feel such an emotion. Certain in his conviction, he began to walk again.

“Ji Soo told us to meet her here.”

Once more Ye Jun paused mid step. Though he hadn’t interacted with its owner very much, he knew that voice. Cautiously, he turned the corner. The sciences building stood right next to the law building, and Si Woo and Jong In were standing directly in front of it.

Why was it that he kept bumping into these two?

Ye Jun, who was within earshot, hid from view along the side of the building. He wasn’t sure why he was hiding. He had been doing all kinds of weird things lately.

“Have you given any thought to what we talked about last time?” Si Woo asked as he brushed a stray strand of hair from Jong In’s face.

Ye Jun felt himself tense up.

Jong In shifted a few inches away from Si Woo. “I don’t like how you’re c–constantly doing this,” he said, the irritation evident in his voice.

“Doing what?” Si Woo asked, seemingly unperturbed by Jong In’s reaction.

“Stop with the j–jokes.”

Si Woo smiled, and Ye Jun felt an odd reaction from within himself.

“But I’m not joking,” Si Woo said, leaning forward. He whispered something to Jong In that Ye Jun could not hear, and he felt himself gripping the corner of the building.

What the hell? Weren’t they progressing too fast? It had only been two weeks since he had proposed the plan to Si Woo and he hadn’t expected the man to move so quickly, though he himself was notorious for going in and out of relationships at record speed.

“Ye Jun-ah!” A hand slapped him on the back, startling him. Ye Jun quickly turned to see Ji Soo staring at him with an arched brow. The ghost of a grin that was on her face faded away to curiosity as she looked at him.

“You alright?” she asked.

Damn. “Yeah,” he replied a little too quickly. “You just startled me.”

She looked at him in disbelief. “That’s strange, considering you’re always cool headed.” But then a moment later, she shrugged as though she didn’t really find it all that interesting, “Anyways, what are you doing here, lurking behind the school like this?”

He tried to inch away from his spot to keep her from peering around the corner. “I’m just heading home.”

She nodded though it didn’t look like she was actually paying attention. He internally sighed in relief when she looked at him again. She suddenly moved forward, stepping past him to peer around the side of the building. She then straightened and gave him an odd look.

“Jong In and Si Woo oppa are over there, I see,” she said slowly as though she had just understood something.

Ye Jun quickly tried to think of an excuse for the question he knew was coming.

“Why are you hiding from them?”

And he wondered yet again why it was that Ji Soo could simply not seem to keep her mouth shut. “I’m not hiding,” was all he could say.

“You’re acting strange…Actually, you’ve been acting strange for a while. Now, I understand why you did what you did last year regarding Jong In, but why do you keep lurking around him? I even heard you guys were recently at karaoke together. If you’ve made the decision to keep your distance, you should stick to it.” She scratched her ear, and her face appeared as if she was thinking.

“Unless, of course…” she said slowly, “you can’t seem to help it.” This time she scratched her chin. “But then…why now? After all this time?” She looked up suddenly, her face shining with excitement. “Are you perhaps feeling jealous?”

A moment later however, she laughed, not giving him a chance to respond, not that he knew how to. “Ah, what am I thinking? We’re talking about you, right? The guy who is unbothered by anything. The 'Cold'…no, the ‘Ice’ prince.” She made a face. “What a stupid name.” Then she shook her head, “Anyways, if it was true, why would you be jealous now. Unless…” she paused again, her brows knotted, “Si Woo oppa?”

She gazed up at him with a strange expression. “Do you like Si Woo oppa?”

“What?” he said, surprise making the word come out more strongly than he had intended. It was hard enough keeping up with her jumbled train of thought, but her conclusion seemed to have come out of nowhere.

However, as usual, she simply continued talking. “I mean, well, it’s no secret that Jong In has feelings for you. But for you to suddenly have feelings for him after all this time, and after those steps you took to put some distance between the two of you...it’s unlikely you’d be jealous because of him. So, the only other variable is Si Woo. I mean, he’s pretty enough and a lot of people have fallen for him.” She made a face. “Though with his personality, I wonder how that happened.” Then she shrugged as if, in the span of a few seconds, she had decided that she no longer cared how or why people were attracted to the sunbae.

She peered at his face once more and he watched her closely, fascinated by the changing of her expression as her thoughts moved into yet another direction. “Ah, look at me spouting all this bull,” she said with a laugh. “Of course you wouldn’t have developed feelings for Si Woo oppa. You barely know him and you don’t like guys like that.”

She then suddenly leaned in towards him, her eyes wide with curiosity. “Right?”

Thankfully, at that moment Ye Jun’s phone rang. He couldn’t have contrived a more opportune moment. And using the need to take the call as an excuse, he bolted away from the all too inquisitive gaze of his smirking friend.