Later that evening, when Jaewon was alone, his phone buzzed with a message from Maya.
Maya: Did you do it?
He hesitated, fingers hovering over the screen. Then he typed back.
Jaewon: Yeah...I got some money.
Maya: Good. See? It's easy, isn't it? Just remember, he owes you. How much did you get exactly?
Jaewon: ₩7,500
Maya: Excellent! Let's have a dinner tomorrow at a fancy restaurant.
Jaewon: Yeah. yeah 👍🏻.
Her words unsettled him, though he didn't reply.
***
The next Day.
Jaewon met Taesan at their usual spot after school. Taesan looked visibly relieved, holding up a sheet of paper.
"My results came out!" he announced, grinning widely.
Jaewon felt a pang of guilt twist in his chest. "How'd you do?"
"I passed! And also, I got the second highest!!" Taesan laughed, practically glowing with pride. "I was so nervous, but it turned out great."
Jaewon found himself genuinely happy for him, yet a strange emptiness settled within. He knew that this was the friend he was supposed to protect, not take advantage of. The joy in Taesan's eyes was so sincere that Jaewon felt the guilt intensify, cutting through him like a sharp blade.
"Congrats, Sunbae. You worked hard for this," Jaewon said, patting his back with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
Taesan shrugged. "Couldn't have done it without you, honestly. You've been my rock."
Jaewon swallowed, his resolve cracking. He was already finding it hard to continue this facade, and each passing moment with Taesan only made it worse.
***
That evening, Jaewon met Maya behind the convenience store near campus, the place she usually chose when she wanted to talk privately. The streetlight above flickered, casting uneven shadows across the pavement.
He kept his hands in his pockets, shoulders tense.
"I don't think what I did today was right," he said quietly. "It didn't feel good."
Maya glanced at him, unimpressed. "You're still thinking about that?"
"He trusted me," Jaewon replied. His voice wavered despite himself. "It's not just money. It's him. I feel like I'm using him."
She let out a short laugh. Not amused. Just annoyed.
"Stop being dramatic," she said. "He's rich. A few thousand won means nothing to him. You're acting like you robbed him blind."
"That's not the point," Jaewon insisted. "It feels wrong. I can't just betray someone who's always been there for me."
Maya's expression changed then. The softness disappeared. Her eyes turned cold, calculating.
"Betray?" she repeated softly. "You're talking like you stabbed him or something. All you did was ask for help. If he's stupid enough to hand things over without questioning you, that's on him."
The words settled heavily in the air.
"He doesn't even realize when he's being taken advantage of," she continued, her voice lowering to a near whisper. "People like him never do. He'll never know. So what exactly are you feeling guilty about?"
Jaewon swallowed. Something about the way she said it made his chest tighten.
"Look, Maya," he said after a moment, trying to steady his breathing. "I don't know if I can keep doing this. I don't want to turn into that kind of person."
She crossed her arms and tilted her head, studying him like he was being unreasonable.
"Jaewon," she said flatly, "you already did."
He looked up.
"You asked for the money. You took it. You're standing here talking about guilt instead of returning it. So don't pretend you're still innocent." A faint smirk touched her lips. "If you've already crossed the line, why stop halfway?"
Her words landed harder than he expected.
Because she was right.
The line had already been crossed.
By the time she walked away, the street felt colder. Quieter. Her voice kept replaying in his head, calm and certain, like a fact he could not argue with.
Somewhere between loyalty and temptation, something inside him had started to shift.
And he was not sure which side would win.
***
As the days went by, Jaewon started keeping his distance from both Taesan and Maya.
It was easier that way. Fewer conversations. Fewer chances to feel cornered.
But distance did nothing to quiet his thoughts.
Late one night, long after the house had fallen silent, he lay awake with his phone glowing against the dark ceiling. Almost without thinking, his thumb opened Taesan's profile.
Photo after photo slid past.
Taesan laughing with classmates. Taesan studying at a café, sleeves rolled up, hair messy from the wind. Taesan smiling at the camera like the world had never given him a reason not to.
Simple moments. Ordinary happiness.
Jaewon stared longer than he meant to.
A tightness formed in his chest.
It looked so easy.
Supportive friends. Stability. A future that seemed already paved. Things Jaewon had spent years clawing for, Taesan carried so casually, like they were guaranteed.
His jaw tightened.
"Must be nice," he muttered under his breath.
The thought felt ugly, but it stayed.
Why did everything come so naturally to him?
Why did he always have someone backing him up, protecting him, believing in him?
His grip around the phone tightened.
Maya's voice slipped back into his head, soft and reasonable, the way it always was.
People like him won't even notice. It's nothing to them.
Jaewon swallowed.
Maybe she was right.
Maybe someone like Taesan would never feel the loss of something small. A little money. A little trust. A little lie.
He would recover. He always did.
The logic settled in too easily.
A faint smile tugged at Jaewon's lips before he even realized it was there. Not warm. Not kind. Just tired and bitter.
If the world had already decided who got everything, then taking a little for himself could not be that wrong.
Right?
The screen dimmed in his hand, Taesan's smiling face fading into black.
For a long time, Jaewon just stared at his own reflection.
***
The next day, Jaewon met Taesan with a smile that felt sharper than before. As they walked together, Taesan chatted about another upcoming test, his optimism palpable. Jaewon played along, nodding and pretending to care.
After school, Jaewon slipped into Taesan's bag and pocketed a few more bills, careful not to get caught. It was so easy, like Maya had said. The guilt was there, buried somewhere, but he had learned to silence it. Every little bit he took felt like a rebellion against a world he felt was stacked against him.
He told Maya that evening, boasting about the new shoes he planned to buy. She smiled approvingly, patting him on the back. "See? You're finally starting to get it," she said, her voice like honey.
But Jaewon's conscience wasn't dead. Every time he looked at Taesan's unsuspecting face, a twinge of guilt surfaced. It was a struggle, yet he was learning to ignore it, to bury it beneath the thrill. The lies, the sneaking around—it was all starting to feel like a twisted game.
Days turned to weeks, and Jaewon continued down this path, justifying his actions as he went. Taesan still trusted him, still relied on him, and that trust became a burden Jaewon resented more than he could bear. He wasn't just taking money; he was taking advantage of every moment of Taesan's goodwill, letting it build up like a debt Taesan would never know he owed.
And as his friendship with Taesan started to fray under the weight of his deception, Jaewon couldn't help but feel like he had finally found his own twisted place in the world—a place he was determined to hold onto, no matter the cost.
As the days wore on, Jaewon became more comfortable with his double life. The guilt that once gnawed at him had dulled, and he started to see himself as smarter, craftier—someone who could take control of his life by manipulating those around him. Maya praised him for it, encouraging him to take more, be bolder, and push the limits. He realized he had crossed a line he could never come back from. He had betrayed the one person who had always trusted him. But instead of guilt, there was only a sense of power—a realization that he was finally in control, no longer the loyal friend, but something much darker.
And in the end, that was exactly what he wanted.
——————— TO BE CONTINUED