That Face Is the Problem - vanish into fiction

“Then, um, do your best. Da-sol isn’t such a bad person. His words can be harsh, but once he warms up to you, he’ll treat you well… probably? Good luck, Jae-gyeong.”

Hyeon Hee-ro spoke lightly without making eye contact with Jae-gyeong and ran to the entrance. Then, clinging to Jeong-eon like a cicada, he whined, “Da-sol is way too scary, Jeong-eon…”

“Then, Jeong Jae-gyeong, I wish you success. We’ll be going now.”

Jeong-eon bowed his head in farewell and left, Hyeon Hee-ro clinging to him. The door closed and the lock clicked. The house was left with a truly terrifying silence.

‘Wishing me success…’

Even Jeong-eon’s words predicted that the training camp with Da-sol would not be easy. Even Jeong-eon, whom Da-sol trusted and was closest to!

Jae-gyeong quietly sat on the sofa before getting up and trudging through the wide house. He entered the largest room where Da-sol had gone and the room farthest away, closing the door carefully behind him.

Still, worried that closing the door completely might be rude to Da-sol (even though Da-sol had already locked himself in), he left it slightly ajar. He felt pathetic and miserable, but if Da-sol got upset and whined, only Jae-gyeong would suffer. Yes, that was the reason. It definitely was not because he was scared of Da-sol.

Jae-gyeong curled up on the bed. A single tear he had held back fell onto the pillow.

‘Da-sol doesn’t resemble Da-in at all…!’

He bit his lip and cursed Da-sol in his thoughts. A few seconds later, he adjusted his wording and cursed again.

‘He only looks like Da-in, his personality is nothing like hers…’

He was going to live in the same house as her brother for a week. Even though Da-sol had locked himself in, he would inevitably encounter him at mealtimes, when washing, or when leaving and returning. Would Jae-gyeong be able to act calmly and normally around Da-sol then?

On the surface, the cause seemed obvious. Da-sol was already sensitive, had a bad temperament, and disliked men. And a new male team member, Jae-gyeong, appeared in front of him. Weak-willed Jae-gyeong made constant mistakes under Da-sol’s presence, and Da-sol grew to dislike him more.

Anyone looking from the outside would say the two were incompatible, with clashing personalities, which explained the current state of their teamwork.

But Jae-gyeong knew the truth. One important thing had been missing.

The reason he kept making mistakes was not simple coincidence or personality. He kept thinking about Da-in whenever he was in front of Da-sol. His emotions were unstable, his heart raced, and he dwelled too much on the past. If Da-sol’s face hadn’t resembled Da-in’s so closely, Jae-gyeong wouldn’t have been so clumsy.

The real cause, the real problem, was Jae-gyeong himself. Specifically, his damn unrequited love. The love he had vowed to end, cried over, and shouted about had still not ended. That was the problem.

Jae-gyeong sprang up from the bed. He sat cross-legged and took a deep breath. He needed to calm himself and think.

If things continued this way with Da-sol, as Hyeon Hee-ro and Jeong-eon warned, dangerous situations could occur during dungeon raids. Someone might even die. That someone would likely be Jae-gyeong himself, the tank who couldn’t receive healing.

‘First, I need to firmly imprint in my subconscious that Da-sol is not Da-in.’

He knew it in his head, but what if his heart kept making mistakes? The answer was simple. He just had to make his heart understand too.

Jae-gyeong took about ten more deep breaths, paced around the room a few times, and followed a YouTube video titled ‘20-Minute Heart-Calming Stretching.’ Only then did he open the slightly ajar door fully and step outside.

“Phew… I can do this, I can do this. Heart, you need to know too. Until you get it, I’ll face Da-sol directly and see what kind of person he really is.”

Please… let’s reach some compromise quickly.

Jae-gyeong steeled himself and shakily approached Da-sol’s room. He intended to have dinner together and hold a serious conversation. Then his heart would naturally recognize that Da-sol was a completely different person from Da-in.

He took a final deep breath and raised his fist to knock. Just then, the door suddenly opened.