I followed Haejun down the corridor, neither of us filling the silence.
His shoulders remained rigid as we descended the stairwell, each footfall precise and measured. The space between us stayed fixed—two meters, no more, no less.
Perfectly maintained distance.
We made it halfway down the stairs before he spoke.
"You shouldn't be here."
I stopped.
There it was.
"Excuse me?"
Haejun glanced back, his expression unreadable in the dim stairwell lighting.
"You collapsed on stage."
Oh.
I'd completely misinterpreted him.
Not jealousy about the room.
Not resentment about my promotion.
This.
"The doctor cleared me," I said carefully.
"Doctors clear people to leave hospitals. That doesn't mean they clear them to compete."
"She did both."
His jaw tightened.
"Of course she did."
The bitterness in those three words landed sharp.
I climbed down until we stood on the same landing.
"You think I should've stayed in the hospital?"
