1.3 – Turning Triangles into Circles
Inside a room where one of Mozart’s Divertimentos played at a low volume.
A husky, thin, high-toned male voice created tension in the air with a unique rhythm.
“Now, curl up from the hips. Please bend your knees. Push your hips up more… and! While straightening your knees… and! Now, keep your knees fully extended and slowly open your chest, directing your gaze toward the floor.”
With both feet hooked on the vertical sliding bar of the Cadillac, supporting my body by gripping the wool strap fixed to the top bar, I slowly leaned my body back following the instructor’s guidance. A groan mixed with admiration naturally escaped me at the refreshing sensation accompanied by the pain in my muscles.
“Beau-tiful, beautiful. It’s beautiful. Good.”
Seo-hae Hyung, the Pilates instructor, clapped lightly a couple of times as he moved from my feet toward my head. His soft, distinctive accent, which was exaggerated but never loud, had a strange addictiveness.
“I’ll take a photo in this position. Keep breathing, maintain your breath…”
Click. The mechanical sound of a phone mimicking a camera was heard.
“Good. Now slowly bend your left leg… toward the ceiling… hook your ankle, maintain balance… and stretch it out, beautifully. [unauthorized unauthorized copycopy]‘I am not struggling at all right now… I am as comfortable as if I were floating on water on a tube…’ Okay, one more photo.”
To act comfortable while my legs were spread at about a 100-degree angle in mid-air. I first caught my breath. Since my expression wouldn’t be visible in the photo due to the backlight anyway, I focused on the line of my jaw and neck, imagining I was in a pictorial shoot.
Click, click, click. This time, the shutter sound followed several times.
“Good, good. I’ve done it again today.”
Along with Hyung’s satisfied voice, I was able to put my feet back on the floor.
While I finished the workout with a couple of cool-down movements, Hyung sent the photos he took to Jae-woo. It was for the purpose of updating the company’s SNS.
Since the last update was a photo of me standing at the photo wall at the Nox Hotel event, it had been about two weeks without a new post. This was in contrast to Hong-seo, who managed his SNS personally and sometimes posted three or four photos a day.
Looking through Hong-seo’s account, which had over 3 million followers and averaged 100,000 hearts per post, I felt a chill at the scale of it before I felt envious or proud. If the friendly comments, which sometimes reached 3,000, were to suddenly turn into arrows of attack in an instant…
Even now, a significant number of malicious comments were mixed in, and Hong-seo was the type of person who couldn’t just brush them off and would suffer in silence. Thus, I couldn’t help but worry about him as he faced the weight of that number, 3 million.
Hong-seo craved success and higher heights enough [visit our site]style="position:relative;display:inline;">[stolen content]to endure and carry that weight and burden. Could I do that…
Standing in front of the dressing room mirror at the entrance of the bathroom, I shook my head. Not just 3,000 comments, but 3 million followers could become enemies in an instant. And based on what I had observed around me, that wasn’t a rare occurrence.
My workout clothes were completely drenched, making it difficult to undress. Peeling off the clothes with effort, as if forcibly tearing away a skin, I washed away the sweat with a shower.
Swimming, tennis, gym… after trying several exercises, Pilates suited my personality the best. I loved swimming regardless of the exercise, but I stopped going because the glancing looks in the locker room and shower room were burdensome. It was strange how I felt my recognition had suddenly spiked only in those places.
Since being introduced to Seo-hae Hyung by Yoon Ju-ho two years ago, I had been consistently managing myself with Pilates. It helped a lot not only with posture correction and basic physical strength training but also with balanced muscle development.
When I came out of the shower, Seo-hae Hyung was, as usual, preparing a simple snack on the kitchen island.
“Hydrate first.”
As I sat on the stool in front of the table, Hyung handed me a glass of drink he had just poured from the blender. It was a drink made of coconut water with kale and tomato.
“Thanks, I’ll enjoy it.”
The snacks on the plate were also just fruits good for beauty, like watermelon and cherries.
Knowing that my usual meals and sleep rhythm were irregular and that I relied on spicy and salty delivery food, Hyung had been horrified. He had told me that maintaining this physique and skin was solely due to the power of genes, and that I should thank my parents. He had added a glare and a pinch to my side, calling me obnoxious.
“At first, you looked like you’d been given a cup of poison, but now you drink it well.”
Taking back the cup I had emptied in one go without a word, Hyung patted my back with a proud face.
Tossing a cherry with the stem removed into my mouth, I picked up my phone. While habitually checking messages and calls to see if there were any new contacts, the corners of my mouth curled up slightly.
A message had arrived from ‘Team Leader Yi-han’ about 10 minutes ago.
《I guess you’re doing Pilates. You’re much more flexible than I thought.》
Rolling the cherry in my mouth, I typed a reply.
《You pretended to be so busy, but were you monitoring my SNS in real time?》
Five days had passed since we spent the night together at the Nox Hotel. Since I was an stolen contentactor currently off-duty, my schedule was relatively flexible, site" style="display:none;" aria-label="visit our site">visit our sitebut in the meantime, he had frequent business trips and overtime, making it difficult to coordinate our timing.
《It wasn’t me; my secretary is the one monitoring it.》
《Is that for real?》
《Hardly. I just get a notification whenever Jeong Ji-in’s account is updated.》
Ah… was there such a feature?
I was just about to pick up the empty bowl to spit out the cherry seeds when I noticed the expression on the Hyung sitting across from me was unusual.
“What’s with that face?”
“Who is it? Who is it that’s making you smirk and look so head-over-heels?”
“Head-over-heels, my foot… I’m just laughing because it’s funny.”
“I’ve worked out with you for two years, [stolen content]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[stolen content]and I’ve never seen you make a face like that. Who are you trying to fool? Did you not hear from Ju-ho?”
“Hear what?”
“About how I almost received a shamanic initiation.”
I had listened to Hyung’s chatter for the past two years, but this was a first.
Back in elementary school, a shaman’s house stood right across the fence from a friend’s house he had visited, and from then on, some kind of wandering spirit had been following him. That spirit followed him all the way to his studies in Canada, and while he was dating, it grew jealous for several days, nearly driving him to the brink of death before suddenly vanishing… Hyung’s story continued.
“That’s why I’m telling you, I almost had to undergo a shamanic initiation on Canadian soil.”
To think a spirit from elementary school followed him to Canada… Hyung was truly an extraordinary character.
Having finished his story, Hyung leaned his arm on the table and gestured with his chin toward my phone.
“Aren’t you going to check your messages? I bet they’re waiting.”
With that, he grabbed the fork with a piece of watermelon and left the table, adding, “Don’t mind me and just date comfortably.”
《Ah, was that unpleasant? I followed you because your account seemed open to everyone equally. If it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll unfollow.》
I had simply taken my hand off the phone for a moment to humor Hyung, but it seemed he took that as awkwardness. I rose from the stool and walked toward the window, quickly typing a reply.
《No, it’s fine. I just didn’t think someone like Yi-han would be interested in things like that. It was unexpected.》
《You’re right, I’m not interested. I only created this account this time.》
Hmm… that was essentially saying the account existed solely to follow mine.
It was the same when we met in Bangkok; his way of expressing interest was remarkably direct. It was better than playing games, pushing and pulling, and acting like a pro… but conversely, as someone clumsy at expressing emotions, I couldn’t think of a proper way to respond.
Since the account was managed by the agency anyway, it only contained standardized, boring photos that anyone could see. There was almost no exposure of my private life. Yet, imagining that he was watching from somewhere made me feel a heat pooling deep inside my body.
For the first time in a long while, I logged into the SNS account that I had left entirely to the company and rarely checked.
142 posts. How did these photos look in his eyes? Looking at them from that perspective, each stolen contentone seemed different. Looking at photos taken during Pilates, I was certain he must have had erotic thoughts. I gently bit my lower lip.
I felt like I understood the psychology of people who get aroused by what they see.
It wasn’t voyeurism, but I felt I understood the thrill of being voyeurized. I wondered if I was becoming too bold too quickly just because I had found a sex partner whose inclinations matched mine.
Vrrr. A small vibration sounded in my hand, and a notification window appeared at the top of the screen announcing a new message.
《You’re reviewing the list I sent, right?》
《Was that… sent in earnest?》
Turning away from the floor-to-ceiling window with its cool view of the Han River, I perched on a nearby combi chair. At the mention of the list, my palms grew sweaty, and I wiped them on my training pants.
The list he referred to was a table enumerating over 100 BDSM-related plays. He had sent the table to me two days ago.
《Since you seem to think signing a contract is too grandiose, we agreed to at least get a clear understanding of play preferences. I hope you’ll approach this diligently.》
The table, divided into about ten rows and columns each, had one site -->visit our siteplay listed per box. The marking method was simple: a circle for preferred plays, a triangle for plays one hesitated over but was curious about, and a firm X for plays one absolutely did not want.
《It looks like Yi-han has finished his checks.》
《If it’s difficult, do you want to cheat off mine?》
《No, I’ll pass.》
I thought I had clear likes and dislikes in this area. So, I thought I could finish the checks quickly without hesitation. However, the types of plays I faced specifically, one by one, were more diverse than expected, and my reaction to the table was also unexpected.
Collar play, food play, face sitting. And even spanking on certain parts… there I was, unable to readily mark an X on plays I had believed I had zero interest in. A curiosity was clearly emerging within me.
Even before the actual experience of the play, I was already meeting a stranger within myself.
《I’m not trying to take credit, but this is a necessary procedure for your safety, Jeong Ji-in, so please mark it honestly. I can wait as long as needed.》
What I wanted and what I didn’t. I had never actually had such a conversation with Yoon Ju-ho, my long-term bed partner.
Before my debut, when we slept together thinking it would be a one-time encounter, I was reasonably [Read on Read BL Novels[unauthorized copy]style="font-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">]Read on Read BL Novels -->satisfied with his quite rough style of sex, and I was quite surprised to find out later that he was a very famous, popular actor.
When we reunited after my debut, surprisingly, Yoon Ju-ho was the one being aggressive in trying to pull me into bed. Thinking that it would be safer to be with someone in the same industry, as the CEO said, rather than spending the rest of my youth just masturbating, I eventually accepted his persistent proposals.
Of course, I didn’t like all of his sexual methods. However, I couldn’t demand only what I wanted from a partner. That was a fantasy achievable only for the very, very lucky. Occasionally, Yoon Ju-ho went too far, but since he satisfied the minimum of my desires, I had roughly compromised until now.
It was vastly different from his method of trying to realize sex preferences treated as abnormal through an extremely sensible and gentlemanly procedure.
Had he always looked for partners this way? Discussing what was acceptable and what wasn’t in advance, and strictly separating ‘on’ mode from ‘off’ mode? If so, those partners were very, very lucky.
《Team leader, you must have great patience.》
《I have to, for things that are worth it.》
I pulled both feet, which had been on the floor, up onto the seat of the chair. Gnawing on my thumb, I pored over his message for a while.
The “worth it” he spoke of must be sex with me. A target who could respond to oppressive sex—holding tightly to flailing limbs, pressing down with his thick torso, and driving toward pleasure beyond common sense. If my appearance was also his type, it would be the icing on the cake.
Nevertheless, occasionally some of his remarks made me feel as if he wanted something more comprehensive visit our site -->visit our sitethan just sex. But for now, it was merely speculation and a hunch.
Before I could even reply, his messages continued.
《[Actually, there’s another real reason I contacted you. I’m sorry for asking so suddenly on the day of, but do you have plans for this evening?》
《Today?》
《Today. If you have plans, it can’t be helped, but if you’re free, would you like to watch a play with me?》
I thought the proposal to meet would be a request for sex, but unexpectedly, he suggested watching a play.
Unconsciously looking up, my face reflected blurrily in the glass window was smiling. It was the “smirking face” Hyung had mentioned. Still, it wasn’t to the point of being head-over-heels.
■
It was different from the shabby small theaters with dilapidated facilities I used to wander into alone shortly after arriving in Korea four years ago. The building, with an aesthetic structure that must have been difficult to design and construct, belonged to a single theater company.
Entering through the main gate, a small souvenir shop, a cafe, and an independent bookstore were located around a narrow but high-ceilinged hall. Following recent trends, it looked more visit our siteour site -->like a comprehensive cultural space than a simple performance venue.
There were still about 10 minutes left until my appointment with him. I began to feel glancing stares one by one and thought about waiting in a corner of the cafe, but I wanted to enjoy the rare visit to the theater a bit.
First, to find the location of Hall 3, I walked toward the guide map hanging on one wall of the hall. The building spanned two basement levels and three above-ground floors, possessing a total of three halls ranging from 150 to 500 seats. The play I was to watch with him today was being performed in the largest, Hall 3.
Actor Park Na-mi, 40th Anniversary Debut Performance
Under the title of the poster, which used the actor’s own handwriting, today’s protagonist was smiling with straight hair, streaked with occasional white, falling below her shoulders. The smile of one who is confident in the path they have walked, yet not arrogant in the face of life. It was a smile that not everyone could possess just by reaching that age.
What would it feel like to walk one path for 40 years and not regret that time? I could only vaguely guess that it might be a weight too great to be expressed by the word ‘feeling.’
My heart raced in front of the poster.
At the same time, I wanted to run away; I felt ashamed and uncomfortable.
‘I think plays would suit you better, why did you go toward TV?’ — The words Director Hwang Su-young aria-label="unauthorized copy">unauthorized copyhad tossed out, which felt [stolen content]like a sudden attack to me, became vivid within me once again.
My gaze slid down the wall from the poster to the floor.
《I’ll wait at the entrance of Hall 3.》
After sending him the message, I left the poster as if fleeing and moved to the basement. When I arrived at the second basement level via the stairs, the hall was already quite crowded even though there were about 30 minutes left before the performance started.
On one side of the hall, a large photo zone utilizing the poster’s design had been set up, and next to it, a booth prepared by the actor’s fans was giving away free bottled water and cookies. Everyone in the hall was enjoying the event in various ways even before the performance began.
He had asked me to dress moderately neatly since it was a place I had to visit to greet people for business reasons. I chose a casual suit without a tie, and most of the people wandering the hall were dressed similarly. The women had a similar vibe.
Though their attire was that of decent adults, their expressions were like children’s. When facing something they truly love, humans tend to break away from the education and norms ingrained in them and make expressions that purely reveal their emotions.
A few people seemed to recognize me, but they didn’t seem to have any intention of approaching. It was a tip I’d learned from experience that to make it harder for people to talk to you, it’s slightly better to be doing something than to just stand there blankly.
To kill time, I looked through the congratulatory wreaths lined up long beside the entrance one by one. Chairman of ◦◦ Construction, Managing Director of △△ Electronics, President of ▫▫ Holdings… they were quite flashy names for a play’s congratulatory wreaths. A wreath from a Nox Hotel official also occupied a spot. CEO and President of Nox Hotel, Yi…
“Did you wait long?”
My body stiffened at the voice whispering as he approached closely from behind and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. The distance was excessively close. The deep, heavy scent emanating from him was enough to overwhelm my breath for a moment. Turning to face him, I naturally took a step back.
He was also in a suit, without a tie and with about two buttons of his shirt undone. His face was slightly flushed, perhaps because he had hurried from the car.
“Ah… traffic was worse than expected. I wanted to arrive first.”
Because he made a truly disappointed expression as he said that, I ended up laughing. Even if it was just a silly chuckle, it was certain that he had a knack for making me laugh.
However, once he looked me properly in the face, his eyebrows twitched and he narrowed his eyes.
“What? Is something strange?”
“The glasses…”
“Ah…”
Unconsciously, I pushed up my black horn-rimmed glasses.
I didn’t want to look like I was making a fuss just because my face was somewhat known. Even if I wasn’t a superstar like Yoon Ju-ho, there were times when even basic activities were restricted. Baseball caps or thick-rimmed glasses were definitely effective. Since I couldn’t wear a baseball cap today, I chose the glasses.
“Jeong Ji-in already looks young, but wearing those makes you look much younger than me.”
His tone wasn’t one of dissatisfaction. Rather, like someone who had discovered an interesting sight, he moved his upper body this way and that, carefully examining my face from various angles. He was also wearing glasses with thin metal frames, and his eyes behind the lenses sparkled with serious curiosity.
I didn’t dislike the gaze, but it was burdensome.
Fidgeting with the jacket draped over my arm, I changed the subject.
“By the way. Was I the older one?”
“I really want to make this clear: I’m average. It’s just that Jeong Ji-in looks too young. One is a celebrity and the other isn’t. Let’s not compare our looks.”
“I’m sorry if it sounded that way. I didn’t mean it like that; I just asked to confirm because I didn’t know your age until now.”
To borrow the public’s evaluation, my appearance was on the delicate and flashy side. In contrast, his face was [unauthorized [Read on Read BL Novels]copy]unauthorized copy -->bold and decisive. They simply had completely different vibes, but it was clear that he was a great beauty. My subjective taste might have been mixed in, but he was not lacking even when compared to some male actors I had worked with.
“Hmm.”
As if he couldn’t believe it, he rubbed his chin and shrugged his shoulders.
I let out a short sigh and lightly placed my hand on the broad shoulders in front of me. Perhaps my action was unexpected, as he froze and widened his eyes.
“In Bangkok.”
“……”
“Why do you think I responded to your seduction? Since it’s certain I didn’t fall for your personality, have some confidence in your looks.”
“……”
After frowning for a moment, in the next instant, he was filled with laughter, struggling not to burst out. His broad shoulders were shaking as he held back the laugh. I had no talent for making people laugh, nor was I trying to be funny, but I was glad he found it amusing.
As the corners of his eyes folded, his gaze sparkled, and his cheeks rose, his usual [visit our site]impression, which could seem a bit aggressive, changed completely.
I thought about telling him that he definitely looks younger when he laughs like this, but I swallowed the words, smiling quietly to myself.
Just then, he bumped into someone behind him and was pushed toward me. Our chests touched, like passengers in a crowded bus. The feeling of the heavy scent rubbing off on my body gave me a momentary thrill.
Lightly grabbing my arm with a face still lingering with laughter, he said,
“Shall we go inside first?”
It wasn’t yet time for the audience to enter, but when he stated his title to the staff at the entrance and showed something that looked like a ticket, the staff member opened the barrier belt.
Entering the performance hall and following the leading staff member up the dim stairs, he stealthily grabbed my elbow.
“I’m four years younger than you, Jeong Ji-in.”
“……”
If he was four years younger, he was twenty-seven. Assuming he was a US citizen and hadn’t served in the military in Korea, his promotion had been quite fast. While Read on Read BL NovelsNox [unauthorized copy]itself was a Korean company headquartered in Seoul, he had said he worked at a branch in the US, so perhaps more unconventional appointments were possible.
Most of my mother’s ‘Mio Palazzo’ clients were wealthy. Thanks to that, I had seen such cases frequently around me since childhood. Young people who received a good education and had strong backgrounds, achieving social success earlier than others.
From the beginning, he had exuded the atmosphere of such a class. The natural power and ease characteristic of a person who has never known lack, has never experienced servility, and has lived with the power of decision.
But I hadn’t realized he was four years younger than me. It wasn’t a matter of his looks. The confidence, the ease, and the presence he exuded weren’t those of an average twenty-seven-year-old. Even knowing he was younger, I had assumed it was only a year or two, so I was more surprised by his actual age than by his rapid promotion.
So that’s why he seemed cute every now and then. It wasn’t that I couldn’t accept it.
We were guided to balcony seats on the side of the second floor. The seats arranged on the balcony, which felt like a narrow corridor, numbered only about ten. At the entrance to the balcony stood a belt-style barricade and a sign that read VIP ONLY. Our seats were the two at the very end, the innermost spots closest to the stage.
“Today is the opening day of the performance. These seats are reserved for those who support the theater company’s operations,” he explained, taking off his jacket before sitting down, having offered me the outermost seat. I nodded and looked down over the railing.
A single piano on the left, a dressing table on the right, and a black cube in the center. Those were the only props decorating the stage. My mouth went slightly dry with anticipation, wondering how impressive a performance the actor could deliver against such a sparse backdrop.
“Have you been to this theater before?”
“Hmm, I came for the opening production a very long time ago, so I think [visit Read on Read BL Novelsour site]this is my second time.”
The seats along the long balcony were all angled toward the stage, so there was no problem enjoying the show.
Unless they were proper box seats, balcony seats were usually unpopular and uncomfortable. This was because one often had to twist their body to see the performance, and in severe cases, some venues had sightlines where the edge of the stage was completely cut off.
“I haven’t been to every theater, but… I think the National Theater’s Daloreum Theater is the only playhouse in Korea I’ve seen with balcony seats arranged this way.”
“Well, it takes more funding to construct them like this.”
Musicals or operas aside, plays were generally not very profitable anywhere in the world, except for a few special cases. A play that could fill 500 seats was rare in itself.
Until the audience began entering and the seats filled up, he and I shared conversations of that nature. Despite our relationship being based on sex, I became so absorbed in the conversation that I completely forgot we were spending time together doing an activity entirely unrelated to it.
“I was grateful that you agreed to come along… but I’m glad to see that you actually like plays, Jeong Ji-in.”
Only upon hearing those words did I realize I had been chatting far too excitedly. It felt as disastrous as if I had been caught by the very object of my affection while suffering from the heartache of a foolish one-sided love.
“Your eyes look different when you talk about plays.”
“……”
“Even more passionate than when you talk about sex…”
Without realizing it, I gripped his hand tightly on the armrest. Surprised by my sudden action, he couldn’t continue his sentence. His eyes, wide with bewilderment, looked down at our overlapping hands. Only then did I pull my hand away quickly, as if I had touched a boiling kettle.
Just then, the owner of the seat next to him appeared. We exchanged brief nods and polite bows with two elderly ladies dressed elegantly.
He leaned over the armrest, bringing his lips close to my ear, and whispered lowly.
“I can’t tell if you’re open-minded or conservative; you’re impossible to read.”
I felt an irrational surge of irritation at his amused tone. I silently glared at his profile as he kindly picked up a scarf dropped by the elderly lady in the next seat. While I was pondering what to say to put him in his place, all the lights in the hall went out simultaneously. The play was about to begin. The noise that had been drifting haphazardly through the venue subsided and vanished.
He rested his elbow on the armrest between us and propped up his chin. Then, with a faint smile in the darkness, he lightly gripped my chin and turned it toward the stage.
“Don’t look at me; look at the stage.”
The approximately 50-minute performance was structured as a one-person show. It reenacted several representative scenes from her 40-year career, with the actress delivering asides to the audience between scenes, sharing episodes related to the works or her life at the time.
In the sense that one person handled multiple roles, the performance could be called a monodrama. The actress played the piano and sang, and she even performed whimsical dances. Though it was a one-person show, it wasn’t lacking in the slightest; it was captivatingly diverse even without elaborate stage sets.
As the performance moved toward its latter half, the script exquisitely wove her roles and her life into one tight knot, to the point where I couldn’t tell if each role she had played was fiction or her own actual story.
The climax of the play. All lights went out, and a single narrow spotlight illuminated her in the center of the stage.
‘People often ask me. How could I stand on stage for 40 years without taking a single year off? Didn’t I ever want to quit plays that don’t make much money? If I had jumped into theater because of some great ambition or sense of mission, I probably wouldn’t have lasted. But I just… I just did it. Like eating three meals a day. Like waking up after sleeping soundly when night falls. Just as there is no bird that doesn’t flap its wings, no fish that doesn’t move its fins. Because I couldn’t be Park Na-mi without acting, I did it just to survive. There’s nothing else to it.’
Having calmly finished her final aside, the actress began to sing a song composed for her by a long-time friend, a film composer, to commemorate her 40th anniversary.
Theater, acting, and I cannot be spoken of separately. We are already one.
That must be what she wanted to say. She was conveying that message through the play, through acting. A state where the self and the object are indistinguishable.
My earlobes burned with envy and shame. Sometimes, the sight of dazzling people [Read on Read BL Novelsunauthorized copyon:absolute;left:-9999px;">]became a thunderous reprimand in itself.
My gaze shifted from the actress on stage to the first-floor audience, to the railing in front of me, to my lap, and then to the man beside me. It wasn’t that I intended to look at him; he was simply there when I turned my head to avoid the stage.
“……”
His face was turned toward me, faintly reflecting the light from the stage. He likely knew nothing, yet even the gaze of this oblivious man felt like it was scolding and admonishing me. Asking if the place I was in right now was truly where I wanted to be.
“Are you bored?”
Leaning his face close to mine, he whispered worriedly. I shook my head. He had guessed wrong. I wanted a kiss. I wanted sex that was even more provocative than last time. I wanted to escape through that. Today was only our third meeting, but I already knew that sex with him could be an excellent supplement to aid oblivion. Moreover, exquisitely, he was always by my side whenever I craved sex.
■
Bending my waist to lean my arms on the railing, I looked down at the floor below.
People greeting Ji-in after spotting him late, people capturing the empty stage on their phones, people hurrying out of the venue… I watched the various audience members while waiting for him to return.
Saying he would briefly show his face in the waiting room, he had gone downstairs as soon as the play ended. He had suggested it would be better for me to [unauthorized copy]unauthorized copy -->wait here so that it wouldn’t be awkward if someone recognized him and spoke to him; in that regard, his meticulous attention to detail made him seem like a manager.
Either he was a person with ingrained consideration, or… he was accustomed to meeting people whose faces were well-known. Perhaps it was one of the two?
“Did anyone recognize you?”
I turned around at the sound of someone flopping back into their seat behind me. Just as he said it wouldn’t take long, he returned in less than five minutes. He ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up, and let out a long sigh. It felt as if he were announcing that today’s official schedule was complete.
“I’m not that big of a celebrity. But did you really go to give your congratulations without even a single bouquet?”
“I had them delivered in advance.”
“Ah…”
“You are a celebrity, Jeong Ji-in. Your standards for evaluating yourself must be quite high.”
In the sense that most people in their 20s and 30s knew my face, I suppose I could be called a celebrity to some extent. However, recognition and popularity were not always proportional. It was tedious to explain in detail, and I figured he wouldn’t be very interested, so I just gave a vague, appropriate smile.
He leaned his upper body forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Looking up at me with his hands loosely interlaced, he asked cautiously.
“How was the play? You seemed a bit unable to concentrate at the end. I wonder if I dragged you here for nothing.”
Soon, we were the only two left in the second-floor balcony. He was sitting in his seat, and I was standing with my back to the railing, looking down at him. Having returned from the waiting room, he was without his glasses.
“No, it was great to see a play after so long. Even though it was a one-person show, it wasn’t boring at all. It must not be easy even for young actors to carry a play alone for 50 minutes… I thought she was an amazing actress.”
“Her energy is no joke, right? She’s incredible in private, too.”
“You seem to be close with the actress?”
“To be precise, she’s close with my mother, so I’ve seen her a few times.”
He had studied in the US and seemed to have started his professional life at Nox in the US… so is his family in Korea? I felt I could ask that much, but I decided not to.
“Your schedule after this is still open, right?”
I nodded to him as he confirmed what we had discussed over the phone.
“Then, let’s go. I’ll treat you to dinner.”
“Dinner?”
He, who was just about to stand up, stopped his movement at my question. A mischievous smile slowly spread across his face as he turned back. Picking up my jacket that had been draped over the back of the seat, he glanced at me from the corner of his eye.
“Did you think I’d tell you to go sleep?”
“……”
Since our relationship was formed for the purpose of sex, it was naturally more intuitive for him to suggest going for sex than going for a meal.
Even though we had come to see a play, this was different from something like a date. He had an obligatory reason to be here, and I had simply accompanied him with a light heart because the timing worked out. This wasn’t a date where he had planned ahead and bought tickets just to spend time with me…
Sigh.
After listing a long string of excuses in my head, I sighed and stopped. I felt I had done enough deceiving and excuse-making for today.
I accepted the jacket he handed me, and he gripped the railing behind my back with both hands. I ended up trapped within his arms. He didn’t seem to care even as I looked at him with an expression asking what on earth he was doing. The scent of his perfume, which had drifted from my consciousness while I was focused on the play, was tightening its grip on my senses once again.
“I certainly want that too. But since you came out even though I called you so suddenly, I should repay the favor. And we still have to exchange our lists…”
Having said that much, he raised his left hand to check his watch and added,
“And it just so happens to be dinner time.”
In that gap, I slipped out from between his arms and began walking ahead. He followed closely.
“I’m told we can use the emergency stairs for staff, so let’s go straight down to the parking lot. It’ll be uncomfortable if there are too many people.”
He had said he didn’t know if I was open-minded or conservative, but I was equally confused as to whether this consideration of his was based on kindness or the practiced manners of a playboy.
We moved in an SUV that he drove himself. Since it was dinner time and rush hour, it took quite a while just to get out of Hyehwa-dong.
Avoiding Jongno, we detoured toward Dongdaemun, passed in front of Jangchungdan Park, and the car went through [visit our site]the Namsan 2nd Tunnel. Since the National Theater was very close to the tunnel, the conversation naturally shifted back to plays.
He was more interested in various forms of performance, especially plays, than I had expected, and he had personal views on the operating systems of theater companies and venues. He said he had visited Broadway quite often while studying and working in New York. His previous residence was now specified as New York. He had worked at the Nox Hotel New York branch.
“Broadway has many experimental plays, so it’s great for a change of pace and helps in keeping one’s thinking flexible. After I joined the company, they provided tickets every month, so I saw a performance at least once every two weeks. The company wasn’t going to give me the money back if I didn’t use the tickets, so it would be a loss not to see them. Have you ever been to New York? Since you like plays, I thought you might have.”
“I’ve been to New York… but Broadway… I didn’t have the chance.”
“Oh… really? I guess you didn’t go for sightseeing?”
“Yes, well… it wasn’t for sightseeing.”
“That must have been very disappointing.”
He likely noticed my suddenly darkening expression and dragging tone. He was the quick-witted type.
The bitter memory of a play enthusiast who had visited New York full of anticipation, having pre-checked which works to watch at what times from dozens of screened productions, only to leave without even setting foot on Broadway due to a tangled schedule… He probably viewed it as something like that.
In a way, that wasn’t a wrong guess. Fiddling [unauthorized visit our sitecopy]-->with the jacket on my lap, I smiled bitterly in silence.
“Ah, we’re almost there, but it’s congested here too. Are you hungry?”
Looking up at the red lights of the brake lamps lined up on the two-lane uphill road, he tapped the top of the steering wheel with an anxious hand. He must have changed the subject after noticing my discomfort.
“A little.”
“See? It was a good idea to come eat. I know very well that you crave sex with me more than food, Jeong Ji-in, but still, if your stomach growls right in the middle of setting the mood… that would be too much of a turn-off.”
“……”
“Aren’t you going to scold me? Are you so hungry you don’t even have the strength to scold me? That’s a problem.”
“I simply didn’t feel it was worth responding to.”
“Ah… why isn’t the light changing?”
Looking at his profile as he nonchalantly continued his teasing, pretending not to hear my words, I eventually let [visit our site]out a short laugh. He looked over and smiled back. It was an expression that seemed to say he was finally relieved to see my smiling face. Though I couldn’t explain it, I felt that warmth in his gaze and smile.
The interlocking gazes were no longer light. He sent a look filled with emotion, and I accepted it, communicating with him. It was only after the car behind us honked briefly that we realized the light had turned green.
He hurriedly started the car. Since the conversation had been constant until then, our silence was awkward. But it was different from discomfort. Resting my elbow on the window frame and looking out, I tightened my lips to hide a smile that somehow kept leaking out.
It had been so long since I felt this way. Whether this emotion would develop further or wither away at this stage, the mere fact that I didn’t feel any repulsion was valuable. I had no intention of rushing, but I didn’t want to be afraid either.
Turning right at the top of the hill, the car passed galleries, high-end tailored shops, and relatively small embassies, entering a quieter residential area. It was a familiar route.
I felt I should be the one to break the silence.
“Are we going to ‘Piano’ right now?”
“Ah… I thought you might have been there already. By any chance, have you visited recently…?”
“No, no. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there. It’s a restaurant I like.”
A white brick building surrounded by luxury houses with high walls came into view.
It had already been half a year since my last visit, when I came to have a meal with Jae-woo and Ga-yoon after
On the well-maintained lawn, round tables covered with white tablecloths were arranged with wide spacing. The outdoor tables, which operated only from late April to early October, were especially popular with couples. Even though it was a weekday evening, the outdoor seats were full.
A server, who was turning away after taking an order at one table, guided us inside. This was also an unfamiliar face.
As we entered the interior, the manager was exchanging radio messages at the information counter by the entrance. This time, it was a familiar face.
“Welcome…”
Noticing a customer’s presence, the professional smile that had appeared on her face almost reflexively shifted into personal delight. She immediately stepped out from behind the counter and took my hands in hers.
“Jeong Ji-in! What’s this? Why has it been so long since you visited?”
“Have you been well? Is it still always full?”
“We’re always the same. Pretending to be relaxed in the hall while the kitchen is a war zone… I didn’t see you on the reservation list, so what brings you here all of a sudden? Just stopped by to say hello?”
“No, my companion here made the reservation. I didn’t know we were coming here, so I couldn’t let you know in advance.”
Only then did the manager look at the man standing behind me; she quickly composed her expression and attitude, bowing politely.
“I apologize. I am personally close with Mr. Jeong Ji-in, so I was just glad to see him… Please excuse my rudeness.”
“Not at all. Please don’t mind it and feel free to greet him.”
Is it really okay? As she whispered to me, leaning in close, I smiled and nodded. Even as she guided us to the private room he had reserved, she kept her hand firmly clasped in mine.
The hallway remained the same, devoid of elaborate decorations and adorned only with photographs capturing landscapes from across Italy. They were all photos taken personally by the general manager and the owner-chef.
“The chef isn’t in today, only the head chef is. He’ll be so happy to hear you’re here.”
“If it’s alright, could I go to the front of the kitchen to see him for a moment?”
“Yes, let’s do that. I’ll ask him. Oh, the general manager is here today. I should tell histolen content[[stolen content]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">stolen content]n>m first. Just a moment.”
She then called someone over the microphone. In the meantime, I looked back at him and narrowed my eyes slightly to signal my apology.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m really fine, so please feel free to greet them as much as you like.”
Though he looked curious about the situation, he gave a generous shrug of his shoulders.
“He was attending to guests on the second floor. He’s coming down now. Why is it so hard to see your face? Many customers come looking for the ‘Actor Jeong Ji-in’s favorite restaurant,’ but the actual Actor Jeong Ji-in only shows his face once or twice a year.”
The manager was one of the founding members of ‘Piano’ and had been here for thirteen years. She was a veteran who wouldn’t have shown such open delight if the atmosphere had felt like he and I were here for a business meal. It felt strange to think that we, who had only met three times, appeared to be in a private relationship in the eyes of others.
We were guided to a cozy private room for two with a view of the garden. Even when I worked here, this room had been popular as a proposal spot.
“Today’s recommended ingredients from the head chef are hairtail and veal. Would you like guidance on the menu and wine?”
Just as the manager placed the menu books and wine lists in front of him and me, the [Read on Read BL Novels]general manager visited the room.
Since I stood up from my seat, he also stood up while fastening the button of his jacket, and we all ended up shaking hands. It wasn’t a formal introduction involving the exchange of business cards. I briefly introduced him as a new friend.
The general manager, in his mid-fifties, was an Italian from Campania, like me. He was in a same-sex relationship with the owner-chef, who was also Italian—a top-secret matter known only to a few employees. While the two were quite strict professionally, they had treated me, a fellow native of Campania, very warmly since my interview.
Despite the situation suddenly turning into a reunion with my acquaintances, he joined the conversation comfortably without any sign of feeling awkward.
“The general manager is from Southern Italy.”
“Is that so? Then shall we go with a wine from that region today? It would be even better if the general manager could recommend a menu that pairs well with the wine. Is that alright with you, Ji-in?”
“I’d love that.”
Home-town food and home-town wine. There was no reason to refuse. Moreover, the general manager was a considerable expert in the pairing of Italian wine and food. Hearing our conversation, the general manager smiled, his cheeks glowing reddish.
“Then, I would like to recommend a Fiano di Avellino produced in my home region. How about a Feudi di San Gregorio of DOCG grade? It’s not on the menu, but I can arrange a course combining a Margherita pizza as the first main and fried cod as the second. Both dishes are favorites among Campanians, so they will pair very well with the recommended wine.”
“I’d like to try that. What about you, Mr. Jeong Ji-in?”
“If Yi-han is okay with it, let’s do that. The general manager’s recommendations are famous for never failing.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Looking back and forth between him and me across the table, the general manager wore a satisfied smile.
“Then I will prepare the course with the combination I mentioned. As a side note, Fiano wines produced in Avellino are also famous as wines to drink with someone you’ve fallen in love with at first sight.”
“That’s an interesting story. It seems like useful information, so I should remember it well.”
Everyone burst into light laughter at his joke, as he nodded seriously with his eyes wide enough to wrinkle his forehead.
The ordering was completed in a friendly atmosphere, and he and I took our seats again.
To think that the place he brought me to, saying he would treat me to a meal, was ‘Piano.’
While it was a place that had maintained its reputation as an authentic Italian restaurant for a long time, there stolen contentEND: stolen content -->were plenty of famous restaurants. I felt excited, as if I had received an unexpected gift, by the coincidence of him choosing Italian—and ‘Piano’ specifically. Moreover, that feeling was manifesting in my expression to an unusual degree.
It wasn’t just because I was visiting ‘Piano’ after a long time. The sight of him mingling effortlessly with people I liked in a place I loved gave me a slightly different impression. For a relationship that started as a fling during a trip, I couldn’t deny that the more I saw him, the more he seemed like a decent man.
Resting his elbows on the table and leaning his chin on his interlaced hands, he was gazing at me. His face said that since he had waited patiently, it was now time to satisfy his curiosity. I picked up my water glass to moisten my throat and readily answered his unspoken question.
“I used to work here before my debut.”
“Listening to the conversation, I figured as much. Your Italian is very good, too.”
“Well… I lived in Italy for over twenty years.”
I had attended an American international school until I graduated from 12th grade, and most of my school friends, however shallow the relationships, were multinationals who spoke English. The guests who visited my mother’s hotel were the same. Therefore, despite growing up in Italy, English was more comfortable for me than Italian. And Korean was more comfortable than English.
It was likely a large influence from the fact that Korean was always used in family conversations from a very young age, beyond my memory. Even though my adoptive father was American, it was only when I entered kindergarten—the equivalent of preschool in Korea—that I began to learn English in earnest.
“You’re not surprised.”
He released his interlaced hands and replied, leaning his chin on one hand.
“The information that you came from Italy comes up if you search diligently. I didn’t know you worked at this restaurant before your debut, though.”
“……”
“Ah… did you dislike that I searched for you?”
Perhaps reading my silence and steady gaze as displeasure, he released his hand from his chin and straightened his back.
I couldn’t quite imagine him typing my name into a portal search bar. I didn’t think he was the type to have that much curiosity about others, nor did I think he would put in that much effort to satisfy it. It wasn’t because he was selfish or cold, but because I had the impression that he was a person who focused on himself rather than others, given his aura of abundance.
So it was just unexpected, not unpleasant. I shook my head several times and reached for my water glass.
“Even if it’s the first time meeting someone, the fact that the other person knows basic information about you… don’t you sometimes feel it’s unfair?”
His voice was calm as he asked.
I wanted to be an actor, but being a star or a celebrity didn’t suit my personality, so as he said, that imbalance stolen contentof information had always been uncomfortable. I had acted even more defensively [unauthorized copy]because I didn’t want to cause trouble for my family in Italy. However, in his case, it felt like affection rather than curiosity for the sake of interest, so I didn’t dislike it. Though that was purely a subjective feeling.
“The more I see you, Mr. Yi-han, the more I realize you have a delicate side. I thought you were the type to just push through recklessly.”
“I have times when I push through recklessly too. I’m just pretending to be well-behaved because I don’t want you to dislike me, Mr. Jeong Ji-in.”
“……”
Since these were unnecessary words for a relationship aimed at sex, I was at a loss for words. However, it didn’t seem like he was trying to test me.
Just as the atmosphere was about to become awkward, the wine was served. The tableware, glasses, and cutlery matching the ordered dishes were reset. After a brief tasting process, a clear golden wine with a greenish tint filled our glasses slightly.
“They say it’s a wine to drink with someone you’ve fallen in love with at first sight.”
I burst into laughter at his serious face as he proposed a toast. There were many small things to laugh about when I was with him. Forgetting the previous awkwardness, we exchanged a short conversation about the taste and aroma of the wine recommended by the general manager. It wasn’t an expensive wine. Fortunately, it seemed to suit his taste as well.
“You might know this, but the name of this place starts with an F, not a P—Fiano. I heard it was named after a grape variety that represents the Campania region. The Fiano variety is so widely cultivated and of such high quality that it’s called the crystal of Campania.”
“I occasionally find Terre d’Irpinia made from the Greco variety of the Tufo region, but this is my first time with this. I unauthorized copyRead on Read BL Novelsaria-label="visit our site">visit our sitecopy -->was wondering why it’s a wine to drink with someone you’ve fallen in love with at first sight… hm, I think I get it.”
He nodded and tapped the base of the wine glass on the table with his fingertip.
“I guess you like DOCG grade wines.”
“Not necessarily. I prefer wines with personality over those that are quiet and stable. As long as it fits my personal taste, I drink it well regardless of whether it’s Vino da Tavola or DOCG.”
Vino da Tavola. It was a term I hadn’t heard in a long time.
Vino da Tavola, the lowest category among the levels indicating the quality of Italian wine, usually referred to table wine. Wines whose origin, producer, or variety were unknown were also included in Vino da Tavola. A child with an Asian mother and a Western father should normally have been mixed-race like my siblings, but my appearance was purely Asian. Among the nicknames that followed me, the most malicious was ‘Vino da Tavola.’ It meant an adoptee whose biological parents were unknown.
At the not-so-beautiful memory, I lowered my head and gave a bitter sneer. He naturally changed the subject.
“The people you worked with seemed very glad to see you. Did you work here for a long time?”
“I worked for about a year and a half, but even that is quite a long career here. Not many people in Korea want to make being a restaurant server a permanent profession.”
“I guess you didn’t come to Korea specifically to become an actor from the start?”
“……”
It was a question that touched a core nerve, but such a question was a natural flow. Thinking it was a relief that there was wine, I took two or three sips.
“It’s true that I came to Korea to become an actor… but I thought it wouldn’t be that easy. First, I tried to find work for a living, but there weren’t many things I could do.”
I had arrived in Korea after booking a residence hotel for a two-week schedule. I had no intention of living abundantly with my mother’s support as I had in Italy. With the goal of finding a suitable residence and job within two weeks, I moved busily without a moment to breathe as soon as I arrived.
However, in the unfamiliar Korean society, there didn’t seem to be many things I could do. Since I had experience at ‘Mio Palazzo,’ I looked primarily for server positions at high-end fine dining restaurants. At that time, the most promising position was a part-time opening at ‘Piano.’
“Since I could speak a bit of Italian and was somewhat familiar with the cuisine and wine… the conditions fit well, so I interviewed here.”
“The treatment must have been good. Since it’s in the Itaewon area, there must be many foreign customers. Being trilingual, having a high understanding of Italian wine and cuisine, and on top of that, having such handsome looks—the pay had to be good.”
Without blinking once, he poured out excessive praise that made me feel embarrassed.
“I’m only capable of simple conversation, so ‘trilingual’ is…”
“We live in an era where people claim to be trilingual even if they only know greetings; isn’t that excessive modesty?”
From the time I received a business card from the CEO of UB, who had come to ‘Piano’ for a meal, to signing the contract and officially starting my work as an actor, the period I worked here was about a year and six months. In fact, toward the end, I received quite exceptional treatment. It was also true that the general manager and the chef wanted to hold onto me.
“In my opinion, if you had auditioned for an agency as soon as you arrived in Korea, you could have signed as an actor immediately. ‘Piano’ was lucky.”
Becoming a stage actor was possible in Italy as well. Compared to movies or dramas, there were almost no restrictions on appearance in theater. An Asian person could play a Western role as long as they wore a wig and makeup. The opposite was also true. It was a sort of agreement on theatrical permission.
However, I came to Korea to become a screen actor, specifically a drama actor on TV. As I told Director Hwang Su-young, the reasons were complex.
I wanted to leave home because it was painful to face my family, and I also wanted to make my mother happy, who was secretly proud whenever I showed interest in acting.
The vague hope that I might be able to find my biological relatives if my face became known was also one of the reasons.
But hope was accompanied by fear.
Even now, I couldn’t be sure whether I wanted to find them or not. I was simply pushing myself into a situation where they might find me someday and passively waiting for the result.
While I was lost in thought, he took the wine bottle out of the ice bucket and filled my glass. I had only finished one glass, but whether I was getting tipsy or becoming sentimental while exchanging old stories, I suddenly blurted out something I normally wouldn’t.
“Mr. Yi-han, do you happen to know that feeling?”
He, who was pouring wine into his own glass, gave me a look indicating he was listening.
“The feeling of wanting to find someone, but hesitating because you’re afraid a reversal of results, different from your expectations, might be waiting for you once you actually find them.”
“I know it.”
“……”
As if he had anticipated I would ask such a question, he gave an immediate answer. Then, he brushed the surface of his newly filled glass with his thumb. His gaze, looking down at the clear greenish liquid, was imbued with a longing for its color and depth, as if recalling a past lover.
“In my case, the longing is much greater than the fear. Because I know well that I cannot escape that desire anyway.”
“……”
“Sometimes I think the present exists because of that hope. Hope is like a bet placed on the future. One lives through the present just to see the result of that bet. Even if it’s hope accompanied by fear, it’s still hope.”
His tone wasn’t heavy. He didn’t seem to intend to delve deeper into the story. Without revealing the details of our inner thoughts, we empathized with each other’s stories and smiled faintly. Then, we clinked our glasses.
Sitting in ‘Piano,’ where photos of colorful houses crowded along the cliffs of Positano, Italy, were hanging and Italian conversations could be heard from the kitchen and the hall, while eating Campanian fried cod and drinking wine with him, I was able to miss my hometown to my heart’s content for the first time in a long while.
Choosing ‘Piano’ might have been a coincidence, but it occurred to me that his choice of Italian—rather than Korean, Chinese, or Japanese—might have been a consideration for me, as I am from Italy. If so, should I view today’s sudden meeting as something closer to a pre-planned date? Had affection and curiosity begun to seep into a relationship that started with an impulsive one-night stand?
Now wasn’t the time to be leisurely lost in such thoughts. Yet, the sensation of numbness, as reality drifted away, was undeniably sweet.
■
When we finished our meal and stepped outside, someone to take over the driving was already waiting. A man in a suit standing in front of the valet parking booth bowed as he spotted us, letting me know he was the one who had been arranged.
“The wine and the meal were truly wonderful… but it’s a shame you can’t drive yourself.”
His gaze, directed toward his SUV returning from the external parking lot, felt resentful.
Between his regret when leaving Director Kang Woo-hyun’s party last time and this, it seemed he preferred situations where we were alone in a car while he was driving. The more I saw him, the more I realized he had a subtly delicate side.
Though his first impression felt somewhat overbearing due to his appearance, he was easy to talk to once we started. He knew when to step back and how to consider the other person’s emotions or position in advance. Perhaps, as he said, it was the result of his efforts because he didn’t want to be hated by me. However, the world was overflowing with people for whom even faking such meticulous consideration through effort was impossible.
I didn’t want to admit it readily, but honestly, I hadn’t found any major flaws in him so far. He would likely be popular enough with women as a romantic partner. I wondered if he had any experience dating women.
I tried to find the answer in his profile as he looked askance at his car, but it wasn’t easy.
“You seem to like driving.”
“Well, it’s not exactly that…”
Squinting as if searching for the right expression, he paused, wrinkling the bridge of his nose. Meanwhile, the designated driver from ‘Piano’ was handing over the driver’s seat to his attendant.
Standing side by side, he suddenly draped an arm around my shoulder. As I flinched and tried to pull back from the sudden contact, the hand wrapped around my shoulder tightened slightly, pulling me in. Then, covering his lips with his hand, he leaned close to my ear.
“When other people are around, you can’t even say [stolen content]wm: stolen content -->the word ‘sex’ properly, Mr. Jeong Ji-in.”
And here I was, thinking he was sharing some grand secret. No sooner had I generously evaluated him as a delicate man than he started teasing me, looking utterly delighted. In moments like this, it was clear he was the younger one. I pushed his side and took a step back.
“That is called common courtesy and decency. It’s not that I’m timid.”
When I scolded him with a scoff of disbelief, he beamed even wider.
The car was already prepared to depart. Since we had left the restaurant without agreeing on a destination, we were lingering, stalling for time.
Because ‘Piano’ was located in a quiet, high-end residential area rather than along a main road, there weren’t many passing vehicles. His SUV was waiting, parked close to the high wall of a mansion facing ‘Piano.’ The green leaves of ivy, trailing long vines down the wall made of grey boulders of varying sizes, added a touch of the season.
It was obvious what I was expecting, even though I couldn’t bring myself to turn away and say, ‘Thank you for the dinner, goodbye.’ I was simply lying to myself, pretending otherwise. He was the same; he couldn’t bring himself to end the meeting with a ‘I’ll drop you home’ or ‘I had a great time today, get home safely.’
“Actually, since I contacted you so suddenly today, I didn’t expect you to agree.”
Still, it was he who first broke the hesitating silence.
“That’s why I tried [Read on Read BL Novels]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[unauthorized copy]Read on Read BL Novels -->my best to clear my schedule for afterward, but it didn’t work out. Our boss expects a lot from me.”
A face openly displaying regret was staring at me.
I see. So it ends here today. Fearing I wouldn’t be able to control my expression, I dropped my gaze to his shoulder.
“Can you give me just one more hour before I head back to the office? I’ll take you home after we have a cup of coffee while looking at the Han River.”
“If you return to the office an hour early, doesn’t that mean you can leave work that much earlier?”
“What’s the point of leaving an hour early? It doesn’t mean anything. Have coffee with me.”
Opening the rear door, he stepped close, grabbing my waist from behind. Due to the height difference, his lips were right by my ear, and I could feel his firm chest against my back.
Moved by his noble choice to pick a cup of coffee with his sex partner over leaving work an hour early, I climbed into the rear seat behind the passenger side, pretending to be coerced.
The car began to descend along the northwestern road of Namsan, the opposite direction from when we arrived. The sun had completely set while we were dining, and now it was time to enjoy the night view.
Unlike the limousine last time, there was no armrest between him and me. He turned his body toward me as much as the seatbelt allowed. The stolen contentback seat of the large [Read on Read BL Novels]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[visit our site]SUV was spacious enough, but the tips of his long, crossed legs almost touched my calves.
Resting his elbow on his knee and leaning his chin on his hand, he stared intently at my face, as if some interesting event were unfolding there. Whether it was his natural way of observing people or not, there was something almost desperate in the way his gaze slowly blinked and traced every part of my face.
“Want to see my list?”
Though the words coming from his lips were far from desperate.
I reflexively glanced toward the driver’s seat.
“Do you really want to talk about that right now?”
“What’s wrong with the word ‘list’? Is it strange to show a list?”
As if I were overreacting, he widened his eyes and tilted his head. Of course, few people would think of BDSM play just from the word ‘list,’ but…
He asked the driver to turn up the music volume slightly. Then, he released his arm from his chin and placed his hand on my knee. As he leaned his upper body further toward me, his long legs blocked the front of my calves.
The attendant in the driver’s seat probably had a vague Read on Read BL Novelson Read BL Novels" style="display:none;" aria-label="Read on Read BL Novels">Read on Read BL Novelsinkling about the relationship between him and me. He didn’t seem to have any intention of hiding it.
“Aren’t you curious about where I drew circles?”
“Not really. I don’t think there’s anything in it for me.”
“Don’t be like that, just take a look at mine. Who knows, it might be a reference?”
His hand wrapping around my knee gave me a slight shake.
In truth, I had finished the list before going to see the play. I had solved it in thirty minutes, like finishing overdue vacation homework. It wasn’t a problem that would become clearer by dwelling on it for a long time. I had drawn triangles on every item I hesitated over even slightly.
“Then let’s swap. I finished mine too.”
At my suggestion, his eyes narrowed for a moment. Seeing his face look as if he had been hit by an unexpected ambush made it a bit amusing. I provoked him teasingly.
“You wanted to see it so badly. Is it not necessary anymore?”
“……Of course it is.”
Shaking his head with a slightly dazed expression, he tightened his grip on my knee.
Meanwhile, the car was running past the Hannam Station intersection, avoiding the elevated road that connected to Gangnam. To the left was the Han River, and to the right were low, old houses. It was an area where redevelopment had not yet taken place.
By the time we exchanged the lists via message, the car turned right. It entered a vacant lot in front of a building after turning onto a gentle uphill road. The building facing the Han River had a meat restaurant sign hanging from it, but it was an empty building not in operation. From the size of the building and the lot alone, one could gauge its heyday when it must have flourished as a high-end restaurant. The land value alone would be worth billions of won.
Since there were no tall buildings nearby and it wasn’t a commercial area, the surroundings were exceptionally dark. It was certainly an optimal place to enjoy a secret rendezvous while admiring the night view of the Han River.
He was focusing on the list I sent without any agitation. His narrowed brow and tightly closed lips made it look as if he were reviewing an important document. Is this really that serious a matter? While smiling silently at his serious profile, I inadvertently turned my head.
A sedan following the SUV up the hill caught my eye. Upon confirming that the car had entered the entrance of the vacant lot where we were parked, the attendant stepped out of the driver’s seat. Someone also stepped out of the passenger seat of that sedan. What was this? I watched them through the heavily tinted windows. The two seemed to be exchanging something. The man beside me, oblivious to the surroundings, still hadn’t taken his eyes off the phone screen.
Knock, knock. The attendant tapped on the window by his seat and, after a brief pause, opened the door. Two iced coffees were handed to him. “Thanks.” After his short greeting, the door closed, and instead of returning to the driver’s seat, the attendant got into the sedan from before. Then the sedan disappeared, retracing its path.
“Is that car part of your group too?”
“They’ll be waiting a short distance away, so don’t worry about them.”
Taking a long sip of his coffee, he unbuckled my seatbelt and then unlocked his own.
A car is following us around, and he tells me not to worry about it.
My mother occasionally used cars driven by others, and during family trips, we would hire local drivers. However, I hadn’t grown up in an environment where an attendant could be regarded as a shadow.
“You didn’t… call a subordinate at this hour, did you?”
“I don’t do that. They are privately hired people, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
Were they the ones who brought the gel and condoms to the hotel room last time?
Regardless of annual salary, it wasn’t uncommon to recruit talent by providing an attendant who doubled as a driver, high-end housing, and even tuition for children if they had any. The nature and scope of his work, which I had been exposed to superficially since Bangkok, were also not ordinary. As he said, his title was merely Team Leader, but he was likely in a position as a prospective executive with guaranteed rapid promotion. If so, it was understandable why the company tried to use him to the fullest. Since they spent money to bring him in, they expected results accordingly.
But to have private attendants as well. Does that mean his private life is that complicated? And he said he was so busy?
Lost in my own thoughts, I unconsciously brought the straw of the coffee to my lips. Perhaps I had been feeling thirsty without realizing it, as the coffee went down coolly, wetting my throat.
“You drink Americanos well, even though you lived in Italy for a long time.”
Staring at my profile as I drank the coffee, he spoke as if it were a novelty.
“It’s like that now… but it took me about two years to fully adapt.”
He had some knowledge of Italian wine and food as well. Since it was a food culture far more popularized than French, it wasn’t rare, but it was still welcoming.
“You seem to know Italian culture well.”
“Not that much…”
Unlike him, he trailed off, his gaze scattering. His lips twitched and his eyes rolled as if hesitating over whether to say something or not, then he soon steadied his gaze and looked at me.
“It’s very famous that Italians have immense pride in their coffee. When I worked at the New York branch, I had a colleague from Venice, and every time we drank Americanos, he would get angry, saying we were drinking trash.”
In agreement, I nodded with a smile.
Even the manager and owner-chef of ‘Piano’ had been living in Korea for 15 years but still couldn’t drink Americanos and didn’t recognize them as coffee. Their argument was that for an Italian, an Americano was like washed kimchi in Korean culture.
“I went to an American-style school, and I didn’t have many local native friends. If I were to calculate the ratio of Italian, American, and Korean meals… it was about 3:2:5? And we made kimchi every year at home. So I thought I couldn’t live a life fully immersed in the culture of that country while living in Italy… but as for coffee and wine, I had completely aligned with the Italian way without even knowing it.”
This time, he nodded at my story.
“You get stained. I think that’s what it means to drink the water flowing in that country’s rivers and eat the food produced from that country’s land.”
“I guess so.”
“When I was in New York, I missed things like properly made Chonggak-kimchi, Pyongyang naengmyeon, and galbi-jjim made with Korean ingredients from Korean soil, but now that I’m here, I miss the bulgogi sandwiches I used to buy from New York food trucks. Back then, I said, ‘This is fake bulgogi,’ and that I only ate it as a substitute. Human psychology is truly fickle.”
I empathized with his words completely. I, too, had longed for everything from my home country while in Paelli. Even a piece of kimchi felt real only if it was grown in Korea, or at least produced by a Korean company. Even if we made kimchi ourselves at home, it felt like a counterfeit. But now in Seoul, I missed Paelli.
Every time I woke up in the morning and drank capsule coffee, I missed all the rituals that opened the morning at my mother’s hotel, ‘Mio Palazzo’—the orderly, energetic, yet gentle and meticulous rhythms and smells. I felt that way every single morning without fail.
Still, I eventually adapted to Americanos and ate franchise pizza without complaint. If Mr. Fabino, the manager unauthorized copyof ‘Mio Palazzo,’ saw me drinking an iced Americano through a straw, he would [unauthorized [Read on Read BL Novels]copy]probably get angry, saying my tastes had been completely ruined.
With that thought, smiling quietly to myself, I shook the cool Americano in my hand, the taste of which I now felt I quite understood.
“By the way, Mr. Jeong Ji-in’s list is… hmm… quite conservative.”
Having focused on the list again before I knew it, he was staring at the screen with a serious face, stroking his lower jaw. I lightly gnawed on the straw with my teeth, holding back a laugh as I asked.
“Are you disappointed?”
“Rather than disappointed… I’ll take strength from the thought of changing these triangles into circles one by one in the future.”
A laugh escaped me at his resolute declaration, devoid of any humor.
To be honest, skimming through his list was as thrilling and exhilarating as peeking into someone else’s diary. The items held in the hand were perhaps more secret and higher-rated secrets than a diary. My list was the same.
If it were to leak under the name ‘Actor Jeong Ji-in’s BDSM Play Preference Checklist,’ it wouldn’t take even a day to be socially buried, just as the CEO said. It might become a scandal of such magnitude that I wouldn’t even be given the chance to hold a press conference to explain myself. That was one point where it differed from Italy.
Unlike my table, which was mostly triangles and X’s, his [unauthorized Read on Read BL NovelsRead on Read BL Novels -->copy]was dominated by the number of circles.
As I scanned the list, which looked as if he had drawn circles in every box without even thinking, I bounced like a passenger in a taxi crossing a speed bump without slowing down. I practically sprayed the coffee I was drinking back out.
“Go!”
“Go?”
His puzzled eyes turned toward me.
“Golden shower?”
Only then did his eyes narrow as he grasped the reason for my panic. He grinned with a sly expression and pulled a tissue from the pocket hanging on the front seat to wipe the coffee that had flowed down my chin.
I quickly snatched the tissue from his hand. Because at this moment, he felt like the most dangerous person in the world.
A golden shower. Why on earth… would someone want to see another person urinating? No, this just means he wants to see it, right? Surely… surely it’s not that he wants it… done to his own body, or wants to do it to mine… it couldn’t be that, right?
Whichever it was, it was an absurd act. Crumpling the tissue used to wipe the coffee, [visit [visit our site]our site]I threw it at his chest and spoke firmly.
“Don’t even dream about it.”
He caught the crumpled tissue in his hand and made a wronged expression.
“Why? I can dream. The desire itself arises and vanishes entirely within me; it’s my share. As long as I don’t force it on you, Mr. Jeong Ji-in, don’t you think I have the right to dream?”
“Oh, really? Then please, dream hard. See there, the X mark on my list?”
Golden showers weren’t the only thing. As his list went on, it was full of landmines. Except for very hard and violent tendencies like torture, lynching, blood, and multi-play… almost every box was filled with circles. My face frowned deeper and deeper.
“It would be faster to just look for the places marked with an X. You said you’re a Hunter. That you have no sadistic tendencies and aren’t a dom. Then why are there circles around things like dog play, waxing, and spanking?”
As I complained, shoving the phone screen right in front of his face, he gently wrapped his hand around my wrist and pulled it down.
“I decided to be honest, so I just filled it out faithfully for now. And why do you assume those are only things I want to do to you, Mr. Jeong Ji-in? There’s also the option that I’m the one being subjected to them by you.”
“……”
I was momentarily speechless. My eyebrows twitched as I stared at him in a frozen state. At the bottom of the slope, on the road we had just passed, an ambulance sped toward the west, its siren wailing urgently.
The option that I could be the one doing it. Treating the partner like a dog, dripping candle wax on their skin, hitting them on the buttocks or cheeks?
“……”
I imagined those kinds of plays, things I had never even considered. I was flustered by the fact that the first emotion to spring to mind was curiosity, not repulsion.
“Here, some coffee splashed on your glasses, too.”
Pushing the cup holder in the center console between the driver’s and passenger’s seats, he set his coffee inside. Saying, “Just a moment,” he took the glasses off my face and pulled out a few more tissues to carefully rub the lenses.
“Even if I circled something, I will never force anything that you marked with an X. So don’t be angry.”
My gaze still held a hint of wariness as I watched his profile as he lifted the glasses to eye level to check the transparency.
“These have no prescription. They’re for camouflage. I’m the only one here, [Read on Read BL Novels]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[unauthorized copy]content" style="display:none;" aria-label="stolen content">stolen contentso you can take them off now, right?”
He placed the glasses, their legs folded flat, on the center console. His gaze, as he looked into my face without the glasses, remained meticulous, as if engraving every single feature onto his retina.
“Ah, there’s a mark.”
A long, straight index finger approached and gently rubbed both sides of the bridge of my nose in turn. Since I had never had this kind of ticklish skinship with anyone before, I simply let him do as he pleased.
Of course, I too had memories that caused a fluttering, churning sensation starting from around my chest. But those past memories—faint scents, a few intense lines, the heat of touching body temperature, the weight of a body pressing down unsurely—remained only as blurred images, like photos taken by a beginner with the focus off. It was hard to view that as a formal relationship.
The hand rubbing the slope of my nose slid toward the tip, following the silhouette of the bridge. Passing the philtrum, the index finger reached my lips and slowly traced their outline.
Ssh. As he leaned toward me, the sound of fabric rubbing against the leather seat was meaningful. The finger that had been touching my lips slid down to my chin. In place of the hand that was slowly moving downward, tracing the line of my neck, his lips drew close.
“Kissing was a circle, right?”
We aren’t even dating; what meaning does a kiss as a standalone act, not as part of a play, even have?
I kept drawing lines within myself to clarify the relationship between him and me, but in other words, that was [visit our site]unauthorized copyvisit our site -->the same as saying the lines would become blurred if I didn’t stay so conscious of them.
Two lips, cooled by the coffee, lightly touched. As he tilted his head, the soft flesh rubbed together at an erotic angle. Little by little, he deepened the contact, caressing as if licking up my lower lip. Chu, chu. Lips that were merely cold at first gradually became warm, moistened by each other’s saliva.
The lingering scent of the tiramisu dessert and coffee remained on the lips. The same scent probably remained on my lips as well. As if savoring it, he took my lower lip into his mouth and slowly applied pressure, tightening his grip. The stinging pain applied to the lips was already imprinted in me as pleasure.
“Mmm…”
A moan escaped, whether it was a plea of pain or a transmission of excitement, I couldn’t tell. I shook the glass in my hand to hide the moan. However, the atmosphere was such that even the sound of ice clinking together failed to sound wholesome.
A sweet sigh flowed from his lips as he slowly released the lip he had been chewing in his mouth. To keep from spiraling out of control, his broad shoulders heaved rhythmically and deeply, struggling to compose himself.
Without moving further away from the distance where our noses touched, he pressed a kiss onto my lips without using his tongue. With our lips still pressed together, I spoke in a low voice.
“I can hear your brain working from here.”
He pulled his lips away and licked my upper lip with the tip of his tongue.
“How is my brain working?”
Both of us were pretending to be composed, but our voices were tight. He didn’t seem to know how to leave the front of my lips. Chu, chu, chu… Kissing here and there on my lips, he stroked my arm. Descending to my wrist, he took the coffee cup from my hand. With my now-free hand, I toyed with his earlobe.
“You’re probably diligently combining plays that can be executed right now from the items I marked with a circle or a triangle on the list.”
“Hmm… fellatio, deepthroat, masturbation, handjob…”
Having safely placed the coffee cup in the holder, he stared into the air. Narrowing his eyes and lifting his chin slightly, he folded his fingers one by one. I felt like I should pat him on the butt and praise him for memorizing it so accurately in such a short time.
When I covered his mouth with the hand that had been touching his earlobe, his sparkling eyes changed expression and curved into a lavish smile. Then, pulling my hand down, he lunged at me. There was no time to avoid it. The kiss became much rougher than before. Scraping and biting my lower lip with his teeth, he seemed to want to bite my lip hard enough to burst it.
“Is this why… you took off my glasses?”
As if escaping him, I slid my hips back toward the door. He braced himself on the seat with his right knee and chased my lips. The back of my head soon hit the car window. As if waiting for me to have nowhere left to retreat, his lips suddenly drew close. Without separating our lips, rubbing the surface of the tender skin ticklishly against each other, he spoke.
“Even if you’re wearing glasses, I like that in its own way.”
Our lips overlapped deeply once more. I placed my hands on his shoulders, which completely [unauthorized copyclass="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">visit our site]blocked my view. Wrapping both hands around his firm neck, I gently rubbed his Adam’s apple with my thumb. Whether that felt good or not, he crushed my lips more violently, tilting his jaw.
“Mm, mmm. Mph.”
His hand, which had been gripping the headrest tightly, slid stealthily toward the inside of my thigh. I instinctively squirmed at the stimulation of him groping near my genitals. You can’t. As I tried to grab his wrist and pull it up, he rubbed his nose and lips against me, speaking like a spoiled child.
“Handjobs were a circle, too.”
“……”
That was true.
“I’ll just kiss you… and make you ejaculate with my hand. Hmm? That’s okay, right?”
“……”
Okay… what’s okay…
Having cornered me by the door and practically sitting on top of the seat, he burrowed into the nape of my neck, kissing me chu, chu. A whirlwind of emotions crossed my mind in a short moment. As I slid my fingers into his hair and ruffled it visit our stolen contentsitewhile he shifted his kisses from the right side of my neck to the left… my heart was already softening.
It was just that since the permitted time was short, I didn’t want to start if I couldn’t see it through; it wasn’t that I didn’t want it.
“Ah! Ugh, hng.”
I gripped his hair tightly at the force of him rubbing his lips against the root of my neck and nibbling the skin with his teeth. The pressure of his shoulders pushing against my chest like a raging bison was sweet. Even though he could easily brush off my hand trying to stop him, he was merely kneading the inside of my thigh, waiting for permission.
I loosened the grip on his wrist. Then, I reached my arm between his legs. The center that touched my hand was hot and swollen.
We became frantically entwined.
I unfastened and pulled down the partner’s pants. In the dim interior of the car without the interior lights on, the mere act of pulling out the genitals made my breath hotter. Sitting facing each other on the seat, we entwined our legs, struggling to touch as closely as possible.
The sound of quickly stroking and shaking the penis and the sound of wet tongues rubbing stickily against each other. The sound of saliva mixing and being swallowed. The moans and heaving breaths fueling the excitement felt as if they would make the interior explode. Even though the temperature was surely being maintained constantly, sweat soon beaded on our temples.
“Stick out your tongue.”
As he requested, I stuck out my tongue. I thought he would suck it or unauthorized copyrub his own tongue against it, but that wasn’t it. He kissed the red, moistened tongue. He pressed his lips densely into every corner of the exposed tongue. It was my first time receiving such a kiss.
Then, finally, he stuck out his tongue long like I did and rubbed it against mine. Tongues rubbing broadly outside the lips… it was the most animalistic kiss I had ever experienced.
“Mm. Mmm. Hmm.”
I felt like I was going crazy. I wanted to rip off all the buttons of my shirt right now and give my chest to him. I wanted to strip off his shirt and feel his chest and abdominal muscles with my palms. I trembled in my shoulders with the desire to be naked and crushed by him.
The moment I felt his eyes, which had been watching me throughout the kiss, glowing red, his left hand—the one not holding the penis—dug in between the seat and my buttocks.
“Wait, there… take your hand, take it out. Quickly.”
“Why? It’s not enough. You looked at me with eyes that wanted me to put it in.”
“I never… hng.”
As he pushed the underwear further away with his wrist, his hand tucked under my buttocks curled its fingers and wiggled. I felt like I was going to lose my grip on the hand rubbing his penis.
“Then why do you keep lifting your hips?”
“We have to go soon… ngh, I have to stop at a reasonable point…”
In truth, even as I said that, my hips were heaving. To make an excuse, it wasn’t intentional. As the excitement deepened, pre-cum leaked from the glans and flowed down the penis for both of us. As if wrapping around his thing, which was erect so thick and hard it felt like it would pierce my stomach, and pulling it toward me, I stroked from the root to the glans. I could feel the pulse of the clearly bulging veins in my palm.
My gaze kept drifting downward. A male reproductive organ, vigorously erect and glistening in the darkness, covered in bodily fluids. Just seeing and touching that large organ, which looked like a symbol of procreation, made my gluteal muscles twitch. Without realizing it, I was rubbing my buttocks against his hand beneath me.
He scraped my chin with his teeth and spoke in a pained voice.
“See. You want me this much, how can I not give it to you?”
“……”
I grabbed his shirt collar as if grabbing him by the scruff and pulled him close. Overlapping our lips deeply and biting his lower lip, I intentionally heaved my hips more. Every time I did, the feeling of pressing his hand down with my buttocks made my stomach tingle.
“If you know that so well, hurry up… make some proper time.”
“……”
“Who is it that’s making us struggle like this in a car right now?”
Stopping all movements and staring at me while gasping for air, he looked like someone who had suffered a fatal wound from a surprise attack. A low, short curse leaked from his tightly closed lips. In an instant, he changed his attitude and lunged.
“I’ll make time.”
The palm pressed beneath me stimulated me as if springing, and the hand shaking the penis added pressure, driving me to the edge of the cliff. I felt as if I would plummet dizzyingly at any moment.
“I’m! I think I’m going to… hng, stop me! It’s… coming out!”
The body pushed to the brink of ejaculation couldn’t stop the hip movements, even while worrying about the semen splashing. With trembling hands, I pulled his shoulders and overlapped our lips. His tongue blocked the breath that had lost all regular rhythm.
“Ugh, mm. Mmm!”
Ejaculating onto his palm, which wrapped broadly as if blocking the glans, I twitched intermittently and sucked the tongue in my mouth. He looked down sideways at his palm, slippery with my semen. And with that hand, he wrapped around his own penis. Half-overlapping his hand over mine and pushing the penis outward, he pulled his tongue out of my mouth.
“This Sunday, no matter what happens, I’ll clear the whole day.”
■
A little past 3 PM. It was the middle of the day, but the curtains of the living-room-slash-kitchen were tightly drawn. Coming into the living room with a laptop tucked under my arm, I turned on the fluorescent lights instead of opening the curtains.
The curtains, printed with a crude imitation piece reminiscent of a Van Gogh painting, had been hanging in the same spot four years ago when I first became a member of this lodging.
At the time, from May to early October, I could spend almost half the year with the curtains and windows wide open. However, starting a few months ago, to avoid the so-called sasaeng fans waiting for ‘Layered,’ I had to draw the curtains and turn on the fluorescent lights even in the middle of the day. There was no other way, as screams would erupt from the alley the moment a human shadow flickered by the window. The complaints from the neighbors were also significant, so I had to endure this level of inconvenience.
I set the laptop on the table in front of the window and brewed a cup of coffee with the machine while it booted up. Pouring espresso into a large cup filled with ice and mixing in cold water, I made an iced americano.
Not to mention the americano, Italians didn’t understand the concept of drinking coffee cold. At first, it felt awkward to me too. But now, I’ve come to understand the charm of an americano, which can be poured generously into a mug and sipped slowly over a long time.
I sat at the table, placing the glass with clinking ice next to the laptop. Even though the air conditioner was on low, drinking the coffee made me feel appropriately cool.
‘You drink americanos well, even though you’ve lived in Italy for a long time.’
Recalling what he had said a few days ago, I unauthorized copychuckled and launched the video call app. Clicking my younger sister’visit our site;s ID from the list of only three or four contacts, it connected soon.
[Why did it take so long? I only have about 10 minutes.]
As soon as she appeared on the screen, Yui voiced her complaint.
[Sorry. I brewed a cup of coffee.]
Wednesday was Yui’s day off. Today, since I happened to be the only one at the lodging, I responded to my sister’s request to see each other’s faces, even if just for a moment.
Unlike me, the twins were clearly mixed-race, so anyone who saw them would have no choice but to realize that my sisters and I were not born from the same parents. Because I didn’t want it to become a point of interest in our private lives or cause harm to my family, I was careful about such things.
[Were you still sleeping?]
[No, I was in my room.]
[Without even eating?]
I did wake up around 11, but after eating an apple, I shut myself in my room. Lately, I had been re-watching PD Hwang Su-young’s works, starting from the stolen contentmost recent. Because I had watched dramas until 4 AM this morning, I had overslept.
[I was actually just about to eat. What about you?]
[I’m going to a newly opened beach club with some friends whose schedules match. I’m going to order something to eat there. On days off, lounging all day while eating food made by someone else is the best.]
‘Mio Palazzo’ had its own private beach, and our family occasionally used it, of course. But the sisters were at an age where they were more drawn to bustling beach clubs. They were only twenty-four, even if their professional experience was long.
None of the three of us had gone to college. This was common in Italy. I was planning to help my mother, and my sisters already had clear dreams since middle school. None of the three of us had a reason to attend university.
[Ah! Oppa, I saw the pictorial!]
Yui, who had been talking briefly about the taste and service levels of newly opened restaurants nearby, suddenly pulled her body close to the screen as if she had forgotten the truly important part.
It seemed the magazine featuring the pictorial shot in Bangkok had been released to the public today and was also available online.
[You looked so, so cool. I liked this photo the best. This one, taken under the chandelier. This photo has the best reaction on the internet, too.]
Yui held her phone screen up to the camera and passionately listed the reasons why she liked the stolen contentphoto. Read on Read BL NovelsThey were unconditional praises, almost on par with members of a fan cafe, to the point where it was embarrassing to listen to. Family eyes are, after all, hard to be objective.
Thinking I should check it myself since it came to mind, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I had checked the photos through the monitor on site, but the final result after retouching was always a bit different.
“……”
A message had arrived from ‘Team Leader Yi-han.’ I hadn’t paid attention to my phone while immersed in the drama, so I hadn’t even known he had contacted me.
《I enjoyed the photos. Looking at the pictorial, it seems like you won’t even need to remodel the hotel after the acquisition.》
The message, sent around 9:30 AM, included a link to an article featuring the pictorial shot in Bangkok. Why does such a busy man check every little thing like this? It’s embarrassing…
Even though I hadn’t checked or replied, another message arrived around 1 PM, after lunch.
《I’ve managed to clear my entire schedule this coming Sunday.》
I felt like Yui would catch me smiling. Leaning my elbows on the table, I pretended to rest my chin on my hand, using it to cover my mouth. I coughed a couple of times, pretending to clear my throat.
Though I didn’t know for sure, he must have put in a lot of effort to clear a whole day. I knew well enough that coordinating schedules unauthorized [visit our site]copyunauthorized copy -->in a corporate environment isn’t just a matter of one person’s individual preference. Perhaps because of this, he might have had to endure an even more grueling schedule until Saturday.
Imagining him working hard behind the scenes just to secure time to spend with me was, honestly… a bit delightful. I felt like I wanted to pat his head or tap his backside in praise.
[I’ll show this to Mom later. She doesn’t show it, but she’s secretly curious about everything Oppa does.]
After finishing her highly subjective critique of every single photo in the pictorial, Yui put her phone down on the screen and instead picked up a glass of yellow juice to quench her thirst.
In Paelli, it was just past 7 AM. My mother would be walking through the main restaurant where breakfast was served, exchanging morning greetings with the guests.
[But has your next project not been decided yet? Mom seems to be waiting for another drama of yours.]
Yui spoke as if it were no big deal, trying not to put pressure on me.
Since I had worked without a break since my debut, I had told my family that I was taking a breather until I found a truly great project. Like everyone who lives apart from their family, I didn’t want to cause them worry.
[Actually, I’m thinking of looking for my next project soon.]
[Really?]
For some reason, I could sense disappointment in her expression and voice. Setting the glass on the desk, Yui rolled her wheeled chair closer to the screen.
[You’ve never taken such a long break between projects since your debut, Oppa. So, even if she didn’t say it, I felt like Mom was waiting, wondering if you might stop by the house while you’re resting. If you’re going back into a project now, you won’t have time for a while again. Right?]
Exactly half of the two-week deadline Director Hwang Su-young mentioned had passed. However, since the script reading was not far off, there was no reason for them to drag their feet if they liked the audition. I hadn’t given up hope yet, but the situation was flowing in a negative direction.
[Actually, there’s a project I’m considering right now, and I think a conclusion will be reached in a week. If the casting falls through, I’m thinking of visiting home this time.]
[Huh? Really? You can?]
Yui was trying hard not to show how happy she was, but her cheeks were puffed out on the screen. I couldn’t help but smile back at that face. I nodded and smiled.
[I think it’ll be decided for sure in a week.]
[But… should I pray that you get the part, or pray that it falls through so you can come home?]
Seeing Yui’s conflicted face, unable to rejoice fully, I realized I had made unauthorized copystyle="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[visit our site]a mistake. I shouldn’t have used the word ‘fall through.’
[It’s not like I’m desperately dying to be in it. I just thought I’d do it if I got cast. I’ve worked a lot until now.]
Only then did Yui’s expression brighten. Since coming to Korea, these small white lies to my family had increased.
Until now, I had refrained from even mentioning going home in passing. I was more afraid of giving them useless hope only to disappoint them. But the fact that I was letting this slip now might be because, deep down, my intuition was hardening toward the idea that my appearance in
[Still, it might happen that I can’t go, so don’t get your hopes up too much. And keep it a secret from Mom for now. Okay? She might be disappointed later.]
I was aware that if this casting fell through, I needed a change in my life here, in one way or another. Visiting Paelli once could be a good opportunity to organize my thoughts.
[Yeah, I won’t tell Jeong Ian either. That brat has a loose lip, so he’d definitely blab everything to Mom.]
[What’s Jeong Ian doing? He hasn’t left for work yet, right? Let me see his face.]
[He’s got a crush on someone at the hair salon lately, so he’s in a frenzy every morning picking out clothes. Hold on, I’ll call him over.]
My younger brother, Ian, drove over an hour round trip every day to commute to a hair salon in Naples. He had built up quite a [visit our visit our sitesite]bit of experience now and was one of the respectable, popular designers leading the branch. Since visit our sitehis start time was a bit later than other professions, it was a time when he wouldn’t have left the house yet.
While Yui disappeared from the screen, I stared blankly at the empty display. I wanted to look out the window, but I couldn’t open the curtains. Even if I did, only the red bricks of the house across from us, which was identical to this one, would enter my view.
For the first two years after I came to Korea, my family came to Seoul. However, since the summer vacation period is the peak season in Paelli and the hair salon where Ian works had different vacation periods, it wasn’t easy to coordinate the timing. I couldn’t ask them to spend their precious vacations in Seoul every year. It had been nearly two years since I had seen my family’s faces.
Even though I missed them so much, the thought of meeting them was painful. My smiles and every word I spoke to them… it all felt like a lie. I felt like a booby trap that could explode at any moment. Because inside me were secrets and lies that could destroy the peace, happiness, and daily lives of the people I loved in an instant.
My gaze suddenly shifted to the phone lying on the table. Like someone who had discovered a ray of light in a cave, I quickly grabbed it. I sent a reply to his message, which I had only read and closed.
《Didn’t you push yourself too hard to adjust your schedule?》
《Hmm… I just have to leave work at midnight for the next three days.》
A reply flew back almost immediately. I laughed at the content, which sounded like he was playing the victim. Before I could even finish typing my reply, the next message followed.
《But did you just wake up? Did you overdo something last night?》
《Ah… it’s not that, I just checked my phone now. I was doing something.》
Just as I thought I heard noisy sounds from the screen, Yui and Ian appeared simultaneously. Thanks to that, the conversation with him was temporarily put on hold. Ian, who had been dragged into Yui’s room holding a shirt in each hand, abruptly asked me which outfit was better without even a greeting, only to be nagged by Yui. It was the unchanging daily life of Paelli.
Even if I completely liquidated my life here and returned, would I be able to blend fully into a part of that peaceful daily life?
I couldn’t feel my younger siblings on the screen as my present. Like an old man immersed in nostalgia for a brilliant past—like light leaking through the dense gaps between leaves and shaking the surface of the water—while watching a movie he loved so much in his youth after a long time. That was how I gazed at them.
After the call ended and I closed the laptop, it felt as if a very long time had passed. Despite drinking quite a bit of coffee, the amount hadn’t decreased much because the ice had melted. Suddenly, the silence became unbearable. Thinking I had to do something, I checked my phone and found another message.
《Can you make time from Saturday night?》
That he wanted to meet quickly, that he wanted to be with me even a little bit more. Staring at his message, which didn’t hesitate to reveal such feelings, I felt a sudden urge to meet him right now.
Was it because our relationship had been an impulse from the first meeting? I was able to boldly attempt words I had never said to anyone else. I typed a reply.
《Do you like having sex with me that much?》
Even after the ‘read’ [visit [visit our site]our site]indicator appeared, it took a little while for the next message to return.
《Is something wrong?》
I thought a more explicit piece of dirty talk than what I had thrown out would come back. Feeling as though my inner thoughts had been read, I straightened my loosely slumped upper body.
《Why does your imagination go in that direction?》
《Unless you’re in a state of high arousal. It’s because you said something unexpected.》
《Then I guess I’m in a state of high arousal right now.》
《It’s only Wednesday, but if this is a tactic to make me anxious, it’s a success.》
Just hearing him ask if something was wrong gave me strength, as if I had been comforted. At least I recovered enough energy to feel hunger and an appetite. Since I had already thrown out an unexpected comment, I decided to be a bit more honest.
《I can spend time with you from Saturday night. I’ll look forward to it.》
After sending the message, I got up from my seat with the coffee cup. Searching the refrigerator, spinach, bacon, unauthorized [unauthorized copy]copyand eggs caught my eye. I thought I could simply make a frittata, which could be called an Italian-style omelet. I put the pan in the light-wave oven—which was capable of oven functions but I mostly used as a microwave—and as I was about to organize the remaining ingredients in the fridge, it became a bit noisy outside.
The sound of the main gate closing, the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs, and then the sound of someone pressing the password for the accommodation’s front door lock followed.
“Crazy bastards. They know damn well no one’s home, so why are they lurking around there?”
The one entering through the front door while grumbling harshly was Hyung-soo.
“You’re just getting here?”
“Uh, Hyung… you were home?”
Hyung-soo blurred his words and gaze as if it were troublesome that I was home. The guy, who had looked neat when he left at dawn, looked very exhausted. A scent different from the perfume he had sprayed when leaving—a mixture of various perfumes and the smell of cigarettes—was vibrating from his summer jacket.
“I don’t have many schedules lately. Are you going to sleep now? I made an omelet, want to eat before you sleep?”
Glancing at the yellow, warm frittata freshly taken out of the oven, Hyung-soo visibly swallowed hard. He’s a guy who refuses two out of three times, but he seemed quite hungry today.
“Sit and eat first. I can just make mine quickly again.”
Turning my back to Hyung-soo, I took eggs from the fridge and cracked them into a bowl. Only then did I hear the sound of him pulling out a chair behind me.
“I’ll enjoy the meal.”
“I made it comfortably for myself to eat, so I don’t know how it’ll be. Just think of it as filling your hunger and eat.”
Hyung-soo, who had been working as a bartender and was offered an acting role by the CEO of UB, was an aspiring actor. He was active in minor roles, but he hadn’t received a proper, significant role yet.
He seemed like the type whose temperament wouldn’t suit catering to the whims of PDs, production companies, or investors at drinking parties, but unlike me, he tended to show his face at various drinking gatherings to network as much as possible.
Perhaps because he hadn’t even touched the appetizers while drinking until this hour, when I sat opposite him with the newly made dish, Hyung-soo had already cleared the pan.
“Want more?”
I asked because he was glancing at my pan, but he shook his head firmly. Normally, he would have left once his business was done, but I found it strange that he was lingering, brewing a cup of coffee today.
Is he perhaps waiting for me to finish eating? If so, the brat has matured. Just as I was gathering the last spoonful onto the [unauthorized [visit our site]copy]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[visit our site]spoon while thinking that, Hyung-soo brought up what he really wanted to say.
“Hyung, did you hear? The ‘Layered’ kids are leaving here.”
Even without that, a strong sense of unpleasantness was embedded in Hyung-soo’s voice, which was cracked from fatigue. Since it was an unexpected piece of news, I even put down my spoon.
“……Did the company say so?”
“Does the company report every little thing to a guy like me? That bastard Kim Young-joo contacted me out of the blue earlier. Saying that over ten million won was deposited on this settlement date… I wondered why that bastard, who doesn’t even acknowledge people’s existence inside the dorm, would bother to contact me.”
Hyung-soo clicked his tongue and spat out a short curse.
He seemed to exchange greetings and converse reasonably well with the sociable Hong-seo, but Hyung-soo was exceptionally hostile toward the other ‘Layered’ members. Perhaps because he was the eldest in the dorm, he didn’t treat them recklessly, but he wasn’t particularly affectionate with me either. Even though we shared a room and lived together for a year and a half, I had never heard him talk about his family or private life. Well, it was the same for me.
“They said it’s been decided to move their dorm to UN Village… They say when they return on Saturday, they won’t even stop by here and will go straight to the new house. They said the company will take care of everything. UN Village my ass… Those bastards riding on Hong-seo’s popularity… Pearls before swine.”
He wasn’t a gentle guy to begin with, but I wondered why his mood was even more menacing today, and it seems it was because of this.
Hyung-soo, who took a sip of coffee as if it were soju, Read [stolen content]on Read BL Novelspointed toward the window with his chin and spoke.
“It’s for the best, since those tedious sasaengs will all follow them there. Even now, two or three of them are lurking in front of the main gate. I don’t know why they do that when they know damn well they’ve left the country.”
Hyung-soo, who was cursing the fans outside while carelessly brushing back his dry, frizzy hair, noticed my silence and smiled a bit mischievously as he brought the mug to his lips. When he smiled slyly, his right canine was revealed, making his impression cuter than usual.
“Are you shocked because Choi Hong-seo didn’t tell you in advance, Hyung?”
“Shocked? Please. I know perfectly well he’s frantically busy.”
It was yesterday that the ‘Layered’ members left the country. If the move had been decided in advance, the loose-lipped Kim Young-joo wouldn’t have waited until today to brag to Hyung-soo. It seemed to have been decided that suddenly. Even if it weren’t, I didn’t lack the understanding of Hong-seo’s situation to feel hurt over such a matter. I was just a bit surprised.
“If you land this role, Hyung, it’s only a matter of time before you leave here too. You said it’s Director Hwang Su-young’s drama. If you’re cast, aren’t you a Hallyu star?”
Both Jae-woo and Hyung-soo were guys who knew well enough that this industry wasn’t that easy, yet they spoke so straightforwardly that it made me laugh.
“The atmosphere of the audition wasn’t that great. There’s about a week left until the deadline they said they’d contact me by, but I’m trying not to expect anything.”
“Hyung… you’re not the type to ‘network,’ are you?”
Uncharacteristically hesitant, Hyung-soo asked while glancing at me. However, his caution lasted only for that moment.
“You’re close with Yoon Ju-ho, Hyung. Just close your eyes and ask him to push for you with the director. Do you hate even asking for that much?”
That audition itself was a spot Yoon Ju-ho had arranged. Even if it wasn’t ‘plugging’ him in, just securing an audition opportunity was a common occurrence in the entertainment industry that wouldn’t be a stain. However, there was nothing good about spreading stories to this person or that person. I answered vaguely, withholding my words with a smile.
“If I were you, Hyung, I wouldn’t let that spot go no matter what. You’re too soft. When are you going to escape this den like that?”
Hyung-soo, who glanced around the narrow living room with a look of disgust, let out a deep sigh and drank his coffee. For Hyung-soo, he was quite talkative today. He rotated the mug, looking down at the coffee that must have been swirling inside.
“But what type does a big shot like Yoon Ju-ho like? He probably wouldn’t budge for an average ‘size,’ right?”
It was a tone reminiscent of a fan dreaming of dating Yoon Ju-ho. Like someone anxious because they wanted to attract Yoon Ju-ho’s attention but didn’t know how…
“I don’t know, we haven’t really talked about things like that…”
I hadn’t asked exactly, but in context, the word ‘size’ seemed to refer generally to appearance. It was slang [unauthorized copy]that Hong-seo also used occasionally, so it wasn’t hard to guess the meaning.
“Then what do you and Yoon Ju-ho talk about when you go out for drinks? Don’t tell me… acting?”
Before I could answer, Hyung-soo snorted, shaking his shoulders as if it were absurd.
“When there’s a chance, please take me along when you go out for drinks with Yoon Ju-ho. I’m just curious how a top star like that hangs out.”
Perhaps he hadn’t brought it up with great expectations, as the guy chuckled to himself after finishing his sentence and got up from his seat.
“Since you made it, I’ll do the dishes later when I wake up. Just leave it.”
In the end, the last spoonful of my portion remained in the pan.
After Hyung-soo plodded into the bathroom with the pan and mug, I found my cigarettes and lighter on the bedside shelf and headed out the front door. The ‘Layered’ fans waiting outside the gate looked up the stairs and whispered. I could hear the sound of camera shutters as they took photos of me—someone who was not a member of ‘Layered.’
Leaving their laughter behind, I climbed the narrow, steep stairs to the rooftop for the first time in a while. Smoking was generally prohibited inside the dormitory. The landlord, an elderly grandfather, had provided a bench and an ashtray, telling me to smoke here. Sitting on the worn wooden bench at the far end of the roof, I could look down at the charming little vegetable garden the owners tended in their pots.
Even though it was past 4 PM, the sun was still scorching. I lit a cigarette, took a shallow drag, on Read BL Novels">Read on Read BL Novelsand exhaled a long stream of smoke. The smoke stretched straight through the windless air before scattering at the edge of my vision like winter breath.
When I unlocked my phone, the screen looked dim due to the sunlight. After adjusting the brightness, a notification caught my eye: one message from ‘Team Leader Yi-han.’
On hold for now. Other contacts took priority.
‘Layered’ had departed the country yesterday, and since I had no schedule today, Jae-woo was practically free. Despite that, the ringing tone continued for quite a while before I finally heard his voice.
[Yes, Hyung.]
[Jae-woo, what’s this about Hong-seo moving out?]
Jae-woo, who had responded with his usual energy, paused for a moment of silence before lowering his voice to ask.
[Hyung… where did you hear that?]
[I heard it from Hyung-soo.]
[Ah… I thought. Well… it was decided suddenly. Hong-seo’s appearance in Director Kang’s movie has been completely confirmed. The CEO was generous and took care of it, saying it would be too hard on Hong-seo once filming begins. Actually, I’m [Read on Read BL Novels]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[Read on Read BL Novels]looking at houses with the Director right now. Wow, Hyung, the houses in this neighborhood are insanely good. They’re all fully optioned, so you just have to move your body in. I wonder when I’ll ever live in a place like this.]
I tuned out Jae-woo’s grumbling as he steered the conversation away and took another drag of the cigarette in my left hand.
[They aren’t… moving to a new place by taking out loans, are they?]
[Hey, what loans? Once he lands the lead role in what will be Director Kang Woo-hyun’s masterpiece, Hong-seo’s path will be a smooth highway! Isn’t it only a matter of time before he becomes an indisputable A-list star as both an idol and an actor? He needs to live in a house like this to maintain his image.]
Jae-woo was quite excited. Someone seemed to be talking to him; for a moment, the sound of his voice grew distant as he covered the mouthpiece with his hand to converse.
If it was Hong-seo, he wasn’t the type to move just to shoulder a debt he couldn’t handle. Yet, a part of my heart kept feeling gritty, as if I were chewing on sand. It was probably just because the decision was so sudden…
[Oh, Hyung, while we’re on the subject. The ‘Layered’ kids are coming back on Saturday, so we’re having a housewarming party. Just so you know. Since they were told they’d get a new house, they’re so excited that their mouths are practically touching their ears despite their tight schedule.]
[Saturday?]
At my question, Jae-woo became flustered over the phone.
[Why? Do you have plans? Even if you do, Hyung, it’s usually just
My thoughts drifted to the last message I had sent him before dinner, saying we could spend time together starting Saturday night. Ah… if only I hadn’t sent that message…
Feeling a sense of failure, I rubbed my face with my left hand, which was still holding the cigarette.
As Jae-woo said, it was impossible to adjust ‘Layered’s’ recent schedules. Thus, it was a matter of choosing between two options with no other alternative. Either skip the housewarming party—a celebratory event for the younger brothers I had shared joys and sorrows with for a long time—to prioritize a promise with a sex partner, or ask that sex partner for understanding and attend the party.
It wasn’t even a choice. There seemed to be no room for selection.
Taking a drag of the cigarette, I let the smoke drift away and answered with a sigh.
[Right, I got it… I’ll clear my schedule.]
Since we had originally agreed to spend Sunday together. If I explain the situation, he’ll… understand, right?
After comforting myself with that thought and ending the call with Jae-woo, I checked his message and couldn’t help but let out a deeper sigh than before.
《Then how about going to Hongcheon, like I mentioned last time, [Read on Read BL Novels]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[unauthorized copy]ized copy -->for two days and one night? The campsite is really well-maintained. It would be a great place to clear your head.》
I crushed the short cigarette butt into the ashtray and swept my hair back. My thin, thick hair quickly fell back over my forehead. This time, I brushed it away somewhat irritably.
I felt like a wicked adult who had to cancel a promise with a child to go to an amusement park. While I sat there just fiddling with the phone in my hand, I didn’t even notice that sweat had begun to bead on the bridge of my nose due to the heat.
《I’m so sorry. I don’t think Saturday night will work. There’s a housewarming party for some younger colleagues at the company. I just found out myself…》
I narrowed my eyes and reread the message I sent several times. Feeling that it wasn’t a sufficient explanation, I sent the next message immediately.
《Of course, you were the first appointment, Yi-han, but the kids are just so busy. They’re the type who can’t adjust their schedules because of me…》
Just as I was about to light a new cigarette, thinking he might not check it immediately because he was working, a reply suddenly came back.
《Hmm, can you talk briefly now?》
《I’ll call you.》
I put the cigarette I had been holding in my lips back into the pack and touched the call icon at the [unauthorized copy-->visit our siteclass="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">unauthorized copy]top of the message window. After a few rings, I was connected.
[Hello.]
[Is it okay to talk?]
[Yes, well…]
[Ah… I’m really sorry. I didn’t know things would get tangled like this…]
Since he had openly shown his anticipation for this weekend, I became honest without overthinking things.
[You sound very sorry.]
[Because you were the first appointment, Yi-han.]
[Then, Golden Sha—]
[I’m not that sorry.]
He laughed lowly over the phone. Fortunately, he didn’t seem offended. As the laughter subsided, a cautious voice tinged with tension asked me.
[Sunday is still possible, right?]
[Sunday is still valid.]
[Then that’s fine. In the first place, the promise we made last time was only for Sunday; I was the one being greedy about Saturday night.]
[You’re so generous it’s almost scary.]
[If you want to date an actor, you have to accept sudden schedule adjustments.]
Was this generous understanding also a form of pretense—’acting well-behaved because he doesn’t want me to dislike him’? Whatever the reason, I was grateful that he didn’t grumble with emotion over an unavoidable problem.
[Then… Hongcheon will be impossible. Shall we have brunch somewhere with a nice atmosphere on Sunday?]
Listening to his voice naturally suggesting a date rather than a sexual encounter, I chuckled and stretched my legs out. With my ankles crossed [stolen content]and toes wiggling, I listened to him talk about a bistro a friend of Ji-in’s had recently opened.
I had thought this when we met in Bangkok, but he had a pleasant voice. It was smooth without being grating, yet had a weight to it that left a lingering impression. It was the kind of voice that would be perfect if I called him when I couldn’t sleep and asked him to tell me anything.
Conversations like this didn’t solve anything. I knew it was closer to an escape than a fundamental salvation. It was like a thrilling hallucination that allowed me to taste momentary stimulation and pleasure even though nothing in my reality had been resolved.
However, no one could fight reality fiercely twenty-four hours a day. I wasn’t the only one who wanted to hide a bit of fuel to supply the energy needed to keep pondering their worries. I wanted to believe that.
[Alright, then I’ll see you there on Sunday.]
[Since you’re coming to see me, it would be awkward to ask your manager to drop you off. I’ll go to the place where you were dropped off last time. There was a franchise cafe, right? Let’s meet in front of that.]
He remembered in detail the time he had dropped me off at the roadside closest to the dormitory after a Han River date where we hadn’t even actually looked at the Han River.
I hadn’t wanted to inform him of the schedule change and disappoint him. I had to admit that. And that ‘Team Leader Yi-han’ wasn’t the only one disappointed that the two-day trip starting Saturday evening had fallen through.
A breeze stirred in the air that had been stagnant. It wasn’t enough to wash away the sweat on the bridge of my nose, but it was enough to clear my head for a moment and close my eyes.
■
Interest is heating up regarding the final casting for the GBN Wed-Thu drama
Having already completed the casting for all lead and supporting roles in June, including female lead Park Se-yeon and male lead Yoon Ju-ho,
Even before official production began, export contracts had already been signed with a total of 13 countries, including Southeast Asian nations such as Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines, as well as Chinese-speaking regions like Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, and including Latin America and North America. Furthermore, as the work is directed by PD Hwang Su-young, known as the ‘Hallyu Star Maker,’ it is known that a significant number of actors have expressed interest to the production team.
An official from the production company Wellmade tipped off this publication that currently three or four candidates, including Mr. J, Mr. K, and Mr. S, are on the final shortlist for the role, and since the script reading is not far off, the results will be out within next week.
Based on the popular webtoon of the same name, the drama
The role of ‘Yi-soo’ is that of a confidant raised by the female lead ‘Hwaye,’ a tragic character who secretly harbors romantic feelings for her, his benefactor and fellow Vampire. During the serialization of the original webtoon, the character stimulated the tear ducts of many readers and enjoyed popularity rivaling that of the male lead ‘Jeong Seol.’
As ‘virtual casting’ lists had become a hot topic among netizens even before the drama’s production was decided, attention is focused on whether the actual casting of the drama will satisfy the fans’ expectations.
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