By Zephyria 
When Song Hyun-soo, who had downed whiskey like beer, set down his glass, a cigarette filter suddenly appeared, almost poking his lips. Song Hyun-soo almost instinctively put it in his mouth. Then, the light of a lighter flickered at the tip of the cigarette. It was Yoon Joo-ho, of course.
It seemed he meant that if Song Hyun-soo was going to drink that much, he might as well smoke for a bit.
Making eye contact with Yoon Joo-ho, Song Hyun-soo inhaled the filter.
Then, exhaling the smoke slowly, he leaned his arms on the table.
“He suddenly asked me for a drink before I left the country. He’s not usually the type to say things like that.”
“…”
“He’s a busy guy. Thinking he was being considerate, I put it off for later. I said, ‘Let’s drink next time.’”
Song Hyun-soo’s neck slowly drooped.
“What if I had accepted his offer then? What if I had been more meddlesome? Maybe…”
His voice echoed as if from inside a cave, his chin almost touching his collarbone. Tears instantly welled up. But he didn’t want to let them fall. Song Hyun-soo quickly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. Then he emptied another glass.
“I know it’s useless to think about how I could have stopped it now. That it’s just pathetic. But… I just can’t shake the thought.”
This time, Song Hyun-soo slumped back against the sofa behind him, staring blankly at the ceiling as he smoked.
It was the first time he had ever opened up about something like this to anyone. He hadn’t even told Jung Ji-in. He didn’t want to send depressing news to someone living abroad.
Clink. Yoon Joo-ho dropped a few ice cubes into Song Hyun-soo’s empty glass with tongs. Song Hyun-soo, leaning weakly against the backrest, gazed at Yoon Joo-ho’s profile. He couldn’t believe he was pouring out his heart to the Yoon Joo-ho he had seen on TV, who seemed like a heartless mannequin.
With a weak, choked sound, Song Hyun-soo called out to Yoon Joo-ho.
“Sunbae.”
“What.”
“Interest and kindness aren’t bad things.”
“…”
“They’re better than indifference.”
“Yeah, I know. I misspoke back then.”
Yoon Joo-ho replied, filling the glass with ice to about a third full.
He clearly remembered.
“Don’t get too attached carelessly. Being halfway kind when you can’t take responsibility is meddling.”
Even though he answered without looking at me, just pouring drinks. I don’t know why his way of speaking is so appealing.
Whether it was the alcohol or Yoon Joo-ho, a silly, light laugh kept escaping.
“Sunbae.”
“What.”
But even though I was laughing, my chest still felt heavy.
“Now that Myung Do-hoon is dead, is Hong-seo… a little bit avenged?”
“I don’t know. But.”
“…”
“Wouldn’t it be better for you to think so?”
As he answered, he handed Song Hyun-soo a glass he had filled with ice and liquor. Then, picking up his own glass, whose ice had melted considerably from not being drunk for a long time, he took a few sips.
“Who else knows about this?”
“About Hong-seo? Everyone knows about that…”
“You mean, you’re also a victim of that case.”
“Ah, besides my acquaintance, not really…”
Song Hyun-soo sat up and shook his head.
Yoon Joo-ho rubbed his temples with his fingers as if he had a headache.
“Is it okay to tell me? It’s not something you can tell just anyone.”
“You’re not just anyone.”
“Why? Because I’m the one you slept with? Did you get a physical urge from that one time?”
Yoon Joo-ho’s voice and expression seemed angry. About Song Hyun-soo confiding such a story, which could be his weakness, to another person. Even if that person was Yoon Joo-ho himself.
Song Hyun-soo also bristled.
“That’s not it.”
“…”
“Because you’re someone who genuinely worries about me.”
Song Hyun-soo crushed the still-long cigarette in the ashtray and ran his hands through his bangs.
“I told you because I trust you.”
“Don’t tell anyone about things that could be your weakness. Not even your grandparents.”
“Are you saying I shouldn’t trust you either?”
“…Yes.”
Yoon Joo-ho, with a troubled expression, found his cigarette pack and took one out, putting it in his mouth. Song Hyun-soo rubbed his face several times.
“Even if I’m betrayed after trusting someone, I’ll handle the aftermath myself.”
And with eyes still moist, he met Yoon Joo-ho’s gaze directly. For that moment, the drunkenness seemed to have faded.
He declared directly to him.
“I don’t regret it.”
Not telling it to Sunbae.
Not falling for Sunbae.
For a while, Yoon Joo-ho met Song Hyun-soo’s eyes. As if he could find the truth of what he was saying in his eyes.
“You don’t regret it even if you get stabbed in the back?”
“I don’t.”
“After going through something like that, you still trust people?”
“Who said I trust just anyone? It’s because you’re not just anyone… that I trust you.”
It’s because you’re Sunbae that I trust you.
If I don’t trust the person I like, who can I trust in this world?
No matter how much alcohol he had consumed, even as his tongue started to feel sluggish, he couldn’t bring himself to say that.
Yoon Joo-ho pressed on his eyelids and remained silent for a while.
Smoke from his cigarette slowly rose from his right hand, resting on the table.
Finally, his thin lips twitched as if about to say something.
“Lee Seo-kyung…”
“Why Lee Seo-kyung?”
“You said he’s a pervert beyond imagination, right?”
“Sunbae saw the news too. You can tell from that alone. The reality is even worse.”
“…”
“Do you know something too, Sunbae?”
But Yoon Joo-ho soon shook his head vigorously a couple of times. As if trying to shake something out of his mind. Then, bringing the cigarette to his lips, he said firmly.
“In any case, don’t talk about that with anyone from now on.”
“Okay. I won’t. Not even to you. Never. Alright?”
“How can you say you won’t tell me when you’ve already told me?”
“Anyway, I won’t, I won’t. I won’t.”
“Can you write a pledge?”
“A pledge…?”
“Unlike you, I don’t trust promises made with words.”
Even thinking with his dulled mind, Yoon Joo-ho’s words were strange.
“Whether I trust someone, or get betrayed after trusting them. It’s not like you’ll lose anything, and it has nothing to do with you. So why are you asking me to write a pledge for it?”
Hmm. Yoon Joo-ho, who had closed his lips and sighed, placed the cigarette in the ashtray with neat fingers. Then, leaning his arm on the table, he leaned towards Song Hyun-soo.
“I’m thinking of making a contract with you.”
“We already did. We signed the contract, so what other…”
Yoon Joo-ho reached out his right hand and pressed the tip of his finger firmly on the upper lip of Song Hyun-soo.
“Let’s contract as actors.”
“…”
At those words, Song Hyun-soo’s mouth snapped shut. Even after Yoon Joo-ho removed his finger, he couldn’t say anything.
What did I just hear? You’re not saying contract me as an actor, are you?
“You know my current situation and the company’s situation are complicated. So I can’t sign a contract under the name of Look Planning right away.”
“…”
“If something goes wrong and I can’t find Look Planning, the company and you will be taken away as is.”
Song Hyun-soo blinked slowly, trying to understand Yoon Joo-ho’s words with his alcohol-soaked brain.
“For now, we’ll have a one-on-one contract, and once the situation is resolved, you’ll officially become part of Look Planning.”
Yoon Joo-ho finished speaking in a voice so dry it felt brittle, and gave a very faint smile.
“Then, am I related to you now?”
He picked up the cigarette he had rested on the edge of the ashtray and held it between his fingers again. When it was between his fingers, the cigarette strangely looked thinner, and the smoke looked greener.
“It’s better if someone approaches with a plan from the start. Once you gain some experience, you can distinguish that. The most dangerous people are those you can trust.”
“Why?”
“The moment you learn someone’s secret, it becomes power in the relationship. And that power changes people. Even someone who initially had no such intentions ends up stabbing you in the back.”
Tapping the ash off, Yoon Joo-ho tilted his chin up and downed the remaining alcohol. Then, setting down the glass, he added indifferently.
“Just because you can trust someone now doesn’t mean it will last forever.”
Although he felt sorry for Yoon Joo-ho, who was offering valuable advice as an industry senior.
Only one sentence remained in Song Hyun-soo’s mind.
I’m thinking of making a contract with you. Let’s contract as actors.
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