By Zephyria The plastic bag, filled haphazardly with dried snacks, a few bags of chips, and canned beer, was quite heavy. Even standing in front of the apartment door, Song Hyun-soo hesitated several times. But even inside the building, it was too much to endure for long in just a sweatshirt, without a jumper, in the late spring chill. Finally, he knocked.
Jung-ho opened the door with a cheerful greeting.
“You came so quickly?”
“Yeah. I called from home just before I left.”
As he took off his shoes and entered the narrow entryway, Song Hyun-soo handed the plastic bag to Jung-ho.
“Whoa, it’s heavy. Why did you buy so much beer?”
“I wanted to drink a ton with you for the first time in a while.”
“Did Joo-ho hyung give you a ride?”
“Huh?”
“You’re not wearing a jacket. I thought Joo-ho hyung might have brought you this far.”
Jung-ho started putting the beer in the refrigerator. Song Hyun-soo, looking back at the figure crouching down, shook his head and headed for the bathroom.
“Don’t even mention that guy.”
“Haha, what’s wrong? Did you fight and run away from home?”
As Song Hyun-soo washed his hands with the door open, Jung-ho’s cheerful voice reached him. Drying his hands with a towel, Song Hyun-soo casually dropped a remark.
“We broke up.”
“Ah, you broke up… Wh-what???”
Jung-ho, who was spreading out the snacks on the small two-person dining table, practically jumped. The chips he was splitting open sprang up, and a few fell to the floor.
“Ah, shoot, you startled me. Why are you so surprised?”
Song Hyun-soo, who had flinched back, snapped and picked up the fallen chips. Jung-ho grabbed Song Hyun-soo by both shoulders and set him upright.
“Did you really, really break up?”
He shook Song Hyun-soo’s shoulders.
“Not just a fight?”
He had only thought of this place to escape to. As he relayed the words “we broke up” to a third party, it was undeniably painful.
“‘If you leave now, it’s really the end. You can never come back.’”
Yoon Joo-ho’s face and voice, threatening him while gripping his jaw so hard it ached, were vivid. Song Hyun-soo brushed off Jung-ho’s hands and slumped onto a chair at the dining table, popping the tab on a beer can.
“He said it was the end, so it’s the end.”
Jung-ho, staring intently at Song Hyun-soo guzzling his beer, suddenly smacked him on the back.
“Ah! Why are you hitting me?”
“You just kicked away our golden future, and you expect me not to make a fuss??”
“I’m already furious because of that guy, don’t make me angrier, okay? What do you know? I’m not the one who deserves to be hit.”
Jung-ho quickly took the opposite seat, leaned over the table, and lowered his voice with an uncharacteristically serious expression.
“Hyung, think carefully. The other person is Yoon Joo-ho.”
“So what if he’s Yoon Joo-ho?”
“He’s someone who could make your acting career bloom. Of course, he might have some personality flaws, but with his looks and everything, Yoon Joo-ho is worth a certain amount of risk…”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m not letting this slide this time!”
Song Hyun-soo crushed the can in his hand and drank the beer as if pouring it down his throat. He didn’t want to recall the hurtful words he had thrown. He wanted to drown them out with beer. He wanted to be left with only his anger towards Yoon Joo-ho right now. He didn’t want to give sadness a chance to seep in, enveloped by that anger.
“Unless you crawl here on your knees from Gangnam and beg, I will never forgive you!”
“Still, it seems you haven’t completely lost the will to forgive.”
“…Shut up, Kang Jung-ho.”
Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he glared, and Jung-ho nodded as if he understood, leaning back. Then, popping a piece of chip into his mouth, he tilted his head.
“But will that really happen?”
“What?”
“It’s Yoon Joo-ho. Forget crawling on his knees to beg, I doubt he’s ever apologized in his life. So I don’t think he’ll ask for forgiveness, meaning hyung will have to first…”
“Hey, Kang Jung-ho! Whose side are you on, you bastard?”
“I’m just frustrated because hyung, who dumped the top bachelor, came out of the house naked!”
“Top bachelor, my ass. Rich, handsome, and amazing in bed makes him a top bachelor? I wouldn’t take that crazy bastard even if he were given to me!”
“He is a top bachelor, though,” Jung-ho muttered, and Song Hyun-soo, ignoring him, poured more beer. The 500ml can was already empty. He turned the can upside down, tipping the last few drops into his mouth, then crumpled the empty can as if it were Yoon Joo-ho himself and stood up abruptly.
“Why did you fight, anyway?”
Jung-ho asked from behind as Song Hyun-soo took a new beer from the refrigerator. Song Hyun-soo’s hand froze. The reason they had fought so fiercely. Recalling it, his chest felt an unspeakable coldness and ache. It felt like a toothache was boiling in his heart.
But there wasn’t much he could say. Even if Jung-ho knew about their relationship, it was different from Director Bang or Seohae. He couldn’t reveal Yoon Joo-ho’s private life to him.
Sitting back down at the table, Song Hyun-soo casually checked his phone. As expected, still no contact. He didn’t know why he was disappointed, even though he hadn’t expected anything.
Bringing the new beer to his lips, he answered briefly.
“Difference in personality.”
“When celebrity couples break up, they always say it’s a difference in personality. Well, hyung and Joo-ho hyung are also a celebrity couple.”
Jung-ho nodded to himself, agreeing, and continued.
“Nam Se-yeon also announced her divorce from her husband because she couldn’t overcome their personality differences. After the whole nation knew why they were breaking up.”
Jang Mi-young and Nam Se-yeon, and Nam Se-yeon’s husband.
Thinking about it now, their complicated relationship was quite similar to his own situation.
“…”
As Song Hyun-soo brought the beer to his lips, his eyes suddenly narrowed. He vividly recalled the moment he first heard about Nam Se-yeon and Jang Mi-young. The day he, Yoon Joo-ho, and Seohae spent the entire afternoon looking at ridiculously priced rental apartments.
Yoon Joo-ho, hearing the news from Seohae, seemed shocked. He remembered it now. Yoon Joo-ho stood there blankly, the water running in the sink. Thinking about it now, it wasn’t because of Nam Se-yeon or Jang Mi-young.
“‘As long as it’s not someone I know involved.’”
So… was that why he was so dazed?
A wry smile escaped him upon realizing the reason belatedly. But nothing changed.
With a sneer on his lips, Song Hyun-soo nodded.
“You’re right.”
“About what?”
“You said it. That Yoon Joo-ho is different from us. Can you handle someone like that?”
“You did say that.”
“I don’t think I can handle it. No, I don’t want to handle it.”
“Still, after seeing him a few times, Joo-ho hyung is really different from the rumors, and also…”
“And what?”
Should I say this when we’ve broken up? Jung-ho hesitated, his face showing concern, and glanced around before speaking.
“It was just obvious that he really liked hyung. He was so kind.”
“That’s all acting. Don’t be fooled. Don’t you know he’s a damn good actor?”
“Do you think I can’t tell the difference? I’ve dated and loved too, you know?”
“Dating or loving, if you haven’t done it with Yoon Joo-ho, don’t even talk about it. He’s like Kingda Ka¹).”
Song Hyun-soo, who had been downing beer continuously without touching the snacks, ran a hand down the back of his neck, looking embarrassed, and reluctantly brought up the topic.
“So, Jung-ho, could you let me stay here for a while?”
“Here?”
“We’ll both be on set five days a week anyway, so I’d just ask for the days off. I can’t find a place to live right now.”
“If it’s for a while, it’s fine, but…”
“Laundry, cleaning, dishes. I’ll do it all!”
“No, it’s not because of that.”
“Then why?”
“Aren’t you afraid of being murdered by Joo-ho hyung if you let me stay? Jealousy, possessiveness. He doesn’t seem like a joke. I don’t want to incur his wrath.”
Was that why? Song Hyun-soo scoffed and picked up another can.
“Don’t worry. From now on, I wouldn’t bat an eye even if you were having sex with me here.”
¹ Kingda Ka. A roller coaster at a theme park in New Jersey, USA. It is the world’s tallest roller coaster, accelerating to about 200 km/h from a height of about 140 meters.