By Zephyria 
Song Hyun-soo, having finished his preparations to leave work, pulled back the curtain from behind the bar. The manager at the counter asked,
“Good work. Is it manageable, juggling this with filming?”
“I don’t have to stay until closing, so it’s okay, more or less.”
“We’d appreciate it if you do as much as you can. As you saw today, thanks to you, we’ve had a steady increase in customers lately. Even on weekdays, many customers ask for you, Hyun-soo. They must be fans.”
“I don’t have that many fans yet.”
“It’s like stocks. One moment you’re soaring.”
“Don’t worry about the shop’s business for now. I need to earn some pocket money until filming wraps up too.”
“That’s a relief then.”
The manager’s expression clearly showed his regret, though he wanted to keep Song Hyun-soo longer. Just a few months ago, he had been the one most nagged by the manager, but now, he realized how much things had changed.
Chae-young, who was returning after serving, chimed in as she placed a tray on the counter.
“Even if you leave, our shop can still do well.”
“How?”
The manager sounded skeptical.
“It’s a place where actor Song Hyun-soo worked part-time even while filming
Chae-young’s words sounded like a child’s wild imagination. Would the day ever come when he became that famous? Song Hyun-soo chuckled and patted her shoulder a couple of times.
“You must be tired, right? You’ll go straight home to rest?”
“I was planning to, but… the hyung I live with invited me to the bar.”
“Twenty-somethings really do have different stamina.”
The manager began lamenting his own declining physical functions compared to the past. Chae-young signaled him to ignore the manager and leave quickly. Song Hyun-soo, while putting on his scarf, left the door of ‘Jessica’.
He had been filming all week, so of course, he was tired. Not just physically, but the mental fatigue from tension and concentration was also considerable. Although he didn’t always overlap with Yoon Joo-ho on set, when they were in the same location, their mutual awareness doubled their fatigue.
Despite being so tired, he couldn’t sleep soundly. He knew he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep until morning if he went home now. That’s why he didn’t refuse Seohae’s invitation.
He put earphones in his ears and scrolled through his playlist. Choi Hong-seo’s songs, and a few others. He aimlessly scrolled up and down the screen and selected a song.
“Erasing the traces of the previous person. It’s basic courtesy to your current partner.”
The song that was playing in his car at the time. The song I introduced to him.
He waited for the bus, pulling his chin into his scarf against the cold weather, which felt like an overly pretty euphemism for “spring chill.” The scarf was a gift from Yoon Joo-ho, who had been to Paris.
He got on a night bus heading to Gangnam. The interior was warm enough, but he didn’t take off his scarf. He sat by the window in the very back row, listening to music and staring blankly out the car window.
As the bus crossed the Han River Bridge, Jung-ho called. What was he doing at this hour? Was he going to ask for a drink on his day off?
[Hyung, where are you now?]
As soon as the call connected, the younger man pressed him with an urgent voice.
“I just got off work. I’m on my way to Seohae hyung’s bar.”
[SNS…]
“SNS?”
[Your SNS is going, going, going crazy right now!]
“It’s probably because I tagged Joo-ho senior and Hyo-jin senior. It’s been gradually increasing since I uploaded it.”
[No, it’s not that level! Is something wrong, hyung? I’m scared!]
“What else could it be? Anyway, I’ll check it. Hang up for now.”
As soon as he opened the app after ending the call, he saw notification numbers for new followers, comments, and likes that were incomparable to usual. Just as Jung-ho said, he wondered if something bad had happened. His heart began to pound.
What is it, what on earth is it because of? Song Hyun-soo went to his account page and was horrified to see the follower count. The number of followers, which had been just over 4,000 when he checked a few hours ago, had now surpassed 40,000.
It was just as Jung-ho said. It was a phenomenon so bizarre that it was scary to be simply liked.
The comments were filled with languages from around the world and awkward Korean that seemed to have been run through a translator. He felt like he understood the common point these comments were referring to.
He immediately went to Yoon Joo-ho’s account, but there was nothing special to see.
The photo with the cast of
Song Hyun-soo’s gaze, trembling with anxiety, suddenly became calm. Or rather, it was closer to being frozen.
Posts 473, Followers 47.21 million, Following 1
No way… No way… It can’t be. Even Yoon Joo-ho wouldn’t do something that crazy.
Although he checked Yoon Joo-ho’s account every time he opened the app, he had refrained from following him, pretending to be a normal person. Everyone around him seemed to know he was a fan of Yoon Joo-ho, but Song Hyun-soo himself was serious about his ‘normal person’ act.
Then, after exchanging accounts and following Shin Hyo-jin and Han Joo-young back, he was finally able to follow Yoon Joo-ho’s account with confidence. It was well-known that Yoon Joo-ho didn’t follow anyone, and it wouldn’t be strange at all for a junior actor filming a movie with other seniors to follow him.
Yoon Joo-ho’s account always had Following 0.
That had been constant since the account was first opened until now. But that 0 had changed to 1.
He tapped on the unbelievable number.
“…”
He covered his mouth, fearing a strange sound might escape.
Yoon Joo-ho’s only followed account was song.h.soooo.
“Crazy… Is this guy really crazy?”
The time spent on the bus, where he was forced to sit still, felt slower than ever.
After getting off the bus, he almost ran to his destination. Upon arriving at the entrance of Seohae’s bar and ringing the bell, the door opened from inside. He ran down the stairs, rang the bell again, and entered the now familiar space. He headed straight for the bar counter that Seohae managed.
Seohae, who was wiping an on-the-rocks glass with a dry cloth, greeted him warmly.
“Oh, you’re here? Good work with your part-time job.”
Without answering the greeting or sitting down, Seohae put down the glass he was wiping, seeing Song Hyun-soo standing still and looking at him.
“What’s wrong, did something happen?”
Song Hyun-soo wiped his face with his palms several times.
“What is it?”
“No… it’s like this. It might seem like nothing, but it might also be a big deal…”
“So, what is it?”
“Joo-ho senior.”
“What did that bastard do now?”
“He followed me.”
“What??”
Upon seeing Seohae’s reaction, Song Hyun-soo’s face immediately turned pale. He rummaged through his coat pocket and pulled out his phone.
“Right? It’s strange, isn’t it? This is a big deal, hyung, right? Should I call Director Bang right away?”
Song Hyun-soo began frantically fiddling with his phone, as if about to make a call. Seohae quickly rushed out from behind the bar and stopped him.
“It’s fine. Why would you call Director Bang at this hour for something like that?”
“You were surprised when you heard what I said too.”
“I was just surprised because you said someone who never follows anyone did it. Who said it’s a big deal?”
“No, this… after creating an account and never following anyone, doing this now looks too significant to anyone who sees it.”
“It’ll be reported, though. Because it’s Yoon Joo-ho.”
“Exactly!”
Seohae firmly grabbed Song Hyun-soo’s hand as he tried to look at his phone again.
“You said you were over.”
“Th-that’s right. Who says otherwise?”
“Then why do you care so much?”
“…”
“You’re both men. Even if it gets reported, it’ll just be one of those articles where they repost every single SNS upload by celebrities. And if things get bigger, we can just say he’s a new actor to be recruited by Look Planning. Of course, because it’s his business, it’ll get attention, but it won’t be the big deal you’re worried about.”
Seohae spoke with conviction and then pressed Song Hyun-soo’s still-tense shoulders down onto the stool. Still not reassured, he even confiscated Song Hyun-soo’s phone.
After putting down his bag, taking off his scarf and coat, and drinking the water Seohae gave him, he seemed to calm down a little.
“Leave it. He must have made some kind of decision and acted on it.”
Seohae said in a cold tone from across the counter. Song Hyun-soo, who was about to say something, closed his mouth for now upon hearing another customer’s voice from behind him.
“Hyung, have you been well?”
A cheerful yet pleasant voice.
It seemed like a group of four or five people had entered, and only one of them approached Seohae to greet him. Seohae also immediately welcomed the owner of the voice.
“Oh, you’re here? You’ve been absent for a while.”
“I was doing fan meetings overseas until last week. I’m free for a while now. I’ll visit often… Huh? Hyun-soo-ssi?”
Who was calling my name here? I reflexively turned my head to look up, and it was Jeong Seong-won.
“Ah… Senior, hello.”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to get up.”
As he awkwardly tried to lift himself up, Jeong Seong-won smiled as if troubled and gently pressed Song Hyun-soo’s shoulder down.
Seohae looked back and forth between the two, looking surprised.
“You two… know each other?”
“At Joo-ho senior’s birthday party. Hyun-soo-ssi was in charge of the cocktails. You couldn’t attend then, right, hyung?”
“Ah, I heard a lot about it. The rookie actor Yoon Joo-ho kept introducing around.”
“That’s right. That’s Hyun-soo-ssi.”
Jeong Seong-won nodded with a smile and looked down at Song Hyun-soo with a slightly mischievous smile.
“I think I gave Hyun-soo-ssi my business card back then.”
“Ah… yes… but, that…”
Because so-and-so kept growling and snapping at me to throw it away.
“It’s good that you know each other. Have a drink for a bit. You’re industry seniors and juniors, and it won’t hurt for Hyun-soo-ssi to build some connections.”
At Seohae’s suggestion, Jeong Seong-won looked at Song Hyun-soo with a hesitant expression.
“I don’t want to make Hyun-soo-ssi uncomfortable for no reason.”
Then, contrary to his words, he pulled out the stool next to him and smiled faintly.
“But, I’ll sit for a moment. I’m the type who doesn’t miss an opportunity when it comes.”
■■■
As they passed by Marronnier Park, sparse, blurry raindrops began to fall on the car’s windshield. Yoon Joo-ho glanced up at the sky and turned up the volume of the audio.
He had been playing this one song on repeat on his way from his home to here.
The song Song Hyun-soo had introduced to him on their first trip to ‘Myung Hae-ri’ together.
It was a strange song that felt like Song Hyun-soo speaking to him, and also like he was speaking to Song Hyun-soo. He had never projected his own feelings onto music, even during his sensitive adolescence. He let out a wry smile, thinking it was a late-blooming growth spurt.
Just past Hyehwa Station, the car turned right and slowly drove down a dark alley, stopping diagonally opposite ‘Jessica’.
There was still more than an hour left until ‘Jessica’ closed.
After smoking about half a cigarette, Yoon Joo-ho got out of the car and quickened his pace with long strides, taking advantage of the absence of passersby.
“Welcome… Yoho.”
The part-timer, who reflexively greeted the customer, looked flustered upon recognizing the customer’s identity. She, who looked about college age, was likely ‘Chae-young’. He gave her a slight nod of greeting and looked around the shop. However, the person he was looking for was nowhere to be seen. Had he gone out for a smoke?
He took a seat at the counter for now.
What expression would he make upon finding himself discovered? His lips felt dry, again and again.
A man who looked a bit older than the other staff, like a manager, approached with a stiff expression and handed him a menu.
“Would you like to order?”
“If possible, I’d like to drink a cocktail made by Song Hyun-soo.”
“Ah… you came to see Hyun-soo. Hyun-soo doesn’t work until closing anymore.”
“Is that so? I didn’t know.”
When Yoon Joo-ho couldn’t hide his disappointment, the man fidgeted, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward laugh.
“Hyun-soo, really. He sees you every day on set, yet he let you come all this way without saying anything. Haha.”
“No, it’s my fault for coming without contacting him beforehand.”
It was also because if I had contacted him, I would have just been told not to come, so I couldn’t.
Unable to leave without ordering anything, I had a cup of coffee. As I stepped out onto the street, the Rain Flower¹ had turned into a drizzle. It was a rain that seemed to seep into the very marrow of my bones.
After failing on my first attempt, I became even more anxious.
It felt as if he had already fled beyond my reach. Yet, as if searching for him pointlessly, I couldn’t easily leave and kept looking around.
I couldn’t go home like this. I decided to go to Seohae’s apartment without any particular plan.
As soon as I sat in the driver’s seat, my pocket vibrated. Yoon Joo-ho’s expression turned sour as he hastily pulled out his phone, holding onto a sliver of hope. He furrowed his brow, bit his lip, and hit the steering wheel several times. He carelessly tossed his phone onto the passenger seat and quickly started the car. What unfolded on the bright screen was a message from Seohae. It included a photo.
¹ Rain Flower: Sparse raindrops falling when it begins to rain.