By Zephyria “Anyway, Hyung Hye-an miraculously woke up, and Dong-ha, you’ve settled down and are doing so well. And you’re both appearing in Director Kang Woo-hyun’s movie together… I have no worries these days.”
Sitting around the round table, after clinking glasses, Yong-jae looked back and forth between Choi Hong-seo and Park Dong-ha with an emotional expression.
“It would have been even better if we had all done this well when we were ‘Titan’.”
Tears instantly welled up in Yong-jae’s eyes, which were long and narrow, and he continued with a trembling voice, lowering his head.
“Then Dong-ha, you wouldn’t have had to suffer so much after leaving the company… and your father’s situation would have been handled better…”
Park Dong-ha stepped forward and comforted Yong-jae, who was wiping away tears, by embracing his thick, broad shoulders.
“Why would you feel sorry about that? Anyway, you really have to acknowledge how soft-hearted our Yong-jae Hyung is. I worry every day that you might get scammed somewhere!”
His voice, deliberately cheerful to lighten the mood, was filled with affection. Even if his attitude towards Yoon Hye-an was puzzling, at least the words Park Dong-ha spoke to Yong-jae seemed sincere.
“Yong-jae Hyung, are you already drunk after one sip of wine? Ah, let’s drink soju instead of wine next time, soju!”
Instead of the wine that was served out of politeness because a guest had brought it as a gift, Park Dong-ha quickly got up and brought soju and glasses. Yong-jae, who had been wiping his tears, took the soju and said with a red nose.
“‘Titan’ was the first team I ever managed. I really wanted to see it do well. But everyone except you and Hyung has left the entertainment industry now…”
Like ‘Layered,’ which Choi Hong-seo belonged to, ‘Titan’ also struggled for years without standing out among the numerous idol groups. Then, as Yoon Hye-an started acting, the group began to gain popularity, and for a while, ‘Titan’ was a group where only Yoon Hye-an was successful. It wasn’t uncommon for a strategy to start by making one member known and then gradually drawing attention to the entire team. In fact, it was one of the strategies for many idol groups. However, ‘Titan’ lost the opportunity to develop into a group with overall popularity when Yoon Hye-an left the team.
Even if Park Dong-ha or the other members resented Yoon Hye-an for that, it was an understandable situation. The problem was that the Yoon Hye-an in front of Park Dong-ha now was not that Yoon Hye-an.
Park Dong-ha, after cleanly emptying a glass of soju, said calmly while eating the red fish cake soup.
“The time we struggled without gaining popularity, going to supermarket events in the provinces, or the hell we went through trying to survive on 100,000 won for a week’s food expenses in the dorm…”
“……”
“And the chance we got then… yes, the chance we got was all thanks to Hyung, but.”
He put down his spoon, let out a bitter chuckle, and leaned his elbows on the table, looking at Choi Hong-seo.
“In any case, Hyung doesn’t remember any of that, right?”
“I looked up what I was like, what ‘Titan’ was like… on the internet. I don’t remember, though.”
Park Dong-ha, gazing at Choi Hong-seo, or rather Yoon Hye-an, poured himself another glass of soju and muttered to himself.
“Right. Still, you looked it up…”
Unlike his generally combative attitude, Park Dong-ha now showed a hint of resignation. The atmosphere was definitely different from before, when he seemed to be cautiously observing ‘Yoon Hye-an’ with strong defenses.
Thinking it was time to leave, Yong-jae, glancing at Park Dong-ha and Choi Hong-seo, quietly got up.
“But where is Romeo? Tiffany, and Romeo too, why are all our members’ cats so unsociable?”
“Our Romeo isn’t like that. Go in. He’s probably hiding in the closet.”
“I saw him a few times when he lived at the previous house, I wonder if he remembers me?”
Romeo, Romeo? Kkujjujju.
Watching Yong-jae disappear down the hallway calling the cat’s name, Choi Hong-seo asked first.
“You have a cat?”
It was a simple question, but Park Dong-ha’s eyes flashed sharply for a moment, directed at ‘Yoon Hye-an.’ But it was only for an instant. Perhaps he was still doubting Yoon Hye-an’s claim of not remembering anything.
“I brought him in a little after Hyung started raising Tiffany.”
Park Dong-ha, proposing a toast to Choi Hong-seo, who was not drinking his soju, extended his glass. After clinking glasses, he quickly downed the drink.
“I used to be more of a dog person because I raised dogs for a long time at my parents’ house, but after raising our Romeo, I found cats to be very charming too.”
As he said this, Park Dong-ha, who was taking fish cakes off skewers from the pot, had the face of an ordinary cat owner proudly showing off his cat. Park Dong-ha continued speaking while removing fish cakes from skewers with chopsticks.
“I liked animals in general, of course.”
“……”
“Hyung didn’t like animals originally.”
It sounded like a passing remark, but it was enough to pique Choi Hong-seo’s curiosity.
“Then why did I start raising Tiffany?”
It seemed unlikely that Park Dong-ha would tell the truth even if asked. Perhaps there was no grand truth behind the motivation for raising Tiffany. He knew Yoon Hye-an hadn’t taken proper care of Tiffany. There were people in the world who got pets without much thought, treating them like cute dolls.
Park Dong-ha, setting down the skewer from which he’d removed the fish cake, looked straight at Choi Hong-seo.
“Well? Hyung was always impulsive and fickle.”
According to what Yong-jae had casually asked, it seemed Park Dong-ha and Yoon Hye-an hadn’t kept in frequent contact even after the team disbanded. Yoon Hye-an’s social circle was so meager that Park Dong-ha was one of the few people he was relatively close to. It was highly probable that Park Dong-ha also didn’t know why Yoon Hye-an suddenly started raising a cat, or why he tried to take his own life.
As if those things were of no consequence, Park Dong-ha refilled his glass and emptied it again. He drank quite quickly. After a pause, like someone trying to bring up a difficult topic with the help of alcohol, Park Dong-ha opened his mouth.
“On Hyung’s birthday, I didn’t know things would turn out that way.”
Park Dong-ha’s eyes, gazing somewhere on the dining table, were moist with alcohol.
“Yes, Jae-won Hyung’s gang is inherently low-class, but it’s also true that they were people Hyung used to hang out with. Even though Jae-won Hyung always acted that way, Hyung used to join them and play along. He wasn’t someone who would fall for such tricks!”
Park Dong-ha’s voice, which had been growing increasingly agitated, eventually sounded pained. His furrowed brow was like a child who had unintentionally done something wrong and was suffering.
Jae-won Hyung was the member of the idol group who had clung to ‘Yoon Hye-an’ at the party that day.
After gulping down another shot of soju, Park Dong-ha wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“I really didn’t expect Hyung to be so flustered and struggle like that…”
“So… you called those people that day to test how I would react?”
Park Dong-ha shot his head up and shook it.
“No!”
“……”
“That’s really not it!… Please believe me.”
That day, Lee Hae-sung had looked like he was about to lunge at the man named ‘Jae-won’. He remembered Park Dong-ha’s face when he had forcibly pushed his back and they left the scene. His shocked, frozen expression seemed unable to believe what he had witnessed.
“I’ll believe you, so in return, you believe me now too.”
“……”
“That I really don’t remember anything.”
Park Dong-ha pursed his lips, looking displeased. However, it wasn’t the same face as before, one that couldn’t believe ‘Yoon Hye-an’ at all and was trying to find loopholes.
Of course, it was possible that everything Park Dong-ha was doing was an act. He wasn’t ruling out that possibility. Both ‘Yoon Hye-an’ and Park Dong-ha were equally suspicious of whether the other was acting and unable to trust each other. However, he wanted to leave open the possibility of improving their relationship. If he had to continue living as Yoon Hye-an, perhaps for a while, he didn’t want to live like the Yoon Hye-an of the past.
Thump-thump-thump.
Breaking the silence, the light sound of footsteps running on marble could be heard. As he looked towards the hallway, a calico cat with mixed white, brown, and black fur appeared. With curious eyes, it looked at Choi Hong-seo, the unfamiliar visitor. Then, with its tail held high, it slowly approached Choi Hong-seo.
After circling his seated legs for a moment, the cat looked up at Choi Hong-seo, as if asking to be held, or perhaps to be picked up, and meowed softly. Choi Hong-seo carefully placed the cat on his lap and petted it. He felt a sense of emotion, as he hadn’t even done this with Tiffany yet, and also felt a bit sorry towards Tiffany. Tiffany herself wouldn’t be jealous of Romeo…
“This one seems to like you, Hyung. Is Tiffany still cold to you these days?”
“No, she’s not as much these days.”
“You dote on her so much, and yet that one acts so haughty for no reason.”
Park Dong-ha, who had been looking back and forth between Choi Hong-seo and the cat without a word, refilled Yong-jae’s glass, suggesting they drink more soju.
Having drunk almost three bottles of soju by himself, Park Dong-ha was quite drunk. By the time they parted ways, his cheeks were flushed red, clearly showing him as a drunkard. Holding Romeo, Park Dong-ha waved its front paws as he saw Yong-jae and Choi Hong-seo off.
As soon as he got into the taxi, Choi Hong-seo searched for Lee Hae-sung’s name. He was curious if any new news or photos had surfaced in the meantime.
He had agreed to Yong-jae’s suggestion to drink at Park Dong-ha’s house because he was so preoccupied with what Park Dong-ha would think or how he would react upon receiving the tie he’d sent through Manager Kang. But it was all for naught. As if mocking his efforts, his thoughts about him hadn’t budged an inch and were waiting for Choi Hong-seo right where they were.