By Zephyria “Is everything alright? I don’t know why we don’t have much time to talk for long.”
“I know, it’s like someone is deliberately interfering.”
Choi Hong-seo deliberately added with more playfulness, avoiding Jeong Ji-in’s eyes.
“It can’t be helped. We’re both in the busiest period since our debut, aren’t we?”
“Yeah… that’s a good thing, but…”
Jeong Ji-in’s worried gaze swept over Choi Hong-seo’s flashy makeup and clothes, the tired dark circles hidden by them, and his unusually thin body. But of course, Choi Hong-seo had to pretend not to notice that kind attention.
“You’re achieving everything you wanted, one by one. Please, just don’t read the comments, okay?”
Choi Hong-seo nodded with a smile at the concern that knew him too well. With his gaze tilted sideways, he slowly nodded, then suddenly changed his tone and called out to Jeong Ji-in with a strained voice.
“Hyung.”
“……”
“I’ll be focusing on overseas schedules for a while to promote the single. I won’t be in Korea much. Even if I come back, it’ll just be for a brief visit?”
“I saw the news that the music is doing well overseas too.”
“You’re busy with the drama, yet you still check on that. As expected, you’re the best, Hyung.”
Should I confide in Jeong Ji-in? Should I tell him everything and ask for advice?
It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered it.
If Hyung, who had studied more and grown up in a better environment with superior education, could give him wise answers that a fool like himself couldn’t think of…
But asking someone for help was something only those who had done it before could do. While he could share things calmly with Hyun-su, who was in a similar situation, he couldn’t open his mouth to someone whose situation might become a burden. It felt too… shameless.
Habitually, carefully dabbing sweat without smudging his makeup or ruining his hair, Choi Hong-seo pulled at the corners of his lips.
“Layered performed as a guest at the commercial event you filmed. It’s something I couldn’t have imagined a few months ago, right?”
He had to twist his insides to force a smile, as if both of them were happy about each other’s success. Even though the new single was doing so well, he couldn’t tell anyone, not even Lee Hae-sung or Jeong Ji-in, the real reason why his schedule would primarily be overseas for the time being.
Jeong Ji-in nodded and smiled back. He was always grateful and comfortable with Jeong Ji-in because he didn’t pry into what he didn’t say and treated him the same as always. That was still the case at that moment.
He wanted to say more, but realized he had nothing more to say. He couldn’t meet Jeong Ji-in’s eyes, his gaze constantly drifting heavily downwards.
“Hong-seo, they’re waiting in the parking lot.”
The manager, who had been waiting a few steps away, called out, hurrying him. He had a brief meeting scheduled with Lee Hae-sung before heading to the airport. It was his last chance to see him before leaving the country.
“Hyung, I’m sorry. I have to go.”
“Oh, okay…”
Jeong Ji-in also nodded with a look of regret.
As Choi Hong-seo turned the corner of the hallway to go meet Lee Hae-sung, he looked back at Jeong Ji-in one last time. Jeong Ji-in, who remained standing where he was, waved with a smile. A person who always smiled comfortably from the same spot. Exactly as Choi Hong-seo knew Jeong Ji-in to be. It was a relief. Before disappearing completely around the corner, Choi Hong-seo smiled brightly at Jeong Ji-in for a moment.
However, that smile soon faded after only a few steps.
The manager, walking ahead down the winding service corridor, turned back and handed Choi Hong-seo his phone.
“It’s the CEO calling.”
Choi Hong-seo answered the phone with a deathly pale complexion.
“…Yes.”
[Why are you still at the event venue? Don’t you know the Vice President is waiting?]
An irritable voice grated on his nerves from the start.
“I was just talking with Hyung Ji-in for a moment.”
[Is someone like Jeong Ji-in a problem right now? You still haven’t come to your senses after receiving that from that bastard Lee Seo-kyung, huh?]
On the day the new single was released, Lee Seo-kyung had sent a bouquet to Myeong Do-hoon at UB’s office. Inside the envelope of the card attached to the lavish, expensive-looking bouquet, there were no words, not even a sender’s name, only two photos.
One was a photo taken ‘that day,’ with Choi Hong-seo’s face cut out, and the other was a photo of Myeong Do-hoon’s profile as he headed to the host bar he was managing at the time. In other words, it was a warning from Lee Seo-kyung.
[Don’t you understand the situation? Are you living in a fantasy world, you idiot? Who do you think you are, keeping someone waiting?]
Myeong Do-hoon, who had been groveling and trying to appease Choi Hong-seo for a while because he was ‘favored’ by Lee Hae-sung, started to vent his anger again, calling him names. This was because he was increasingly anxious under Lee Seo-kyung’s pressure.
Even though Choi Hong-seo didn’t react much, Myeong Do-hoon, who had been ranting on the phone, took a deep breath and calmed himself down.
[I investigated as much as I could within my reach… Lee Hae-sung, that man, is a rare breed among rare breeds. He’s never been interested in playing with celebrities. Well, whether he likes professionals or his hobby is collecting ordinary people, or if he has a stewardess fetish like someone else, I don’t know… No matter how much I dig, I can’t find any trace of him messing with people whose faces are known.]
Having said that much, Myeong Do-hoon scoffed dismissively. Conversely, as Myeong Do-hoon used vulgar language to describe Lee Hae-sung, a murderous glint appeared in Choi Hong-seo’s eyes.
[It’s fortunate for us, fuck. Since he doesn’t dabble in that kind of information, he wouldn’t have heard about you from anyone. You understand?]
“……”
[Listen carefully, Choi Hong-seo. The Vice President… likes the pure and fresh ‘Hong-shi’ of ‘Layered.’ Huh? He wants to see the image of you he sees on TV. Smile brightly, maintain a generally innocent concept, and be slightly sexy. Huh?]
“……”
[If the Vice President finds out now that your body has been around the block, it’ll all be for nothing.]
“You should speak properly. It’s not a body that’s been around, it’s a body that’s been taken around.”
[Yes, of course, you would say that. Why wouldn’t you? Hey, I understand you feel wronged, but now is not the time for you and me to argue about such things. If those photos Lee Seo-kyung has fall into the Vice President’s hands now, fuck, it’ll be the end of everything. You and I, together, will be screwed and dragged around by that bastard Lee Seo-kyung again. Got it?]
Myeong Do-hoon, who had gotten heated again, paused to catch his breath.
[Since you’re separated when he’s so fond of you, Lee Hae-sung must be impatient. Someone with no immunity to these games must be having a hell of a time. When that happens, you subtly hint that you want to see him. He’ll adjust his busy schedule and fly out to see your face? Once he’s gone that far, you can assume he’s practically blind.]
The sound of Myeong Do-hoon putting a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it could be heard from the other end of the line.
[While you’re doing overseas schedules, I’ll try to appease that bastard with some new faces… and you, huh? You just need to make sure the Vice President is so smitten with you that he can’t think straight. Huh?]
Myeong Do-hoon rambled on, his speech slurred from the cigarette in his mouth.
[Those photos, even if they fall into Lee Hae-sung’s hands, you need to bewitch him enough to believe you, not the photos. I was forced into it by Lee Seo-kyung, I was dragged around under duress, please punish Lee Seo-kyung, Vice President… Make him believe all of that!]
I had been brutally raped by Lee Seo-kyung, and despite being the victim, that experience of rape became the very excuse Lee Seo-kyung could use to blackmail me. Knowing it was a vicious cycle, I found myself unable to refuse the demands of Lee Seo-kyung and Myeong Do-hoon. — That was the truth of the matter. Nevertheless, Myeong Do-hoon was prattling on as if it were all a fabricated story, and that I needed to persuade Lee Hae-sung to believe a lie as truth.
[To us, Lee Hae-sung is a lifeline sent from heaven. Understand? Even if it’s a rotten lifeline, we have no choice but to cling to it. Choi Hong-seo has years of experience, fuck, holding onto one nerdy cock is child’s play. Isn’t it?]
As he heard the sound of forced laughter trying to shake off the fear, Choi Hong-seo scoffed silently.
“We’re at the parking lot. I’m hanging up.”
He heard Myeong Do-hoon curse at Choi Hong-seo’s attitude, but he ended the call without a second thought. He was disgusted by Myeong Do-hoon’s behavior, who had lived off Lee Seo-kyung’s crumbs for so long, only to try and shed his pimp label and switch ships the moment a stronger host named Lee Hae-sung appeared.
If things went Myeong Do-hoon’s way, Lee Hae-sung would be used by Myeong Do-hoon without even realizing it. He couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t be a part of it.
Choi Hong-seo shook his head three or four times to clear the anger from his face. Gripping the phone tightly, he strode towards his manager and handed the call over.
Lee Hae-sung was waiting in a sprinter at ‘Layered’. Without even being asked to be left alone, the General Manager, having received some command from Myeong Do-hoon, opened the car door for Choi Hong-seo, then disappeared towards another UB-owned vehicle parked a few spots away, looking around.
He thought he would be in the second row, right in front of the door, but the seat was empty. Choi Hong-seo straightened his back and looked around the car.
Lee Hae-sung was sitting in a corner seat in the fourth row, the very back, watching him and smiling. Judging by his posture, with his hips pushed back and his body lowered, he was clearly hiding on purpose. His expression, while clearly enjoying himself, tried to conceal his smile, making him look like a mischievous boy.
Without needing to shake off his anger, Choi Hong-seo’s expression softened the moment he saw him.
“This is the only seat where we can sit together.”
Explaining his reason for choosing the back seat, he stood up and pulled Choi Hong-seo’s wrist. He sat Choi Hong-seo in the window seat he had occupied and then plopped down in the adjacent seat. Using his physique, he kept pushing Choi Hong-seo towards the car window, looking exceptionally delighted.
“So this is what dating an idol is like. I’m not the type to enjoy thrills, but it’s quite… exhilarating.”
“I’m sorry. Did you wait long?”
“A rendezvous1).”
“……”
“It’s a secret meeting. I like that it’s romantic?”
He was more playful than usual, and somehow seemed elated. His efforts to suppress a smile while continuously pushing him, without stating the reason, piqued Choi Hong-seo’s curiosity.
Pressed between Lee Hae-sung’s left shoulder blade and the car window, Choi Hong-seo placed his hand on Lee Hae-sung’s left arm, which was crossed over his chest.
“What’s wrong?”
“What’s what?”
“You’re not saying anything… you’re just smiling.1) Rendezvous: rendez-vous. French. A secret meeting arranged for a specific time and place.