By Zephyria ■
From the master bedroom of the 27th-floor suite, the entire ‘Gelora Bung Karno Complex’ was visible. It was Jakarta, Indonesia’s largest integrated sports complex, equipped with a baseball stadium, tennis courts, a soccer stadium, an archery range, and a main stadium with a capacity of 80,000 people.
High-rise buildings, including luxury hotels and shopping malls, surrounded the vast grounds of the complex, and the hotel where ‘Layered’ was staying was one of them.
Choi Hong-seo sat in a comfortable armchair by the large floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the fantastic night view of downtown Jakarta. His hand unconsciously fiddled with the camera resting on his lap.
The city lights, blurred by a hazy mist, were mysterious and exotic. The world seen from there seemed like a paradise of material abundance. Choi Hong-seo smiled bitterly, recalling a time when he thought people looking down at the city from a luxury hotel suite would have no worries and face no threats.
After going through so much, are you still that naive, Hong-seo? Huh?
The thought that Lee Seo-kyung’s taunt might be true made Choi Hong-seo’s face contort even more intensely.
Choi Hong-seo stood up, carefully placed the camera down, and approached the window.
The so-called X-Boy Scandal.
Because of it, Korea was in an uproar.
Just a few days ago, Myeong Do-hoon had reported that Lee Seo-kyung was preoccupied with Hanseo Group’s acquisition of a hotel in Bangkok. He had said that since Lee Seo-kyung was such a capricious person, they might be able to get through this period safely if they just held out a little longer overseas.
But predicting the actions of a madman was impossible. Myeong Do-hoon’s naive prediction, or rather, his hope, had been spectacularly shattered.
Choi Hong-seo and Myeong Do-hoon knew the true origin of the ‘X-Boy Scandal’ that had started spreading on video-sharing platforms.
Facing his own reflection superimposed over the beautifully flickering lights, Choi Hong-seo sneered.
A former host bar player? That he’d been securing work through sexual favors all this time?
All of it was a distortion that cleverly skirted the truth, or words that intentionally omitted the truth. Moreover, the public was already adding lies to that distorted truth, exaggerating it, and even implicating Go Ji-woon, who had no connection to it, as X.
Whether Go Ji-woon had really attempted suicide because he was being framed as X was unknown. As soon as he heard the news, Choi Hong-seo had tried to contact him, but Go Ji-woon’s phone was off.
“Haa…”
Choi Hong-seo sighed, pressing his forehead against the transparent glass window in front of him.
If it were revealed that Go Ji-woon was not X, the public would immediately look for the next target. This was just the beginning.
His forehead against the glass, his gaze shifted downwards. The landscape below, visible from his toes, was dizzyingly distant.
Knock, knock.*
After a perfunctory knock, the door opened immediately. It was one of the managers.
“Hong-seo, are you really not eating?”
The smell of food spread out in the living room through the open door. Before Choi Hong-seo could even feel the nauseating aversion and reply, a manager with a higher position poked his head in.
“No, you have to. Come out and eat at least a few spoonfuls.”
Under the firm command, Choi Hong-seo had no choice but to go to the living room. The members and managers were having dinner at a large dining table set up separately behind the sofa.
As Choi Hong-seo emerged from the bedroom, everyone subtly glanced at him. This was because Choi Hong-seo’s mental state had become unstable whenever major news broke in the entertainment industry. Furthermore, the atmosphere was even more somber because Go Ji-woon, who had been hospitalized for a suicide attempt, was a mutual acquaintance of ‘Layered’.
Because of this, Choi Hong-seo and some other members were prohibited from using the internet. In other words, their phones and tablet PCs had been confiscated. Incoming calls were screened and relayed by the managers.
Lee Hae-sung’s contact, saved as ‘Investor’ after being changed from ‘Carrot Seller,’ was initially approved. However, they couldn’t exchange messages as frequently as before. Perhaps that was for the best.
He didn’t know what to say to him, what he could say, and what he couldn’t say. It became more and more unclear with each passing day.
Sitting in the empty seat, Choi Hong-seo took a few sips of the soft-looking soup.
“Let’s go out for drinks, Hyung. I really can’t stand feeling this down!”
One of the members, throwing down a piece of pizza he was forcing himself to eat, complained to the managers.
“Drink here. If there’s any alcohol you want, I’ll go buy it for you.”
“Ah, is alcohol the point? We just want to go out and get some fresh air because we’re so stifled. You guys can just take us out, right? What’s there to worry about then?”
Understanding that the members were upset by the scandal that had broken out in Korea, the managers didn’t refuse outright. With difficulty, permission was granted by the highest-ranking manager, and the members, who had already lost their appetite, left the table to get ready to go out.
“Hong-seo? Aren’t you going?”
To the manager’s question, Choi Hong-seo shook his head.
“Okay, then. You stay here in the hotel with me.”
All but one manager, who remained to keep an eye on Choi Hong-seo, left the suite in a rush. Seeing the manager sit on the sofa in front of the living room TV, scrolling through his phone, Choi Hong-seo got up and returned to the bedroom.
He picked up the camera left alone on the armchair and, without any particular purpose, scrolled through the photos on the screen. There were pictures of broadcast staff and fans he’d met in Jakarta, and a few photos taken in Singapore. And then, the last images that appeared were of Choi Hong-seo taken by Lee Hae-sung before they parted, and of Lee Hae-sung taken by Choi Hong-seo.
Choi Hong-seo lay on his side on the bed with the camera.
He decided to tell him everything. Whether he would be generously understood or coldly despised, he would take a gamble and tell him everything. With that resolve, he had drunk heavily at a wrap-up party with the local staff. It was an extremely rare occurrence for the self-disciplined Choi Hong-seo.
But no matter how much he drank, he couldn’t muster the courage to call him. The moment he held his phone, the images became vivid in his mind and before his eyes.
Even if it was unfair and infuriating, it was his past. To unilaterally reveal such a terrifying past to him, and yet, to demand that he continue to love me, including all of that terrible darkness… he didn’t know if that was love.
Some say sacrifice is love, others say sharing is love. Everyone’s idea of love is different. Choi Hong-seo realized for the first time that even certainty about what love is is formed through the experience of giving and receiving love.
What it meant to love him, he ultimately had to decide for himself. But what constituted a valuable love, he had no standard for.
What would he, Lee Hae-sung, have done?
For Choi Hong-seo, love was entirely what he had learned from Lee Hae-sung, so he had no choice but to cling to that imagination.
Knock, knock.
At the knock that came from behind him again, Choi Hong-seo turned around while lying down.
“Hong-seo, phone call. It’s Hyung Ji-in.”
Hearing Jeong Ji-in’s name, he sat up with a rustle. He took the phone from his manager, who had walked up to the bed, and connected the call.
“Hyung.”
[Oh, you’re in Jakarta, right? How is it there? It’s your first time in Indonesia, isn’t it?]
“What… you heard about Ji-woon’s article and called because you were worried?”
Choi Hong-seo let out a weak, dry laugh at Jeong Ji-in’s forced cheerful voice. At that, Jeong Ji-in seemed to realize there was no need to beat around the bush any longer, let out a sigh, and asked with concern.
[What are you doing? Stuck in the hotel?]
“That’s about it. The managers are taking turns keeping watch, like they’re monitoring me.”
“It’s because they’re worried, not monitoring,” the manager grumbled beside him. After a brief argument, Choi Hong-seo kicked him out of the room. Even as he was pushed out the door, the manager didn’t forget to warn him to bring the phone out as soon as the call was over.
Finally alone, Choi Hong-seo walked to the armchair by the window and sank into it.
“Ah, really… It wasn’t this bad before, but ever since the article came out today, the managers have been overdoing it. The other members are also sneaking glances, watching me. Am I some kind of bomb that could go off at any moment?”