By Zephyria “I heard you’re working on a movie with Hyung this time. You’re one of the actors in
“Yes.”
The man’s handshake was polite yet firm. It was the handshake of a confident person. The atmosphere conveyed by his appearance and expression was also like that. Having been born into the Hanseo Group owner family, it would have been strange if he lacked confidence, especially with looks like that.
The man, dressed in a black turtleneck sweater, glanced briefly toward Lee Hae-sung and spoke with a subtle caution in his tone.
“It’s a work that holds great personal meaning for Hyung. Please take good care of it.”
“I will work hard.”
Choi Hong-seo’s voice suddenly became dry and trembled. He knew all too well why
As Choi Hong-seo bowed deeply with both hands clasped, Lee Hae-sung’s hand rested casually on his shoulder.
“Hyean-ssi, Executive Director Yi isn’t an investor in our movie, so you don’t need to be so polite. Hyean-ssi is… well, not the same age, just one year older than you.”
“Really? Twenty-seven?”
The man looked back at Choi Hong-seo with an expression of disbelief, but Choi Hong-seo was just as surprised. It wasn’t because the man had what people commonly call an old face; it was his imposing build, height, and confident ease that made him look far from being in his twenties.
“Ah, I apologize if I was rude. I thought you must be around twenty-four or twenty-five at most. You look as youthful as someone I know very well.”
Even if he wasn’t directly within his sphere of influence, it was rare for someone from a chaebol family to treat a relatively unknown actor, who wasn’t even a top star, in such a manner. While it seemed characteristic of Lee Hae-sung’s cousin, it also raised the question of whether this person was truly Lee Seo-kyung’s full brother. This made him examine the man closely.
“Is that about Ji-in-ssi?”
Lee Hae-sung chuckled, still keeping his hand on ‘Yoon Hye-an’s’ shoulder. The man’s gaze shifted to Lee Hae-sung. As Jeong Ji-in’s name was mentioned directly, Choi Hong-seo also turned to look at Lee Hae-sung.
“So, you’re saying Actor Jeong isn’t youthful-looking?”
“Actor Jeong certainly has a mask that makes it hard to guess his age. But that’s not something you should boast about so proudly.”
Lee Hae-sung seemed amused by his teasing. He had heard that they had become quite close spending time with the Jeong Ji-in couple after the incident. That casual rapport was evident in their conversation. It was a small relief, a source of gratitude, that someone like Jeong Ji-in was there by his side.
Hong-seo, hang in there. You have to hang in there to seize opportunities. Let’s hang in there, okay?
In the end, it resulted in him being unable to hold on and falling, but that didn’t diminish the value of the comforting words Jeong Ji-in had offered.
“I’m a huge fan of Ji-in-ssi. It would be great if you could arrange a meeting sometime later.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Upon hearing Lee Hae-sung introduce ‘Yoon Hye-an’ as a fan of Jeong Ji-in, the man tilted his head, looking at Choi Hong-seo with an expression that suggested he was seeing him in a completely new light.
“You have good taste. Which work of Actor Jeong’s do you like the most?”
“His performance as Lee Su in
Choi Hong-seo had died during the broadcast of
And for some reason, Jeong Ji-in had left the broadcasting industry at the point where he had gained both critical acclaim and popularity, and was now fully transitioned into a stage actor. Choi Hong-seo knew up to that point.
“Ah… they were all works he appeared in with Yoon Joo-ho.”
The man muttered, rubbing the back of his neck with a bitter expression, but then shook off his displeasure and spoke cheerfully.
“Actor Jeong is starting a new play next spring. Please make sure to go and cheer him on.”
“Yes, I will definitely go. No matter what, I will definitely go! Always… always tell him I’m cheering for him…”
Something welled up inside Choi Hong-seo at a moment he hadn’t even anticipated. He hadn’t cried, but he found it hard to continue speaking.
“Hyean-ssi, you’ll be late for your appointment. You should head down now.”
Thanks to Lee Hae-sung stepping in to wrap things up, Choi Hong-seo was able to leave the spot. As he stepped out of the entrance hall opened by Lee Hae-sung, he looked back at him.
“Call me. I’ll come down right away.”
He nodded at Lee Hae-sung, who whispered those words. Lee Hae-sung’s expression as he watched him through the gap in the door looked reluctant. He thought it must be because he showed such an emotional side. He forced a smile.
“Is he really that much of a fan? Even I got a little choked up, Hyung.”
Leaving behind the sound of his cousin’s voice drifting through the closing door gap, Choi Hong-seo began walking down the corridor.
And… there’s someone I want to introduce you to. Let’s meet then.
That person was the lover Hyung Ji-in had intended to introduce to him. And Lee Seo-kyung’s brother.
Choi Hong-seo unconsciously tensed his jaw and clenched his molars. He was an irrelevant person. If you thought about it that way, Lee Hae-sung was also Lee Seo-kyung’s cousin, related by blood. But he had never once thought of linking the two of them together.
He was the person Hyung Ji-in chose, the person Hyung loved. Therefore, he should be someone who required no caution. But why? He kept getting an unsettling feeling about the man.
He had searched for photos of the man after hearing from Lee Hae-sung that he was Jeong Ji-in’s lover. But today was clearly their first meeting.
Choi Hong-seo, who had been walking slowly down the corridor for some time, suddenly stopped and looked back. The hotel corridor on a rainy weekday evening was deathly quiet, even eerie.
He realized where he had seen the man before.
Memories—memories of wandering through the void, like an empty state without limbs or voice, from Bangkok’s rooftop to some drawing room he saw for the first time, and then into the sea—memories pulled up by an unknown force.
The drawing room where the four men sat facing each other. The man sitting next to Jeong Ji-in there.
Don’t you ever think about wanting to cut off an arm or a leg?
The man was clearly proposing revenge against Lee Seo-kyung. He vividly recalled what Lee Hae-sung had answered to that question.
Personal retribution won’t do anything for him, or for anyone else. It’s just me venting my anger.
Choi Hong-seo, who had been trembling, clenched his fists tightly. Yes, the person who spoke like that couldn’t have killed Lee Seo-kyung. Some other force must have killed Lee Seo-kyung. Just as the news reported, he was a man with too many enemies.
Stopping midway down the long corridor, Choi Hong-seo looked back toward the guest room where Lee Hae-sung was, and then started walking forward again. His footsteps were muffled by the thick carpet and inaudible.
■
One, two, three…
Following the restaurant staff member in a neat uniform, Choi Hong-seo walked down the corridor, taking deep breaths and folding down his fingers one by one.
The private room the staff guided him to was located in the corner of the building, farthest from the entrance, with floor-to-ceiling glass on both sides. If it had been a clear day, he could have enjoyed a magnificent night view, but with fog and rain combined, the view beyond the windows was nothing but blurry darkness smeared with moisture.
Park Dong-ha, who was sitting there extremely tense, flinched his shoulders greatly as the door opened, like a guilty person, and turned around. His wildly darting eyes glanced behind Choi Hong-seo.
“What? Where’s the Vice CEO?”
“He will be here shortly. There are things you and I need to discuss first, without the Vice CEO.”
“I clearly said I wanted to meet the Vice CEO. Did you lie again?”
Park Dong-ha immediately became agitated, shaking the table and jumping up from his seat.
“Calm down. He will come. Since you are highly likely to distrust my words, he agreed to come to prove it to you.”
“……”
Only then did the guy shut his mouth and slump back into his seat. The staff member, who cautiously poured water into Choi Hong-seo’s glass as well, placed a slender menu in front of each of them.
“Shall I bring the menus first? Should I wait to take your orders until all members of your party have arrived?”
“Yes, please do that.”
After Choi Hong-seo answered, the staff member quietly withdrew, and as if waiting, Park Dong-ha began to snap irritably.
“What is there that you and I have to discuss first? If you’re going to tell me to coordinate our stories before meeting the Vice CEO, then I won’t do what Hyung tells me anymore.”
“It’s not like that.”
Choi Hong-seo spoke calmly yet firmly, taking a sip of water first.
“I know now that I wasn’t good to you in the past. I also understand why it’s hard for you to believe that I can’t remember. As you said, I was the kind of person who could easily pretend to have lost my memory.”
Park Dong-ha scoffed from across the table.
“It wasn’t that we weren’t good to each other. You were the most successful in the team, the one who could decide the team’s fate… How could someone like me dare to oppose you and create a bad relationship?”
“Right. Let me correct that. I was not good to you or the other members.”
“……”
“But even if you don’t believe me, it’s true that I lost my memory, so I’ve thought a lot about whether there’s any way I can earn your trust now.”
Park Dong-ha held a grudge against Yoon Hye-an. Furthermore, unless Park Dong-ha went for ‘volunteer work’ in India like Seo Jun-yeong, they would be working together for several months, perhaps over a year.
He was different from Seo Jun-yeong, who had been acting annoyingly on his own over there. Since ‘Yoon Hye-an’ had clearly provided the reason for the grudge, and now he himself was Yoon Hye-an, how could he ignore that? To Park Dong-ha, the current ‘Yoon Hye-an’ would only seem like someone trying to evade past events by claiming memory loss.
Choi Hong-seo put down his water glass, coughed, and made up his mind.
“You asked me to introduce you to the Vice CEO, right?”
“……”
“The Vice CEO and I… are officially dating lovers.”
The explanation, ‘officially dating lovers,’ was Lee Hae-sung’s idea. He had pressured Choi Hong-seo with a serious face that was hard to refuse, saying it would be best to describe their relationship this way.
“…Lovers?”
Park Dong-ha’s face crumpled as if he had put a tasteless dish in his mouth.
“I can’t be sure what your intentions were when you asked to meet the Vice CEO, but if I introduce him without hiding this fact, I think I would be deceiving you. That’s why I wanted to tell you in advance.”
“ARA’s Lee Hae-sung? With Yoon Hye-an? Not as a sponsor?”