By Zephyria “It’s interesting. Did you interpret the scene yourself?”
“Yes.”
“I haven’t seen an actor portray Lebedev trying to persuade Nikolai like that before. Most actors tend to fall into a more… oratorical style to draw out Nikolai’s passion. But it’s unique that Yoon Hye-an portrayed it with pity.”
“Even while receiving Sasha’s warmest and purest love, Nikolai remains listless. Thinking that no joy in life can save Nikolai… Perhaps Lebedev might have felt a deep sense of compassion.”
“Hmm… Alright, I saw it well. Does anyone else have any questions?”
Fortunately, the director’s expression was not bad.
“Do you like Anton Chekhov?”
This time, it was Lee Hae-sung’s question. And before Choi Hong-seo could answer, he added aggressively.
“You don’t seem like you do.”
“I wouldn’t say I like him enough to say I love him, but I have practiced many of his works. I know other actors also deal with Anton Chekhov’s works a lot. He is, after all… a famous writer.”
There was no noticeable change in his face upon hearing the answer. That lack of change actually revealed his low spirits. He seemed to dislike everything about the ‘Yoon Hye-an’ standing before him.
The way he folded his fingers to relax, like Choi Hong-seo. The fact that he chose Anton Chekhov’s works, like Choi Hong-seo.
“Did you know beforehand that Choi Hong-seo was the original owner of this role?”
“…Yes.”
“So, did you reference Choi Hong-seo?”
“……”
“Simply put, I’m asking if you calculated that it would be advantageous to imitate him.”
He was using quite strong words. He never raised his voice, but his displeasure was clearly conveyed.
The realization that he was hated made my whole body ache.
Even if the appearance was Yoon Hye-an, everything else was Choi Hong-seo. Memories, habits, tastes, skills. Even the capacity to love someone.
From beginning to end. Because I had never seen Lee Hae-sung look at me with such cold eyes.
Because I had only ever received cautious, warm, generous, and affection-seeking gazes of courtship from him. This pain he was giving me was so unfamiliar.
“I simply acted based on my own feelings. I did not imitate.”
I tried to answer calmly while looking into his eyes, but my voice trembled as I suppressed my sorrow.
His eyes, which had closed his lips, so easily moved past Choi Hong-seo. As if he had no more interest or curiosity. As if it wasn’t even worth it. He put down his pen, leaned back, and crossed his arms firmly. Then, in a monotone voice, he said.
“If no one else has any more questions, let’s move on to the designated performance.”
Sorrow?
Even when my indifferent parents only reacted to the money I earned, or when I was used and threatened by CEO Myeong, I had never felt that emotion.
For Choi Hong-seo, sorrow was a privileged emotion that only children who received overflowing love could feel. So much so that they couldn’t even tolerate their attention and affection briefly turning elsewhere. The childish whim of children who took that much love for granted.
That’s why, for the first time in my life, I felt sorrow at Lee Hae-sung’s coldness. Because he was the only person who could make Choi Hong-seo feel sorrow.
■
As soon as the car exited the hotel’s underground parking lot, Lee Hae-sung reached for the cigarette case stored in the armrest. His hand, as he took out a cigarette, was slower than usual. Like someone deeply engrossed in thought, entranced.
Resemblance.
He hadn’t felt that at all.
A soft forehead and cheeks but a sharp jawline, eyes that seemed gentle yet held intensity, skin that was more transparent than white. If one were to pick out individual features and compare them, one might say they resembled each other, but there were countless people in the entertainment industry with such characteristics.
Lee Hae-sung’s eyes, facing the window but not looking at anything there, narrowed slightly. His breath, drawing in smoke deeper than usual, hollowed his cheeks.
As he took a deep breath and watched his fingers fold one by one. He could no longer maintain his composure. It was an old habit of Choi Hong-seo’s, and because of it, it had spread to Lee Hae-sung.
It was a famous routine of Choi Hong-seo’s, widely known among fans, and if one were to be precise, it wasn’t a particularly unusual habit. When he tried to convince himself it was something that could easily overlap, Yoon Hye-an had begun to perform Anton Chekhov’s work.
It wasn’t similar to Choi Hong-seo; it could only be thought of as deliberately imitating Choi Hong-seo.
Am I being overly sensitive?
On the day we first met, only the people in that drawing room knew that Choi Hong-seo had performed Anton Chekhov’s work. It was possible that information had leaked from someone among them, but yes, it could be a series of coincidences.
Even as he tried to think that way, the unpleasantness didn’t seem likely to subside easily.
He was angry, as if that actor had stolen Choi Hong-seo’s unique individuality. It felt like even memories had been stolen, like someone casually destroying a precious cake with a fork that I had hesitated to touch, cherishing it.
Shaking off the ash from the half-burnt cigarette, Lee Hae-sung spoke in a tired voice.
“Manager Kang.”
“Yes, Vice President.”
Manager Kang, seated in the passenger seat, replied, turning halfway around.
“About the actor Yoon Hye-an.”
“Yes.”
“Was he someone close to Hong-seo?”
“No. I did not see such a name on the list.”
Manager Kang would not have misremembered the documents.
While the trials related to the ‘X-Boy Scandal’ were ongoing, separate from the prosecution’s investigation, Lee Hae-sung had instructed Manager Kang to thoroughly investigate Choi Hong-seo and those around him. The purpose was to secure as much evidence as possible in case the trial turned unfavorably for Choi Hong-seo.
From his relationship with his family to his few close acquaintances and former colleagues.
And he had also made contact with CEO Myeong of UB Entertainment, who was on trial while in custody. Myeong Do-hoon, who had been completely betrayed by Executive Director Lee Seo-kyung and had no one to lean on, readily provided information to Lee Hae-sung’s side. He likely had the hope that providing the information Lee Hae-sung wanted might help reduce his sentence, and he also harbored a desire for revenge against Executive Director Lee Seo-kyung, thinking he couldn’t die alone now.
“Not all parents are the same, you know. Parents who just give birth and don’t care? There are more than people think. When I hear from the players that there’s someone like that around, I tell them to bring them over. Young kids who are outside their parents’ attention, who are good-looking, and who just wander around without much thought.”
CEO Myeong had started speaking like that.
He said it was not an uncommon method in that world. While there were plenty of so-called ‘players’ who came looking for work, only a very small minority were ‘sellable players’ who could make real money. To find the pearls in the mud, they didn’t just sit and wait.
“At first, we just invite them to hang out. We tell them to bring their friends and come to the shop to drink and sing. And if we find someone who seems like they could make a lot of money, we treat them well. Not as a host bar owner, but like a friendly older brother. That’s how we get rid of their initial resistance to coming to the shop.”
Choi Hong-seo was one of the kids who caught CEO Myeong’s eye, who seemed like they could make a lot of money. Unfortunately.
“When they’ve lost their resistance to the entertainment world, we urgently say we’re short on players and ask them to help out just once, temporarily. Just to fill the numbers. Then, because it’s a request from a close friend, and that friend is in trouble, they agree at first. And then, they’re given money as pocket money, thanking them, for what they would earn serving coffee all week.”
Thus, step by step, one foot after another, they were lured into the trap that had been meticulously set, walking in unknowingly.
“We don’t put that much effort into just anyone. We pick out the ones who seem like they could be thoroughly exploited, the ones who are truly valuable for VIPs. It’s safer to make a move on them once the VIP has definitively chosen them. It’s not illegal, and it doesn’t look forced from the outside, so VIPs prefer it. On the surface, they walk into the entertainment world on their own and fall into our mouths, so there’s no illegality.”
And in the recording Manager Kang had brought, CEO Myeong had added the following.
“The one Lee Seo-kyung picked was Hong-seo.”