By Zephyria He slowly turned around. Even though he had seen the face this morning, it was hard to look him directly in the eye. He thought he had become quite comfortable by his side, but encountering him in public, where they had to hide their relationship, made the fluttering feeling new again.
“Uh… Hello, Vice President. You’re here?”
“I thought I wouldn’t be able to make it. I went out of my way to make time to see Hyean-ssi. Glad to see me, aren’t you?”
Just like during script studies, he deliberately emphasized the words ‘Hyean-ssi.’
“They’re all buzzing about how Hyean-ssi has completely transformed into Hwang Ji-woo.”
Earlier, when he saw him looking at him solely as ‘Yoon Hye-an,’ that name had hurt. But now, it was the opposite.
Every time he said, ‘Hyean-ssi,’ it paradoxically made the fact that this ‘Yoon Hye-an’ was not actually ‘Yoon Hye-an’ clearer, a fact only the two of them shared.
“They say it’s because of the hair, the makeup, or that he’s been exercising… The reasons are varied.”
Lee Hae-sung, with his hands in his pant pockets, slightly bent his back to match Hyean’s eye level.
“I don’t think that’s it. What do you think, Hyean-ssi?”
“……”
Choi Hong-seo couldn’t answer quickly.
He had told the stylist that he didn’t know Lee Hae-sung well. Yet, Lee Hae-sung was addressing ‘Yoon Hye-an’ with such familiarity. As expected, he didn’t seem to intend to keep their ‘secret relationship’ a secret.
Lee Hae-sung smiled slightly and signaled to the stylist over Choi Hong-seo’s shoulder, asking her to step away for a moment.
“I came to Hyean-ssi first, before the other investors, the director, the president of the production company…”
“……”
“Considering you remember me coming seven out of ten times, your reaction is too weak.”
“How… Where did you hear…”
Choi Hong-seo, who had been avoiding Lee Hae-sung’s gaze, first scanned his surroundings.
There was no one within a 10-meter radius, and everyone else was pretending not to be interested. But he knew that wasn’t the case. He was ‘the great Lee Hae-sung,’ even harder to see than a celebrity.
“I never get tired of Hong-seo taking my side,” Lee Hae-sung murmured with a pleased expression. He moved closer, standing shoulder-to-shoulder. “There’s a snack truck. Can we have a cup of coffee together?”
Before Choi Hong-seo could answer, he started walking towards it. Then, he took off his coat and tried to drape it over Choi Hong-seo’s shoulders.
“I-It’s okay! I have my padding over there… I took it off because I was hot during rehearsal…”
“Just wear it.”
Lee Hae-sung rather more firmly tucked the coat around him.
“No one will say anything.”
It meant that no matter what anyone thought privately, no one would openly criticize the actions of Lee Hae-sung, the Vice President of ARA and the largest investor in this movie. So, there was no need to be so self-conscious.
It would be strange to refuse more forcefully. Resigned, he slipped his arm into the sleeve of the coat as Lee Hae-sung did. The sleeves were long and wide enough for his fingertips to barely peek out.
Lee Hae-sung’s face, looking down at Choi Hong-seo, finally broke into a satisfied smile.
His hand, pulled from his pocket and dangling, brushed against Choi Hong-seo’s. Deliberately, as if about to touch but not quite, their pinky fingers intertwined and then separated, a fleeting, tantalizing overlap.
From the coat, the scent of their custom-made perfume, unique to Lee Hae-sung and Choi Hong-seo, wafted up. Just that alone made it hard to breathe.
“Would Hyean-ssi like one too?”
“I already had one earlier. And I have to start filming soon.”
He accepted a cup of coffee and walked a little further. Leaving the bustling set, which was nearing its final preparations, they walked around the edge of the park. The snowfall was getting heavier.
Lee Hae-sung drank his coffee silently for a moment. Then, his gaze fixed on the lively set, he quietly opened his mouth.
“During script study. Did you really wait for me like that?”
“Yes. I waited.”
Though his voice was small, Choi Hong-seo answered without hesitation.
“I was disappointed when I knew you wouldn’t come.”
He looked over at him. A large, luscious snowflake landed on the tip of his nose and melted away.
“Even though I hurt you and things like that?”
His breath puffed out white from his lips.
“At that time… it was because I loved Choi Hong-seo that I got angry at Yoon Hye-an.”
His smile was gentle. Gentler than the snowflake melting on his nose.
“Ah… I shouldn’t get swayed by lines like that. I’m already a sold-out item.”
Looking at his face, which was shamelessly joking, he thought.
Could he be involved in Jo Seong-hyeon’s death?
But that wasn’t what Choi Hong-seo truly wanted to know.
Whether Lee Hae-sung was involved in Jo Seong-hyeon’s death or not, his love for him wouldn’t change.
If he had to get his hands dirty, he wanted to be an accomplice and share the burden. If he was hiding that fact, there must be a reason.
As Director Kang Woo-hyun said, Lee Hae-sung might indeed be a demigod in this world. The Choi Hong-seo of the past thought so too, and most people would probably think the same.
But Choi Hong-seo had seen.
The name ARA, the astronomical wealth estimated to be only a fraction of his public assets, the entourage who solved everything for him… He had seen Lee Hae-sung, stripped of all that, simply as a human being.
He remembered his appearance in ‘Bardo.’
As an imperfect and powerless human, as a man, he had willingly knelt for him. Before the power of a great being that encompassed and transcended everything. He had cried out to be allowed to be with him.
He believed in his heart and his love, those invisible concepts.
Amidst the commotion of people busily preparing for the shoot, they momentarily lost themselves in each other, forgetting the world. As if they were back in ‘Bardo.’
“Alright, we’re starting the shoot! Ji-woo, please get ready!”
At the shout of a staff member, Choi Hong-seo’s lips curved into a slight smile. The smile soon spread across his entire face.
“Yes! Hwang Ji-woo is coming!”
He turned his head and answered in a strong voice. Then, he took off the coat and handed it back to him. By then, his scent had already permeated his entire body.
“Hyean-ssi.”
“Yes.”
“Please take good care of me.”
“……”
“It’s a movie for someone I truly love.”
Choi Hong-seo’s gaze flickered towards his collarbone. He was wearing a striped tie. It was Choi Hong-seo’s New Year’s gift.
Without caring who was watching, he boldly reached for the tie knot. Pretending to fix the perfectly tied knot, he fiddled with it.
“He’s really… very lucky. That person. He must be happy. Very happy.”
He ran towards the set, leaving him behind, watching him with a smile.
The first shot, the first take. Yet, Choi Hong-seo didn’t count on his fingers.
With that smile watching over him from behind, such old habits were no longer necessary.
■
The prison block was in an uproar. A certain inmate was causing a disturbance in the living quarters.
“Fuck, why won’t they let me? I’m not asking to be released, I’m saying I want to stay in prison longer! Why is that not allowed! I want to serve my full sentence and then leave!”
The inmate clinging to the food slot was CEO Myeong. He was yelling at the guard standing in the hallway.
The guard, already quite annoyed by the inmate who had been causing the same problem for weeks, poked the food slot with the end of his baton, tapping CEO Myeong’s forehead.
“You come in when you want, you go out when you want. Do you think this is a hotel? Let’s be quiet before I put you in solitary confinement?”
“Waiver of pardon! I’m telling you I want to submit it, why aren’t you accepting it?”
“You’ve heard something, haven’t you? Do you think anyone can just do that? There’s no reason to waste taxpayer money feeding and housing someone who’s been pardoned. Please just shut up and get out of here, okay?”
CEO Myeong clutched a bundle of letters and waved his arm out of the food slot.
“My letters, why aren’t you investigating who sent them! Investigate, you fucking bastards! They’re threatening to kill me, why aren’t you investigating! This is accessory to murder! Fuck, you’ve all taken bribes too, haven’t you?!”
“Do you think we have enough manpower to investigate every few letters like that? You’re suffering from anxiety because you’ve lived a life of wrongdoing. This is your final warning. If you cause another disturbance, it’s solitary confinement.”
With that, the guard left the front of the living quarters. CEO Myeong thrashed, his face flushed, trying to grab him.
“I’m not leaving! I’m not leaving! Fuck, they’re coming to kill me! They’re coming to kill me! You bastards!”
The other inmates in the living quarters were also growing increasingly displeased, having listened to CEO Myeong’s rampage for weeks.
A man with a thick, bear-like build spat out rough curses and spoke to another inmate wearing glasses.
“What the hell is that asshole doing, like an alarm clock, why is he always throwing a fit like that?”
“He’s getting letters in the name of the dead kid. They say they’ll kill him if you get out on special pardon.”
“He’s freaking out over just that? That fucking bastard, should I just kill him?”
The large man sat up abruptly and glared towards CEO Myeong’s living quarters. The bald man with a snake tattoo sitting opposite him clicked his tongue.
“The dead kid was an idol or something, right? Even so, it’s probably just some obsessive fan. How many people here are threatened with death when they get out? He’s asking for an investigation over a few letters like that, that guy’s completely lost it.”
CEO Myeong’s shouting continued. The snake tattoo rolled over, as if tired of hearing it, and the large man moved closer to the food slot and stopped a passing guard.
“Hey, Officer. Can’t you do something about that guy? Either let him out as soon as possible, or put him in solitary. Fuck, it’s not like noise between floors, it’s noise between cells… A person can’t live like this, you fucking bastard.”
“Putting him in solitary will just complicate things. His pardon could be revoked. Let’s all bear with it for a few more days, you fucking bastard?”
Deep in the night, when everyone was asleep.
A few days later, CEO Myeong was found dead in the narrow bathroom stall of his living quarters, having hanged himself with his prison uniform top.
Myeong Do-hoon, incarcerated at Chuncheon Prison, was found dead in his cell bathroom on the xxth. The cause of death is presumed to be suicide, as he was found to have hanged himself with his prison uniform top.
Mr. Myeong was reportedly awaiting a special Lunar New Year pardon and had expressed anxiety about receiving death threat letters.
A note, believed to be a suicide note, expressed not only resentment towards the correctional authorities for failing to investigate the death threats properly but also his sense of injustice regarding his sentence.
Mr. Myeong, the perpetrator in the so-called ‘X-Boy Scandal,’ had expressed his innocence during the trial, drawing public outrage. His claim was that he was merely forced to introduce victims due to threats from the established elite demanding prostitution and sexual favors, but the court did not accept this.
Mr. Myeong, who claimed he was merely following the orders of the elite under duress, also drew public criticism when it was revealed that he had accumulated over 10 billion won in hidden assets from arranging prostitution.
⤷ rom\ / Look at him, claiming he’s wronged and innocent until the very end.
⤷ 22kk\ / But what was in the letter that made him commit suicide?
⤷⤷ aqu\ / They said they’d kill him if he got out.
⤷⤷ paul\ / A guy who gets scared to death by a death threat letter, how could he commit such a big crime with such a tiny dick?
⤷⤷ aqu\ / People who do terrible things to others without a second thought tend to find it horrific when it happens to them.
⤷ only\ / Whoa, two key perpetrators of the X-Boy Scandal are dead? Did someone kill them on purpose? Like the victim’s family or lover? Was sending the threat letters part of a bigger plan?
⤷⤷ dev\ / Another conspiracy theory. Please, just keep those thoughts to yourself?
⤷⤷ com\ / Is that realistically possible? Let’s distinguish between movies and reality.
⤷⤷ aks\ / Com, it’s not ‘distinguish x’, it’s ‘distinguish o’.
⤷⤷ hong\ / Couldn’t that happen? The victims were exploited, threatened, and even lost their lives. If it were my family or someone I loved, I think I’d risk my life to take those bastards down.
⤷⤷ dark\ / Yeah, but that’s a movie~ Hong, let’s cancel your OTT subscription and live in the real world, okay?
⤷⤷ god20\ / You never know. Maybe there really are scumbags like that being punished somewhere.
⤷⤷ dark\ / Bullshit. Where is that? The next life?
⤷⤷ god20\ / Who knows. Bardo?^^
■