By Zephyria ■
The actors who arrived first were guided to the rooftop garden. The plan was to enjoy a barbecue on the cool autumn evening and watch a rare film recommended by Director Kang Woo-hyun on an outdoor screen together.
Yoon Hye-an arrived at the underground parking lot about 5 minutes before the scheduled time.
After guiding the guests, Lee Hae-sung, who had come down from the rooftop to wait, saw Yoon Hye-an on the intercom screen and opened the door.
Manager Kang, who had gone to pick him up by elevator, returned to the reception room with Yoon Hye-an. Lee Hae-sung, seated on the sofa, put down his tea and stood up.
“Thank you for coming. I was worried you might refuse.”
“Thank you for the invitation. This is… it’s nothing much, but I felt bad coming empty-handed…”
Yoon Hye-an, his face stiff with nervousness, handed him a small bouquet. Lee Hae-sung glanced briefly at the modest bouquet in a square paper bag, accepted it, and handed it to Manager Kang.
“You didn’t have to worry about such things. I’ll take good care of it. Would you like to sit here for a moment?”
As Lee Hae-sung gestured towards the sofa set and invited him to sit, Yoon Hye-an’s expression was clearly flustered. He must have expected the other actors, who should have arrived by now, to be present, but there was no one.
Lee Hae-sung sat down first and explained.
“The others are on the rooftop.”
“……”
“I invited you at a different time because I wanted to talk to you separately before then.”
Slowly unbuckling the cross-body bag he wore across his chest, Yoon Hye-an sat down hesitantly, his expression anxious. He barely perched on the edge of the sofa, looking like someone on guard, ready to bolt at any moment.
“What would you like to drink?”
“Water will be fine. Thank you.”
While answering Manager Kang, Yoon Hye-an tightly gripped the strap of the bag he had placed beside him.
Every single one of his movements was completely different from the Yoon Hye-an in the videos he had been briefed on.
On variety shows with his group members, Yoon Hye-an couldn’t even manage a seemingly happy expression, maintaining a passive, even uncooperative attitude. Other guests and subtitles were framing his demeanor as chic or quirky.
His interviews during his acting career were not much different. Whether he was aiming for an image of a taciturn, sophisticated actor, his expressionless, listless attitude as a rookie actor with little experience seemed insincere. His poor dancing, singing, and acting skills were, of course, another matter.
To his fans, Yoon Hye-an was a ‘proud princess,’ and to the vast majority online, he was an ‘arrogant, self-important actor.’ And Lee Hae-sung’s impression after reviewing the series of reported videos was, regrettably, much closer to the latter.
However, the Yoon Hye-an before Lee Hae-sung’s eyes now was far from a proud princess.
His limited range of movement, his nervously shifting gaze, and his tightly closed lips were very different from the Yoon Hye-an Lee Hae-sung had anticipated.
Manager Kang brought water from the small kitchen attached to the reception room, and Lee Hae-sung sent him back inside, leaving him alone with Yoon Hye-an.
Lee Hae-sung, who had been silently observing Yoon Hye-an’s every move, quietly opened his mouth.
“In any case, we’ll have to work together on a project in the future, and before that, I want to clarify a few things with you, Yoon Hye-an. I really want this movie to be well-made.”
“……”
“You do too, don’t you?”
“…Yes.”
His answer, after a brief hesitation, was also very different from the bold and audacious response he had expected. But humans could easily fabricate such appearances.
Lee Hae-sung calmly, in his usual slightly soft voice, began to lay out what he wanted to say.
“You went to ‘Jessica’.”
‘Jessica’ was the bar in Daehangno where Song Hyun-soo worked. At that name, Yoon Hye-an clearly showed agitation.
“Judging by your reaction, you didn’t expect it to reach my ears.”
“I stopped by when I was passing.”
It was the answer he had expected. Without surprise or raising his voice, Lee Hae-sung moved on to the next question.
“Why were you crying in Director Kang’s reception room?”
“Personally… I received some bad news, and I was looking for a place to be alone…”
Hmm.
Lee Hae-sung closed his lips and let out a heavy sigh.
“And all of that has nothing to do with Choi Hong-seo?”
“……”
Yoon Hye-an stubbornly kept his mouth shut. With a dejected expression like a child being scolded, he avoided Lee Hae-sung’s gaze.
According to Manager Kang’s report, Yoon Hye-an was an entertainer who voluntarily sought sponsors. He would abandon previous sponsors and switch to new ones if a better one appeared. Based on his aura, the Yoon Hye-an in the videos seemed like someone who would act that way.
But when facing him like this, he didn’t seem like someone who would use his body for profit. Manager Kang’s report was not mere gossip compiled from unconfirmed rumors. Everything in the report was fact. Yet, the Yoon Hye-an before him lacked the common traits of that type of person.
However, this was purely about his image. Lee Hae-sung’s life had not been easy enough to judge people solely by their appearance.
“Yoon Hye-an.”
Yoon Hye-an’s gaze, which had been fixed on the teacups and teapot arranged on the table, slowly met Lee Hae-sung’s.
“As you may have learned from what happened last time, or perhaps you knew it beforehand.”
“……”
“Choi Hong-seo was a very important person to me.”
He didn’t want to tell this to Yoon Hye-an, a person with whom he had no connection. The memories with Choi Hong-seo could no longer be expanded. He didn’t want to carelessly talk about them to anyone, out of preciousness, for fear of losing even a sliver of his own share.
So, Lee Hae-sung continued his story with great pain. Staring directly at Yoon Hye-an’s seemingly innocent face sitting opposite him.
“But now, I can no longer meet him. The process and cause of not being able to meet him were also things that made me indescribably angry and heartbroken… Do you understand?”
Yoon Hye-an nodded very slightly.
“When you go through something like that, anyone wants to protect the person they cherish. You can’t help but feel anger towards someone who tries to imitate their actions or intrude upon your memories with them.”
His voice was rising. Lee Hae-sung clenched his fist on the armrest. He paused for a moment and took a sip of tea. As if that wasn’t enough, he reached for a cigarette.
He took one out of the pack, lit it with a lighter, sucked the filter until his cheeks caved in, and exhaled smoke with a sigh. Yoon Hye-an watched him intently, his large eyes wide open.
Do you want to smoke one? Lee Hae-sung raised his eyebrows, offering him the open pack of cigarettes, but Yoon Hye-an firmly shook his head.
After taking two or three more puffs to calm his emotions, Lee Hae-sung continued the story he had prepared.
“You, Yoon Hye-an, somehow learned about what happened between Choi Hong-seo and ARA’s Lee Hae-sung.”
From beyond the thin wisps of cigarette smoke, Yoon Hye-an waited for the story to continue.
“And you applied for the audition for
“……”
“Was my scenario wrong?”
The cigarette, which he hadn’t smoked at all during his long speech, burned down between Lee Hae-sung’s fingers. Lee Hae-sung pressed the corner of his eye with his hand and flicked off the gray ash.
To prevent his emotions from overflowing, Lee Hae-sung deliberately maintained a more rigid tone than usual. He had lost his composure momentarily when he encountered Yoon Hye-an unprepared in Director Kang’s reception room, but this time, he wanted to resolve this matter properly.
He didn’t want to drag this out or waste more emotions.
Whoever it was, for whatever reason, he wanted them to leave Choi Hong-seo alone.
He wanted the affair between the two of them to remain just between the two of them. He simply wanted to be quietly consumed with him in the memories that were too precious to leak out. Was that an excessive desire?
Yoon Hye-an, who hadn’t touched the water Manager Kang had prepared and was only tightly gripping his bag strap, quietly opened his mouth.
“You said you investigated me. That I wasn’t a compassionate person who would visit the ancestral shrine of someone I didn’t know.”
“……”
“Then, was the me you investigated someone who could act so… meticulously?”
Yoon Hye-an, who had been looking at the ashtray where gray ash was scattered, now looked at Lee Hae-sung.
“To the point of waiting in advance and staging a situation, even without knowing if you would come?”
His large, moist eyes with long lashes did not look like they could tell a lie. With this face, he must have lived a life of considerable profit. A face that looked so naive, even pure, that if he shed sweet tears asking to be believed, everyone would be fooled.
His impression was completely different from the arrogant Yoon Hye-an in the videos. It was like watching a single actor play different roles, one as a villain and one as a good person.
‘Actually seeing him, he really does resemble Hong-seo. Maybe that’s why… he didn’t seem like the piece of trash people say he is.’
Song Hyun-soo’s words suddenly came to mind. Lee Hae-sung didn’t want to admit that he thought of those words while looking at Yoon Hye-an’s face. Yes, perhaps even these expressions now were him imitating Choi Hong-seo.
Lee Hae-sung, inhaling the cigarette deep into his lungs as if to silence the noisy thoughts within, answered Yoon Hye-an’s question without revealing any agitation.
76
Lee Hae-sung, inhaling the cigarette deep into his lungs as if to silence the noisy thoughts within, answered Yoon Hye-an’s question without revealing any agitation.
“To catch a big one, you just have to go out to the open sea, cast your bait, and wait.”
“……”
“That’s what fishing is.”
Yoon Hye-an watched him, his expression conveying that he didn’t quite understand the meaning. As he slowly examined Yoon Hye-an’s face, Lee Hae-sung supplemented his explanation in a level voice.
“From what I investigated, Yoon Hye-an, you can be diligent enough to scout for new sponsors, even if you’re lazy with dance and acting practice.”
“…Sponsors?”
Yoon Hye-an’s voice and eyes trembled, as if he hadn’t expected to hear such a thing.
“There weren’t just one or two sponsors who have passed through you, Yoon Hye-an.”
“……”
“Was I wrong about this, too?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
This time, the fear, hesitation, and caution vanished from Yoon Hye-an’s face. Then, a look of injustice and resentment rose. Glaring as if to blame him, he spoke each word with force.
“Because I can’t remember… I can’t know what I was really like, what kind of person I was…”
“Because you can’t remember… that’s quite convenient.”
Lee Hae-sung took one last deep drag from the cigarette he hadn’t smoked much of, then crushed the filter in the ashtray.
He had known that Yoon Hye-an had lost his memory after waking up from his coma. ― That was something he had already known. Most people who knew him seemed to accept it as him ‘pretending to have lost his memory.’
As he withdrew his hand from the ashtray, he looked at Yoon Hye-an’s seemingly wronged face. A young face with a serious expression, trying to voice his legitimate complaints in his own way.
‘I wasn’t making a cute face.’
He didn’t know why that child’s face overlapped with his own at that moment.
Lee Hae-sung turned his head away. Thinking he should have prepared alcohol instead of tea, he immediately found a new cigarette and lit it. Then, as if everything was now a bother, he murmured languidly in a tired voice.
“Yes. Let’s skip the wasteful process. Let’s be honest with each other without wasting any more time.”
He tried his best to exclude emotions, consider only efficiency, and think of this as business. After taking a drag of smoke, he conveyed the organized points to Yoon Hye-an.
“I want two things. For you to reveal where and how you learned that information. And for you to never touch upon Choi Hong-seo again, or matters concerning Choi Hong-seo and me.”
“……”
“Let’s hear Yoon Hye-an’s conditions too. What do you want? An endorsement deal with ARA? A leading role in a drama or movie? Or perhaps, cash? It’s unusual, but I’m willing to negotiate.”
“I don’t want… anything.”
“You want nothing?”
Lee Hae-sung slowly savored Yoon Hye-an’s words, tapping his cigarette on the ashtray. He wasn’t in a good mood because the man in front of him was making things difficult.
“If you want nothing, why are you acting like this? Are you expecting me to believe that?”
Yoon Hye-an looked down at Lee Hae-sung’s hand hovering over the ashtray and said.
“Some people say I’ve become a different person, and some say I’m pretending to be someone else.”
“……”
“But I don’t remember who I was before I woke up… I’m just acting based on what I feel and think now. People interpret that however they want. Some say it’s fine because I’ve become a better person, some suspect I’m acting, and some say I’m… imitating someone…”
His voice trembled intermittently. Yet, though it seemed like it might break, his voice calmly moved in the direction he desired.
Lee Hae-sung, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, watched Yoon Hye-an. Or rather, to be a little honest with himself, he couldn’t help but watch him.
“Even if you tell me not to imitate Choi Hong-seo, I probably won’t be able to. Because I’m not trying to imitate him. I also never learned any information, so I can’t tell you where or how… or through what channels I learned it.”
Hoo…
Lee Hae-sung let out a deep sigh from his lips upon hearing the conclusion. He felt like he was coaxing a stubborn child to get him to confess that he was the one who broke the vase.
“Are you telling me to believe that it was just a series of coincidences, one after another?”
“I understand perfectly why you suspect me… Vice President.”
“……”
“But even if a series of coincidences makes it no longer look like a coincidence… the possibility that it’s still all a coincidence isn’t zero, is it?”
“……”
“Do you have… any evidence that I learned the information about you and Choi Hong-seo somewhere?”
Despite being scared, and with his eyes and voice trembling, Yoon Hye-an looked directly at Lee Hae-sung and demanded proof.
Lee Hae-sung’s eyebrows and the flesh beneath his eyes twitched.
“Yoon Hye-an, I’m not an idiot. If this many coincidences occurred, it would be accepted as circumstantial evidence even in court.”
“If you had a motive, you would have demanded something from the Vice President!”
He pleaded, his face earnest. Shifting his hips from the edge of the sofa where he had been perched. Clutching the strap of a luxury bag, long out of season.
Lee Hae-sung’s devastated gaze briefly lingered on Yoon Hye-an’s bag. He had heard he had a penchant for luxury, buying designer items with loans, but had he not shopped after waking up…?
“I will never… demand anything from the Vice President in the future.”
“……”
“If I truly demand something, you can take action then. Vice President, you can do that, can’t you!”
“What about my painful feelings, watching Yoon Hye-an imitate that child and stir up our memories?”
“Please believe me. It’s not imitation. I really didn’t hear any information!”
“Ha… We’re stuck in the same place, it’s endless.”
Leaning back against the armrest of his chair, he covered his face with his hand, pressing his forehead.
The conversation was flowing in a completely different direction than he had expected. Because Yoon Hye-an, whom he met in person, was different from his expectations. He had thought he would act more like a fox, and he had intended to thoroughly dissect such a Yoon Hye-an.
He believed that acting like a rabbit could be the ultimate fox trick, but the problem was that the man looking at him earnestly now didn’t seem like a fox disguised as a rabbit.
That it was all just coincidence. It was obvious he was making an absurd argument, yet he couldn’t push him further.
Everything was different from his expectations.
Lee Hae-sung rested his elbow on the armrest, pressing his temples as if suffering from a severe headache, and narrowed his eyes, looking across at Yoon Hye-an.
“Or is your goal not to attract my attention, but to strike me? Are you planning to expose what happened with that child?”
That was the only purpose he could think of for Yoon Hye-an now.
“You don’t think an actor like me can strike the Vice President, do you?”
“Well, I can’t say you’re wrong.”
“……”
“So, are you really trying to set up a play? What grudge do you possibly hold against me?”
Yoon Hye-an shook his head.
“I don’t do things like that.”
“……”
“I would never say anything bad to the Vice President.”
“What did you just…”
Lee Hae-sung slowly straightened his body, which had been leaning back loosely. His face contorted and froze, as if he had heard a shocking truth he couldn’t believe.
“So, please believe me. If you watch, you’ll know. That I want nothing, and that I didn’t learn any information… You’ll know it all.”
By saying he hadn’t heard any information, Yoon Hye-an was denying it verbally but strongly affirming it in reality.
“Is it okay to tell me this kind of thing?”
“Why?”
“Aren’t you suspicious that I might spread it?”
“Would Hong-seo do that?”
“I won’t say anything.”
“……”
“I would never say anything bad to the Vice President.”
When he had that conversation with Choi Hong-seo, they were alone in that space.
Is this also to be called a coincidence? A coincidence piled upon a coincidence, upon a coincidence, upon a coincidence, upon a coincidence, upon a coincidence, with one more added?
Even if Yoon Hye-an didn’t know where or how he learned about the two of them, the original source of that information could only be Hong-seo.
He wanted to know what that record was, and who the recipient was, of the child he thought had left no record and had never spoken in detail to anyone. If there was any clue somewhere in this world that could help him know a little more about that child, Lee Hae-sung had no choice but to pursue that possibility.
He had found no trace of information flowing into Yoon Hye-an from the outside. Therefore, he had to find the answer directly from within Yoon Hye-an.
“If I find evidence, then you will have to comply with my demands.”
Yoon Hye-an slowly nodded and answered obediently.
“If there is evidence, then you must. Please search all you want. There is truly… nothing.”
A deep fatigue washed over him. He wanted to stay holed up in his bedroom alone, but guests were waiting on the rooftop.
“Shall we go up now? Yoon Hye-an was scheduled to be a little late, with prior notice due to other schedules.”
Lee Hae-sung stood up first, crushing his cigarette in the ashtray. As he entered the house to go to the rooftop, Manager Kang, who had been waiting, approached and informed him of an urgent message that had arrived.
Stopping at the stairs leading to the upper floor, Lee Hae-sung turned back to Yoon Hye-an, who was following him. Clutching the bag strap across his chest, he looked up with a face anxious about what words would come out of Lee Hae-sung’s mouth next.
If this expression were a lie, Yoon Hye-an would certainly not lack talent in acting.
Lee Hae-sung decided to ask him for a small favor. In a tired voice, as if he no longer had the energy to be on edge, Lee Hae-sung sighed.
“There will be a Blu-ray case taken out on the sofa table in the second-floor movie room. Yoon Hye-an, please take that and go up to the rooftop first. I’ll follow after I make a call.”
“Understood.”
Lee Hae-sung watched Yoon Hye-an closely as he nodded and turned away.
Then, he grabbed Manager Kang’s arm, who was about to follow. His gaze fixed on Yoon Hye-an’s retreating back as he ascended the stairs, Lee Hae-sung muttered as if in disbelief.
“Just leave it.”
“……”
“Because he seems to know where the movie room is, too.”
■
77
■
A cool, gentle breeze blew across the rooftop garden on the autumn evening.
The view was beautiful, with a low hill to the west and the nightscape of Gangnam’s buildings a distance away to the east. It felt slightly removed from the dense heart of Seoul, offering a sense of spaciousness.
In the sky, as the sun set, blue, red, and purple hues mingled, creating different combinations of colors moment by moment.
The first time he came to this house, and came up to this rooftop.
It was a summer night then, completely dark after the sun had set. With a can of beer each, they had fully occupied the summer night here, just the two of them.
But now, it was bustling with guests.
Besides actors, there were a few people from the production company and several major investors, making the total number of guests around thirteen or fourteen. They were assigned seats at tables in groups of four or five, and a separate long table had a buffet of salads and a few warm dishes prepared.
The main dish was barbecue, and Lee Hae-sung was personally grilling meat for the guests in front of a large grill with two other chefs.
Choi Hong-seo’s plate also had lamb he had personally grilled and placed on it. Although he was chewing it in very small pieces, he couldn’t taste the meat.
In fact, he hadn’t been feeling well since the movie room.
‘If I find evidence, then you will have to comply with my demands.’
Had he let his guard down, thinking he had bought himself time to avoid further questioning?
It was only after entering the movie room that Choi Hong-seo realized he had made a mistake.
He had gone there without being asked where the movie room was.
His request, spoken as if discussing something they both naturally knew, was so natural that he hadn’t suspected it was a test. He had even felt determined to carry out his request flawlessly while climbing the stairs.
He was a real fool. A real fool. He wondered how astonished he must be.
He had clutched his head and crouched on the floor of the viewing room.
Pretending not to be Choi Hong-seo, or thoroughly researching Yoon Hye-an to pretend to be Yoon Hye-an, or pretending to be someone else entirely, was too difficult for him. He wasn’t that good at such things.
But he couldn’t dwell on self-reproach for too long.
As he stood up to retrieve the Blu-ray case, memories then washed over Choi Hong-seo.
It was the place where he had watched a movie with him for the first time.
‘But you know the ending, right?’
‘Yes, I know.’
‘Well, ours will be a happy ending.’
The conversation they had there, Lee Hae-sung’s face as he teased him for being awkward with Manager Kang who brought the drinks, his gentle smile whenever their eyes met during the movie, his serious attitude as he listened to his clumsy thoughts as someone uneducated and young…
Even the lingering regret after the movie ended, neither of them wanting to leave first and procrastinating.
The entirety of that moment lived vividly within that room. And it struck Choi Hong-seo like a torrent of water.
He couldn’t linger too long, so he left the room with the Blu-ray, but perhaps because he had expended too much emotional energy, his physical condition deteriorated from then on.
His stomach felt bloated and the floor seemed to sway, as if he were seasick. Still, it wasn’t as severe as the cold sweat and dizziness he had experienced in the ancestral shrine or Director Kang’s drawing room. It was bearable.
He felt like he would get indigestion if he ate, so Choi Hong-seo only pretended to eat, enough not to spoil the mood. He would steal glances, pretend to drink water, look around at the scenery, and occasionally steal glances at him.
“What are you dissecting, Hyung? It’s so tender and has no gamey smell, it’s delicious. You couldn’t eat lamb before? That’s not true.”
Park Dong-ha, at the same table, commented as he looked at Choi Hong-seo’s plate, which had barely diminished.
“I’m eating. It’s delicious.”
Choi Hong-seo forced himself to chew and swallow the pieces of meat.
The day he drank at home with Yong-jae and the two of them, Choi Hong-seo had agreed to drop the honorifics at their strong insistence.
Park Dong-ha, quickly glancing at the other guests, leaned slightly towards Choi Hong-seo and said subtly in a low voice.
“…Are you putting on an act? A strategy?”
“……”
It was a question whose meaning he couldn’t grasp. Seeing him stare blankly, asking what he meant, Park Dong-ha also meticulously examined every corner of Choi Hong-seo’s face. His gaze searched as if trying to find some clue. Then, perhaps not finding what he sought, he quietly moved away.
It seemed Park Dong-ha hadn’t completely dismissed the suspicion that ‘Yoon Hye-an is pretending to have lost his memory.’
However, his own suspicion was easy to avoid. Since he truly had no memories related to Yoon Hye-an, there was no need to pretend to have lost his memory at all.
Park Dong-ha, averting his gaze from Choi Hong-seo, looked around while cutting his meat.
“How did they decorate the rooftop like this? It looks just like the yard of a detached house. Who would ever think this was a rooftop?”
Choi Hong-seo had thought the exact same thing when he first came up here.
“But I was really looking forward to seeing the inside of the house, and they just brought me straight up to the rooftop?”
Park Dong-ha muttered with a disappointed expression, chewing and swallowing a piece of meat. Then, lowering his voice again, he spoke to Choi Hong-seo.
“Ah, Hyung, did you see when we came in? As soon as we entered the house, it immediately led to the living room. Passing the living room, then the entrance hall, then a corridor, and so on. What kind of structure is that?”
The living room Park Dong-ha was referring to was likely his reception room. The living room where he entertained truly close guests was separate, inside the house. However, it seemed the actors had been guided directly to the rooftop via the stairs, passing the reception room and the entrance hall.
Choi Hong-seo felt a strange sense of relief that others didn’t know the details of his house.
‘This is the reception room, where we entertain guests from outside. So… we have tea and such here with people we aren’t particularly close to.’
Lee Hae-sung had explained the reception room to Choi Hong-seo like that. And Choi Hong-seo had been led past the reception room to the actual living room deeper inside.
But today, ‘Yoon Hye-an’ had to talk with him in the reception room. Not only was he someone ‘not particularly close,’ but also someone under suspicion and scrutiny, so there was no reason for him to be invited into the real living room.
The place was the same, but everything else was different. Just like at Director Kang’s residence.
In this situation, what did it matter that he hadn’t revealed the inside of his house to others… I’m no different now, only allowed as far as the reception room, just like these people. No, I’m in a worse situation because I’m being suspected and observed.
Putting down his fork and knife, Choi Hong-seo slowly drank some water.
Lee Hae-sung was still by the grill. He seemed familiar with barbecuing, checking the status of the meat intermittently while conversing with guests who came to get some.
His casual attire, in a calm color with a simple and elegant design, made him look like a European noble on a glamping trip or picnic to the suburbs during the weekend. At least, that’s how it appeared to Choi Hong-seo.
He only grills for the guests, but when will the gentleman eat…?
He must be hungry from being so tired dealing with me. Or perhaps, my presence has ruined his appetite.
Fiddling with his water glass, Choi Hong-seo’s thoughts were once again interrupted by Park Dong-ha’s voice.
“Oh, right, Hyung, I saw when you came in? It’s me and Yong-jae who will prepare for your birthday, so you just tell us the place and time and come as you are. Got it?”
“No, I really don’t need a birthday…”
“Is Hyean-ssi’s birthday soon?”
Actor Kim Yi-jung, who was eating at the same table, showed interest and joined the conversation. Park Dong-ha answered.
“Yes. Next month. It’s practically a miracle that he woke up from unconsciousness, so it would be nice to celebrate with people, right? But he’s insisting on just staying home. He’s someone who used to party for a month before and after his birthday.”
“I don’t know what I was like before, but now, given the circumstances… I’ll just spend it quietly.”
“Who said we’re throwing a wild party? We just want to celebrate with close people. And, if you keep being exposed to situations similar to the past, your memories might return. Anyway, leave the birthday party to me.”
Patting his left chest, Park Dong-ha said unilaterally, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and stood up.
Then, he took a clean plate and walked towards the grill. Choi Hong-seo’s gaze followed his movement.
“The food is all delicious. Are you really trying to lose weight?”
“I’m not feeling too well today. I’m eating.”
Choi Hong-seo replied to Kim Yi-jung’s question with a forced smile.
“We’re the same age, and Hyean-ssi is my Seonbae, so should I always call you Seonbaenim?”
Choi Hong-seo shook his head.
“I’m uncomfortable with that kind of thing between people our age too. Please treat me comfortably.”
“I won’t pretend not to know. Perhaps because you lost your memory, Hyean-ssi, you’re very different from what I heard.”
Her direct remark felt clean rather than awkward to Choi Hong-seo. He chuckled, and she smiled back.
“Yi-jung-ssi, you don’t believe rumors?”
“What I see with my own eyes is more certain than rumors, especially in this industry.”
“……”
“I was quite shocked to hear that Hyean-ssi hit a fellow actor during a fight. Well, you haven’t hit my cheek yet… I’ll think about it again if something like that happens.”
“Ah…”
It seemed Yoon Hye-an had a history of hitting fellow actors during fights. The more he learned, the more he sighed at his glamorous past, and Choi Hong-seo glanced towards the grill.
Park Dong-ha, not showing any signs of leaving the grill, continued to engage Lee Hae-sung in conversation.
Perhaps because he was still young, Park Dong-ha seemed more curious and openly displayed his interest and liking towards Lee Hae-sung, rather than being intimidated. And Lee Hae-sung was entertaining Park Dong-ha while drinking wine intermittently between grilling meat. Even though he was being quite bothersome with a barrage of questions, he didn’t show any signs of displeasure. He’s not someone who is cold to others for no reason…
Whether Park Dong-ha’s interest in Lee Hae-sung was romantic or simply because he was a chaebol he couldn’t easily meet, it bothered Choi Hong-seo.
If Lee Hae-sung hadn’t worn perfume today, he wouldn’t have thought this.
But today, a faint scent of perfume wafted from him. It was the custom-made perfume, specially ordered from a perfumer in Paris, that he used to wear when meeting Choi Hong-seo, and that he had gifted to Choi Hong-seo. That scent.