By Zephyria “Um… Senior, you’re not… coming…”
“Hm? Who? What?”
He had finally mustered the courage to speak, but the boisterous noise made it impossible for his voice to be clearly heard by PD Kim across from him.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about…”
“The one who left early, why are they last?”
PD Kim’s gaze suddenly shifted past Song Hyun-soo’s shoulder. She looked up high, her chin raised, and spoke accusingly.
“I went to smoke a cigarette.”
A voice slid softly towards his eardrums.
It was unmistakably Yoon Joo-ho.
Yoon Joo-ho took the empty seat between Choi Do-hoon and Song Hyun-soo. A faint, bitter scent of tobacco wafted through the heavy fragrance of Yoon Joo-ho’s coat.
In his naive adolescent days, Song Hyun-soo had idolized forbidden things. He thought the school senior who showed up in a rattling used car that had driven 300,000 kilometers was cool, and the older guys who gathered on the local mountain to smoke seemed mature. He was immature.
But was he somehow going back to those days now?
His heart fluttered at the faint smell of tobacco and the strong, expensive perfume emanating from Yoon Joo-ho, and the coolness of the outside air. These days, cigarettes were something he couldn’t quit even if he wanted to, a love-hate relationship, rather than something he found cool. Could it be… this is why they say celebrities smoking has a negative influence on teenagers? If so, that might not be entirely nonsense.
Their arms were so close they could brush against each other. If he turned his head just a little, Yoon Joo-ho’s face would be 30cm away. At this distance, only a girlfriend, besides the makeup artist, could see Yoon Joo-ho’s face like this, he thought.
Sensing the persistent gaze, Yoon Joo-ho furrowed his brow and turned to Song Hyun-soo.
“What is it?”
“Yes? No, it’s just, your skin is so good.”
“Really, Senior. I’m envious. You must be naturally blessed.”
Shin Hyo-jin also chimed in warmly from across the table.
“Blessed? I work myself to death to look this good.”
However, Yoon Joo-ho seemed indifferent. As he accepted a soju glass brought by a restaurant staff member, he added,
“I have to manage it. If I want to keep doing this job while smoking and drinking.”
“That… is indeed a valid point.”
Shin Hyo-jin nodded in agreement after thinking about it carefully.
Soju and beer were served before the meat, and the real drinking session began. Although this was Song Hyun-soo’s first proper film, he was already familiar with these kinds of drinking gatherings in the film industry. He had drunk enough at the gatherings he’d frequented to get roles to fill the Paldang Dam.
The difference from past drinking sessions was that Song Hyun-soo was now sitting at the most important table, with the director, producer, and lead PD. He was seated right next to the main actors.
“Our actors, you should each get a drink from the Director.”
At PD Kim’s words, everyone awkwardly got up. Director Jung Joon-hee went around to the production crew and managers, personally filling everyone’s first glass.
“This is a project we spent a long time on the script for. Thanks to CEO Lee Kyung-hyun and PD Kim Yoo-kyung, we can finally begin production. Let’s create a good, memorable work together.”
The director raised his glass as an example, followed by cheers. The actors at the table clinked glasses with each other. Even Yoon Joo-ho did.
“Just a moment! Everyone, please stay as you are for a moment! This is the first toast from the complete ‘Dissolve’ team, I’m going to take some photos. Actors, please look this way!”
The youngest member of the production team captured the historic first toast of the ‘Dissolve’ team on camera. The moments of the film’s production would continue to be recorded by this camera. Song Hyun-soo grinned widely, showing his teeth. The fact that he was proudly present at this gathering as an actor in a major role naturally brought a smile to his face. He didn’t need to force himself to act.
Lowering the arm that had held up his glass, Song Hyun-soo turned to drink his soju. He did so to maintain etiquette at a table full of seniors. But at the same moment, Yoon Joo-ho moved his arm. He had already downed a shot of soju and was reaching for some seasoned bean sprouts as a side dish.
“Huh?” Before he could even register the thought, soju spilled onto Yoon Joo-ho’s coat sleeve. All of it, not a drop left.
Song Hyun-soo was so shocked he couldn’t even make a sound. His eyes wide open, mouth agape, he just stared at the scene of the accident before him.
“Hyun-soo, here’s a tissue.”
Shin Hyo-jin, who had been watching from across the table, quickly pulled out a few tissues and handed them over. Song Hyun-soo instinctively snatched them and dabbed at the wet spot. One part of the black coat sleeve was stained even darker. It felt like all the tears he would shed in the future.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Senior. I’ve committed a grave sin.”
It was a sincere apology. Was he going to die by Yoon Joo-ho’s hand like this, without even getting to film once? Was he going to be cut from the movie now? Tears welled up in his eyes.
“That looks like a coat that was featured on the runway this season.”
Song Hyun-soo’s vision swam. He had a gut feeling that Han Joo-young’s “this season” referred to a globally renowned luxury brand. If it was a main runway coat from Louis Vuitton menswear, for which Yoon Joo-ho had been an ambassador for five years, it would cost at least 10 to 20 million won. He wondered if he could even repay it by emptying his entire ‘Dissolve’ appearance fee. He was ruined. He had already sent his advance payment to his grandmother…
“Even so, it’s just a coat.”
However, Yoon Joo-ho’s voice was surprisingly calm. Song Hyun-soo gathered his courage and looked up. Yoon Joo-ho looked down at him with a cold gaze and muttered,
“If it had been red wine, I would have killed you… I would have been angry.”
“…”
Senior, are you perhaps trying to say, ‘I would have killed you’…
“Senior, I’m truly sorry. I’ll definitely pay for the dry cleaning.”
“It’s fine.”
“It looks like a very expensive coat…”
As Yoon Joo-ho began to take off the soju-soaked coat, his manager from another table quickly approached and took it. Yoon Joo-ho, pulling up the sleeves of the knit sweater he wore underneath, picked up his chopsticks again and said,
“What would I do with dry cleaning fees from a junior?”
“It’s not about the money.”
“It’s okay, junior? Consider it paid. Go buy yourself some chicken.”
Yoon Joo-ho glared, even raising his eyebrows, as if to say, ‘Let’s stop talking about this now.’ This was it, this was the growling and snapping. If only he spoke a little more prettily with that face, would he like him more?
Song Hyun-soo secretly glanced at Yoon Joo-ho’s profile as he ate the bean sprouts. Then he gave up and looked away. After all, he was grateful that it was being let go.
PD Kim, who had been observing the situation from diagonally across, passed a plate of meat to their table at just the right moment.
“Hyo-jin, do you like galmaegisal? The galmaegisal here is really delicious.”
“Yes, I love it!”
Shin Hyo-jin, who had also been tense, welcomed the arrival of the meat as if she had been saved.
“Don’t mix it with samgyeopsal, just try the galmaegisal. I ordered doenjang jjigae too. The chef here has amazing hands. It’s a hidden gem, I don’t know why it’s not more popular.”
“Senior, please give me the meat and tongs! I’m good at grilling meat!”
Song Hyun-soo quickly stepped forward and brought the plate Shin Hyo-jin had passed to him. He thought this was an opportunity to refresh the atmosphere.
“Is that okay? These days, there’s a feeling that you shouldn’t ask juniors to do things like that.”
Han Joo-young said to Shin Hyo-jin, who hesitated.
“This isn’t about age; it’s more efficient for whoever is good at it. Hyo-jin, are you good at grilling meat?”
“No.”
“Me neither. People assume I’m good at BBQ because I’m from America. But American BBQ and Korean BBQ are a bit different.”
Han Joo-young’s TMI hell gate was about to open again. Just as Song Hyun-soo was about to resign himself to it.
“Who gets good at anything from the start? If you don’t try because you’re not good at it, you’ll never improve.”
“…”
Yoon Joo-ho kicked Han Joo-young’s TMI hell gate shut. While he couldn’t stop the flood of TMI, he instead made the atmosphere uncontrollably chilly. Song Hyun-soo, sensing the mood, stepped in.
“Ah, grilling meat isn’t that hard. You just put it on and flip it once in a while. I can just do it!”
He carefully arranged the well-trimmed, fresh galmaegisal onto the heated grill. Perhaps it was because Yoon Joo-ho was next to him, or perhaps it was the tense atmosphere, but his hands trembled, just like during the script reading. He wanted to go home, regardless of Yoon Joo-ho or the company dinner.
“Wow, the meat looks amazing! It must be a great restaurant!”
He tried to sound as casual as usual, but he felt sweat trickling down his back and tears welling up in his eyes.